Springfield City Council Meeting October 21, 2024 transcript

This transcript has not been human edited and contains errors. It's accuracy should not be relied on without verification. It was created by extracting the audio from a video recording of the meeting, and processing that audio file with automatic speech recognition software.  

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Transcript of the Springfield, Massachusetts City Council Meeting October 21, 2024

7:00 PM Meeting called to order on October 21, 2024 at Hybrid Council Chamber, 36 Court
Street, Springfield, MA.

[Speaker 1]
Yeah, tell them to come in. I'm going to do the proclamation first, then we'll do the pledge. Okay.

Okay, so we are live. Let me just join the meeting one second.

[Speaker 6]
Hi.

[Speaker 1]
Okay. So tonight we have a special proclamation. We're going to be honoring the Girl Scout Troop 65377.

So, counselors, this is a special proclamation, because after we present the troop and their leader with their proclamation, they're going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance when we start our formal meeting. So I'm going to read the proclamation for you all. You can actually come forward right up to this podium over here.

And when it's time to do the pledge, which isn't just yet, I'll call you up here. But for now, we're just going to honor you with this special proclamation. So it's sponsored by myself and all counselors.

I'm going to read it into the record, and then we'll have a few remarks, and we'll start the meeting. So, whereas the Springfield City Council is always pleased to recognize a youth organization as they pursue a significant milestone in their journey of development, and whereas tonight the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts Troop 65377 will lead the Springfield City Council on the Pledge of Allegiance in pursuit of their Democracy Badge, very important badge, and whereas the organization is founded on the Girl Scout Law and Pledge and Troop 65377 is a multiple-level troop of Brownies and Juniors who strive to meet and live by the promise and law, and whereas each year Troop 65377, led by Troop Leader Pamela Chapman, strive to obtain various badges by completing tasks and assignments relative to the particular badge they're seeking, and whereas within the last year Troop 65377 made and delivered Valentine's Day cards to seniors at the Raymond Jordan Senior Center on Earth Day. The girls picked up numerous bags of trash and planted several daffodils to beautify areas within the city of Springfield.

They marched in the Veterans Day Parade, stopping along the way to thank veterans for their service, and they hiked along Mount Tom KB Trail to appreciate nature. Now, therefore, we proclaim that the Springfield City Council hereby recognizes, honors, and commends the Girl Scout Troop of Central and Western Massachusetts 65377 for continuing to build courage, confidence, and character and trying to make the world a better place. A proclamation sponsored on October 21st, 2024 in honor of Girl Scout Troop Central and Western Mass 65377 sponsored by the city clerk, myself, and all counselors.

Congratulations. So, Ms. Chapman, if you'd like to say a few words about, you know, the girls and the democracy badge that they're trying to earn here tonight, we'd welcome you to come right forward to that microphone. You've got to turn it...

There's a little button you have to push to turn it on. It's the animated face with the... There you go.

[Speaker 7]
All right. Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?

[Speaker 1]
Yes.

[Speaker 7]
All right, so our troop is relatively new. We're just entering, actually, our second year. We started out with three girls, and now we have 12.

See? And we decided to keep going. We were just going to stop it.

You know, like, we had brownies. We were going to stop it at brownies and just have juniors, but these girls were all fantastic, so there's no way we could just stop. So we're taking them all in at any ages.

The democracy badge, we thought it was a good year to try this because it is a very important election year. Right, ladies? Yes, it is.

So we decided to call to see could we come and see what goes on in these city meetings as far as the democracy badge. So thank you for having us.

[Speaker 1]
Well, thank you. So we invite all the girls to come forward. You can meet the counselors.

We've got about five minutes before we start the meeting, and then when it's time to start the meeting, I'll gavel it closed, and you can come lead us in the pledge. So come on up, and we'd all love to meet you. Okay, so you get to hit the gavel a couple of times to get everybody's attention.

Right here. Hit it right there. Yeah.

Again. One, two, three. Like this.

Go. Can you do that? Good.

Good job. Okay. That's going to, we're going to call the meeting to order everybody.

Yep. The Girl Scout troop can line up right here behind me. Okay.

So we've got a couple of Girl Scout troop participants to come join us. Come on up ladies. Okay.

Let me know when ready George. Okay. We're gonna call this meeting of the City Council to order.

Good evening everybody. Today is Monday October 21st. The time is 6 o 2 p.m. We have a regular scheduled meeting of the Council. Madam Clerk we've got a special treat tonight that the Girl Scout Troop 65377 is going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. But first girls there's a couple of things we got to do. We're gonna let the clerk call the roll which is attendance for all counselors.

We do a moment of silence and then I'll ask you to do the pledge. Okay. So Madam Clerk would you please call the roll.

[Speaker 2]
Councilor Walsh. Present. Present.

Councilor Allen. Present. Present.

Councilor Delgado. Present. Present.

Councilor Clerk Bruce.

[Speaker 5]
Present.

[Speaker 2]
Present. Councilor Galvan. Present.

Present. Councilor Brown. Councilor Brown.

Absent. Councilor Davila. Present.

Present. Councilor Curran. Absent.

Councilor Santinello. Absent. Councilor Edwards.

Present. Present. Councilor Whitfield.

Absent. Councilor Perez. Present.

Present. Councilor Fenton. Present.

[Speaker 1]
Will the Council and our guests please rise and join us in a moment of silence. Okay. Please remain standing and the Girl Scout Troop is going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and we'll look at the flag right here girls.

Okay. Whenever you're ready you can lead us in the Pledge.

[Speaker 10]
Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[Speaker 1]
Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Very nice job girls. I think you've all earned your democracy badge.

Thank you girls. Beautiful job. Okay.

Thank you very much Pam Chapman and troop leader for helping us with that today. Madam Clerk will you the first item is are there any reports of committee this evening? Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 4]
Thanks Mr. President. The Finance Committee met this afternoon or a couple hours ago. We had Councilors Delgado and Edwards from the committee and Councilors Perez and Davila.

I don't think there was anybody else there from the council. I'm sorry Lovar. Councilor Click Bruce was there as well and we had a good meeting.

We went through the whole agenda. We had some interesting items and some discussions on them but all in all it was a good productive meeting and the Finance Committee voted to accept it and take accept all the items that were there and take them to the full council.

[Speaker 1]
Thank you Chairman Allen. Any other reports of committee? Okay.

Do you have another report?

[Speaker 4]
Well I I think it would be Councilor Brown really that would give it but we had a joint meeting last Tuesday of finance and maintenance and development. It really was more of a maintenance and development meeting because it was about Chris Signoli's you know suggested changes to solid waste procedures and fees and stuff. I don't have much more.

