This is a lightly edited transcript of the Chelsea City Council meeting of Monday, October 5, 2026, made from the Chelsea Community Cable livestream. Speech recognition software produced the text and separated the voices; we then labeled speakers from context and from the clerk’s roll calls, corrected names and misheard words, removed filler and repeated words, and marked passages we could not make out as [unclear]. Otherwise the words are as spoken. Short remarks we could not attribute are marked “Unidentified speaker.” Vice President Norieliz DeJesus chaired until late in the meeting, when she stepped down to present her own orders; we label the councillor who took the chair “Presiding councillor.” We removed a personal phone number and left out names we could not confirm. Timestamps count from the start of the livestream. For anything you plan to quote or rely on, check the video.
Our reports on this meeting: the low-income solar deal and everything else.
Agenda: Opening, Pledge of Allegiance and roll call · Resolution: Italian American Heritage and Culture Month · Resolution: Domestic Violence Awareness Month · Public speaking · Resolution supporting the striking Encore Boston Harbor workers · Minutes of September 21 · City manager: meeting with Market Basket · City manager: commuter rail quiet zone · City manager: senior home repair program · City manager: FY2027 tax rates · Appointments to boards and commissions · Inclusionary zoning: central lottery and wait list with the Housing Authority · Broadway reconstruction: order of taking · Temple Emmanuel preservation restriction · Purchase of 260 Marginal Street · Faith and Blue events · Fire chief contract renewal · Committee report: Chief Economic Development Officer · Ways and Means report: three spending orders postponed · Low-income solar agreements (SMART program) · 978 Solar net metering agreement for city buildings · Low-income solar revolving fund · Public Safety subcommittee report: electric scooters · New business: library order · State election warrant · School budget conference with the School Committee · Eastern Avenue and Carroll Street safety · Local preference in the inclusionary zoning lottery · Update on the city home repair program · Public announcements and adjournment
Opening, Pledge of Allegiance and roll call
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:08:25] Rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Unidentified speaker [0:08:36] For which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:08:47] All right. Good evening, everyone. Calling this meeting to order. If I can have our clerk, please do a roll call.
Clerk [0:08:55] Councillor Taylor.
Councillor Taylor [0:08:57] Here.
Clerk [0:08:57] Councillor Recupero.
Councillor Recupero [0:08:59] Here.
Clerk [0:09:00] Councillor Jimenez-Rivera. Councillor Hines. Councillor Tanairi Garcia. Councillor Teshe.
Councillor Teshe [0:09:06] Here.
Clerk [0:09:07] Councillor Kelly. Garcia. Councillor Santagate.
Councillor Santagate [0:09:10] Here.
Clerk [0:09:10] Councillor DeJesus.
Councillor DeJesus [0:09:11] Present.
Clerk [0:09:12] Councillor Brown.
Councillor Brown [0:09:13] Present.
Clerk [0:09:14] And Councillor Robinson. Is that. Six members are present. Five. absent. Do you have a quorum?
Resolution: Italian American Heritage and Culture Month
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:09:20] Thank you, Clerk. Let’s start off with memoriams and celebratory resolutions.
Clerk [0:09:27] First resolution before you, introduced by Councillors Recupero and Santagate for Italian American Heritage and Culture Month. Whereas Italian American Heritage Month, first recognized by Congress in 1989, is commemorated every October across the United States to honor the extraordinary contributions of Italian and Sicilian immigrants and celebrate their enduring influence on our nation’s history, culture and civic life. And whereas, According to the 2023American Community Survey, over 16 million Americans and nearly 11% of residents in Massachusetts claim Italian ancestry. And whereas the great wave of Italian migration began in the 1860s with thousands of immigrants from regions throughout Italy, including Liguria, Campania, Abruzzo, Sicily and Lazio, making their homes in neighborhoods throughout Boston, including the North End and East Boston, and in communities throughout Greater Boston. Whereas, despite experiencing economic hardship, barriers to full participation in American society and discrimination, most notably the lynching of 11 Sicilian Americans falsely accused of murdering the police chief of New Orleans in 1891, generations of Italian and Sicilian immigrants and their descendants persevered and made lasting contributions to our nation’s art, business, public institutions and civic life. And Whereas, more than 100 years after the great wave of Italian migration, the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of those immigrants continue to honor the heritage their forefathers brought to the new homes here in the United States. And whereas Italian American Heritage Month provides an opportunity not only to celebrate these traditions, but also to honor the courage and sacrifice of the immigrants who came before us and recognize the generations carrying their legacies forward. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Chelsea City Council hereby declares October 2026 as Italian American Heritage and Culture Month in the city of Chelsea, honoring the profound and enduring contributions of Italian and Sicilian Americans to the history, character and future of our city and nation.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:11:24] Thank you. Clerk, is there a motion? All right, Councillor, turn on your mic.
Councillor Recupero [0:11:33] I’d like to speak on it.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:11:34] You have the floor.
Councillor Recupero [0:11:37] I normally never stand up. I always sit down but for such a thing. I am a proud Sicilian. I am a son of an immigrant of Sicilian. I am an immigrant. I was born there. My father took me here when I was a little boy. And I never say I’m Italian. I always say I’m Sicilian because that’s what I am. My people in Dordes had a lot in this country. They were discriminated more than the rest of them. Italians didn’t want to associate with us because they called us Africans. That’s the name they gave to us. And I’m very proud of my heritage and what we do. My people, or all people were discriminated many years ago. More than 100 years ago. When they first got here, they were put under Jim Crow. They couldn’t go with white women. They were put under there. They were also. Not only were they put under Jim Crow, they also couldn’t get jobs. They were murdered. They were hanged. Especially when they were building the Appalachian Railroad in Virginia. They worked in the coal mines. They couldn’t go to town. As soon as they went to towns, they killed them and buried them under the railroads. And a lot of people don’t know. Columbus Day wasn’t given because of Columbus Day was given because of the injustice that was done to the Sicilians. And people don’t know because you were never told the story. Nobody ever tells you the injustice. The Sicilians weren’t true. Most of that. 90% of the Italians, they came to this country are southern Italians. They’re not northern Italians didn’t want to associate with the southern ones. And the southern ones didn’t want to associate with Sicilians are a race of people that’s a mixed race of people. They are three people. They are a mix of Europeans, Africans and Asians. That’s what they are. They’re a mix of three people. So many races of people went into the island of Sicily that that’s what makes us. That’s why we’re different. And they have a great sense of value with their family. They’re very proud people and they’re very intelligent. One of the smartest Sicilians was a mathematician that helped Enrico Fermi through the atomic bomb. And then he killed himself. He disappeared. But he was one of the smartest ones. Sicily has gotten three Nobel Prize winners. More than Italy ever did. But they never say what we are. But that’s okay. No more about Sicilians. The thing that I want to say is thank you. And there’s something else too, that’s very interesting. Sicilians were Hispanics before Hispanics existed. Spain was part of Sicily owned sicily from the 1400s to the 1800s. So part of the Sicilian language is Spanish. My last name derives from Spanish. Most Spanish people don’t know it, but Sicilians are the original Hispanics or Latinos as you call them, because the Spanish didn’t come to this country until the 1500s, 1400s. They were in Sicily in the 1200 and they were still there until the 1800. Thank you very much.
Councillor Santagate [0:14:52] First, I want to thank you, Councillor Recupero. You saved me having to share a history lesson. So I appreciate that. And my comments are again, appreciation for all of the Italians and Sicilians who came to Chelsea. There were many people in Chelsea and many of the Sicilians were from the same village, Santo Stefano di Medio. And many of the families have moved on, but there are still some families here in Chelsea. And we were involved in all facets of business building the city from the early 1900s going forward. So I just always want to celebrate the history of Chelsea and its inclusion of Italians and Sicilians. And I’m extremely proud of my family heritage. And I think the Columbus situation was very complicated here. We did have a statue that many families contributed to buying. That statue is no longer up. But that does not change the fact that many of our Italian and Sicilian ancestors helped build the city. So thank you for the opportunity to recognize this month on behalf of our ancestors.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:16:19] Thank you, Councillor. All right, if there are no other comments, we can move on to the next resolution.
Resolution: Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Clerk [0:16:31] The second and final resolution before you, introduced by the Council President and all members in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. Whereas according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the definition of domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault or other abusive behaviors as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetuated by one intimate partner against another and Whereas an average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking in the United States, totaling more than 12 million women and men over a single year and whereas In Massachusetts, nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced sexual violence, with nearly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men having experienced rape, physical violence and or stalking by an intimate partner, while roughly one in five women or one in seven men who were victims of sexual or physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner first experienced these or other forms of violence before age 18 and whereas African American women experience intimate partner violence at a rate 9.9% higher than that of white women, while 42.1% of Hispanic women are victimized by intimate partner violence in their lifetime. And whereas between 10 and 20% of children are exposed to physical intimate partner violence each year and 5.7% are exposed to psychological intimate partner violence, with such children becoming more likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home and become victims of human trafficking, creating multi generational cycles of abuse. And whereas a just society embraces the moral imperative to eliminate domestic violence and must not allow itself to tolerate the anguish, distress, grief, pain, suffering and trauma that domestic violence creates. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Chelsea City Council hereby declares October 2026 Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the city of Chelsea and encourages businesses, community based organizations, residents and all within our community to honor survivors of domestic violence, remember lives lost and recommit to ending abuse in all forms.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:18:42] Thank you, Clerk. Councillor Brown,
Councillor Brown [0:18:46] Madam Vice President, make a motion to adopt under suspension. If there’s no objections, please seeing none, like to speak on it briefly. Thank you for the maker of this motion, this resolution. Every year we come and we get different resolutions and this is a very important one that we go out and we talk about October, the time we stand together, we speak out the injustice that’s been perpetrated on women and other folks in our community that’s been victims of domestic violence. This much reminds us how important it is for us. If we see something, we say something, we stop it, we show compassion, we show love, we show unity and we do not engage in the abuse. So I look forward to the day when we have perfect unity and compassion. But we know that, you know, for whatever reason, people, they fight amongst themselves or they get into arguments and they turn and sometimes they turn deadly. We want folks to know this is a very important month that you have to be aware that if you notice someone is being abused or someone is in trouble, don’t be afraid to say something or help them, even if it hurts your feelings, you saving their lives, you’re taking a proactive stance. So we want to recognize that this month, the whole month of October is a month that we recognize is domestic violence against women. Come to assault, come to a complete end, no assault. And moving forward into the New Year’s and other months to follow, it’s very important for us to show the courage we here in Chelsea, we have. Kava Representative what is it? B Cover. Harbor Cove. I’m so grateful for the work and I’m so grateful to be able to stand with them because they are 24 hour service. If you need contact to talk to someone, they’re there 24 hours. They have a 24 hour service. Not only that, there’s other resources that they help when folks find themselves in the place where they can go back to live in the house that they once lived in with their spouse. So I’m proud of what we do here in Chelsea for this month. But I ask those folks that’s listening, those folks that may know something or show respect, have respect for women, have respect for men, because men are abused also. Men are abused in situations that we sometimes take for granted that he’s a man, he’s not being abused. But try to help solve the problem this month. Thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:21:37] Okay. Councillor Santagate.
Councillor Santagate [0:21:40] Yes. Again, I have mixed feelings about some of the way that we mark things like that. It’s just a month because domestic violence occurs every day of the year, unfortunately. And statistically, just based on even economic status, occurs more in places like Chelsea. And we do have really wonderful, rigorous resources to help. But we all have to help. We have. We can’t stand by if we see something. And I do see things in our city and in the city of Boston and even nationally. There’s a huge issue now in the news at Cornell University. And I just, I am so surprised that. Well, I wish I weren’t surprised by this continuing and these situations continuing year after year after year. I don’t know how to get a handle on it. There is so much violence and we just have to keep at it. So if we see something, we have to help man, woman, anyone in harm’s way. And as I said, the economic situation, it’s worse. And stress is on the rise and money and you know, the structure of work, et cetera. It’s when violence comes out, unfortunately. And so we just need to try to help each other.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:23:29] Thank you, Councillor.
Councillor Hines [0:23:30] Councillor, I just want to add to the conversation that gender based violence isn’t always physical, right? Like it can be financial, it can be an act of intimidation. And like my fellow councillor, Santagate mentioned, this isn’t just confined to a month. The resolution says an average of 24 people per minute are victims. And you know, we need to do more in providing support and being available for to navigate conversations and leveraging ourselves in the communities that we are a part of, to be a resource for one another so that somebody can actually be vulnerable and express themselves, but not just be an ear to listen, also be able to provide resources, navigate conversations, and ultimately cultivate safer environments for people who Are who are navigating these situations.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:24:27] Councillor Recupero,
Councillor Recupero [0:24:33] they forgot to mention one thing. The most domestic violence is men on men, they have more domestic violence than women and men, they need to be recognized too, that the most domestic violence happens between men and men.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:24:52] All right? So I’d be remiss if I don’t share just briefly as a mom of three children to, you know, to think of the world we’re living in. This is really a fight against silence. Right. And education. We have to make sure that our young boys and girls are getting this information and are able to understand and lead with love and communication in the future. And so just want to share that before we move on.
Public speaking
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:24:52] And I have for public speaking, I have two folks signed up. But if anybody else wants to sign up, I’ll make sure that the list goes back to the table. We don’t have public hearing this evening. So for public speaking, I have Ruth Santos. And then right after Ruth, I have James Atkins. You may come up to the podium. State your name.
