City Council Minutes 3-1-2-21 CITY U SEVERL,Y
City of Beverly RECEIVED PkND R CORDU
City Council Regular Meeting C1T Y :�?.~:'. W C�;r i!:E
Public Meeting Minutes
Monday, March 1, 2021, 7pm tfli) �A� —q P '
This meeting was conducted under the `Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the
Open Meeting Law G.L. c.30A, §20', signed on March 12, 2020. This remote meeting was held
over Google Meet and live streamed by BevCam. Public access information for the hearings was
provided on the meeting agenda.
Paul Guanci City Council President, called the meeting to order at 7:00pm over Google Meet.
City Clerk, Lisa Kent, took the attendance by roll call.
Members Present: Stacy Ames, Dominic Copeland, Kathleen Feldman, Timothy Flaherty, Julie
Flowers, Scott Houseman, Todd Rotondo, Estelle Rand, Paul Guanci
Members Absent: None
Houseman led the councilors in the pledge of allegiance.
Guanci made a statement about the meeting being recorded by the City of Beverly and streamed
by BevCam on channel 99 and BevCam's YouTube channel. He confirmed that all members
present could hear him and noted the remote meeting format and process due to Covid-19.
Guanci read Rule 22 of the Beverly City Council. He introduced a vote to allow items to be
taken out of committee and voted on the floor. Kent took a roll call vote and the motion carried
(9-0). Guanci read the procedures for virtual public hearings.
Resolution
Order#053-Councilor Copeland-Beverly High School Boys Varsity Basketball Team
Flowers moved to accept the late file. Ames seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Copeland read the cover letter and resolution.
Houseman moved to approve. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Flaherty congratulated all student athletes for their work this past year.
Public Hearings
Order#034-7:15PM-Transfer of$750,000 from the City's certified free cash balance to fund the
replacement of the High School Turf Field
Houseman moved to receive and place on file. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and
the motion carried (9-0).
Acceptance of Minutes of Previous Meetings: February 16, 2021
Houseman motioned to approve. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Old Business
Order#032-Member Rate Schedule for the Beverly Golf& Tennis Club
William Lowd, Chair of the Beverly Golf and Tennis Club Commission, spoke on the changes
and stated Golf Facilities Management Inc. (GFMI) manages the club, which is in its 110th year,
and has made it a popular place to play in the last 11 years. The only request this year is the
membership fee increase of less than 5%. This is the first requested increase in 11 years, and it
should carry them through for the next 8-10 years. Chris Carter, CEO of GFMI, requested the
increase due to the rising costs associated with minimum wage. The commissioners reviewed the
request and voted unanimously to approve it.
Rotondo thanked Mr. Lowd. He stated his ward borders the area. The management company has
been very responsive to any issues. Rotondo thanked them for their continued efforts in
improving the course.
Flaherty echoed the thanks for the improvements and stated his support for the increase.
Guanci added that Golf Facilities Management took over management of the course after a rough
patch and they've done a wonderful job.
Feldman asked if there was an increase in interest due to the pandemic and growing interest in
outdoor activities. She asked if they were thinking of adding more programs, including for youth.
Chris Carter, Golf Facilities Management CEO, stated they are seeing more interest and adding
new leagues and events. They will also be increasing functions again as requirements are
loosened.
Guanci asked about tournament golf.
Carter said if the guidelines coming March 22 stay in effect, then they could have tournaments
coming up as long as they follow the guidelines.
Ames asked about the level of membership, if they are full or looking for new members.
Carter stated they are always looking for new members. There was a bit of an increase last year
and there will be possibly more of an increase this year. Currently there are approximately 200
full time members and a good amount of limited members, who can only play during the week.
Houseman motioned to approve. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried(9-0).