I thought Councilor Brown would probably give the report but I just want to make sure it gets recorded. I don't know everybody who was there at the meeting but we had a good discussion of Chris Signoli's.

[Speaker 1]
Councilor Brown's here and he is raising his hands.

[Speaker 4]
Great. Okay. Excellent.

[Speaker 1]
Okay. Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you Mr. President. As my colleague did say that we did have a joint meeting with Chris Signoli and we did discuss the different trash fees and the different things we're going to do as far as implementing new trash rules and policies. Well not new but doing different things as far as existing policies and how we're going to implement them.

It was a good discussion. Councilor Perez, Councilor Govan, Councilor Allen I want to say was present and I know it's still going to be a matter that we probably still will have to talk about a little bit more but all in all I did I did go well. Thank you Mr. President.

[Speaker 1]
Thank you Councilor Brown. Councilor is that matter staying in committee tonight or is that being brought out and presented to the council? Well I guess both Councilors Brown and Allen I mean you get to decide.

[Speaker 4]
Yeah. Councilor Brown I felt that it could go forward. I know Mr. Signoli certainly I think he'd like to see it go forward and I don't remember any reason that came up to hold up on it but you may have more information than I do.

[Speaker 5]
Like my colleague said I know we had a few we had a few questions and things like there was nothing that wasn't really addressed where I don't think that we'd have to keep it in committee. It could come out of committee.

[Speaker 1]
Okay so we've got it we've got it on the agenda so we'll we'll hear those those points later tonight. Councilor Perez?

[Speaker 10]
Yes as being part of the committee I think all the questions were answered at the time. There was some concerns but they were answered and I feel comfortable that we could move forward. Okay.

Out of committee. Thank you. Thank you.

Councilor Davila?

[Speaker 1]
Okay Councilor Davila and then we'll get to Councilor Govan.

[Speaker 3]
Thank you Mr. President. The general government committee met today with this causing amendment to Article 5 of Chapter 385 of the ordinance of the City of Springfield particularly Section 385-17a for the use better use of municipal parking meters. In that meeting today we did vote to elevate this to the whole to the chambers for the next regular meeting which is going to be on November 18th.

We did approve two amendments on this. One of them is to include aside from city parking meters to include a city owned garage parking as it comes to find out we are in the city actually only owns one and that is the one on Union Station which is completely being underutilized right now. If anything it will only help to bring more traffic in that area.

Also we are going to clean up a little bit of language. Right now it says veterans play but also we want to make sure that all veterans are included. Come to find out that there's in a way there's a plethora of plates and we want to make sure that everybody including plates that includes combat wounded, Bronze Star, Silver Star, Purple Hearts and all the the the plates are there that reflect that you have veterans.

So we want to wrap it up to make sure that everybody's included. One of the things that I do want to say as a side note Mr. President is that in this meeting it came over the conversation about the real need that the Parking Authority has to automate and actualize their software department, their software to ensure that people can efficiently pay for parking meters. So we're going to be looking into that.

I did make a commitment to to the Parking Authority to hold a meeting on that maybe with in conjunction with either the finance department or even economic development to start looking at that other aspect that came in as a side discussion in this meeting today. And that's the report and we're looking forward to pass second and third step on November 18th. Thank You Mr. President.

[Speaker 1]
Thank You Councilor Davila. Councilor Govan.

[Speaker 8]
Thank You Mr. President. The Environmental and Sustainability Committee met on October 15th and I apologize I don't have my notes in front of me but I believe that Councilor Allen was there and I'm not sure if any other councilors were there. If it's all right with you Mr. President and Adam Clerk I could send you the notes. We did talk about the Urban Woodlands Ordinance that we are looking forward to. We did get a draft from Attorney Shea after the meeting so we're going to be meeting in two weeks to continue that conversation. Thank You Mr. President.

[Speaker 1]
Thank You Councilor Govan. Madam Clerk will you please recognize the Councilors in seats number one and nine.

[Speaker 2]
Councilor Walsh.

[Speaker 12]
I've already checked in I thought.

[Speaker 1]
Oh I'm sorry. You did. Maybe I missed that.

Sorry. Councilor Dodd.

[Speaker 2]
And then Councilor Brown. Yes. So Councilor Brown is present.

[Speaker 1]
Present.

[Speaker 2]
And Councilor Santinello. Present. Present.

[Speaker 1]
Okay. Thank You Madam Clerk. Any more reports of committee?

Okay seeing none. First item Madam Clerk.

[Speaker 2]
First item is informational item September Revenue versus Expenditure Report.

[Speaker 1]
Good evening Mr. Burns.

[Speaker 9]
Thank You Mr. President. Tonight I'm presenting the September Revenue versus Expenditure Report. It represents the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

As you can see our revenue is at $244.8 million or 26% of budget. And our expenditures are at $323.5 million or 34% of budget. As I mentioned last month the net school spending carryover amount was finalized in September.

You will see that on the report. It is slightly above $19 million and that has been added to the school department budget. Any questions on the report?

[Speaker 1]
Okay seeing none. Madam Clerk please call the roll.

[Speaker 2]
On approval Councilor Walsh.

[Speaker 1]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 1]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councilor Delgado. Yes.

Yes. Councilor Clerk Bruce.

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councilor Galvan. Yes.

Yes. Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councilor Davila.

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councilor Curran. Absent.

Councilor Santanello. Yes. Yes.

Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councilor Whitfield. Absent.

Councilor Perez. Yes. Yes.

Councilor Fenton.

[Speaker 1]
Yes. Warrant is sufficient. Report is accepted.

[Speaker 2]
Item number two Madam Clerk. Item number two is the state election warrant for the November election.

[Speaker 1]
Okay Madam Clerk.

[Speaker 2]
The state election will be held November 5th of this year. All councilors have been, we shared the election warrant with the councilors which details the ballot questions as well as the candidates that are going to be on the ballot this election. The polls haven't changed since approval for the September primary election.

Everything remains the same. The only change that I would highlight would be polling hours. We've increased our polling hours for early voting from one week to two week based on the state law.

All cities and towns have to do it across Massachusetts and so far as of today just to kind of report out we have a little over 800 in-person early votes that have been cast in the past three days. So it seems to be a popular choice this election time and approximately 16,900 vote-by-mail ballots that people have requested. So it looks like it's going to be a pretty big turnout this election.

That's wonderful.

[Speaker 1]
Okay any comments or questions on the warrant? Councilor Davila.