Ruth Santos, Encore worker [0:24:52] Good evening, counselors. My name is Ruth Santos. I am a Chelsea resident. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I work at the Encore casino. As a cook. We are here today because me and many of my co workers live in Chelsea too. All we are asking of this five star resort is for what the hotel workers in Boston already have. We are on strike for our future and the future of our families. One job should be enough for Chelsea families. Thank you again for your support. Thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:24:52] Up next we have Mr. Atkins.
James Atkins, Encore worker and Teamsters Local 25 steward [0:26:53] My name is James Atkins. I’m the lead gardener over at Encore Boston harbor as well as in the Teamsters Local 25 chief steward. As many of you might have seen, for the past month we’ve been on strike. All 1300 of us covered by local 25 as well as Local 26. And I think what we’re working towards at this point is to make sure that me and my co workers don’t have to work. Second, some of us even third jobs just to make ends meet while these massive corporations rake in billions of dollars from our state. I think all of us would honestly be much happier bringing back those profits to our local communities, spending those with smaller family owned businesses in our own towns. I know I like doing that in Somerville. And you know, I imagine many of our coworkers here love spending what they earn in their local community. Here in Chelsea. I know that the past four weeks have been really empowering. All of us being out there, we’re very diverse crowd, many Races, languages and age groups covered. And I know we’re going to continue our work until we get a fair contract. And hopefully you guys can maybe pressure people like Jenny or Craig Billings by going beyond just resolution and maybe calling them to get to the table and come and meet us for a fair contract. Thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:28:32] Any other speakers?
Councillor Taylor [0:28:38] No.
Unidentified speaker [0:28:39] Okay. Public speaking is closed for the meeting this evening.
Resolution supporting the striking Encore Boston Harbor workers
Councillor Santagate [0:28:44] Council president, I’d like to make a motion to move. Item number 26, R28, the resolution introduced by council president Jimenez-Rivera expressing support of striking water workers at Encore Boston Harbor. Out of order. We have many people here now seeing no objections.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:29:07] All right, let’s move this out of order.
Clerk [0:29:11] Moved out of order under new business agenda. Item 26, R28, resolution introduced by the council president expressing support for striking workers at Encore Boston harbor. Whereas over 1000 workers at Encore Boston harbor in Everett voted to authorize a strike and they fail to reach a collective bargaining agreement by August 31st. And whereas the contracts for workers at the Encore Boston harbor represented by unite here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25, expired on August 31 without a collective bargaining agreement being reached. And whereas, after months of negotiations, unite here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 announced an indefinite strike at the Encore Boston harbor which began on Friday, September. Whereas many Chelsea residents work at Encore Boston harbor and the working conditions of employees throughout Greater Boston have a direct impact on the residents of Chelsea and our regional economy. And whereas members of unite here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 believe that one job should be enough to raise a family, keep a roof over their heads and retire with dignity. And whereas access to a living wage, job security and quality health care are essential to economic security and dignity. Now therefore be resolved that the Chelsea city council hereby expresses its support for the striking union workers of unite here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 and encourages community members to stand in solidarity with workers on the picket line and be a further resolved that the city manager shall transmit a true and attested copy of this resolution to the general manager of Encore Boston Harbor.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:30:45] Thank you, Clerk. Opening it up for motions. Seeing no objections, we’ll move on to a roll call vote.
Unidentified speaker [0:30:57] Yes. And point of inquiry.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:31:03] Yes.
Unidentified speaker [0:31:04] Councillor Teshe, I think he meant to adopt in the suspension. There’s no need for Roko vote. Yeah, we can do that. Well, but you gotta say adopt and suspension on the unanimous consent.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:31:16] There you go. Okay, so we can we proceed to a roll call vote and then open up for any comments or should we do that first? Comments first? All right, you have the floor.
Councillor Teshe [0:31:28] Thank you. I just want to say I want to commend all the work that you guys have been doing on. It’s not easy to stand out there. It’s not easy to essentially risk the safety of having a job. You know, I see the collective unity in trying to fight an enormous corporation and how difficult that must be. You know, that being said, there’s not a lot that I myself can do, but if there’s any steps that I can take to help out anybody, please reach out to me. You know, today I’m expressing my support over. Make sure that you guys, that you guys know that I’m with you and especially the people that live in the city of T. I’ve lived in the city for about 13 years, and I appreciate every single one of my neighbors. And so when one of their livelihood is threatened because of the greed of enormous corporations, that makes me want to do something. And I think that makes a lot of us want to do something as well. And that’s when we can take advantage of that and join together for a greater cause. So, again, congratulations for being able to amass a movement, and I truly hope that we can get the results that you guys want. And again, if I can be of any help, reach out to me.
Unidentified speaker [0:32:48] Thank you.
Councillor Brown [0:32:56] Thank you, Madam President. I support this resolution 100%. Not only do I support this resolution, I have stood with the men and women of Local 26 and Local 25. My support is there for you. I know it’s taken. I know it’s taken a lot out of you. But every time I go by there, whether I’m blowing my horn or stopping by to drop things off, is you guys give us the energy to say, hey, you guys deserve what you get as far as being out there, knowing that you’re out there 100% in the rain with the drums, you’re cheering on each other. They hear you. And I said this when I was over there. They hear you. We got to get them back to the table. We have to let them know the five star hotel that they have is because of you men and women, the service that you give. When folks go over there, they have a good time. It’s because you’re bringing them the drinks, you’re bringing them the food, you’re washing the toilets. I know some of you folks. I’ve been over there. My mother, my aunt has been in your shoes years ago with the same Local 26. But Encore has All this money. Encore should give you a seat at the table and let your representation from Local 26 and Local 25 go in there and get you the deal. Not that you need, but this deal that you deserve to have dignity, respect. When people pat you on your back and they say thank you, not only they thank you, but you support them by bringing them their stuff. But Encore makes millions of millions of dollars off you. And I was talking to the boss here earlier today. I’m surprised on this 33rd day that they haven’t brought you back to the table. Please keep standing together, keep drumming the drum, keep beeping the horns and keep your unity together. And we’ll get you back in there. Thank you for being here,
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:35:10] Councillor Recupero.
Councillor Recupero [0:35:12] Thank you for being here. Youse are the most deserving of them all. Cause you worked very hard. And everybody that makes all kinds of money off the back of people should give something back to them. And you deserve it. And my grandson used to work the security for the casino. And he couldn’t afford to live, so he had to get another job. So I can imagine how it is for you that they don’t want to pay you deserve it. Don’t quit. That’s one thing you should never do is quit. But sometimes it’s hard. If they don’t want to pay you because businesses are hard, they’ll replace you. But that’s. Don’t let that happen. Even if they try to replace you, still stand out there and fight for your rights. For money. The money is the one important thing. It’s actually the most important thing in your life. In all of our lives. So they make all kinds of money. Why shouldn’t they give some back to you? Greed is the killer of us all. Go out there and fight and stay there. And thank you for doing what you do.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:36:21] Councillor Santagate.
Councillor Santagate [0:36:22] Yes. I just also wanted to offer my support. I see friends here who work at the casino and other people that have become friends from my visits to the casino. So thank you so much for all that you do. And I really will put as much pressure as I can myself for Encore to keep going back to the table. As I. The fact that there hasn’t been something worked out after 33 days is really shame. I really hope that there’s some resolution soon for you. I’m sure this is extremely difficult for you. And so we’re thinking of you and supporting you. And I really hope that something is worked out very soon. For.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:37:20] All right, briefly, I share and echo the sentiments of my Colleagues here on the council as an organizer for over 20 years now. Don’t stand. You know, don’t stand down. Stand your ground. What you guys are doing is powerful, and it’s sending a message to many other corporations that continue to abuse their workers. And so I stand with you, and if there’s any way that I can support, please let me know. All right, moving on to communications from. Oh, sorry.
Clerk [0:37:57] Approval of the minutes to clarify. The motion beforehand was to approve by unanimous consent. There are no objections. Motion carries. Resolution approved unanimously.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:38:09] Yeah, so there was no vote because the Councillor already handled it. Combine requesting unanimous consent. Thank you all for joining us this evening. All right. Approval of the min.
Minutes of September 21
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:39:05] Okay. Approval of the minutes.
Clerk [0:39:07] You have approval of the minutes of the Regular meeting dating September 21, 2026.
Councillor Teshe [0:39:11] Madam President, I move to accept and file the minutes if there are no objections.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:39:18] Seeing no objections, Councillor, let’s move on.
City manager: meeting with Market Basket
Clerk [0:39:22] Moving on. Communications received from the city manager. First communication received. Responding to Council Order 2647. Market Basket Redevelopment. Dear Councilors, I am writing in response to Council Order 2647 regarding the ongoing development plans for the Market Basket property. I am excited to report that a meeting has now been scheduled between the City of Chelsea and the chief executive officer of Market Basket to discuss the company’s plans for the property, the anticipated development process, and opportunities for continued collaboration with the city. I look forward to having a direct conversation with Market Basket’s leadership about the future of this important property and how the city can work collaboratively with the company as these plans move forward.
Councillor Teshe [0:40:04] Madam President, Councillor Teshe, I move to wave the rest of the reading and accept and file the communications if there are no objections.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:40:12] Seeing no objections. Moving on to the next item. Thank you, Councillor.
City manager: commuter rail quiet zone
Clerk [0:40:17] Next. Communication received from the city manager responded to Council orders 2648. Commuter rail quiet zone. Dear Councilors, I’m writing in response to Council Order 2648 requesting an update on our commuter rail quiet Zone. Our Department of Public Works has been working with the MBTA and the Federal Railway Administration for several years on re establishing the Quiet Zone, which will effectively stop the train horns in Chelsea. Last year, the MBTA required a second review and revision to the originally approved plans for the Quiet Zone. Chelsea DPW and our consultant VHB have pushed the MBTA and Keolis engineers to provide comments from their review so that we can address any concerns. After several rounds of back and forth over the summer, we have reached an agreement on the technical approach, and VHB is now implementing those Changes in the plans and specifications for official sign off. At this time, we expect the MBTA to approve the revisions no later than November. Once the MBTA approves these revisions, the Department of Public Works.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:41:16] Councillor Teshe.
Councillor Teshe [0:41:17] I move to wait the rest of the reading. There are no objections. Accept and file the communications. And if I can say a couple
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:41:23] of words, seeing objections. The floor is yours, Councillor.
Councillor Teshe [0:41:27] Thank you. Just want to give a shout out to the city Manager for working on this. You know, it’s. It’s well known that constituents throughout the city have been trying to make this happen at some point. It’s sad to see that it’s still going to take a while, but thankfully it’s moving forward.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:41:45] Thank you, Councillor. We will. Pause. Maybe we take a little recess. Let’s take a. Oh, we’re good. We’re good. We’re good. Okay. All right. Thank you, Councillor. Let’s move on to the next item.
City manager: senior home repair program
Clerk [0:42:12] Next. Communication received from the City manager responded to Council Order 2652, Senior Repair Program. Dear Councillors, I’m writing a response to Council Order 2652 requesting that the City manager look into a senior repair program. We have an incredible example of a successful program in Revere that is working extremely well. Revere offers grants to senior citizens who own and occupy their homes. The summary of the program is attached. I firmly believe that this would be a very valuable program for our residents. If the council agrees, we will start developing a similar program. And I will request that the city council fund $50,000 from free cash to start a pilot program. The program will be run by our Director of Constituent Services in close partnership with the Chelsea Senior Center. Senior citizen home repair programs can help pay for grab bars, handrails, cramps or stairlifts. Walk in showers and other bathroom upgrades. Critical roof repairs, heating, plumbing or air conditioning repair. Electrical safety upgrades. Applicants must be at least 60 years old, own and occupy their Chelsea home year round and meet income guidelines below. For one person, $96,000, two people, $109,700, three people, $123,400 and four people, $137,100. Thank you for your support.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:43:29] Thank you, Clerk.
Councillor Recupero [0:43:30] Councillor Recupero, accept and file on the unanimous decision. Unanimous. And I like to speak on it. There’s no objection.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:43:41] Seeing no objections. You have the floor, Councillor.
Councillor Recupero [0:43:43] Thank you. This program is a good program. It helps out a lot of seniors. There ain’t too many seniors in the City of Chelsea that actually own homes over 65, 60 or over. Because actually senior is 65. But the city had an agreement with the state years ago that a senior was 60 years old. That’s why the work program is at 60 years, not 65. So I’m glad that the city incorporated 60 instead of 65. That will give more homeowners that need some of these repairs. And I think it’s a worthy cause. We help everybody. Why not help the ones that made it possible for the rest of the us? Seniors were the ones that created what the younger generations have. So the younger generation should help the seniors because one day they’re gonna get old and why shouldn’t they get something in return? We give everybody. Why not them? And this is not a lot of money. $50,000 is really a lot of money. A lot of money. So what would happen? It would be maybe one or two, maybe three seniors in a year could get help. But anything is better than nothing at all. So I approve. I want this to happen. Not because I’m a senior. I’m a senior myself. So they will say that it’s a conflict of interest because I’m a senior. But if I don’t speak up for the seniors, who’s going to speak up for them? So I speak up for them. And I don’t care what they say, that it’s a conflict of interest or no conflict of interest, it doesn’t matter to me, because I believe it’s the right thing to do, is to try to help the elderly. They can’t help themselves. One, because they want a fixed income. Two, a lot of them just barely surviving on what they get from Social Security. So why not? That’s my belief. I don’t care what anybody thinks, that it’s wrong. I believe it’s the right thing to do, is to help the ones that need it the most. And I believe senior citizens need it. Even though they say, well, they don’t own a home. They forgot a senior citizen bought his home 50 years and truly is that house cost him millions of dollars because he up degraded. He did whatever he did. So now why not help them? I think it’s a great thing and I commend the city manager for wanting to do it. Revere already does it. There’s a lot of other city that do it, but Revere does it. Why not Chelsea? It’s not a lot of money. Do it.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:45:59] Thank you, Councillor Santagate and then Councillor Taylor.
