Now declare this meeting of public health and public safety open.

Please note that pursuant to chapter two of the acts of 2025, this meeting of the city council committee will be conducted via remote participation.

We will post an audio recording, audio video recording, transcript or other comprehensive record of these proceedings on the City of Summer website and local cable access government channels.

Clerk, can you please call the role?

And this is roll call, Counselor Scott.

Present.

Counselor Klingon.

Present.

Councilor McLaughlin.

Yeah.

With all counselors present, we have quorum.

Okay.

And we also have special guest, Council President Lance Davis is here with us.

Um we let's see, we'll start with the first item.

Agenda item 125-1109, approval of the minutes of the public health and public safety committee meeting of June 9th, 2025.

Counselor Scott.

Yes.

I'll move to approve.

Yep.

Counselor Clayin.

Yes.

Councilor McGaughlin.

Yes.

Those are exceptions.

All right.

And Clerk, could you please uh with the consent of the rest of the committee?

I'd like to take up any items around Davis Square and homelessness issues in the community.

Uh, could you please read those items out?

Yes.

And that is agenda item two, 25-1563.

That the administration provide data on needles found in and around Davis Square outside of the designated receptacle box, including a breakdown by specific location and used versus unused.

Agenda item three, 25-1562 that the administration discussed with this council whether there is a need to create additional alternative locations for people to store their belongings.

Agenda number four, 25-1561 that the administration discussed with this council the process for removing abandoned items from public spaces.

And is number five included in this?

Sorry, just to confirm.

Uh yes.

Okay.

And agenda number 525-1353 that the administration direct all relevant departments, including health and human services, to appear before the city council to discuss an update on current unhoused outreach efforts.

Okay.

So some of these items are from me from a long time ago.

A lot of them are from Councillor Davis from recently.

Councilor Davis, did you want to start or would you like us to lead with a response from the city?

No, Mr.

Chair, I'm happy to uh to leave it to you in committee.

I'll I'll you know raise my hand if I'd like to weigh in.

We'd just love to here to hear the responses.

Okay, thank you very much.

Uh Liaison Hutter, uh, would you like to start absolutely Mr.

Chair?

Thanks so much for the opportunity.

Um we have submitted uh a memo along with uh data sheet, um a spreadsheet of data on all of the needles and on our sharps and related paraphernalia collected by ISD.

Um so that speaks to the first item.

The memo on the screen now is sort of a summary of that information.

Um if you would like to take all the items together, we can do that.

Or if you want to take them one by one, um, we can start here.

If we could just do an overview, because I think a lot of them are interconnected, and then we can um ask questions as we see fit.

Um great.

And so unfortunately we don't have staff um available um tonight unexpectedly to speak to this item, but we do have staff for the remaining three items, um, and I'll leave it to them to um give sort of their introductory remarks on the item.

Um so the next two around um their belongings and abandoned items.

We have Nikki Spencer who can give um some information.

All right, uh, Chief of Staff Spencer, would you like to I'd like to recognize you?

Thank you.

Through the chair, Nikki Spencer, Chief of Staff, she her hers.

Um, I believe this item uh is asking whether or not we need to create additional alternative locations for people to store their belongings.

Um thank you for the question.

The short answer is yes, and there is a need.

Um, and we've also been meeting across departments to uh attempt to develop solutions.

So here is a bit of the longer answer.

Um currently there are few opportunities for unhouse residents to store belongings in Somerville.

Our partners at the Summerville Homeless Coalition offer lockers on a limited basis in their daytime engagement center that clients can access.

And DBW has provided a small container to store items when they need to be removed on an urgent basis by city departments.

This is not an attendant, uh attended or accessible option, however.

Um, and that requires uh when we do store things in this container, we have to coordinate with outreach workers and SHC to reunite belongings with their owner.

Um, sometimes in a pinch, other departments have pitched in to store bulkier items as well.

Um we are approaching this issue in two ways.

And the short term, um, we need a larger storage solution for bulkier belongings that don't fit our current container at the city.

DPW has been working with HHS to brainstorm potential options and sites.

Again, this is a short-term solution that doesn't provide regular access, but it does allow us to store larger survival items.

So we're not making the perfect enemy good.

We need a larger option as soon as possible.

That being said, we also need a longer term solution.

So with the input of our colleagues at SHC, we have been researching better models for belonging storage.

In other cities, there are models where unhoused residents have regular access to storage lockers for safe storage of their belongings.

These programs, however, can be very work-intensive.

So we are looking at different models.

Many of them do um ultimately contract out the service to a local nonprofit.

Um so what goes into a successful um sort of storage or locker program.

One is that we need to find sufficient space and facilities, which I know this this council is very aware or tight in our city.

Um necessary staffing to supervise the facility.

So some models are open 24-7, others are open a few days a week.

Either way, they need to be some type of supervision and oversight with staffing.

Um there need to be clear expectations of what can and cannot be stored.

Um management of any safety items or hazards in belongings.

So, for example, um perishable food, pests, sharps, things that need to be managed before they are stored.

And then finally, policies on unclaimed property or belongings.

What happens when somebody does not come back for their belongings?

Um, so our understanding from SHC from other partners and other models that we're looking at.

It takes a lot of intentional work to do this well.

It is it's not an easy lift.

Um, but we're doing the research to determine some options for moving forward.

