City Council
Tue, January 21, 2025
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
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:
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
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
Approve appropriation of $475,000 for Fire Department new firefighter recruits turnout gear (2025-6)
Move agenda item 4 (2025-008) before item 3 (2025-7)
Approve resolve on Wildfire Preparedness (2025-008) and refer to oversight committee
Approve resolve for Affordable Housing Trust Fund (2025-7) and refer to oversight and housing committees
Approve resolve for accounting and purchasing review (2025-009) and refer to oversight committee
Approve gift of $10,000 from Copeland Family Foundation Inc (2025-010)
Approve gift of $2,735,180 from various donors (2025-511)
Approve previous meeting minutes
Approve Grant of Location for Mass Electric Company at Hannon Parkway and McConville Way (2025-5) - positive recommendation from public works committee
Motion to adjourn
Verbatim transcript available
2 transcript segments indexed