We'll begin, and this is to conduct the fiscal 2020 budget meeting process or hearing process.
Today we will begin. This is June 8th, 2019. We're going to be talking about discussing the budget with the fire department,
the Department of Public Works, which will be engineering, highway, cemetery, parks, forestry and water and sewer,
as well as the police department, traffic commission and parking commission.
We will have additional budget meetings on Tuesday night, June 11th, starting at 5.30 and Thursday night, June 13th, starting at 5.30 as well.
So at this point, I'm going to turn it over to Mayor Burke and make a statement regarding the budget.
Thank you, President Falco and councillors.
I believe all of you have gotten a letter that addresses the highlights of the budget 2020 budget.
As you can see, it totaled $182,247,000.
But I just wanted to make everyone aware that Shift in Accounting, our finance director,
Lisa Nguyen, has mandated that both the community preservation appropriation as well as the
2% pegs, so that's the city gets 3%, that's always been in our miscellaneous receipts.
This is the other two, and that this be included in the budget process.
So the budget is inflated this year to a degree because we have both the $1.4 million
community preservation money as well as about $463,000,
which is the paid money that really flows through us to do our government,
education, and public access channels.
So it leads to a net budget of approximately 180.
If you backed out those two accounts that are in here this year,
it's about a 3.1% increase from last year.
And a big chunk, 4.5, is for the school department.
So, there are a lot of fixed costs that are out of our control, such as health insurance
and pension costs.
They tally up to about $1.5 million additional in this budget, as well as the trash contract
is about $400,000 and $200,000 additional from our MWRA assessment.
This budget does reflect the recently finalized negotiations with the Fire Union, so that's
impact of about 860,000, and that really does reflect a few years of increases to their salaries.
So you're seeing it all in one year because of the two years that last.
We have fully engaged our civilian dispatchers.
You may have seen they graduated yesterday, so we're ready to go live with our dispatchers.
I know Chief Buckley will explain the process in greater detail as well as Chief Gilberty.
But our dispatchers are going to be married by the current bodies that are in the Civilian Dispatch Center.
So they will not be on their own for several months.
They will be monitored and shadowed for the next few months until the next assignment come up.
So this will be adding about eight police officers to our compliments because they will no longer be in 9-1-1 as well as four firefighters.
So that's a nice increase to the operations of the city.
We have included a $30,000 increase to the Medford-Ox Council that was requested by this body.
We also have put in a position in the building department for the facilities manager.
As you and all of us have stated, we have new buildings coming online,
as well as our older ones that probably need more attention.
But it's really important to have someone dedicated to managing the contracts that we have in place,
the maintenance contracts, as well as the warranties that will come with the new building.
So we anticipate posting this job, obviously, once approved, once the budget approves.
And then we'll start the hiring process.
So we're hopeful that it'll take two to three months to get that process underway.
And then we will have a facilities manager, and that is under the building department.
Let's see. We have included a half full-time equivalent grant right of position.
We have put in one additional full-time person in the register of voters office
so that it alleviates some of the part-time work that happens there
and a production coordinator in our peg channel.
So another half position that will be in the peg channel,
as well as the school budget I mentioned earlier,
for over 4% increase, it's $2.6 million.
So, we all know, we've all been following the cherry sheet saga from the state house.
And most of it is due to the education funding.
And under all three budget options that were on the table, we were seeing a cost to the city.
So, because of our charter schools.
We had about 50 extra kids that went out to the charter schools this past year.
And it's a dramatic increase, it's about $15,000 a child that goes,
the money that goes right out with them.
So we saw our huge deficit, we continued to fight, we're fighting for education reform,
that the, all the foundation budget recommendations are put into place quicker rather than slower,
because some want to do it over seven years, others want to do it over three and five years.
So obviously the faster that they put these recommendations into place,
We can see some benefits, particularly for our ELs and our special needs and
our first-time learners that speak other languages that are coming into our district.
So we're not a minority majority yet, we're probably about a 40% minority.
Some of our communities around us are vastly higher than us, but
we continue to educate over 60 different languages in our schools.
And I know when you get to meet with the superintendent,
She can fill you in on all the details over there, but we continue to fight.
So please continue.
This is a critical week with the budget consensus that are meeting.
Rep Donato has been an advocate, but it takes all of us to really push and push and push.
So we're optimistic.
We're running with the house one budget, which was the best numbers that we got.
So that's what's included in this budget.
So, thank you.
Thank you very much.
have departments that are eager to get started.
Mr. President, I just have one question.
Councilor Marks.
Madam Chair, how are we separating the PIG access money
now, if it was all good enough to stay here?
We're reflecting the entire 5% coming in
for miscellaneous receipts.
But then 2% is actually a budget sheet for you in there.
So 2% is going right out into the PIG access.
But that's in a separate account now?
It's going to be tagged separately, a separate program.
And you actually have a budget that's for the 2%.
So you're approving the physical budget for that division.
Right.
Yeah.
Yep.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
At this point here, we will start with our first department.
It should be the electrified department.
Welcome to Chief Gilbertian, Mrs. Gordon.
My name's that.
Chief Gilbertian.
I should be one to begin by.
That's a lot of it.
That's funny.
Good.
You want to talk about some of the highlights or some of the changes in the budget?
Then we can kind of go through the detail.
Okay, we began fiscal 2019 with a complement of 100 and 10 members.
We had two retirements this year, mandatory and an accidental disability retirement.
We had an active duty death, as you all know, by the Pina.
and we had one resignation back in April.
We have currently have on back on the books.
We've had nine new firefighters.
They are working.
We have one more going to an Academy July 8th.
So at the end of fiscal 19,
a compliment will be 115 total.
We budgeted for 124 last year.
124, yes, as
we are this year, again.
So we currently have 8, 8, 8, yeah, not counting the gentleman that's going on July 8th.
How many are in the academy?
Five me.
How many are in the academy now?
None.
They've all graduated, had two graduate from Boston on Thursday, and this one additional one will be going on July 8th.
So, just to make it clear, why didn't we fill in the form?
Well, we were filling in, however, by the time you get through a whole group of people
the higher you have the retirement. We never got up to filling all of them. In fact, this
class that I had, this one individual going to originally, isn't until January, but I'm
going to withdraw that application and he's going to a Boston Academy that's going to
all Metro Fire firefighters.
Boston has worked with all of us in Metro Fire
to host an academy just to Metro Fire community,
simply because it takes so long
to get them out into the academy.
So, you get stowed, you get sprinkled,
and then open up another one down the bridge water.
But the waiting list is just crazy.
So this is our first one that we're doing,
starting from IA and hopefully if we do another one,
we'll be able to get them into that academy.
So how many positions are you putting in for this year?
We will be looking to fill eight more.
You anticipate filling all eight?
I would hope so.
Yes.
But it takes time.
And I'm going to probably have a couple of mandatories in that time, I think.
That's all I can think of really, a mandatory, maybe two.
So what's a full compliment according to the Chief?
524, according to me.
No, no, that we should have.
124, you feel you're fully staffed?
Oh yeah, yes, yeah.
Okay.
I have asked for several increases
in some of my expense accounts.
I think they total about $60,000.
And I've received all those increases that I've asked for.
Other than the salaries, those are the only increases.
I mean, but the percentage raises increases all of the salary accounts.
So those increases have been incorporated, I believe.
So the specific increases here are $25,000,
to the motor services, constant increase in cost of motor vehicle parts and labor charges,
$10,000 for PAs and maintenance, communications user fee for staffing and roster generation,
$2,000 for fire prevention and training to purchase innovative training tool, new training
tool.
The $1,000 for office supplies increase to constant office supplies, $15,000 for firefighter
in rescue supplies, increasing cost of supplies and equipment for members, personal protective equipment, $5,000 for clothing, turnout gear, work clothing, and anticipation of filling vacancies, $2,500 for increasing cost to purchase radio equipment.
All those increases have been there
in the budget.
12-1-18, so that would expire what, April?
No, that will expire November 30th of 2020.
2020, okay, thank you very much.
And in terms of the motor service pool,
I know there's some concerns relative to the maintenance
on the fire engines and the lack of a mechanic over there
of the fire department.
We do have a mechanic that's dedicated to us.
His concerns have been addressed.
He's a DPW employee, but he's dedicated to us.
He's doing a fantastic job.
Who made that big?
I'm sorry?
Who made that big?
That is Brendan Saludo.
I think that's how you say his name.
Saluda.
You say potato.
You are.
I say potato.
Thank you.
We have Carlos Cartoli.
Thank you.
Carlos President.
Chief, thanks for being here.
The question is that I think the, have we figured out the issues with our communication
devices?
Is that, I know we had the issues while I was watching talking.
As far as, I have a grant in for, I believe it's 36 grant reports.
I just checked the other day.
There is no comment through FEMA, so no news is good news.
I haven't got an idea of John Leather.
But the reception, what the towel is, is like,
We haven't been working on that with the police when the new building comes to play.
Okay, so they're still waiting for that?
Yeah.
And then the last thing, the big question that we've hearing is that the latter truck,
is that something we're going to look at for capital plan?
I have begun actually this, we just had probably our last meeting and getting ready to put together
the contract to purchase one ladder truck at least, but I haven't given up to secure getting two trucks.
Alright, so just for people's minds and needs, we have two ladder trucks in our community.
That's what we need and we need, that's functioning.
Do we need more? Is a third one on size two sufficient in our size community?
Well, if I don't have the opportunity to get two, this one will go to Salem Street.
It'll be pretty similar to that address down there, and I will utilize the latter two as a reserve.
Okay, so right now our reserve piece is the one that we use from Boston. Well, we haven't
used one since. We haven't used one since. Okay, but that's if there was an emergency
safety. If we've had ladders going and out of service for eight or so, and what we've
done is put another injured into service, but if we're going to have a lot of truck
down for a couple of weeks, three weeks, I'm going to go out and borrow a truck, yes.
All right, thank you.
Yeah.
Councilor Max?
So just following up on that, Chief, we've always had two plus a reserve left, right?
That's correct, yeah.
So the hope is that the second one that is going to be, will be, end up being the reserve.
You're going to get a new one.
I'm going to get a new one.
The one that's coming off will be the reserve.
A 2010, yes.
That'll be the reserve.
That's correct.
And that's the one currently right now that-
Right, but that's been not functioning correctly.
Which one doesn't start up every so often?
It's the other one that's not starting up every so often and
given us a tough time? No?
You might be talking about some of the issues we've had with ladder one.
One of the trucks have been told that sporadically it doesn't start.
That's been rectified. That was a recent?
Okay, and my other question, Chief, as you know, this council did site visits to all the stations.
We put out a long, long-distance list of recommendations well over a year ago.
And just recently, we came forward with some, what I thought was perfect news that many of the issues that we addressed as issues that needed to be looked at,
we're going to be looked at. That was a couple of months back. Can you give us
an update on the progress of that? Sure. Right now, with the help of John
Babusso in the building department, I've had contractors come out. We want to
replace all the windows and all the stations. I know that Salem Street,
Riverside Avenue, and Engine 6 up on Ames Street all need new windows at
quarters. I'm not sure of the extent of self-method or engine two, but whatever
needs to be replaced we're going to replace them. I'm doing the bathrooms at
headquarters. I'm going to prepare the showers in the firefighters bathroom and
the officers bathroom and all the petitions and all of the bathrooms
in addition to the one on the main floor are all going to be replaced.
Do we have any, just because I know the windows were mentioned a couple of months back, do we have any time of when this is going to be done?
I'm trying to get it done yesterday, actually. We have an opportunity to get it done and I'm trying to get it done as soon as possible but, you know, I'm at the liberty of the contract to put them in.
So you have a commitment for funding already?
Yes.
And that's through a capital project or is that through the budget?
Well, my understanding is with the $500,000 being appropriated this fiscal year, I do have a little bit of money left that I try to set aside to start this work through this budget.
And anything that needs to be addressed, I'm going to address through the next fiscal year.
So when you look to the $500,000, where is that, is it in the budget?
No, it's not in the budget.
It's outside of the budget?
Outside of the budget.
Do you know where that money's coming from?
I do not.
Do we have an answer where that money's coming from?
I would say it's part of the capital plan for the previous 19-20, 19-22.
I believe that is correct.
We have received a capital plan spreadsheet back.
Right.
That was a draft plan, right?
Yes, I think that was a draft plan.
So maybe as part of the community report, Mr. Clerk,
if we can get a copy of whatever plan that's out there
for a capital plan.
Chief, now are we looking at all the other buildings?
I know you mentioned the headquarters.
Oh.
Can you give us an itemized, or can you briefly tell us
what's going on?
We'll run off the top of my hand.
As you know, we haven't.
How about the floor on the sale of this?
That's going to be addressed.
that's going to be done. The floor on Salem Street, all the windows at Salem
Street. I'm not sure how much more. Oh, I'm replacing the HVAC system on the
second floor at Salem Street. I've had two contractors come out now and take a
look at it. I hope to do that with some of this year's money. The Riverside
Avenue. They just got a new kitchen also. All new windows. I want to get into that
station. Last year we replaced their HVAC system.
Engine 6, all new windows.
What about the restaurant facilities, the showers? Where? All the stations.
Well, as far as I'm concerned, every station I've looked at.
Okay, engine four is going to be addressed. There's some problem with the floor. In one of the bathrooms, that's going to be addressed.
I'm not aware of any at Salem Street. I was just in there the other day with the contractor and the captain, so I'm not aware of anything wrong in there.
What about the heights?
I am not aware of any problems with them, but to remodel them, I haven't looked at that yet.
Okay so can we get a punch list of what you anticipate on doing and an
estimated time when we the windows among the impression we were getting for cost
correct the windows for cost who blows right and how long is that commitment
And for that forever, if we, if we, no, but for the reason-
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not going to lose that.
Okay, so as part of the committee report, Mr. Clerk,
if we can get just a punch list of what's going to be done
station by station and when the completion date is.
So we're going to at least have an idea of when this-
Again, the completion date, I can't tell you.
I mean, do them as fast as I can.
estimated I hope within the next nine months that's fast that's fast yeah
wow yeah it is not
that easy thank you councilors councilor came up thank you
to respond on council markets comments you have a $10,000 additional in the
budget repairs and maintenance going forward. Is that extra
ten thousand going to be enough to keep maintaining the
building and keep making this?
On top of what we have yet?
Yes.
And you have anything future with what you're going to do
besides the projects that we've asked for?
Well, I'm going by what my captains have asked for.
Is there anything that they've asked for that we don't know about?
Is there anything they've asked for that we don't know about?
Not to mind all of this.
Thank you.
I think we have work to do, but we did do the salings over.
All the canals have been replaced, correct?
Engine four.
And the roof was just finally been lifted.
Yeah.
Engine four.
Salon Street.
Engine five.
Yeah.
Two.
any further discussions on a new training tower or location while we're still
looking at the Mystic Avenue location it has moved forward a bit but we do have a
commitment to have yet the property.
Do we have a time frame? I do not. I don't.
Now I don't.
What's the method of the problem sheet? State. Can it be from the state? Yep.
We don't have a time
frame but are we working on a plan for design or budget for that? Well, I think we have a
committee that has looked at what we'd like to have. We've kind of settled on a design.
And who's on the committee?
Myself, President Buckley, Lieutenant Masolino.
Who's on the freedmen?
Who?
Freedmen.
Deputy Freedmen.
Loot.
He may bow.
This is a handful.
And with regards to some of the actuals,
do you know what the actual for the overtime
was this past year. I will probably spend $1,800,000.
Is that what we spent last 2018? No, last fiscal year? Last fiscal year we've
probably spent $1,600,000 a little over.
We've met $1,600,000 something now.
We're
only budgeting for the 1.4. Yeah. So where are you, was that the budgeted
line out last year? So where you get in the extra $200,000 to $400,000? Out of
So the
positions that we're budgeting for, but I'm filling, we're taking money out of
that to fill the old time out, if needed.
We didn't have the nine positions that we currently have back at the start of fiscal
19.
We didn't get them until they graduated, seven of them graduated March 8th.
But at this time last year we had 112, more than 112.
We had 112.
But this time last year we had 112, 12.
And at this time this year we had 110 total.
114.
Right.
114.
We could just make it part of the committee report just to get the actuals.
It will be some by Tuesday or next Friday.
Break down of all the actuals on the accounts for the budget.
budget. What was budgeted, what's left in the account? For fiscal year 2019, yes.
So you want the year to date actuals? Yes. Okay, year to date actuals, uh, compare budget
to expense best.
Where would that come from? Me? No, that would be fine.
That would come
to follow from the training tower.
Yes.
When you said you got a commitment from the state,
is it to close that road?
Well, that's still on the table.
Last we've discussed with the private parties
is that little possible land was an adequate size.
I know how's a training tower without the road being closed.
So that commitment is really only half-hearted
if we can't get the road.
If they're saying, OK, we committed to land.
But if the land's no good to us, then we're still back at step one again.
Right if the land itself is not adequate, but out the road.
Correct, but out the road, there's not another road.
What?
Determination made of that road was a step forward that is not a federal, a federal.
Yeah, the federal government has nothing to do with it.
I have nothing to do with it, so it is a state.
So it can be closed, it can be closed, but still utilized by the DOT only, and that's
so in essence it could still be there.
So not the new normal traffic wouldn't be able to come from that
That is missing link on to Mr. Gatham.
Just the DOT would be able to exit that property and go on to Mr. Gatham.
So there's been more discussions, not just the parcel land, but also about the road itself?
Oh, yes, yes.
Okay.
When's the last time your committee met through?
The committee hasn't met them quite some time.
The committee hasn't met in a while.
No, they haven't.
Okay.
We know what we want.
So if the state would have turned around to us next week and say, you know what, you have the road, you have the land, how are we going to pay for this?
That's a good question. They made a commitment.
In the mirrors, they're wearing that $900,000, $956,000, don't you think?
It is in the capital plan that will be, I don't know how to name it.
It's a 900 and some $1,000, come in.
Yes, I believe it was.
It's not fine.
You guys will add it to the capital project.
And it is, it is mentioned there.
Wait, we also have the capital plan every year now.
Is it still a draft plan or is it a real plan?
It's a very fluidly, it's not just going to be, you know,
It's constantly updated every year, we have no process now.
But after this budget process, the operating budget has changed.
