The Finance Committee approved the following (see the report and watch the meeting video):
Requesting to accept and expend a $35,000 grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety and the Department of Fire Services (7-0) “For mobile radios in fire trucks, additional gear, and eye shield protection.”
CPC Recommendation to appropriate funds for the Jackson Homestead and Museum (7-0) $1,471,000 in 10-year bonds and $204,000 in CPC funding from Unrestricted Prior Year Funds to rehabilitate the basement suffering from water damage, replace a gas heater with electric, gutter and porch work.
Requesting to accept and expend a $109,930 grant from Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (7-0) to study the benefits of extended producer responsibility. With extended producer responsibility, the producer of an item is legally responsible to set-up, manage, and pay for a system to take back their product when a buyer wishes to dispose of it. “The scope of this project will include mattresses, paint, electronics, and packaging/printed paper. The grant will pay for a consultant, The Product Stewardship Institute. $10,000 of existing grant funds from the recycling dividend program will also go towards this project.” The system would be funded through a point-of-sale fee on each item purchased.
Authorization to enter into a 5-year contract for curbside trash and recycling collection (7-0) The City decided against going forward with a joint proposal for services with Brookline after finding few potential benefits. The proposed five-year contract is for curbside collection of trash and recycling, trash disposal, recycling processing, cart fleet management, bulky items pickup, whitegoods collection, yard waste collection, organics collection, dumpster service at some municipal and residential properties and mattress recycling. Four holiday delays were removed (MLK, Presidents Day, Indigenous Peoples Day and Veterans Day). “Recycling processing to be charged based on the composition of Newton’s recycling.” Organics collection proposals came in at $1.5 million and $3.8 million. Discussion of its feasibility and potential MassDEP grants will be continued. Drop box compost collection at City Hall, Rumford Ave, Wheeler Ave, and Albemarle Road has been going well. Currently, there is no composting program in school or municipal buildings.
Acceptance of $50,000 from the Massachusetts State Budget for sidewalk improvements around the Underwood Elementary School (7-0) to improve sidewalks and ADA ramps. State Rep. Kay Khan was thanked for earmarking this project in the State budget.
Authorization to appropriate and expend $200,000 from Transportation Network Company (TNC) Ride Share funds (7-0) “from the Commonwealth Transportation Infrastructure Fund to supplement the funding for the Nahanton Street Pedestrian Improvements project.” Total design and administration costs is estimated to be $296,000, construction cost between $1.1 and $1.3 million. The City has a Complete Streets Grant for $500,000 and $192,000 put aside for the project. The Department of Public Works anticipates the remaining $487,522 to come from the Opus project’s transportation mitigation funds.
Present: Councilors Gentile (Chair), Grossman, Bixby, Humphrey, Greenberg, Lipof, and Malakie
Absent: Councilor Micley
Also present: Councilor Leary