The Revere City Council met on Monday night and discussed issues ranging from double street poles to short-term housing rentals to making sure that absentee landlords keep their sidewalks free from ice and snow.
“Businesses like AirBnB are getting out of control in our city,†said Council President Arthur Guinasso. “Parking is a major issue. I see a car with Florida plates parked in front of my home and it has not moved for a week,†he said. Councillor Patrick Keefe said that he and Guinasso are working on an ordinance on short-term rentals.
A motion was put forward by Councillor at Large Jessica Giannino and Ward 1 Councillor Jo-anne McKenna to strengthen the existing ordinance on snow and ice removal from sidewalks. McKenna noted that this would also include sump pumps that spill water onto sidewalks. Ward 5 Councillor John Powers also looked to fine owners of property who live outside the city for not having their sidewalks free of snow and ice. A resident noted that the sidewalks around Costa Park are not very well cleared by the city.
Councillors also passed a motion to have Massport officials appear before the Council to answer questions about flight paths in Revere airspace. McKenna said, “Every two minutes planes fly over Beachmont, and the residents in this neighborhood have their quality of life negatively im-pacted. There is a an increase rate of COPD and asthma in the communities of Revere, Winthrop and Chelsea.†She added that the planes fly significantly lower in Revere as opposed to other communities.
“This is an excellent motion,†Powers said. “The planes fly low over the Point of Pines neighbor-hood. These plane paths should be more over the water. “
Councillors also heard from representatives of Comcast and Verizon on their work to get rid of the double poles. The representative from National Grid could not attend due to working on power outages from Monday’s windstorm. The representatives noted that the numbers of double poles are down to 85 citywide. They also noted that some of the work is taking longer as the companies are waiting for the City to pay their share on replacement of the poles since school lines use those poles. Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky noted some of the double pole issues go back to 2016.
The following motions were discussed at Monday’s meeting.
Public Hearings
19-017 Hearing called as ordered on, an ordinance further amending the zoning ordinances of the City of Revere relative to a nine month moratorium on the granting of special permits for lodging and roominghouses.
SENT TO ZONING COMMITTEE
19-036 Hearing called as ordered on, an ordinance relative to certain persons not represented under mgl, chapter 150e, section 10.
REFERRED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
19-037 Hearing called as ordered on, an ordinance further amending an ordi-nance relative to snow and ice removal on sidewalks.
REFERRED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
19-041 Hearing called as ordered on the application of James S. George on behalf of Extenet Sys-tems and AT&T Wireless, Network Building + Consulting, 100 Apollo Dr., Suite 303, Chelmsford, MA 01824 requesting permission from the Revere City Council to install small cell wireless equip-ment on an existing National Grid wood utility distribution pole at the corner of 116 State Rd. and 4 Unity Ave., Revere, MA 02151.
REFERRED TO ZONING COMMITTEE
Unfinished Business
19-030 Motion presented by Councillor Morabito: That the Mayor request the City Solicitor to create an ordinance to include provisions for the maximum local tax option and excise tax on short-term rentals.
REFERRED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
City Council – Regular Meeting February 25, 2019
19-031 Motion presented by Councillor Morabito: That the Mayor be requested to establish a fund, which allows 30% of revenue from any short-term rental local tax to go towards affordable housing assistance subject to approval of the City Council.
REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS
Rule 23 Committee Reports – Motions or Communications are Being Reported Out of Committee With the Recommendation to be Placed on File
REFERRED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
18-036 An Ordinance Prohibiting the Distribution of Single-Use, Disposable, Plastic Shopping Bags.
REFERRED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
18-159 Motion presented by Councillor McKenna, Councillor Giannino: That the City Clerk be requested to research and draft an ordinance banning plastic straws and stirrers. It was brought to our attention from the DCR, the Revere Beautification Committee, and the Beachmont Improvement Committee that plastic straws and stirrers are the number one items littering Revere Beach. As sand fills the straws, they get buried under the sand. This makes it impossible to remove straws during beach cleanups. Not only are plastic straws detrimental to Revere Beach, but they are environmental-ly toxic to sea life.
REFERRED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
18-233 An Ordinance Promoting Clean and Health Parks and Designating Such as “Drug, Alco-hol, Tobacco, and Weapon Free Zones.â€
REFERRED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
18-237 Parking Operations Report and Activities/Internal Controls Report.
PLACED ON FILE
18-304 An Ordinance further amending Section 17.16.060 of the Zoning Ordinances of the City of Revere relative to Townhouses in RB, RB1, CB and LI districts.
PLACED ON FILE
18-313 Motion presented by Councillor Rizzo: That the Mayor notify RCN and their contractors operating in the city of Revere reminding them of OSHA rules and standards. Bucket trucks have been reported being driven with employees up in the bucket creating a dangerous situation for both the employees and residents should the truck ever flip and land on unsuspecting people, property, or power lines.
PLACED ON FILE
18-319 Motion presented by Councillor Rizzo: That the Mayor request a representative from the SUDI Office appear before the City Council to discuss their workload and schedule.
PLACED ON FILE
18-331 Motion presented by Councillor McKenna, Councillor Rizzo: That the Mayor request the Director of Economic Development and Planning to appear before the City Council to discuss workmanship and planning of infrastructure repairs and alterations, specifically the pedestrian bump out, on Revere Beach Parkway and Winthrop Ave. in the vicinity of the former Shaw’s site due to pedestrian and vehicular safety concerns.
PLACED ON FILE
18-337 Motion presented by Councillor Rotondo: That members of the DAG, Peer Review Group and HYM present any and all traffic mitigation . Additionally any project changes that have taken place from HYM’s original presentation.
PLACED ON FILE
18-351 Motion presented by Councillor Rizzo: That the Mayor instruct the Chief of Police to ap-pear before the City Council to discuss policies and procedures pertaining to officers currently enlist-ed in the Armed Forces and being deployed.
PLACED ON FILE
Motions
19-042 Motion presented by Councillor Rotondo: That the Mayor provide the City Council with a description of what services are provided by Healthy Community Initiatives in Revere. Further, pro-vide the funding sources and a list of grants that are used to support the department and or its efforts.
SO ORDERED
19-043 Motion presented by Councillor McKenna: That the Mayor request Speaker DeLeo, Sena-tor Boncore, Representative Vincent, and Congresswoman Clark, in conjunction with the City of Re-vere, to join hands with Congressman Stephen Lynch and take aim on a bill he filed that would allow the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to study the health impacts from planes. This bill would benefit the health and wellbeing of Revere residents who are directly impact-ed by Logan Airport’s flight paths. In a recent six month period, 64,000 planes flew over Revere – primarily Beachmont. It is time for Suffolk County legislators and Revere’s representatives to stand up and advocate for the health and wellbeing Revere’s residents.
SO ORDERED
19-044 Motion presented by Councillor Rotondo: That the Mayor request to the Parking Director to prepare a report of the number and address of tickets issued on Kimball Avenue and North Shore Road over the last 6 months.
SO ORDERED
The next meeting the Revere City Council will be on March 11 in City Council Chambers, Revere City Hall.
