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City Council

Tue, January 21, 2025

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Meeting summaryAI-generated

City Council — January 21, 2025


This was a regular City Council meeting preceded by a brief public hearing on a utility grant of location. The session covered firefighter staffing, wildfire preparedness, affordable housing, and a municipal fraud response, among other items. Note: The voice-to-text transcript contains several garbled name references; based on context and known council membership, names have been normalized where possible.



Public Hearing — Utility Grant of Location (National Grid/Mass Electric, Hannon Parkway & McConville Way)


A public hearing was held prior to the regular meeting on a proposed grant of location for Mass Electric (National Grid) at Hannon Parkway and McConville Way. No members of the public came forward to speak in favor or opposition. The hearing was closed, and the matter was taken up later under committee reports (see below).



Item 1 — Correction of Home Rule Petition: Quarry Hills Lease Extension (Order 2024-139)


Chief of Staff Chris Walker explained that when the council previously voted to approve a corrected lease for Quarry Hills — specifically removing an option-to-buy provision — the amendment was reflected in the lease itself but not in the procedural order sent to the State House. State House staff agreed it was cleaner to have the council correct the order locally before resubmitting. The corrected version before the council tonight better reflects the council's prior vote and will now go back to the legislature for a full hearing before proceeding to the governor.


Councillor Ash requested that a clean copy of the amended lease be made publicly available on the city's website. Walker confirmed it should already be there but pledged to ensure it was posted. Councillor McCarthy noted that a clean copy would be useful for both the public and the council.


Vote: Motion to approve as amended made by Councillor McCarthy, seconded by Councillor Harris. Passed 8–0.



Item 2 — Appropriation of $475,000 for Fire Department Recruit Turnout Gear (Order 2025-6)


Walker explained that a new class of 35–40 firefighter recruits will begin the academy within a month or so. Roughly half the class is funded through a federal SAFER grant secured with the help of Congressman Lynch; the other half fills anticipated vacancies to maintain full staffing. The $475,000 appropriation covers turnout gear and training supplies. Walker noted the chief's supporting memo references $451,000 — the $24,000 difference is allocated toward potentially acquiring two spare engines from Cambridge Fire Department. Fire Chief Jackson confirmed he hopes to purchase both Cambridge engines for approximately $25,000: one has a good engine but a worn body, the other the reverse, and the plan is to combine the best parts into one functional spare while cannibilizing the other for parts. Walker emphasized that Quincy's fire staffing is now at its highest level in decades, ranking behind only Worcester and Boston among Massachusetts cities, and pointed to recent successful fire responses — including a recent save on Chelick Street — as evidence of the real-world impact.


Vote: Motion to approve made by Councillor Liang, seconded by Councillor Campbell. Passed 9–0.



Item 4 (Taken Out of Order) — Resolve on Wildfire Preparedness (Order 2025-8)


Councillor DiBona introduced this resolve following the devastating California wildfires, which at the time of the meeting had killed 27 people and destroyed more than 13,600 structures. He noted that Quincy contains approximately 1,500 acres of densely forested land in the Blue Hills Reservation, which sits directly above residential neighborhoods and critical communications infrastructure and abuts the towns of Milton, Canton, Braintree, and Randolph.


Chief Jackson responded with a detailed briefing. He said wildfire response at the Blue Hills is reviewed annually during budget planning and that the department has been building a cache of relevant equipment for five years. He noted Quincy can call on 15–30 mutual aid strike teams through Norfolk County and the Metro Chiefs Association. He also disclosed that Quincy has a mutual aid agreement with the province of Quebec providing access to a Canadair CL-415 water bomber — the closest aircraft of its type — which could be on scene within 90 minutes and deliver approximately 26,000 gallons per hour by scooping water from Quincy Bay. The Chief also flagged a supply-chain concern: with Los Angeles purchasing large volumes of firefighting equipment, Quincy should act quickly to place orders for hose, nozzles, and turnout gear before prices rise or supplies dry up.


Councillor Divine raised the issue of radio dead spots in remote areas of the city, particularly along the highway where the city boundary extends. Chief Jackson said the department recently procured two new repeaters through a grant assisted by Senator Kean, significantly improving coverage over the past six months.


The resolve calls for the City Council to hold a hearing on wildfire preparedness with the Fire Department, Police Department, Emergency Management, and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). It was approved and referred to the Oversight Committee.


Vote: Motion to approve and refer to Oversight made by Councillor DiBona, seconded by Councillor McCarthy. Passed 9–0.



