20210622 City Council Minutes City of Beverly
City Council Regular Meeting
Public Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,June 22,2021, 7:00pm
City Council Chambers, 191 Cabot St.
Paul Guanci, City Council President, called the meeting to order at 7:02pm. City Clerk, Lisa
Kent, took the attendance by roll call.
Members Present: Stacy Ames, Dominic Copeland, Timothy Flaherty (arrived at 7:16pm),
Kathleen Feldman, Julie Flowers, Scott Houseman, Todd Rotondo, Estelle Rand, Paul Guanci
Members Absent: None
Rotondo led the councilors in the pledge of allegiance.
Resolution
Order #132-Councilor Houseman-Beverly Cove Improvement Association
The motion to accept the late file was made and seconded. A vote was taken and the motion
carried(8-0).
The motion to approve was made and seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried(8-0).
Acceptance of Minutes of Previous Meetings: June 24, 2020 and April 26, 2021
The motion to approve the June 24, 2020 was made and seconded. A vote was taken, and the
motion carried(8-0).
The motion to approve the April 26, 2021 was made and seconded. A vote was taken, and the
motion carried(8-0).
Communications from His Honor the Mayor
Order #126-Grant-An additional $940.59 for FY2021 911 Training from EOPSS and OGR.
Referred to Committee on Finance and Property.
Order #127-Donation from Mr. Joel Ginsberg for the purchase of 20 large pizzas for 10 youth
volunteers helping cleaning and resetting grave markers at North Beverly Cemetery.
Referred to Committee on Finance and Property.
Order #128-Grant-$40,88727-from Department of Homeland Security-Assistance to
Firefighters Grants program to support Firefighter Training and fire apparatus training.
Referred to Committee on Finance and Property.
Flaherty arrived at 7:16pm.
Order #131-LATE FILE-Waiver of residency-Ms. Caja Johnson, Human Rights Committee
The motion was made and seconded to accept the late file. A vote was taken, and the motion
carried(9-0).
Referred to Committee on Public Services.
Communications, Applications and Petitions
Order #129-City Clerk-Hawkers & Peddlers License-Brendan George, 112 Corning St. Apt 91.
Referred to Committee on Legal Affairs.
Order #130-LATE FILE-City Clerk-Hawkers & Peddlers License, Nicole Birarelli-Joe's on a
Roll, 40 Western Ave.
The motion was made and seconded to accept the late file. A vote was taken, and the motion
carried(9-0).
Referred to Committee on Legal Affairs.
Order #133-LATE FILE-Steve Barth, Danvers, Town Manager Letter of intent to waive
payment of the In Lieu-of-Tax fee assessed to the City of Beverly FY2021 in conjunction with
the operation of the Beverly Municipal Airport.
The motion was made and seconded to receive and place on file. A vote was taken, and the
motion carried(9-0).
Unfinished Business from a Previous Meeting
Order 4121-Councilor Copeland-Trash cans and trash collection around the city,primarily in
parks.
Guanci read the letter.
Copeland stated there might be some places that don't need the same amount of trash cans, but
especially when it comes to parks that are within the communities,there needs to be some sort of
presence there. Different councilors have gone out and volunteered to pick up trash themselves
and that likely was not the intended effect of not having trash cans there. Copeland stated he
would like to discuss it more and get a better idea of what we can come up with to have these
trash services restored where it makes sense.
Michael Collins, Commissioner of Public Services & Engineering, stated there is staff in the
parks every day and they have said there is way less trash now than before. At Lynch Park there
were 20-30 barrels, and even picking up on the weekend, it was hard to tell where the trash
barrels were because they were so covered in trash by the end of each day. There was a dramatic
amount of trash in the most popular places. There will always be a certain amount of litter, but
we are finding that the parks are much cleaner now than they have been. There has been some
level of volunteerism, but the volunteers that are organized by the City through the tax work off
program are not coming back with much. State parks and national parks are carry in, carry out.
National parks went to carry in, carry out in 2013. We want our citizens to value the parks that
they come to visit and be a partner in taking care of them. Trash barrels are difficult in public
places because of bees and animals. The trash barrels get knocked over and the trash goes
everywhere. This isn't an out of the blue idea. Many neighboring communities are also carry in,
carry out. At Lynch Park there were a handful of barrels that were always full, so more were put
out, and those were overflowing. It got to the point where there was a barrel on both sides of the
driveway, every 50 feet the whole way into Lynch Park. It seemed there was no number of
barrels that would satisfy the demand of the people who used them. When the barrels were taken
out of Lynch Park, there was a little bit of growing pains,but now there is not litter scattered
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over the park. We are just asking people to take home the trash they arrived with. It is a standard
for public spaces throughout the world. Staff is reporting on a daily basis that they are seeing the
parks in much better condition than they were. There are certain things to work around like park
programs and working with the counselors to make sure that they are properly equipped. If there
is a special event, we are happy to help out and provide barrels. We are trying to be good
stewards of our park land. The DPS staff is in the parks every single day and cleaning the parks
every single day; we know what they were like before, we know what they are like now, and we
are seeing that the parks are cleaner now. The people who are going to leave litter, are going to
leave litter. We make an effort to make sure that we pick up the parks every morning. There are
some parks where we have recreation programs and we work with recreation staff to make sure
we have that covered.
