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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Beverly City Council Meeting - March 16, 2026

City Council — Monday, March 16, 2026

BodyBeverly, Massachusetts

SessionCity Council

DateMonday, March 16, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:54:53

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:43

Endorsement.

0:44

Endorsement and I could just say what I'm saying.

0:48

That was my thank you very much, everyone.

0:51

Thanks for joining us this evening.

0:53

Whether you're joining us here in the council chamber or you're joining us on BEVCAM with our thanks to Kim and the Bev Cam booth for having us live and streaming.

1:03

As we typically do, just take a moment to walk through the agenda before calling the meeting to order, just so that we'll have a sense of what's before us this evening.

1:11

We do have uh two presentations.

1:14

We have members of our bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee here to offer us an update.

1:18

Thank you for being here with us.

1:19

And we also have a trash and recycling update from the mayor and the administration.

1:25

So we'll have those two presentations.

1:27

We do have one member of the public who signed up to speak, and we will uh get that portion in as quickly as we can, knowing that we also do have a posted public hearing for 7:30 and 745, and we'll need to at least open those at the times that they are posted, and then we'll go from there.

1:42

Then we have some routine business to take care of.

1:45

We'll take a brief break for some subcommittee work and we'll be back to finish everything up.

1:49

So with that, I'll officially call to order this regular meeting of the Beverly City Council Monday, March 16th, 2026, 7 o'clock p.m.

1:58

Ms.

1:58

Kent, will you please call the roll?

2:00

Crawley, gentlemen here, Houseman.

2:03

I'm here.

2:03

Malady?

2:04

Here.

2:04

Patando?

2:05

Sonia?

2:06

Here.

2:06

Spain.

2:07

Here.

2:07

St.

2:07

Hilaire.

2:08

Here.

2:08

And Flowers.

2:09

Here.

2:10

Thank you very much, Ms.

2:11

Kent.

2:11

Uh, Councillor Malady, would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

2:14

And I'd ask that we all remain standing for a moment of silence for Peter Silva, who is a Beverly resident and also was the Essex police chief.

2:24

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States.

2:50

Thank you very much, Councillor Mullady, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and thank you all for taking that moment of silence.

2:56

As I mentioned, that is for Chief Peter Silva, award to uh resident and longtime Beverly resident, and also, as I mentioned, uh very long and um dedicated public safety career.

3:11

He retired or ended his career as the Essex police chief, and he passed away unfortunately recently following some a journey with cancer.

3:20

And so we want to hold Chief Silva and his family, his friends, and his communities, both the community where he has resided and called home and the communities that he has served in our hearts and and thank thank them for sharing him with so many as he worked diligently throughout his career.

3:37

So thank you all for taking that moment of silence.

3:40

Let's now go to our first presentation.

3:44

We'll go right to those.

3:45

Uh we have, as I mentioned, members of our bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee, and uh we'll have them come to the podium and offer us an update.

3:55

Thank you.

3:56

Okay.

3:56

Hi, good evening.

3:57

I'm Kyle for the bike and pedestrian committee with me tonight is Jonathan Salt.

4:03

Um Paul Gentili and Jared Porter.

4:06

Not with me is um John Hershey and Lisa Chela, they couldn't be here.

4:11

Um, since our inception at the end of 2023, and for the last six quarters, we've been focused on trying to develop a basic understanding of what the city requires for bicycle infrastructure and what the city is experiencing in terms of pedestrian safety.

4:32

So to develop that understanding, we launched a number of initiatives in parallel.

4:37

First and foremost, we did a deep dive and we looked at incident data between motor vehicles and pedestrians and motor vehicles and cyclists.

4:46

We studied the period of 2020 through 2025.

4:51

And during that period, on average, the city experiences a pedestrian issue on average, about every three and a half weeks, and a bicyclist issue every six to six and a half weeks.

5:03

We understand where those incidents happen, time of day, frequency, location, et cetera.

5:09

What we're doing now is working with the Beverly Police Department to get a better understanding of what we can do to minimize instances from happening, both frequency and severity of incidents.

5:22

What we also did is we went to we took the bike map that the city had in 2019, a 40-mile conceptual bike map.

5:31

We integrated that with the multi-year paving plan.

5:34

And as of the end of this year, that 40-mile map will be approximately 80% complete.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Personnel Matters███████████████████████████████31%

Procedural████████████████████████24%

Transportation Safety██████████10%

Public Safety████████8%

Budget Review████████8%

Active Transportation██████6%

Public Engagement██████6%

Waste Management█████5%

Grant Management██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Beverly City Council Meeting - March 16, 2026

The Beverly City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, March 16, 2026, at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers at 191 Cabot Street, with livestream on BEVCAM. The meeting included presentations from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) and a trash/recycling update from the Mayor, public hearings, and routine business. The council approved minutes, referred several items to committees, and closed public hearings.

Consent Calendar

Approved minutes of the Public Services Committee of the Whole meeting on February 2, 2026, and the regular City Council meeting on February 2, 2026, by a 9-0 vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

Aisha Sidicki (Ward 3 resident) urged the council to revise its rules requiring speakers to state their home address during public comment, citing an ACLU of Massachusetts letter (March 2024) that such policies chill free speech and endanger vulnerable individuals. She proposed allowing speakers to state only their ward number instead.