Item 3 — Resolve for Affordable Housing Trust Fund (Order 2025-7)


Councillor Campbell introduced a resolve aimed at putting Quincy's existing Affordable Housing Trust Fund to more active use. He described the trust as having accumulated significant funds over time and proposed exploring whether those resources could be converted into a revolving low-interest loan program to help long-time residents — particularly older and younger generations — remain in the city and improve their properties. He referenced conversations with Planning Director Jim Fatseas and grant writer Jimmy Scribby about leveraging the city's position to attract additional state and federal resources. He also mentioned the federal Office of Healthy Homes as a potential resource that residents may not be aware of. The resolve was sent to the Oversight and Housing committees for further development.


Vote: Motion to approve and refer to Oversight and Housing committees made by Councillor Campbell, seconded by Councillor Liang. Passed 9–0.



Item 5 — Resolve: Accounting and Purchasing Review (Order 2025-9)


Councillor Liang introduced this resolve in response to the recent indictment of a former city employee for theft and fraud. The resolve asks the city to provide a public accounting of what occurred and to confirm that controls are in place to prevent recurrence.


Walker provided a detailed update on behalf of the administration. He said the issue was self-reported through an internal source and that within a day or two the administration had placed the employee on leave, locked all computer access, notified the Quincy Police Department and City Solicitor, and engaged an outside forensic auditor. The federal government subsequently took over the criminal investigation with cooperation from QPD, resulting in a federal indictment. Walker said the forensic audit is near completion and that new cash-handling controls have already been implemented at the Kennedy Center (Senior Center), where cash transactions were not being handled in a manner that prevented the theft. He cautioned that the audit findings cannot be publicly discussed in full until cleared with the U.S. Attorney's Office, given the ongoing federal case. Councillor Liang indicated the council would want to hold a public hearing on the audit findings once appropriate. The resolve was approved and referred to the Oversight Committee.


Vote: Motion to approve and refer to Oversight made by Councillor Liang, seconded by Councillor Campbell. Passed 9–0.



Items 6 & 7 — Gifts Accepted


Order 2025-10: A $10,000 gift from the Copeland Family Foundation to the Council on Aging (DEAR program). Approved 9–0.
Order 2025-11: A $2,735.18 gift from various donors (purpose not specified in transcript). Approved 9–0.


Committee Report — Utility Grant of Location (Mass Electric)


The Public Works Committee, chaired by Councillor Harris, reported a positive recommendation on the Mass Electric grant of location at Hannon Parkway and McConville Way following the earlier public hearing.


Vote: Motion to approve made by Chair Harris, seconded by Councillor McCarthy. Passed 9–0.



Traffic Requests Referred to Ordinance Committee


The following traffic-related requests were referred to the Ordinance Committee for advertising:

No drop-off/pick-up zone on Jine Avenue/Clifford/Marshall (Ward 1, 7:45–8:45 a.m. and 2:00–3:00 p.m.)
New stop signs at: Fall Street at Lancaster Street; both ends of Allen Street; each end of L Street; St. James Street at Washington Street
Handicap parking pocket at 148 Franklin Street (Ward 4)
No parking on the odd side of Hayden Street from Willard Street to West Street (Ward 3)


Councillor Remarks


Councillor Liang recognized the upcoming Lunar New Year, noting it is the largest holiday of the year for many in the Vietnamese and Chinese communities. She wished all celebrating residents a happy Tết and a healthy, prosperous new year.



Key Takeaways


Firefighter recruitment: $475,000 was approved to equip a new class of 35–40 recruits entering the academy next month, and the city may also acquire two surplus fire engines from Cambridge for approximately $25,000, bringing Quincy's department to its strongest staffing level in decades.
Wildfire preparedness: A resolve passed unanimously calling for a formal hearing on Blue Hills wildfire readiness; the Fire Chief disclosed Quincy has a mutual aid agreement giving it access to a Quebec water bomber within 90 minutes and can deploy 15–30 strike teams through regional mutual aid.
Municipal fraud response: A resolve passed directing a public accounting of the theft and fraud committed by a former employee; the administration confirmed a forensic audit is nearly complete and new controls are in place, though full public disclosure awaits clearance from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Affordable Housing Trust: A resolve was referred to committee to explore converting the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund into an active revolving low-interest loan program to help residents stay and improve their homes in Quincy.
Quarry Hills lease correction: A corrected Home Rule Petition removing the option-to-buy from the Quarry Hills lease will be resubmitted to the State House after a clerical error in the original filing was identified and corrected.

AI-generated summary from voice-to-text transcript. Not the official record. Verify important details with the source documents linked above.