[Speaker 3]
Thank you Mr. President. Madam Clerk, how many ballots were requested?

[Speaker 2]
So far it's close to 17,000 a little a little over 16,900. Is that a record? It is for this well not really because of COVID.

We had about 26,000 that election. What is a record is we have had more in-person early votes over the first three days of early voting than we've ever had.

[Speaker 3]
Will you be able to tell me how many in-person we have so far?

[Speaker 2]
806 as of today. So over just the last three days.

[Speaker 3]
I do believe Madam Clerk you say that you're going to be increasing two weeks earlier?

[Speaker 2]
So we started this past Saturday. We had two voting sites over at Green Leaf and City Hall and then Sunday just City Hall and then every single day until November 1st was there's going to be a early voting at City Hall. And you're gonna be okay on your budget to absorb that extra cost?

So far so good. The comptroller, the CAFO has been great in checking in with us. We've been meeting with her prior to the election and the state is also going to be reimbursing us for all our early voting costs.

How much are we looking at roughly? For the amount that we're spending? That I do not have an estimate for yet.

[Speaker 3]
Just out of curiosity, when you get a chance I would love to hear what it is. It's definitely money well spent. Thank you Madam Clerk.

Thank you Mr. President.

[Speaker 1]
Thank you Councillor Davila. Any other questions about the warrant? Seeing none, Madam Clerk roll call please.

[Speaker 2]
On approval of the warrant Councillor Walsh? Yes. Yes.

Councillor Allen?

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councillor Delgado?

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councillor Clerk Bruce?

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councillor Govan? Yes.

Yes. Councillor Brown?

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councillor Davila? Yes.

Yes. Councillor Curran absent. Councillor Santanella?

[Speaker 9]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councillor Edwards?

[Speaker 9]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes. Councillor Whitfield absent. Councillor Perez?

Yes. Yes. Councillor Fenton?

[Speaker 1]
Yes. Warrant is approved. Madam Clerk, do you have the seven signatures you need yet?

I do. Okay, thank you. Item number three, Madam Clerk?

[Speaker 2]
Item number three is for private acceptance petition 10304.

[Speaker 1]
Mr. Signoli?

[Speaker 6]
Good evening Councillors. Chris Signoli, DPW Director. The petitions in front of you for tonight are six streets.

Over the past year and a half, we have reconstructed these six streets from dirt roads into public roadways that meet public standards. As part of the design work, we did all of the meets and bounds. So with the Council's approval, we will get this to MassDOT which will increase our roadway length that goes into our Chapter 90 calculation.

Over the next few months, I will be bringing you a bunch of others where we've done improvements on private ways throughout the city over the last year or two as well that we still have to do survey on to get meets and bounds. But this is the first six that we have completed to bring in front of the Council tonight for your approval.

[Speaker 1]
Any questions or comments from the Council? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

[Speaker 2]
On approval, Councillor Walsh.

[Speaker 1]
Sorry about that, Councillor Walsh. Hang on. Councillor Brown had his hand up.

I missed it. Go ahead, Councillor Brown.

[Speaker 5]
I just have a quick statement. I don't think people realize, well, people must realize now, this project is going up fast. I want to thank Chris for the work that you're doing.

This is definitely improving the quality of life for a lot of it. And a lot of the roads improvement, I just want to thank Chris for the work that he's doing. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Speaker 1]
Thank you, Councillor. Thank you, Councillor Brown. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

[Speaker 2]
On approval, Councillor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councillor Allen.

[Speaker 1]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes, Councillor Delgado.

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes, Councillor Clerk Bruce.

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes, Councillor Gohan. Yes. Yes, Councillor Brown.

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 2]
Yes.



[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councillor Davila. Yes. Yes, Councillor Curran.

Absent. Councillor Santonella. Yes.

Yes, Councillor Edwards.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councillor Whitfield. Absent. Councillor Perez.

Yes. Yes, Councillor Fenton.

[Speaker 5]
Yes. More insufficient. Private ways are accepted.

[Speaker 3]
Item number four, Madam Clerk. Number four is for a DPW MassWorks infrastructure program grant. No match required in the amount of 2.8 million dollars. Mr. Signoli.

[Speaker 1]
Good evening, Councillors. Chris Signoli, DPW Director. The DPW has been awarded 2.8 million dollars from the state of Massachusetts as part of a MassWorks grant for the reconstruction of West Street, which is actually West Street and Plainfield Street from Main Street to the north end bridge. I believe three years ago we were awarded a grant of 400,000 dollars for the design. So we have completed the design. And with this money, we will be, excuse me, we'll be able to get the project to construction.

And we are also I know it came up at one of the other meetings. We are coordinating with MassDOT as the state is also in the process of redesigning for a brand new north end bridge. So we're working with them on coordinating the two projects.

That project will start in 2027. It will be a brand new bridge over the Connecticut River in the same spot, just wider. So this project will be able to work on that corridor.

One of the main things in that corridor is improving pedestrian movement from the north to south and vice versa with all of the people that frequent the Pride Plaza over there. So one of the obviously one of the big things there is is the pedestrian improvements that are going to happen as well as the bridge work that will happen by the state.

[Speaker 5]
Okay, Mr. President, Councilor Santanella.

[Speaker 3]
Real quick question. Do we have an estimated cost on that bridge? What it would cost?

[Speaker 1]
It's a hundred million dollars.

[Speaker 3]
Whoa. Say that again. A hundred million dollars.

[Speaker 1]
Yep.

[Speaker 3]
And what's the time frame?

[Speaker 1]
They will be starting construction in 2027.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you. Any other comments or questions from the Councilor Perez?

[Speaker 6]
Thank you, Mr. President. Chris, in the community, give you thanks because we've been involved in this project. I think that one of the biggest concern with that crossing part at Pride, we had lost two lives for the records doing the issue.

So the community is excited about it. And finally, we are doing something with that crosswalk there now with the increase of the other business is a safety, a very high safety issue. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Perez.

[Speaker 4]
Councilor Delgado. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I said this earlier to Chris.

Kudos to you and your team on this. With the amount of activity happening in this spot, particularly with the Pride, but also throw in the rowing that's going on on the riverfront and the new school. So something like this being done is is definitely needed, in particular to echo my colleagues sentiments in terms of safety and folks crossing right in the middle there.

So I'm hoping I can see a left turn lane into that rowing rowing spot. Yeah, thanks, Chris.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you, Councilor Delgado. Any other Councilors on the grant? OK, seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

[Speaker 3]
On approval of the grant, Councilor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Delgado. Yes. Yes, Councilor Clerk Bruce.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Galván. Councilor Galván. Yes.

