Framingham City Council Finance Subcommittee Meeting – July 28, 2026

The Framingham City Council Finance Subcommittee met on July 28, 2026, in the Memorial Building at 150 Concord Street. Members present were Councillor Adaviani (chair), Councillor Cannon, and Councillor King; Councillor Stefanini was absent. Councillor Malik, initially expected to be absent, participated later in the meeting. The subcommittee reviewed a special CPA funding request for the Chris Walsh Memorial Trail, debated staffing and maintenance costs for Mary Denison Park, and discussed the city vehicle fleet policy. It also approved prior meeting minutes and scheduled a follow-up meeting for August 11, 2026.

Consent Calendar

• Minutes from the June 23, 2026 Finance Subcommittee meeting were approved 4-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public participants came forward during the public participation portion.

Discussion Items

Chris Walsh Memorial Trail Design Funding (CPA 2701)

• Heather O’Donnell, community preservation coordinator, and Tom Mahoney, CPC chair, presented the special application. The Parks and Recreation Division requested $409,506 in CPA funds for the design of the Chris Walsh Memorial Trail and Outdoor Recreation Amenity.
• Funding is intended as the local match for a federal grant and will allow completion of 100% design. The trail is planned to connect Farm Pond, Cushing Park, and the MBTA Commuter Rail Station downtown.
• The CPC accepted the application outside its normal funding cycle because of urgency. A CPC public hearing and vote was scheduled for August 3, 2026; the matter was referred to the Finance Subcommittee early to expedite the approval process.
• Administration staff said the second federal grant for the project was just over $2 million, and those funds must be obligated by September 30, 2026. The state contribution previously anticipated became unavailable because of shifting federal and state financing, so a local match was needed.
• Councillor Cannon moved to recommend favorable action; Councillor King seconded. The motion passed 3-0.

Mary Denison Park Staffing and Maintenance

• The CFO presented a recommendation to hire 10 employees to staff and maintain Mary Denison Park: four working supervisors at $291,926 and six laborers/MEO1s at $335,846, for $627,773 in salaries. With health insurance using a 60/40 single/family split under the Harvard Pilgrim Explorer plan ($48,000 for four single plans and $178,000 for six family plans) and $9,100 in FICA, the total annualized cost was $863,636. A September start was estimated at $719,697.
• Possible funding sources included reallocating $120,000 in seasonal lifeguard funding, adding 0.26% to the levy limit to generate $599,652 plus $45 in local receipts, or using $577,118 from the state’s winter recovery assistance program from an $80 million tranche before June 30, 2027.
• Council members expressed frustration and surprise that the proposal grew from the six positions discussed in the original FY27 budget to ten. Councillor King called the plan “ridiculous” and “a very large expansion of city services”; Councillor Cannon called it “a crisis of confidence” and said the request was too narrow, while suggesting the city first assess park staffing enterprise-wide.
• The COO said the mayor had decided not to fund positions during budget development and offered a personal opinion that the work should be subcontracted or privatized. Councillor Cannon cautioned that privatization was premature and could raise collective bargaining concerns.
• The mayor said the presentation should have started with staffing options rather than the maximum 10-person option, and noted the 10-person model provides seven-day-a-week coverage. Councillor Malik recalled prior options of 6, 4, or 2 employees; the administration also referenced a 10-person maximum and 4/6 options. Councillor Cannon said he could support starting with two positions as an interim step while a broader plan is developed.
• The subcommittee did not take a vote. It scheduled another Finance Subcommittee meeting for August 11, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., requested the 2/4/6 staffing options be distributed, and discussed arranging a site visit to the park. Members also briefly questioned a $70 poster created for the park after the mayor had estimated $5.

City Vehicle Fleet Policy

• Fleet data was presented at the subcommittee’s request. The city has 323 vehicles across 13 departments; DPW accounts for 156 vehicles, many of them specialized. Only 49 vehicles have GPS. Inspectional services has GPS on all 12 vehicles, while DPW uses GPS mainly on snow and sanitation equipment.
• Police fleet details included 36 marked cruisers, with 27 actively used for patrol and older cruisers used for paid details that generate revenue; six motorcycles; three other marked specialty vehicles; two parking enforcement vehicles; and 26 confidential vehicles, including 14 take-home vehicles for the chief, deputy chiefs, canine handlers, and Detective Bureau.
• Other fleet facts: the health department has five shared vehicles for 14 employees and no take-home vehicles; planning replaced three vehicles with one electric vehicle, and the director has no assigned vehicle; the Council on Aging van is owned by the MWRTA; and former Parks and Recreation take-home vehicles were auctioned or returned to the fleet.
• Discussion considered a centralized fleet management system, estimated at $50,000 for implementation and $15,000 to $40,000 per year, as well as pooling the Memorial Building’s 33 vehicles, including 22 passenger vehicles, and researching other municipalities.
• Councillor Adaviani pressed the COO about his take-home vehicle bearing a police “confidential” plate rather than a standard blue municipal plate, asserting it should be corrected under state law. The COO said he did not know about the plate issue and would look into it.
• The subcommittee also requested follow-up on GPS decision-making and prior GPS usage data that had not been provided.

Key Outcomes

• Recommended favorable action on the Chris Walsh Memorial Trail CPA special application by a 3-0 vote.
• Approved Finance Subcommittee minutes from June 23, 2026, by a 4-0 vote.
• Took no action on Mary Denison Park staffing; set a follow-up Finance Subcommittee meeting for August 11, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., with revised staffing options and a possible site visit.
• Directed staff to explore a centralized fleet management system, vehicle pooling, GPS policy guidance, and to correct the COO’s vehicle registration plate.