Hello, welcome to the February 11th, 2026 Licenses and Permits Committee.

Um, pursuant to chapter two of the Acts of 2025.

This meeting of a 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 as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website and local cable access government channels.

All right, Clerk Potier, can you call the role, please?

Absolutely, Councillor Davis.

Here.

Counselor Wheeler.

Here.

Chair Hart.

Here.

You have a quorum.

Wonderful.

All right.

So the first item on the agenda is approving the minutes from the committee meeting, licenses and permits committee meeting of January 21st, 2026.

Is there any discussion on that item?

Right.

Seeing none.

Let's let's go ahead and uh vote on that.

Absolutely.

Counselor Davis.

Yes.

Counselor Wheeler.

Yes.

Chair Hart.

Yes.

Those minutes are accepted.

Wonderful.

The second item.

Uh we're gonna we're gonna take the actually we're gonna take the third item out of order and do the grant of location first.

Um this is uh this is uh item that has been carried over from the previous meeting.

Ivers applying for a grant of location to install a total of 38 feet of conduit in Warwick Street from utility poll 357 over three to a point of pickup at 16 Warwick Street.

Madam Chair, I do see a hand raised from the applicant.

Fantastic.

Uh right, wonderful.

I would like to ask Jacqueline Duffy to speak.

You are unmuted on our end, Jackie.

Uh well done.

Hi, can you hear me now?

Yes.

Yes, we can.

Hi.

Um, I we have been in on contact with uh Matt Penny, and he said it works for him.

We're gonna straighten the poll in the new conduit across the street.

Well, he's good with everything that we decided to do with the um rises on the poll.

Okay, excellent.

And is Counselor Saeed here this evening.

I do see the counselor's hand raised.

Okay, excellent.

Counselor Sait, you are unmuted on our end of the hello everyone.

Uh thank you for having me.

Um thank you, uh Jackie.

I uh just um first want to make sure uh we share what exactly what was shared with uh Mr.

Penny in terms of how to uh approach this and making sure um yeah we do it like we're addressing his concerns and then the second thing is I know this is not really this is more for the city where uh there's another project um I think it's for uh to provide internet to the same property, not internet, like cable.

Uh if there is a way, this is again a request for the city to coordinate these two projects because this tree is gonna be dug up twice if there are no there's no coordination.

So again, this is more for request.

Um and um, yeah, I want to ask Jackie if this is something that um you normally do.

Well, has Comcast already applied for uh a grant allocation?

That's a good question.

Happy to check with uh through the chair with um with the city so that these two happen.

Um if they already applied, you can you you two can try and coordinate.

Right.

I just need to know if they've already applied or not.

Yeah, I can get back to you on that.

Okay, I can ask Kabir anyhow tomorrow.

Okay, and then again to the through the chair to um my first request, which is um you spoke to uh Mr.

Penny just to make sure everything is addressed.

Um, because apparently the poll is pretty messy, and um if there's a way to use pre-existing um what's already there.

And um if there's a way to use pre-existing um what's already there.

Yeah, we're gonna make it a stipulation and on the work order.

Okay, all right, great then.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Yes, thank you so much.

Um counselor Said for advocating for this, and thank you so much, Ms.

Duffy for being here and working on this.

Um Ms.

Duffy, could I just ask you to repeat again what are the steps that will be taken?

Just so I'm really clear.

Uh a new poll, a new poll, the new we're going to put a new poll up there.

Okay, and we're gonna have the use the existing conduits.

Okay.

Like the existing rises.

There's two empty rises on the uh so he was in agreement with it, so I'm gonna put it all in the stipulation with the work order.

Okay, excellent.

And there won't be any new risers or conduits added to the police.

There's going to be conduit going into the rises, but he just there's two empty rises.

The rises are those metal things on the side of the poll, and that's what he does too empty then.

He doesn't, he's wondering why they're empty.

Can't we use them?

So we're going to use them.

Fantastic.

Fantastic.

Okay.

Um, any further uh discussion or questions from the committee or counselor Saeed.

No further questions.

Uh Chair.

Again, thank you for having me.

I appreciate you.

Committee, thank you.

And discussing it today.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Okay.

So if there's no further questions or discussion, I believe we can vote on this.

Is that right, Clerk Potier?

Through the chair, yes, that is correct.

Uh, one minor point of clarification, uh, Michael Boltier, Assistant City Clerk.

Um, would you be in would you be in introducing those uh that agreement as a condition to approving this license?

Or would you be uh wanting to vote on that just as the item straight through and allow the parties to work together?

Um would that would adding those as a condition um generate any additional complications or is through the chair?

No, we would just take two votes, one on the condition and then one over on the overall item.

Okay, why don't we do that then?

Unless anyone has a objection.

All right, allow me to read what I have as well.

Sorry, point of order, and I'm just seeing a hand from counselor Said.

Yep.

Yep.

Sorry, Clerk Potier, let me hear from Counselor Said first.

Yeah, through the chair.

Um, I just want to make sure I'm not complicating the conditions.

Uh the second thing I mentioned about coordinating the work.

This is not one of the conditions.

This is more for request uh to do that.

Um if there's a way for the two companies to work together so they can do at the same time, that would be really great.

Um, but it is not um I also because we have not looked into this, um, and we don't have the other party.

Uh I want to make sure we're not you know committing to something that may you know be impossible to make happen.

So just you want to clarify that point.

Absolutely.

Thank you for clarifying that.

So my understanding is that the conditions are that there will be a new poll, and then we'll use the existing two risers.

Yes.

That's correct.

Thank you.