Yes, Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Davila.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Curran. Absent Councilor Stanton.

[Speaker 5]
Please recognize Councilor Curran present and I would vote yes.

[Speaker 3]
Councilor Curran present and yes. Councilor Stanton.

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 11]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Whitfield. Absent Councilor Perez. Yes.

Yes, Councilor Fenton.

[Speaker 5]
Yes. More than sufficient. Grants approved.

OK, thank you, Madam Clerk. Items five through eight are below our threshold. Can you please read them together?

[Speaker 3]
Item number five is for prevention in early childhood services grant increase six thousand sixty thousand dollars. Item number six is FY 24 senior community service employment grant increase in kind match required thirty nine thousand eight hundred ninety eight dollars. And item number seven is FY 25 LSTA health and wellness grant no match required in the amount of twenty thousand dollars.

And the final one is an FY 25 libraries cash donation in the amount of seven hundred thirty two dollars.

[Speaker 5]
OK, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on acceptance of the grants.

[Speaker 3]
On acceptance. Councilor Walsh. Yes.

Yes. Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Delgado.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Clerk Bruce.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Govan. Yes.

Yes. Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Davila.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Curran.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Santinello.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Whitfield. Absent.

Councilor Perez. Yes. Yes.

Councilor Fenton.

[Speaker 5]
Yes. More than sufficient. Grants are accepted.

Item number nine, Madam Clerk.

[Speaker 3]
Item number nine is for a bond authorization for Jarena school feasibility study in the amount of two point five million dollars.

[Speaker 5]
Hey. Mr. Garvey. I'm going to turn the mic on, please, Peter.

There's a button to turn the mic on. There you go.

[Speaker 7]
There we go. Good evening, Councilors. Peter Garvey, Director of Capital Asset Construction.

We were accepted into the eligibility period for Jarena school earlier this year. So one of the items that we need is funding for the feasibility study. So we are going to the board meeting.

I believe we're going to the board meeting at the Mass School Building Authority in the December board. So we will be accepted into the feasibility study. So part of the eligibility study is putting together our educational profile, our maintenance and capital plan, our enrollment projections.

So all this has been submitted by the school department. It's a lot of work that goes into the eligibility study. So the next next step is the feasibility study.

So we'll be hiring a designer, an OPM, and we'll be doing some investigative work on where we're going to put the school. The question is, where's the school going? This eligibility feasibility study will steer us in a direction on where we're going.

So this is the next step is to get designers on board and move forward. Thank you, Mr. Garvey. Any questions from the council?

[Speaker 5]
Council President Perez.

[Speaker 6]
So I have to say thank you, Peter, because as a former school committee member, that was my first priority and the Mayor Springfield made that as a first priority. It's been 10 years or so in the making and finally we're getting into one of the stage. It's still going to take five years, correct, Peter?

But we are on the right side of the roll when it comes to this project. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you, Council President Perez. Councilor Delgado?

[Speaker 4]
I just wanted... That was me. It's all good.

Still getting used to it. I echo Council President Perez's sentiments. Thank you, Peter, to the team.

I mean as somebody who grew up in Plainfield Street and knows the horrors of that building, this is decades in the making. You know, I'm glad that the hard work from folks in the community have been pushing this for so long and you know, I wish it would have happened a lot sooner, but the fact that it's where at this point, this is definitely a much needed new building, particularly for kids who live in probably the poorest neighborhood in the state, right, and we have some of the highest asthma rates and some of the conditions that they've had to deal with in that school for decades.

The fact that we're at this point, I'm excited. I mentioned this earlier, my daughter's fourth grade there, so she's not going to see it, but I'm excited for all the future students of the Harena School Building. And I mentioned this to Peter earlier, but just want to make sure that, you know, Plainfield Street is split between 91, the railroads and the river, and that Harena School is one of the key access points to get students and families from Plainfield Street to Main Street.

So just want to make sure that we keep an eye on whatever happens with that form of building once it does go up, is making sure that there's still access points for folks to get to and from, so. But thank you for the hard work. Thank you, Councilor Delgado.

[Speaker 5]
Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 8]
Yeah, thanks, Mr. President. Just want to follow along. In the Finance Committee, we talked about this for a while.

Pete did a great job of presenting it and also presenting, you know, with the costs that are upon us for the two double schools that we just built and what this will eventually lead to in cost. So obviously, it's a project that that needs to be done. I love that school when my son went there, whenever that was, 35 years ago.

But it's obviously been a problem situation ever since. So it's a big one though. That's our next school and it's a five, you said it was a five-year window for building it.

So it's a big, big project, a lot of money, and appreciate you, Pete, for taking it to us and good luck in Boston. Thank you.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 10]
Councilor Kern. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I just want to echo what my colleagues are saying.

Peter, you're doing a great job. If you look at the last couple of years, whether it's the Putnam, Brookings, the Brightwood School, Swan to Berry School, and now this school, the City of Springfield is really leading the way in school construction. It's not an easy task to do.

Especially with the rising building cost. But you and your team are really doing an outstanding job and this is an exciting project and it's really going to complement the Brightwood School. So terrific and certainly has my support.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you, Councilor Kern. Any other Councilors? Councilor Delgado.

[Speaker 4]
I did have one last thing and I said this earlier. This is one of two buildings that were built in the 70s with this brutalist design that has had problems across the state. The other one is the courthouse.

So I thought it was significant to understand that we've got two of those buildings that are potentially coming off and Peter told me that there are no other buildings like that in the city. But I know that these buildings were designed, whoever got that contract in the 70s or whatever, they made out. But those have been problem buildings.

So I just wanted to add that piece. Excited to get those off of our back.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you, Councilor Delgado. Okay, seeing no other Councilors, Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the bond authorization.

[Speaker 3]
On approval of the authorization, Councilor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 4]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Delgado.

[Speaker 4]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Cliff Bruce.

[Speaker 4]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Goban. Yes. Yes, Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Davila.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Kern.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Santinello.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Whitfield. Absent. Councilor Perez.

Yes. Yes, Councilor Fenton.

[Speaker 5]
Yes. More than sufficient. Bond is authorized.

Thank you.

[Speaker 3]
Item number 10, Madam Clerk. Item number 10 is supplemental budget increase in state aid in the amount of $587,478.

[Speaker 5]
Is anyone here to speak on this matter? Ms. Bono, want to sub in?

[Speaker 9]
I'm online. I can take that.