Presentations, Awards, and Memorials
Mr. Ayles gave a presentation on free cash, since there were some relevant items coming up
during the public hearings. He went over how it is used and replenished. He stated it is
replenished by unspent budgeted funds and unbudgeted revenue. It can be used for one-time
expenditures, capital projects, stabilization funds,paying down debt, or any unforeseen or
emergency needs. It is not advised to be used for recurring costs because free cash is not
recurring income. The policy is to have between 3-8% of the operating budget. It is a good
policy to use free cash the way we do because we are able to tackle mid- and small-sized projects
without putting that burden into the operating budget. With free cash, we know with certainty
Beverly City Council Alleeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 2 of 13
what the values are and we know our financial risks. One of the major things we have been able
to do that benefits the taxpayers collectively is building and maintaining the reserves to
reasonable levels. This creates financial stability for the taxpayers and ensures service levels
remain consistent, even in difficult times. We have also paid cash for a number of projects which
is great because we avoid borrowing costs like interest. It allows flexibility without burdening
the operating budget. It helps the City's bond rating as well; if we need to borrow, we can get a
better interest rate because we are handling free cash and stabilization reserves well.
Houseman asked if Ayles could share the powerpoint presentation with the Council because at
times it could be helpful when speaking with constituents.
Rotondo asked about the financial policy the Council adopted in 2018. He asked what the
standard is the DOR recommends for free cash and stabilization. He noted the City's policy is 3-
8% and asked if there is a recommendation the DOR would suggest.
Ayles stated there is a published document the DOR put out in regards to free cash which states
3-5% is a good target. We typically exceed that so when we draw it down it is still within that
range. By certifying at a higher level, it allows us more flexibility.
Public Hearini4s (Continued)
Order 4035-7:45PM-Transfer-$1,300,000 from the City's certified free cash balance to purchase
ladder truck and to rescind Order#153-2020 the Loan Authorization of$1.3M for the purchase
of that ladder truck
Ayles stated this is related to an item in July. We didn't have free cash then, so we asked for a
loan authorization.Now that we have the free cash certified, we would like to rescind the
original loan order and pay cash for the truck which would avoid this being put into the budget.
Peter O'Connor, Fire Chief, said this will be the primary ladder truck for the City. It's being built
now and will probably be doing about 12,000 runs a year. The reserve ladder truck, Truck 2,
failed inspection last year, and the City has been borrowing one from Boston, so this would
replace that truck. It will be the only ladder truck in the City and would become Truck 1,with
the primary truck now being used becoming the reserve truck, which will be about 12 years old
at that point.
Guanci asked if there was someone in-house that helps with designing a new piece of equipment.
O'Connor said it's done by committee but usually comes from mostly within the City,with
mechanics, DPW, and others involved.
Feldman asked when it will be done being built.
O'Connor stated hopefully it will be received by October.
The hearing was closed.
Rotondo motioned to approve. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Beverly City Council Meeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 3 of 13
Communications from His Honor the Mayor
Order#034A-Withdrawal for request on Order#034 for the use of Free Cash for the replacement
of the High School Turf Field
Houseman motioned to approve the request. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and
the motion carried(9-0).
Order 9038-Request for Approval of First Amendment to the Special Tax Assessment
Agreement between City of Beverly and Restaurant Associates concerning One Water Street
Cahill stated they checked with the folks at EDIP [Economic Development Incentive Program]
and they were good with this going to the Council tonight and then they could discuss it at an
EACC [Economic Assistance Coordinating Council] meeting in March. This is to help make this
project more viable. Two administrations and a whole lot of people over decades have brought us
to this point. This was a necessary piece of the overall financial picture.
Rotondo and Cahill confirmed this vote is only to change the dates and delay the beginning date.
Marty Bloom from Beverly Restaurant Associates, LLC,the project developer, stated everything
is taking longer and it has been a struggle to get financing due to the pandemic.
Rand asked how common it is to request an extension or shift in dates.
Darlene Wynne, Planning Director, stated she was not sure but the state wants to be flexible with
developers, especially with Covid. This is a municipal action because it is local money only in
this case, so the state is really following what the City wants to do in this project.
Flaherty said this is a great opportunity for us as a city and applauded Mayor Cahill. This is a
unique situation with this property. A lot of people are looking forward to when this does
happen.
Guanci stated it would be terrible to finally be within striking distance on this and then let it fall
through the cracks. It has been close to 25 years that there has been talk about a project on the
water at the old McDonald's site, so we're getting close.
Copeland, echoed the sentiments that it sounds like a great project for the City. He asked how
long the overall lease is for.