So again, uh not in a long-term, so sorry, we're not at that long-term solution yet, but that's not stopping us from doing something in the short term to at least give us some more flexibility.

Mr.

Chair, you're muted.

Thank you.

Um, do we have any questions or comments from the committee?

Well, Council Davis.

Council Davis.

Come on.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

There it goes.

Um thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um, and thank you, um, Spencer.

Um for that answer.

So it's um uh on a uh not surprisingly, um, good to hear that you all are are very you know conscious and aware of this and have already done a lot of thought um into how we can improve this situation.

Um I think I'm I'm mostly I don't think I have any follow-ups in on this on the more space for storage point.

Um because other than just to say, let's keep trying to figure that out.

The reason you know, one of the reasons why I raised this, I mean, obviously, this is a as you said, this is a significant issue for folks who um who don't have a otherwise have a place to store uh their stuff or sleep at night.

Um but it also you know, I really wanted to sort of start to have the conversation in the context of um, you know, it is there a way in in in looking for a a better way that we can all coexist.

Um community members who are um in difficult situations, um, don't have other facilities and community members who are coming through the square and open spaces and wanting to use them as public parks.

We know there's been a lot of tension, a lot of friction in in the past year plus, and and I appreciate the administration's um you know uh uh approach um generally um part of the conversation of what you know is there a way to um with recognizing the humanity of everybody involved, um, move large items out of significant public spaces without it being a uh, you know, uh uh without uh going to the line of a zero tolerance policy or um or a sweep or anything like that, sort of really inhumane uh approaches that we've seen it elsewhere in the the state of the country.

Um so thank you for that.

That's just I just want to sort of put that context out there.

Obviously, we're not we're not there with yet with a uh a way to take a different approach, but I hope we will be um I hope the administration will continue on that and to the extent that it requires cooperation with the council to uh to help identify and approve spaces and you know um or or funding for it.

I think it's it's it's gonna be the reality um for some time in our country um and in our community.

Chair if I could um can I ask about the item uh specific to the policy I think it's 1561 um and and I'll stop if if Ms.

Spencer or or Mr.

Chair you intended to take that separately and I'll I'll wait for that conversation but I I wanted to we can read that uh go ahead to council Davis and we'll have them read that item yeah I I just let me just give you the context there I I think I spoke about this a little bit in the at this at the council level but um the intent here is that again just let's start with with fact finding right let's start with understanding kind of where we are and then continue the conversation as to is there something that we could do differently this came up because people raised to me as well as Councillor Straza we were having a conversation about it um that there at times are items um in public places particular in Davis Square um around the the the porta potty in Seven Hills specifically I've seen this come up several times um which is is there because I originally asked for it years ago so I'm still very grateful that we have that that that option for folks um I'm grateful that the administration has increased the cleaning of it um there does seem to be on occasion um what appears to be abandoned abandoned items around it um and I heard through very extenuate you know hearsay to the nth degree okay so take it with a grain of salt but that that um that there was uh you know it it it couldn't be moved without a sp you know the the mayor herself uh giving approval to move stuff like that like so if that's the policy okay the we'll we'll we'll I just want to start let's understand what what is the policy because there's clearly a difference between um the belong the active belongings of people that might include you know papers medicines any whatever their personal belongings that are important to them and you know soaking wet seemingly discarded four days plus items around uh the porta potties as as one example um so where you know where where does the what is our policy for for that that end of the spectrum um and if it's the same okay then we can have that conversation sort of figure out if there's an adjustment to make that's the reason I phrased it that was just to first ask you know is that true do we need an act of the mayor to pick up a the you know abandoned soak and wet article of clothing or four um and whatever else might be around it or not uh on that anyone from the city the chair um would you prefer if I sort of speak to the the item in general and I think I can get to to counselor Davis's question as part of it.

Yeah I I think this is okay thank you.

Um so so through the chair thanks for the question Counselor Davis and and for everybody who's been asking sort of similar questions about abandoned items and I think we're talking really about abandoned personal items or or things that are unattended.

We don't quite know if they're abandoned or not.

So this is a really sensitive topic um for both unhoused and housed neighbors I know a bunch of us were at a meeting in Davis uh earlier this month where I talked about this um so we're really trying to approach this with best practices and these come from the executive office of housing and livable communities service providers national organizations um I'm trying to channel director Carroll who couldn't be here tonight but um we are constantly looking at sort of the best practices in the field um and we're trying to achieve balance with the concerns of other folks who use these spaces um so and if you'll indulge me and maybe this is where uh the the question about where the mayor comes in um I I'm very proud of the work that we've done over the past four years to evolve our protocols about unattended personal items.

When Mayor Ballantyne first came into office we found that sometimes the first instinct was to just remove things right away.

And we know from a lot of public health research there can be really dire consequences for unhoused people when personal items are discarded.

So I I do want to start off by thanking HHS and DBW in particular for their teamwork in evolving this approach.

I had a long conversation with the DPW worker like a month or two ago about how much work he puts in in attention when he finds something and where he tries to look around and and all of the things that he does.

And that's that just it feels um light years beyond where we were when we started um HHS, TPW, but also ISD, SPD, SFD, emergency management 311 there are a lot of people who've kind of come around these protocols and worked on them.

But it has been a um a priority of the administration to find the balance here and um understand what the best practices look like.