[Speaker 5]
Oh, hi, Pat. I didn't see you there. Okay, go ahead, Pat.

You got the floor.

[Speaker 9]
Hi, this is Pat Roach from the school department. Good evening, Councilors.

[Speaker 5]
Good evening.

[Speaker 9]
This order is to, it was a timing issue, happens every year. The City Council approves their budget before the state has completed their budget. So when the state passed their budget, their Chapter 70 number was a little higher.

So this order will put the city in compliance with net school spending.

[Speaker 5]
Any questions from the Council for Mr. Roach? Okay, seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

[Speaker 3]
On approval, Councilor Walsh. Yes. Yes, Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 4]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Delgado.

[Speaker 4]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Klickruse.

[Speaker 4]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Govan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Davila. Yes. Yes, Councilor Kern.

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Santanello. Councilor Santanello. Away.

Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes, Councilor Whitfield. Absent. Councilor Perez.

Yes. Yes, Councilor Fenton.

[Speaker 5]
Yes. More than sufficient. Supplemental budget is approved.

Item number 11, Madam Clerk.

[Speaker 3]
Item number 11 is an order approving a five-year time and attendance services for five years.

[Speaker 5]
Is that you as well, Mr. Roach?

[Speaker 9]
Yes, I'm happy to take that one. So we currently use Kronos for our timekeeping system. That's how we do time cards in the city and Kronos has come into life.

So we need to find a new system. We went out to RFP and we had multiple companies submit proposals and our team is recommending TCM. And when TCM gave us pricing, they gave us pricing for both three years as well as five years.

And their five-year pricing is $50,000 cheaper. So we're asking the committee to allow us to do a five-year contract with them.

[Speaker 5]
Comments or questions from the Council? Okay. I just have one thing to say on this, Councilor Edwards, if you wouldn't mind coming up.

Thank you, Mr. President. Sorry to slow us down here. But Pat, did you say that you already went out to RFP with this and got the responses?

Yes. Okay. So I'm very much in support of this tonight and I just want to highlight for Councilors that I have been on a crusade on this subject for the last 10 years about regularly being asked to approve over three-year contracts before the bidding process has been complete.

And we've been told more than once that you can't bid after you've, you can only do the bidding after you've authorized the contracts for over three years. This is not happening in this case. It clearly can be done.

Thank you for doing it that way, Patrick. And very much in support of this tonight.

[Speaker 11]
Any other questions on the item? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, would you like to call the roll?

[Speaker 3]
On approval, Councilor Walsh? Yes. Yes.

Councilor Allen?

[Speaker 8]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Delgado? Yes.

Yes. Councilor Clerk Bruce? Yes.

Yes. Councilor Govan? Yes.

Yes. Councilor Brown?

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Davila?

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Councilor Kern?

[Speaker 10]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes, Councilor Benton.

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 3]
Yes. Yes, Councilor Whitfield absent. Councilor Perez.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 11]
Yes. The vote is sufficient. The order passes.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Item number 12, Madam Clerk, our last item.

[Speaker 3]
Our last item is an amendment to chapter 327 solid waste.

[Speaker 5]
Mr. Signoli.

[Speaker 1]
I'm being heckled. Good evening councillors. Chris Signoli, DPW director.

We have been in front of the council. This will be the third time for this item. We have had two subcommittee meetings that Councillor Brown and Councillor Allen talked about the meeting we had last Tuesday.

As we held that meeting, there has been two items that have come up. Number one, Councillor Fenton had forwarded to me some additional language requests to incorporate in into our into the document. The language is already in there.

It would just I would just be moving it around a little bit. Item number two was asked to me by Councillor De Villa is with regard to the radioactive material and impact on employees. There is no impact to employees as we do not touch the material.

What was asked about in the meeting was what that process is is when we dump material at the transfer station in Aguam, the material is scanned. If it is determined to be radioactive, it is removed, quarantined and sits until it meets the requirements to be able to be transported to another location and then burnt. The truck gets quarantined until that point until the radiation comes down in the truck in the truck bed because then it would contaminate other material.

But as far as the employees, there is no impact to the employees whatsoever on that. So those are the two additional items that were either discussed right at the meeting or following the meeting. And obviously the big item that we are looking for is an increase in bulk sticker for $8.

And as I mentioned, the reason why we were going for $8 is that we can use the existing stickers. So if somebody buys a sticker and they end up not having to use it, they can then use it on another bulk item. But if they were to say be $10 or $12, then they would be stuck with that.

Because what's happening now is sometimes vendors do, or I shouldn't say vendors, people do come and take some of the materials, especially older mattresses that may have a lot of metal in them, thinking that they're going to get some material for the metals. They may come and take them off the street. It doesn't happen a lot.

But that way if a sticker is unused that the resident can then use it for something else. So we were trying to go in multiples of $8. And what my goal is is over the next 8 to 12 months to monitor the number of mattresses that we are dealing with in the city and that we're having to collect, which has skyrocketed as I mentioned, to be able to hopefully get that number down in the future.

What I'm sorry there's one other item that was asked is that if in the future we don't bring it down, I think it was Councillor Davila who asked if there could be some language added if we didn't have to come back to the council to look for an increase again. My preference probably sometimes is not to do that. I would rather discuss increases with the council.

We could put something in there but I still think I would at a minimum I would do a notification to the council because I think the council's, the councillors would need to know if residents are going to start getting charged for something else. So we can include that language in any way shape or form in there. My preference obviously is I still need to come to the council because I do think you guys need to be aware of what we're proposing.

So none of the language has changed since the first submission so I would hope that we would be able to pass first step this evening.

[Speaker 5]
Thank you Mr. Signoli and councillors. Councillor Perez.

[Speaker 6]
Yes I only have to make a statement. We had a couple of meetings. I was concerned about the increase by looking at the comparison of what is being charged in Chicopee and other city.

I think that this is uncomfortable with it. When it comes to the increments I recommend that it comes back to the City Council because we could monitor the increments itself. I was called by some constituents because of the raising as a double but looking at it, it works better for the benefit of the $16 versus having to buy tickets.

So I wanted the public to understand what was the benefit in looking at the comparison of the city and towns when it comes to the increase of $16. Thank you Mr. President.

[Speaker 5]
Thank You Councillor Perez. Any other councillors? Okay Councillor Davila.

[Speaker 2]
Thank you Mr. President. Chris, I'm gonna get to the radioactive material in a second but I just want to go through with you through two items. One is the appeals committee that you established in this ordinance.

I've been looking for it but I can't seem to find it. Can you point me to where it is right now?