Stephanie Williams, City Solicitor, stated the initial lease is 40 year; there is the option to extend
up to ten years.
Copeland asked Mr. Bloom if he had any concerns or plan b in case things continue to fall
through.
Bloom said he and his associates would just have to put more of their own money into it if
needed. He stated he was not overly concerned.
Flowers asked about if he had any thoughts or updates on job creation, local labor, and
minority/women hiring.
Bloom said in the restaurant business at this point, anyone who is willing and able to work can
work. He is expecting maybe 100-110 staff in summer, 60 in off season. There is a contractor
picked.
Beverly City Council Meeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 4 of 13
Ames asked about sections five through seven of the agreement and how the transfer of this lease
for this property will work in 40 years and about the reporting and how that would impact the
council so she understood their responsibility as a council.
Williams read section seven and stated this language is from the state; this is a state template. It
is incumbent on a city to record if jobs are being met.
Ames asked if B.R.A. can lease this property to someone else, or if they decide to no longer use
it for the restaurant, if it comes back to the City.
Williams stated it can only be used for a restaurant, so it would be a default of the lease if it was
used for anything other than that. The tenant does have the opportunity to assign the lease in
certain terms in the lease.
Wynne noted there is an electronic reporting system for the state and the City has a log in to
check the reports. We would work with any company to make sure they are able to come into
conformance before going through the process of decertification.
Guanci held this item since it was time for the next public hearing.
Public Hearings (Continued)
Order#036-8:15PM-Transfer-$983,418 from the city's certified free cash balance to the City's
stabilization fund and transfer$198,684 to be placed into the City's Other Post Employment
Benefit Trust (OPEB)
Houseman motioned to recess the hearing to 8:30pm. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was
taken, and the motion carried(9-0).
Communications from His Honor the Mayor (Continued)
Order#038 (Continued)-Request for Approval of First Amendment to the Special Tax
Assessment Agreement between City of Beverly and Restaurant Associates concerning One
Water Street
Houseman asked about the off-site parking arrangements for staff. Originally the idea was
employees would park off site and get to the restaurant by shuttle or another way. Houseman
confirmed there were agreements in place to make sure parking at the site is primarily for
customers only, and asked if there was any change with the delay that would have adverse
effects on those agreements.
Bloom stated he didn't think so.
Houseman asked how many offsite locations fall into that category.
Bloom stated there is only one right now but there may be a push to find something more as it
gets closer. There is a lot of change in transportation with workers riding bikes or using rideshare
services.
Houseman motioned to approve. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Beverly City Council Meeting Nfinutes—March 1,2021,page 5 of 13
Houseman motioned to return to the 8:15pm hearing on Order#036. Rotondo seconded. A roll
call vote was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Public Hearings (Continued)
Order#036 (Continued)-8:15PM-Transfer-$983,418 from the City's certified free cash balance
to the City's stabilization fund and transfer$198,684 to be placed into the City's Other Post
Employment Benefit Trust(OPEB)
Ayles stated the OPEB transfer is to prepare for long-term liability. The OPEB trust fund will
ultimately fund other post-employment benefits of employees, primary health care for retirees,
which is an obligation under Massachusetts general laws. That liability is valued annually, and
came in most recently at$330,000,000; so this is an attempt to begin to address that long-term
liability.
Ames asked what the goal percentage is for stabilization.
Ayles stated 10-15% of annual operating budget is the target. With this transfer, it would get to
11.25%.
Ames asked about upcoming requests and a request for the library HVAC system.
Ayles stated there's nothing that the administration is aware of at this point, but the benefit of
having free cash is occasionally there are unforeseen costs and there is flexibility for those.
Ames said looking at the capital program, it definitely needs some work and she appreciated the
presentation. She asked how turnbacks are determined to build free cash.
Ayles said there are some philosophical views on that. When working at a state level for over a
decade,the way the budget was produced incentivized spending every last dollar that was
appropriated because departments didn't want to turn back money in fear of it getting cut. We
don't employ that here. We want to incentivize frugality and thoughtful purchasing. When we
have departments that may have a little bit of extra money at the end of the year, we want them
to turn that back. We've had a history of undertaking a zero-based budget build every year. We
don't penalize departments for turning money back if they don't use it. Our departments see us
as partners. When we look at turnbacks, we look at historical trends. We want to make sure when
we appropriate free cash that we're confident we can replenish it back.