But I'm I'm really thankful that I get to work in live in a city where you know down to our DPW workers to to other folks who are who are on the front lines that we're all thinking about this.

So thanks for indulging me.

But at the very basic level, our process is something along the lines of, you know, when we receive a complaint, or maybe a city worker out in the field finds unattended personal belongings.

The first step that we do is triage.

So the first step, do they represent a safety issue?

So are there biohazards or other safety hazards associated with belongings?

So rotting perishables, sharps, fire starters, weapons, soiled belongings or or belongings that are um dangerous because they're ruined or present that hazard.

So some of the things that we've discussed around the portabody, some of those things do need to be cleaned up.

Um and other times SHC and our other providers will say, you know, please don't throw out that wet blanket, it can't be dried, right?

So there's a there's some conversation that happens there, absolutely.

But for the most part, if it is unsafe to be there, if it presents a hazard in and of itself, we remove it right away.

Um do they there's also not just like what is the item, but like where is it located and how many are there?

So if there's so much or the volume is is blocking egress or exit, um, SFD, ISD, they're gonna be the first ones to say, no, this needs to move.

Um and then finally, are they located in a sensitive location?

So schoolyards, playgrounds, we move that right away.

I think I talked earlier this month about the fact that we found items next to some heavy equipment.

And that was not safe for an unhoused individual to be there.

Um, and so we moved it.

And so we remove those things immediately.

Some of that does need to be discarded or properly handled.

Um, but we store belongings that we can keep, and then we do the process of trying to identify somebody, reuniting with that person, giving them support.

Um, if an item does not represent a biohazard, the next thing that we need to determine is does it belong to someone still, or is it truly abandoned?

And so that begins sort of a process of understanding where it is, working with SHT, Andy and her team, um, talking to other folks.

Is this something that's been out for two weeks and nobody's coming back for it?

Um, is this something that does belong to someone and they just want on a bathroom break, right?

Um, and so that's a process that takes a little bit of time to figure out.

And so um somebody might see something on the street or like it's been sitting there for a day or two, but we are in the process of figuring out, you know, is this truly unattended or sorry, is it truly abandoned and can we discard it?

Or is it, you know, somebody's coming back for this?

Um, this has been an evolving process.

Um, this used to be a little bit simpler, a little bit of an easier conversation between our departments, but the volume and the complexity of the belongings that we're encountering in Davis Square and elsewhere, it's it's they're changing, right?

And I think everybody can can see that.

So we convened all of these departments over the past year, especially throughout the summer into the fall.

We're still talking to fine-tune and adjust this response.

Um, and every time we meet, we discover sort of new things that we need to think about for these protocols.

And that can be storage, like I just discussed.

It can be worker safety safety while handling these items or going through it to try to find things and belongings.

Um, we've been discussing the best way to route uh work orders through 311.

So every time we kind of uh make a little bit more process and other questions come up.

But we've made a lot of good progress and we're continuing to refine this and train our different departments in this protocol.

So definitely still uh a living process, and I can understand that someone seeing something on the ground may not understand that there's a lot of uh work going on behind the scenes to try to figure out what's happening here.

Thank you.

Um, Council Davis, or anyone.

Uh yeah, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

So thank you for that.

I appreciate you giving me the opportunity, Mr.

Chair.

Um so I just I appreciate that, Ms.

Spencer.

Um, thank you.

Um so that just when I have constituents come to me with um with pictures of items that appear to be you know soiled, damaged other ways if if the the distinction that I always say is that if it if it if it constitutes a biohazard or other a safety hazard in in in some way, then it absolutely can and should be removed by the city.

And if they're seeing that not happen, then document it, let us know, and we'll figure out why that was the case and look into if there's something else going on.

But um, that's that that's the clear that that's if I provide that clear response, that would be accurate.

Yes.

Through you, Mr.

Chair.

Chair, I I think that's accurate, counselor.

And I also think it's important, you know, we just put it in 311.

It does sort of kick off this process in conversation.

Um, even if we know about it already, it's it's helpful for us to just keep it on our radar.

Um and it also kicks off, you know, this is both a conversation about somebody's belongings, but also getting them services.

So Andy and our community health workers, um, other uh folks that we partner with, like SHC, other service providers.

This is another opportunity for us to engage with someone.

So yes, please file 311, please please let us know.

And know that we are following up.

Um, and if it's still out there, if we haven't snatched it up, um, it's because there's a little bit of a conversation happening there.

Thank you.

Uh Council Scott.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Uh I also just wanted to uh thank Chief Staff Spencer here for that that answer.

And uh really want to appreciate that the work of the Summerville Homeless Coalition is centered in these discussions because they're the ones who know who the folks are in the park, probably better than anybody else.

Uh and it can help get those questions answered faster than uh anybody else could uh just rummaging through and trying to find uh identifying information in there.

So uh really appreciate that we are relying on our community partners there in that uh front and hopefully giving them uh all the support they need in terms of funding and resources to continue to be a valued partner in that work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other questions or comments on this item?

I do have a question myself and counselor Davis, you may be the one to answer this if uh anyone from the city doesn't know.

But what's going on with that really nice old church that we own?

Does anyone know?

Is it it's basically still city property, but we're not using it for anything.

Mr.

Chair.

Yes, Councilor Davis.

Um so good question.

And in fact, as um the chief of staff was was speaking, my head also went to that because we it is a space that we have used it for storage in the past.