[Speaker 1]
It's not in the ordinance. So it came before you on the first meeting but I was told it didn't need to come before the council because it's not in the ordinance. However, the appeals process, thank you.

I'm sorry, the appeals process is within the rules and regulation which is a supporting document. What we added into that document was reasons why there could be trash service discontinued and then we the appeals process has been in there. We didn't change any regulation or any of the items as part of the appeals process other than in the original appeals process it actually had a person's name that the appeal should go to and what it is is when a letter is sent by me or by the law department to an individual it identifies the person who should be contacted by the property owner to begin the appeals process.

So the appeals process was in there. I am not recommending any changes to that at this point.

[Speaker 2]
Great, so the obligatory question is unless I misunderstood you which I don't think I did when you and I spoke you I believe you say that you had no objection to it. Unless I misunderstood you which I don't think I did when you and I spoke specifically about the appeals process and I had mentioned to you as I mentioned to the council president that I would personally feel more comfortable because that document somehow made it to us that we include a resident into this process and I suggested at the time that it would be somebody is a city council appointee. I believe you say you have no objection to it.

I don't have an objection to that. Who does?

[Speaker 1]
Nobody that I know.

[Speaker 2]
Did you just say you make no changes you suggest no changes to it? So Mr. President how do we go about making sure that happens?

[Speaker 5]
I think what he's saying counselor is that the appeals process is handled by the ordinance and he's not making any ordinance changes he's just talking about the the rules and regs of the DPW so you could do that under a separate ordinance amendment is that right Chris?

[Speaker 1]
Correct and it's just it's a separate document in support so we that can be modified at any time.

[Speaker 2]
So that will have to be brought up separately?

[Speaker 1]
It would.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah. Okay Chris can you and I work on that because I will feel much more comfortable if we have a resident a neighborhood resident appointee by the council president most likely coming from any of the civic associations that we have to still to fit in this appeal process just to give the average Joe direct participation into the government? Very well.

Now Chris let's talk about the bulk item tickets. So you're suggesting two ticket two bulk item yellow tickets that's $8 a piece at $16 per mattress correct? Chris can you put your mic can you put your microphone back on please?

Thank you.

[Speaker 1]
Per mattress and per box spring yes.

[Speaker 2]
Right and so and you mentioned that we're losing we're bleeding out $150,000 a year in mattress pickup correct?

[Speaker 1]
We're losing right now a hundred and fifty thousand yes.

[Speaker 2]
That's a lot of money I mentioned before I don't feel comfortable with that amount that we're losing money on that I mentioned I know you mentioned in the last several meetings we have had that we are among the cheapest in the area correct?

[Speaker 1]
We are the cheapest by far.

[Speaker 2]
And so Mr. President at the right time like I think I was Councilor Allen I believe that we were in sync that it should be maybe maybe twenty twenty-five dollars per mattress because it's still way cheaper as a way to to to recoup some of the hundred fifty thousand dollars which we are losing which is real money we're not talking about so chunk change here and I know people are going to say that we're supposed to put some due to burden on other people but we also have a responsibility to ensure that we have the money in the coffers to continue to give the services which everybody expects the residents to receive so that's why the items that I would like at the appropriate time Mr. President I'm going to make a motion to to make it $24 as opposed to $16 and but before I do that Chris radioactive material walk me through this so you have a guy out there they pick up the trash they bring it to the bondi silent some here somehow all the bells and whistles go off over there and he tells them that there's radioactive material there correct so that truck has to be put out of mission for 72 hours correct and the trash itself we have to be sorted out

[Speaker 1]
to figure out the source of that radioactive material correct they stop everything at the transfer station at that point right and it has to be gone through with specific Geiger counters and that may take two to three hours while all the other trucks in the area not just city of Springfield are sitting there waiting so there's charges associated with that so we end up having to pay for that as I mentioned that happens three or four times a year and I

[Speaker 2]
think within the ordinance it calls for them to be fined the appropriate amount

[Speaker 1]
by the DEP correct yeah we end up having to pay fines through DEP for that as well as payment payments that we need to make to our vendors as well and then there's a secondary charge that comes in from a secondary private hauler that needs to take that material to a different location right that's a quiz

[Speaker 2]
so now here we go with the where's it called guide your counter yeah okay I'm not pronouncing that right guide your counter so we know we got your counter we locate the trash the source of the trash then we have to go through that area to figure out what house it was correct yeah each truck has a as we're going through



[Speaker 2]
Particular day, we can narrow it down to a section of town that we knew that was picked up during that period of time. What we then do is the next week, we will go out and prior to picking up that trash, we will go through virtually every barrel in that neighborhood with a Geiger counter to determine if there is radioactive material because it will stay in the barrel for a while. And what we've done in the past is that we then notify the homeowner, tell them what happened.

We let them know that they can't do it. We then give them some documentation to give to their doctors, whether it's their own doctor or a veterinarian for their animals. And at this point, I don't have any issue of issuing fines to those people.

I want to be able to issue fines when it happens again.

[Speaker 1]
Right. Now, I do believe that you say that most of this radioactive material is from an animal source, correct?

[Speaker 2]
It's probably 50-50.

[Speaker 1]
50-50.

[Speaker 2]
Animal sources and fossils.

[Speaker 1]
Right. Are we in communication with the area vets and the area chemotherapies and oncology centers to advise patients of their responsibility if they're getting treatment at home of their disposal of any radioactive material?

[Speaker 2]
Every time that it happens to us, it's impossible because there may be people in Springfield that are getting treatment in Hartford, Boston, wherever. So what we do is we notify the homeowners, and then we try to put out as much notification citywide as we can to be able to let people know not to do that or at least make them aware of what the possibilities are.

[Speaker 1]
Now, Chris, I want to concentrate for a quick second on the worker, on the worker himself, because this is a health issue, particularly for the worker, for the truck driver. There's such a thing as a lifetime of radioactive load, just like the x-ray technicians that, you know, whatever radioactive material they might be exposed at that moment is not harmful to their health. But over 15, 20 years, that does add up and it could become an issue to them, including giving them cancer, which we know we don't want for them.

How are we tracking our DPW workers to ensure that they're okay with radioactive materials?

[Speaker 2]
When our trucks are scanned, when they are brought to the landfill and it's determined that what we call hot loads for radioactive material, the entire truck is scanned. And then if it is determined that there is material that has made its way into the cab where the employee is, then there is a protocol that goes along with that. We have not had to deal with that to this date.

Ever. Yeah, we haven't had to deal with that.