Understood through the chair.

If you'd like, I can take roll on the condition and then roll on the law himself.

That would be great.

Thank you.

On the condition as stated, counselor Davis.

Yes.

Counselor Wheeler.

Yes.

Chair Hart.

Yes.

And on the item, Counselor Davis.

Yes.

Counselor Wheeler.

Yes.

Chair Hart.

Yes.

This item is recommended to be approved with the condition as stated.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you again both for coming.

Okay.

Uh the next item will go back to um item number two.

And this is an item requiring a public hearing.

And in order to uh we did not give proper notice to have that public hearing tonight, but if there is anyone who would who is here to speak on this item, please uh make it known.

Raise your electronic hand now.

Ruby the chair, I see two attendees in the lobby, but I do not see any hands raised.

Okay.

I do now see a hand raised.

Yes.

Oh, okay.

Um and counselor Wheeler, did you have uh a comment?

I had a small question, but I'd be happy to defer to the attendee to speak first.

Okay.

Okay.

Um Mr.

Costa.

Yes, I'm here.

Wonderful.

Thank you for coming.

Um can you state your name and and your relationship to this item?

Yes.

Uh my name is Gilbert Costa.

I'm requesting the little license to work on six ones practice prospect.

Um let me know if you all have if some of you guys have any question, I can clarify anything you guys need from you.

Okay, thank you.

Um, yeah, if you could just give us like a brief overview of um, is this is there any change in this uh operation or or tell us more about the license application, please.

Um there is no change for the place.

Basically, it has an old owner and which I used to work with here a long time.

I also own uh Autobody shop already in another city.

Um just trying to open my own uh users car dealer in Somerville.

I uh also live in Somerville, by the way, for almost 10 years.

And it's uh is module license for 15 vehicles.

I have a few cousins already, which I'm work I work also as a wholesaler in different states.

I'm just trying to work um on a retail business car on Somerville.

Excellent.

Thank you.

And you said you have an auto body shop in another city?

Yes, I own a body shop in Waymouth.

It's called South Shaw Prime Collision.

He's a five-star review Google business um that's operating for three years already.

Okay, fantastic.

Um as I mentioned before, like we cannot approve this tonight.

I apologize that proper notice.

We did not give proper notice to allow members of the public um to be able to come and speak on this, but we can go ahead and have the initial conversation now and then take the item up again at the next meeting um for the public for the public hearing portion.

Uh-huh.

Okay.

So colleagues, do you have any questions for Mr.

Acosta?

I don't have any questions uh through the chair.

I don't have any questions for you, uh, Mr.

Costa.

Thank you for uh for doing business in Somerville.

Um I'm just curious as a new counselor uh about which kinds of items require a public hearing and which don't.

I'm wondering if the other similar license applications that we uh were deciding on in the first meeting.

If the only difference here is that uh there was enough notice for those.

I uh I wasn't conscious of it being a public hearing, but maybe it's the kind of thing where the public is invited, it's on the agenda, so that constitutes a public hearing if anybody wants to show up to comment.

Um yes, that's great questions.

Um I'll ask uh Clerk Potier to provide more detail, but actually the the um the period is much longer than just posting the agenda.

Um uh up to 10 days, and there are notices, specific notices um sent out.

So uh Clerk Potier, would you like to add anything more about the procedure for a public hearing notice?

Through the chair, absolutely.

Um certain items, certain new license applications require a hearing um through city ordinance and sometimes through state law, um, use car dealers, garages, when all the license applications are all included therein.

Um the public is welcome to attend city council meetings, but are only invited to speak when a public hearing has been advertised in the newspaper and the uh abutters have been notified of the hearing that's going to be taking place when and uh where.

So in this case, it would be a Zoom meeting.

So in advance of the next scheduled licenses and permits committee meeting, which we see on the calendar, I believe it's February 21st.

We will have an advertisement placed in the Somerville Times um 10 days before that meeting.

Thanks for that explanation.

I appreciate it.

Thanks for the question.

Great.

All right.

Um Mr.

Costa, yeah, thank you uh for for doing business in Somerville.

Um, are there anything, is there anything that you think the um committee should know about your practi you know your um history uh with your other business or at this location um that might be relevant to the license or and the public hearing.

Um I don't think I have much to say uh right now.

Like I say, I'm already working the business car for 10 years and also a resident summerville with clean records, uh clean background and I've been working on the business card and just waiting for my own license.

I used to work selling cars for somebody else.

Um the old owner actually of this place, Mr.

Joan Batisha that used to have the web Sir August Sayos at the same location.

I'm just re changing the name for marketing purpose.

And I think that's it.

Okay, excellent.

Thank you.

Um, so um I believe that you're not required to come to the next meeting when we have the public hearing, if you're if you're not available.

Um, although, you know, if if a member of the public does come with questions um and you'd like to be here to address them if that comes up, you're definitely more than welcome.

Um, but I appreciate you coming tonight and having the conversation and answering our questions uh right now.

Yeah, thanks so much for having me here.

Great.

Thank you.

So we're I'm gonna lay this item on the table uh or leave it in committee, whichever the proper term is, uh, for holding it for the next meeting, the February 21st meeting.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um so that is the end of our short agenda.

So, Clerk Potier, will you?

Uh or I guess I need a motion to adjourn.

From Counselor Davis makes a motion to adjourn.

On adjournment, Counselor Davis.

Yes.

Councilor Wheeler.

Yes.

Chair Hart.

Yes.

This committee is adjourned.

Thank you, everyone.

All right, good night.

Thanks all.

Good night.