The budget process starts in December.
If we can get a copy of the updated capital plan, that would be great.
I think we already requested that.
Where do we stay?
We did provide a copy of the capital plan after all last year.
Have you just seen how full it was?
Yes, every year we...
Training title money may not be in there, if it's not, we'll put it in there.
Yes, but it's still in the global process, it's not like...
That was made two years ago.
Right.
We've been writing.
Right, this is ongoing for a long time now.
Maybe the commitment from the administration is new,
but the commitment was made back a couple years ago that the training title would be built by now.
So I just want to make sure we read up the capital plan has changed since March.
Okay, so the copy that we have should be the latest in greatest cotton.
Yeah, so that is the installation.
Okay, so if it doesn't include it will be added.
It will be added.
So it should be updated.
It's in there.
It's just regarding the turnout gear and washes and so forth, I know you made some headway with that.
We are focusing now for the dryers and washing machines.
Yes, we have three extractors for the turnout gear alone.
And every station, I think I did that in this fiscal year,
purchased washers and dryers for each station for their class B unit.
So we're at full capacity.
And everyone has two sets of turnout for everybody.
But the ability to clean.
Yes, so we're at full capacity.
Yes, thank you.
That's all right.
Have you implemented a policy of procedure relative to requirements in two?
Have the uniforms cleaned after a smoke fire?
there is one yes but basically we follow manufacturers suggested how to clean them
and when to clean so so if they get a major fire they don't want to call what
we'll call they come back that says they have to go into the washer in the next
amount of time and we're investing this money and we want to make sure they do
I mean, they've got to have some accountability to it.
It doesn't have to be cleaned up after every explosion.
After every explosion at my house.
And if that's the case.
The science is it's walking all the time.
And all these stations where it should be cleaned also.
Yeah.
After every explosion at any small condition.
Right.
Any weaponized things should be switched out,
swapped out with the extractive.
Is that evident?
It's, it's, I would hope by the way.
The micro does it.
Okay.
It's on us.
as opposed to the equipment for us, which we greatly appreciate.
It's up to us to use and what we've got in use of it.
And I got to tell you, they do, especially with the Class B uniforms,
I see it all the time, you know, the work that Washington-
As long as they get in use, I mean, that's the only way to make the investments here.
I'm sure they'll use it because, fortunately, there's some medicals.
I mean, you get a plot of it and other types of things along your record uniform,
which the Chief does, but Washington Drive is in the station.
We can use it there.
Oh, we can't put it like that, so it's okay.
I know that there was some issues with the HVAC system over at Main Street where the unit,
we've been trying to fix the unit for temperature, one side gets 90 and the other side gets – if
we've gotten to a resolution with that, is it something we can look into?
I don't know. That system is so old.
That's a pneumatic system.
I can commit to my office in the summertime.
It's like a sauna bath.
Commit in the wintertime. That's cool.
So I may have missed some self-method mainstream.
Self-method. I'm sorry.
I know when we visited, they said there was...
The building doesn't regulate well.
It doesn't regulate well.
There's a high ceiling there.
So have we looked at that?
I know that we're hoping the station, Main Street, gets done very soon, but the one on
itself method that the concern was during really hot days,
pots of the areas were nothing.
It's working, I mean the system does work.
Yeah, but no, I know I might but I know that trying to figure out a way to get the unit to work
more efficiently. Yeah, I know we asked maybe to have energy environment to look at it and do an
assessment.
Because I think that.
There is a brand of well I shouldn't say brand of the heating
system. It's several years old. That was all replaced. And when we did the rehab that finished
up in 2015, it was a whole new big commission system put in.
All right. And all the events have been cleaned, right? We've talked about that last year.
Every station, every event.
Perfect. Thank you.
Talks all night.
This is more of the administration. The capital plan costs for $1.5 million for designing
construction study for new fire headquarters. The administration has indicated that this
paper would probably come before the council, before the close of the fiscal year. We have
about three weeks until the close of the fiscal year. When can we anticipate seeing this paper?
I just want to be on the… Can you give me a name and address for the record?
Thank you.
On the ladder trucks.
For the last two weeks we've been down to one working area of the ladder truck in the
city.
The mechanical issues on the truck, cap and stand truck, so those were fixed and rectified.
It was a structural damage to the ladder one in an accident and it has not been rectified,
so that aerial has been placed out of service.
The truck itself is still being used, but the aerial portion of the truck is out
of service until that goes off and gets certified.
by a specialist that can say that that tricycle is useless.
Which is happening Tuesday.
They're quite possibly going to come back and say that.
But that renders the truck useless, right?
It renders the ear of a portion of the truck.
Which still has ground ladders on the back.
That's the truck that we can use in rescue situations
just to hide the situation.
It's extremely overwhelming.
It's going on Tuesday, they're coming up to, coming up in a second.
The truck that's 20 years old, it's beat, it's seen a lot of, it's seen a lot of, that's not it.
Is that the truck you intend to take out of service if you get the new one?
Hi, me.
Is that the truck you intend to take out of service if you get the new one?
No.
No, no.
What are you talking about?
We would need two loud trusses, we'd need a spare, ideally we'd need a spare.
Two fun light pieces.
I just said that's 20 years old, it's been in and out of service.
We've got trucks break down, I think that's just how it is.
So, is there any, what's the plan for us?
Is it a bucket truck or an aerial?
The current one is a street area.
Okay, what's the timeframe for that?
Once you sign the contract,
I would vote between nine and nine months, 10 months.
So we're talking about a year before we get in the truck.
Could be.
Is there any interim fix that we can do?
So, I mean, I know we use Boston trucks all the time.
That's the only option I have for you.
There's no other cities in town that we can borrow a truck from.
We got that ladder we used to twice.
There's two fires that we had.
So luckily we didn't have it.
So, wait.
I'm honest, we didn't have a truck that's not planned.
Can you read the truck?
I used to be the guy that always used to come to myself in Boston.
I'm all then ready.
All of the surrounding communities.
But I lent it to Malden one time, and they blew the engine.
They paid for it to fix it, so I stopped lending.
Can we rent from somebody?
Can we rent from a community?
No, there's no charge to borrow a truck, but you can't borrow a truck for a year.
Custom night.
Has there been any discussion or any talk?
This is really getting away from the budget, and it's more about public policy issues,
But in terms of spare pieces of equipment and regional partnerships, like we have mutual aid agreements with certain communities.
Do we have purchasing abilities to go with other communities and sit down and say, hey listen, you need two leather trucks, we need two bucket trucks,
we need them as spares, why don't we get them and we'll buy them together.
And then we can realize that the regionalization stuff hasn't been-
I have done regional purchases with Winchester one year, back in 2010.
And I did it with Revia and Maldon after that.
But no, we don't have any common purchase rentals.
Does it drag the cost down when you do these regional purchases?
Yes, yes, it does.
I mean, what's the last thing that's
required to be brought from a practicing collaborator?
Because it's a national collaborator,
so you have to, and leave it as some custom
practice, so it's really, whatever you want,
all the bills and rituals that you want,
that's especially manufactured for you.
Thank you.
A few issues, I have a few brief points.
Going back to the Boston Academy, Chief,
does the Boston Academy provide EMT training?
Yes.
For the Boston, I suppose, yeah.
Okay, so the gentleman that's going out there will be the anti-train when he comes back?
No, because it's a Metro fire academy. It's not Boston.
They're going to follow the ten-week curriculum that you would get at Stoke.
I thought there was a lot more than that.
Boston's the same.
Boston?
Yeah.
It's the same sentiment. The gentleman out of Boston.
But it's a Metro fire only.
So this is a different type of...
They're going to run it.
In fact, there's a cost to it, by the way.
the cost of sending this person where stow is free is a $4,000 cost for the individual to go.
Does the series from that cost do you make the individual pay?
Probably going to... we pay. We pay.
I know that the police is different, but we pay.
The individuals that have access to benefits, GI bill, benefits and stuff like that,
they have the opportunity to use those benefits.
I don't know. I really don't.
Getting back to the Boston and Lowe-ing the truck.
I've talked with Commissioner Finch several times on maybe even purchasing a Atlanta truck from them.
But each time I talk to him, he says he'd look into it and he doesn't know the inventory.
He doesn't want to give up a good truck.
But I don't want the headaches either, they don't have pre-piped waterways, which isn't
really too much of a big deal, but you know, you're looking at trucks in the early 2000s
that may be available, maybe, I don't know.
We borrowed a 2006, I think it was, 2003, 2006, it's not going to sell that, and we've
several conversations about it. As far as fire along, what is the plan for the civilians that just
graduated from the county? Are they going to sit in those seats anytime soon? No, not at all.
I think I had a long discussion yesterday with Chief Buckley and next week they're going to start
with the police only. I think Lieutenant Cololusso has them for four or five days.
the following week I'm going to take them and Deputy Corona's going to do some things for us.
Then we're going to try to devise a rotation schedule to have maybe two on the fire, two on the
police for the day shift and the night shift not the overnight shift and we're going to rotate
those we're going to be observing but we're going to be setting up I think how many computers
chief 9, 9 laptops and have them do the CAD system or the geocode. All of the training.
And in between all of that, there will be some observation periods of the 901 and then some hands-on training.
They have to pass certain state certifications and have these courses to be able to access the things that they see.
Yeah, they haven't had that yet.
So they'll get certified and all that, and then they'll be working on a, like a field training type program.
We're going to maintain staff and police and fire up while they're out there sort of doing their job and training.
It's the most extensive training that you just got shown that is going to see in this entire state that it'll be approximately 18 weeks of hands-on observation.
That's an approximation, but.
It's fluid. I mean, it can change as it goes along, but they're not going to get cut loose until a lot of fall.
How many have been hired?
We have 11.
Okay, so there's a police supervisor that will be in charge of the police, is that correct?
There's always a commanding officer who's in charge of the police station during his shift in the communications department.
Will there be a fire supervisor there?
That has to be a concern.
And as far as I'm concerned, that's the need, that's not a want, that's not window addressing,
that's an absolute need.
Would you agree, Chief?
I would agree.
As far as the radio system, we briefly touched on that.
We said there's going to be new radio system.
Radio system is very complicated.
It's only as strong as its weakest length.
The radio system is updated.
We're going to repeat this.
We have a lot of infrastructure.
is there a plan for a new radio's complete system, not just portable, the repeaters, whatever the case may be.
I believe there is. With the new police station.
With the new police station. How about a wide area network?
The United States, you know, the few years ago.
You mean five rockets?
Five of them would be nice.
Yeah, yeah. I had brought that up, I think, at one of our department head meetings.
And for those that may not be aware, we currently use the broadcast system, which is a public system.
We want to maintain it. We currently pay them. All the citizens around us have their own dedicated private water area network.
So I think we like to move in that direction. So we have some continuity of emergency services.
So we're planning on that as well as that. I'm on for that. I'm on for that.
I'm on for it too, but I'd like to see a commitment, some money, some plan on that.
That's up to the administration, I can't do it.
We can advocate for that, is that?
Do you all agree about also choosing?
To fund your communications?
Yes!
You're saying communications isn't going?
No.
You do, but it's two separate, uh, equipment systems.
There's definitely a different sense of, uh,
you know, convenience.
Right now we're undergoing a number of steps
for different, uh, vendors
for a new police station
to look at life cycle,
We want to go up on such diversity.
We have an issue of an Agent 6, a law of Medford,
so we're going to go on that SDA industrial tower.
But at the same time, we are going out right now
looking for bits of fiber optics to release.
Why are there enough of it?
And a minimum to attach Agent 6 on fiber,
and then look at the full cost of that.
It's all going to compare.
We're still looking at all the costs of the product.
Certainly will be a benefit to us, I believe,
if again fiber optics is tied in there.
But in front of me, it's going to be an all-microity system,
but that's all right with the site,
and we have to continue to work on that.
That was real, at least in five years,
it's going to last a long time, couldn't it, brother?
Correct, yeah, it's the same thing,
but I'll ban it from here.
So we're on the same route, on the same boat.
But the wide area network, you're talking about,
has to do with different, yeah.
That's something different.
That was us getting all wired together,
that we communicate with each other,
without having stations going down the end of the day.
We could communicate with City Hall.
We could communicate with the schools.
Phone bills can go away, all of that.
There's so much you can do with fiber optics,
but we just got to get everything wired.
I do have a couple of companies that have been referred
to me to take a look at that.
But that's what we're trying to talk about.
The radio system is a little bit different.
Under the current circumstances, you can still operate effectively and meet the public's
opinions in the future.
Based upon the figures in this budget, do you feel is dull that your department can function
appropriately, meet the missions that the department so forth?
Yes.
The city of Boston has some radio communication problems in the rust.
Currently they don't have any.
What they did was they went to all businesses and wherever they had a building that they
So it was a good site, what was called a leady table,
our repeater in there, so they have zero radio problems
in Boston.
So it can be done.
You're talking about bi-directional amplifiers.
That's what you're talking about.
The leady table, is that the other term?
We have, we have.
We have.
Where else?
They're down in Wellington.
Every building that gets built.
In fact, when I had a meeting two weeks ago last,
or two weeks ago at the GLX, they have to look at,
Every new building that gets built in this community has to look at that and address that.
And I require them to put in a BDA in the building.
That's what we're talking about.
There are parts of the city where this regional education is non-existent.
High school.
High school being one of them.
I know that.
I mean, that's almost all of the city.
I know that.
But you will never get a radio system that's 100%, 100%.
Boston claims they do have them.
That's bold.
Well.
There's no way.
There's not a radio company on Earth that would guarantee you 100% coverage.
There's not one.
95 maybe?
Because there's always going to be dead spots.
Rather than 90 or 80.
No, I think even more than 80.
Come on.
Okay.
Any other budget related questions from the council?
Well, somebody asked for an updated list on the items that we had at the station.
I have an agent who says, my station down.
Everybody saw the conditions that the other stations are.
Here's the list that we have that day.
And a few other things that have been crossed off.
Thank you very much.
Do you have any notes on that, Professor Chiu?
This station is on one of the few problems you do.
Any other questions from the council?
I'm sorry, can you remember that?
That was it?
This is where that facilities manager is going to be coming in.
Absolutely.
Through the check, can we get the other stations to do the same type of list?
Sure.
That's what we were saying.
I'm happy that you have it.
That made my day facilities manager.
Can't wait for him to show up.
You're welcome.
Next year.
How long is it?
How much time that takes?
Come here.
Out of my day every day?
What maintenance?
Yes.
Jason people, making phone calls, getting phone calls, trying to get quotes.
It's crazy.
By the way, it's more tax-related than you think it is.
Oh, we're hoping that with the new facilities manager that...
Oh, that's a...
That's a guy.
So, is that your only copy?
Is that your only copy?
No, I have not.
Because who's with the clerk?
And you can add it to the committee report.
Oh, cool.
That's a point.
That's a guy.
So, on the...
So any other questions regarding the fire department budget?
Do I request a full copy of the budget of the capital plan?
Who do I request that from?
We can get you a copy of it.
It seems like the capital plan is like a uniform
and pretty sure it bothers them how many times we've seen it.
We were right.
That's Bigfoot.
You're talking about Bigfoot.
We don't have to ask because we don't have to set it up.
Is the training total about $600,000 in it or not?
Yes, it is.
Oh, yes.
Bobby, I can get you a copy.
900.
All of the chairs.
What?
900.
The budget record is all of the chairs.
Okay.
So any other questions of the council regarding fire?
Okay.
Seeing and airing on, we will move to public works.
Department of Public Works.
They listen to us.
Right, chief.
That doesn't work any way.
Thank you, chief.
Thank you.
Chief, see you all Wednesday.
No, what's Wednesday?
Thursday.
That's Chinese food night.
I don't know. I thought it was insane, but we'll discuss that later.
But how's the caviaro in this middle one?
I don't know what it is, but I'm going to come one of those times.
I'm not going to ask the...
I'm going to ask my wife to get this.
I thought you were Italian, John.
I know,
I know.
Jesus Christ, the training budget went up a lot.
Good morning.
Good.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Yeah, she came to my time the other day.
Oh really?
Yeah, we got to the car and she opened the door, she just went for a quarter zone shots
because of the pain she's had.
She's had minimal rhymes.
So I opened the door and she goes, he's a miracle.
I couldn't believe she was so happy and then, you know, she saw everybody and everybody
kept bringing her food.
So I want to thank everybody for that.
I'm sure it was $5.50, I think it's more of a stroke.
Around the stroke area.
She wants to talk to them about it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, I kept hoping it would influence.
At this point, we'll move on to the Department of Public Works.
We have Brian Kearns with us, and he will be presenting for the Department of Public Works,
which includes engineering, highway, cemetery, parks, forestry, and water and sewer.
Good morning Mr. Chair.
I'm Mr. President, how are you?
Good, how are you today?
So members of the council, thank you.
Why don't we start off with, why don't we go right down the line?
We'll start off with engineering.
Engineering, okay.
Before we start, did everybody, everybody know Tim had given to you as a city engineer?
Hi Tim.
We are asking yes.
Yes.
You're lucky, you're trying to go easy this year.
I was about to ask you quickly.
So we're going to go down to West Asia.
So engineering, uh, personal services is, um, let's see, uh, fiscal 19 was 37, I'm sorry, 376,741.
fiscal year 2020, 380,721.
Ordinary expenses was 278.60,
2020 request is 49,410.
And so the fiscal year 2019 appropriation was 404,601.
And the fiscal year 2020 request is 430,131.
It looks like there are increases in the repair and maintenance account, engineering software
account, engineering materials and supplies account, the engineering conference dues account
in a decrease in engineering books and publications.
Mr. Collins.
Okay, members of the council, the increases actually started on a smaller scale with Chim's
predecessor, Cassandra, and it's to quite honestly bring our engineering division into
the 21st century rather than the dark ages, including the pain relief work out of it.
You know, the software for engineering had to be totally upgraded.
I mean, floors, furniture, computers, and then really the bottom line was the tools of the trade for engineering had to be upgraded.
And, you know, we did start on a smaller scale, you know, under the last fiscal budget.
having Tim aboard now, you know, I want to pass the ball over to Tim and run with it or actually complete, you know, what we've started to get the engineering division as small as it is, you know, into, you know, the 21st century.
What kind of rug are we buying in the recursion, 6,000 bucks for a rug?