Councillor Santagate [0:46:03] Yeah, I too am really happy to see this. I think it’s excellent. I think our seniors deserve to be able to keep their homes in excellent shape. And not to push the envelope, but I wish there was a way we could somehow roll in some snow removal as well for seniors into any kind of program that exists, a formalized one. There’s something. But I think we can formalize it more in terms of having it part of an official program. So.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:46:45] Let’s wait for her statement.
Councillor Santagate [0:46:48] Yeah. And also extreme weather cleanup. The weather has become more extreme and there are more floods and bigger snow events. And so that’s really hard on a senior citizen to even clean up and take care of an event. And with the weather changing as it has, I think more of those things are happening, and I think that it’s particularly hard on seniors, so to just take those things into consideration as the program gets finalized.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:47:21] Thank you, Councillor. I have Taylor and then I have Brown, and then we’ll come right back to.
Councillor Taylor [0:47:28] I Just for the record, I wanted to say, Councillor Recupero said, if I don’t speak up for seniors, who will? I just wanted to raise my hand and say I will. So seniors, I think seniors get neglected something awful in this country. I think there’s a lot of groups that are. And we spend an awful lot of time on certain groups and no time at all on others. And I think this is a good start for the city trying to pitch in and do what it can for seniors, and especially to try to keep seniors who are on a fixed income in their homes. That’s, I think, the design of this, and I think that that’s important and that we ought to try to lend as much of a helping hand to seniors who qualify to keep them in their homes so they don’t have to move outside of Chelsea, a community that we all love. So thank you for doing this. And I just wanted to say that I Speak up for seniors.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:48:39] Thank you, Councillor Grant.
Councillor Brown [0:48:42] Thank you, Madam Vice president. Thank you, Mr. City Manager, for bringing this back. Again, this is a template. This gives us a start of a discussion that we want to go out and what we’ve said in the past to help every person and organization that we can in our community. And now before us, we have the seniors. Again, this is revere. There’s a lot of things that we already do to help seniors. We continue to. If, you know, the residential exemption, we continue to help seniors. This will be another piece of the pie that we can slice to help seniors. But again, let’s be real here. We have to look at the numbers. We have to talk to how many seniors we can potentially have if we have 200 seniors right now? No. If we have 100 seniors that benefit from this year, we’re looking at an annual $400,000 a year. So we also have to look at what the numbers are. I’m looking at. My colleague was discussing here. The first number was nice. The first number said where one person makes $96,000, has to follow under that goal line. Then you get up to four. You only have 137,000. I. That’s something that we may want, when we have this discussion to kind of like, hey, is this fair? Again, that’s not moving in the right direction if you use the numbers. So I want to look out for seniors, but we actually got to make sure that it’s doable. It’s also helpful for the city and also make sure that it’s there, you know, because, you know, we don’t want folks just coming in and staying with their grandpa because he gets a discount. We want them. We want to help the seniors. So we have to be fair, and we have to take this into account. Thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:50:39] Thank you, Councillor. And then Councillor Recupero.
Councillor Recupero [0:50:43] Okay, thank you. My fellow councillor. Years ago, when the other city manager was here, Mr. Ambrosino, he used to do cleaning. They were called DPW. If you were a certain age and you couldn’t do, he will come, and DPW will come and help you clean the snow. This city manager is as good as the other city manager. So if they call DPW, he would probably do the same thing. And as far as seniors, the last count that I had, there was 37 seniors that own homes that are 65 and above in this city. There’s only 37 of them. Now, we always debate about money. We want to help the seniors. Yes. Don’t talk about it, George. No matter how much it costs. The total was 37 homes. 37 seniors that actually own homes that are 65 years or older. I had that done before because I’ve been trying to give senior a program which is here in front of the city council, you know, but it hasn’t come up yet. But as my fellow councillor Santagate said, maybe we should have something put on paper to make sure that it gets done. And I hope she puts in a paper next meeting. She does. An order requested that that is done because the city does help you. This is the greatest city for all of us. It does more than any other city. There should never be any questions to say how much money we have. We never ask if something is worth doing. We do it. We don’t ask questions. When we give money, millions of dollars all over the place, why not help the seniors? Whoever doesn’t want to help the seniors? I don’t know. What should we think about someone that doesn’t want to help the seniors?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:52:34] Councillor, I have one more person who hasn’t spoken. I want to share.
Councillor Recupero [0:52:38] Okay, this is my final thing. I believe that all of us here are pro seniors. If they’re not pro seniors, they forget they’re going to get old one day themselves. And I hope it gets done to them what they want to do as seniors.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:52:52] Thank you. That is very true. Councillor.
Councillor Hines [0:52:55] Amen to that. Councillor Recupero. I just have some questions regarding the program and I don’t necessarily know who to direct them to, but.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:53:11] All right, so then is your request to have the city manager take the stand so that we.
Councillor Hines [0:53:15] Oh, yeah, I guess the program says that. Or the request from, I believe council Recupero is for $50,000 to be allocated to pilot this program. My understanding is that people will be eligible for up to $5,000 depending on where they fall in this income grid.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [0:53:39] revere is on the second round of this program and what they did is they allocated $50,000. First come, first serve. Right. So once the funds are spent, the funds are spent. Ideally, it’s something that the city does every year, right. So in theory, any people that didn’t make it the year before will be eligible the following year. It is a max of $5,000. Right. So if you have $100,000 worth of repairs in your house, the city will contribute $5,000. And then. Sorry, the last question was.
Councillor Hines [0:54:17] Councilman, that was just clarity on how the program works. Is there like anything regarding, like how many times you could apply for the program or so?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [0:54:28] Review has no restrictions. The reviewer made it so that it’s seniors that are income eligible. Right. And there is ineligibility requirement, which is the last piece in my letter since reviewers is on the second round. They haven’t ran into that issue of, you know, of a senior, you know, constantly receiving. I think the idea is that it becomes a, you know, a wait list, if you will. Right. That gets filled the following year. And of course it depends on appropriations.
Councillor Hines [0:55:14] Thank you so much. I think this is beautiful. I think it’s necessary. And shout out to councillor Recupero.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:55:24] All right, thank you, counselors. Moving on to the next item, next
City manager: FY2027 tax rates
Clerk [0:55:29] communication from the city manager regarding fiscal year 2027 tax rates. Dear councilors, I am writing to request that The City Council schedule a meeting of the Subcommittee on conference on Monday, November 2, 2026 or on a more convenient date soon thereafter for the purpose of discussing the fiscal year 2027 tax rates similar to past years. The goal at the meeting will be to provide a PowerPoint presentation and then answer questions about FY27 evaluations and the tax rate. I also ask does the City Council schedule a public hearing?
Councillor Teshe [0:55:58] Madam President move to wait the rest of the rating and accept and file the communications if there are no objections and hoping to see if we can schedule a subcommittee at some point.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:56:12] Seeing no objections would be we send
Unidentified speaker [0:56:15] it to on conference.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:56:18] Okay, thank you. Moving on.
Appointments to boards and commissions
Clerk [0:56:23] Next, communication received from the City Manager requesting City Council approval of appointments and reappointments of boards and commissions, the accountors pursuant to Section 42 of the Charter of the City of Chelsea. I am writing to recommend the following individuals of boards and commissions in the City Appointment to the Women’s Commission, Ms. Gabriella Rodriguez appointment to the Board of registrars of voters, Ms. Sharon [surname unclear] for reappointment to the historical commission Mr. Matt Frank and reappointment to the historical commission Ms. Michelle [surname unclear]. I respectfully request your approval of these appointments. I have attached resumes for new appointees.
Unidentified speaker [0:56:58] Eric there a motion move to the second reading.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:57:02] Thank you Councillor. Seeing no objections. Moving on.
Inclusionary zoning: central lottery and wait list with the Housing Authority
Clerk [0:57:07] Next, communication received from the City Manager regarding inclusion of rezoning centralized lottery and waitlist pilot Dear Councillors, I’m ready to share an important step the City is taking to simplify and improve the administration of Chelsea’s inclusionary zoning program. We are partnering with the Chelsea Housing Authority to manage the wait list, certification and advertising processes associated with projects that include inclusionary zoning units. This spring, we heard feedback from developers about the administrative burden associated with the current inclusionary zoning process. Today, each project is required to develop a marketing plan, accept and process applications, conducting equitable lottery, and establish and administer a wait list for its affordable units. While these requirements are intended to ensure a fair and transparent process, it creates a complicated and costly administrative process, especially for smaller projects. This also requires significant city staff time to ensure that each individual process is completed thoroughly and consistently. Our proposal is to establish a centralized process in partnership with the Housing Authority. The Chelsea Housing Authority will conduct a citywide lottery and establish a centralized wait list for inclusionary zoning units. Rather than requiring every individual development to create and administer its own lottery and wait list, eligible residents will participate in a centralized process.
Councillor Teshe [0:58:21] Madam President, Councillor Teshe, I move to the rest of the read and Accept and file the communications of their objections. And if I can speak on it,
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:58:30] quick, look, you have the floor, Councillor.
Councillor Teshe [0:58:34] Just thanks to the city Manager for engaging in this initiative. I think this is going to be really helpful for making it easier not only for the beneficiaries of this program, but also for the property owners that, you know, might go through some trouble in getting it done.
Councillor Santagate [0:58:56] Yeah, I just also wanted to say I think it’s a fantastic initiative.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [0:59:03] Councillor Hines.
Councillor Hines [0:59:03] I’d like to ask the city Manager a question. Being that it’s going to be a centralized list and not specific by project or property, how do we anticipate to navigate that traffic and kind of direct people to what sort of properties are available?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [0:59:28] Yeah. This is why it’s so beautiful, right? Because this is what the Chelsea Housing Authority does every day, right? They not only have multiple sites that are some for seniors, some for families, some for, you know, different things, but they also manage project based vouchers, right? So that are kind of more scattered around the city, right? So they have those systems in place already. So essentially what we envision happening is that if you are a Chelsea resident who is looking for housing, then you would apply through the Chelsea Housing Authority, right? And essentially there would be multiple screening points, right, Depending on your bedroom availability, your AMI also availability, it would create essentially a central wait list that once a new project is coming up or there is a vacancy in an existing project can be filled with this one central wait list. This is beautiful right now because right now we require each developer to do their own marketing, to do their own ads, do their own lotteries, right? And what we heard in the inclusionary zoning process is that for smaller developers it can cost almost $30,000, right? So we have a very capable partner in the Chelsea Housing Authority. They provide, doing this already and in fact they support other housing authorities in the area as well in filling vacancies.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:01:19] Councillor, recupero. Your mic.
Councillor Recupero [1:01:27] Councillor, I’m looking at this. There’s an estimated cost of $46,222. Who is that? Is that the city paying the Housing Authority? So how does that work?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [1:01:38] Yeah, the. I think in order to establish it, we would need to front the money, right? Because the, what the Housing Authority has to do is develop the intake process, if you will, right? Like they have to take in all the people, develop a website, do the ads, right, and do all these things that are happening in it once this thing is launched. I envision us creating a revolving fund like we do for other things like recreation and essentially having developers pay into the fund in order to pay for this expense long term.
Councillor Recupero [1:02:27] So okay, so in other words, this is a one time 46,000. The rest you wanted. So this is going to go on every year, right. For the rest of eternity until we get rid of it won’t be a permanent job. It won’t be permanent to the city because each year it goes up from 46, it’ll be 56, then it could go up to 100,000. So the burden will be on the developers.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [1:02:51] The burden will be on the developer. It’s a more effective user use of money. Right. And there will be no jobs here in the city hall that are added because of this. Right. And there’s also no jobs added at the Housing Authority because they’re doing it anyways. So it’s, it’s a partnership, right, that we get to use their expertise. We also get some cover. Right. If someone challenges a lottery, if someone says that after process is not just right, they will not come to us, we will then refer them to the Housing Authority.
