The Chelsea City Council met for about two hours and 45 minutes on Monday, September 14, and disposed of every item on a 40-item agenda. The three biggest went nowhere yet. Both long-term solar agreements and the request to create a Chief Economic Development Officer were referred to the Subcommittee on Conference, the first two without objection and the third on a 5-to-3 roll call. The Broadway layout order went to the Planning Board 7 to 0. Nine donations and one grant were accepted. Nobody signed up to speak during public comment.
The city has not posted minutes. What follows comes from the Chelsea Community Cable recording of the meeting, which runs two hours and 51 minutes, checked against the agenda and the packet. The minutes themselves are up for approval on September 21.
Who was there
Eight members answered the roll at 7:01 p.m. Council President Roberto Jimenez-Rivera said Councillors Norieliz DeJesus and Tanairi Garcia were out because their children were sick. Councillor-at-Large Kelly Garcia voted on the first roll call of the night, the Mass Save grant at about 7:51, and was recorded absent on every roll call after that. Councillor Manuel Teshe was recorded absent for the Broadway vote at 8:47 and for the final roll call of the night at 9:41, and present for the votes in between. The tallies below are the clerk’s, as announced.
Communications from the City Manager
Master plan (26CM99). Accepted and filed. The letter set the remaining schedule: a farmers market table September 15, open office hours September 17 in Room 305, a Planning Board public hearing Tuesday, September 22 at 5 p.m. in the council chambers, a Planning Board vote October 27, and then a council hearing and vote.
Capital plan launch (26CM100). Accepted and filed. Deputy City Manager for Finance Paul Sagarino will run the FY2028 to FY2032 capital plan alongside the FY2028 operating budget. The letter says the budget is due to the council by “May 2nd of 2026,” which is presumably 2027.
Chelsea Then and Now (26CM101). Accepted and filed. The panel was moved to Chelsea High School for capacity. Councillor Calvin Brown said he expected to be “the only city council member to serve with all four city managers.” Councillor-at-Large Leo Robinson corrected him: “I served with all four. I not only served with all four, I also served with the four mayors previous.” Our account of the event is here.
Mass Save grants, $249,000 (26F38). Adopted 9 to 0, two absent. National Grid $202,520.01 and Eversource $46,479.99 for energy efficiency outreach, with Chelsea acting as lead for Revere and Winthrop. Teshe first moved it to Ways and Means, was told the council could vote a grant acceptance the same night, and withdrew the motion. Councillor Giovanni Recupero asked whether the National Grid money was “enough to pay for the street they broke.”
Rideshare surcharge money, $116,942.80 (26F39). Referred to Ways and Means. The clerk said an appropriation cannot be voted the night it is introduced; it needs a second reading or a committee report.
Prior-year bills, $26,546.88 (26F40). Referred to Ways and Means. The order as printed said the bills came from FY21, FY23, FY25 and FY26; the clerk said the FY21 reference was a typo for FY26. We wrote about the bills before the meeting. The item is back on the September 21 agenda as a new order, now describing the bills as FY25 and FY26.
Teamsters Local 25 contract for 911 supervisors (26F41). Referred to Ways and Means on Robinson’s motion. Raises of 1 percent in FY26 and 1.5 percent in FY27, a one-time retention payment in FY28 tied to the regionalization of dispatch, total cost about $48,500 over three years, and a $13,500 transfer from salary reserve for the first year.
Twenty-year low-income solar agreements (2656). Referred to the Subcommittee on Conference on Councillor Todd Taylor’s motion, without objection, after about 14 minutes of questions. City Manager Fidel Maltez said Chelsea Electricity Choice has saved residents and businesses $3.8 million since it launched, and that the new agreements would deliver more than $400,000 a year to low-income households enrolled in Eversource’s discount rate, automatically, with no sign-up. The full exchange is here.
City Gala donations, $22,750 (26F42). Adopted 8 to 0, three absent. Twenty-three donors from $250 to $5,000; the money funds the Chelsea Day fireworks.
Todisco Towing vehicle, $4,000 (26F43). Adopted 7 to 1, three absent. Councillor Lisa Santagate voted no after asking whether the car might have been seized from a resident who could not pay towing and storage fees. The agenda listed the recipient as the Fire Department; the clerk corrected it to the Police Department. More on that vote here.
Brooks Law P.C., $5,000 (26F44). Adopted 8 to 0, three absent. Reversible soccer jerseys for the Chelsea Youth Soccer League, paid in two installments this fall.
Appointments to boards and commissions (26CM110). Taken out of order at Councillor Deron Hines’ request and moved to a second reading on September 21. Reappointment of Monica Elias-Orellana to the Board of Library Trustees; Giancarlo Saldana and Charlotte Dumont to the Historical Commission; Sara Nasah to the Planning Board; Joseph LaFond to the Conservation Commission; five appointments and six reappointments to the Youth Commission; and reappointment of Raymond Morales to the Chelsea Housing Authority Board of Commissioners for a five-year term. Two of the appointees were in the room.
Thirty-year net metering agreement with 978 Solar Development (2657). Referred to the Subcommittee on Conference on Taylor’s motion. Maltez put the savings at 10 percent of the city’s own electric bills, more than $1.2 million over the initial 20 years. Recupero objected to sending it anywhere: “He already answered the question.”
U.S. Soccer Federation, 1,200 soccer balls (26F45). Adopted 8 to 0, three absent. The city pays an estimated $1,800 in shipping; the balls go to Chelsea Public Schools and Soccer Without Borders.