That was tile, sir.
Tile.
Okay.
But we had an asbestos wall below it.
So the tiles all done.
Okay.
So they remove the asbestos remediated or are they covered?
Sealed and covered.
Yep.
Half the office work is done in this facility and another half in the weekend.
I just spent in Tim's office before.
It's kind of small for a $6,000 rug.
No, but actually the entrance area, George's office, though, is pretty one of the two that will require time on that side, too.
Man, asbestos remediation, which is very expensive, though.
I'd like both of them to stand by the list.
Councilor Mox.
Last year there was a request, I think it was last year for drafting tables and so forth within the office.
Those items have been purchased, or are they outstanding?
I wasn't aware of drafting tables.
We wouldn't do it in the first job.
That's her need list.
Her need list.
When you ask Cassandra what do you need?
Right, right.
She put forward, Cassandra put forward last year.
I think a couple of years in a row, actually,
that there was a need for drafting tables.
I have been made aware of the need for drafting tables
and that you without data technology.
So you don't feel a need for that?
No.
It's up to technology.
Michael?
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, apparently a lot of city engineers thought there was a need for it.
They're useful for plan lay down areas, but normal tables can be used.
Graping tables have mechanisms.
So a drafter, who was a professional back in the day,
could have it at the right angle for the $8 that they're working, drawing and sketching.
They're a very particular item.
They were needed in the past.
I just don't see the need for them at the moment.
None of the staff had a plan.
And why don't we stand right now putting all our plans and documentation on electronically
about five?
I'd say just from working with them for the past six months or so, and knowing what we
have for people's plans, it's probably close to 70 to 75 percent to scan in for the records.
And probably 90 to 95 percent of the useful records are scanned in.
And there are WPA work plans and there are old record plans from way back that haven't
been scanned in that the Historical Society is interested in, so that would be the next
step is to scan those in and get the Historical Society within the team.
Okay.
And where do we stand with I&I infiltration?
Is your office working with Water and Sula to address some of the concerns we have?
Yeah, when I came into it, we were finishing up some projects and we're starting the process
of thinking about the next phase and trying to get the next I&I projects to be done.
So we work with the end of the bar and that's it.
Correct.
So what are the next, can you let us in on the next projects?
I don't know what they are right now.
I don't know if that's replicated today, but I can get you guys a lesson.
And that's what you should do.
I'll differentiate between the lead and the end of that.
Okay.
And Mr. President, if I could, and I've mentioned this before the council on many occasions regarding
the complete street market.
I know I've reached out to the engineer along with the traffic engineer.
Hing Square was one of the only projects not to be funded, and I know we applied two or three additional times for funding.
And then there was a commitment made by the administration to fund it through Chapter 90 money, some of the pedestrian improvements that are long overdue in Hing Square.
and I get to get an answer that makes sense and I'm hoping that the city
administration sticks to the commitment that they made that they would use
chapter 90 money for some of these improvements and I don't know if Tim
can speak to that. Right now the plan for the Hainsbury documents, the plan is that we have, we're going to submit them again in October for state funding.
I think it's the only project we're submitting.
Prior to you made a call, we discussed this as well,
that we submitted for bullfights and tufts before my time.
We won tufts, and we didn't even win
hardly half of the money for it.
We got about $153,000, and it's a close to half
of another project.
So it was nice to get the $153,000 state,
but it wasn't at all what we needed for that project.
We are using Chapter 9020 to supplement
the tufts where it worked.
So we would take a similar approach with the square unless you were directed to do otherwise.
So that's the pattern on it.
Right, so if the state grant doesn't come through again, just saying.
What are the plans?
Did we just keep on submitting it year after year?
We have to address some of our safety concerns that we have.
At that point, the recommendation would be that that source of funding is not reliable for these types of projects.
And that would be unfortunate because it's the type of projects that are supposed to be funded through that program.
So, like we did in Tufts Square, we'd have to take a look at Chapter 90 and see if that could help fund the project.
Correct.
Okay.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Councilor Locke.
Councilor Knight.
Tim, a couple weeks ago we sent a resolution up to you relative to a complete streets project
that took place in West Method Square in front of Amici's and they did some bump-outs with
the curbs, they did some replacements with some crosswalks and handicap attestable ramps
and the like, but they've also created a drainage problem.
So the first two packing spots after Paul Revis,
they created a load for the spot.
So all the water between CB scoops and Paul reviers all pulls down in those first two
Pocking spots and doesn't drain out. So when my wife stepped in the puddle two nights ago getting pizza
She came home and screamed at me for like an hour
I didn't build it so we're gonna talk
Councilor Knight, that's going to take care of our entire factory this week.
Yeah, I'm going to drop in another basin.
I went out there with the highway forward, we put our heads together.
It could be even as simple as a one day job.
We're not talking about a major reconstruction of the area.
Okay, so I'll cut out an area, drop another basin, and type it, call it a day.
Just ask the notify the businesses when the construction is going to happen.
Okay, so we're just going to ask the notify the businesses and
And I appreciate the response, so.
Vice President Longo, correct.
Thank you, President Palco.
Send any update on the Sydney Street?
Yes, so they did the field work.
Method of hearing the survey, the company did the field work.
Last week, I want to say, they stake out the city's easement
every 50 feet in the area of question.
So now we know what Budweiser owns
and where the city's responsibilities are geographically on the ground.
So, I believe that DPW has already cleared some of the adjusted processes of data in the states and the ground that they fill on site, so that's where that stands.
How much was city owned?
Is it enough that our DPW can work on it or is it because that was a large land?
It's a 50 foot wide swath that the city has access rights with, and it's utility access rights.
So in other words, we have the right to access our manholes and pipes, whether that be to clean them, things like that.
And obviously, we need to have the space to do that.
So those are our rights in that area.
Those are typically utilities and rights. It's an old easement.
But the property, from what I understand, is owned by Budweiser, the outroups, until
you write.
And the next step in this process, from what I understand, we get a paper plan from a
certain company that shows the geometry on paper.
And then after that will be a plan to ask Budweiser to clean up the property?
It's going to, I think that's the next conversation.
That's the next conversation.
Who's doing what?
because the code enforcement officer John Fusso, myself,
the commissioner and the residents of Guadiria and you guys
of Guadiria too, and we saw different types of dumping
happening from different parties and different entities.
And we saw different levels of required maintenance
that is required by the landowner or our access
to the pipes.
So that has to be discussed and figured out
of who's doing what,
this was a thing.
So we're trying to frame for that meeting
to figure out who's doing what.
I would imagine that it's going to happen we have,
the survey information we have,
it's taken out, it's going to happen with them.
That's who it must be.
Madam Vice President, once we get the hot coffee
and just determine actually who owns what,
Once we really find out what is ours for sure between Tim and myself and
the other staff between highway, forest and the engineering will come up with a plan of attack, you might say.
And when will we get that paper copy, you think?
Okay, where do you want, sure.
No, no, when will you receive it?
Yeah.
I've asked that question because I haven't seen your response yet.
Yeah, okay.
If they just feel more comfortable with early, early last year, please.
Yeah, so part of the delay, Madam Vice President, on getting at this spot, I call Chuck Beniziano.
Chuck was ready to go.
He was gaining access and permission from Budweiser for him to access their property to do the service.
Budweiser now, of course, is owned by a European company and they're not very
enabling. I'll put it to that. Now, once we determine the plan of attack, well, we'll
see what happens then, but up to this point, they're not very enabling.
Could we use our clean and immediate ordinance? I may be back visiting the
council as a whole and say I need the host power. Again, I don't know.
Like, you know, Chuck had some difficulty getting permission from the layers of bureaucracy within Budweiser.
Great. And then just the second question I know I emailed you about yesterday.
Does the government have issues?
Yeah, I brought the issues to the country to potentially a new economic community.
If they're still persistent, if that's what your email's about, then I will attend to it personally.
Hopefully they are being addressed by the contractor.
Did you get a time frame? Did the contract get a time frame?
I got an email yesterday that has not been taken care of.
Okay, it was supposed to happen immediately, some of the things.
So it hasn't happened yet.
You just follow up on that.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
The direction I gave and it sounds like it's not going to fall up on us.
Okay, thank you.
Yeah.
Conformite.
Tim, are there any design and construction plans that are completed relative to constructing
a parking garage behind callings of the old callings location.
I haven't been involved in anything.
You don't know if they have any plans in your office that might be their work.
I have seen references to studies about the parking garage.
I don't understand anything.
Well, I'll take a request for that stuff at a different time.
All right, thank you.
Any other questions regarding engineering?
I'm not sure if it's lonely, so I'm going to talk about that one for a minute.
Moving on.
It's blood pressure.
Highway department.
That's nice.
That's our caveat.
I think one of the biggest concerns of UBW and I was watching it, but Maine Collins is a staff member.
And as I view it, I saw around vacant positions.
What are we doing to address vacant positions?
All right. Contraction, of course. I have to post it in the train.
Thank you.
I don't take it as sorry for any of the jobs, right now I'm working with the chief of staff,
her staff, okay, to get a natural list of interested people that want to come in for the interview.
Okay, that may be qualified.
We have a question with the newspaper.
Do you have a civil service?
Civil service, council.
I'm on the street every day. I don't have hope. I don't have hope because the economy is so good and the trades, they can make a lot more money than here, other than the fact here you've got a little bit of security.
it. Plus the fact that we require physicals and we have random drug testing. We're all
even myself. We're all federally licensed. Outside you don't have that except for the
operators. I read an article in the paper this week about the drug problems that are
occurring out there. And you know here it's a thank you but no thank you.
It's not
I think it's up to the issue we've been wanting for many years and it just doesn't seem to.
I don't see any of you guys making any headway to tyrants and new people.
I just don't believe there's also a lot of news.
Yes, the chief of staff made a few, you know, little changes that also now have involved me.
So I'm in the process to at least attempt on the outside as it is taking place.
But again, like I said, through experience in the last go-around, we looked through the city.
The city goes through a lot of expense, a high of some.
Even right down to me interviewing somebody, my hourly wage and whoever else.
There's a lot going on, physicals and everything else, pre-employment.
I had one guy start on a Monday, left on a Tuesday.
And this is what we're going to run up against.
This is what we're going to run up against.
Anybody who has ever filled out an application has never come in and haunted me.
Any update, any update.
They fill them out.
So I call.
Nobody bugs me.
Unfortunately, I just know that it's going to continue.
Are there any applications that have been filled out?
Can we have them addressed?
No, that's not the process we're going through now.
Yes, and that's the whole thing about the expiration dates
and the amount of
the expiration dates,
and sometimes we'll include them all because of that.
The thing is Rick, the positions that I currently have that are available
are not entry level positions.
So not the ME01, all right, because of maintenance crafts in position, heavy equipment operating.
These are the positions that you have to have the trade walking in the door and the adequate licenses.
Councilman.
In circumstances like that, though, wouldn't it make sense for us to hire people that don't have the appropriate licenses,
people that are ME01s, people that are maintenance craftsmen,
maybe we can get a group of people that we can train the way we want to train them
and then they'll also have career ladder opportunities where they can move up the ranks
as opposed to coming in the DPW as an MEO2, staying as an MEO2 for your entire career, waiting for somebody to retire.
Maybe we can start bringing in a new crop of people down here as MEO1s and we can start training them internally
for the positions that we forecast are going to become vacant.
You know, Brian, I've said time and time again, I'm looking at my notes going back to 2017.
In the budget discussions in 2017, I identified contracted labor services that the city takes money
and contracts out to contracted labor services, ground master, so on and so forth.
So I guess my question is, if we looked at this budget right here for the highway department
and we look at the money that we actually spend on private contractors, can we go over
those line items and see what type of work that these private contractors are performing,
what services we're actually going and putting out to bid and telling people outside
of our DPW what works they're performing.
You know, when we look at, I mean, I understand private contractors for Snow and Ice.
We need that.
Do we need private contractors for $500,000 for the replacement of sidewalks, or should
We take that $500,000 and reinvest that into our personnel
so that we can begin to build up the ranks of IDPW.
In an ideal world, you're absolutely right.
But for the hourly wage, the city would have to pay from Mason.
And again, you're not going to teach it.
You want to do sideways, you have to get the ground right.
You're not going to teach it.
You're going to be amazing.
Again, I'm not going to get them.
They're all spoken for.
A real good mason is already out there making poopful money.
Right. But when are we going to stop the bleeding then?
We're going to wait for the economy to fail.
And then we're going to wait for everybody to say, OK, the economy's failed.
Now everybody comes from effort.
Keep on trying and just hope, OK, that we hit the right common denominator.
Just like when I first started, for over three years, I had a mechanic vacancy in the garage.
right?
Well, you also had a mechanic that was fulfilling an obligation, I believe, to the United States military service, right?
That was the same. He had retired. The Robert Sullivan had taken his place. But no, this was a regular mechanic.
That actually was working on fire trucks for a dealership. And that mechanic went up there to do a swap for Chief Gilberty.
got talking to him. He says, yeah, I'd be interested in that one, man. He's working
today. That was just a stroke of luck. But that just was vacant for three years, all right,
because nobody wanted to.
How many times was it posted?
All right. Internally?
Internally, externally, in general. I mean, like what recruitment techniques would take?
On the application, Adam, there's a small area as far as community employment in your
back and something jumps out on that resume based on the vacancy that I have.
I pull it. I make the phone call to see if you're interested. I, with the general
salary, starting salary would be, I mean, I don't get into a sales pitch, all right?
In either yes or no. All right? In some cases, well, I'll get back to it. They
never get back to it. In some cases, they do it. But then when they come in,
All right, you know well you said it was this salary, but you say I got union dues
I got this and that you know
We start off at 980, but that's what I'll take anything up
But then when you start taking everything out this the way like I kind of work you to sell an hundred bucks a week
Oh, whatever it may be. Thank you, but no thank you walk away
So is it safe to say then that the salary structure of DPW and the contract and the the
What we're paying up people isn't enough. Okay
For our government it is, all right, and like, no.
Because other communities, I don't see other communities that have these same problems, you know, to the extent that we have.
They do to a point, all right, but again, all right, you know, it's also a case of, all right, are they going to open their mouth, all right?
I mean, I've always been open and frank with you people, all right?
I come June 21st, okay, be my 43rd year in public service.
I've seen it, done it, been there, all right?
And I can go out, okay, I get the same thing.
All right, no help, no this and everything else.
Our union contract and our salary structure,
particularly the union contract,
is probably one of the best around.
I negotiate with you, I know.
All right, and everything, okay, okay.
It's one of the best around, all right?
Today we are a victim of the economy.
It's as plain and simple as that.
That's all it is, all right?
But you can add money to it, all right?
You may get life, all right?
I want you to start getting into it.
I'll go back to what I said.
Physical and random drug testing.
It's like, whoa, all right?
And that's-
So when a contractor comes on a public work job,
they're not required to, I mean-
Okay, we'll say Newport Construction.
His operators have to meet the federal guidelines.
His father is drug testing.
But the boots on the ground?
A plot of contractors that come out don't have to meet the standard of drug testing?
No.
They don't have to.
For what we're requiring for years, based on the equipment that they are operating,
it is not under the CDL and proper.
We do not contract out class B or A related equipment.
So in terms of this budget in the highway department, can we go over the contracted services and
can we talk about what they're paying for, please?
$157,000 in line item 010422.
Can't see the rest of it.
It's all zeros.
It looks like 5240.
We just asked that we go over all the services that are being contracted out.
Oh yeah. Okay.
And I see the first one looks like it's $157,000 up from $81,000 last fiscal year.
What page are you on?
I'm on $2080.
$2080.
That's the sixth line down the street contract.
So fiscal year 2019 was $81,200 this year.
It's up to $57,000.
Do you have any, can you provide us with some details?
Okay, well the Aramaic art is for cleaning, the cleaning art of the doormats, the cleaning art of the garage uniforms,
it's an outside industrial cleaning art that is used.
Highway safety, highway safety art is the striker for the streets.
Slow down here, where are we looking at highway safety?
to you. So what you have, what I have might be different, but the first street repair
maintenance is the first line. The second line is Highway Streets Contracted Services.
Is this going to be, are you saying that these things are in this bucket in the top row?
Yeah.
So you hadn't said he's talking about right now.
They're all underneath that line.
They're part of that $157,000.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
You know, and then, you know, of course, you know, emergencies, emergencies could
be you know I could get you know a very large water or sewer main break that you
know our own water and sewer may not be capable that you know of handling right
away need big excavators or whatever I basically are you know the money is you
know tools in the toolbox in the event but you know as far as the
privatization is concerned portion the only thing I that would come out of
that is street sweeping.
But as a result now, I'm having one brand new
and one fairly new street sweeper.
This year we only had to contract out of a street sweeper.
I think it was maybe like for five or six days
and that was only because of the size of the room
that the number of hours that we have in a day,
I needed a third sweeper opposed to just doing two.
But other than that, I did not have a street sweepers from a contractor here for a big sweep at all.
If I may,
are these things new compared to last year?
This is a significant increase. What represents an increase over what was in this account last year?
That sounds like what we need to do to get out.
It's like an extra $80,000 savings that has to be done.
Like for example, you have to do Salem Street.
We had our contractor Cassidy come in and do that.
So it's just like really from emergencies to people.
So it's an emergency payment.
An active emergency company that might come in
to talk over the one week.
Exactly. So where was that last year?
So last year, was this a kind of like probably just needed to be funded with additional money
because maybe it didn't mean it's...
So probably underfunded in the previous year, so now it's been trying to fund it properly,
so moving forward, we actually have the amount of money that's in there to service these type of
emergency fixes and whatnot, if I'm correct.
Does that sound correct?
So we're sure on the same page.
We generally have one rupture of a major water main break.
Once it's surveyed, it has to be fixed.
So that money has to be come out somewhere.
Okay.
Generally, a payment contract does that work.
But the timing, I mean, basically it's a little bit of a reserve to deal with those situations.
Okay.
In circumstances when there's a water main break,
we're using highway money to repair the roadway.
that he's in water rent-a-press money and we couldn't use the water sewer budgets
that were paid the streets wealth and use our rent-a-press funds it also really
be to the extent large-srogan winter all right but that the initial report came
in at night all right there was a lot of things right there's a hole in the
around like this. That's all right. Well, sad problem. All right. The
street was gone. I mean, you could actually have fit a great on
bust in the hole. I have to be in the building. He calls you
Brian, I need to him to say that I need you right now. And I
went out there and shell shot whole road years of the drain.
being gone, just washed the whole road away.