Councillor Recupero [1:03:28] I commend you for that because I’ve known some lotteries that are not lotteries. So I’m glad that you have this program and I’m glad that you explained to the people what it actually does and how it works because it’s a great thing to the people outside to really understand. If nobody tells them what it is, you just have saying what it is. But now they exactly know how it’s going to work and where the money’s coming from. Thank you.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [1:03:52] What I love the best Councillor is that we know the Housing Authority, we trust the Housing Authority. Right. And one consistent process is going to be good for all of our residents.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:04:04] I have a question before you come down because I know that constituents will call and ask me, will this impact at all the returning of any redevelopment project? So let’s say that this system is up and running and it’s sort of like a universal system that everyone use and the projects are in the midst of relocating families back. Will this impact at all anyone returning back to a unit?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [1:04:40] So this process is for units that are created through inclusionary zoning only the Chelsea Housing Authority has a statewide list which is champs. Right. And they have a very complex process that has to be certified by the state and the federal government and all these things that is. So it’s almost two separate things. So this is say Our friend Juan Gallego is developing a small property on Chestnut Street. Right. And an inclusionary zoning requires him to create two units. Right. What happens now is we ask Juan Gallego to put an ad out in the paper, run a lottery for two units, and he gets over 100 applications that he’s got to review and do a lottery on. And it’s very administrative leap. Burdensome. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to streamline it and make it citywide and have it so that the burden is centralized as opposed to having one. Every developer do a lottery every time there’s a project. And again, this is only for inclusionary zoning units. It doesn’t affect, say, T and D projects or projects that are using federal money or state money.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:06:12] Thank you for clarifying. I know that would have caused a few questions. So developers come in and the Housing Authority takes on the role of doing all of their advertisement and lottery procedures, and we do the upfront cost. But then developers will have to continue to move forward in paying for that service from the Housing Authority. That’s right. If there are vacancies in these units, would the city still sort of be the one responsible for going in and doing the work in terms of like, making sure that they’re continuing to be at the rate that they were posted to be, or does the Housing Authority have anything else to do with this process?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [1:07:01] That is a beautiful question, because right now we are responsible for it and it’s really hard for us to keep up with it. Right. So the Housing Authority would also do that. They would certify all of the units. They would work with developers. Right. They would handle any appeals process to a lottery. Right. This completely outsources that entire process.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:07:29] Okay. Thank you, City Manager Councillor Taylor.
Councillor Taylor [1:07:34] I just wanted to ask, what is the Chelsea Housing Authority getting out of this?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [1:07:41] So it took me about 4 meetings to convince Paul that this was a good idea. Right. It is not something that they jump on. Right. It’s more work. It’s potentially getting in the middle of it.
Councillor Taylor [1:07:57] What I told Paul, hence my question.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [1:07:59] Yeah. What I told Paul is that this creates a closer relationship. Right. We are leveraging the expertise of the Chelsea Housing Authority to fix the problem on our end. Right. So they are doing it to be a good partner, I guess, is the answer. Right. They have the know how, the staff, the capabilities. They’re doing it already. We have a problem that they can solve. So I think what they are getting out of it is being a partner of the city.
Councillor Taylor [1:08:34] Wow. So I would just, I would just say this, that I’m glad that the Chelsea Housing Authority feels that way. I’ve always thought that they ought to be more involved in the whole affordable housing process in this city for the same reasons that were that you asked them to do this. I would think that, you know, it’s a two way street and so, you know, if there’s, if there are things that we can do for the Chelsea Housing Authority, I would expect the city to, you know, reciprocate 1,000%.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:09:20] Thank you, Councillor Brown.
Councillor Brown [1:09:22] Yeah, thank you. I just also want to congratulate the city Manager, but also want to congratulate the Housing Authority director, Paul Nowicki, resident of Chelsea. I’ve had discussions because a lot of the stuff that’s going on up there and you know, Paul is dedicated and he has a great staff up there that’s really out in our community getting to know folks and meet folks and he’s willing, his dedication is to be a great supporter of what we’re trying to do because it’s not easy up there. And I try to, you know, we have these conversations when we get together, but he’s doing it because it’s what’s good for Chelsea. And I know it’s been kind of tough. He’s been at these meetings that we’ve been having with the inclusion every folks that’s been coming up here. And also the contract is at early stages, but in the long run it’s what’s best for Chelsea and just want to blow his whistle for just, you know, really doing a good job and saying, hey, I have control of this. I don’t need to buy into this. But he’s buying into it and I really appreciate his dedication and is also his leadership up there. Thank you.
Unidentified speaker [1:10:34] Absolutely. Thank you, Councillor. I’m sorry, but also just because it’s a little vague, I am hoping that we can get more detailed description of like the actual responsibilities because there is also mention of the Housing Authority taking on directly any concerns with the residents housing needs. And so I know my dear friend Mike McAteer has a long list of needs. So I know that this is going to be and I think it’s important for us to know exactly then what is ISD doing, what is the Housing Authority doing and where are there sort of overlaps? Absolutely.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:11:19] Thank you. All right, seeing no other comments. Moving on to the next item.
Broadway reconstruction: order of taking
Clerk [1:11:25] Next communication received from the city manager regarding an order of Taking for Reimagining Downtown Broadway Reconstruction Project Dear Councillors, I write on behalf of the Department of Housing and Community Development to request that the City Council adopt the enclosed order of taking in connection with a reimagining Downtown Broadway reconstruction project. This action is a necessary and time sensitive step to allow the city to secure the property interest required to move this important infrastructure investment forward. The project cost of these easements is $250,000, which the city has already allocated funding for and will enable over $13 million in federal grant funds to flow through the infrastructure effort. This is a significant return on the investment to secure these easements and compensate property owners. The project will transform Broadway between William street and City Hall Avenue into a safer, more accessible and more.
Councillor Taylor [1:12:14] Madam Chair, ask to waive the rest of the reading and accept and file the communication under unanimous consent, seeing no objections.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:12:22] Moving on to the next item.
Clerk [1:12:27] Next item before you have an order introduced.
Councillor Taylor [1:12:29] Madam Chair, I would ask that this next item be separated 1. When one portion be separated out, the. Second to the last paragraph be it further order that the city council, on behalf of the city and pursuant to the Authority granted by MGL 82, Sections 21, 24 be separated out and the rest of the order be moved to a public hearing and the portion that separated out be moved to a second reading.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:13:21] Okay.
Unidentified speaker [1:13:22] Can we slow down? Yeah. Can it be right, please
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:13:30] seeing. Yeah, let’s read it.
Clerk [1:13:34] Order introduced by the Council president. Whereas by section 30 of chapter 43, section 14 of chapter 40, and chapter 79 of Mass. General Law, all as amended, it is provided that Chelsea City Council may take by eminent domain, easements and fee interests in the name of the city for any municipal purpose, land within the limits of the city not already appropriate, if appropriate public use and whereas the easements and fee interest on certain parcels of land in Chelsea have been identified as necessary for acquisition in order to undertake, with the assistance and coordination of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the downtown Broadway roadway reconstruction project and whereas the taking by imminent domain of easements and fee interests on the lands here and after described has been recommended by the city administration and whereas there is funding available for the anticipation expense of acquisition as required by aforesaid sections of chapters 43, 40, 82 and 79. Now, therefore, by virtue of and in pursuance of the authority conferred by said chapters of general law and by every other power and authority it thereto enabling, therefore, be it ordered that the Chelsea City Council as follows, that the city does undertake for all purposes which here public Uses are used in the City of Chelsea.
Unidentified speaker [1:14:47] Council President. We can read the worst of you sure? Yeah.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:14:51] Okay. Seeing no objection. So what is now do we proceed with the original? We have to do it all over.
Clerk [1:14:59] So the explanation is the order as presented to you in its long form are technically two separate orders combined into one that require two different paths for the Council to move forward on. The item that Councillor Taylor moved to separate out specifically relates to alterations of roadways. Specifically Broadway, Bellingham street, Marlboro Street, 6th Street, Washington Avenue and Chestnut Street. Those alterations require approval in public hearing from the Traffic and Parking Commission before they come back to Council. The remaining items on the order are specifically related to the eminent domain takings. Those are required. Those require simply a public hearing carrying on behalf of Council.
Councillor Taylor [1:15:39] So we move. We’ll move this the set the separated part out to traffic and parking.
Unidentified speaker [1:15:44] Correct. Okay. Seeing no objections. Next item.
Clerk [1:15:51] And the draft order that was included with your packets is the order as it pertains that will be referred to Traffic and Parking Commission for consideration for referral back to Council. Thank you, Clerk.
Temple Emmanuel preservation restriction
Clerk [1:16:06] Your next communication is received from the City Manager requesting City Council approval of a Preservation Restriction Agreement. Dear Councillors, I am writing the request that the Chelsea City Council authorize the City Manager to execute the attached Historic Preservation Restriction Agreement between the City of Chelsea and Temple Emmanuel is an important historic structure in the City of Chelsea. The property includes a chapel constructed circa 1859-1818 and a main sanctuary and connector constructed in 1872. The preservation restriction Agreement recognizes the building as a rare and unusual survivor of late 19th century Civic buildings in Chelsea and has significance based upon its architectural, historical and cultural characteristics. The proposed Preservation Restriction Agreement is intended to protect the historical character of Temple Emmanuel for generations to come. The restriction applies to the exterior of the building and requires that its historic architectural features and characteristics be retained and maintained substantially in the current condition or better. The agreement also establishes limitations on demolition, removal, alteration, additions and other exterior changes that could significantly impair the property’s preservation values. The agreement does not transfer ownership of the property to the city, nor does it impose an obligation upon the City to maintain the building. Temple Emmanuel remains responsible for maintaining the property and complying with all applicable law. The acceptance of the restriction does not impose any obligation or liability upon the city concerning the condition of the property or building. There is no cost to the City of Chelsea associated with the preservation of the property itself. Under this agreement. The agreement will allow Temple Emmanuel to pursue.
Councillor Taylor [1:17:45] Madam President, I’d Ask to waive the rest of the reading and accept and file the communication under unanimous consent, seeing no objections.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:17:54] Thank you, councillor. Moving on.
Councillor Teshe [1:17:59] Yeah, I was just gonna say that. Thanks to the city manager for, you know, making sure that we engage in the carrying of such an important building to the city of Chelsea and to the culture and to the identity that it represents. I think it goes a long way for us to be able to preserve, again, you know, where Chelsea was, where it is and where it will be.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:18:34] Thank you, Councillor Brown.
Councillor Brown [1:18:37] Thank you. This just want to thank the members for being here from the church. Temple Emmanuel has been doing a lot of great work. Every time I go over there, the reception, the hall, everything is getting better and better. The work, the dedication of the staff, the love that’s going back into that building, the leadership, We’ve had some really good times. Some time you’re over there for barbecues in the summer, all fundraisers for, you know, yard sales. We had an event over there a year and a half ago that just came in. People had a great time and continue to look for great things out of the Temple Emmanuel over there. It’s really a nice place where you can meet a lot of nice people, have a really good time, and want to thank them for the historic value that it has in our community. A lot of folks are really getting to know more about it. Esther does a lot of work of getting her friends there for donations and, you know, supporting it. But places like this are very important in our community because everyone’s coming up and trying to buy every building, every block on our streets. But we have to keep these religious places and these places that have so much love and openness about why people came here to our city. So I’m grateful that the city manager looked at that, and I’m grateful that you folks are still taking on that task over there. And I just hope that you continue to just build it up. And as I always tell you, anytime I can be there, let me know. Thank you,
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:20:22] Councillor Taylor and then Councillor Santagate.
Councillor Taylor [1:20:25] Yeah. So I have long been an advocate for historical preservation in the state city of Chelsea. I think, you know, last year we. Or two years ago now, year and a half, Year and a half, you know, we celebrated our 400th anniversary here in Chelsea. We have a long and very distinguished history in the city of Chelsea. And we, who are the caretakers of the city today have a responsibility to preserve that history for future generations so they know where they came from and who they are. So, you know, I commend this is obviously one of the great historical buildings in our city. And I commend the city for taking this action. And I look forward to further acts of historical preservation in this city, including hopefully someday, a Chelsea museum.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:21:31] Thank you, Councillor Santagate.
Councillor Santagate [1:21:35] Yes, speaking of museums, one of the things that Temple Emmanuel actually houses is a Jewish museum. And so I really think this is an incredible initiative. I have been honored to be invited to many of your high holiday celebrations at the et cetera over the years. And Temple Emmanuel actually was the site of the pilot program for the micro food pantries. And they do so much for the community. And the space is absolutely beautiful and has history prior to its use as a temple that is important to Chelsea’s history as well. So I endorse this designation 100%. And thank you again for all your invitations for us to spend time in such a beautiful space with all of you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:22:33] Thank you, Councillor. I’ll share briefly. One of the things I do not miss about being City Council president is not being able to speak. I want to just share that I have also done the tours at Temple Emmanuel. I have been able to be in your beautiful space, and I am really excited that you guys will have this funding available to make sure that that space is here for many generations to come. So thank you. Moving on to the next order, we
Clerk [1:23:01] move on to the order itself. The order introduced by Council President ordered that Pursuant of Mass. General Law Chapter 184, Section 32, the Chelsea City Council hereby authorizes City Manager Fidel Maltez to execute the Historic Preservation Restriction Agreement on behalf of the City of Chelsea, together with any certificates, acknowledgments, affidavits or other documents reasonably necessary to effectuate the city’s acceptance of the Preservation restriction concerning 60 Tudor Street, Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Councillor Teshe [1:23:28] Madam President, quick question. This is not a monetary order. Can this be voted on today? Yeah. Thank you. I would move for roll call.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:23:45] All right. Seeing no objections, we’ll move on to a roll call vote.
Clerk [1:23:50] Roll call vote requested. Because no funding is involved, simple majority vote required for approval.
Councillor Taylor [1:23:58] Yes.
Clerk [1:23:59] Councillor Recupero Jimenez-Rivera. Councillor Hines.
Councillor Hines [1:24:04] Yes.
Clerk [1:24:05] Councillor Tanairi Garcia.
Unidentified speaker [1:24:06] Yes.
Clerk [1:24:07] Councillor Teshe.
Councillor Teshe [1:24:07] Yes.
Clerk [1:24:08] Councillor Kelly, your C is absent. Councillor Santagate. Yes. Councillor DeJesus.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:24:12] Yes.
Clerk [1:24:13] Councillor Brown.
Councillor Brown [1:24:14] Yes.