Additional votes recorded in minutes

Approve corrected Home Rule Petition 2024-139 (Quarry Hills lease extension) as amended

aye 9
Campbellaye
Divineaye
Harrisaye
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyaye
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaaye
Richard Ashaye

Approve appropriation of $475,000 for Fire Department new firefighter recruits turnout gear (2025-6)

aye 9
Campbellaye
Divineaye
Harrisaye
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyaye
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaaye
Richard Ashaye

Move agenda item 4 (2025-008) before item 3 (2025-7)

aye 1
voice voteaye

Approve resolve on Wildfire Preparedness (2025-008) and refer to oversight committee

aye 9
Campbellaye
Divineaye
Harrisaye
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyaye
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaaye
Richard Ashaye

Approve resolve for Affordable Housing Trust Fund (2025-7) and refer to oversight and housing committees

aye 9
Campbellaye
Divineaye
Harrisaye
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyaye
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaaye
Richard Ashaye

Approve resolve for accounting and purchasing review (2025-009) and refer to oversight committee

aye 9
Campbellaye
Divineaye
Harrisaye
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyaye
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaaye
Richard Ashaye

Approve gift of $10,000 from Copeland Family Foundation Inc (2025-010)

absent 2 · aye 7
Campbellabsent
Divineaye
Harrisaye
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyaye
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaaye
Richard Ashabsent

Approve gift of $2,735,180 from various donors (2025-511)

aye 7 · absent 2
Campbellaye
Divineaye
Harrisabsent
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyabsent
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaaye
Richard Ashaye

Approve previous meeting minutes

aye 1
voice voteaye

Approve Grant of Location for Mass Electric Company at Hannon Parkway and McConville Way (2025-5) - positive recommendation from public works committee

aye 6 · absent 3
Campbellaye
Divineabsent
Harrisaye
Kaneaye
leangaye
McCarthyaye
Mintonaye
Noel DiBonaabsent
Richard Ashabsent