Flaherty stated it sounds like the main purpose is to keep the parks clean, and some people think
it was cut out to save money. Flaherty asked if that could be addressed and asked if at Lynch
Park or Dane Street that trash was actually coming from the beach, or if people were dumping
trash in those barrels.
Collins stated certainly that was seen some at Dane and absolutely seen in barrels that were close
to the road. Full bags of household trash were always found in public barrels.
Flaherty asked about downtown.
Collins stated some were removed during construction and the rest of them were pulled during
Covid. Downtown, or really in any part of town, all it takes is one windy trash day and there is
litter everywhere. Everywhere we go,we see immediate results that things are cleaner. By
having people bring it home, it can get properly recycled and separated out. It is virtually
impossible to recycle in a park because inevitably when we put out recycling bins there is trash
put in them. We have gotten notices from DEP that there is too much recycling in the trash
coming from the parks.
Rand thanked Councilor Copeland for bringing this forward and Commissioner Collins for his
input. She stated that she appreciated the signage added to parks for carry in, carry out. We have
been fined before because the City's trash barrels were not compliant and there was not an option
for recycling. Rand stated she would like to step away from what didn't work and use this to
move forward and talk about what we would like to see and reimagine some of our public waste
streams. Rand suggested looking at other communities and involving other departments or
organizations to talk about how spaces can be changed around this new carry in, carry out
approach.
Michael Cahill, Mayor, stated other interested stakeholders can certainly be brought in on how to
envision public spaces. Where there is a trash barrel, there should be a recycling opportunity;
however it is hard to keep those from being contaminated.
Rotondo stated a lot of the calls he got were because the community did not feel like a part of the
decision. Rotondo asked if there was any consideration for, during the summer,putting a barrel
in the parks with programs.
Collins stated there is no question it was sudden during Covid, and at that time we were trying to
keep points of contact down. Collins stated he would not have anticipated a series of forums on
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this because it was done before in 2011, but by 2020, 2021 it seems like a proven practice for
managing public spaces. Education is a key part of a successful program.
Cahill stated there is a good plan in place for the park programs and the employees are
professional and responsible. They bring a trash bag and make sure the kids they are entrusted
with take that trash with them.
Flowers suggested talking about a compromise. There are larger parks in Beverly like Lynch
Park where it makes sense to keep carry in and carry out. Flowers stated there may be room for
compromise in some of the downtown spaces and acknowledged the challenge of wind. Flowers
asked about the solar trash compactors in other cities and how that could ease the burden on staff
and keep it covered, noting that there are residents who don't have a home to go back to in order
to dispose of their waste.
Collins stated there were a few of the solar trash compactors, and we didn't have a lot of luck
with them. We ended up with a 300 pound cube of dog waste that we couldn't move, so we
chose to not put them back out. In some communities like Cambridge, a business that generates
trash would be required to have their own barrel out downtown. As for the small number of
people who have a challenge with regular shelter and have to-go meals, we have not come across
those containers and have not seen evidence of the need for that.
Flowers stated she was interested in reimagining public spaces and also how to add in more
textile and special recycling places, not to parks, but in the City.
Feldman stated while the absence of trash barrels may be unpopular and challenging for
constituents, it is the type of behavior that needs to change as a community for the good of the
environment. This is a painful step for the future for people to change behaviors like using
reusable containers and packing up their own trash, but it seems like a necessary step. Our
children have a better sense of why trash reduction and recycling are important. Feldman stated
she would like to see work educating the community at all ages. Feldman stated she understands
representing the people,but we also need to weigh the factors of what is good for the City long
term.
Collins stated that Concord banned selling single use water bottles and at the time it seemed like
a big deal, but it was maybe ten years ago, so it would be interesting to hear what has been the
effect of that. Collins stated he was not suggesting it for here, but noted that no one has heard
about it since then.
Houseman stated the solar powered trash cans were tried in Salem and are no longer there. They
were withdrawn because of dog waste. In concept, it was a good idea but in practice did not
work. This is a cultural issue around waste, not just litter but the waste stream. Houseman
recommended a conversation about how as a community we want to think about the environment
and sustainability when it comes to the waste stream.
Ames stated that she believes in pathways so that the community can come together and work
together to come to a solution that works. Ames stated anecdotally that she heard several times
during the pandemic there were individuals banned from the Speedway gas station over trash
disposal. Ames stated she had, in Ellis Square, several times seen trash from meals. This is an
issue for people because it is the way we as a City bring decisions to people and how we serve
our community and treat our community as friends with kindness. We have to work towards the
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future. Ames stated her hope is that we as a government can listen harder. These solutions can
come together.
Copeland stated one of the main reasons this was brought up was that even if the right decision is
made but not in an equitable way, then it becomes the wrong decision. It was done because of
Covid, so people did not expect it to stay this way. In a democracy it is about the will and the say
of the people, and the people have to have an opportunity to have a say.