Clerk [1:24:14] And Councillor Robinson is absent. With seven members voting in favor, zero opposed. And four members absent. Voter approved.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:24:22] Thank you, clerk. Moving on to the next item, next
Purchase of 260 Marginal Street
Clerk [1:24:28] communication received from the city manager requesting city council authorization to purchase property at 260 Marginal Street. Dear Councilors, I am writing to request that the city council authorize the purchase of 260 Marginal street from Hines. This property is next to our city owned property, 324 Marginal street which is currently leased to Enterprise Rent A Car. Hines currently leases 260 Marginal street to Enterprise as well. The city sees this purchase as an opportunity to consolidate and expand our current relationship with Enterprise Rent a car. In 2025, the council voted to extend the lease agreement with Enterprise Rent a car until 2045. Enterprise continues to be an incredible partner to the city and contributes to our long term fiscal health. The city has negotiated a purchase and sale agreement. Pending approval of the city council, the property is being offered to the city for $3.2 million. This one time cost will be covered with funds from our overlay account. Pursuant to Mass General Law, Chapter 59, Section 25, I am writing to respectfully request that the city council appropriate $3,200,000 from the overlay reserve fund. In accordance with the statute, I requested the board of assessors to transfer $3.2 million from the overlay reserve fund. This request was approved by the board of assessors at their meeting in September. We asked the city council approve the use of overlay funds for this purchase. We also request the city council approve the purchase of the property. A draft of the purchase and sale agreement are attached to the letter along with the financial order orders for the purchase. Thank you for your support.
Unidentified speaker [1:25:57] Is there a motion move for ways and Means?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:26:02] Seeing no objections, Councillor? Teshe.
Councillor Teshe [1:26:05] Is this the communications or is this the actual order?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:26:08] I’m sorry.
Clerk [1:26:10] Communication. Acceptance file.
Unidentified speaker [1:26:12] Okay. Oh, we’re not doing them in one.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:26:17] What was that?
Clerk [1:26:19] We’re not doing them in one. So the communication was read, the two orders that follow. One relates. Sorry.
Councillor Taylor [1:26:25] Accept and accept and file under unanimous consent and move the order to Ways and Means.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:26:33] Seeing no objections. Thank you, councillor.
Clerk [1:26:35] The two orders referred to Ways and Means are the appropriation of the money of $3.2 million from the overlay surplus DPW for land acquisition, and the other is to authorize the city to formally make the purchase. Thank you, Clerk. Both referred to Ways and means.
Faith and Blue events
Clerk [1:26:52] Next, communication received from the city manager extending an invitation to join Faith and Blue events in October. The councilors. I’m ready to extend a warm invitation for everyone in our community to join us in our upcoming Faith and Blue events. During the month of October, these events will be a great opportunity for our city to stand together with our faith communities and with the men and women of the Chelsea Police Department and building stronger trust and connection with our residents. It is important is more important than ever that our community feels confident and trusts our local government and local law enforcement. The path forward is not simply to demand trust, but to earn it through open, consistent and transparent communication. That is precisely what Faith in Blue allows us to do. Meet residents where they are, dismantle fear and offer opportunities for real human connection, for conversation, listening and mutual understanding. With Faith and Blue, we seek to strengthen unity, to be visible, accessible and authentic. We have collaborated with many houses of worship, from Temple Emmanuel to Luz de Cristo, from revival church to St. Luke’s from revive community church to the People’s AME Church. These institutions have already committed to walking together in this movement. We need everyone in our community to participate and send a powerful message that Chelsea stands firmly alongside our faith groups, community organizations and promoting safety, belonging and dignity for all. Faith and Blue also offers residents a living demonstration of our shared purpose that we are here to protect, serve and walk together with all who call Chelsea home. Thank you for your leadership during this trying time.
Unidentified speaker [1:28:21] Accept and file the communication under unanimous consent,
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:28:27] seeing no evictions and Councillor Santagate to speak on it.
Councillor Santagate [1:28:32] Yeah, I have been lucky enough to be free to attend the three events for Faith and Blue that have happened thus far. And they have all been incredible. And I think one of the most powerful meetings was yesterday at St. Luke’s Church where there was a service and a luncheon planned. And during the service there was the start of an electrical fire and it was the new reverend’s first day after Father Edgar’s retirement and he did not miss a beat and basically moved the service to the lawn of the church while the officers took the dining area and moved it outside to the parking lot. And it was just like perfect example of two things. Baptism by fire, literally, for the Reverend Max. And also the whole notion that faith transcends a building and that basically you can worship anywhere. And that’s exactly what happened. And it was beautiful. That congregation is fantastic. And we really saw it in action yesterday. So I encourage, if anyone who has time to join the future events, they’re a highlight of the month of October for me.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:30:06] Thank you, councillor Taylor, your mic is on. I don’t know if you want to.
Councillor Taylor [1:30:11] Yeah, I’ll speak. I just wanted to say thank you to the city manager for doing this. I unfortunately have not been able to attend. I was out of town recently for my father’s 98th birthday in Arizona. you know, our faith communities increasingly becoming more and more important to our community. As, you know, as we go through kind of troubled times, I think a lot of us are turning to our churches and synagogues and mosques, you know, to kind of meet the challenges that we face. So I appreciate us acknowledging our faith based communities because they really are a very important part of our community. And, you know, we wouldn’t be getting very far, I think, without them. So thank you, Mr. City Manager, for that.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:31:33] Thank you, Councillor Brown.
Councillor Brown [1:31:35] Thank you, Madam Vice President. Great work. Last year I was five out of six. This year the time hasn’t worked, but the last few days here will work. It’s really a great experience. Most of you know I’m very religious anyway. But, you know, it’s not that. You go to this place and you sit and you look at people, say things and play music. When things happen at that place, you feel it. You get involved, you enjoy yourself. We’ve been to many of them and you could see folks from your neighborhood, police officers, and nothing is staged. It’s unique. It’s really people enjoying one another. And the more that we go, the more that we build on that attention. It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to raise all of us. And we’re embracing each other. We got the police, we got the religious sectors, we got the family members, we got the elected officials from different faiths, different walks. It’s just a great time to just go out and show them that, hey, if you can’t make them all, you make one or two. But if you really want to get involved, it’s a great opportunity just to express yourself and, you know, have a good time with some really good people.
Unidentified speaker [1:32:58] Thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:32:59] Thank you, councillor. Seeing no other comments, moving on, the
Fire chief contract renewal
Clerk [1:33:03] final communication received from the city manager regarding the renewal of employment agreement for the fire chief. Dear Councilors, I am writing to share that we have renewed the employment agreement with Fire Chief John Quatieri for an additional three years. Chief Quatieri stepped into the role of fire chief in 2024, and his current employment agreement was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2027. We chose to begin this process early because we believe strongly in his leadership and are excited about the opportunity to continue his service to the city of Chelsea. Over the past three years, the Chelsea Fire Department has continued to grow and improve under Chief Quatieri’s leadership. The department has significantly expanded its community outreach, strengthened emergency response capabilities and enhanced emergency preparedness. Under Chief Quatieri’s leadership, the city has successfully reimplemented Engine four, representing the biggest expansion of firefighter staffing since receivership. This investment in our fire department is an important accomplishment and demonstrates our commitment to public safety. Chelsea remains an incredibly busy urban community. When it comes to fire and other emergency incidents. Our city requires a fire department that is prepared to respond quickly.
Councillor Taylor [1:34:08] And the President asked to waive the rest of the reading and accept and file the communication under unanimous consent.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:34:15] Seeing no objections. Moving on.
Clerk [1:34:19] We received no communications or petitions.
Committee report: Chief Economic Development Officer
Clerk [1:34:19] Moving on to committee reports. The first committee report received is from the Council president from the meeting of the subcommittee on conference held September 21, 2026.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:34:31] Is there a motion on my behalf
Councillor Teshe [1:34:36] move to accept and file if there are no objections?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:34:42] Seeing no objections. Thank you, Councillor.
Clerk [1:34:47] The committee referred the Following Agenda Item 2661 back to the full council with a positive recommendation. Order introduced by the Council President ordered that the Chelsea City Council hereby authorizes and approves the City Manager to establish and fill the position of Chief Economic Development Officer for the City of Chelsea and to establish an Office of Economic Development under the direction and supervision of the City Manager and be. It further ordered that the Chief Economic Development Officer shall serve as an exempt salaried municipal employee and shall be responsible for leading and coordinating the City’s economic development efforts, including business attraction and retention, development opportunities, interdepartmental coordination, developer engagement, and the advancement of projects that expand the city’s commercial tax base and create new economic opportunities for Chelsea residents. And be. It further ordered that because the position was not Included in the FY27 adopted budget, any appropriation necessary to fund the position during FY27 shall be presented to the City Council for approval following certification of available free cash and that Beginning with the FY28 budget, the administration’s health seek reductions in the city’s budget to offset the additional cost related to this position.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:36:02] Councillor brown.
Councillor Brown [1:36:09] By Rob Vote We. Because it’s not money. It’s just a position.
Clerk [1:36:18] RO is allowed. There’s no business funds.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:36:20] That’s okay. And then. Teshe. Yeah. Thank you, Councillor. Any other comments, Councillor Taylor?
Councillor Taylor [1:37:52] Yeah, I think this job. And I argued for it, I argued for it in the subcommittee that this is very necessary. And, you know, I think that’s right. It’s not merely about revenue, although I think that is the main concern. You know, it’s also. It’s also about jobs and bringing jobs to Chelsea for our residents. That’s the. That really is it? I don’t. I don’t see the identity part. you know, I think if we bring good jobs to people, that’s what they really need, and I think that that will help the city. I just want to say one thing. In the days to come, we will be talking more and more about the financial situation in the city, which makes this position all the more necessary because there are rougher times ahead of us, and we’ll be talking more about that as things unfold. But I think it’s vital that we have somebody dedicated to this job of economic development in the city of Chelsea so that we can continue to ensure the financial stability of this city and its ability to render services to our residents in a way that is helpful and not in a limited way that’s not going to cut the mustard. So I thank everybody who voted for this in the subcommittee committee, and I look forward to passing it now. And I want to thank the city manager for making the financial part of it doable. So thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:40:01] Thank you, Councillor. I’ll also share for the public to note that there was a subcommittee on this prior to today’s meeting, and many of us were able to ask the city manager questions and really go through the detailed job description of this position, as well as understand whether this is a Brand new position or a position that’s absorbing some of the roles and responsibilities from other departments previously. And so, yeah, just wanted to make that clear for the record as we will be voting on this. All right, let’s move on.
Clerk [1:40:40] Councillor Brown requested roll call vote.
Councillor Taylor [1:40:46] Yes.
Clerk [1:40:47] Councillor Recupero?
Councillor Recupero [1:40:48] Yes.
Clerk [1:40:48] Councillor Jimenez-Rivera is absent. Councillor Hines.
Councillor Hines [1:40:51] Yes.
Clerk [1:40:51] Councillor Tanairi Garcia is absent. Councillor Teshe.
Councillor Teshe [1:40:54] Yes.
Clerk [1:40:55] Councillor Kelly Garcia is absent. Councillor Santagate?
Councillor Santagate [1:40:58] Yes.
Clerk [1:40:58] Councillor DeJesus?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:41:00] Yes.
Clerk [1:41:00] Councillor Brown?
Councillor Brown [1:41:01] Yes.
Clerk [1:41:01] And Councillor Robinson is absent. With seven members in favor, zero opposed in, four absent. Order approved.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:41:08] Thank you, clerk. Moving on to the next item.
Ways and Means report: three spending orders postponed
Clerk [1:41:10] Next committee report received comes from Councillor DeJesus from the meeting of the subcommittee on Ways and means held September 22, 2026.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:41:18] Is there a motion? Thank you, counsel. Click.
Clerk [1:41:35] The committee report was accepted and filed. It has already been read.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:41:38] Okay. All right, moving on.
Unidentified speaker [1:41:40] Thank you.
Clerk [1:41:42] We have three financial orders that the Ways and Means Committee referred back to the council with a positive recommendation. 26F39, 26F40, 26F41. We do not have sufficient number of council to vote on this tonight. We need eight. So I would recommend postponing it to the 19th.
Councillor Taylor [1:42:01] All right, I’ll move to postpone.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:42:04] Thank you, Councillor. Postponing those items and moving on to the next.
Low-income solar agreements (SMART program)
Clerk [1:42:11] Move on to committee. Report received from the council president on the meeting of the subcommittee on conference held September 22, 2026.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:42:20] Is there a motion?
Councillor Brown [1:42:30] Make a motion to accept the community report if you have no objection.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:42:34] Seeing none. Moving on.
Clerk [1:42:37] The subcommittee on conference referred the following two full orders back to the city council with positive recommendation. First item before you, item 2656, introduced by the council president. Order that the city council hereby authorizes the city manager to enter into agreements with two solar companies, BWC Merriam Brook LLC and Blue Meadow Brook LLC, for funds to distribute to low income participants in the Chelsea Electricity Choice program for a period of 20 years relative to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Smart Solar Incentive program and will be distributed to users through municipal electricity aggregation programs such as the city’s program Chelsea Electricity Choice and be. It further ordered that the city Council hereby authorizes the city manager to execute and deliver any and all documents with two solar companies, BWC Merriam Brook LLC and Blue Meadow Brook LLC, for funds to distribute to low income residents in the Chelsea Electricity Choice program for a period of 20 years on such terms and conditions, the city manager deems to be in the best interest of the city of Chelsea.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:43:40] Thank you, Clerk. Is there a motion
Unidentified speaker [1:43:45] move to accept.
