Happy Valentine’s Day, if you’re into that kind of thing! Last night’s meeting was full, so I’ll launch right into it.
The portrait of Andrew Jackson still hangs in chambers.
After a brief public testimony (2 speakers; one in favor of Accessory Dwelling Units [ADUs], the other talking about the corridor study on Highland Ave), Councilor Flynn moved out of order to present a heart-warming resolution to recognize Tanis Price. Price is a 17-year old with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, who has advocated for policies that will benefit people with disabilities and result in a more inclusive and accessible city. We join the city and the state in thanking Price for his efforts.
Councilor Dominguez then presented a resolution to recognize Dominican Republic Independence Day. A flag-raising ceremony will be held on Friday, 28 Februrary at Lafayette Park 5PM. All of Salem is welcome to attend.
The council gave the city approval to move forward with the contract negotiations for the Forest River pool project. Because the pool project is large (>$5M), there are specific guidelines for presenting requests for proposals (RFPs) dictated by Mass General Law. The city considers qualifications first, and then price considerations, so there was no dollar amount affixed to the request to proceed. Jenna Ide mentioned that she is working within her pre-approved budget, so if the resulting cost was more than she has, she would have to come back to council to request additional funds. The contractor will provide “pre-construction servcies,” be responsible for site work, and will help with cost control during construction. Councilor Dibble voted in opposition, but the matter carried.
Money matters dominated the meeting, but I’ll try to be brief.
The council moved a lot of the money from free cash around:
$3.4M was split between capital improvement and the stabilization fund, which covers pensions, buy backs, etc.
$873K paid back the stabilization fund when the city dipped into it to cover policy salary increases
$600K went into the retirement fund from free cash
Roughly $122K went to sick leave and vacation buy backs for retiring employees
There were some deposits:
$1K toward Bertram Field, $1K to the K-9 Unit Fund, $1K to the Tree Fund, $1300 for a wooden bench, Footprint donated $3800 toward the Derby Mile and $5K to the Fire donation fund for upgraded SCBA gear, and $30K to the burial account from the sales of graves and plots (public services uses these funds)
And, money was allocated to repairs:
$24K for antenna work on one of the fire houses, $23K for heating system repair at fire station 5, $9500 for boiler replacement at the Mack Park house
All of those went off without a hitch. There were several things moved back to the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC) for more discussion and deliberation:
Funds to cover the museum garage repairs. The bond ($755K) was approved (first approval, it needs a second approval and will go to AFC in the interim). The contingency funds from free cash ($151K) were not approved and will join the discussion at the committee meeting. Councilor Madore opined that the garage was an unsafe eyesore and felt that this was just another band-aid. In addition to seeking additional funds to do a proper job of improving the garage, she called out the absentee landlords who rent the mall and asked them to step up their obligation to make improvements to the mall.
In case you were wondering, $140K was allocated for legal fees, $120K of which were incurred in the Ryan v. the City of Salem lawsuit. Dibble objected to a suspension of the rules, so no discussion was had on this matter. It was referred to AFC and co-posted with the Committee of the Whole “so Dibble can speak.”
The last financial matter to move to the A&F committee without a vote was $40K for the Highland Ave corridor study. The debate on the floor centers around whether we should spend money on a corridor study, or step back and invest in a more holistic full-city plan.
I never thought I’d be interested in going to an A&F committee meeting, but here I am…it looks to be interesting and a bit contentious in places, with some massive challenges to hash out. The committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, 26 February at 6:00. (Moved to accommodate early voting).
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) made their appearance on the docket, but were simply approved for a joint public hearing (kicking off the legal process required for zoning changes). In addition to the ADU ordinance, the mayor included tax exemptions for ADUs and a restriction so that they would not be eligible to use as short-term rentals (Air BnBs). We will let you know when the public meeting is scheduled.
And finally, I am thrilled to see so much coming out of the Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs (OLLA) committee. They amended a Solid Waste Management ordinance to align it with current practice; they designated some volunteers for the city as “special municipal employees,” so that those volunteers are not put at risk for legal action; and they passed an ordinance to allow cemetery staff to remove “inappropriate” items left by graves (trash). However, the matter looking at changing the language in our governing documents from male-dominant to gender-neutral was kept in committee. This seems a no-brainer to me. We are striving for a more inclusive city and a representative government, so this change should be made. I am on team “singular they,” though there are ample ways to neutralize the language without getting into grammatical debate, for example “Mr. or Madame President” as an address can just be “President NAME” or “Council President.” I digress…I’ve held you hostage too long.
Happy weekend, and thanks for sticking with me.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Lynch