A case like that was be on the capabilities
not of the highway department to do it.
You had to run the drain line and actually rebuild
and create a section of street going across.
And that's what that money is used for,
is things like that that are beyond us
because they require the real heavy equipment.
But we have heavy equipment, and I'm talking tri-axles and excavators and things like that.
And, you know, jobs like that is what we needed for, because it doesn't, that's happened.
This is just not water. Water is so in drainage that has to be continued.
Most of the time we hear about water, most of the time it is water.
But, in that particular case, it's in drainage.
When the streets are open to get some water, I mean we can use water and depress funds, correct?
to repair the street. Yeah, if it's water related, yes. In this particular case it was
spawned stondrains. Stondrains. Okay, it was not domestic water, it was not domestic
storage. It was the stondrains that came in. Well, I gave up on the
principle and started up as far back as the actual high school. Came down through
all the neighbors, through the three W's and everything else, and then when
connected would go down Winthrop Street to the rotary, down Winthrop, into the
That's how integrated that particular line and what it becomes.
And that line has been repaired?
Oh yes.
And how much is that cost?
Okay.
I don't check.
Could it cost more than $157,000?
You weren't here at the time.
Okay.
The drainage, the winter streak, and Lawrence.
What was the question?
Okay.
The cost for the actual final cost was?
Oh, I don't know.
Yeah.
I'm going to shoot from the hip end. I need to be exact.
That the project that was suing the person that told us where the underground infrastructure was?
It's like a hundred and forty change came out to me.
But that was an emergency because the road was gone.
You know where I'm coming from this one, Brian. I feel as though it's a race to the bottom.
Because we're not investing in personnel. We're not investing in institutional knowledge.
Instead, we're investing in people that are chasing a buck. And you said it before the city council.
when someone gets a government contract, they say,
oh, government contract, easy street.
It's, the bid is this, but oh, we had to do this,
this, these are the extras.
Now it ends up being more expensive than it would have been
if we invested in personnel and we did it internally.
And we need to stop the bleed in some time.
We need to stop the bleedage.
If it means that we have to take a look at stopping
the train and saying, whoa, what's going on,
then that maybe is what we need to do.
So this is something that didn't just pop into my head
And yesterday I've been talking about this five back as my notes say in 2017, 2016.
So it's something that raises a lot of concern for me and having worked in the latest sector
and having worked with public unions, I understand the race to the bottom and I understand what
impact its divestment in our personnel has on the overall scope of the way that we can
deliver a service to the community.
So I'm hoping we can address this by increasing the staffing numbers to the level that
you say you need.
And you say you need another 25.
Wow.
As you said that publicly, how many more people does this budget give you than previous years in terms of boots on the ground DPW workers?
The funding, all right, close four vacancies that I have, all right, that's it.
Okay, so at the end of the day when this budget is full, how many employees are going to be under the umbrella of the mentioned DPW with boots on the ground?
Once the floor is filled.
Once they are filled.
If they fill...
And they pay well.
How many people?
I need to break down.
We have a...
Just this department.
I want just highway.
You take a look at highway if I could grab that.
that has an attendant daily attendance sheet, right?
I keep emphasizing, there's five, six people
are on a good date in the highway department.
If you look at the sheet, it's a long sheet.
Why?
Because yes, it is those five or six or seven people, right?
But doesn't it include it in that, all right,
is the two or three people that are watchmen at night?
They're no good during the day,
though with respect to the guys, right?
Three guys from Forest Street are on it.
Two guys are in the sign shop or on it, so the sheet is a long sheet.
The actual guys that are working on the street performing highway functions, averages out, right?
So, you know, five, six guys on a good day, all right?
Now, I was the only senior supervisor in DPW working yesterday.
Why?
use it to lose an education time, all right, in well-earned, well-deserved, all
right. Mike was out, Steve was out, Dave Proctor was out. I was the senior
student, which is perfectly fine. I want them to use their time. It's an easy
workforce and they're lucky. They get a lot of time to achieve these.
Okay, we total 49. 49 for the DTW. That's the cemetery. 49,
I'm going to vote for 25 members from the Metro DPW boots on the Grand Climber.
Do we not have to do another breakdown by department?
That's one possibility, that's one possibility.
Okay.
The government and vacancies are excluding the vacancies.
So, 45 plus four vacancies? 49 plus four vacancies? 49 plus four, okay, so there are a number of questions.
Councilman, are you? I'm consuming way too much of your time on this. I'm hogging the floor so I'll pass it on to somebody else. There are a number of questions that there's a little bit of a queue building up there.
No, no, no, I rest my case.
So you said the council remarks at the Council of Calvary,
or the Council of Scarpella?
Thank you, Council President.
Thank you, Mr. Karen, for all you do.
But I'm going to take the opportunity to reiterate,
basic city services happens, unfortunately,
fallen in the DBW when it talks about when you hear complaints
and you talk to people.
And I understand, believe me, I've
and using your excuse but the reality that the economy is good and people aren't taking
jobs with the millennium because they're paying 45 an hour, we can offer 25.
One of the questions I had last year, and it was a roadblock, was a civil service list.
We're still following the civil service list.
Okay.
I don't, it's not practice with other communities anymore.
For DPW.
Why are we still doing that?
Because from what I've heard, it's a pretty old list.
I mean, I mean.
It has various ages.
It has various years.
We're a civil service community.
there is an involvement to get out of the civil service community
and that would be an agreement with World War II Fire as well as a home meal petition.
Right, and I didn't see a police in fire, but when, because I've gone to different communities and asked,
are you having trouble? And I'd be honest with you, Brian, neighbor communities really,
they're not having as much trouble as we are having here for some reason.
And we need to find out why because, you know, the staffing levels,
Summable, the staffing levels, and Arlington, the staffing levels,
and Maldon that have talked to different representatives there,
they're really not that bad because they were getting the workers.
So when you hear over and over again that the streets in this city is better
or the parks in this city are better or the water department here is better.
and you know I'm saying guys you know it's easy for me to defend because when
we have one person that really truly knows our water system and God forbid if
we don't if we lose them we're in trouble and that's it so every community
and I believe I use you as an example but when you talk to different
communities about that they say you know what George we have that one
person too. But we're lucky that we have that one person working with three people making
sure that if he goes down, that goes down. Because I think it's a very touchy trait that
you have that's more valuable than any master's degree or doctor's degree. People don't realize
that. Because that's what functions as community, our communities. There's got to be something.
I personally think that this is one of my number one priorities for this budget, is finding
a way to increase our basic city services, and that means finding a competitive and creative
way for recruitment.
I mean, listen, I'm not ashamed to say, hey listen, a guy comes by my office from the
POC's department saying, do you really like this community?
Because I tell you what, maybe Memphis might be a better community.
I find myself actually recruiting city employees to try to apply here in Medford for the fact that, you know, it's enticing for them.
But there's got to be, and I just implore us all, that even for the budget to have four more, 53 still is way under.
Exactly.
So if that's all we're asking right now, that means we're only shooting four more positions.
So I think we need to revisit that number and say, listen, we need to find a way to shoot
higher and I'm with Councilor Knight when I think with Desperate, and believe me, there's
no blame here, I think you're doing more than you should and I blame you for being
too good actually, that's the problem.
I think we need to get to a point where there's rumors out there that come back
and I work for municipalities as well, that there might be some kind of state early retirement
proposal coming out. There's little rumblings. But maybe it isn't. Imagine if that's true
and we get to add five years to people? We're done. I mean, we lose most of our, most of
our people. Right. And that's what I'm saying, guys. So I think we're more, this is more
critical than we think right now. Because if the state does come out, think of the
people that in that window between five and ten years because they're gonna jump
oh yeah no and that's that's that's if I had a guess it's probably close of at
least at least 30 percent of our crew right I'm gonna have the opportunity to
You know, it's all your institutional knowledge.
Peter Kerg is the Mike Neston, Steve Tenang,
taking it right off the top.
What are you shaking yet for?
I've got a long way to go.
So we're not going to be the commissioner?
Yeah.
So if I request through the chair that, you know,
we really asked, Jennifer,
you can go back to the drawing board
and try to figure out what we can do here to really increase
these numbers and go after it.
It's not, you know, it's just, it really is.
It really is, we're gonna get to a dire need
if something does happen.
You know, the state will do it in a minute,
we all know that.
I know it's a rumor right now,
but if that comes to fruition,
we're gonna be in real trouble.
We're in trouble now, I think, we're in dire need now.
But we have to look ahead and stop putting
the contingency plan in place that if we don't
start finding a way to recruit employees and grab people.
I mean, it's something simple.
On course closing, we've had hundreds of thousands of
employees over there, maybe getting a work list that we
can do an active job search or bring people in for some sort
of day of employment for Metro.
And listen, believe me, I want more method residents
working in our DPW.
I think you see there's more invested.
When they know that this is for their community, they're going to work on it, unfortunately.
But not to say the ones that don't die, but we need to find a way to get some improvement going.
You know, I bumped into a gentleman the other day who has a CDL.
He's worked high-level landscaping.
And he asked me the other day, just, geez, I would love to work for the city.
And I said, do you have all these licenses?
He says, yes.
He said, well, let me look into it.
So it's, I mean, there are people out there. I think we just have to find a way he did.
Okay. All right. So that and that's the thing.
We need to find a way to get more people. I mean, that's just one, one counselor that when I talk to people in the street,
I said, you know, go and see the cheaper staff or, you know, go to the mayor's office, fill out with the applications that you need to.
But I really think we should shoot more for these four positions, right?
So I need a recruitment plan in place, and I want to see an increase in the amount of positions.
So that's what I'd like to see. Thank you.
Councilor Larkson.
Thank you, Mr. President.
If I could, as just part of the report, last year we had actuals on the budgets that was requested from the last few previous years.
And I, as one member of the council, think it's very helpful to have actuals to see where we stand on each line item at the end of any given fiscal year.
So I'm not sure why it was taken out of this particular budget process, but I'd like to see it back in.
Do you want to see year-to-date actuals for like $2,000 next year?
Correct, correct. And I believe they were in the previous budgets.
also Brian did you put together a wish list to the mayor's office did you have
your for 20 meeting for personnel in general on personnel I you know I've
expressed like I've expressed to you I you know my wish list as far as you know
they need qualities in each department, right?
From the equipment point of view,
all right, you know, between the mayor and the council,
I mean, people have been breaking a lot of the years
putting us in the 21st century in an equipment point.
Yeah, I still need some, not much this year.
I haven't got to that discussion, you know, with the mayor.
So, you know, yes and no, all right.
So you haven't had that discussion prior
to the budget being submitted to us?
As far as personnel, I think-
Any GPW wish list that you had?
Informally, yes.
Informally, no, I did not put it in black and white.
But informally, I told, I mean, desperately need
a background for the highway department.
I need a couple of things from, like, Nesta, the parks
department, just in conversation.
So, Mr. President, I think it would be helpful,
and maybe, I don't know if it's too late now,
But it would be helpful to see what is being requested of the administration from the different
department heads and what actually finds its way into the budget and what is, you know,
something that they're looking into and so forth.
If we can somehow get that type of level of detail, I think it would be extremely helpful
because we've been talking about the number of employees in DPW for several years now.
And I agree for, and that's assuming we, it's funded.
that's assuming that we hire four. There's no guarantee we're going to hire four.
We may at the end of FY20 finish out with no hires, so it's great to say four,
but that doesn't even account for four. Brian, the catch basins. What are we
putting in for this year's FY20, the cleaning of catch basins? Okay, that's in
water? I'll wait till we get to water. Okay. Is that also the repair catch
spaces in your budget of this okay that's that's in this too okay and what
about hot talk there's black talk all right some is highway some is water right
so so in highway no we always have concerns during certain times of the
year that we can't get the black talk just is that still an issue well yes and
No, okay, you're getting it at the whim of,
we'll say like kind of venting, right?
That a winter eye, you know, could be 20 degrees,
I was like, ah, he's not even open,
I'm not gonna call, you call it E30, he's open, all right?
Winter time is a hit or miss,
whether they're open or they're not, all right?
Summer time, of course, of course,
about the same, they're all open, all right?
And, you know, this winter eye,
every opportunity we had, all right,
that we felt we could do some pain.
We call, we call seven o'clock in the morning
to see if the plant is open.
I mean, if that plant's open,
there's a truck right out the door by 7.30,
heading up there to pick it up, right?
So, you know, we are acting aggressively
12 months a year on targets, right?
The personnel is there.
The daily personnel, minimum two guys every day
are committed to follow us with the hot box
or if it's a large bore, you know, a dump truck with a roller, so I really don't depend.
So in part also we really try to continue on a daily basis.
It's an uphill battle, but the truck is not sitting in the garage collecting dust like I said.
And just another point.
Where do we stand with the bombardiers that we're going to do snow removal in the business districts and so forth?
But we do have a sidewalk tractor that is run out of Pax about it.
But again, we focus in on the major sidewalks.
As far as the sidewalk is in front of storefronts, we have not been doing it.
It's in ordinance. They should be doing it.
Snow removal after numerous snowstorms.
We have the windrows.
We clean the squares up after a 20-year snowfall.
we call it all the way, as you know, all right. But you get a, you know, never saw some three, six
inches. Storefront is responsible, you know, by ordinance, right. And we work very close with Dennis
and John, right, because we're out there, we call in, go here, go there, they're not doing this,
they're not doing that, so they're saying, yeah, everybody works well together on that.
So, so what is, what is that little truck to do that, the snowman?
All right, well Ring Road is an example right in front of the schools let's say
like the book school all right you know we clean that all right a lot of you know
active and passive recreation areas all right we move it all around all right
goes up Winthrop Street does the sidewalk on Winthrop Street yeah move
it all around because it is a registered piece so you can just you
when we drive it on the street, all right?
And it's really a case of, you know,
where do we need it the most?
All right, as far as if we're having a fixed route, all right?
It has a small fixed route, but after that, it's all full.
Because the other thing too is, all right,
the guy that may be driving it right now,
he may have just got off, okay,
a 12-hour skid to the big snow fight.
And Mike pulls them off of that and pops in that,
so I got to look at the human factor,
two of their snowmaps.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councilor Marsh. Councilor Covell.
Councilor Scott probably asked many of the questions I was going to ask, but I'm good with it.
Vice President Longo.
Thank you.
With regards to, I have a lot of sentiments in my colleagues, too, with regards to personnel
and working to bring it in-house a little bit more with regards to the money we pay contractors.
But on the issue of the time frames and when you do it, can you give a...
There's an update with regards to crosswalks.
When they're going to be...
I've been trying to get him in for the last two weeks.
As a matter of fact, Chief Buckley has some serious concerns as well.
Yes.
And, of course, the month of April was lost.
Most of May was lost.
And, see, there's only three large, I call it, municipal companies that do lightning.
Yes, you do have your little small companies that will do a parking lot or whatever, but
I'm talking, you know, a major arterial, one in a double yellow, all right?
There's only three companies, all right, within the $4.95, and it's a fight to the finish,
all right?
I'm fighting all the time to stand, call me and summon, and he grabs it.
Me, where I grab it, he calls me, you took my truck, all right?
But right now, all right, they're paving up a 93, all right?
93 in the Dutchess area. The three companies are up there, no
sooner is the asphalt put down and they put the skips right on that road there.
Mass Highway, in a lot of people, is unwritten rules out there.
Traffic markings is one of them. Rock Salt is another. Mass Highway has quite
already statewide before anybody and then it's whatever's left over so that
compounds and we have no ability to do this in-house I need a big truck
madam vice-president I need I need the big a big truck that would carry you
know 25 gallons of traffic paint capacity you know do we have a personnel
liquid do it do a personal train to do it no a small job madam vice
President, you want to pay the handicap we'll say here in the building? Absolutely.
All right, but Claire, is the equipment to do anything on it? No.
So what are we
working on now? We're working on potholes, mainly the main crews out on the
streets? Well, you know potholes is just one of the things we're doing, all right?
You know, rebuilding catch basins that have collapsed, all right? In some
this is the serious sidewalk issues as a result of either buckling the undermining
trying to get those all right you know we may not be doing all half a street but
if it's in front of two houses but we're trying to address what we can
internally all right to put out the real public safety emergencies you know
As a matter of fact, earlier in the week, we got a problem.
As a matter of fact, from one of the counselors,
I forget which one.
But anyway, a couple of serious puddles
in one of the streets.
All right, no problem.
I gave it a hiring plan.
They went up there, all right?
Wasn't just a couple of puddles.
These were bomb craters.
Bomb craters.
OK, fine.
We can do it.
But in doing it, what did we find?
A broken water box.
I had the water department fix that they churned it not one of the houses in the government
There was a catch base and ready to collapse
well
There's the training in the mindset. All right
You go once
Don't I
So he had a fix sorry the gate here had to get the deep box new chimney and everything else in the ground
Hi, we had to come back in and rebuild the catch base that I have for the paper straight
All right, and this is what we're running into where
I'll do an end of money in front of a house.
I turn around and it's like four houses on the other side.
It's like, we can't walk away.
We're gonna stay here, right?
The capability, the knowledge, and the know-how
is the DP Deli, right?
It's the length of time something takes
based on the number of manpower, right?
And that's why we backed up consistently.
If you have a mic, you will, sir.
Just to make sure.
So we talked before about headcounts.
So you said you have 49 plus four vacancies which comes to 53.
So do you know how many are in each department right now?
I'm just curious to see if the vacancies are in it.
Where are the vacancies?
Are they all on highway or?
Two are in cemetery.
Two in cemetery?
One in Farr Street and one in highway.
That
was a water.
That's a water.
In the cemetery?
It's in the cemetery of water.
Water?
No.
So what water in the highway, right?
Change that to water, right?
Water.
So one in water.
Two in cemetery.
There's one more, right?
One in forestry.
Okay. Okay.
Any more questions regarding Highway? No, we're good. Okay. Moving on to Cemetery.
We wouldn't know.
Must I explain it all?
Yes, sir.
We're about to leave.
So
the personal services from 2019 were $480,660.
The fiscal year 2020 request is $579,250.