Councillor Teshe [1:43:47] Move to adopt the new suspension of. There are no objections.
Councillor Taylor [1:43:51] I object.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:43:53] Okay. Councillor Taylor objects.
Councillor Teshe [1:43:55] Move for roll call vote.
Councillor Taylor [1:43:58] I’d like to speak on it.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:44:00] Councillor Taylor, you have the floor.
Councillor Taylor [1:44:07] Okay. So just for the people at home, we had a subcommittee on this and this was presented to us as a way to help low income people get lower rate electricity. What it doesn’t say and what I had to, you know, wiggle it out of them about who was paying for this. Now I think people in everybody in Chelsea, and not just in Chelsea, but all over the state of Massachusetts, have wondered why their Eversource bills have gone through the roof. And I’ll tell you, one of the reasons why it has gone through the roof is because of this program. Now let me explain something. If the people on Beacon Hill want to pass a law that gives low income people cheap electricity, they should do it in legislature, fully transparent to everybody about what’s going on, have a debate and pass it. But that’s not what happened here. The people on Beacon Hill didn’t want to do that because they wanted to be sneaky about it. They wanted to deceive. And this is probably the most decent, deceitful piece of legislation that I’ve ever seen. There’s no way to opt into this for anybody who is not on public assistance. So that means any of the working poor people that don’t want to go on public assistance and maybe are working two jobs to make ends meet, There’s no way that they can access this. And the way this is paid for is that Eversource, this money is taken directly out of Eversource’s pocket and given to these solar companies. Now the state can say, oh, we didn’t have anything to do with this is the solar companies making independent agreements with the municipalities for 20 years. For 20 years. I’ll tell you, I am extremely upset. And I think that everybody in Chelsea whose Eversource bill has doubled at least, should be angry at the people on Beacon Hill for this. And I gotta say, I’m all for helping people of low income, but I want to do it out in the open and I want to do it with full transparency. I don’t want to trick people into paying more money without knowing what it’s for or what’s going on. I think that this is actually despicable and nobody else. I mean, if you’re not on public assistance, you’re paying. And your representatives never told you that? I’ll bet. I know the governor never mentioned it. In fact, she wants to blame Washington. But this lies at the feet of the governor and the legislature. And I’m sorry, I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world if I didn’t vote against this. And I gotta say, any Councillor that votes for this is voting for a tax that wasn’t passed by the legislature. A tax on you with your Eversource bills that are out of control. This is what, this is why people don’t like politicians. And if you have any questions about any of this, I encourage any of you to call me on my cell because this is a longer conversation. [Phone number removed.] You guys call me. And this is really. I’m astounded. I didn’t even think that people on Beacon Hill could do stuff like this. But they’ve done it.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:49:07] Thank you Councillor. I got Councillor Recupero and then Councillor Teshe.
Councillor Recupero [1:49:13] I’m a Democrat and he’s a Republican and for once I agree with him. Here’s why I agree with him. Look at your utility bill. Look at your election bill. You’re paying for solar. Look at the charges. I didn’t know that’s one reason you were paying. The next one is. Why do they say it’s for low income people? Low income people already get a discount if they look at the electric bill. It says they get an electric one then for 20 years we gonna have to pay. Not only that, I’ll be dead and gone. It wouldn’t matter to me that next generation is the one that’s gonna have to pay for. Not only that, something else too. What about that? Like the Councillor says, the working poor, don’t they deserve it? Why is everything given to low income? Low income? I’m sick and tired of low income. There’s plenty working poor people in our state. They don’t get nothing. Plenty Hispanics work, plenty Europeans. All people work. But yet they don’t qualify for nothing. They are the ones putting all the money into it and in return getting nothing. I’ll make you an example as a school. Some young Spanish people asked me they wanted to get a high school education. The first thing they said to them, I’m not going to mention the school. The first thing they said, I made believe I was one of them and I asked them, I said to them, I would like to get a high school education because I didn’t Receive it. Can you help me? The first thing they say to me, are you a transitional assistant? And I said, no, well, then you got to pay $4,500. So you’re discriminating against anybody that wants to get an education. I could tell you the name of the school because they do it, but I’m not going to mention them because they’re not worth mentioning for doing something like that in this state. They say everybody gets an education. Why can these people get an education? Why do they have to pay 4,500?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:51:06] Councillor, we are getting off topic now.
Councillor Recupero [1:51:09] No, it’s the same thing I’ll make getting off topic. He’s talking about that poor people are paying for something.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:51:16] Can we just accept the utility?
Councillor Recupero [1:51:18] All right, never mind. We won’t say that anymore. But here’s the thing. My final say is this. I am for everybody that needs help. I’m not against giving anybody anything. But I’m also for fairness. You want to do it for all right, don’t do it for. That’s a like minority. Thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:51:37] Thank you, Councillor. I have Teshe.
Councillor Teshe [1:51:40] I’ll say that I partly agree with Councillor Taylor. I think a lot of people don’t know when it comes as a surprise to them to find out that the part of the reason why the utility bill goes up is because taxpayers are funding the or essentially subsidizing the solar companies in this state. Although I will say, and I don’t want to single somebody out, but one of the projects that is coming to Chelsea is Flatiron and they are a battery plant. They are one of the companies that are also being funded by the state and by the tax credits that they are getting that are being paid by taxpayers. It’s a great thing to do. And so we cannot be picking and choosing at this point. We’re looking at a program that will benefit people in the city of Chelsea. And if you want to fight the state, don’t do it at the cost of the poor people that do need this program as of now. So for that very reason, even though I agree with some of the arguments that were made before me, we’re looking at a population in our city that needs our help. And this is one way we can help them. And let’s also not forget what the big reason for the hiking prices in gas and energy is, and that’s a national concern. That’s not Chelsea or Massachusetts.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:53:12] Councillor Hines.
Councillor Hines [1:53:12] I just want to express my conflict and openly because when this thing first came, it was a discussion of what it is that we’d be able to save and especially in prioritizing our low income families and communities, but also in learning more about the program. There is a low cost affordability program that residents are automatically enrolled in currently if they are eligible for public assistance. So I am very conflicted because on one end we do save money for residents under a 20 year contract for a program that we, the general taxpayer is already paying into somebody’s. I feel like somebody’s cutting a corner here and a lot of us are being shortchanged. So I don’t know. For that reason, we’ll see how it goes.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:54:16] Councillor, you need to get out of my head. So I’ll just share briefly that that was my question. Regardless of flat iron battery, regardless of the poor people or the working poor, the fact is that some of us here sat in a conversation in a subcommittee. We took the time to come in, listen to presentations, ask very specific questions, and now we’re finding news that wasn’t shared for us, even though the questions we were asking could have hinted to some of these responses we’re seeing now. So I’m also a bit conflicted on this and again has nothing to do whether this is for the working poor or the poor. Y’ all know where I stand when it comes to that. But I also like transparency and I will not voting for this evening. So there is an order on the table. Councillor Brown, you want to share some words?
Councillor Brown [1:55:12] Like to see if I can make a motion. Do we have? What motion do we have?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:55:18] There’s a motion from Councillor Teshe at the moment for a roll call.
Unidentified speaker [1:55:23] That was correct.
Councillor Hines [1:55:30] Could I object before we vote, Ask the city manager a question.
Councillor Brown [1:55:39] Madam President, prior to that I had my hand up for yes.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:55:44] Let’s, let’s go with councillor Brown and then city manager. Don’t, don’t go too far.
Councillor Brown [1:55:49] So my motion was going to be, since there is some discord here, if we can make a motion to move it back to subcommittee. Because in light of what we’re hearing, in light of what people are agreeing on, that maybe there is still more information we need. We’re still missing five city council members, so I take respect and consideration. Four. I’m sorry. And maybe we should give it another shot at this subcommittee prior to voting if we don’t have a limitation of what time we have to have this passed.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:56:34] All right, so now we have another motion on the floor. The first motion was Teshe for the roll Call, vote. And now do we need to address one or the other?
Clerk [1:56:46] Clerk, the motion to amend the motion to refer take precedence over the motion for roll call vote. If the motion to refer does not pass or it’s not agreed upon, then the motion to roll call stands.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:57:01] Okay, so you’re saying that Brown’s motion takes a lead. Correct. Is anyone objecting to Brown’s motion?
Councillor Teshe [1:57:12] If I could speak on it To your motion. I don’t think another subcommittee is necessary because one was already held. I think what we do need here is moving the vote for a different meeting. And I guess the point of inquiry would be, can that be possible to make sure that we do have all the councilors here present when we do take a vote.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:57:37] So councillor says she’s asking for another meeting. Not a subcommittee. A meeting and conference is what I’m hearing.
Councillor Teshe [1:57:45] A regular meeting.
Councillor Recupero [1:57:45] Regular meeting, yeah.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:57:47] To have this discussion on the floor. Okay. All right, Clerk, point of clarification here, please.
Clerk [1:58:00] I’m not 100% sure what the motion is. I’m. Is the motion to postpone to the next meeting?
Councillor Teshe [1:58:06] Yeah. It’s a point of inquiry to ask if it’s possible that we postpone this decision or order for an upcoming regular meeting where we can have. Hopefully we have a full body. I think that’s better than the subcommittee because the subcommittee was already held.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:58:33] Okay. So I have. Now, before I continue to pile up motions, guys, where are we going with Brown? Brown, your motion right now is on the floor. And then after we resolve your motion, then we have to still deal with Teshe’s initial roll call vote motion. So is there an objection or anything?
Councillor Taylor [1:58:54] I just speak on it.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:58:55] Okay. Councillor Taylor.
Unidentified speaker [1:58:58] Yeah. We’re still pending your motion. Go ahead.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [1:59:15] Yes, but it’s still on your motion. So it’s still on your motion. Yeah.
Councillor Brown [1:59:22] So the reason why I’m asking for the subcommittee, because in light of what we’re saying here and what I’m hearing here is folks are saying that, hey, we don’t have this information. This is the first time I’m having this information. Let’s get the city council members back in the city, in the subcommittee. Talk, discuss and get what you need to have. Note, ask the city manager. Not back and forth tonight as we’re trying to do and figure out what the other four city council members may not know, what their thoughts are. So give it a fair opportunity. Go back to the subcommittee. I was at the subcommittee when we had it. Not every council member here was there. So we have to make some effort to get there, and then we can get all the stuff hashed out.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:00:10] Thank you, Councillor Taylor, then Councillor Hines and City manager. Don’t go nowhere.
Councillor Taylor [2:00:18] Yeah, with all due respect, look, I’m usually the one who’s begging people to have subcommittees, right? But at this point, we had a subcommittee, we discussed it, and now we’re going to vote on it. We do have enough people to vote on it. Councillors have to take responsibility for showing up to the meeting and actually voting. And I gotta say, you know, having another subcommittee is not going to change my mind at all. I know exactly what this is, and I do not need another subcommittee to do this. Regardless of, you know, the difference between the solar programs. Those are for everybody, okay? Those are for everybody. I’m all for that. I gave Flatiron a chance. Yeah, I’m all for new technology. If it’s going to save people money or whatever, fine. I think that’s reasonable. But to use political subterfuge and do things in the dark of night and specifically trying to hide from the people what’s going on or why their Eversource bills are out of control. The highest in the country, by the way. The highest in the country. Way above the national average. This is outrageous. And I gotta say, you know, at this point, this is not even political. This is just, you know, whether we consent, you know, to being financially assaulted by our politicians and them trying to hide it so that they can shift the blame for something that they themselves are responsible for. Now, come on, people, this is simple. So I will be voting against another subcommittee because I don’t think it matters. And it does matter what city councilors show up to vote.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:02:47] Councillor Hines.
Councillor Hines [2:02:53] I was also. I was also at that subcommittee. I don’t think us having another subcommittee would get us the information necessarily. I think it would allow us to ask more questions, but it doesn’t give us the ability to change the proposal as it came to us, because it’s not ours. And I agree with Councillor Taylor on the burden being shifted to municipalities because we would be the ones that are in this contract. I also feel like there’s some sense of strong arming going on because whether or not you have solar power currently, you’re paying for it. Your energy bills going up. It’s kind of like a force or a push for you to just get solar panels. Even though that is a good. It should be more of a choice than, like, diversion. But the question that I wanted to ask the city Manager, I’m sorry because you’ve been waiting and I thank you for being so patient. Is there’s a separation of contracts for the city and for the residents, right? Is there any. Does this also pertain to the contract that’s proposed for the city and the municipal?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:04:17] No, sir. There are two separate orders in front of you. One is Council Order 2656, which is for the item that is before you. Which is the City of Chelsea taking advantage of a program to lower electricity rates for people that are currently on the Eversource low income rate in order to, as we shared in the subcommittee, in order to take advantage of that low income rate. How most programs these days work is that they. If you qualify for MassHealth, if you qualify for SNAP, if you qualify for EBT, then you are automatically enrolled. I will tell you that what I’ve heard is that MassHealth is widely used, right? I mean Chelsea has 10,000 residents that are on SNAP, right? I mean 25% of our residents are on SNAP, right. So if you have SNAP, this will benefit you. Right? So it’s, you know, is that working poor or is that extremely poor? I’m not sure what the threshold there is. But this is for a program that the City of Chelsea can take advantage of. If the council chooses not to vote for this, then everything that the council has shared continues. Right? As you said, Councillor, this is not a city run program. This is a state program that the city can choose to go into. So if the council wants to know, that’s okay. But we will then pass on that opportunity to save residents money. And that opportunity will be had by residents elsewhere.