Um, it is my understanding from the last time I spoke with uh Director Raish is that um it may still be used for some storage uh of materials.

I'm actually not I can't recall what where the current status is, but it was at one point certainly, and there was a there was a certificate of occupancy that was issued for that specific purpose a while back, and that was the reason some folks had sort of flagged it come up.

Um as far as a future of that, it actually just came up at the Davis Square neighborhood council meeting uh this past week.

Um and they have a committee of the White Church Committee.

Um so hopefully we'll we'll we'll be able to get that conversation jump started um in the near future to to figure out what to do with it.

Whatever it happens, it'll include a large community space um with access to the library.

But for now, that building is um perhaps used for some storage, and and like I said, it's definitely as part of the conversation, potentially a space uh if that's still an option temporarily at least.

Um, but long term the building itself is is not that's not viable, it will need to be replaced.

Yeah.

Well, that that was my question is if if we're looking for storage uh in Davis Square, that's what just one option that came to mind.

Just want to toss that out in case no one thought about it.

And it'd be nice in the future if it would actually have human beings in it as well.

Uh counselor uh uh director Spencer.

Uh through the chair.

Um, I I think uh we'll be looking at all options and we're we're weighing all of them.

It does need to be we have historically storage items in that building.

They are not ones that we are regularly using or constantly accessing, is my understanding.

So um, we just need to evaluate how easy it is to to be able to come in and out of the space to to regularly access it.

Um, even if our unhoused residents are not accessing a facility, our staff need to be able to get to it, HHS, other folks.

So that's that's one of the things that we're looking at.

Okay, thank you.

All right, let me just try and pull up my agenda here.

Um okay, counselor Davis, are you satisfied with this item?

Can we uh mark this work complete?

I am Mr.

Chair, thank you.

Um, and thank you for uh indulging me.

Thank you to uh the chief of staff as well.

And how about the other items?

We're talking about um let's see, outreach efforts.

I I guess we could talk more about that in a second, but uh, I'm looking for the disposed needles.

Are you satisfied with those answers?

Yeah, I think uh Mr.

Chair, thank you.

I I want to dig into the to the the data a little bit more uh in the response that's there.

Um, but I can certainly follow up with the administration if we have additional questions, we can put another into item in.

Thank you.

Um any further questions or comments from the committee.

Sorry, I can't.

I'm trying to find my agenda because this agenda is too small for me to read.

Let's see.

Clark, could you just mark there?

We go, thank you.

So let's see.

So item three will mark work complete.

Item four will mark work complete.

Item five.

I we we have another item similar to this.

So I think we can mark that work complete unless anybody had questions on the that item.

All right, so we'll mark that work complete.

And those were the three, right, Clark.

Are there any other items I'm missing?

And item two, we just took up items two through five together.

Okay, we'll do item two as well.

I'll mark a work complete.

So next item.

Mr.

Chair, um, we do also have Andy Ben Manudo here to talk about item five, which is around updated outreach efforts.

But if the council is satisfied, it doesn't need additional information.

We're happy to I want to have a way to define that.

I would I would love to give Andy an opportunity to speak.

Thank you for flagging that.

Hi, thank you through the chair.

I appreciate the opportunity to talk about um what our team is doing.

Um my name is Andy Benvenuto.

I use sheher pronouns.

I'm the community health worker manager uh for the city.

Uh so we have a team of four community health workers plus myself.

Uh two are generalist CHWs, one is uh geared more towards harm reduction, and then the other is our regional position um that works more in a clinical setting, but all four are involved in our street outreach.

Um I have some data.

Uh just in the months of September and October alone, the team has um uh calculated a hundred and fifty plus total client encounters, which includes not necessarily individual humans, um, but uh the number of encounters that they've had.

And so an encounter can encapsulate um working on SNAP applications, working on Mass Health applications, um, any sort of referral to either um any other city departments or community-based organizations, um, as well as um if we've given them any sort of supplies.

Um the supplies can include anywhere from winter gear now that we're getting into the colder months, hats, um, underwear, socks, hand warmers, feet warmers, um, gloves, as well as food.

So we hand out non-perishable food items um as well as water bottles, um, as well as harm reduction supplies, which can include test strips, um, CPR um barriers and um naloxone or otherwise known as an arcan.

Um so uh just to also give an overview of what our outreach schedule looks like.

Um we do outreach a minimum of three days a week.

Um two of those three days, um we are always in the Davis Square area, which encapsulates like Statue Park, um Seven Hills, all the way up the community path towards Life Alive, um, and any of the surrounding areas um in Davis Square in general, as well as um East Somerville, so Foss Park, Chucky Harris Park, all along Broadway, even over near the Stoppin' shop over there, um, also working with our community-based organizations such as Connexion and the clients that they frequently see.

Um, we also um the way that we inform our schedule is three ways.

Um, so first is not to be duplicatist of other outreach um teams that exist in the city, such as um the Somerville Homeless Coalition and their outreach team.

Fenway Health also has a Somerville specific outreach team.

So we try to stagger the times that we're in the community so that we're not duplicating these efforts, as well as the information that I get from the weekly huddles, which um comes from other city leadership every Friday mornings um surrounding the unhoused.

Um, so if I get any sort of indication from ISD or DPW or Soya Um that they have seen unhoused um activity in a certain location, I'll inform my team and we address those on Mondays.