Ames stated she would like more transparency on the turnbacks. She stated that she had asked
for and received from Mr. Perry the turnbacks for 2020 and that it is a bigger philosophical
question of what is in the best interest of the taxpayer. If we as a community say we are going to
allocate money for roads and we turn back some of that budget,then there is a discussion that
needs to happen. If the administration says we are going to make this investment in the
community, and the city council votes for a budget expecting services,then we want to make
sure the money to the extent that we're allocating is delivered. Ames noted that the city turned
back 7-8% of the Health Department budget in a pandemic and suggested that if the city wanted
to take 3-5% or whatever percentage for free cash, then perhaps that number needs to come off
the top, so those numbers are delivered. Ames stated she understands there has to be some
wiggle room, but she doesn't feel comfortable. Ames stated that she read a great editorial in the
Washington Post where the writer said we almost lost our democracy, and they were really
talking nationally but we've got to bring our best game to the table. Accountability is not going
Beverly City Council ALleeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 6 of 13
to be enough. We need to embrace change and reform in the way we do things so that people we
represent feel trust in the actions we take. Ames agreed that the city needs to have a rainy day
fund, but she said there are a lot of people in this city who don't have a rainy day fund anymore.
Ames stated that she wants to make sure we can deliver services and doesn't want to promise
services and not deliver them. We need to think very seriously about the way we govern as a
council and as a city government.
Cahill stated the turnbacks in FY2020 were very unique because when Covid shut everything
down, we didn't know where things were headed and anticipated that we could see huge cuts in
state aid, which thankfully didn't come to pass. We needed to look to see how tightly we could
pull the strings on the remaining months of the fiscal year; that led to turnbacks we would not
typically have. We all want to pave every road and sidewalk we possibly can every year, but we
were looking at that and saying we have to hang on and see, and if we find that it's ultimately
available we'll spend it for the purposes that we originally budgeted. On the Health Department
front, with Covid the help that came our way with CARES funding and FEMA funding were
focused on certain areas. It might sound counterintuitive that we took a turn back on health,but
we knew there were other funds specifically targeted for health needs.
Ames stated she appreciates that. She said when she thinks about the resident that came and
talked about the rat infestation, that$34,000 is an exterminator. She stated while she can
appreciate the bright shiny objects, she believes we have a responsibility to provide services to
keep each other safe and at the end of the day we want to take care of each other. Cutting
budgets hurts our ability to govern.
Cahill stated he felt that we delivered on the critical services that we are all committed to
providing even as we dug in at the end of the fiscal year to make sure we were prepared for what
we feared would be some precipitous drops in revenues.
Houseman motioned to recess the hearing to 9:00 PM. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was
taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order#037-8:45PM-Transfer-$2,000,000 from the City's certified free cash to be placed into
the new police station capital project fund
Ayles gave an overview, stating the price tag on the building is about 29 million dollars. We
always have had a target of 24 million dollars for borrowing on the project because that is the
debt service figure that fits into the annual operating budget. In order to hit that 24 million
dollars in borrowing over the past three years we have infused cash into the project and paid
down the debt, so this is the last step in doing that. We hope to borrow for the remainder of the
project later in March because interest rates are at all-time record lows.
Perry stated this plan started four years ago and he does recommend this. This kind of continuity
isn't seen in a lot of other communities; they are sticking to a long range plan here. Mr. Ayles
did an incredible amount of work on the strategy of putting this together. Perry strongly endorsed
the recommendation of the mayor on this, and stated he is looking forward to the ribbon cutting.
Copeland asked if it would make sense to pay down any more, or if this is the place we want to
be at.
Ayles stated that is the amount that is affordable in terms of carrying that debt load. After two
years, some older debt falls off the debt payment schedule. This is a long range, multi-year plan
Beverly City Council AYleeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 7 of 13
to address some needs in the City and to leave capacity in the debt budget for other upcoming
proj ects.