Unidentified speaker [2:06:18] I don’t know.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:06:20] I have a follow up question to that. So that means then that Chelsea will still see an impact because other communities are opting into it. We just will lose the opportunity to also have our low income residents benefit from it 1000%.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:06:36] So the Eversource rates will remain high. Right? As Councillor Recupero has said. Right. And we will pay for the benefit for residents in New Bedford for instance, or residents in Salem as opposed to residents in Chelsea.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:06:54] Thank you, Councillor Taylor, Sorry.
Councillor Taylor [2:06:58] So I just wanted to also just make one thing clear about this. Nobody, no other municipality has done this yet. They always come to Chelsea because they think Chelsea is easy pickings for them and that we’re gonna do whatever they say because we’re Chelsea. So I gotta say that yes, we wouldn’t be taking advantage of that, but taking Advantage of something doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t make it the moral thing. It doesn’t make it the right thing. If we say no to this, other municipalities hopefully would say no to this. And if they still want to shift money from Eversource to solar companies because it benefits them and that they don’t want their handprints on it so that they’ll just allow the municipalities to do it, but it’ll be a contract for 20 years. This is not how business should be done. And just because it saves some people some money doesn’t make it right. And that we should say no and send a message back to Beacon Hill that this whole thing stinks. And that if they want to pass a law that says they’re going to transfer money from Eversource to solar companies, then they do it in the open where everybody can see. And guess what? There’s an election coming up in November. But they want to hide it. Ooh, I wonder why. I wonder why. So the city manager says, well, this is going to happen and, you know, our people won’t be able to take advantage of advantage of it, but other municipalities will. Okay, maybe, but we’re not consenting to something that wasn’t transparent. That was obviously a deal from a back room to fund solar companies and take it out of the pocket of Eversource so that what does Eversource do? They raise their rates for everybody else. Gee, guess why your Eversource bill is so high so councilors can do what they want, but you are responsible maybe not just for Chelsea, but for the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts and what those other municipalities actually do. And I think we ought to do the right thing, which is saying no to dishonest politicians.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:10:03] Before I go to Councillor Recupero, just to clarify and questions City manager, because I remember in the conversation, are we bind to this contract or can we opt out at any moment?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:10:14] We. Nothing has been executed. Nothing has been signed.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:10:18] Once it’s executed, are we like locked in for those 20 years or is there a way for us to say, you know what, this is not what we thought it was going to be?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:10:30] I believe that I don’t know the answer to that question. I believe that we can terminate the agreement and essentially bypass that savings.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:10:42] Okay, My other question is in regards to the Councillor Taylor’s comment. So there are no other cities.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:10:51] So in the second, the subcommittee, they explained that this is a new program. It is a program that is authorized by the state and it was created for this purpose only. This purpose. It’s called the Smart Solar Initiative program. And essentially it is for this reason. There are three communities that I am aware of that are at the exact same point that we are, which is Salem, Revere, Cambridge. They are at the exact same point as we are going through the approval process with our respective city councils.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:11:30] My last question. Is there a time limitation if we do not vote, if we decide to reconvene again next year and talk about what cities have opted in, what impacts we have seen, Is that a possibility?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:11:43] It could be. I think that the suggestion of having another meeting is actually a really good suggestion. I think that there are clearly a lot of feelings around this program and you know, I think getting the people back in the room to answer a lot of the hard questions I think would be beneficial for us. But I understand that the council has a logjam of subcommittee meetings. This certainly doesn’t have to be at the front.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:12:21] Thank you. City manager Councillor Recupero. Do you have questions for the city manager or is this a statement? Because I want to stay away from statement so we can move off of this order. Okay,
Councillor Recupero [2:12:35] So like you just stated for 20 years if we decide to hop out of it. You don’t know if we can or we can’t. So that’s. And another thing you said we have 10,000 people that are on SNAP, right? What happens to the other 30,000? You know, they’re not on SNAP. I always, I’m not against anything. I’ve always been for everything. But I’m also for fairness and equality for all of us. So what is the benefit of a few again? Through the years that I’ve been here it’s always been oh, the few don’t matter, the mask counts. So the few here don’t matter. The mask counts. Everybody’s supposed to count.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:13:18] Councillor, is there a question that you want to ask the city manager?
Councillor Recupero [2:13:22] Yes. If we vote no on this. Right.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:13:24] What happens if we vote no on this contract? I will let the companies know that Chelsea is not going to participate.
Councillor Recupero [2:13:34] You come back to it next year.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:13:36] Councillor, I asked that question.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:13:38] I don’t know the answer to that question. Councillor. I do not know.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:13:41] All right, we’re going to move back. We’re good. Okay, we’re going to move back to Councillor Brown.
Clerk [2:13:51] For clarification. Two motions on the floor. Councillor Brown moved to refer back to subcommittee on conference. I believe council ch move to postpone until the next Meeting. Is that motion still on the floor?
Councillor Teshe [2:14:05] No, that was my inquiry. My original motion was for a roll call vote.
Unidentified speaker [2:14:09] Got you.
Clerk [2:14:11] If there was a motion to postpone, the motion to postpone would take precedence. If that motion is not on the floor, the motion to refer is the only order pending before council.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:14:20] Okay, assuming that was withdrawn, then, Councillor. Okay, so then the motion we have before us before we go on to this vote, can you just clarify for
Clerk [2:14:33] everyone the motion pending before you? Motion introduced by Councillor Brown to refer agenda item 2656 back to subcommittee on conference. A yes vote would refer. A no vote would reject it. And we will return to the underlying order.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:14:52] Okay, move on to a roll call vote.
Clerk [2:14:57] Councillor Taylor?
Councillor Taylor [2:14:58] No.
Clerk [2:14:59] Councillor Recupero?
Councillor Recupero [2:15:00] No.
Clerk [2:15:02] Councillor Jimenez-Rivera is absent. Councillor Hines?
Councillor Hines [2:15:06] Yes.
Clerk [2:15:07] Councillor Tanairi Garcia is absent. Councillor Teshe?
Councillor Teshe [2:15:11] Yes.
Clerk [2:15:13] Councillor Kelly Garcia is absent. Councillor Santagate?
Councillor Santagate [2:15:16] Yes.
Clerk [2:15:17] Councillor DeJesus?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:15:19] Yes.
Clerk [2:15:20] Councillor Brown?
Councillor Brown [2:15:21] Yes.
Clerk [2:15:23] And Councillor Robinson is absent. On this motion, you have four members voting in favor, three members opposed. Three, four members absent. Majority member present. Motion to refer. Thank you, Clerk. I have Councilors Taylor, Recupero and Teshe voting no. Yes. With that, five members in favor. Majority vote passes. Motion referred as adopted.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:15:58] Thank you, Clerk. Moving on to the next item,
978 Solar net metering agreement for city buildings
Clerk [2:16:05] Next order before you from Ways and Means, which was referred back to council with a positive recommendation, as was the last one. Order that the Chelsea City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager to enter into an electricity bill credit purchase agreement with 978 Solar Development LLC for a period of up to 30 years relative to the purchase of an agreed upon percentage of the net metering credits generated by solar energy facilities. And be a further order that the City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager to execute and deliver any and all documents related to the Net Metering Credit Bureau purchase agreement to provide net metering services for up to 30 years on such terms and conditions the City Manager deems in the best interest of the City of Chelsea.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:16:44] Can I have a motion?
Councillor Taylor [2:16:49] I have a point of inquiry, Councillor Taylor. So this order is just pursuant to the contract being signed for the General solar program that we’ve instituted that all the residents are can take advantage of unless they opted out. Is that correct?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:17:19] No, sir. This order is completely different from the Chelsea Electricity Choice program. This is a contract between the City of Chelsea and a solar developer to reduce the city’s bills. So this is to reduce our electricity bills in, say, in City hall, in our police station, in our [unclear] buildings and DPW this will result in a savings about $60,000 a year. The schools. And the schools as well.
Councillor Taylor [2:17:52] Is it the same company that does the other one?
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:17:54] No. Two separate companies, two separate initiatives.
Councillor Recupero [2:17:59] Okay.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:18:00] All right. Council
Councillor Brown [2:18:04] as going ask if we have a motion for quick roll call vote.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:18:10] Seeing no objections. Moving on to a roll call vote. Closure Any speakers before we vote? No. All right.
Clerk [2:18:23] Roll call vote requested. Vote to adopt. Councillor Taylor?
Councillor Taylor [2:18:27] Yes.
Clerk [2:18:28] Councillor Recupero?
Councillor Recupero [2:18:29] Yes.
Clerk [2:18:29] Councillor Jimenez-Rivera is absent. Councillor Hines?
Councillor Hines [2:18:33] Yes.
Clerk [2:18:34] Councillor Tanairi Garcia Councillor Teshe?
Councillor Teshe [2:18:36] Yes.
Clerk [2:18:36] Councillor Kelly Garcia is also absent. Councillor Santagate?
Councillor Santagate [2:18:39] Yes.
Clerk [2:18:40] Councillor DeJesus?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:18:42] Yes.
Clerk [2:18:42] Yes. Councillor Brown?
Councillor Brown [2:18:43] Yes.
Clerk [2:18:44] And Councillor Robinson is absent. Seven members in favor, zero opposed, four absent. Order is adopted.
Low-income solar revolving fund
Clerk [2:18:44] Moving on to the next item. Referred back from Ways and Means with a positive recommendation. You have an order introduced by the council president. Whereas on June 25, 2028 the Chelsea City Council amended the revised code of ordinances of the City of Chelsea to add a new section 2200 to chapter 2 article 5 for departmental revolving funds and whereas section 53 e1.2 of chapter 44 of mass termination rule law authorizes cities and towns to establish departmental revolving funds for specific departmental programs subject to certain budgetary restrictions and whereas the city seeks to establish a new revolving fund to support a program to offer lower cost electricity supply to the programs participating in low income customers and whereas the establishment of a revolving fund will allow the program related revenues to be retained and expended for their intended purpose without further appropriation, subject to annual spending limits improved by the city council. Now therefore be it ordered that the revised code of ordinances of the City of Chelsea as amended be further remembered and adopted by revolving by amending Chapter 2 Article 5, Section 2200 to add a new entry to the table of revolving funds establishing the low income solar energy revolving fund.
Councillor Taylor [2:20:01] Madam President, I would ask that this also be sent back to the same subcommittee that we just voted on to send back the low income program to.
Councillor Teshe [2:20:13] I second that.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:20:14] Awesome. Moving right along then.
Clerk [2:20:19] Final item referred back from Ways and Means with positive recommendation authorizing revolving fund establishment for low income Z energy fund. Whereas section 53e1.2 of chapter 44 of Mass General law.
Unidentified speaker [2:20:31] We wave the rest of the reading seeing no objections. Wave the rest of the. What’s the motion and motion to send back to the subcommittee on comments?
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:20:46] No objections.
Public Safety subcommittee report: electric scooters
Clerk [2:20:49] Final committee report received comes from Councillor Santagate from the meeting of the subcommittee on public safety held September 28, 2026.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:20:58] Motion
Councillor Santagate [2:21:00] A motion to Accept and file under unanimous consent. And I’d love to speak on it.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:21:07] You have the floor.
Councillor Santagate [2:21:10] We had, I think, a very fruitful meeting with the chief and his captains about trying to come up with a program to address the use of electric scooters and other electric two wheeled vehicles on our streets because they’re increasingly a serious safety issue. And so we are going to initiate a program probably in the spring with winter approaching. I don’t think that we could though it’ll be as much of a issue in terms of people breaking the law. So there’s a teen road course that’s available that the police department is going to purchase that we will be able to have all of the operators of these vehicles hopefully go through so they can learn the rules of the road because they’re not following the rules of the road. And they’re also going to come up with some sort of hardcore operation similar to what the city of Boston did with Operation Kickstand, where they are going to be maybe choosing a weekend or a period to enforce and confiscate, etc. And I was pleased with the results of the meeting and I look forward to whatever program they put together.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:22:48] Thank you Councillor Taylor.
Councillor Taylor [2:22:52] Yeah, so I’m also a member of the Public Safety Committee. I agree with Ken, what Councillor Santagate said about it. I would only add a couple things and that is we’re also going to look at the city’s ordinance regarding these motorized vehicles and see what can be strengthened in order to better enforce this. I made it clear to the police department that we’re not going to. You know, there was a lot of things that, like I said last time that, you know, we get the. Treatment. I believe that they were honest and forthright and serious about trying to solve this problem, I gotta say. And I was grateful for Councillor Robinson who also attended. And by the way, Councillor Robinson was not here tonight because of the Chronicle program with the Lewis Latimer Society on the Lewis Latimer Society. So he is not here tonight because of that. But I’m grateful to him for pushing this subject. I see 10 year olds. I saw one this morning, I saw a 10 year old on a scooter. Thank God she had a helmet. She did have a helmet, but she’s on a motorized scooter going to school. And you know, you have to be a licensed driver in order to operate one of these motorized vehicles. Unless it’s an E bike. Those are the only ones that are exempted so we have a lot of education to do. And Councillor Santagate mentioned in enforcement time that will not happen until we have a kind of full force public relations campaign which will include some education in the schools and education for the parents. So that if the police have to confiscate some of these scooters which they are legally allowed to do in certain cases, they will do it. But we need to get people educated as to the consequences of their actions. And what we really want to do in bringing all of this up is to prevent somebody from getting killed or hurt on these things. Because I guarantee you if we do nothing, sooner or later it’s going to happen. And we’re not doing our job if we’re not trying to keep our Chelsea residents safe, especially the kids. So thank you Madam Chairperson for having that. And thanks to Councillor Robinson for being at the forefront of this issue. Thank you.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:25:55] Thank you councer.
