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HomeMy Public PortalAboutmin 05-24-20_1ELECTED OFFICIALS: Mark S. Sideris Council President Stephen P. Corbett Vice President John A. Donohue Councilor At Large Susan G. Falkoff Councilor At Large Anthony Palomba Councilor At Large Angeline B. Kounelis District A Councilor Cecilia Lenk District B Councilor Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr. District C Councilor Watertown Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6470 Town Council Meeting Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 7:15 pm Richard E. Mastrangelo Council Chamber Administration Building DRAFT MINUTES 1. ROLL CALL: A regular meeting of the Town Council was called to order at 7:15 pm, in the Richard E. Mastrangelo Council Chamber, Administration Building. Present for the meeting were Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris. Councilor Donohue was absent. Also present were the Town Manager Michael J. Driscoll, Town Attorney Mark Reich and Council Clerk Valerie Papas. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE John J. Lawn, Jr. 3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: May 11th. Councilor Piccirilli moved to District D Councilor accept the minutes, seconded by Councilor Falkoff and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. 4. PUBLIC FORUM — none noted. 5. PRESIDENT'S REPORT The Chair indicated that a letter from the Retirement Board has been received by the Town Council requesting a discussion on COLA increases. Councilor Piccirilli moved to refer the matter to the Fiscal & Budget Oversight Subcommittee, seconded by Councilor Kounelis and adopted by voice vote with Councilor Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. 1 The Chair indicated that he attended a presentation this afternoon along with Vice President Corbett regarding Watertown's participation as a Green Community. The Chair recognized the Manager who announced that the town has received a check in the amount of $192,825.00 to retrofit street and parking lot lights as part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and Department of Energy Resources - Green Communities Division. The retrofitting will take place this summer. 6. PUBLIC HEARING AND VOTE: a) Public hearing and vote on proposed amendments to the Traffic Commission Ordinance. The Chair recognized Councilor Falkoff who provided an explanation of the two proposed changes to the Traffic Commission Ordinance; 70.02 which adds the Planning director or his/her designee to the board membership and 70.05 which authorizes the Traffic Commission to make suggestion and advise the Manager on issues regarding the regulation of traffic with a view toward safety and study and make recommendations on road design projects with respect to crosswalks, stop signs, traffic signals, measures or traffic directional changes as outlined in the proposed Ordinance. The Chair opened up the hearing to the public. There being no comments, the hearing was closed. Councilor Falkoff moved to adopt the proposed amendments, seconded by Councilor Piccirilli and adopted by unanimous roll call vote with Councilor Falkoff and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. 7. COMMITTEE REPORTS: a) Committee on Economic Development and Planning report and action on an appointment to the Zoning Board of Appeals — Stephen P. Corbett, Chair. Vice President Corbett read the committee report. There being no questions or comments, Councilor Piccirilli moved to accept the report, seconded by Councilor Lenk and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. Vice President Corbett moved to approve the appointment of Mr. Christopher Heep to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill an unexpired term ending on February 15, 2012, seconded by Councilor Falkoff and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony 2 Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. b) Committee on Budget and Fiscal Oversight report on Retirement Benefits — Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., Chair. Councilor Piccirilli read the committee report. Councilor Kounelis moved to accept the report, seconded by Councilor Lenk. Councilor Palomba stated that it was his understanding that the town was not going to worry about paying down OPEB until the pension liability has been paid down. Councilor Lenk indicated that setting up a trust fund for Other Post Employee Benefits (OPEB) liability which is currently at $118 million; is a good faith effort to at least begin to pay down the liability after the town has paid off the pension liability. She further noted that the more the town can control health care costs the better the town can control OPEB costs. The Chair recognized the Manager who agreed with Councilor Lenk on the potential trust fund and further stated that he would like to pay down the $58.5 million in unfunded pension liability as soon as possible. Councilor Piccirilli indicated that the primary strategy is to pay down the pension liability as soon as possible which will free up other monies. He noted that the three prong approach; GIC; OPEB trust fund and paying down the pension liability is a good strategy. Upon a voice vote, the report was adopted with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. c) Joint Committee on State, Federal & Regional Government & Public Works report and action on the MBTA Trackless Trolley System — Angeline B. Kounelis and Susan G. Falkoff, Chairs. Councilor Kounelis read the committee report. There being no questions or comments, Councilor Piccirilli moved to accept the report, seconded by Councilor Kounelis and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. Councilor Falkoff noted that while the Town of Belmont requested that Watertown and Cambridge discuss this issue, they did not seem to be in favor of eliminating electric buses. Councilor Kounelis read an email (attached to the committee report) from Belmont Town Administrator, Thomas Younger requesting the discussion on the matter. Councilor Falkoff moved to request the Manager send a letter to the Town of Belmont in support of retaining the electric trolley # 71 and 73, seconded by Councilor Lenk and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. 8. NEW BUSINESS a) Human Services report and discussion of a proposed resolution. The Chair recognized Councilor Palomba who read a draft report regarding the Watertown/Harvard/O'Neil charitable funds. Councilor Palomba noted that the committee tentatively established a July 861 deadline for submission of applications for the funds. Councilor Palomba moved to accept the draft report, seconded Councilor Lawn and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. The Chair noted that acceptance of the draft report is an informal vote as the Chair of the subcommittee has not had a chance to review the report. Councilor Palomba moved to accept the 2010 charitable guidelines and process for 2011 and to retain the previous ad hoc membership for this year, seconded by Councilor Lawn and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. Councilor Palomba read a proposed resolution regarding the use of funds from the Wheelabrator settlement in the amount of $79,941.00 to be used for the temporary hiring of workers in the Public Works department to complete work related projects resulting from this past winter's storms. The Chair indicated that while the Council is still in the middle of the budget hearing process, the town would be better served by having the Council examine all departmental needs and send the proposed resolution to the Budget & Fiscal Oversight Subcommittee for further discussion and recommendation. Councilor Falkoff moved to refer the proposed resolution to subcommittee for further discussion and recommendation, seconded by Councilor Palomba and adopted by voice vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. 9. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE TOWN MANAGER 1. Next Yard Waste Pickup is Friday, May 27tH 2. The Start of Summer Hours is Tuesday, May 24tH 3. The Manager indicated that Comcast will not be closing their Watertown office as previously stated. 4. The Manager read a press release from the US Attorney General regarding a law enforcement matter. The Manager noted that the former police officer in question had been terminated by the Town of Watertown on November 11, 2010 following a disciplinary hearing for improperly serving a restraining order and for making false statements. 10. REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION — none noted. 11. ANNOUNCEMENTS — none noted. 12. PUBLIC FORUM — none noted. 13. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Town Council, Councilor Lawn moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 pm, seconded by Councilor Palomba and adopted by unanimous vote with Councilors Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., John J. Lawn, Jr., Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. .