[Speaker 1]
Okay. And so we go to the truck with a Geiger counter, correct? Okay.

Okay. I mean, when you mentioned that, I think we need to give them justice. And to be fair to them, we needed to talk about them for a little while.

Thank you, Chris, for that explanation. So, Mr. President, I think, at least from my perspective, everything looks pretty decent on this ordinance. However, I will make a motion that we increase the mattress disposal in Section A to three bulk stickers, which comes out to be $24, as opposed to $16, because for God's sake, we're still the cheapest in the area.

And so with regards to the appeals process, Chris, you and I can work that a later time, correct?

[Speaker 4]
Yes. Okay. Motion made by Councilor Davila.

Is there a second to the motion? I will second the motion. Okay.

Councilor Klickbruce?

[Speaker 8]
Yeah, I just want to really make a statement. Councilor De Villa, thank you for your due diligence in requesting the erasing of, I guess, from 16 to 24, I guess, the suggestion. But I just want to be on the record.

Times are hard. You know, we're trying to get relief with taxes and, you know, different things, especially in certain communities. So does this have to be voted on today?

Can this go to committee? Because I'm not prepared to say, let's go to 24 tonight. I would have to have more dialogue.

I would like to at least involve the community more to get feedback on how they feel. So these are questions I have because it's kind of been presented tonight. Okay.

[Speaker 4]
Councilor Klickbruce, the motion on the floor would have to be acted on first unless it's withdrawn. So there wouldn't be an opportunity to make a motion to committee unless that motion was acted on first. So we have a lot of people raising their hands.

I just want to acknowledge that Councilor Brown has had his hand up for a while. So I'm going to call him. Councilor Davila also wants to speak again.

And it's his motion, so we'll get back to him. But I also see Councilors Santonello and Govan. So we're going to go Brown, Govan, Santonello, then back to Davila.

Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 11]
And my hand is up, too.

[Speaker 4]
And Councilor Walsh's hand is not up, but she would like it to be, so she can go right after Councilor Santonello. Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 5]
Yes, thank you, Mr. President. What I really, my concern was, especially even with the increases on the acting on the different increases. My main thing even for meeting was if we did an increase, even if we did any type of increases, I wanted to be able to now figure out how to calculate some of that.

Even as a city benefits on some of their what they're paying as far as overpaying. I wanted to give some of that to the seniors. I wanted to work the seniors somewhere in there as far as trash breaks and things like that.

So, whereas I agree with my colleague, Councilor Cliff Bruce, you know, times are hard. I always say, if we're going to do it, just like Councilor Davila say, yeah, yeah, we can do it. But I want to make sure that if we do think about doing something like that, we're making sure that we're calculating a break as far as the trash fee when it comes to seniors and the elderly.

That was kind of like my main concern when we even met in my subcommittee meeting, being able to now calculate some savings for the seniors. But that that that's all. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Brown.

There was I seconded it. Councilor Govan.

[Speaker 3]
Thank you, Mr. President. And I think for point of clarification, the increase today is eight dollars. Is that correct?

[Speaker 2]
Correct. The recommendation in the ordinance is for eight additional dollars to a total of 16.

[Speaker 3]
Okay, so for total $16. I guess I have the same concerns as everyone else as far as, you know, getting the right fee to the right people because a lot of times, I think we talked about in the subcommittee meeting that people come from out of town or property managers will get rid of mattresses because Springfield has such a low rate, making sure that we get the fees from the correct people. And I'm also, I was going to comment on what Councilor Davila was talking about regarding the, you know, the radioactive materials.

I want to thank him for bringing that up because that's something that's, you know, a serious issue. And if our employees are being affected and exposed to it, I want to make sure that we are on top of that. And it sounds like you are Chris.

So I appreciate that. I think that's what I wanted to say. And I had a question, but I actually forgot what it was.

So thank you, Mr. President.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you, Councilor Govan. Councilor Santanella.

[Speaker 9]
A real quick question for Chris. Chris, if we raise this to $24, right? From the 16 that you're recommending?

Yes. Would that increase more people dumping mattresses?

[Speaker 4]
I hope not. I'm asking. Chris, can you put your microphone?

[Speaker 2]
I hope not, but it probably will increase some of the dumping across the city. There has not been as much mattress dumping around the city as I thought. We don't pick up a lot of it.

A lot of it is picked up by clean cities. But I know in my conversations with Tommy McCarthy, they haven't seen a huge spike in mattresses over the last couple of years. And they're having to pay, I want to say, $75 or $100 to get rid of a mattress because they're getting rid of it as trash.

And since it's a banned item, they have to pay for it. Will it happen? It probably will.

Do I expect it to be a huge increase? No, I don't.

[Speaker 9]
Okay. That's my only concern, Mr. President, is that if we go up to $24 and somebody says, well, I don't want to pay the $24 now, that's way too much. I'm going to dump it across the street or somewhere else.

Then it becomes a problem for the city.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you, Councilor Santanello. Councilor Walsh?

[Speaker 11]
Thank you, Mr. President. I agree with my colleagues. I would rather evaluate the impact of the $16 increase before we increased it to $24 to see how it's working.

I believe Director Signore said he was going to monitor it, so I would be against an additional increase.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you, Councilor Walsh. Councilor Perez?

[Speaker 7]
I just want to say that we had a couple of committee meetings, and I wish they had come out from the beginning. I was one that had been advocating that we had increased double the amount, and now we are going to be at triple the amount. That's why I wanted increments and see how it works.

If it's a need to come back and assess after we pass the ordinance, so be. But at this point, people are struggling with the increases of their taxes for their homes right now. And it seems to me that $16 versus $25 is high because we have to look at other, how do I call it, other barriers that we have when it comes to the community.

And I'm speaking on behalf that I serve the poorest in the state. So at this point, I will not be in support of it, but I will look for the increments and see how it works. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you, Councilor Perez. Councilor Davila?

[Speaker 1]
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to first thank all my colleagues for making such important observations. I want to reassure everybody that I did not make this motion recklessly.

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and it's something that at the time Councilor Allen brought up himself. I brought it up myself in the last meeting. And so you guys make a very good point that if we increase this from $16, which is what is being suggested, to $24, is it going to possibly increase illegal dumping?

Possibly. But we all know you could also make the same argument if you increase it from $8 to $16. So no matter what we do, we're going to be between a rock and a hard place.

Not to mention the people that come from outside of the city, where I believe Chris said that some people could pay as much as $60, $65 to dump it here in our city. Something that Chris drove home very clearly. So I ask all of you this question.