Ordinary expenses in fiscal year 2019 were a negative $685.
And the request this year is a negative $58,890.
There's an increase in cemetery repair and maintenance.
Okay, so that's, okay, so the Secretary of Bathroom, okay.
Structural repairs and improvements, Mr. President.
Okay, that'll sum it up.
What will that work be completed through the chair?
Uh, do you know when that work will be completed?
No, we have more of the time, it's, you know, they have to still go out and get, you know, folks who think that would be just.
So the early stage is that?
Okay, so in the early stages nothing's gone out to bid yet to the building on the side for environment. Okay, correct
What's the what's the negative amounts in that it says cemetery other services slash project
Okay
What was the chair, what was the, how much did it go down by?
There's a memo from Anne-Marie to the mayor in the back, it's 30B.
That will come in the actuals, though, too, right?
I thought it was an expense because those are supplemental.
Does anyone have a personal idea about it here?
I do.
Of course he does, Adam does, and of course he does.
This is 2009.
2008, which has already put it in his mind.
The Rayman budget.
Okay, and I'll be back.
Does anyone have specific questions regarding the severance?
It looks like the heating bill has gone up a little bit. Is that correct?
The heating expense has gone up. There's a fight.
This is the 19 budget sale and lots and grays for January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017 was $222,000.
all 222,400. Right, so it went down 100,000. Right, this year it was 139,600. And last year it was 222,400.
Is that because we're running out of space? No, it's because people died. What?
The economy's so good. The economy's so good.
Any other questions regarding the
Any retirements or expect another cemetery?
No.
What are the hours of the minimum that work in the subreddit?
Pop hours?
8.34.
They're daily, you know, 7.04.
But of course, depending on, you know, some religious police,
the services may fluctuate and there was some sunset and,
you know, so we work with those to accommodate them.
And that also includes, you know, services to me for Saturdays as well.
They're open on a regular schedule. They don't stay open late on Wednesday and then close early on Friday like other city departments.
Yeah, they're open on a regular schedule. The watch that's usually in the window doesn't lock down at night.
Any other cemetery questions?
Moving on. Next to parks.
Oh, can we hold this one for a couple of hours?
I second that.
Parks 2019 personal services $488,024 fiscal year 2020 request $517,121 ordinary expenses
Expenses 2019, 288,633 ordinary expenses, I'm sorry, fiscal year 2020 request for ordinary
expenses, 287,420.
Any questions regarding parks, council or the night?
Can you just talk a little bit about what the contracted services are at the pool and
pond? Is that testing for?
Yeah, testing being, is testing itself on it, that's correct.
And then what's the other dog, what do you call it?
Geese. Yeah, the geese. Yeah.
Geese control? Yeah, geese control.
And how are we doing with the dog mess bag in our box?
We got enough in the budget for that?
That's on 5, 4, 6, 0, 14, 6, 8.
That's on 1, 4, 6, 0, 14, 6, 8.
Those are the waste bags and for those side going highway, that's with that 5, 4, 6, 8.
What number again was that?
That's on 14, 6, 8.
31,000, supplies number two.
Okay.
Oh, okay.
With the food for the inmates, so we didn't have anything last year after the chair?
No, it's a new account, it's so I can keep track of it.
because they've come out of the contract money.
So,
there's all the problems in the inmates,
while the product and pilot, you know?
What do we use in the-
That's the police department, yeah.
Through the chair, what do we use in the inmates
for unregulated, what do we use in the world?
Any, anything that I'm going to from daily housekeeping,
all right, to painting the interiors of buildings,
you know, some, you know, brush cutting, you know, Mike does repairs and rebuilds the infields
on ball fields, you know, in some cases you could say supplement, you know, the existing
parks staff, but a lot of times it's work that we would just normally not be able to
get to. But as well as that, we share them, you know, off hours, I'll use that
with Johnny Knack at the schools. I paint the interior of the school
buildings. One of the things that the DMHs will do in the
summertime or school vacations or whatever. In that particular case, he
picks up the tab when he has them.
It's a worthwhile program. We
You do not pay for the salary of the officer.
All we have to do is feed them.
That's it.
That's the only expense that comes with the labor.
It's just a fee.
Yeah, and all of these inmates, I mean,
this is state, not county.
All of them have under five years of time left, all right?
And they got one foot out the door.
They know if they blow it, they go behind the wall,
they go back to the wall holes where they go, all right?
And they start all over again.
It's definitely, I wish I had several of those crews
certain times of the year to do some
of the front work, the bull work.
But you know, cleaning that culvert,
fun-wise, there's a perfect job
they'd like to get done.
Just give them the tools for them to go.
We don't have any cement workers there in prison?
You'd be surprised. There's cement workers,
workers, electricians.
There's a lot of them.
Is there a list of updates that the parks need or safety concerns?
Okay, well, obviously we get the request from constituents every day on a day-to-day basis.
But as well as that between Mike and his staff, that they're going around in these parks themselves every day.
Something has to be fixed. Sometimes Mike has it done immediately.
Sometimes it's put on a list of things to do that they get at a later date.
So that list, can we get a copy of the list of things that still need to be done?
Yeah, we can get something for you out of my personal setup problem.
I know that lack of staff is a big issue, but do our crews do daily sweeps of the parking
playgrounds for like needles, and I hate to say where we are right now.
I know we don't have the staff, but is that something that, you know, we do?
Okay, Mike, I think we've been, as far as daily, to be honest with you,
in an ideal world, you'd like to, but I know it doesn't happen, right?
Because, again, it depends on how many people he has in,
in order to schedule for the daily, and be in the battles.
I mean, that's two guys, that's five.
They may only have three that come in today.
Right.
So, again, these are the things we get calls on,
And the neighbor communities, system parks, the recreation parks, our crew goes out and
does that on a daily basis.
So that's dangerous stuff.
So again, it just goes back to the number of employees.
So with every issue we have, the basic common denominator is lack of numbers.
So I just want to say that's something like that, Councilor, you said it would sort of like traveling out of slippery slope.
I mean, to have, you know, an employee of DPW out there for one of their jobs being needles, they go.
What they do is usually what my crew does is they go through the playground as they clean the playground.
One of the things they're trained to look for are hypodermic needles, unfortunately, but that's that's something they do every day.
They do not, well, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we tried to see all the barrels.
And their advice to check the playgrounds, under bushes,
etc. where we found them in the past.
We haven't found any in part of the past six to eight months.
We'll have any reports of them.
I'm not saying that you can check through Armstrong if they might have been.
So people get calls from people that have the idea that we should do it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
No, that's great that we should get three, but Friday, yeah.
So like you said trash removal is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?
Yes.
That happens without a doubt, right?
Yes, OK.
That's at the parks, but not the business districts and stuff.
The parks are just around the business.
But as far as I'm just going to address that, I admit you are early, daily, 92 miles.
He hasn't done it to a science.
I read that every day.
We adjust that science and look at the barrel.
So that's it in front of Oasis.
But one person empties out 92 barrels a day?
Yep.
Every square.
Go some hillside, hardware, all the way down to Haines Square and everything in between.
Even on the weekends?
I didn't get two 2-vowels.
No, just went again.
Mind if you find it.
That goes back to what I said, I want a six day a week operation.
I was in West Hampton Square.
Nothing for two values.
If we're working, Councilor, if we're working on an event, we'll say,
I'll break a guide for you like I did last week.
Last week I had the road race going.
You know, I had people out there for traffic control, assistant chief.
I pulled a guide for you.
I said empty the barrels in the squares.
I, as the race is going, what's he going to do?
Work?
So if it's there, I do it, but up the flames, no, I don't.
Yeah, I never get complaints about it.
You don't want to get complaints about the one in front of Oasis?
I don't.
The one in front of Oasis?
No.
CBS on Main Street gets a lot of complaints.
Yeah.
So I'm going to put one by the...
Oh, it's a good one.
Yeah.
It's heavily done.
I'm going to get shingled up.
That's the only one.
Like all my correct six full-time one vacancy
Wow, seven full-time one vacancy spoiled now
Good all seven that's seven mr. President, you know one of those is my
Oh, okay. Oh, this is seven full time. Okay. I see one. It says vacant. I'm like, I'm like,
I thought, yeah, it's the wrong tab. The wrong effort. And then I think it says thinking. Yes.
That's right. We have a new person. Right.
who transferred from cemetery to park yeah so that's that's just seven full
time I can't keep up
okay that's fine as long as you know the names but just trying to figure out
how many full time.
Look, highway has to wait until that is not true anymore
because they know that.
That's a picture in time, but it was submitted to us.
Okay, thank you.
Any other questions regarding the parks?
Parks?
What's called parks?
Okay.
First.
You guys need a filter to call.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
The first three.
First of all services 2019 299,290.
Fiscal 2020 request 312,640.
Ordinary expenses for 2019 226,460.
The request for 2020 ordinary expenses is $2,016,400.
It looks like there's an increase in vehicle repairs, material and supplies.
There's an increase.
We're just picking up the logs, so I did a two check of the price and it was like $4,000 or something like that, and that saves on the vehicle and all of that.
I'm looking here at ordinary expenses and I see $102,000,000 in the budget.
$1,000 up from $75,000 from last year's budget for an arborist and contract for stumper removal.
Now in the past budgets that we've had when Jesse was around, Jesse was the arborist,
the tree warden and the foreman of the forestry department.
Last year when we had budget discussions, I was talking about contracting out services.
Again, I gave a great speech about the race to the bottom, about how we're investing
in people that aren't investing in the community.
I will pay them $75,000 to perform services, and I think that those services should be
done in-house.
Now we're seeing an increase in this line item of $27,000 from the previous year.
I'm going to be safe to say that we could have a contract for stump removal in an
abarist employed in-house at a salary of $102,000 a year.
What's not a salary because he's actually a contractor right so in terms of Earl's ability
to be a contractor controlled direction do we tell him when to come in when to go home
Does he use our equipment, does he use our tools, does he use our trucks, does he bring his own?
Because if we're telling him when to come in, we're telling him when to work, he's using our equipment and our trucks, he's an employee.
We shouldn't be paying him as a contractor. He should be working under us.
Well, you know, when we're paying for him, he works in conjunction with the three-way line and the forest, right?
You know, by state law, every community has to have a certified operas, right?
And, you know, Aggie and I have been talking about this for a long time, all right?
And I was uncomfortable with the fact that, yes, we had a girl as a tree man coming in
helping-
He was a step-brother.
Exactly.
Right?
But in the case of, you know, whether a tree must come down or will remain and everything
else, it's like, you know, cake with a candle.
I got Aggie, and now I've got Burrow.
So that way, if a tree, in their opinion, remains.
It remains.
And it's not a statement, it remains.
When I've taken it down, if a tree has to come down,
then by law, they have now the legal authority
under the Commonwealth.
Brian, how far should you take it down?
OK, let's go.
And that's the end of it.
Up to this point, up to prior to Burrow,
Somebody could challenge this city and say, what legal authority are you going under?
There really wasn't much for us to stand on other than, okay,
even somebody would go to sales pitch that the tree should remain or the tree has to come down.
But as well as that, not just up or down, but also a case of selective pruning.
The tree has to be pruned, pruned professionally, don't do a hack job, but don't do the Vs like
we've seen out there with Ys and they have to do with us.
By having the two of them combined, they can give directions of forestry and forestry.
What to do are not different, and because, again, they have a further extent to the
background.
So who's in charge?
The foreman?
The avarice?
The warden?
Who makes these determinations?
Fire is what? A removal?
Yeah, tree branch is coming down.
You know, who reports?
Tree branch coming down, it could be Aggie or Earl.
Tree that actually comes down, okay.
It's a case of, all right, they work together.
All right, yeah, you could recommend the tree coming down.
Earl would then look at it and say it's coming down.
Nobody then could challenge it.
What's the organizational child look like
in terms like day-to-day responsibilities and reporting?
Okay, yeah, Aggie works directly for me.
the forestry. They're off to the side.
Exactly, working directly.
Did you want to say something, Andy?
If I may, please do.
Yes, as stream warden in the state of Massachusetts,
stream warden has the authority to remove trees,
to design trees for removal.
Thankfully, we have Earl on here now, so he has a second opinion.
As is by the power certification,
my certification is in landscape design from Robert,
which qualifies me in the position
but now we have two of us so if there's a case off and there's a case it's 50-50 or what do you think?
Can we go up in the bucket, see what damage you can see from that we can't see from the ground.
So it's a wonderful, you know, we work very well together.
So say there's a disagreement, whose decision is the one that goes?
Bottom line, all right, it comes to me.
All right, and then, you know, they got to put on their, uh, these kind of salesman act, right?
And I'll go, I'll go whatever way you got to go.
So in terms of statutory and legal authority, the warden is the operating staff, the same exact power as the state law.
I mean, ultimately, the mayor can say yes.
Well, that's on appeal here.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
Ultimately, all right.
But from the field point of view, because, you know.
So why do we have an arborist?
You need one.
Again, but I just heard that we need one by state, but what our tree wouldn't just say is that she can do that
But but then if it's challenged by anybody
I mean it doesn't have to be another method residents saying no that tree has to stay
So why do we have a tree wouldn't that?
Of all due respect, why isn't a tree one in the hour?
Paying two people a lot of money the hour is does not work for
All right, he works an average variable three days a week, all right, unless I need him
you know, for something, for something.
I pay him a hundred grand for three days a week.
All right, no, I have to pay him a hundred grand now.
I'm sorry.
No.
Oh, all right.
If it was, I'd pay an average.
Fifty-three.
All right.
How much is the average getting, Kate?
Fifty-three.
He's only getting, um...
Oh, that's, that's probably, that's not real.
Yeah, there is it.
That's low-end.
Low-end.
Oh, so that's Earl's left his shoulder.
What happened?
He spent about a few hours.
He spent.
He's getting paid $25.
No.
I was getting a really cheap deal there.
So he's getting paid, so the,
Aburus is getting paid $25 an hour.
I was thinking about $2,100 per week.
So you get $2,100 per week.
That's dollars.
No.
Wow.
$2,100 a week?
That's a week.
Wow.
That's impossible.
But it's not every week that he's getting paid.
So is he with us like 52 weeks a year or is he just in the summer?
The successful record, what about the shift?
That's 84 hours in a week.
So how much do we pay him in fiscal year 2019?
We get that information that that would be good to have.
We can find out how much we pay the I.
In 2019, it actually probably did. It was how many hours worked as well, although I know we can back into that.
If you take a look at the salaries of certified arborists out there that are in the public sector,
you talk about $80,000 plus or minus a year's job.
is stop removal and his salary.
So what's his salary?
What's stop removal?
They need to break up the work.
It's the difference.
Right?
It's a thousand dollars a week.
Oh, yeah, that's what I'm saying.
So out of this one or two thousand dollars a week,
what's the difference?
What's the difference?
Let me have any way to get how she's made in 2019.
Yeah, I could do that.
I mean, now or now.
Let me go check the table records.
Is that real?
Well, how much is stump removal out of that figure?
Do we know how much stump removal is in this figure?
It's 102.
And is this complete?
I did about $55,000 to a stump removal.
So the difference is his salary, then.
Which is $62,000.
Or is there anything else in here?
No, it's just a stump.
But like I said, trying to get the numbers right
on the outside, we're getting a buyer.
We're getting a steal.
I didn't say it was right.
It's like I just said to judge, right?
You know, there are different communities
that do have avarice, and you're flirting around 80,000
and then some for their own on the full-time payroll.
So we are, I mean, he has years of experience,
years of experience in this job.
We actually did an RFP in F519,
and the bits that came in were so high
we could not reward it.
So I rejected all of it.
You can hire the guy and make him a full-time employee.
That's exactly what, well, not full-time,
it's a part, he's an independent contractor.
So he's not on payroll and benefits.
Does he drive his own truck?
Or do you use the city's truck?
No.
He has his own truck?
Does he make his own hours?
Yes, on the road.
He works, he works, he, he, he,
generally will work, you know,
seven to four with the fire district, right?
Unless, you know,
and he has something special or I have something special,
then, you know, I'll say, you know,
Okay, I'm in need of your stay.
Is he also the person that grinds the stumps?
Okay, all right, okay.
It wants, not now.
He wants, not anymore.
No, absolutely not.
I strictly have him employed because he's an analyst.
So who does the stump grind?
Okay, we do it in an house.
We do that in an house.
Yep.
Well, yeah.
That's good.
Yeah, but it's the determination what to do to achieve
to me is the most important thing.
I'm going to be pruning it, taking it out, taking it down, even playing it.
I'm blessed. I have Aggie and I got a role.
Do we all agree everything? Of course not.
But the bottom line is, at the end, whatever it may be.
I'm sorry, and that's...
Aggie, correct me if I'm wrong. You are certified to do that.
Right, so that's what I'm going to confuse in.
When you're talking about a line item that's adding $60,000 that says where if we have I just I don't understand
If we have an obverse, so do we need their obverse or don't we need their obverse if Aggie says that she's the one that certified
That's what that's a confusion. I'm coming into it
We all know that it's under state law
the three warden has the authority to rule the city August is an extra layer of
protection as Brian has explained in case anybody has any questions about those
decisions I will also say that I'm a tree warden that does not go up in the bucket
truck I don't really go out with chainsaw and do the actual work but I
do all the inspections and I do all the work sheets and so forth.
So
He's incredibly talented, out of risk, that you could imagine.
He's worked since, you know, days ago.
He's worked with Juan Roe and Boston Cromby.
He knows everything about every historic, mature tree.
He's an extremely great guy.
I think of him as a mentor.
However, we have great respect for one each other,
for one each other, for each other's opinions,
and we would be hot pressed without Roe.
He has the, the other people on the far street crew
do not have circulation.
And that's, I think, when we do the budget, that's the biggest question that people come
back to us and say, why this, why that, and that's when we just need the answer to support
that.
If I may really quick, just while we're on the point, so what does it take, I honestly
don't know, what does it take to become an obverse?
Is it some sort of, how do you get the certification, I guess?
school. Is it like a four-year program?
You mass start a school. There are certain universities that have programs to become certified
office. You can also do it. It takes many years to most people, like seven years, eight years.
It took more than four years to get my certification. Okay.
So, because I was working in a long school part of time. So it was a long process.
