The Chelsea City Council on Monday night approved property takings for the Downtown Broadway reconstruction, voted to buy 260 Marginal Street for $3.2 million and sent the new tax rates and a senior property tax freeze to public hearings.
Ten councillors attended. Councillor Tanairi Garcia was absent, and Council President Roberto Jimenez-Rivera said she is dealing with health issues. Councillor Calvin Brown left partway through the meeting. The council also voted 8-1 to join a state low-income solar discount program and sent City Manager Fidel Maltez’s request for a contract extension through 2031 to committee.
Broadway takings approved 10-0
After a public hearing at which no one spoke, the council voted 10-0 to take easements and three small strips of land along Broadway for the MassDOT reconstruction project. Most of the takings are temporary construction easements that end five years after the order is recorded. The schedule attached to the order lists 82 cash awards to property owners totaling $249,500, the largest $16,200, plus four interests listed as donations.
Maltez said KP Law, the firm handling the takings, ran the properties through the Registry of Deeds, and the changes made since the order was filed only add identifying details to the attachments. He said the MassDOT project takes place next year.
260 Marginal Street
The council voted 8-0 to spend $3.2 million from the overlay surplus and 9-0 to authorize the purchase of 260 Marginal Street from its owner, named in the order as Hines. The lot sits next to the city-owned 324 Marginal Street. Both are used by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, whose lease with the city the council recently extended through 2045. Vice President Norieliz DeJesus, who chairs Ways and Means, said the purchase helps Enterprise expand and gives the city waterfront land for the long term.
Tax rates go to November 16 hearing
Both tax votes go to a public hearing at the council’s next regular meeting on November 16. Maltez recommends the maximum 35 percent residential exemption for owner-occupied homes and the 175 percent shift that moves the most tax allowed onto commercial and industrial property. The October 27 committee report projects a residential rate of $11.89 per $1,000 of value, up from $11.48, and a commercial rate of $24.74, up from $23.79. The city plans to send tax bills by December 31.
Senior tax freeze goes to a hearing
Councillor Giovanni Recupero’s home rule petition would let Chelsea exempt homeowners 65 and older from all property tax increases if they have lived in their home at least five years and earn $65,000 or less, or $100,000 or less for a married couple. The Conference committee voted 1-6 against it on October 27, and the city solicitor raised possible conflicts of interest for councillors who would benefit.
Jimenez-Rivera argued against a hearing, saying a hearing takes cost and staff work, the State House is unlikely to pass a single-city exemption, and the council should work with the city manager and the state delegation instead. Councillors Manuel Teshe, Todd Taylor, Deron Hines, Lisa Santagate and Leo Robinson said the proposal deserves a public hearing. Teshe said that “making an argument that we are wasting resources after we just approved $3.2 million to help a friend as large as Enterprise and then say that we cannot pay for a publication on paper, it’s a crazy statement.” Robinson said voting on the petition itself would be a conflict for him and he will not vote on it. The council sent it to a public hearing without objection.
Parking
A letter from Maltez said the city’s parking vendor mapped resident permits and found one street with 30 on-street spaces and 147 permits. It listed four ideas: more resident-only streets, a study of underused spaces, a limit on permits per unit, and changes to Broadway street sweeping. Taylor said the city should fix on-street parking before it changes zoning parking requirements. “People that don’t work or live in Chelsea should not be parking in Chelsea. End of story,” he said. Jimenez-Rivera moved the letter to the Conference committee after a dispute over whether a motion to file it had already passed.
Later, the council adopted Santagate’s order asking the city manager to look at moving the 6 to 8 a.m. Broadway street sweeping and starting meter enforcement at 9 a.m., so Broadway metered spaces could be used for overnight parking.
Sent to Ways and Means
- $500,000 in Community Health Impact Funds from Mass General Hospital, paid $250,000 in 2026 and $125,000 in 2027 and 2028, for food access, young adult jobs and domestic violence survivors. Jimenez-Rivera stepped out for the item, citing a possible conflict he will review with the city solicitor.
- The local match for a $440,470 federal grant to replace firefighters’ breathing equipment, from money set aside for a ballot scanner the clerk decided to rent. The letter puts the match at $44,047 and the order at $44,070.
- A $2,243.17 Home Depot donation of materials for a fire department training maze at the Mill Hill station, and $5,252.52 in prior-year bills.
Approved
- $40,438.51 left from the FIFA World Cup events, moved to Chelsea Square community events, 9-0.
- $270,599.66 moved to the City Hall and Senior Center parking lot paving project, 8-0.
- $12,505.14 in prior-year bills, 8-0.
- An $11,000 National Recreation and Park Association grant to train youth coaches, 9-0, and an $8,000 Win Waste Innovations donation for summer basketball league jerseys, 9-0.
- A batting trainer donated by Robinson, 8-0, with Robinson recused.
- Support for the police department’s $36,840 Justice Assistance Grant application.
- Jay Adams to the Community Preservation Committee, 10-0. Brian Hatleberg (Zoning Board of Appeals) and Jordan Hakes (Conservation Commission) moved to a second reading.
Also
- Chelsea Pa’Lante, the city’s first master plan in more than 50 years, goes to a public hearing before a council vote. The Planning Board adopted it October 27.
- Recupero said the city’s housing repair update did not answer his question about an older program for homeowners who do not rent to tenants in federal housing programs, which he said still has people on its waiting list. Maltez said he would look into it.
- On the plan for a citywide affordable housing waitlist run with the Chelsea Housing Authority, Recupero asked how the city will confirm applicants live in Chelsea. Maltez said proof of residency is required and he will ask how long someone must live in the city to qualify for the 70 percent local preference.
- Councillor Kelly Garcia withdrew her order on developer-funded rodent control, since a Conference committee on the city’s rodent program is already pending.
- A rules committee will review how committee reports are approved.
Watch the full meeting on Chelsea Community Cable.