Clerk [2:25:56] Moving on, there were no orders referred back from public safety. You have no unfinished business or second readings.
New business: library order
Clerk [2:25:56] Moving on to new business. First item under new business introduced by Councillor Kelly Garcia. Order that the city manager work with the Chelsea Public Library and other relevant
Unidentified speaker [2:26:12] department president Councillor Teshe
Councillor Teshe [2:26:18] move to wave the rest of the reading and refer to a second meeting.
Vice President DeJesus (chair) [2:26:24] Seeing objections Councillor. Moving on.
State election warrant
Clerk [2:26:29] Next item under new business you have an order introduced by the council president. Order that the Chelsea City Council hereby approves the warrant for the state election to be held November 3rd, 2026 as attachment.
Presiding councillor [2:26:51] We have a motion move for roll call vote. Anyone like to speak? You have the floor council.
Councillor Brown [2:27:08] Thank you Mr. Chairman. We’re about to adopt the warrant for the fall election. Everyone’s been asking about the election so November 3rd, the election’s coming up. Cities and towns have to post a warrant to let folks know that the election is coming up. Locations and places where the election will take in wards and pleasing mail in ballots I’m told have been mailed out. If you like to request a mail in ballot you can get a mail in ballot by requesting one from your cities and town halls. Also on September, October 17th they would have early voting will be available. If you like to vote early look on our website site here at Chelsea Mass Gov and go under city clerk’s office and they’ll have all that post in there. So want to say I’ll be adopting it with the rest of my comments tonight.
Presiding councillor [2:28:09] Councillor Hines.
Councillor Hines [2:28:09] I just want to say please please please please assert your right to participate in this election we wait every four years to have the conversation about who’s running for president. Those are two people, right? Like it is important who runs your city. It is important who runs your local government. It is important who’s your state representative, your congressperson, your district attorney. All these people have a more direct impact on you in your day to day experience. Please, if you are able to verify that you are. That you are registered to vote and go out and place your vote this upcoming election.
Presiding councillor [2:28:59] Anyone else?
Councillor Santagate [2:29:01] Okay.
Clerk [2:29:03] Roll call vote requested. He has vote to adopt.
Presiding councillor [2:29:09] Councillor Santagate. Sorry, we got a race of fire.
Councillor Santagate [2:29:13] I just wanted to actually reiterate with Councillor Hines has just said like our voter statistics are just abysmal here. We have to get out there. The polls are open for many hours. Please get out and vote. Your vote matters. And so I’m kind of begging you.
Presiding councillor [2:29:42] Anyone else?
Unidentified speaker [2:29:44] We voted. Okay.
Presiding councillor [2:29:47] Here, Ms. Clerk?
Clerk [2:29:49] Roll call vote requested.
Councillor Taylor [2:29:53] Yes.
Clerk [2:29:53] Councillor Recupero. Councillor Jimenez-Rivera. Councillor Hines.
Councillor Hines [2:29:57] Yes.
Clerk [2:29:58] Councillor Tanairi Garcia. Councillor Teshe.
Councillor Teshe [2:30:00] Yes.
Clerk [2:30:01] Councillor Kelly Garcia. And Councillor Santagate?
Councillor Santagate [2:30:03] Yes.
Clerk [2:30:04] Councillor DeJesus.
Councillor DeJesus [2:30:06] Yes.
Clerk [2:30:06] Councillor Brown.
Councillor Brown [2:30:06] Yes.
Clerk [2:30:08] And Councillor Robinson is absent. Seven members in favor, zero opposed. Four absent. Order approved. Warrant approved. Moving on.
School budget conference with the School Committee
Clerk [2:30:08] We have an order introduced by Councillor DeJesus. Order that a meeting of the subcommittee on conference be held with the superintendent and school committee to discuss the next fiscal year’s budget and other related concerns.
Councillor DeJesus [2:30:28] Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to accept and file. If there are no objections, I’d like the floor
Presiding councillor [2:30:35] saying none. You have the floor, Councillor.
Councillor DeJesus [2:30:36] Thank you. So this is ahead of the very tough conversations that we know we are going to have next school year and the budget cuts that we will see due to the unenrollment rate in Chelsea. I’ve been keeping in conversation with our superintendent and the administration and making sure that I, you know, have a sense of what we will be confronting. And I want to make sure that this body starts this conversation not individually, but in, you know, in partnership with the school committee and the administration. This is simply for us to understand what has happened since our last conversation. What are we looking at? Projections, you know, what are some of the root causes of some of these cuts? And also to understand too, I don’t want to assume that less youth means less money needed. But if that is the case, and I want to be fully aware of, you know, where our money is going to be appropriated, where, how we are going to sustain the proper classroom education that we want for all of our children in Chelsea. And so I am looking forward to having the conversation with all of my colleagues and our fellow members of the school committee as well as our superintendent. Thank you.
Presiding councillor [2:32:03] Any other speakers?
Eastern Avenue and Carroll Street safety
Clerk [2:32:08] Moving on, next item. Under new business order introduced by Councillor DeJesus order that the Traffic and Parking Commission explore pedestrian safety and traffic calming measures at the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Carroll Street.
Councillor DeJesus [2:32:21] Mr. Chair, I’d like to accept. If there are no objections, I’d like to speak.
Presiding councillor [2:32:26] You have the floor, Councillor.
Councillor DeJesus [2:32:27] Thank you. So my neighbors in District 3 have shared a number of times concerns with these intersections. Whether it’s Carol Hooper Lewis, it’s really tough for folks to get through the path pile up of traffic from Eastern Ave. And so I’m looking forward in particular to this intersection. I’m really grateful for the city manager and for Kate and our DPW crew because I literally shared with this and not even 24 hours later I had neighbors calling in gratitude because we already had some of the virtual requested fix fixtures already up and going. So there is brand new paint on all of our crosswalks in that intersection. And there I believe already is installed a mirror. So when you are coming down, Carol, and going towards SNL or turning towards, you know, that intersection leading to Revere, you now have an opportunity to look up and see the reflection of any vehicles that are coming down prior to this mirror. You kind of just play peekaboo and hope that the car is coming down or up, see the front bumper and slow down or you know, make a stop completely. So I’m hoping that this addresses at least the that for that intersection. I’ve had the conversation with speed bumps since my first year in office, and I know that that conversation is a tough one. There are a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration. The input from our fire department, the input from, you know, experts on the traffic and parking and so on. However, again, we must prioritize the people who are walking our streets. And not too long ago there was a collision between a vehicle and a person on a motorcycle. And you know, I received pictures of this horrible scene. Thankfully, the person was not injured badly and it was just the motorcycle that was beat up pretty bad. But I don’t want to sit here and talk about someone passing due to the fact that there’s speeding and you know, the infrastructures in some of our intersections are not safe enough for pedestrians or for all of us in general. And so I want to thank again City Manager and DPW for quick response. And we’re going to monitor the situation and we’ll continue then to take action as we see things either improve or not. Thank you.
Presiding councillor [2:35:21] Any other speakers?
Local preference in the inclusionary zoning lottery
Clerk [2:35:24] Okay, next item. Under new business order introduced by Councillor Kelly Garcia, order that the City Manager, in coordination with the Housing Authority, establish a 70% local preference for eligible Chelsea residents in proposed centralized lottery and waiting list for inclusionary zoning affordable housing units, or the maximum percentage permitted by applicable state and federal law with appropriate fair housing standards and required approval.
Presiding councillor [2:35:53] Councillor Teshe, move.
Councillor Teshe [2:35:57] Move for a second reading if there are no objections.
Presiding councillor [2:36:01] Okay, move to a second reading. Kelly’s not here. Kelly’s on here.
Councillor Recupero [2:36:17] Can I ask a question on that before we send the second reading to the City manager?
Presiding councillor [2:36:22] Regarding this.
Councillor Recupero [2:36:26] Yes.
Presiding councillor [2:36:26] Quick, quickly. What’s that? No, we’re still in the previous order. He’s talking about the previous order, not his own.
Councillor Recupero [2:36:40] I was wondering if we can amend it from 70 to 100% to be Chelsea residents, if that’s allowed, that when the exclusionary zoning comes in, instead of 70%, we can make 100% of the housing available to Chelsea residents.
City Manager Fidel Maltez [2:36:56] I am not sure, Councillor. I’ll look into it, though.
Councillor Recupero [2:37:01] Thank you.
Presiding councillor [2:37:02] Any other speakers? Okay, send it to a second reading.
Update on the city home repair program
Clerk [2:37:07] Next item. Under new business order introduced by Councillor Recupero, order that the City Manager provide an update as of the status of the city’s program that provides funds to homeowners to repair and or renovate their home, specifically if funding has been reallocated or if there are any plans to do so.
Presiding councillor [2:37:24] Yeah. Councillor Recupero, exempt from the unanimous, if
Councillor Recupero [2:37:29] there’s no objection, like to speak on it.
Presiding councillor [2:37:31] You have the floor, Councillor.
Councillor Recupero [2:37:35] This was implemented before. It was a program that we had. We have people there waiting right now to fix their homes. It’s a program that’s separate from the HUD program. It’s a program that the City of Chelsea especially gives to people that are not under the HUD system because you can’t get any money to fix your house unless you’re on HUD. This gives everybody an opportunity to fix their homes. And it was there before. But at the last meeting we had, Mr. Ben Cares said that there was no money and the program was not done. I want to make sure that the program is still there and that people of Chelsea can take advantage. From the last I’ve checked and people have called me for this program, there was 7, 14 people still waiting on a list. So I want to make sure that these people at least get an opportunity to fix their homes. And I know that through the years this program has been inactive for I don’t know, five, six years. Whatever the amount has been there, I can’t give you the exact and truly is only two people have got money. Two people. That was kind of because the way it was done the application process but then the city manager thanked him, put someone down there to help these people fill the application. So now the money’s not there and I hope the money is back there so the people can take advantage of a program that’s worth it to help out anybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re low income, high income. I think there is a minimum. It’s $100,000 minimum. If you make less than 100 grand then you’re entitled to it. That’s good. At least you don’t have to be on our EBT. It’s a program normal that anybody can use. Thank you.
Public announcements and adjournment
Presiding councillor [2:39:34] Okay, do we have any public announcements? If I may, I would just say reiterate what Councillor Brown had said before about people registering to vote. Mr. City Councillor, the city just put out an ad about the last day to register to vote. Would you mind telling people when that is? Do you remember it is cut. It is. It’s coming up. It’s coming up shortly. So look, there’s still time to register to vote if you’re so you can have your say in who’s doing what to you and choosing who you’re going to vote for, who you’re going to hold accountable and who you’re not, who you want to choose to run the government. So please participate because if you don’t, don’t complain. Correct. Councillor Taylor. Councillor, you go to the floor. Councillor.
Councillor Santagate [2:40:52] I just wanted to give a the public that information. So the deadline to register to vote is Saturday, October 24th. You can register in person by 5pm or online by 11:59pm don’t wait until the deadline, check your registration or learn how to register at www.chelseama.gov elections and
Presiding councillor [2:41:17] if you moved, you got to re register.
Councillor Brown [2:41:24] Okay, I got one more. Councillor Brown. So if you opt to wait to the last minute to register to vote, you have to have your registration stamped by 12am on so you have. So you have to have it stamped.
Presiding councillor [2:41:44] Any other public announcements? Quickly Councillor, we’re running out of time.
Councillor Recupero [2:42:00] Hey, supposed to laugh. It’s the end. We’ve been here all day. Let’s laugh. A little. Let’s go home happy. I would like to say one thing. The city is getting crowded, really crowded. So be careful with you park your car. Because a lot of times people don’t know when it’s at street cleaning and they’re going to get tagged if you come from another part. You’re going to get tagged if you don’t know that that particular day is street cleaning. So make sure you look at the signs for street cleaning.
Presiding councillor [2:42:29] Thank you, Councillor DeJesus.
Councillor DeJesus [2:42:34] I just want to remind folks and we are currently reviewing our charter. I’m part of the charter committee along with my colleague Hines. And this is a great opportunity for folks to give input as to what changes they would like to see and, you know, listen into some of the conversations. The last conversation we had was broadcast. So you are able to now tune into our meetings and see the discussion and be able to share feedback based on the conversations we’re having. But also, again, it’s open to the public. So you are all welcome to join these meetings. The dates, I believe, correct me if I’m wrong, clerk, are posted on the website. So yeah, reach out to your Councillor or scope out our website and join the conversation regarding the charter review.
Presiding councillor [2:43:27] Councillor Brown.
Councillor Brown [2:43:29] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman. Recupero reminded me of something. It is crowded out there and I want folks to know that children are back at school. Please be careful, cautious. I see it every morning. I say, oh my God, that folks. And these are drivers. They’re driving insane me quickly and out of control. And you got to be careful, the children are out there. Unfortunately, some of the places don’t have
Presiding councillor [2:44:04] crossing guards on scooters sometimes.
Councillor Brown [2:44:07] Right. We have to be careful for our youth. Please watch out for our school children. Thank you.
Presiding councillor [2:44:17] Any other public announcements? Okay, meeting adjourned.