However, I agree, and I think Brian would agree that to have arborists on the crew,
especially younger, enthusiastic, hardworking individuals who have the education in the background
and who want to continue their certification like a teacher or anyone else and who hopefully
would like to be the tree warden or the city arborist in the future, it seems that would be a nice one strategy for today.
Thank you.
Councilor Knight.
So the tree warden can't be an obverse unless they have the obverse certification?
Incorrect.
You're right.
It's not necessary to be a certified obverse to be a tree warden.
Right.
I said a tree warden needs to have the obverse certifications to be an obverse.
Right?
Oh, yes.
Yes.
Right, so.
The tree separate thing.
But an abarist, if they have the certification as an abarist, can't serve as a tree one.
So I guess what we're looking at is what's the duplication of efforts here?
It's really not a duplication. Anybody can call themselves an abarist who has a chainsaw and pick-up truck.
And a certification as an abarist?
No, you can call yourself an abarist.
I can call myself a Mason. I can call myself any artist.
I can call myself a basketball player if I shoot free throws in my driveway, but I'm not a basketball player.
But an individual who has certification has gone from extensive training and has gone from testing through the state to during that certification.
So you need a certified obverse.
Yes, exactly.
by right can serve as an also a tree wouldn't if they get a certification but
if a tree wouldn't get the certification as a tree wouldn't they can't serve as an
operas right okay there's certain things that within the same field Adam okay
but in this case here it's not only okay another layer of expertise this city is
blessed to have but it's also another layer of protection okay in the event
something to occur as a result of us doing something under not as we've
in the past, we've had one person hold both functions, right?
OK, as far as the one in the aberration.
Well, the girl happens to be the aberriss.
But his company, which was Earl the Aberriss,
was a company that did tree removal and everything else.
That's what the city had originally hired him for,
his ability to take down trees, grind stumps,
and everything else. As time has gone on, Earl has sort of wound down, the guy's in his 70s.
I know he had that.
He's sort of winding down as far as the company has been sent. I don't know whether or not his
family wanted to continue or not, but he himself wanted to continue, but as far as...
None of that stuff's my concern.
Right.
But he wanted to continue, so it's like, okay, we can still use him, but now
I can really use him with that because of his license.
So last question, it's legally.
So that layer of it, financially,
if we took down a tree and that someone questioned legally,
that would be the financial, you know, blue key stuff.
Is that something that we're trying to avoid?
Yeah, it's not only that, but it's also a case of, I just
say we make a bad call on a tree that you call up the tree in front of my house
blah blah blah all right now Aggie or whoever trees perfectly healthy it's
not the wrong district now all of a sudden that night are we gonna storm
that you comes down in your house all right this way here by having okay the
two experts in agriculture. Okay, I'm making the call that yes or no. And what can make
the call that we have to that's right. But again, we're very fortunate, particularly
not only have it, but also I meant for the price. So it's worth worth a layer. Oh, absolutely.
Trying to get like I said, trying to get 80,000, we'll set you up an 80,000 for an
actual certified average. And it goes beyond the age of working out of us, right?
Okay, no, absolutely. He just doesn't sit there at point. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, he's great
Yeah, I was wondering why he had a sizable contract with the city. So I didn't realize he was
You know decreasing his yeah
Okay, any other questions regarding parties
Thank you
So as of May 31st, he made $40,850.
And if they get a contract, that's not from calendar.
January 1st, it's from September of last year.
OK, so it's spread out from September 2018 to May 31st.
$40,850 for the hours.
OK, we're going to forestry?
Moving on.
A normal good, but we're alone.
I mean, good as far as, there are no further, let me clarify, there are no further questions
regarding forestry.
Okay, moving on to water and sewer.
We should have done it, we should have gone first.
You know, that's not fair.
He's always here first.
Okay, water and sewer.
He was expecting an ex-singer, I guess.
2019 appropriation for personal services, $1,749,878.
fiscal year 2020 request $1,747,711.
Ordinary expenses, 2019 appropriation, $22,105,002.
2020 request for ordinary services, $22,421,154.
So let's look at this slide increasing utilities, office equipment.
The apparent maintenance sidewalks has a significant increase to 326,000.
Decrease in hydrants, decrease in catch basins,
slight increase in building repairs, maintenance,
significant decrease in storm water.
The President, just while we're going through it.
Yes.
Just the catch basins, because I asked them to be at the department.
Is this for repair?
That's for cleaning.
Clean.
In case the supply contract it gave us clean catch basins, 4,000 catch basins and about $50 for catches.
Right, and that covers the entire city?
Yeah.
Is there a zero?
Give it a take, one or two, my 4,555 catch basins.
That includes catch basins even in the parking lot, the school parking lots.
It's just not the streets, but it's everything.
They still use the colored marking system when they do the catch basin?
Yeah, each year, and that changes from year to year.
One year could be fluorescent green, okay,
and make sure you have fluorescent yellow.
Every year, they are changed.
So that way, we know whether or not it's clean or not.
And most generally, we have somebody with the contractor daily.
So that way, we know he's actually going to the bottom of the valve cleaning it and not just taking the top off.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay, thank you.
Councilor Caviello.
Are we doing the mosquito...
We're doing it now.
Yeah, as it's being directed.
That's as it is said through the border health.
But it is being done as we speak.
Spring.
How many areas do we spray?
Or do we spray?
No, not spray. I mean catch basin.
Like spray spray.
You're treating the catch basins for mosquitoes.
Is every single catch basin cleaned on a yellow basis?
We have a broken-up spray as well.
If you do some of this, Frank, you'll do half an hour.
The reason for that is if it's not here, the fiscal is because of what?
The middle of the winter we don't clean the bases.
Okay.
Cartel night?
Contracted services.
Looks like it's going to get $350,000 in contracted services.
Down $75,000 from last year.
Can you go over that for me please?
It's
5-3-8-0.
That's a clearer maintenance. That's $18,000. Then we have the doodling street pump, which is $20,000.
We do want to have flow height to adjust between the big TRV, that's pressure, reduce avail, and that's about $10,000.
Then we use Weston-Sanson, they do the VAC flow, and that contract is $51,580.
And then we want rapid flow coming in and that's about,
he said about $20,000.
What's rapid flow?
So rapid flow is, there's a big industrial drain cleaning company.
In addition to that, they have the cameras.
So that way if we need a line camera, run a throat.
These are services that I normally and customarily performed in-house and
truck worth about 450,000, okay, to do what they do are, and that's only on an as-leave lease.
Only needed another 100,000.
Can we get a breakdown of the contracted services and what they're going to pay for throughout the entire department?
The entire department.
The department, on the line at the highway department, the cemetery, all the contracted services,
and what they are, the figure, and what that figure represents as to what service is going to be provided.
Do you want to ask for last year?
Exactly.
Can I get it all, and they just threw it away?
So you want an item I have less to...
Okay.
So the whole DPW...
DPW, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Clifton, could you get that for the question?
Thank you.
Any questions regarding water and sewer?
Just catch, face and repair.
Does that fall under?
We would catch, face and repair and fall under.
Has it fallen line at 1,015?
5255?
Is that the $200,000 one?
The $200,000.
I thought that was just for cleaning.
That's prepared.
That's catch basin supplies in the contractor.
Catch basin supplies, which is they need a catch basin.
No, but I'm talking about repair of catch basins.
It's in there.
Well, they do it.
We do it. We do that in-house.
But if we needed to do a ring and cover, if we need the castings or he needs covers, gate boxes, and chimneys, that's the account that comes out.
It's basically the materials for it.
Right.
So we've found that by even though it's a store process, by rebuilding these catch basins in-house, they'll last a lot longer than they've done.
Absolutely.
So and I know there's all different levels of repair of catch basins, but I can tell you first-hand
I've seen a lot that are major repair major malfunction that are really sinking
Yeah, and what does it cost for one that's major repair like when you have to go and build the
infrastructure below on the catch base?
So you guys don't do that
No, no, I wonder who we're going to be doing water.
Well, that's why we went on the highway.
So spawn drains are highway.
Catch basin cleaning and the maintenance of the spawn drainage system,
the city is under highway.
Right.
In the water budget.
OK, in the water budget.
Right, so this $200,000 pays for catch basin repair.
Supplies, right.
Supplies.
Like if they buy any new catch basin.
Where's the repair?
OK, that's lame up.
that's done by in-house highway department.
Right, and when I asked the highways, they said no, it's under water and sewer.
Well, for the materials, the materials.
No, no, catch basin repair.
Okay.
Yeah.
Catch basin repair.
It's under highway.
So how much, right?
I mean, we come out of that.
Materials in the water, labor is high.
Right, so I was looking for how much we spend on catch basin repair.
Okay.
And I waited for sewer because you said it was under sewer.
Oh, okay.
That would be under the payroll.
Okay.
Every job is different and, you know, you never know from year to year, I can give you an average cost.
I can give you a cost of a complete rebuild and I can give you an average cost of a partial rebuild.
So how many catch basins right now do we have?
Well, 3,000.
3,000.
How many are needed to repair?
Okay, shooting from the hip.
All right, I'll venture the guess is probably maybe 400 out there, 300.
Okay, that some form even if it just settled a little bit it's got to be rebuilt up to break
I think it's I think it's a low estimate, but that's only my opinion well
I'd rather be I see just in my neighborhood three or four just in the square block that are falling in right literally
Like you could put your foot in there
It's bad
So what are our plans to address these three or four hundred catch basins?
Okay, when we have a crew available, we know we can, on a daily or weekly basis, or whatever.
I mean, you know, like, well, Friday, Friday, I had the crew that I had in from
Ohio, they were reviewing one of the Columbus School. I redo my class space.
So it's like, when I get the crew, you know, it's like, it's a real priority.
That was near school. That's a priority. They're out there, they're legal.
So, at what point would we subcontract out of that?
We don't.
And quite honestly, I don't know if I would or not
we've had Basin's rebuilt by contractors.
All right?
And the ones right now that got plates on them
were rebuilt in recent years by contractors
that have collapsed because of shoddy workmanship.
If they had something out there, they'd be easy.
All right?
No, do it this way, not that way.
That's basically what it comes down to.
Is that the type of contract we're hiring or is that just the question?
They're all like that.
They don't take any pride in what they're doing.
They don't particularly catch basins.
It's, again, it's not a med-finition.
I've talked to the guys with the Mass DOT.
They go out of their mind.
They rebuild basins right here in Mystic Valley Park.
We just stepped in the conch shell last year.
They collapsed it already, not even a year old.
They've done, and they've done out-hubs.
They want to mean quarters, that's what they want to be done.
They got to do so many a day.
My only concern is that where we have so many,
we're never going to get a handle on this.
And it's great to do them in-house,
and it seems that's the preferred method.
But how are we going to address these 300 or 400?
There's some out there.
There's one on Riverside Ave I've reported
ten times already. I think the cost can go into it. That's how deep it is.
I know.
So it's a real safety concern.
I just don't think we're doing it.
It all goes back to, I mean, in an ideal world, if I had the DPW,
strictly just doing catch faces, nothing else could never be done.
It's an aging infrastructure.
Right.
And the two or three or four hundred that are out there today, there's another two or three or four hundred waiting to go right behind you.
But you would need, again, a massive pot.
But we really don't have, like you said, shooting at the hip.
We really haven't gone around and itemized these, right?
Oh, we have a list.
So we have a full list of either ones the constituents have called in, possibly our numbers of accounts.
I mean, we have a list, as well as our own isoneas, all right?
So we have a running list that we keep and we address as we go on.
Yes.
So we know what we have to do.
The ones missing on the list are the tiddlers,
like trees and everything else.
I know we don't have everything.
But we have a list of every commodity category,
or potholes, trees, sidewalks, and so whatever you have.
Whichever category you want me to draw, just computer.
Right.
To the chair, just on that,
is this of these lists open to the public?
I mean, do we?
Oh yeah, yeah.
We've had a lot of times met a vice president,
people that have been on a list for a particular
that will leave a call, or in some cases will come in.
All right, and in either way,
The ladies will address them and we'll repeat back to them all the information they provided to us
and show that we have proof we didn't blow them off.
But do we have it on either our?
Spreadsheets.
They're not on the website.
They should be on the website.
I know the mayor's office controls are reversed, the 311 system.
But how far do we go, council, because it would give your name, your address, your telephone
number.
You know, we put that on the city website.
You don't have to add the name and number.
You can just add what's on the list.
The date was requested.
Yeah, it was a one or five in priority.
And so people know, oh, geez, mine's the only thing.
Well, you can see the thing isn't actually physically categorized.
You can eyeball.
But to really what extent?
To what extent?
cover and jump in the hole. You don't know how far down you have to go. On average, a
minimum four feet. Alright, but in some cases you may have to go the bottom of the
belt and that's ten. How many catchphrases do we still have connected to the sewer system?
Alright, Dan, I don't know. Tim, do you know that? How many catchphrases do we still have connected to the sewer system?
I don't know the number off the top of my head. At this point there are roads and we may not know about it. I don't think
We have any known connections.
Yep.
There's a couple of the heads, that's probably it.
So we addressed, because there was a known list.
There was a smoke test done back some years ago.
And they did them, they were taking them.
Yeah, but there's still some outstanding.
Yeah, up the heads.
But they don't have drainage.
That's why it's tied into the sewer.
No other way to do it, unless they run me off.
One mile down the street.
So every time it rains, that's going out.
And we're treating that as raw sewage.
That's right.
That's cost us.
There ain't too many out here, though.
Well, there was a number.
When I started at a brief time, and we had a lot of them, and I, you know, in Kirkman
Brown, most of them were dressed in something way, with a few handovers, because we don't
have plates to tie into.
So is that being looked at?
It's all part of II.
So that's all part of II.
No, but are we going to...
I mean, these have been existing for years.
Sure,
sure.
I feel like first you're right into the sewer system, rather than making the proper connections.
Do we have any plans to make the proper connections? I know it's expensive.
Sure, I don't have any plans drawn and ready to go. Right.
Any other questions
regarding water and sewer?
Can I make a general statement on DPW in general?
Yeah.
Right away.
You made a statement earlier in the day about the raging agent force, and obviously it's
not getting better.
We're having a problem hiring people.
You know, your biggest obstacle going forward is personnel.
I would think, to be my suggestion, that between yourself and the First House Director and maybe someone else, some type of commission would be formed, a community would be formed to find some type of aggressive plan to bring some people on to your department.
And we do the training program or something, but yours is the most understaffed department in the whole city.
And again, until we, until we actually go out and really devise an aggressive plan,
the decision to be in some serious problems.
But I don't think we never even think about that.
So I'm going to say, you guys do open above what people are asking, doing.
And you say, you're always putting on fires all the time.
Eventually, that's going to start, because you're just going to run out, you're just going to burn because there's so many fires going on.
So again, that would be my suggestion to make part of the report that some type of commission
be formed to start an aggressive plan to hire people,
but whether we train them or do something, but it's going to be done and done soon.
Thank you, Councilor Caviello, Council on Heights.
And I just want to thank Commissioner Carrots for his work.
Staffing levels are something I get a little worked up about sometimes.
And I think it's important to recognize that in FY18 we have 46 boots on the ground,
DBW workers, and FY19 we have 49, and now in the FY20 budget we're looking at 53.
So it's not like things are falling on deaf ears and I do appreciate the work you do, Brian.
I know I can be a little aggressive sometimes when it comes down to this stuff and I do want to thank you for the work you do.
I do appreciate the work you do, and, you know, I apologize for getting a little worked up.
The broadshelves is out, and you know that.
Okay.
The politics is good.
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
Thank you for all of your hard work.
Appreciate it.
Thank you to each of the departments of being here today.
Thank you for being here on a Saturday.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
Thank you, Dave. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
Happy to be in our five days.
Thank you.
I get on that right.
Wait a second.
Did you know what notary?
What the...
Park of the driveway.
Right on the road.
I know that.
That's my right to a much better.
Chat over to some water.
Thank you.
The weekend's a big year.
Show slow things and notary.
Chief Spockley.
Okay, close up the watch.
Sarah.
I appreciate your advice.
It's all based on seniority. It hangs up in that chair. That's a little chair. You're going to go down in a minute.
I have to answer that. I'll take you up.
Yeah, no.
This is great. My neck was hurt.
That's a hot seat. He wants to be in the crowd.
You got the short chair and I'm so short of that.
So next up is the Chief of Police, Chief Buckley, this is our first time on the first budget.
So we have four years this morning.
First budget presentation, Chief. Congratulations.
Oh, we've got to hold on. I've got my questions ready.
I think you have a text and I want a front.
You want to get that?
Can I paraphrase that?
You want me to stop?
Absolutely, don't want to.
I'm probably not sure if you're going to read it, I know you've all said this.
But thanks to the police department, I think it's going very well.
So the largest changes that we've seen obviously start with myself.
And the police chief is replacing a 28-year-old...
Yeah, the police chief is not easy.
It comes with some changes and some modifications,
but we are transitioning and things are going smoothly.
Part of the personnel in the last fiscal year,
we've lost six to retirement and two officers resigned.
One of those officers is technically transferred
to the fire department and moved them to the fire side.
We've also added, graduated from the Academy,
14 police officers, five of them were new highs
in this past fiscal year.
Currently as we stand, personnel wise,
we're down six officers.
We'll lose two more to mandated retirement in July,
one in September and one in February.
So that will all be coming up in this fiscal year.
Those are mandated retirement, so we don't know if anyone else may announce as they go forward.
Some of the exciting things going on at the police station is, you all see, we have broken ground in the police station, we're very happy with that.
It seems to be going smoothly.
All our concerns at this point in time have been addressed as far as I'm concerned properly.
We have our new substation out in the parking lot there.
So we're running a patrol operation out of there.
Just gives us more space at the current police
station for the construction.
One of the things we started early on in my 10 years
of police chief is a recruitment process.
I know you just spent some time talking
in DPW about the hiring.
But law enforcement around the state
is also experiencing difficulty in hiring.
And while we seem to do okay in the civil service list with producing lists every single
time for residents, we certainly would like a more diverse police force.
So we spent some time with the opposite diversity in Osborne and myself when we opened up two
recruitments and we had several sessions where members of the community came in here,
We gave them lessons on the practice tests and exams
and tried to prepare them better for taking the test.
And we're trying to just basically in an easy way
to say, we want you to join our police force.
And we're hoping that that yields a lot of success.