Houseman asked what we have in the financial policies and objectives in terms of the range of
debt we want to carry on as a percentage of our budget and how the police station financing
affects that proportion.
Perry stated the administration is working to update the capital expenditure plan and that he
thinks going to market in the next month or so is a wise decision.
Ayles added that the policy calls for a ceiling of 9% and this will ultimately put the City at 7.6%
debt.
Houseman encouraged the administration to take advantage of what is available in the bond
market to see if there are some opportunities here.
Ayles stated there are certain laws that govern our ability to borrow. We are not able to maintain
cash on hand because of tax-exempt borrowings, so we typically borrow on the tail end of
projects. We can't borrow on the front end to just keep money here and spend as needed; that's
not an option. The deficit we were facing is beginning to come down a bit because of the
opportunity that presents itself in the interest market right now. We'll know more next month.
John LeLacheur, Police Chief, gave an update on the project, saying it is on schedule, on budget,
and progressing very well.
Guanci closed the public hearing.
Houseman motioned to approve. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Flowers motioned to return to the 8:15pm hearing on Order#036. Ames seconded. A roll call
vote was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order#036 (Continued)-8:15PM-Transfer-$983,418 from the city's certified free cash balance
to the City's stabilization fund and transfer $198,684 to be placed into the City's Other Post
Employment Benefit Trust. (OPEB)
Copeland asked how the liability of$330 million is determined and if it is based on the amount
of people in retirement that potentially might be using those services.
Cahill stated we have to fully fund our pension fund; similarly,there is this sense that we are
going to be told that we have to fully fund our OPEB obligation. If municipal government
someday closed, never to reopen the doors, we would have to have money in the bank to pay
pensions for everybody who is at that time working and already retired; there's a similar mindset
around these post-employment benefits. We're trying to make a good faith payment annually on
OPEB. Right now the state and federal government require that we increase our budget each year
by roughly four and a half percent on the pension side to fully fund our pension system; I can't
imagine that kind of a mandate would come our way before we're done fully funding pensions
but Mr. Ayles and Mr. Perry might have another thought on that.
Ayles added that the actual liability gets calculated by actuaries, professionals who sit down and
look at mortality tables, demographics, socioeconomic trends in the region, current age of the
population that's employed, current age of the retirees and spouses; and they calculate what it is
Beverly City Council Meeting 1Llinutes—March 1,2021,page 8 of 13
going to cost to provide health care for those individuals for the amount of time that they are
entitled under the law. Every time the city tries to borrow money or issue municipal bonds, we
get a ratings report and they check these boxes saying that the city is doing great in budget
performance, with management of its finances and reserves, but we continue to have outstanding
liabilities. They want us to take this seriously, and they want us as a community to begin to pay
down these large liabilities that exist on our books. Any effort in that direction helps the city's
bond rating and gets us lower interest rates when we go to market.
Perry added that the high probability is they are never going to require the city to fully fund
OPEB. They are going to require pension liabilities to be fully funded by around 2033. Mr.
Ayles is spot on; this is protecting our bond rating by doing this, so that is why we incorporate
this as a part of our financial policy.
Copeland asked about how sometimes free cash can be put towards roads and sidewalks.
Ayles stated it meets the criteria that are the ideal uses of free cash where it is one time in nature,
meaning you are doing it to address a specific need or a specific project with some funds.
Copeland asked for clarification if that meant more than just normal road work that we always
have ongoing, like if it would be more one-time projects than regular maintenance.
Cahill stated each year we get about a million from the state from Chapter 90, which is money
that comes back to cities and towns out of the gas tax. If you do road and sidewalk work, it will
come back at some time, but it's not recurring, in that you won't do that same project again the
next year.
Rotondo asked if it would be advantageous to put more into OPEB- if it would benefit the bond
rating or if it would not make a significant difference.
Ayles and Perry said it would not make a big difference to put more in there.
Flaherty commented that the bond rating is so good as a city because of the way we budget and
go about business. He stated that he feels very comfortable about how we go about things.
for perspective that last year aside when we intentional
ly were turning back funds
Ayles added p p y Y g
equation,
in p p re aration for potential revenue shortfalls, if you take that out of the in a typical
ical
year we're turning back about$500,000. That is less than one third of one percent of our budget,
so that's a pretty tight budget.