And believe me, I make this motion sadly because I don't want to increase anything to our residents. If I was, if you were my boss, and I come to you and I tell you we're losing $150,000 in my department every year, let's be honest, you're going to look at me like I got four heads. You're going to be asking me, what the hell are you doing?

I'm not okay with losing $150,000 a year. I'm just not okay with it. And we do have a fiduciary responsibility to the city.

You know where this is going to reflect later down the road? This is going to reflect on a very important vote that we have coming up called the task factor. I also say to Chris that we need to step up the enforcement on this.

I feel like we could be doing much better enforcement, and what does that look like? I'm not sure. Now, it seems to me that there is different thoughts here that we could look specifically at this mattress increase.

We've all seen them. On my neighborhood, my own neighborhood, I wake up to tires neatly placed on the tree belt, and yes, sometimes I wake up to mattresses neatly placed on my tree belt. And I know that's a problem throughout the city.

I'm just not okay with losing $150,000. And again, this is a motion that I make with my heart in my hand. Mr. President, I think that what I'd be willing to do, it seems that there might be an appetite here, to continue to explore this. If it's the will of the council to pass this today, I will stick to my motion, even if it's defeated. Because I want it on the record later on that I'm not costing the residents $150,000 a year. If there is appetite to send it to committee, then I will withdraw my motion so that we can send it to committee.

But I would love to hear what my colleagues want to say. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you, Councilor Davila. Councilor Govan.

[Speaker 3]
Thank you. And I think that was what I was going to say earlier. I guess point of clarification because what we're voting on today is to double the rate to $16, not the 25.

I know that Chris mentioned and I think actually Council Davila mentioned at the subcommittee meeting that why can't we do it to 25, which I think is a high increase at the moment. But I think it makes sense to increase it to the 16 for now, so that the property managers will have to pay. And we can put a dent into the $150,000 that is being lost annually, because that is costing the taxpayers money, right?

So when we come pretty soon, we're going to be talking about property taxes for our residents, which is something that you all know is near and dear to my heart. And I think that doing something like this right now and having Chris, if he decides that he thinks we should increase it to 25, he has to come back to the council before doing that. And then we can have a conversation at that time.

But I think at the subcommittee meeting, we agreed that $16 rate for the mattresses was going to be something that we could do, because that is something that has been, it is the lowest in the area, and it's still the lowest in the area at $16. So I guess I would like for us to continue going the way we were going when we talked about it at the subcommittee meeting, and vote this increase in for now. And then let Chris do his analysis and see what happens with it going forward.

Thank you, Mr. President.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you, Councilor Galvan. Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 10]
The appetite of the council, as I'm hearing people make comments, is that they're not in favor of an increase. So in that being the case, I'd like to make a motion, if necessary, to move to question. If we want to go and recrease it, then vote for the increase.

If you're against the increase and you're in favor of the $16 as requested by the head of DPW, let's vote on that as well. Okay, there's a motion to move the question.

[Speaker 4]
Is there a second?

[Speaker 11]
Second.

[Speaker 4]
So that'll end debate. Madam Clerk, please call the roll on the motion to call the question, which will cease debate, and then we'll vote on Councilor Davila's motion to increase the fee to $24. On the motion to move the question.

[Speaker 6]
On the motion to move the question, Councilor Walsh. Yes. Yes.

Councilor Allen.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Delgado.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Clerk Bruce.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Galvan. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Councilor Brown.

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Yes. Councilor Davila.

Yes. Yes. Councilor Kearns.

Yes. Yes. Councilor Sansonella Yes.

Yes. Councilor Edwards.

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Yes. Council Wedel absent Councilor Peres Yes.

Yes, Councilor Profit Yes, more and efficient.

[Speaker 4]
I'm clear, please call the roll on the motion to increase the fee from 16 to $24 on the motion.

[Speaker 6]
Councilor Walsh? No. No.

Councilor Allen?

[Speaker 8]
No.

[Speaker 6]
No. Councilor Delgado?

[Speaker 12]
No.

[Speaker 6]
No. No. No.

No.

[Speaker 5]
No.

[Speaker 6]
No. No. No.

No. No.

[Speaker 5]
No.

[Speaker 6]
No. No. Councilor Newton-Long?

No. No. No.

[Speaker 4]
Non.

[Speaker 1]
thinking of a very wise councillor, the dean of the council, who says I know how to count votes. But the, you know, I'm still don't know, I believe that the will is to make it $16 now. But I do have a question for Chris.

Chris, you have mentioned and some councillors have mentioned to come back before. Define come back before before us. Define what does that mean?

It's going to be a year later, two years later, a month later.

[Speaker 2]
At a minimum, it would probably be a year because I would want to see how it would operate for a year. And if I were have to come back, it would be an ordinance change. So we would be back with this change as well as any others if we decided to do any others in there.

But it would be in front of the councillors and it would probably be for a year so that I could at least see from a long period of time what we're dealing with financially.

[Speaker 1]
Chris, the reason that I keep pounding on this issue is that I'm not OK with this $150,000 deficit. I'm just not OK with it. And you did mention about stepping up enforcement, correct?

[Speaker 2]
Absolutely.

[Speaker 1]
Hopefully that will recoup some of the money, some of the $150,000.

[Speaker 2]
Yeah, we've we've discontinued service to a number of places that I think are flaunting the the ordinance to begin with. And every one of them to date has been a property management company. And I'm going to we're still going to be continuing to do that because some of the other modifications that we have in the ordinance as well, it's going to make our enforcement a lot easier.

[Speaker 1]
Right. Chris, like always, thank you for your work. Thank you.

[Speaker 4]
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilor Davila. Any other councillors on the order?

Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

[Speaker 6]
On approval of the order, Councilor Walsh? Yes. Yes.

Councilor Allen?

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Delgado?

[Speaker 12]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Clerk Bruce?

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Galvan?

[Speaker 9]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Brown?

[Speaker 5]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Davila? Yes.

Yes. Yes. Councilor Kern?

[Speaker 2]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Santanella? Yes.

Yes. Councilor Edwards?

[Speaker 2]
Yes.

[Speaker 6]
Yes. Councilor Whitfield absent. Councilor Perez?

Yes. Yes. Councilor Fenton?

[Speaker 4]
Yes. More than sufficient. Order passes.

Any more business? Thank you, Councilors. There's not.

OK, Councilors, we will stand adjourned until a week from tonight, October 28th, seven o'clock. We have a hearings meeting. Everyone have a good night.

[Speaker 3]
Thank you. Good night.