It brings a more diverse department to the city
and that on top of that, sort of a larger changes
and most successful operation changes over the last few
years of police department has to bend what we are
in the Health and Human Services Office.
That is staffed basically, if any of you
work with Detective Robert Lockowitz,
but he is tied in with the opioid crisis
and, well, the mental health crisis
that is going on throughout the state
and, more specifically, the city of Medford.
You've seen, over the past several years,
cities like Cambridge and Summelville
have come up to bring together this crisis
crisis intervention teams. Well, Penny and Rory, myself, Lieutenant KC, Chief Sackle and a lot
positive to this created the unit within the police department. We are fast becoming one of the
most productive and well respected unit in the entire state as a place to that. I hope Penny
and Rory go to other cities and towns about training now. I have given a commitment of
of training all of our offices 100% on crisis intervention
training that goes above and beyond mental health emergency
training for the offices.
And so we've been through that process now in the last year
in training.
Internally, we have done some things
that have focused on addressing some of the sliding,
where the city gets to be more busy for the police departments and so that has also helped
alleviate some of our old defense concerns and we've redesigned our patrol sector.
We've sexually run an east side, west side now on a city wide cap.
I know traditionally a lot of you have heard the police department talk about a sector
one, a sector two, a sector three, a four, so now we're running east side, west side
and city-wide cars.
It allows us to be able to put more,
we're experiencing a lot of busy times on the east side,
it allows us to shift operations there
and be able to control coverage,
while at the same time maintaining
the west side coverage for that.
The, we have increased our traffic unit,
traffic division, where before we had,
we were running a day operation with a sergeant
and two to three traffic officers on the day shift.
We're now running both day shift
and what we refer to as first half,
that's 330 to 1130 on same numbers.
So I'm sorry, not same numbers, it's double numbers.
So we'd have two traffic sergeants
and six traffic enforcement officers on top of that.
And recently we finally got around
and accomplished what I think is one of the best things
going to hide a crime analyst who has vast experience.
I know that I was before the council recently,
we asked for numbers in St. Haines Square.
we have this Rob McIntyre, he came over here,
Sebastian Spanish from Walden,
and he can produce numbers for us,
and he's helping us to be able to identify war areas
where we can produce numbers.
I hope to expand the reporting system
throughout the city
through prime analyst reports
and daily reports and activity.
So everything, I say everything is going well,
it's a police department, right?
So we have our rubs and downs,
But publicly, I'm sure we'll talk about this, the biggest issue I think right now, and probably
hasn't been for years is traffic.
We're doing our best.
We have police officers out there.
And one thing I can't do is to even place a bankhouse just to be in the ocean.
I wish I could let them come in.
But my offices have been addressing it.
We've been open and responsive so far to the community as it relates to that.
It's just going to be a busy summer as far as traffic goes in the city.
Because when we stand any specific questions as far as the budget goes,
we're relatively level funded, give or take,
and there's not much in the way of major changes.
A large part of that is due to what was already discussed earlier by the mayor,
and that's the hiring of civilian dispatches.
We graduated 11 on Friday.
They're going to begin training on Tuesday here.
We are anticipating having three more,
a total of 14 civilian dispatches.
So two of them are in line and we still need to hire one more.
Those civilian dispatches will be funded
and cover all of those inside 911 positions.
And it frees up nine positions for me
as far as police officers.
So they help tremendously to be able to do two things.
One, cover any additional, say, overlapping,
and it shouldn't really impact all the time numbers.
But in addition, I can now stop thinking about
once we do new hires, different divisions.
I want to add offices to that Health and Human Services
unit that we've talked about.
We have other plans for,
we definitely need a few more detectives.
But in addition to traffic,
I'd love to continue to expand the traffic unit.
One of my wish lists ultimately
is to hire an inspection services officer and so those are all sort of on the list of
things to do in the future and but we're comfortable right now with looking at the
budget and we're way out of numbers because of the major transition with the dispatches and
it's been somewhat busy and I take the plan for this but the mayor has been knocking on the
door about hiring new officers so it's nice to say that there's a commitment from the city
from all around to continue to hire us and maintain us at 112 offices and by doing
that I'm going to get some more offices in the Academy and when they come up we
can start adding additional services. Trying to keep up with retirements is
difficult at times because you know what it's all age-based for us at 65 we
have to retire and so not even when started at a certain age and we just
happen to be going through this couple of years where this is lodging on the
to be tied. You have to leave at the end of the month that you turn 65. So keep
up with that. It's going to be a challenge over the next few years. I'm hiring, but so far I think we're doing a good job. We've got five training offices out there now. They should finish their field training program mid-July and we'll have more in the academy as we go forward.
Thank you very much. Chief, first of all, welcome aboard. I know that you've been serving in the capacity now for several months and I'd be lying if I say I wasn't happy with what I'd seen out there in the community.
I've been to a couple of the community police and meetings. You do a great job for those community police and meetings. You're really engaged with people.
You know, one of the most important things you said was that you want people to understand that there's a human being inside that uniform that you wear.
It's not just a police officer, but there's a human being in there and you're a person that people can come and talk to.
I really appreciate the vision that you have for the department.
I think you're doing a great job, you know.
It's very exciting time for the Metro Police Department.
Right now, we're finally going to see the fruits of our labor with a new police station and with that new building comes a new chief.
So this transition time is something that people expressed a lot of concern about.
And I think that in so far as the time that's passed since your appointment,
the transition has been relatively seamless.
So thank you for your work.
Thank you for what you're doing.
I know.
And a couple of things you said about the recruitment of offices that are going to be reflective of the population in this community.
Maya Burke gave her budget statement that she was here earlier in the morning.
I think she said that our city is at about 40% minority.
I know that through the civil service process,
we do have the ability to pull a minority list.
That's something that I'd ask that you might want to consider or investigate.
Secondly, you talked about east-west sides of the city,
as opposed to sector-based patrols with city-wide units as well.
Can you just tell me what the delineating factor is from east to west?
What do you use?
Use 93, do you use?
So that is still based on the traditional?
So in the past sector 1 and sector 4 were the east side, all right?
So sector 1 would be, say, anywhere from the middle of the mall,
Mr. Gabb type area, and sweep all the way over to Salim Street, Haines Square.
If you drew, like, a pie line all the way down into Medford Square,
sector 4 would be Haines Square all the way up through North Medford
and over to Governor's Ave, say, down there.
Sector two would go from governance to have all the way back to weather of
street right right around that area up in the hillside and then sector three
would be from hillside all the way back down to the square and this side of
Mr. Gap police station. So that is the traditional sector one two or three
sector one or four was east side so that would maintain the same. You could
We basically say it's going to govern us out all the way to the metal bone wall in Mr. Gaby area, and then the west side will be here.
Governors out east and governors out west, yeah, Governors out to Dillenita.
Excellent, thank you.
So there wasn't much of a transition in trying to explain that to officers because traditionally we knew one at four, east side counts, two at three, four at west side counts.
And I think that the council has had a lot to say about traffic, council has had a lot to say about congestion, and now we look at this budget and
a budget that has 100% increase in the resources that you're dedicating to the traffic control
division. So, you know, you hear what we're saying. I really don't have much of a problem with this
budget at all. It looks like for the first time since I've been to Council, Harry McGilvery isn't
here. So, I mean, he must be doing something right. I don't want to speak for Harry. Maybe
he's busier at the baseball field. But, you know, I rest my case, Chief. I just wanted to
mention those two items. And thank you for your work.
No, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilor Marks. Chief, vehicle replacement. Yes, what's the current plan? Current plans for nine vehicles to be coming to the police department, four will be within the next month or two and then five additional. The additional five will be for line cars and patrol cruises. And we need a prisoner transport wagon. They'll be the night that was coming up. The five, I'll say the first four and then the additional five, that's going to be capital money
and the other four were coming out of the G-Elect project and the idea behind that is
with this increased traffic we have to assure that the police can respond,
emergency can respond quickly. The G-Elect is able to fund some of this so we can have it.
So when we put those detail officers out there they're going to have fully loaded
cruises with emergency supplies and be able to respond to emergencies should
you know, ambulance fire, who's to be able to, you know, get brought down in traffic.
It's one of the major concerns.
So we're going to keep them posted out there all the time, running and be able to respond from,
if you would assume, say, that the traffic at GLS causes, you know, boundary
from the police station response that we would be on the other side to be able to respond.
And, um, neighborhood policing, what are you seeing with neighborhood policing and policing bicycles as a method of neighborhood policing?
So, I would always say yes. The community policing is the ground floor philosophy of policing almost everywhere in the world.
We've carried it on in a sense. I mean, I came on.
It's the philosophy that we follow under that. Put in bikes out, I wrote a bike in the city of Bethany. It's a functionality. It is a process that we would like to do. We are just now catching up with additional bodies. We have to run patrol cars and we have to keep up the date.
Canine has been very successful, and traffic units are a high priority now to increase.
But to be able to put offices, additional office out there on bicycles is a great idea, it's
a great plan, because we want to increase our face time with the members of the community.
That's one of the easier ways to do it.
And some communities do it.
Cut does come down to a sensible manpower.
When you put a police officer on a bicycle, he's an area of responsibility,
or the area that he can respond to at a certain period of time is limited.
So to take them out of the cruiser, to do some controls, we may get to that point.
One of the thoughts we have had in the past is in purchasing new bikes,
because I was a really old at this point in time,
you know, you could put them onto a cruiser,
and when your cruiser pulls over in a section of the neighborhood,
we know the bike can ride around for a little bit of time.
And we know when our busy times, I don't know,
less busy times can be, and we can implement some of those
no-dusts.
It's a great concept, but it fits in right in with what
we're trying to do in policing, is to get one of that.
I always hate to use the term FaceTime,
because it's now become like a technology term.
But it's personal time with individuals.
Every time we go up and interact with the public,
our new philosophy as police departments
is to spend more time talking to each individual.
They learn so much more, and I think they
get to understand a lot more about policing.
And bicycles are certainly awaited.
I think it's a big asset because, as you said,
I think the face-time is important.
And you're all too often, you do see a police car drive by,
but you see it just drive by.
And I think that personal touch really goes a long way.
One of the current assistance chief over the years
that I've heard from some of the ranking file offices
is the fact that there's not a lot of cross-cringing.
So you may have someone that's been in patrol
for 15 or 20 years that say, I'd like to be a detective or try that out for a year or
two or three or four. See if I like it. And it's not a lot of that happening. And I was
just wondering under your leadership, do you plan on allowing for more cross-training and
room for growth? And I think it's healthy when you do do cross-training.
There's a number of ways to answer that question for us is, which office does it belong to?
You're a detective.
Oh, I know.
I was just going to see if you'd like to tell me that.
No, no, no.
I don't give up that easy.
The reality of this is we
train a tremendous amount of times.
And you only have so many hours and so much money to train.
There are certain priorities.
We're focused on right now the health and human services types of training, the critical
incident training, the mental health first aid.
I want to introduce next is the bias training or implicit bias training.
We're going to get all those.
We also need to do 40 hours.
Each officer 40 hours a year in-service mandated training to do on top of that.
So we train a lot.
And in every piece of that, an officer gets training related to something, say, a patrol
officer gets detective sort of training.
But the detective training, I was so technical, I don't want to give away a lot of secrets here,
but a lot of, you know, detectives, you'll, you know, you put on the hat and you get
your magnifying glass, that doesn't exist, it's all very highly technical.
It's about your whole life is in your form, right, and we need to, it's about writing
search warrants and getting that time. We have spent time spending, spending patrol
office search warrant writing school and that has proven to be some success
when officers take it up on their own, but the classes are very expensive. You
invest a lot of time in those and you know it gets to be a dollar personnel
thing back and forth. We have to spend a lot of time training
We have to spend a lot of time trying to control different things.
They're the same, but they're different.
And so you can't, I could not guarantee that I could train every officer in control to be a detective.
We possibly wouldn't have the time and all the money to do it.
But, I understand what you're saying.
We need to be a more well-rounded community and police department.
I think is the priorities, if I give a training one,
I'm going to be geared towards the public.
Preventing things like bias, recruitment into policing,
preventing or having the tools to address the mental health crisis,
or the substance use disorder crisis.
So, while I appreciate some of my offices,
they're training left and right over and over again,
training to what I believe right now is what we need and how to deal with the
public. And when we do go to adding additional detectives, for example, and
other things, we train them very, very well. And there are people who've gone
up to detectives and stayed there a long period of time. I get that. There are other
detectives who've gone up and left. They've taken that training back with a lot of control.
so I get the message understood and it's always kind of in my brain to go
forward when we're doing it but I really think we need to take our time and work
on those people. I'm sure you're aware you've probably worked with offices and
the cast that have gone on public communities, larger communities because
they were looking for some type of advancement which they weren't able to get there.
I realize we're a small department but I think those opportunities to keep
people 100% you know in-house and especially good people I think we've
lost offices to Cambridge to Boston and they have to compete with that
and you know cross-training them we have we've done tremendous amounts of
training we put together a I don't want to call a SWAT team but if you like a
where we put that, and that's for an active response team.
It is a lot of training that goes into that.
Aggressive, active shooter and aggressive suspect training
and a lot of the ranking file patrol officers
are trained in that.
That has produced a lot of feeling in the department
that there's something different
that's something out there for them.
So 100% understood, that's something we are working for.
Like I said, there's some basics that the new chief
that I have to kind of deal with them.
It's the way the police department's
going to operate and go forward.
And then additionally, we can look toward those ideas here.
Just one other point.
With Casino coming on board, the city
gets roughly $1 million a year.
Part of it, it's airmarked to public safety.
Have you realized any of that money yet?
I know it hasn't come in yet in some political Casino
open but do you have anything planned for the money that you I have nothing
planned yet do you know how much I do not know yet but I'm like I'll tell you
and you'll see this for always once I know I have ideas in my head for a
lot of things I've already kind of indicated them you're gonna bring a
casino close to the city of Medford that health and human services division
and has to expand and close the plan assembly.
No, there's nothing else that could really
dance around on my end of it, but we'll be careful.
And Chief, this is prior to you,
but Chief Sackle was working on a city-wide
urban parking plan.
Yes.
Back some years ago.
We even hired a consultant.
Consultant came in, made recommendations,
part of the recommendations were to start off
with a pilot program and self-method in the hillside.
That was probably a year and a half, two years ago,
the recommendations were made.
Where do we stand, coming from the Wellington Circle
perspective, I know when you mentioned the different sectors,
you didn't really go out to Wellington,
but there's another little neighborhood.
Well, you know there's included Wellington.
It's not Malden, but it's Method.
It's a little further away, but where do we stand,
because people are real concerned with the loss
of the parking spots now in Wellington at Station Landing that are able to become a
parking lot. And we're real concerned with this resident permit parking, I think, really
needs to be explored and enacted.
Overwhelmingly, especially since I've been working on the traffic commission, we've heard these
concerns about resident parking and what to do. I'm just now getting my feet wet a
a little bit on it but I'm now trying to jump into it and really learn the process and
whether or not we get to a pilot program up and running as far as I still have to work
with Charlie Hutton. It's been a blessing I now have Sergeant Larry Rogers in traffic
and with the traffic commissioners, we're going to look at that and address that but
I'm speaking from behind. I really haven't got myself up to date on that because it's
a little busy the first five months and I do a lot of those other things. But
But yeah, we'll definitely take a look at it.
But it's been on, I've been approached on the subject.
We definitely have to deal with and address it.
It's just one of those things that is not
been done yet and will be.
So you're familiar with the recommendations?
I have not seen and read the full recommendations yet now.
But I know they're up there.
I know what the subject matter is.
It just has not been addressed already yet.
And I just want to thank you also
as Council might mention that
And we've been very attentive to the issues that I've brought forward.
And police mediation, I think, we could expand upon that.
I get a number of calls where you may have neighbors that are in conflict.
And it's great to be able to have the ability to have an office to go out.
And mediate some concerns that could be done on the local level to address issues.
And I think if that gets expanded a little bit, that will also help put a face to the police.
I agree with you, and I think it falls right into what we were talking about earlier,
you're spending time with the community and talking to them.
And it's not an issue in the neighborhood community type.
Police can equal out there and you see what you can do to resolve it.
Because ultimately it saves us all, right?
So it's a parking issue and you can resolve that parking issue.
We might feel three less calls in the next month because of this.
That's absolutely.
100%.
In fact, I appreciate it.
Thank you, Councilor Carriero.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Chief of Santa Cran.
Yes. Do we have an expert in the department that handles cybercrime?
We do. Who would that be? Larry James.
Are we planning on expanding that upon that end?
Will Larry have lunch with you yesterday or something?
No.
But, you know, that seems to be a growing sector of crime zones.
100% of that and I kind of alluded to it and not given up some of the secrets and it's
not really secrets like toy when I say that but, so Larry James has been doing this for
a long period of time and he has a lot of the certifications and expertise.
We are just getting him back online with doing technological work with phones or say
The iPad is a computer that work.
Keeping his certifications up, he had to kind of get back up,
get his equipment and software back up to date.
We're now online and he comes in whenever we need him
for those purposes.
Right now it's not rated for a full-time position,
even though we use it a lot.
What happens is there's a lot of our major
crime investigations, like in tail-using,
say, state police, district attorney's office.
A federal agency is something along those lines
who also will be taking over those duties as far as so.
That's 100% technology is going towards the future,
and we need to expand that, but he is our expert right now, and we use him when we need him.
Are we planning on expanding that with civilian personnel? How about those type of issues?
We are. There's, you know, I started and talked about the crime analyst,
and that does follow the technology, because they'll be able to pull the stats up for us in locations,
and it's also helped with predictive policing, right?
I mean, when you know what's happening in the past
and you just look at what your statistics are,
it looks towards the future of how you can plan policing
and events, but we also have a position
that's funded in there that hasn't been built yet,
and that's the, I was just looking to see
what we're actually calling it,
the IT, IT technician to work with our tech unit
that's in there, Lieutenant Calruso,
officer of tender blocks, we also run that.
Once we are able to get that position
Phil, he's going to bring a lot of the expertise that he or she
has to get, honestly.
They're going to bring it into that unit and help us out.
We have a need to keep up with technology,
and we're doing that at a successful pace right now.
The good news is that in some 18 months,
we're going to enter a modern building,
and a lot of those issues will be addressed for us also
and to bring in those technologies.