New England Patriots, 100 tickets valued at $8,228 (26F46). Adopted 8 to 0, three absent. Tickets to the August 13 preseason game against the Colts, obtained by the Police Department for youth engagement.
All-America City trip donations (26F47). Adopted 8 to 0, three absent. Global Partners gave $4,920 for shirts and hoodies; Flatiron covered the shuttle; Pre-Flight covered airport parking; Mass General Brigham, La Colaborativa, the library, the Police Department and others contributed items.
Broadway layout alteration (2658). Approved 7 to 0, four absent, and referred to the Planning Board under G.L. c. 41, sections 81G and 81I. Maltez told the council the order is “not taking anyone’s property. It is essentially accepting what is already out there,” meaning the existing sidewalk and ramp limits on a street that is hundreds of years old. He gave a schedule: a public meeting Wednesday, September 23 at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center, a MassDOT bid in December, construction starting in summer 2027 and ending in late 2028. He described the scope as a full reconstruction from the library to the district court, with every sidewalk, every light and every tree replaced, the sidewalks around City Hall redone, “the configuration of traffic at Bellingham Square” changed “quite significantly,” and a new signal at Third Street and Broadway. Our preview of the project, now updated, is here.
Low-income solar revolving fund (2659 and 2660). Both referred to the Subcommittee on Conference with the solar agreements. The clerk pointed out that the fund takes two votes, one to create the account and one to amend the ordinance.
Chief Economic Development Officer (2661). Referred to the Subcommittee on Conference, 5 to 3, three absent, on a motion by Hines. Voting to refer: Taylor, Recupero, Jimenez-Rivera, Hines and Teshe. Voting no: Santagate, Brown and Robinson. The debate ran about 27 minutes. We cover it separately.
Communications and petitions
Traffic and Parking Commission items (26C21). Approved 8 to 0, three absent: handicap signs at 123 Addison Street, 265 Maple Street and 47 Crescent Avenue, and the downtown Broadway construction plans, with authority for Housing and Community Development and Public Works to make minor changes in the field. Before the vote Recupero held up a sheet of paper and said he had been to the commission four times for stop signs and been denied four times. “The parking and traffic commission doesn’t answer to anybody. It doesn’t answer to the city councillors. It doesn’t answer to the city manager.” Santagate noted that the commission’s meeting the week before was the first to include a public comment period.
City Manager evaluation committee (26C22). Accepted and filed. Taylor chairs, with Tanairi Garcia, Santagate, Recupero and Brown. Jimenez-Rivera said he had forgotten to name a vice chair and would appoint whoever the committee picks.
New business
There were no committee reports, no unfinished business and no second readings. Of the nine new orders, six were adopted under suspension without a recorded dissent, one was amended and adopted, one was withdrawn and one was referred on a split vote.
2647, Market Basket. Adopted. Robinson said he and Maltez “have been in discussions” with the company “and trying to encourage them to start developing their properties. We are making progress.”
2648, commuter rail quiet zone. Adopted. Robinson said the Federal Railroad Administration sent the city’s plan back because it wants crossing gates on both sides of the tracks, that the city resubmitted “a couple years” ago, and that the agency has not responded. Brown put the effort at “10, 12 years.” Taylor suggested residents raise it with the former city managers on Wednesday, “because at least one of them was culpable in having the horns blowing constantly for years now.”
2649, scooter safety. Adopted and sent to the Public Safety subcommittee. Robinson described getting off a bus in Bellingham Square on Friday afternoon and watching riders knock food out of people’s hands, “seeing kids 10 years old driving motorized scooters, no helmets.” Taylor: “Somebody is going to get killed … I will go to the mat on this one with the city manager and the police department.” Brown asked that the Law Department be invited. Recupero asked that electric bikes be included. Santagate said she had sent the police a Boston program called Operation Kickstand.
2650, housing list. Adopted. Robinson said he had been told there are 67 vacant apartments in the city, “which is pretty much unheard of,” and wanted to know why they are not renting.
2651, Broadway housing subcommittee. Adopted.
2652, senior home repair fund. Adopted.
2653, stop signs. Recupero amended his own order from Congress Avenue to Highland Street at Maverick and Essex streets, then adopted as amended. The clerk noted the council can only request, not order, the Traffic and Parking Commission to act.
2654, the hole at Central Avenue and Highland Street. Withdrawn by Recupero.
2655, Rule 31. Referred to the Rules and Administration subcommittee, 4 to 3, four absent. Voting to refer: Taylor, Recupero, Hines and Robinson. Voting no: Jimenez-Rivera, Santagate and Brown. The clerk read the rule aloud: a minor public works request cannot be accepted as a council order unless it is accompanied by a work order that has gone unanswered for at least two weeks, and a request for information or a work assignment cannot be accepted as an order where a work request or a call to the department head would get the same result. Jimenez-Rivera said the council had spent a “very lengthy process” on the rules less than a year ago and “would just vote this down right now.” Taylor: “just because the rules committee has already voted on something doesn’t mean that that is irrevocable forever.” Our September 14 agenda preview misdescribed this rule, and has been corrected.
What comes next
The Subcommittee on Conference now holds four items: both solar agreements, the revolving fund, and the economic development officer. Jimenez-Rivera said the council would try to schedule it “right after this.” No date has been posted. Ways and Means holds the rideshare money, the prior-year bills and the Teamsters contract. The Planning Board takes up the master plan September 22 and has the Broadway layout plan for comment. The Broadway public meeting is September 23. The council’s next regular meeting is Monday, September 21 at 7 p.m.; the agenda is here.