Motion to adjourn

aye 1
voice voteaye

Verbatim transcript available

2 transcript segments indexed

[Applause] this public hearing is for Council order 20 uh 25-5 this is about utility Grant of location Mass Electric Company Hannon pway and mcconville way so at this point I'd like uh to ask anyone wishing to speak in favor or opposition to come to the podium state your name and address if you do not wish to speak but would like you support or opposition recorded please sign in on the sheet on the table at the back of the chamber so anybody would like to speak in favor or against this uh Grant of location Mass Electric okay seeing uh no further public comment I will close this public hearing at uh 6 dirty and um we will resume again with the regular council meeting which will start at 6:35 thank you madam clerk please call Ro councelor Ash councelor Campbell councelor deine councelor D Council Harris council leang president Council mcari Pres Council mitton pres president Kane pres I members uh would everyone please join me stand for a moment of silence please use this moment as you will please turn to the flag for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge of allegiance to the flag the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Madame clerk please read the open meeting law pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged imp permissible thank you uh Madame clerk first item on the agenda please number one 2024 139 in order correction of Home R petition Quarry Hills extension of existing lease thank you the president recognizes Mr Walker thank you Mr President uh before you tonight is a corrected version of The Home Room petition that was approved uh by a nothing sorry is that better yes um what you see before you tonight um relative to the first version as a result of a a minor scrib ER and how it was sent up to the state house uh essentially what happened was while the council voted to change the language and the actual lease relative to the initial proposal that included that option to buy that we all discussed that language was not included in the actual order that was sent to the legislature and this was due in large part uh to the fact that this body spent a good deal of time a lot of work together with the administration and the focus of that discussion was on the lease itself not necessarily the procedural order that went to the state house so what this does um we did have some discussions with the folks at the state house and there was some initial discussion that those changes of the scribers nature could be changed through the legislative process at Beacon Hill um there was agreement between our office the solicitor's office and the folks at the State House that it would just be cleaner and more efficient if we made those alterations here at uh the council body so what you is before you tonight is a cleaner version uh better reflects the council's will uh through its vote originally um and with the amended version of it we will sent back up to the state house for a full hearing with the legislature and ultimately to the governor's office thank you thank you Mr walker uh any questions for my colleagues president recognizes councelor Ash through you Mr um thank you Mr President um I understand uh we have I'm sure a few folks here that are interested in this um agenda item I know I've received a few requests for a clean version of the actual lease and I'm wondering um if that is uh obtainable um so that the public can see the the differences between the lease as first proposed and then the lease as approved um by this body last month three Mr President of course my thought was that that was up on the website but if it's not we'll get it we'll get it there okay it may be I I may be looking in the um the wrong place but I just wanted to to see um if that was somewhere that could that I could that could be obtained from um and then I believe um Mr Walker is is the the home rule petition is does not include the actual lease as sent up to the state house is that correct that that is correct Council the legislature will debate and vote on the extent on what's in the home rule petition not word for word the lease of course their UT relative to the lease it'll be a lot like what transpired at this body if the if legislators have input relative to the actual lease um you know they have that ability um but ultimately and as you read in the order the order is very brief uh itself it does not contain a lot of detail it does not contain a lot of specifics it's essentially relates to the extension of the lease that already exists that being said we do expect to have a discussion with the legislature relative to some of the meat on the bone within the lease itself thank you president recogniz it Mr Council mccard uh thank you Mr President I I agree with Council as a clean copy would be uh I know I've seen uh what has been pulled out uh and a clean copy would be good for both the public and ourselves to u to absorb but uh I'd like to uh make a motion as amended as submitted uh on this on this change tonight a motion to uh amend I'm sorry a motion to approve as amended as amended as submitted uh that will go into the state house okay uh motion to approve as amended as submitted made by councelor McCarthy do I have a second on that seconded by councelor Harris thank you Council Harris on the motion seeing none Madame clerk please call the role councilor Ash yes councelor Campbell yes Council dine Council D yes Council Harris yes councel leang yes Council McCarthy yes councelor Minton yes president King yes eight members thank you madam clerk next item please number two 20256 an appropriation for $475,000 for Fire Department New firefighter recruits turnout gear thank you madam clerk president recognizes Mr Walker thank you again Mr President um before you this evening is a request of 475,000 uh that will fund the gear and some training supplies for our newest class of firefighters that will be starting the academy in a month or so uh we expect this class to be between 35 and 40 men and women uh about half of which come from as this body knows a recent Federal grant thank you to Congressman Lynch uh and the other half will be to fill upcoming needs to keep us at full power full Manpower as as this body and the mayor have described it over the last several years um again this will keep our staffing levels at the highest level they've been in decades uh it puts us in a place that we'll have the most robust Fire Department in Massachusetts any city in Massachusetts with the exception of Worcester and Boston uh that is an incredibly strong statement about the commitment this community Through the mayor and together with this body has made over the last number of years to ensure that our residents have the very best public safety resources virtually anywhere