Beverly City Council Regular Meeting - June 15, 2026: Trash Fee Ordinance Finalized, Veterans Services Budget Concerns Raised
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Beverly City Council Regular Meeting - June 15, 2026
The Beverly City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, June 15, 2026, at 7:00 PM in the City Council Chamber. The agenda included public comments, a proclamation, and final passage of a trash fee ordinance (Order 142) with amendments. Key topics included funding for veterans services, a $70,000 grant from the Bernard M. Gordon Foundation for robotics education, and approval of multiple grants and appointments. The meeting also featured subcommittee reports and a motion to reconsider and finalize the trash fee ordinance.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Gerard Rathe (address not given) spoke in support of the Veterans Services Department, sharing his personal experience of being homeless and receiving help from David and Ken. He emphasized the importance of having two staff members to serve veterans effectively.
- Robert Laws (245 Elliott Street, Beverly) expressed concerns about budget cuts to veterans services, first responders, fire, and police. He highlighted Beverly's national recognition for finding Revolutionary War graves and argued that the federal government does not adequately support veterans, urging the city to take care of them.
- Dina Diorio (on behalf of her father, a disabled veteran at 14 Central Street, Apt 3) urged the council to preserve funding and full-time staffing for the Veterans Service Department. She described how the office helped her father access benefits, enabling her to become a daughter again after being a full-time caregiver for over a decade. She noted that serving 1,561 veterans with only two staff is a low ratio.
- Charles Clark (55 Juniper Street, Beverly) read a statement on behalf of John W. Reynolds (retired U.S. Army colonel), chair of the Veterans Council. The statement detailed the intensive work of Veterans Service Officers (40–60 hours per month per veteran) and asked the council to reconsider reductions in support for veteran services.
Discussion Items
- Order 142 – Trash Fee Ordinance (Final Passage): The council debated amendments to the proposed ordinance that would set residential trash fees. Councilor Retundo proposed an amendment (later revised per the city solicitor) requiring periodic fee review every even-numbered year. Councilor Crowley moved to reduce all fees by $100 (to $200 default, $100 for 35-gallon, $300 for 95-gallon), contingent on finding $1.3 million in budget cuts. After legal and budgetary concerns (unbalanced budget), the motion failed (1–8). Councilor Spang successfully amended language in Section 244-15B to replace "eligible for a reduced fee" with "charged a fee" (9–0) and later moved to strike the sentence "No new commercial customers will be serviced by the city" from Section 244-16, which passed (9–0). After a motion to reconsider (7–2), the main motion (Retundo’s amendment with all amendments) passed on final passage (7–2). The final ordinance sets residential fees at $300 per dwelling unit (default), $200 for opting to use a 35-gallon receptacle, $400 for a 95-gallon receptacle; commercial minimum $650; and requires review every even-numbered year.
- Proclamation – Bernard M. Gordon Foundation Day: The council unanimously (9–0) declared June 15, 2026, as Bernard M. Gordon Foundation Day in Beverly, recognizing a $70,000 donation supporting Beverly High School robotics. Mandy Harrington, a recent graduate, was credited with initiating the partnership.
- Committee Reports: The council approved multiple items from subcommittees, including:
- Grant acceptances: $100,000 Cummings Foundation grant (Police Wellness), $156,000 DMH training grant, $248,478 DMH Jail Arrest Diversion grant, $499,974 Complete Streets grant, $2,000 donation from Keller Williams Realty Evolution, and $50 pastries donation from What’s Brewing Cafe (all for veterans).
- Appointments: Dileen Wynn (Planning & Development), Grace C. Lee (Planning Board), Philip Thornton (Design Review Board), Christine Bettoni (Conservation Commission), Joanne Miller (Conservation Commission, with waiver), Stephanie Tallow and Dan Wensell (Council on Aging), Mike P. Collins (Commissioner of Public Services).
- License approvals: peddler licenses for Geraldine Longchamp and Joe’s on a Roll; class two motor vehicle license for Grand Touring Sales on Cabot.
- Public hearing dates: June 25, 2026, at 6:30 PM for road resurfacing transfer ($1.5M), 6:45 PM for Lynch Park Climate Resiliency MEPA work ($45,000), and 7:00 PM for National Grid underground facilities on River Street.
