The Finance Committee voted to approve the following (see Report and watch the video on NewTV):
- Appropriation of $258,524.10 from Free Cash for Four Plug-In Hybrid Police Cruisers. The vote was 7-0-1 (Councilor Humphrey abstaining).
- Acceptance of a $140,000 Grant from the Massachusetts Community Compact Cabinet’s Information Technology Grant Program to contact a management system provider to scan, OCR (optical character recognition), and index municipal documents currently stored in paper form from multiple City departments and to establish a web-based portal to allow for public access.
NOTE: A question was asked regarding what documents would be available to the public. IT Director, Joe Mulvey stated that most of the Law Department’s documents would be confidential. However, he believes that most of the Health Department’s documents would be discoverable. Mulvey added that the Treasury Department has many documents of historical significance and that determinations need to be made by departments and the archivist as to which documents would be the most appropriate to share.
- Acceptance of a $35,000 Grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety and the Department of Fire Services for the purchase of mobile radios.
- The transfer of $30,000 from Health and Human Services, Youth Services/Personnel/Other Stipends to pay for a summer internship program for Newton’s most at-risk teens.
- Appropriation of $225,000 of Transportation Mitigation funds the Trio transportation demand management plan. This consists of a) $100,000 for NewMo and $50,000 for Bike Share operations, (if a new Blue Bikes contract is not signed by the City, all $150K could go to NewMo) and b) $75,000 to pay for MBTA subsidies for trips to and from the Trio building for employees and residents. The City never discussed funding bike share as part, therefore funds need to come from elsewhere. Discussion on whether to keep any MBTA subsidies given the poor state of the Commuter Rail. 7-1 (Councilor Malakie opposed)
- Acceptance of a $2,027,000 MassWorks Program Grant for the Pettee Square Improvement Project.
- An increase in curbside mattress recycling fee from $50 to $60.
- Acceptance of a $68,000 MassDEP Recycling Dividends Grant to improve City recycling, composting, educational materials, outreach activities, and fund a part-time recycling compliance auditor.
- Appropriation of $3,240,000 for Newton South High School Synthetic Turf Fields and Perimeter Track. 6-1-1 (Councilor Norton opposed, Councilor Malakie abstaining)
NOTES: Several questions were asked regarding the environmental and health implications of the fields and why they were selected as opposed to grass fields or other materials. Luis Perez Demorizi, Director of Parks and Open Space, explained that Newton’s geographic region within the country and the state does not allow for the expansion into the vast land required to have enough grass fields to support the level of competition and amount of use expected. In addition, grass fields take a beating with melting frost, heavy rainfall, and heavy use, creating a dangerous situation for those using the field. As for better and cleaner materials, Director Perez Demorizi continued, they made sure to hold manufacturers accountable pre and post-purchase with material testing. Commissioner Banks followed, saying that the department has focused on improving grass field maintenance in recent budget cycles. She added that these new synthetic turf fields will have light systems, which will allow for maximum use of these facilities. A question was also raised regarding whether a cost analysis of switching over to grass vs. the cost of installation, operating costs, and disposal costs of synthetic turf fields. Director Perez Demorizi stated that they had not done such an analysis, as the land required to develop enough grass fields is not readily available.