in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts it's a commitment even more worth worth of highlighting when we look at recent events in California that show just how critical our fire services are to the livelihood of a community I know councel Deon is going to be talking with the fire chief a little later in the meeting about Wildfire preparedness but I can say without talking out of school not a professional in that business uh the absolute number one resource necessary for any major incident disaster or emergency is quite literally Manpower the more manpower the better apt we are to able to handle any kind of issue that comes to this city uh we've been able to do this together adding a new ladder company expanding the available men on our our existing equipment ensuring that all our apparatus are available 247 it does have real world impacts and we see that virtually every major fire that we've had over the last couple years um has ended up being a major save um just even just recently there's a fire on chelik Street certainly um something that the the the homeowner and the family there displaced are are going to be dealing with and I know councilor Ash is working on some recovery efforts but without question had the fire department not fire responded with the compliment that we had and the amount of time that we had that fire very easily in a lot of other places would have spread considerably further than it did and that's a direct result of the work that the fire department does on a daily basis obviously but the resources that this body together with the mayor Prov provided the fire department I want to thank the council again for working together with inand with the mayor the fire chief and our friends in local 792 quiny firefighters Association as we look forward to welcoming this new class Chief Jackson is here at the podium to answer any technical questions you may have and I'm happy to answer any of those questions you will note that the appropriation request is $475,000 the chief's memo relates directly to $451,000 the difference and the chief can explain this a little bit is that he's got a line on a spare engine in Cambridge uh that we think we can get for short money and that's where uh We've we've put that extra $225,000 in this appropriation to help secure the funding the the chief can get as he's been very successful in the past uh getting some spare equipment in other places to put to use here in the City of Quincy so that's the difference you'll see between the appropriation uh in the memo in the accompanying backup information that the chief has provided uh with that I'm sure the chief is happy to answer any questions uh the body may have thank you Mr Walker welcome Chief uh thank you good evening council president good evening counselors thank you Mr Walker Chief of Staff Walker put it better than I ever could uh thank you to so many people um the mayor uh Congressman Lynch uh the the council uh local 792 our grant writers um Lieutenant Jerry Murphy our business manager Chris Fallen Evan Harrington Al Tren the so many people that have have stepped up and uh again Chris is absolutely right we're the best fun F most Progressive uh Department in the state and that's not my opinion uh that's a fact and uh it's this is just another example of that so uh to Mr Walker's points about the um this number coming in at 4551 so we have a line on a couple of spare engines that uh Cambridge fire is getting rid of I'm looking to pick up both of them for um $25,000 and I think I'm going to be able to get that done as soon as tomorrow I'll start having conversations with the Cambridge fire chief I've been waiting to hear from them for the last couple of weeks and it hasn't happened I know that he's been very busy but I don't have anything to pass on to the council with any kind of a pricing but I'm hoping to get so the way that this is working is we have three spare engines right now two of them are pretty much falling apart they're in really really bad shape our mechanics have done a fantastic job keeping them on the road for as long as they have been um but they're they're starting to fall apart so Cambridge has two engines one of them the motor is in really good shape but the truck is not the other is the exact opposite so I'm looking to pick up both of these trucks put the good motor with the good truck and we'll pirate the other uh truck for scrap for uh lights for whatever we can get off of it in the meantime but I suspect I can secure both of those pieces for $25,000 so that's why it's a bit shy anyway so thank you again for having me tonight and I'm happy to answer any questions motion to approved made by Council the Yang seconded by councelor Campbell on the motion Madam clerk please call the rooll councelor ash yes councelor Campbell yes Council Divine yes councilor D yes Council Harris yes Council leang yes Council mcy yes councilor mitton yes president King yes nine members thank you madam clerk thank you Chief thank you thank you so much everybody Mr President could I if I could could I put agenda item number four to to to the next item um can you put that in the form of motion can I put that in a form of motion to move that up yep uh motion to move number 4 2025 d008 before number three 20257 can I get a second uh councel Harris thank you uh all those in favor I those oppos eyes have it Madam clerk next item please number 4 20258 a resolve on Wildfire preparedness uh president recognizes Council debono thank you Mr President um thank you Chief Jackson for being here tonight I I just wanted to um just first off um I want to um my thoughts and prayers go out to the 27 people that have died due to the wildfires in Los Angeles and Southern California area the fires have destroyed more than 3 13,600 structures and tens of thousands of people have been forced to move you know forced from their homes tonight I bring forward a a wildfire preparedness resolution um I'm just going to read it in and then I'm going to ask Chief if he has any comments um the recent wildfires in California have exposed a lack of fire prevention and protection resources in those impacted communities resulting in death and destruction the City of Quincy contains 1,500 Acres of densely forested land in the blue hill reservation the Blue Hill is directly above several residential neighborhoods an important emergency communications infrastructure it also abuts uh towns of Milton and Canton as well as brry and Randol um the sufficient Staffing training and materials of the quiny fire department is necessary to protect the public from the threat of wildfire now therefore be resolved that the city council quiny city council hold a hearing a meeting to discuss Wildfire preparedness with the quinsey fire department quinsey Police Department emergency management department and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation DCR