Um, and as well as we now have a partnership with 311, where our team, we have a shared email, um, just chw at somerville ma.gov, um, where we'll get um Q alerts directly from 311 regarding unhoused um individuals.

Um, and we respond accordingly um with that as well.

Um other than the physical services that we provide in the days um that we're out in the community.

I'd also like to highlight that the team has been really integral in establishing a sense of trust with this community.

Um, what's really important is that not every single person that we come in contact with is um a native English speaker.

So we've really bolstered our language capacity.

Um we have the language capacity of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian, Creole, and Arabic on our team.

So we're able to um engage with a lot of different um folks from different walks of life.

Um we also um have been uh really uh we've been trying to navigate this different dynamic that we've noticed because there's been a lot of migration of different unhoused communities from different cities um like Boston and Cambridge that are now becoming more prevalent in Somerville.

Um and so the team has been really instrumental in navigating that changing dynamic and to make sure that there's a good relationship between the city and our unhoused residents.

Um outside of that, um, I know that this was already sort of touched upon.

Um, but I also just wanted to speak specifically to what our team is doing regarding sharps.

Um, so we've obviously heard the um discussion around increased accessibility to sharps disposal containers.

Um, and so our team has really taken that in stride.

Um, so every time that we're out, specifically in Davis Square, because that is where we see the highest concentration of uh Sharps.

We have personal um Sharps disposals that we hand out to folks that we also are giving to our library.

Um that we also have developed a sticker that outlines where the public sharps disposal kiosks are in the square, as well as if you don't have access to that kiosk or if it's overflowing, what different alternative um disposal options that you have and how to safely dispose of them.

Um and we did like a be a good neighbor campaign, um putting similar messaging like that around the city um around Davis Square as well.

Um so that's a brief quote unquote synopsis of the outreach that we're doing.

Um, but if anyone has any specific questions, um I would be open to answering them.

Thank you.

Thank you for joining us.

This is your first time at the public health committee, correct?

All right, and how long have you worked for the city?

I have been with the city since June of 2023.

And so this this division did not exist before I started.

So we have truly built it from the ground up.

Oh, well, thank you for joining us.

I think we're we're gonna need you to come back again because it's very informative.

Uh any questions from the council.

I guess I have a question just about the overlap that you mentioned.

So it's uh you you said you staggered how many days a week.

Yes, so it's uh it ranges between um three to four days a week.

Um the fourth day is like a flex day on Friday, I mean on Mondays, where if we get an urgent request on Friday mornings, um, that's when the team will go out on Mondays.

And then we also have a standing engagement event um with the Somerville Homeless Coalition where we'll do actual street outreach in the square, and then we'll post up at the engagement center and do actual case assistance with clients there.

Okay, do you think that does that equal out to seven days a week or how like who covers the other days?

Yes, great question.

So SHC and Fenway Health are both the other two sort of big outreach teams that exist in the city.

So across the three of us, we are definitely in across the city on outreach seven days a week.

Thank you.

Council Scott.

Thank you, Ms.

Chair.

I appreciate that.

Um I loved all this information about outreach uh and harm reduction.

And I think this is uh a huge improvement over where we were two years ago.

So thank you for all that.

I just had a quick question about the harm reduction supplies uh that go out there.

Is that all obtained through uh through OM lines and helping human services?

Are we obtaining supplies from the state clearinghouse or uh just wanted to understand where our stockpiles for that came from?

Yes, that's a great question.

Um so I believe um, and I might have to defer to my superiors to answer this holistically.

Um, but I believe that this funding comes from um our opioid abatement funds um as well as a line for supplies from our prevention office.

That's interesting.

Uh last I checked, we hadn't spent any of our opioid abatement funds.

So I guess I'll miss chair, I'll follow up uh after the fact on this with uh Phillips in Finance, I suppose.

I yes, thank you, Mr.

Chair, through you.

I did want to confirm there have been several requests to this committee.

I'm sorry, to the finance committee and the council for spending of opioid funds, specifically for harm reduction supplies and also our public health spending machines and that are um soon to be implemented.

I have to check on that when the actual data goes.

But yes, there have been a few expenditures in the opioid um settlement funds.

Okay, yeah.

Thank you, uh, Mr.

Chair.

There have been some very recent requests coming through finance, but uh it sounds like these supplies have been going out for a while.

So I'll I'll follow up offline.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Uh any other questions or comments.

Just a question for myself.

Uh I am curious, like um, what are you hearing in East Summerville these days?

How are things going?

Yeah, that's a great question.

Um, so we have noticed, just based on frequency of us going there, that the best time to engage with folks um is in the morning.

Um, that's usually when we see people congregating in our public spaces.

Um it has been quieter.

Um we have definitely seen a lack or a decreased presence of folks um due to some extenuating circumstances.

I'll just say that.

Um, but uh folks are very happy to engage with us.

Um, like I said, we've established a great sense of trust with folks over there.

Um, so that's all I guess I can say.

Thank you.

Okay.

I would I well, I guess you answered it that it sounds like there's a decline in presence, but not a decline in the problem.

Um council of Klingon.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Yeah, you made me think just with checking in on areas.

Um it's not technically my ward, but it is an area of concern.

Uh put on the well, it's partly mine.

Um there's two individuals um living or was seem to be spending evenings or a lot of time in um the temporary pocket park on the Homeman site.