Guanci closed the public hearing.
Houseman motioned to approve. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Communications from His Honor the Mayor (Continued)
f
Order#043-Memo from Finance Director seeking authorization to apply bond premiums that
the City receives to projects authorized prior to enactment of the Municipal Modernization Act.
E Ayles stated in order to wrap up the borrowing for the middle school project, the City needs to be
able to apply premiums to bring down the amount that is going to be borrowed.
Beverly City Council Meeting Minutes-ALlarch 1,2021,page 9 of 13
Houseman asked about language in the proposed order that says something like, "each prior
order of the Council" and asked if that means we would be going back years to other orders too.
Ayles stated it is a blanket order. The vast majority of the previous orders have already been
borrowed for so it would not apply, and right now the City is really only going to market for the
middle school, but the attorneys advised it be made a blanket order.
Houseman motioned to approve. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (7-0, Copeland and Flaherty absent from virtual meeting at time of roll call).
Order 9044-Loan Authorization-$750,000 to facilitate replacement of the turf field at Beverly
High School campus
Houseman moved to set the public hearing for March 15th at 7:15pm. Rotondo seconded. A roll
call vote was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order#045-Grant-$18,500 from Massachusetts Cultural Council to support local Cultural
Council
Catherine Barrett, Director of Grants, stated this is the annual allotment and it hovers right
around that much every year.
Houseman motioned to approve. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Order#046-Grant-$108,046.70 FY2021 911 Department Training grant from the EOPSS and
OGR for Police 911 training
Barrett said this is an annual grant that benefits the Police Department and she worked with
Sergeant Jeff Tache on this grant and the next grant.
LeLacheur stated this is a reimbursement grant for training.
Rotondo motioned to approve. Flaherty seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Order#047-Grant-$163,964 FY21 911 Support and Incentive Grant from EOPSS and OGR for
Police Department enhanced 9-1-1 service
Barrett stated this is another annual grant the Police Department receives.
LeLacheur said this is unrestricted money; some of it comes from use of cell phones since the
Police Department directly takes cell phone calls that are made within the city. Each city and
town handling that gets a certain amount of money based on population. It will be used for
bulletproof vests, helmets, AEDs, and equipment to put in each cruiser.
Houseman motioned to approve. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Order 9048-Appointment-Constable-Mr. Lev Sokolowski, 23 Woodrow Ave,Newton, MA
Referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs.
Beverly City Council Meeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 10 of 13
Order 4052-Grant-$140,000 Dredging Design and Permitting Grant from Mass Seaport
Economic Council (SEC).
Barrett stated the Bass River dredging project has been a long process. She recognized the people
who have been involved in this project including Denise Deschamps, Darlene Wynne, David
Gelineau, Mike Collins, Eric Barber, Don Newman, Paul Earl, Stephanie Williams, Bryant
Ayles, and the mayor. This grant is to do this study for the CAD [Confined Aquatic Disposal]
cell.
Cahill stated this is a way to figure out if a CAD cell is feasible; hopefully it will show that it is.
In the most layman of terms, a CAD cell is identifying a place to dig under in the river or harbor
bed, then digging deeply enough to pull out the clean soil, disposing of that anywhere,then
creating a space under the ground;there's an infrastructure in place, and the contaminated
materials that can't be put elsewhere are dredged out and buried under the river bed and covered
with clean fill, so it is essentially safely disposed of under the river/ocean bed. It has been
frustrating. We had federal approvals, we had the permit, we went after state funding, and at the
last minute when we were ready to start dredging the Army Corps of Engineers said
unfortunately they should not have given the permit in the first place because the sediments
aren't clean enough to dispose of at the open water ocean dump site. We're trying to figure this
out, and hopefully this feasibility study will help us find out if we can do a CAD cell, which
would then be a longer process because the CAD cell costs significant money to create and
permit,then secure the dredging funding again. Hopefully we'll find our way to doing it over
time with this method.
Houseman asked if the council could get a status report on the lawsuit regarding the dredging
contractor and asked what the prospective locations are that this study is going to look at.