um before I'd like to just put this in a form of a motion to approve as well as referring to the oversight committee but since we have Chief Jackson here tonight I'd I'd like to see if he would like to uh have just a few comments and I know I've talked to you offline about this as well as um president uh Tom Bose from um your also local um so if I could um um Mr President if I can open up to the chief chief yeah I appreciate thank you counselor and thank you for entertaining this uh yeah there couldn't be a better time to come up here and speak about this and again uh to piggyback on what councelor DB said our our thoughts and prayers go out to uh everybody in California that suffered these incredible losses the stars have really aligned in such a Despicable way out there for something like this to happen and um um yet you know to be honest every time every year our budget gets approved I sit down with uh the deputy Chiefs and with our Training Division and we talk about how best to allocate these resources and prioritize and response to the Blue Hills is always part of that discussion and we have been AC crewing over the last 5 years that up and chieve some um you know equipment we've been uh building a cash for our response up there and as far as response up there for uh a land response and for air response as well we both uh we have so many resources that we can call upon uh both through norfol County and through the the Metro Chiefs Association we can call in 15 to 30 strike teams I mean we can get more resources than we would know what to do with honestly and uh it's something that we review every single year we're in a really good position in that regard as far as our cash of of reserves of supplies um you know while we're up here talking about this if if Chief of Staff Walker would be agreeable to it I'd like to put together a short list so here's the thing is with what's going on now in California as you can imagine LA county has such incredible purchasing power uh firefighter turnouts nozzles um hose lines uh all this is going to be bought up it's going to be probably a year before we can see any of this stuff and if we could get an order in sooner rather than later I could get you some prices and um that would be very very much appreciated but I know that uh they have wiped the Slate clean as far as supplies and justifiably so but um yeah I mean I I don't know other than that I don't really know you know uh we have just as a kind of a an interesting fact I don't know if a lot of people are aware of this but we have a mutual Aid agreement with uh the Canadian government specifically with Quebec you've seen these uh these cl4 15 planes they skim across the water they fill up their belly with 1,600 gallons of water and they dumped this or whatever we have access to one of these through a mutual Aid agreement with Quebec we can get one of these planes here within an hour and a half uh dropping on the fire and you know if if the water supply is within 10 minutes of the fire which it's most likely going to be if they're picking up in quinsey Bay for example they're going to be dumping 26,000 gallons an hour on the fire up there in Blue Hills if it ever came to that usually if we do need air support we go to the State Police they put their helicopter up and they'll make bucket drops their bucket holds like 250 gallons of water but it usually doesn't come to anything other than that but as far as ground and air resources um we take it very seriously we have we can call on a lot I mean we can get a lot of resources at our disposal within a couple of hours if the situation calls for it so we're in a pretty good position that way so thank you Chief and and really at the end of the day as this body uh the City of Quincy we have your back and and that's why I put us forward here tonight to know that we we um as a as a as a body here collectively hopefully you know with passage tonight and referred to oversight committee for future discussions yeah we have your back no I know that you do and I appreciate it very much I appreciate you and councelor dine and all the support of the councilors in Chris Walker hit the nail on the head it's it's the Staffing that puts these fires out it's it's really is the Manpower has made such a huge difference I mean it's is it does it up the budget yes it does I totally understand that but we have saved millions of dollars in property since weave up these Manpower counts you know that's a that's a fact so yeah so anyways yeah thanks thank you thank you Chief uh president recognizes councelor Divine thank you for coming up tonight and uh giving us all this information you see that you have U some motorolas here uh the Portables yeah uh every once in a while I swing into the uh West quiny fire house and you know chat with the the fireman the captain and everything and the last time was in there about a month and a half ago we had a conversation about um that sometimes there's dead spots I don't think anyone realizes how far the city uh limit goes It goes along the highway and your team has to respond and um so I was hoping with this resolve with the Blue Hills that we can possibly look into some type of repeater or something to make their um Portables stronger we actually just increased our coverage through a grant uh that senator Kean helped us procure we actually just got two new repeaters uh that we're relying on right now and it's really it's buffed up our coverage significantly we we have we're in we're in a much better place now than we were just six months ago okay good so that's a box that has been checked our coverage is much much better than it was we're doing pretty good in that regard but thank you I appreciate it's uh it's interesting you keep an eye on that most people find that stuff pretty boring but uh you know it's important it's not just important to the the firefighters themselves but uh if there was a car accident on you know on the highway every second counts and if they have to go back to the truck to use the truck radio right uh that that could be minutes AB you know easy uh so I feel it's a um it's a major safety concern yes absolutely but you're already on it so uh next time I'll train and be quicker I love it thank you thank you Council joh um where's the closest domestic airplane uh you mentioned that we have a mutual agreement with so that's the CL 415 that's the closest location for one of those no one in the US has one no not that I'm aware of that's why we have thatou with them so yeah that's the closest one and I did Google it and that is the fact wow yeah I talked to our district for uh fir Warden Karen Lup and she's uh we have a great relationship we go back and forth all the time uh during The Burning Season and I called her just to confirm this mou is is still active and that is in fact the closest um airplane of that type that we have