Discussion Items

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Update: Representatives Carl, Paul Gentili, Jared Porter, and Jonathan Salt presented findings from their analysis of incident data (2020-2025), noting on average a pedestrian incident occurs every 3.5 weeks and a bicycle incident every 6-6.5 weeks. They reported that the city's 40-mile conceptual bike map is 80% complete as of the end of 2026, using paint and signage (unprotected bike lanes). The committee is pursuing a Vision Zero strategic framework focused on low-cost actions to reduce fatalities and serious injuries, including counter units for usage data, walk audits at schools (May 1–June 15, 2026), and a comprehensive report to the council in November 2026. They emphasized coordination with the police, engineering, schools, and state resources. Councilors expressed appreciation and agreed to schedule a further discussion in the Public Services subcommittee.
Trash and Recycling Update (Mayor): The Mayor provided an update on the upcoming trash and recycling contract expiring June 30, 2026. The city issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) with responses due later that week. Key goals include reducing trash tonnage, aligning with state waste goals, and incorporating some automation. The city is working with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Waste Reduction Committee. A more detailed update is expected in April. Councilors asked about curbside composting, and the Mayor affirmed it remains a high priority and that they are exploring options with haulers.
Department of Public Services (DPS) Classification Study & Retroactive Pay (Public Hearing on Order 88): Commissioner Collins presented a comprehensive wage and classification study for DPS employees (general labor and foreman units), conducted with consultant HRS over two years. The study revamped job descriptions, created a 20-grade pay scale (up from 10) to better differentiate roles, and set pay at 70% of comparable communities. The effective date is July 1, 2024, requiring retroactive pay. The total request is to transfer $241,250 from the Reserve for Union Negotiations to cover retroactive costs. The union (Joe San Filippo, president) unanimously endorsed the changes. The administration stated the cost for FY26 is partially funded, with additional internal reallocations. City Budget Analyst Jerry Perry recommended referring the matter to the Finance and Property Committee for further analysis, citing the need to review financial and collective bargaining implications. Councilors expressed support for the initiative but agreed to hold the item in committee for due diligence before a vote. The public hearing was closed, and the item referred to Finance and Property.
National Grid Petition (Public Hearing on Order 84): A petition for underground electric conduits on Dodge Street to serve a gate opener at 300 Dodge Street. National Grid representative Michael Cazati described the work as a short job (half a day). The public hearing was closed and referred to Public Services Committee, which later recommended approval (unanimous council vote).

Key Outcomes

Approved: Minutes of February 2, 2026 meetings (9-0).
Approved: $8,500 grant from the Department of Fish and Game for free seasonal pump-out boat service (Order 98) – referred from Finance and Property and approved by full council (9-0).
Approved: Renewal of flammable registrations (Order 99) and new secondhand junk dealer license for Kurage Rad Jewelers Corp (Order 100) – both recommended by Legal Affairs and approved (9-0).
Approved: National Grid petition for underground conduits on Dodge Street (Order 84) – recommended by Public Services and approved (9-0).
Referred to Committee: The DPS retroactive pay transfer (Order 88) was closed as a public hearing and referred to Finance and Property Committee for further review, with a recommendation to expedite action at the next meeting.
Announced: Joint City Council and School Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at 6:30 PM at Beverly High School Library to discuss FY27 budgets.

Meeting Transcript

Endorsement. Endorsement and I could just say what I'm saying. That was my thank you very much, everyone. Thanks for joining us this evening. Whether you're joining us here in the council chamber or you're joining us on BEVCAM with our thanks to Kim and the Bev Cam booth for having us live and streaming. As we typically do, just take a moment to walk through the agenda before calling the meeting to order, just so that we'll have a sense of what's before us this evening. We do have uh two presentations. We have members of our bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee here to offer us an update. Thank you for being here with us. And we also have a trash and recycling update from the mayor and the administration. So we'll have those two presentations. We do have one member of the public who signed up to speak, and we will uh get that portion in as quickly as we can, knowing that we also do have a posted public hearing for 7:30 and 745, and we'll need to at least open those at the times that they are posted, and then we'll go from there. Then we have some routine business to take care of. We'll take a brief break for some subcommittee work and we'll be back to finish everything up. So with that, I'll officially call to order this regular meeting of the Beverly City Council Monday, March 16th, 2026, 7 o'clock p.m. Ms. Kent, will you please call the roll? Crawley, gentlemen here, Houseman. I'm here. Malady? Here. Patando? Sonia? Here. Spain. Here. St. Hilaire. Here. And Flowers. Here. Thank you very much, Ms. Kent. Uh, Councillor Malady, would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? And I'd ask that we all remain standing for a moment of silence for Peter Silva, who is a Beverly resident and also was the Essex police chief. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States. Thank you very much, Councillor Mullady, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and thank you all for taking that moment of silence. As I mentioned, that is for Chief Peter Silva, award to uh resident and longtime Beverly resident, and also, as I mentioned, uh very long and um dedicated public safety career. He retired or ended his career as the Essex police chief, and he passed away unfortunately recently following some a journey with cancer. And so we want to hold Chief Silva and his family, his friends, and his communities, both the community where he has resided and called home and the communities that he has served in our hearts and and thank thank them for sharing him with so many as he worked diligently throughout his career. So thank you all for taking that moment of silence. Let's now go to our first presentation. We'll go right to those. Uh we have, as I mentioned, members of our bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee, and uh we'll have them come to the podium and offer us an update. Thank you. Okay. Hi, good evening. I'm Kyle for the bike and pedestrian committee with me tonight is Jonathan Salt. Um Paul Gentili and Jared Porter. Not with me is um John Hershey and Lisa Chela, they couldn't be here.

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