Um I know I've talked to um economic development and you know, we put in some 311s and just inquired about what contacts been made with those individuals.

Um, I've actually talked to one of the individuals um that that's down there.

Um, not at length, but I don't know, you know, I wasn't trying to intrude, but you know, just some pleasantries and um just wondering if you if you were the one if you have gone down there or do you know what the situation is with those uh yeah, you know.

Yes, thank you uh through the chair.

Um so based on conversations that we've had, um, read the weekly huddles that we have on Friday mornings.

Um, SHC is the main point of contact with um the folks over there.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

As long as I know you know that there is a line of communication open.

I mean, you know, my expectations are just that.

I mean, we can't, you know, if somebody doesn't want to take advantage of any options, you know, if they people have personal choices to make and uh so so but long as I know that you know we've been making contact and that and that those folks know how to find services when they're ready or able or willing.

Um that's all.

Thank you.

Yes, I believe they have been full um full-time clients or fully engaged with the SHC for quite some time now.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any further questions?

Seeing none now we will close out item five, uh market work complete, and we'll leave.

We do have one other item uh related to this that I'll keep in committee.

Uh thank you, Miss Uh Benavito.

Is that right?

Did I get it right?

You can correct me.

Benvenuto.

It means welcome in Italian.

Oh, yeah, spend venuto.

All right.

Well, thank you very much.

Uh, and we hope to have you back again.

Thank you for the opportunity.

All right, thank you.

Uh that item five will be marked work complete.

And then we'll move on to item six.

Are we saying and that brings us to agenda item number six, 25-1340, that the director of emergency management and mayor inform city counselors in real time when emergency events are occurring in the city, such as fires or emergency evacuation.

All right, thank you.

Do we have an update on this?

Uh Leo Zanhara.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I'm happy to share a brief update on this, which is that um our current procedure uh is to notify um when an emergency has happened.

There's a series of folks who are notified, and IGA is a part of that chain in order to communicate to the ward counselor so that they are aware of an emergency happening in their uh in their ward.

Um we have heard feedback from the um at-large counselors and desire for um more notification.

Um we are working on um sort of internal processes to make that smoother.

Um as you can imagine in an emergency situation, um, it is difficult to uh have a lot of folks involved.

So it trying to streamline as much as possible and make sure the right folks know, and um we're not adding um more folks to an already chaotic situation.

So we've heard that feedback and we're gonna continue to work on that policy.

Um we did this last um a few incidents have occurred and we've done our best, IGS and our best to make sure um ward counselors are also updated on events that are happening at Delta City.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions or comments?

So I wanted to take this item up just because of all, I I get updated by the um IGA's office whenever there's an emergency, and I appreciate that.

You're never gonna be faster than Reddit.

Um, I get everything I need off of Reddit.

But I was just thinking how unrealistic and unfair it would be to expect someone in emergency to call five people who are unrelated to that emergency to inform them of every step along the way.

So unless there's any objections, I'd like to mark this work complete.

See no objections, items mark work complete.

Next item.

Brings us to agenda item number seven, ID 25-1180, that the director of economic development and city clerk discuss with this council policies regarding outdoor seating and how the city may make it easier and less expensive for small businesses.

All right.

Do we have anyone to speak on this item?

Uh looks like we have Michael Poultry here.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

We also have Rachel Land Carney, Director of Economic Development and Dana White's at the deputy track.

Well, thank you all for coming.

Who would like to start?

Michael, you want me to start it today?

There we go.

Hello.

I'll go.

All right.

Uh, through the chair, Michael Potier, licensing operations manager, did want to defer to uh director if she wanted to speak first.

Um so to respond to this agenda item, um, we kind of took it in two parts.

Uh the first request was uh to provide some information on how we're making things easier for small businesses with regard to outdoor dining.

We've already taken several very important steps here.

Um the first started before I joined um the city, uh the standardized initial application from folks who would like to apply for outdoor dining.

Um, we have some pretty detailed instructions for folks to know what kinds of materials they're going to need, what information they're going to need to need to provide, what sorts of inspections they're going to need.

And that process um takes them, and once they're approved, it continues on their license moving forward.

So it's a continuing addition to their license that would only need an amendment if they're going to be changing their floor plan.

Um the just this week, we've also actually implemented um a pretty rigorous uh adjustment to our renewal process to streamline the process.

We worked with our ISD building folks and our colleagues in fire to make that process even easier.

And that includes people uh licensees who have outdoor dining on their licenses.

And um less related, but still we're proud to report that we actually have 20% of our renewals in already within the first week, which is a market improvement over uh years past.

We're very excited by that.

Um, the second part of the agenda item is uh requesting information on how we're making it uh less expensive for those same businesses.

Um, based on the agenda item, um department heads and staff from the city clerk's office and economic development, we did meet early this year to discuss cost.

Um, just as a kind of uh point of information and a friendly reminder, the current fee structure is actually based on a pretty comprehensive public outreach initiative that took place in 2023 that was headed by um the economic development department.

At that time, the decision was made again, based on public feedback that um the fees would be set at that time and then reevaluated for fiscal year 27.

So when we discussed that earlier this year, we determined that that original decision made sense based on the changes that we had already made and the licensing part of the process.

Um we determined that forum meetings and coordination on this very topic would begin in early 2026, which has a few benefits.

