Recap of March 25, 2025 Regular Meeting of the City Council

Agenda on City Council Public Portal

Recording on Youtube

Recording on MCM

We passed a congratulatory resolution to a local couple celebrating a 50th anniversary. 

We passed a resolution to have the Parking Department meet with the Council in Committee of the Whole on the following topics: 

• Use of surveillance technology pursuant to Community Control Over Public Surveillance Ordinance

• Updates on Green Line Extension Parking Program

• Parking Ordinance Updates (Sec. 78-173. - Municipal employee and municipal business parking)

This resolution did not appear on the printed agenda because it was submitted “under suspension” (meaning, I missed the agenda deadline). 

We approved the petition for an amendment to the zoning ordinance relating to 10 & 20 Revere Beach Parkway. I described this a bit in the recap from 2/25/2025, the first time it appeared on our agenda. To restate: 

This petition is not related to the zoning overhaul process. The petitioner was a small real estate firm requesting three changes to the Wellington Station Multi-Family Overlay District. In reviewing the WSMOD, the petitioner noted some areas where they felt the zoning was not clear, and they were requesting changes to remove the ambiguity: 

• Clarification about stepback restrictions because DCR-imposed stepback seemed in conflict with other notation of minimum stepbacks

• Change “certified LEED platinum” to “certifiable LEED platinum” in Development Incentive Bonuses section – an unintended Catch-22; building certification cannot occur until the building is constructed

• Clarification about how overhangs relate to building coverage

This proposal was referred back from the CDB, which recommended the City Council approve the following amendments: 

1. Amend the Table of Dimensional Standards in Section E to add a footnote to the dimensional table regarding maximum front yard setbacks that would provide for any property subject to a public agency held building restriction, that the maximum setbacks shall coincide with that restriction.

2. Amend the Table of Development Incentive Bonuses to change “Certified” to “Certifiable”.

3. Amend the Definitions section to add clarifying text to the definition of “Building Coverage” to make clear that it does not include building overhangs.

We approved the amendments. 

The petition to appeal a sign permit refusal was discussed, then tabled and referred for legal review. 

We passed a resolution in support of a fair contract for Tufts University’s Full-Time Lecturers and heard from several lecturers and union members speaking in support of their cause. We also passed a B-Paper in support of City unions seeking to settle their contracts. 

The resolution for a Public Engagement Plan for the FY26 Budget was referred to the Resident Services & Public Engagement Committee. 

The Neighborhood & Urban Residential Zoning Proposal was referred to the Community Development Board. As has been previously stated, this is a statutorily-required step for any and all zoning proposals and amendments. More information on the NR/UR proposal, including links to all documents from the Planning & Permitting Committee public meetings where the proposal was developed, are available on the City’s zoning website: medfordma.org/zoning. 

We approved the Council’s budget recommendations and referred them to the Mayor’s Office. Individual Councilors’ recommendations, as discussed at the 3/18/25 Committee of the Whole, are included here. Standard reminder, though anyone reading this probably knows this already: the City Council has no power to appropriate funding within the budget; the mayor has full power over the budget creation process. The City Council’s budgetary powers are limited to advocacy, recommendations, voting on line-item subtractions, and voting to either approve or not approve the operating budget. 

We approved two Free Cash appropriation requests and one Retained Earnings appropriation request from the Mayor: 

• $680,927.88 for Fire Station planning

• $57,000.00 to fund Vision Government Solutions contract to provide revaluation services for the Assessor’s State mandated 2026 revaluation

• Retained Earnings from the Water Enterprise in the amount of One Million, Seven Hundred Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($1,700,000.00) for a Water Main Replacement project to mitigate lead/unknown services and improve capacity

25-020, the Mayor’s request to transfer and authorize the sale of the McCormack Avenue parcels, was taken from the table, discussed, and tabled again. 

25-028, the MWRA Loan Order for Water Bonds, was taken from the table and approved for third reading. 

The meeting adjourned at 9:15pm.