So, I don't understand.
And as far as the schools go, where will we, with precious management for the schools
and in the event that there would be an issue?
So we have recently been meet well. We've met several times with the superintendent
and her staff. I've addressed the number of their administrative meetings.
Lieutenant Paul Camino has been meeting just with City Hallsville with the schools,
But we are setting up regular meetings on those plans with the school administration on safety and critical plans that are in place.
Is there plans to go to the schools and maybe have something about, similar to the old fire drills, but some type of drills at each school?
One of them.
So the children know and the teachers know how to respond to these things?
A large part of that.
Yeah, we didn't want that to happen here, but, yeah, you know, it seems that we didn't.
So there's two phases, that's one, I've already addressed with the superintendent,
we talked about this summer getting most of my police officers familiar with the schools.
We want to assure that they know the layout of the schools,
and if in high school it can be kind of tricky sometimes if you walk to it.
So that's sort of.
Raise one, get our offices. Any responding emergency personnel, firefighters, and EMS familiar with the school senate and all of them.
The second part of that is a little bit tricky. We have Alice trained offices, we have alert trained offices.
That really comes down to a school, whether it's the school committee or the superintendent schools, making decisions on that.
what they want trained in their schools.
I can't impose my self into their policies in the program.
So we're ready and we assist the superintendent
at all times with whatever she needs.
And we have a great relationship,
but those sorts of issues have to be addressed
on the other side of the road.
You know what, thank you for,
I've been seeing more and more officers
out there with speed guns on the streets and, you know.
Well, we're trying to,
So we're picking up speeders there and that's been a good thing, and some of the people
that start out doing that.
We're the 20th largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and we're going to do some
things, and we're going to miss out on some things, and there are going to be speeders
that are never going to go away, and people are going to come through there no matter what
we do.
It's going to be always busy, but we're going to try our best.
And my offices, the women and men of this department are doing a tremendous job.
I personally am grateful to all the work that they do for themselves, and I'm
And one last thing, I'd like to say, maybe in the mornings, if you have a spare officer,
you know, you can go to that bar street where that seems to be the cutthroat that we have
to sign up that says you don't know, and maybe start grabbing people that just make
living with the signers in there.
Well, I believe this is live stream, so I can't tell you some of my secrets on it,
but we'll talk afterwards.
I know it's difficult for you to do it every day, but you have to sort of, you know, scatter around, you know, maybe here or there, put an officer over occasionally.
So at least I know people know that when they get on that street, they're going to be teched.
I mean, I know you try to be a nice guy and give him the mornings, but warnings don't work all the time.
We have a plan in play right now that I think we'll talk about.
Yeah, I say this on all the streets, but I think people just totally ignore the sign now.
Thank you.
Vice President Longo Kern.
Thank you, a few things were talked about, but with regards to permanent parking and the traffic commission looking at that too
I'm concerned. I know council marks mention Wellington, but also the hillside and tops between
the casino and green line coming
I think we need to be proactive and try to get a section-wide permanent parking plan in place
I don't know what the commission is doing now, but
But do we have any plans to do that?
It's been three or four, three years since the meetings took place and we really haven't seen any change.
Yes, so the answer is no, we don't have any plans.
But I'm willing to sit with both the council and bring back to the commission some of your thoughts and ideas.
I have to get up to speed on this.
There's a lot of them getting up to speed on the last by last.
I'll say it on the end of the issue, but it's just one of those things that's on my plate to get done and it's not been done yet.
But you're all right when you say that it would encore some of these larger construction projects going on and the issues coming to the forefront and we will address that.
So, yeah, I mean, I don't even know if the council has much. I think it was just to do section wide. So I was one council.
They just that there should be unless the street wants to opt out. I think we should just have section wide parking for those areas.
And that's what the people are asking for, especially in the South Midford hillside area
because there's little parking as it is and it's going to be tonight, Mayor, we've come
grand opening time.
My second question, too, with regards to the traffic division, so the numbers have
multiplied, which is great, are we seeing more, we're seeing obviously more enforcement,
more visibility to slow down the traffic, where are we at with last year versus now
with tickets?
I'll get you those numbers. I don't have them before me.
Are we seeing more of them, or obviously there's been more?
You know, yes, there would definitely be an increase in citations.
When enforcement increases, these citations would increase.
I don't have those numbers in front of me now, but I can certainly inquire them for it.
Because we have a new crime analyst that can do that for us.
Yeah, we can get those numbers.
Yes, I'll absolutely get them to you.
And how are we handling where the our offices go?
Is it kind of, do they have a list they're working on for us?
Just goes as we request it?
Well, it's a combination, right?
So if it's requested from the council, or from the mayor's
office, or from just a citizen who wants to call it,
they do have the traffic line,
which is a great job and Cal Brooks is in that office often because he's doing
sort of tax and reconstruction but now I have Sergeant Larry Rogers also who is
fielding phone calls and those issues get addressed when that comes down and
there's a combination of traffic and addressing them and then we put them out
on either a roll call or a poll in board of areas so we can start to ask about the area past it to deal with.
And then I know the speed limit sign is on Lawrence this week.
I would just make a recommendation that if you do get some money from Encore,
you think about getting another machine.
Yes, because I find it extremely effective for slowing down traffic on that.
You know, when you see how fast you're going, you slow down,
it kind of makes people realize you might, I find them effective.
I do too. Yes, good point.
And then, just with regards, do you know how many cameras at intersections that we have and do we need more?
I know people have been requesting them from me as I'm talking to more people.
We as in the police department in other cities?
This is zero.
Most of the cities that have cameras, I'd love to know.
But they come from the ones around here, basically you asking money or federal funds from the
urban area security initiative, right?
And that's like homeland security money for simple terms of putting it.
To fund something like that on a road, I would support the project 100% because there's
a safety value in it, it helps us solve issues, it can be expensive and maybe it's
something that we work into for the grants,
with the grant, but yeah, I'm a-
Or a main intersection, as I'm talking about.
Yeah, I'm a fan of them, but it would be,
you know, it's an issue of, that's an issue of money
and of policy for the public to see.
You
have questions?
Yeah, just if there are any grants,
I'd love to see if there's any grants out there
with regards to cameras and intersections
on main roads where you see the most accidents,
which we can find out those numbers from our papers.
We can't cite the rate for those cameras.
We can't issue tickets.
Some of them are in the red light and they're on camera.
You can't send them a ticket on the mail.
It's not like...
No, but it's in this case,
inflammation, right?
No, no.
Inflammation is the best thing.
Yeah, well, I would imagine two-fold
of the objective standpoint.
If something happens, you know,
it won't part of the community.
You can't ticket the flight.
Councilor Scott-Pelley.
There you go.
A lot of secrets.
Absolutely.
The open issue with grants is like,
so that urban area of security initiative
is basically a grant pool, and we're not part of it, so.
You know, we have near-rack, and the pool is a little smaller,
and then to be able to get grant money is what most of you
would want for grant money, so I mean, it's there.
It's not as available as it used to be these days.
Thank you.
Real quick, everybody's asked all the questions.
So I don't want to be redundant.
Just the communication side with the walkie talkies and being able to.
I know do we think that we feel secure with the new station coming on board that I know that when we'll have an officer at cemetery that we were told that blank cell.
We have no way to get. I think that was the biggest thing with me last year was that we had offices out there.
If there was ever an emergency there, they're held up there on their own, so.
Very wholeheartedly, I am going to tell you that the issues of communications for
the police department are going to be addressed.
Not just with the new police station, but they're currently.
We have plans going along right now that we have, we're going to end up working with
the company called Santa Cone, we've worked with the past.
It's just not just portable radios and cruises, but they're looking at the tower systems.
systems, whether or not we're going to have a tower or a fiber optics or microwave systems.
We work on a repeated system now where you have one dispatch area and something on the
north side and the other towers are like repeaters and if one goes down and you might lose
different sizes, then new systems are all going to be independent and we'll never lose
communication systems. We'll be able to reach up through the high school all the way
through. Going up on top university buildings, we have a commitment to get up there as
another line of site to WestMethod, all of that's going to be happening and should resolve
all of this communication.
That's great.
A lot of people.
My last point is just, you know, the SOFA chief, to reiterate what everybody's saying,
it's amazing that I can shoot you an email or a text message and thinking that I'll
get something back on a Monday and I know over the weekend one time I text you
within 15 minutes you already had something in the works to alleviate the situation.
So I can't thank you enough and how responsive you've been and I appreciate it.
I thank you and I thank you all of you for the support from the police department.
I think things have been going well.
Fifteen minutes, Chief.
I know I owe you one.
I apologize to you.
That's too much of a buck.
Fifteen minutes.
I look like an arrow.
But to be fair, I didn't answer your call the first time in a while.
First time in a while.
And now it's going to be two hundred more.
It's going to be two hundred more.
I got it when he wasn't asked.
If I may ask really quick, with regard to the new crime
endless, I know some communities on their website,
or me and the police website, they put out a rash of incidents
in one.
They might put out a map where it shows where the hot spots are.
Is there any thought about that?
Just so residents can be informed.
I know they've come a long ways with using,
I think, the next door app.
Yeah, people who are using it now.
It's the first time, one more.
It's great.
I mean, it was communication.
Is that the thought of the...
So it is part of the plan with the prime minister's position, too.
Not only produce reports for the chief of police,
so he knows what he's doing,
but to be able to provide reports to the mayor's office,
to the city council on a somewhat regular basis,
what that basis would be,
whether it's monthly or every couple of months,
it's really going to come down to what the crime added.
It's probably a fair fit for me to tell what he's doing without him there, but what he's
capable of is what we'll be able to do.
But that is exactly what we want and that's the purpose of the crime emails to be here.
So it's not just information to the chief and to the regular officers who are working
on a daily basis, but to the mayor's office, to the city council, some of that stuff,
redesigning our website completely, right, that process is ongoing.
Part of the intent of the new website and what I believe should be on there is
not just a new look, but easier access.
We want to be able to get access to reports, right?
You should be able to get your access and reports listed there.
Policies and procedures in the Bedford Police Department.
I will tell you this, we are reviewing all the policies
and trying to update rules and regulations,
policies and procedures, keep them sort of modified.
My goal is to get them all on the website
so that any individual,
not just someone who works with the city
or who might be a council,
but someone in the public who had an interaction
with the police and just go online
and look at that policy and put it in there.
But with that information is going to be
like crime mapping and alerts and notices.
It's a more responsive website.
Those things take a little bit of time to build.
We've contracted it out to a company.
And I'm hoping, again, that that's up by the summertime
and ready to go and all in fully functional
so that all of that stuff can be out there.
They hold 911 calls for first 911s.
Those are a great tool to be able to alert different areas.
is I'm often cautious that maybe we use them too much,
because I want people to listen to the phone.
When we call you in reverse 901, you should say,
oh, I want to listen to what they're saying.
This is why they call me.
I don't want to overly use that system, so that people
are just like, oh, she's very combative.
There's a reason for us to use that system, right?
And we want people to take notice when we use it.
And we can't get those things out there.
But there's valuable information that can get access to it.
We can do websites.
We can do wear up on Instagram now, Twitter.
We've never been on any of those.
But the police department is, we've run those things
and it's been a successful response.
The primal stuff is going to go to the public
and to the city council and to the police office.
Under the side.
Thank you.
Just by making food, I know as I said,
that public community police meetings
and get out into the community, no matter where we go,
people have been very happy with what's going on
and the direction of the police department's heading in.
And it's actually nice to see when the officers come in
at the different meetings, the exchange, the back and forth,
people are getting to know the officers.
And I think that goes a long way with just kind of,
just the back and forth, the exchange of ideas,
is, you know, the community trying to help out the police and vice-person. So, you know, a great job in that area. People are very happy. It's just a thank you for everything you do. And, you know, you're off to a great start. And there's a lot of happy people.
Thank you. Thank you. It's really,
the chief looks good when his office is doing a really good job and that's, and I owe a lot to them, what they do on a day-to-day basis, but it's great when they have the community support, but it's also community needs to know that the police have their support.
that's some of the things we're working on,
building on what keeps our heads up and go forward.
So I'm excited, it's all new to me,
and I think we're going forward well,
and I appreciate this, all the time we're at.
Good to hear.
I may just ask one quick question.
Yes.
To throw a little back,
that piece of satellite location,
is that 247, or is that just the...
So we're running all of our roll calls, three times a day, and our patrol officers can write reports.
So it's 24-7 operation, but it may not always be man 24-7, right?
Because those officers will work, and out there are our patrol functions.
So there are going to be times in the day when they're all out on the call, busy, and rolling.
But functions and works, and if you want to go see it, you can take a look at it anytime when we're leaving, can't play.
But that was, I think it's a great solution to having no space
when they built this police station.
So, but yeah, it's not always, if an emergency,
that will always be made.
And we have signs out there where people know that.
But for the most part, it's 124.7.
You know, mid-night roll calls that happen in there,
they're being, you know, parking, the cruises there,
coming out on the dispatches.
So it's worked well.
Right, good to hear.
Because any other questions from the conference?
Nope.
Well, Chief, thank you for your first question.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate it. What took everyone else so long?
Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Are there any other questions from the council?
Do you want to leave the report to your committee so I can do one?
Leave it in the report, we have a question.
Have a good weekend. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
So, Mr. President, yeah, what's the motion from the floor?
Mr. Councilor Marks.
At what time do we as a council want to discuss some,
maybe recommendations that we want to put forward?
Do we hold off or do we discuss them now?
We could discuss them. I mean, that's it.
Thursday will be...
You could do Thursday if you want.
I mean, what's the consensus from the council on?
Do you mean when you say recommendations?
I think the one glaring issue that we all spoke about today
was regarding additional manpower, DPW.
So I'd be willing if my council colleagues are willing.
I think we should tag it with a number of what
we'd like to see.
The administration after today, you're right.
I think this is number one for me.
That's what we want to say.
So the administration is booking 4th-4.
The ones that they don't address the departments
that I'm interested in.
You know, I think we need more manpower in the highway and none of the four that they plan on putting on.
That's just something to hide.
But, you know, I think at a minimum there should be an additional 10 people hiding in the DPW.
And minimum.
I'd like to hear my colleagues have to say, but that would be something that I'd like to put forward.
And then they can decide what departments they go in.
I personally would have a preference that definitely a need for a highway.
Is there, it seems like there's an agreement there.
Throw it out there for now.
I think that's glaring.
It's something we all talked about.
DBW numbers are very important.
It's the numbers, but then it's also through...
Where? What's the problem?
We are in more awareness of what's being done and when, and how, I mean, I feel like...
Ultimately, we can't dictate that, right? I mean, but if we get all the tools...
That's right, it's really the department, that's department management.
Right, that's the department.
We can give them the tools they need to succeed, which are probably more, you know, people power and supplies and whatnot,
but as far as the day-to-day execution of how that department is run, that has to be left to Brian.
We've let it known, as Constell Scott mentioned, about sidewalk crew and some other things that we need.
So if we give them the manpower, then that's what Brian kept saying.
But, you know, I do like a lot of things that were added.
You know, the facilities manager does a huge step in the right direction.
So it's, you know, I think that the biggest issue we hear is after today's first session that DPW numbers and hoping that we can figure that out.
So we could put that in a form of a motion, at least for our first year.
That 10 work is behind it.
You bring that right now?
Well, yeah. It's a council, right?
The number, if anyone else wants to talk the number, but I'm just throwing out
four I don't think is adequate enough and it doesn't address the
departments that are interested in it.
Where I'm getting the calls saying we need additional, you know.
Well, he wants additional 25 realistically.
that's not realistic. But if you say within three years, if you look at another additional
four, say eight is realistic, they say eight, if we can look at eight, eight and eight down
the blue line.
Yes, if you go from eight, yeah, over three years you have 24.
I'm not opposed to eight.
I'm not opposed to anything like that.
So maybe eight might be more realistic than not seeing a tennis, but I just know with
regards to when you think about ten, you think about salaries, but you also think
about benefits. This cost associated, which we don't know.
We already know who, but if you know, we can go in the right direction and we can turn
back to the constituencies. Listen, honestly, the biggest question we have is a conversation
is, you know, basic city services. It's not like I don't think nobody wants that, but
I think at least it's telling the community that unless we hear you, we're trying to
move in the right direction, but still being physically responsible and seeing if
it's possible.
So, I didn't answer about forming a commission or a group to look at recruiting, because
again, this is not something that's going to happen today tomorrow, but like you said,
it's an aging department, and like Councilor Scott Bell said, if they come through with
an early buyout, we're out of business to say, but again, we have to come up with
the plan to recruit and train and do something over the next couple of years because these
people are getting older and they're going to have nowhere to go. Yes, let me make that
a motion.
Yes.
Second.
So instead of hiring for hiring workers, that number works.
Right.
So that would be the recommendation from our council.
I'll second that.
Okay.
And that motion from Councilor Mark, seconded by Councilor Carbiolo.
All those in favor?
The motion passes.
So.
The paper committee, Mr. President, move the questions out.
Okay.
So we're going to leave the paper and committee where we will report the questions out to
the various departments.
Vice President Longo Kernel is already seconded.
Here on the motion of Councilor Scott Pele,
seconded by Councilor Vice President Longo Kernel,
is it favorable?
Aye.
All those opposed?
Before we adjourn, just to let everyone know,
he or he is at home next meeting, Tuesday, June 11th.
2019, 5.30 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.
We'll be discussing the budgets for the law,
Office of Community Development Electrical Building
Department, which includes the Chevalier Theater,
information technology, executive budget,
court's budget, which includes legislative budget
in their register of voters. On that, on Tuesday I believe
when we talk about office community development we also talk about certain boards and commissions
one being the historic commission, so I would just request that we
invite Brian Hayward to come. He's the one that is working
on the demo delays and we all know the issues we're having
with that and Forest Street, and I know that he's requesting a part-time position, so if
we could have him invite him, I can do it myself, or we can share and reach out to him.
Sure.
See if we can come on Tuesday to talk about concerns, okay?
We'll share a job.
On the motion of Councilor Scott Pelley, seconded by Councilor Marks.
To adjourn the meeting, all those in favor, all those opposed, meeting adjourned.
4-4 on the 3rd in and you guys don't need to bump this. It's a good game.
4-2 high.