access to and she said yeah it isn't I confirmed that it is so that's wild okay well thank you very much um thank you Council Deon made a motion to approve and to put this into oversight do I have a second councelor McCarthy uh Madam clerk please call the RO councelor Ash yes councelor Campbell yes councelor dine yes councelor Deana yes councelor Harris Council leang yes Council mccy yes Council mitton yes president King yes nine members thank you thank you thanks Chief thank you so much thank you very much Madam clerk next item please next is number three 20257 a resolve for affordable housing trust fund uh president recognizes councilor Campbell uh thank you Mr President this is um it's an introduction I guess of of an order uh that I think is important there is a lot going on in this world and and you know to me I think we build a community based off of something that we can hopefully keep the residents who have grown up here who have lived here and who you know want to spend the rest of their time in this area that we can try to find ways to uh make uh the the way to stay here easier better more efficient uh and um you know there's a lot of ways to do that I think obviously financially we want to try to help them in any way we can uh the city right now has uh an affordable housing trust um that has um gathered over time a lot of money uh and uh exact number I'm not sure what it is but I know that we can get U that information as soon as uh we s down this path but the hope is that we can turn that that fund into something that we can use to help families who are looking to stay here who are looking to uh build upon their homesteads build upon um their Futures and you know if if if there's a way to take that money and turn it into almost a revolving account uh where they can uh low interest interest borrowing can happen from families uh and find different ways to um um make that money so it's working for the city and making these neighborhoods better because if they're able to improve their Homestead it's only going to improve the neighborhood so it it really is a kind of a win-win for everybody here I don't want to get too specific but I do think that that is a start um I know that uh planning I've talked to um Jim Fat's over at planning uh we have Jimmy scribby who's really an expert at getting grants um uh for ways to to help people um take advantage of of maybe the leverage that we have as a city and use that time to um use that that the resources that we have to help improve now I think that there's a few things that are already in place and and I think that um having the uh planning department and um those who are in it to explore different Avenues you know as for instance um through resolutions or through um Communications you know if there are currently ways for older generations and um younger generations to take advantage of some of the clean healthy homes uh office of healthy homes I believe we said it was yeah um offic of healthy homes there there are resources available and I think whether we you know really um try to dig deeper onto that or we just make people aware that that that's there that I'm hoping that that this resolution can help um push that to the next step so um I would I would like to see if I could uh do this in form of a motion to send it to the oversight committee and the housing committee uh and uh hopefully have some some chance to unfold this a little bit thank you Council C motion uh to approve and to put into oversight and housing um seconded by councelor leang Madame clerk please call the role counc Ash yes councelor Campbell yes councelor dine yes councelor Deana yes councelor Harris yes Council leang yes Council Massi yes councelor mitton yes president King yes nine members thank you madam clerk next item please number five 2025 009 a resolve accounting with purchasing review thank you madam Clerk um we've all heard about the unfortunate circumstance of a former city employee that was pilfering from the city coffers and this is a resolution that seeks to ask uh that the city uh provide I guess an accounting of that circumstance but also to ensure the city that situations like this cannot and will not occur again uh the or the resolution itself is pretty self-explanatory so I ask for my colleague support tonight could you put it into uh oversight as well please yeah thank you motion to approve made by Council Lang and please put an oversight seconded by councelor Campbell on the motion president recognizes councel deona uh just quickly Mr President I just want to thank you for bringing this forward onto the agenda tonight very important thank you I'll be supporting this thanks Council um president recognizes Mr Walker through you Mr President um you know thank you for bringing this in certainly the administration um the mayor agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment and the spirit of cooperation that that the resolve is meant to I would for the benefit of the body uh be happy to report on some of the things that have taken place uh since these un un fortunate incidents have occurred in the work that has gone on uh in some ways despite this being uh very troubling um unacceptable in in a lot of ways and um personally difficult for a number of people involved in the city um there's a good story here uh and it's how the city has handled this to date um I want to be clear that first and foremost this was a self-reported issue um this came to our office's attention um through an internal source that there perhaps something a Miss uh in that particular office um within a very short amount of time Peri short time period uh within a day or two uh we had fleshed out enough uh brought it to the mayor's attention and at that point um immediately buttons were pushed um at that point in time the suspect individual was placed on leave uh all his uh passwords and and computer access was locked down uh the quiny police department and the city solicitor's office was immediately notified um the quinsey police department started an investigation immediately um the next morning um we briefed the director of Municipal finance and treasur collector Molly Smith on what had transpired and that afternoon we had the outside auditor um beginning to be engaged on a full forensic audit of which which would be the subject of I think the end of end game of your resolution tonight would be a subject of having a discussion relative uh to that forensic audit um that work continued over the course of several months um the federal government um with cooperation with the quinsey police department took over the investigation provided mounds and mounds of documents to the federal government um providing all the evidence that they needed uh to move forward with with the case obviously as everyone's seen the cases resulted um in an indictment um basically coming down to two things