Cahill said he can't discuss pending litigation, so he can't share any details just to say it
continues to be pending. On the second question, that's part of the feasibility study process. It
could be 3-5 million dollars to permit and create the CAD cell, and the dredging would have
been about 3 million. It hasn't been dredged in close to 70 years, so we will need to go about
finding sources to help fund that if we do find it's a feasible way to go about it.
Houseman motioned to approve. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Communications, from other City Officers and Boards
Order#049-Emily Hutchings, Assistant Planning Director, 2020 Beverly Historic Preservation
Plan(Plan is available to be viewed at the City Clerk's Office and on the City website
beverlyma.gov)
Emily Hutchings gave a presentation on the process.
Flaherty asked if the document touches on new construction and the historical character of the
community.
Hutchings stated that is more of a design question, but it does provide recommendations for
historic districts and how new buildings should be established in a complimentary fashion.
Beverly City Council Meeting Min:des—March 1,2021,page]]of 13
Rand asked if Hutchings could share the recommendation she is most excited about and the
potential impact on Ward 2.
Hutchings stated she is enthusiastic about options that will allow for more funding and
leveraging to protect municipal assets. She said she enjoys storytelling, and one of the
recommendations is to look for untold stories or lesser known stories and share those. It's
wonderful for community members to share their backgrounds, their histories.
Rand asked how intense it is to become a certified local government.
Hutchings stated we have already done most of it and she anticipates we can do most of the rest
by this fall.
Copeland stated he would love to be a part of the process as they look at Ward 6.
Houseman complimented the Planning Department and Ms. Hutchings on the work and said he
is grateful for the embracing of preserving historic structures and culture and hopes this
underscores a commitment to embracing adaptive reuse as much as possible when we do have
new construction.
Ames stated she thinks support for people who own historic structures is a great thing. It is a
very comprehensive and well put together document.
Houseman motioned to receive and place on file. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken,
and the motion carried(9-0).
Order#050-Chelsea Zakas, Associate Planner-Condition Completion-Briscoe Village for Living
Arts, 7 Sohier Road
Cahill noted Hutchings is now the staff contact for Planning Board and Zakas for Design Review
Board.
Houseman motioned to receive and place on file. Rotondo seconded. A roll call vote was taken,
and the motion carried (9-0).
Communications,Applications, and Petitions
Order#051-Notice of Availability-Former Varian Facility Site, 150 Sohier Road
Ames thanked the other councilors and mayor stating that early on in this process the DEP and
the mayor worked really hard to get homes tested with a rapid test to try to get a lay of the land.
From there the residents have worked hard to organize themselves and are working with the
mayor and local officials to create a technical advisory group and figure out new maps for where
most of the contamination is today and trying to figure out how severe or not severe the impacts
are and from there some remediation. It's a long road to go. The residents have done a wonderful
job and elected officials have been very supportive. This area runs down from behind Flair
Cleaners pretty much to almost in back of the high school and down Tozier Road. Most of the
testing was 20 years old, so this will be good to get up to date.
Houseman motioned to receive and place on file. Feldman seconded. A roll call vote was taken,
and the motion carried(9-0).
Beverly City Council Meeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 12 of 13
Reports of Committees
Committee on Legal Affairs
Order 9033-Appointment-Mr. Brendan Sweeney to serve on the Planning Board to fulfill
the term of Alison Kilcoyne.
Flowers moved to approve. Houseman seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the
motion carried (9-0).
Order 4039-Reappointment-Mr. Jonathan Cassidy to serve as Constable
Houseman moved to approve. Feldman seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the
motion carried (9-0).
Committee on Public Services
Order# 042-Appointment-Mr. Kevin Ascolillo,to serve as a member of the Beverly
Housing Authority.
Rotondo moved to approve. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0).
Ames stated that Beverly Education Fund Foundation grants are open now. She noted it is
Women's History Month and there are some programs through Historic Beverly focused on
women.
Guanci thanked Cahill and his team for being here and noted the next meeting will be March 15.
Rotondo motioned to adjourn. Flowers seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion
carried (9-0). The meeting adjourned at 10:13pm.
Beverly City Council Meeting Minutes—March 1,2021,page 13 of 13