Flaherty stated he agreed on this topic and coming together as a community, but we have to be
careful because, as a councilor for 20 years, we have to be careful not to just listen to the loudest
people. We get elected to make decisions and also have to represent those who are silent.
Flaherty stated he was not on the opposite side of what was being said, but just wanted to say
that going forward we need to be careful.
The motion to suspend regular rules and allow public comment was made and seconded. A vote
was taken, and the motion carried(9-0).
Georgia Bills of 26 Lothrop Street read a statement she prepared, saying that she appreciates the
work of the DPW, but carry in, carry out is not working for the smaller parks. Bills stated that the
smaller free-entry parks like Independence Park and Dane Street Beach have visitors with shorter
visits who are not prepared to pack out what they bring. Bills asked the Council to consider
voting to bring back some kind of receptacles.
Lorinda Visnick of 39 Middlebury Lane stated she agreed with a lot of things said tonight.
Visnick stated she likes the ideas of the solar compactors, reimagining spaces, and
communicating and educating the public on what can go where. The site at Briscoe is now under
surveillance. We need to enforce what we can enforce, and instead of throwing out the good
where it is, we should monitor what we can and work on enforcement. We should not stop
because people are not doing it right,we should use tools at our disposal to help teach them how
to do it right. We should be making a push around educating people about how to do the right
thing. It comes down to education.
Collins stated there is a camera on the textile bin at Briscoe, and a lot of it is overflow or people
thinking they are being helpful by leaving something like a crib,but the company is not equipped
for materials like that, so take it away as trash and charge the City. It is almost always a well-
meaning person trying to do the right thing.
Flowers stated she agrees with the idea of education at sites if we are asking people to separate.
In Japan there are few public trash cans because most were abruptly removed for safety reasons.
After gas attacks, less trash cans were returned, and what was returned was meant to be sorted
very specifically. What went along with that was a real push for educating the community on
how to sort it and take ownership of that. There are ways communities can make this shift.
A motion to approve Order#121 was made and seconded. A vote was taken and the motion
carried(9-0).
A motion to recess for committee work was made and seconded at 8:40pm. A vote was taken and
the motion carried(9-0).
At 9:41pm, the City Council meeting was called back to order.
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Reports of Committees
Committee on Finance and Property
Order #126-Grant-An additional $940.59 for FY2021 911 Training from EOPSS and OGR.
The Committee on Finance and Property recommended that the Council approve Order 9126 (3-
0). A vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried(9-0).
Order #127-Donation from Mr. Joel Ginsberg for the purchase of 20 large pizzas for 10 youth
volunteers helping cleaning and resetting grave markers at North Beverly Cemetery.
The Committee on Finance and Property recommended that the Council approve Order 9127 (3-
0). A vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried(9-0).
Order #128-Grant-$40,887.27-from Department of Homeland Security-Assistance to
Firefighters Grants program to support Firefighter Training and fire apparatus training.
The Committee on Finance and Property recommended that the Council approve Order#128 (3-
0). A vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried(9-0).
Committee on Legal Affairs
Order #120-Councilor Copeland-Marijuana Dispensary License
The Committee on Legal Affairs recommended that the Council approve Order 9120 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order #123-City Clerk-Renewal for Petroleum Storage Registration for 2021-Bass River Tennis
Club, 31 Tozer Rd.
The Committee on Legal Affairs recommended by that the Council approve Order 9123 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order #129-City Clerk-Hawkers & Peddlers License-Brendan George, 112 Corning St. Apt#1.
The Committee on Legal Affairs recommended that the Council approve Order#129 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order #130-City Clerk-Hawkers & Peddlers License,Nicole Birarelli-Joe's on a Roll, 40
Western Ave
The Committee on Legal Affairs recommended that the Council approve Order 9130 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Committee on Public Services
Order #118-Appointment-Human Rights Committee-Ms. Kitia Fisher
The Committee on Public Services recommended that the Council approve Order 4118 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order #119-Appointment-Salem Beverly Water Board-Mr. David Gendall
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The Committee on Public Services recommended that the Council approve Order 9119 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order #125-Appointment-Beverly Council on Aging-Mr. Blair Smith, LICSW4
The Committee on Public Services recommended that the Council approve Order 9125 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Order #131-LATE FILE-Waiver of residency-Ms. Caja Johnson, Human Rights Committee
The Committee on Public Services recommended that the Council approve Order 4131 (3-0). A
vote to approve was taken, and the motion carried (9-0).
Flaherty stated there will be a Charter Committee meeting on Thursday. The committee report
will come to the Council.
Cahill stated the Planning Board took their vote on Order#110 and voted to recommend the
requested zoning change, so that will be coming to the meeting tomorrow.
Houseman stated this Monday the 28th, Legal Affairs and Public Services are going to hold a
joint meeting around rodent control.
Flowers congratulated Gabrielle Montevecchi, the Hannah Elementary School principal,because
Salem State is inducting her into their Northeast Educators Regional Hall of Fame.
The motion to adjourn was made and seconded. A vote was taken, and the motion carried(9-0).
The meeting adjourned at 9:56pm.
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