uh one is theft uh and in terms of that um while it didn't take us long to figure out or it was identified uh by Treasurer Smith that the Kennedy Center the senior center was conducting its cash transactions in accordance with State guidelines and state law uh there was money being stolen um and it took a trigger mechanism for that to to reach the next level and the second piece of this is fraud um there was fraud allegedly perpetrated on the the city um and again the forensic a is going to see what kind of controls uh we have in place what kind of controls we should be putting in place and we're already moving on that but ultimately relative to the cash transactions to start um we've already implemented new measures um again that sort of buttress what was already in place because again there there is a rationale and it doesn't make it any more acceptable it doesn't mean we're not going to we don't look at these things and it doesn't mean mean we don't take a step back and do some self-reflection on how we can do things better but there is you will hear it from time to time that when someone or some entity is intent on doing committing fraud and committing theft figure it out the controls aren't always going to stop that um and that's in part what we have here but confident going forward that the results of this forensic audit will will show where any improvements need to be um we show that that largely um the public can have great confidence uh in the financial controls around the city and the fact that we discovered it fleshed it out got it to the right place and nipped it at its source um I think despite the fact that we certainly acknowledged that there's going to be some work going forward that we did that everyone's doing the right thing everyone did the right thing uh and we're happy to move forward together with this body on on working through that thank you Mr Walker I appreciate that um at this point you said the in independent forensic audit is completed or in process in process I I think it's very close to completion I think we have some draft material um that there is a question of what at what point that becomes um good to go in terms of having a discussion publicly we are um you know the federal there is a still there's a federal court case uh involved here and we want to be able we're want to clear whatever we discuss um with the US attorney's office to make sure we're on Solid Ground don't want to uh implicate anything that we discuss publicly with the case that that they've been trying to build okay well uh thank you and obviously at some point uh ideally in the near future we'd like to hold uh presentation and hearing what have you uh of the findings from that report and uh we probably want to bring in the treasurer who uh any any of the related parties who are knowledgeable about what took place and and the policies that have been changed thank you um motion to approve made by councelor leang and seconded by councelor Campbell Madam clerk please call the role councelor Ash yes councelor Campbell yes councilor dine yes Council Deana yes Council Harris yes Council leang yes Council mcarthy Council mitton yes president Kane yes nine members thank you mam clerk next item please number six 2025 010 a gift for $10,000 from Copeland Family Foundation Inc to Dear motion to approve motion to approve made by Council Deon seconded by councelor McCarthy Madam clerk please call the role councelor Ash councelor Campbell councelor Divine yes councelor Debon yes Council Harris yes Council leang yes Council McCarthy yes councilor Minon yes president Kane yes nine members thank you madam clerk next item please 7 2025 511 a gift for $2,735 180 from various motion to approve made by Council McCarthy seconded by councelor deona please call the rooll councelor ash yes councelor Campbell yes councilor dine yes Council donon yes Council Harris Council leang yes Council mcari councilor Minon yes president Kane yes nine members thank you madam Clerk and that concludes our regularly scheduled agenda items approval of previous meeting minutes motion to approve made by Council seconded by Council Devine uh all those in favor those opposed the eyes have it Communications and reports from the mayor other City officers and City boards Madam clerk thank you we do have um some traffic request to refer to ordinance committee for advertising board two counselor Ash add no drop off pick up 7:45 to 8:45 a.m.
and 2: to 300 p.m. on jine AB Clifford mshel add stop sign on Fall Street at Lancaster Street add stop sign at both ends of alen Street add stop sign at each end of L Street add stop sign at St James at Washington Street add handicap pocket in front of 148 Franklin Street Ward four councelor Divine at no parking on the odd side of Hayden Street from Willard Street to West Street thank you madam clerk unfinished business and proceeding meeting seeing none reports of committees president recognizes chair Harris um thank you uh a public hearing was held prior to this evening's city council meeting on the following uh Council aus 2025-the Mass Electric um Hannon pway mcconville way a positive recommendation uh from the public works committee motion for approval positive recommendation and motion to approve made by chair Harris seconded by councel McCarthy Madam clerk please call the role councel Ash councelor Campbell yes councel dine councel Deana councelor Harris yes Council leang yes Council mccy yes Council Minon resident Kane yes nine members call set sure yes that's it uh presentation of petitions memorials and remonstrant president recognizes councelor lean thank you I just want to take an opportunity um to recognize that next week is going to be Lunar New Year um it's the biggest holiday of the year from Benny and our community certainly and my family um and you know it's really different for everyone right and how they celebrate but I remember it's you know for me at home it was about 14 cousins coming together Under One Roof with all of our parents and really good food uh but most importantly especially as a kid the red envelopes with the money inside and so it's a really fun holiday filled with again just a lot of love and family um a lot of reflection and so I just hope that uh for whoever is celebrating next week to enjoy and just on behalf of the city hope that everyone has a wonderful tet in the Vietnamese culture and a wonderful lunar new year in the Chinese culture um yeah and that just everyone has a happy and healthy and prosperous coming year thank you thank you C sh Happy New Year to you and your family thanks anyone else okay uh motions orders and resolutions see none scheduling of committee meetings and public hearings our next regularly scheduled council meeting is Monday February 3rd at 6:30 pm here be here or B Square motion to adjourn made by Council Lang have a good night d [Music] [Music]