First, it allows those changes to be any changes to be discussed directly um in consideration and in parallel with the annual budget review.

Um, and also starting early next year will give the new administration an opportunity to actively participate in that process if they so choose.

Um so that's my summary and uh defer now and uh to Rachel or Tina if you guys have anything.

You gave a great overview.

Counselors were here.

We're happy to answer any questions on the process that we went through in 2023, uh, what we're thinking about for the upcoming year uh in terms of how we're gonna do outreach and um get back to this conversation again.

Does anyone have any questions or comments?

See, now I I have a few, I guess.

Um so I'm curious how my so I'll give you my reason first for why I introduced this order is I love outdoor seating and I want to see more of it.

And I think we've done especially during COVID, did a great job of uh providing those services or allowing it to happen.

And then after that, when we kind of returned to the regular order of business, I think a lot of businesses were surprised at the fees that they had to pay in order to do what they were previously allowed to do for free.

Um, and unfortunately, I have two businesses in my neighborhood that previously had really nice outdoor seating, and this year they just decided to not do it at all.

Um, so my first question, I guess, is how much revenue does um outdoor seating in Somerville generate annually, we'll say all outdoor seating annually.

Mr.

Chair, through you.

Um, we did an early evaluation, and the at least with regard to the use of public space itself, um, the annual revenue generated for risky year 2025 is around 105,000.

Okay.

And uh by public space, you mean like a parking spot that might have had a meter in it or something like that.

Correct, uh, Mr.

Chair, through you, yes, the amount of revenue raised based on the amount of public space that was used.

So that would be the first uh 450 feet, I believe is three dollars per square foot.

And then any square feet above that are six is six dollars per square foot.

Okay.

And could you just remind me again, how did you come to that uh number?

Mr.

Chair, we so going the process we went through in 2023 um involved uh multiple outreach meetings with the business community uh as well as with internal departments.

Um we got to this number through a dance back and forth um of all the different perspectives involved.

We know that the actual cost to operate and make that space available to the public is exceeds six dollars a square foot.

Um we know that the true bearing the true cost on an outdoor dining operator is not going to necessarily be the decision that we want to make for the city.

But uh we know that there also does need to be some level, the conversation at the time is that there does need to be some level of buy-in that from the restaurants that are participating in outdoor dining, but they're using public space to make profit.

Um and so this was this back and forth that we went through.

At the time, there was actually a course correction that was somewhat desired by the non-restaurant owners who were neighbors to restaurants in many parts of the city.

We had so much large outdoor dinings that were were developed specifically as a COVID response, uh, that there were some businesses who were looking for a little bit of a course correction and for folks to really take stock of what it truly takes to operate outdoor dining in the long haul.

Um, the number of parking spaces that they are taking off of the market for the rest of the businesses in that district, um, as well as the public space crunches that we're we're feeling that does not happen on East Broadway, I will say.

East Broadway is a little bit different.

East Broadway, um, we have very, very, very generous sidewalks, um, a lot of space available.

But this is a citywide policy.

We landed on this fees in in consultation with all of these different players.

And again, it was said as a we're gonna start with this and we're gonna come back to this conversation again in three years.

And so that three years point will come up again um this coming season.

Uh this coming season, so yes, it is 2025, huh?

Time flies.

Um I think what you said, director, was kind of what I was getting at is as I understand it, is the amount of money that we would get um for having a metered parking spot is way below the amount of money and fees that uh the business would pay for outdoor seating.

Is that right?

In the, if I may, in the pre-COVID era, you had to pay for the whole price of a meter that you were disputed displacing.

Uh that was in the many thousands of dollars per year.

What we were looking at with this fee, one of the features of this is that it is agnostic as to whether or not you are taking a piece of a parking spot parking space away, or if the city has already gone through the process of making a wide enough sidewalk to allow for outdoor dining to occur on the sidewalk.

Um, it's still public space.

We have made different kinds of investments in that public space, whether we had previously had it, it was parking that is being displaced or um general sidewalk space.

That was a decision point that we made in this process to say we want a fee that is um applicable across all public space that you are utilizing for generating profit from outdoor dining.

Thank you.

So I think I'm happy to hear that we'll be coming up with some new solutions soon.

Um, just to give my two cents on it in case it uh weighs on your decision making.

Um I generally am a person who tries to preserve parking spaces for people when possible.

Uh, I also like outdoor seating, and most of these businesses that they're they're out they're choosing to lose a parking space for themselves, basically, right in front of their business in order to have outdoor seating.

So I have to think that it benefits them financially and they're not losing too much business from losing those parking spots.

Uh, as you mentioned, East Summer will may be different than other neighborhoods.

Maybe we can think about a regional or square or block uh plan.

So instead of it being citywide, I understand, you know, for example, Davis Square, people want to park there and drive off with their food, the Doordash, things like this.

E-Sellable, I feel like I I the other part, I guess I would say is you you mentioned the buy-in part, which I I do understand that that if you give away something for free, people don't maybe don't appreciate it as much.

So you need some buy-in.

But what concerns me is when they're just not going to buy in and they choose not to have the outdoor seating.

And I could think of at least Gauchos and I think um Labraza had really nice outdoor seating, and they just chose to not do it at all.

And I would really like to expand the outdoor seating, especially on East Broadway and get that walkability.

I would also uh think about maybe how much revenue it generates for the businesses and therefore the city for us to get that.