- Special Committee on Deficit Reduction: Council President Flowers appointed a special committee (including herself, Councilor Mulady, School Committee members Karin Robinson and Madeline Lennox, and citizen representatives Lydia Ames, Christine De Palma, Dan Hughes, and Mark Munoz) to address structural budget imbalances. The committee will meet publicly but not on BEVCAM; public may attend but not participate.
Key Outcomes
- Trash Fee Ordinance (Order 142) passed 7–2 on final passage with amendments: residential fees $300 (default), $200 (35-gallon), $400 (95-gallon); commercial minimum $650; no new commercial customer ban was removed; periodic review every even-numbered year.
- All committee reports approved unanimously (9–0) including multiple grants, appointments, and license renewals.
- Public hearings set for June 25, 2026, on road resurfacing, Lynch Park project, and River Street underground facilities.
- Proclamation adopted (9–0) honoring Bernard M. Gordon Foundation.
- Budget process continues: Finance and Property subcommittee meetings scheduled for June 16 (veterans, Council on Aging, Board of Health) and June 17 (dispatch, Essex Tech, schools); public hearing on city budget on June 22 at 6:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us this evening for our city council meeting. Before I officially call the meeting to order, I'd like to just run through what's on the agenda just so that we can all be on the same page about what's in front of us this evening. And I will um begin by thanking everyone who's joining us here in the council chamber in person. Thank you for being here with us. And of course, thank you for uh Bevcam being here with us, Kim in the Bev Cam booth, making it possible for other folks to be joining us uh from wherever you're watching today, and we're really grateful for it. So thank you, Kim, and thank you, Bev Cam, for making sure our meetings are accessible and uh easy for folks in the community to find and to follow along with. It's very important. This evening we have uh proclamation, a joint proclamation with the mayor. The mayor is coming from another meeting, and so he should be here in time to do the proclamation. But we may I may ask for a motion to go out of order at the beginning um so that we can make everything work. We do have five folks signed up for the public comment, and these are the five spots that are available at every regular city council meeting, and they are up to three minutes per speaker, and they can be signed up for by contacting the city clerk's office no later than the morning of a meeting, 9 30 a.m. Um, so we have five folks who have signed up to speak, and we thank them for that. Then we have some routine business to take care of. We'll take a brief break for some subcommittee work and then we'll come back to finish it all up. So with that, I'll officially call to order this regular meeting of the Beverly City Council, Monday, June 15th, 2026, 7 o'clock PM. Ms. Kent, will you please call the roll? Crawley? Here Housman? Here, Malady Rutando, Sonia, Spang, St. Hilaire, and Flowers here. Thank you very much, Miss Kent. Councilor Spang, will you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? Allez to the flag of the United States of America. Underground, individual liberty, and justice for all. Thank you very much, Councillor Spang, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Uh counselors, I would entertain a motion to take the agenda out of order so we could begin with our public comment. All those in favor. That carries nine-zero. As I mentioned, and uh for folks who are just joining us, come on in and uh have a seat wherever you would like. So these public comment spots, there are up to five at any regular meeting of the Beverly City Council. They are three minutes for each speaker. We do that to make sure that everybody has an equitable amount of time. And you can contact the city clerk to sign up for these spots. They are first come first serve, and the latest that an individual can sign up is 9 30 the morning of the meeting. And so we do have five folks signed up for today. Um I always like to mention, just so that if you're following along, it doesn't seem strange or doesn't appear unclear why the council doesn't engage in a lot of back and forth conversation with speakers during these spots. These really are a chance for uh the public to come and to share with us what's happening, thoughts that are on your mind. It's not a question and answer conversation part of the agenda, but I always like to remind us that doesn't mean that the council's not listening. These are really important spots and it really go on to inform a lot of our future conversations. So we very much appreciate when folks sign up for these. So we'll go to our public comment. Um Vice President St. Hilaire, would you mind being our timekeeper? Um Vice President St. Hair, thank you. We'll keep the time at three minutes. If you hear the timer go off as you're speaking, if you would just draw your remarks to a close at that point, and as I was saying, that just helps us to make sure that everyone's getting an equitable amount of time. And I'll just go in the order that folks are signed up.
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