So I appreciate the update.

Uh I guess uh we'll wait until next year and uh see what the new plan is.

But I my two sense is I I would like to take the outdoor seating over the uh revenue, possibly, and hopefully we get more revenue as a result in the long run.

Thank you.

Uh, any other questions or comments uh from the counselors.

I director do you mind too?

Because I have talked to a few businesses.

Um if I relay this information to them, could I give you a call sometime and just talk about it if they have further questions?

All right, thank you.

Uh we'll mark this item work complete.

And then next item.

All right, one moment while I swap back to the agenda.

And that brings us to agenda item eight, 25-0923.

That the director of inspectional services appear before this council to discuss recent changes to business permitting in relation to risk categorization and the impact they may have on businesses.

So unfortunately, IST is not here today, so we'll leave that in committee.

Okay, and that brings us to agenda item nine, which um chair, remind me, this is the item you also said earlier that you would like to keep in committee.

Yeah, we'll leave that in committee as well.

Okay, and that brings us to the last agenda item, agenda item 10, 25 0064.

The chief fire engineer and the commissioner of public works discuss with this council how to ensure fire department facilities are well maintained.

And we do have a memo for that.

Okay, Lia Zanhada, did you have a comment?

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

After you just wanted to also mention the previous item also has a memo associated with it.

Um it's an update on the similar format that was submitted in uh June.

But just if there were any specific questions to that, I'm happy to take that back to uh the three directors that put together that memo as well.

You're talking about the last homelessness item or yes, there's like a yes, there should be a memo from director Karen Carroll, Director uh Lisa Davidson and Director Ellen Shachter from Yes, that's the one.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I I felt satisfied with the previous discussion uh unless other counselors had questions.

So we'll keep that one in committee.

Uh and then the last item is uh uh firefighter maintenance.

Is there any update on that?

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Yes, we do have the memo that is being shown on the screen now.

Um, with a I'm happy to briefly summarize the two departments.

Um fire department and DPW work together on that with excuse me, uh split of responsibilities as is outlined in the memo.

There's a list of the kinds of work that DPW does on those facilities and then the kind of work that the fire department staff do.

And unique to this fire department facilities are that they are staffed 24-7, given the nature of the work of the fire department.

So they're able to identify needs um pretty quickly and are you know, channel that through our three word-on process, and that's how DPW responds to those tickets.

Thank you.

Uh, any questions or comments from the council?

Council Scott.

Yeah, thank you, Ms.

Chair.

Um, you know, uh over the years I've heard um complaints from some of our firefighters about the conditions in uh various firehouses.

Uh it sounds like conditions that have persisted for a very long time.

Um you know, I appreciate here that this uh this memo talks about how DPW is responsible for uh, you know, general maintenance, including sheet rack repairs, uh flooring tiles, things like that.

Um I I guess is there any tracking that we have in terms of number of 311 tickets for facility repairs and what the turnaround has been on those uh on those on those repairs that have been requested over the course of the last year or two.

Thank you through the chair, if I may.

Yes, I don't have that information tonight, but we do have a record for any tickets that are submitted via 311.

We can pull the report of those.

So I'm happy to gather that data um on the number of uh 311 tickets and then the duration that they've been opened.

There's usually a there's this time stamp for when they're submitted and then when they get closed.

So I'm I can provide that information for the last year or two years time frame you're hoping for that data.

Um, you know what, honestly, I'm not doing a deep dive audit here on performance, and and it is tough, right?

Because 411 tickets get closed uh frequently before anything actually happens to them.

Uh so uh I'm not I'm not sure if having the close time to close on those tickets is necessarily the the most helpful metric.

It it'd really be a more complicated question of you know, I guess DPW buildings uh being able to say when they finally checked an item off of their to-do list.

I I I ask only because I know it's easy to um, you know, the squeaky wheel uh gets the grease, and uh the problem that's right in front of you is the biggest problem.

Uh so I I know that you know, maybe I'm just hearing from uh from a few people about the particular uh pet peeves in their firehouses.

Um I'm just trying to understand uh what the scale uh of the problem is and what the what the kind of the time scale is for turning around on these fixes.

So I'm not I'm not giving you any uh direct homework in terms of giving me like a 311 output report.

Uh, but I would be interested uh in a sense of how quickly knowing how constrained our building department and DPW is, uh how quickly these issues get addressed once they're reported through 311 or through uh fire department management for that matter.

I I think that's that's all I have, uh Mr.

Chair.

Uh I'm just trying to understand uh again the scope of the problem versus the uh anecdotes about it.

Is this something you'd like to keep in committee and perhaps we can get uh DPW to come and talk about it?

Or would you like to uh explore that offline?

You know what?

I I can explore this offline and then uh depending on what comes out of those conversations, uh bring back a specifically targeted uh item to get get attention focused on exactly the kind of answer we need.

Okay, that's great.

Any other discussion on this item?

Uh well, Mark, this item work complete.

And we are at the end of our agenda.

Very nice.

Uh do we have any roll call votes we need to take?

I think we can roll call to adjourn.

No, correct.

All right, council Scott moves to adjourn.

Let's call the roll.

And on adjournment, Counselor Scott.

Yes, please.

Counselor Klingon?

Yes.

Councilor McGaughlin.

Yes.

We are adjourned.

Good night, everyone.

Thank you.