The Salem City Council meets Thursday, November 12, at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 93 Washington Street with a resolution urging the Peabody Essex Museum to recognize a union of its workers, a rewrite of the rule for restaurants that want to keep sidewalk tables out through the winter, nine days of free parking for the holiday shopping season and a mayoral request to remove a member of the Historical Commission before the member’s term ends.
The clerk posted the 22-page meeting notice and agenda Tuesday afternoon. It lists the motion each councillor is expected to make, but the supporting documents were not posted with it, so several items below are described only as far as the agenda goes. Council President Alice Rose Merkl presides. The meeting will also be carried on Zoom and on Salem Access Television, Channel 22.
The museum union resolution
Ward 2 Councillor Andrew Smith is listed as the mover of a resolution “to support the workers of the Peabody Essex Museum and urge the museum to recognize their desire to form a union.” The text says that as of November 1 at least 66 percent of the museum’s workers had signed union authorization cards to organize with the American Federation of Teachers, and it points to unions at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art. It would put the council on record as fully supporting the effort and “calling on management at the Peabody Essex Museum to voluntarily recognize the union and come to the bargaining table.” A roll call vote is expected. A resolution states the council’s position; it does not bind the museum.
Winter outdoor dining
The mayor’s office is asking the council to amend the city’s 2023 Outdoor Dining Policy. The season on public property would still run from the first Friday in May through the first Monday in November, and restaurants could still ask for a waiver to stay open year-round. What changes is the process. Waiver requests would go first to the Licensing Department, which would collect approvals from other city departments before sending the application to the council. A second or later waiver would be considered only with “documentation proving consistent sales and use of the outdoor dining area over the prior winter.”
The new language also makes the business responsible for keeping the adjacent sidewalk and the dining area clear of snow and ice, requires a clear path of at least 48 inches with 60 inches preferred, says the city is not responsible for damage to furniture from snow removal, and lets the city reject future waivers from restaurants that get one and do not use it. Councillor at Large Ty Hapworth is listed to move adoption or referral to the Committee on Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs.
Free parking and food for fines
Two orders from the mayor, both to be moved by Councillor at Large Kyle Alexander Davis, cover the holidays. The first makes parking free at all city lots, garages and on-street spaces on Friday through Sunday, November 27 to 29, and on the six days from Saturday, December 19, through Thursday, December 24.
The second is a food-for-fines offer. From November 27 to December 23, anyone who pays an unpaid parking ticket and donates two non-perishable or canned items for local food pantries would have up to $30 in late fees waived. The waiver would not cover a surcharge from the Registry of Motor Vehicles if the city has already reported the ticket for license or registration nonrenewal.
A Historical Commission removal
Under Section 61 of the city charter, the mayor is recommending the removal of Milo Martinez as a member of the Historical Commission before the term expires. The agenda notes that the charter requires approval by a majority of the council’s members. It gives no reason, and no letter was posted with it. Smith is listed to move adoption and then to move immediate reconsideration in the hope it fails, a step that would make the vote final that night.
High Street Park: $1.25 million and a state grant
Three items concern High Street Park. The mayor asks for $163,099 from capital outlay for the park’s renovation. A resolution authorizes the city to apply for and accept a state Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant; it puts the total project cost at $1,246,576, to be paid from the capital plan, Community Preservation Act money and federal block grant funds and reimbursed by the state up to $425,000. The work is described as upgrades to play structures, plantings and recreation features. A companion traffic ordinance, up for first passage, takes the parking lot next to the High Street Playground out of the Pratt Street resident parking tow zone.
Rules for Charlotte Forten Park
A new ordinance would write a use policy for Charlotte Forten Park at 289 Derby Street into the city code. It would bar entering the park between sunset and sunrise except on the 10-foot Harborwalk along the South River, and prohibit smoking, alcohol, grills, vending, metal detectors, digging, climbing trees and fences, and setting up tables or tents, with exceptions for events the city permits. Fines would be $150 for a first offense, $200 for a second and $300 after that, enforced by police and health officials. The agenda lists first passage or referral to the Committee on Government Services and does not name a sponsor.
A search committee for city clerk
Hapworth is offering an order to create an ad hoc committee to field and process applicants for city clerk. The council president would appoint City Solicitor James Wellock as a non-voting member, Human Resources Director Lisa Cammarata and four councillors, and would name the chair. The committee would dissolve when the hire is made. The agenda is signed by Maureen Elizabeth Fisher as acting city clerk.
Wind turbines, batteries and the city seal
The directors of sustainability and planning are recommending that the council withdraw, without prejudice, the zoning ordinance that would allow roof-mounted wind energy systems. The same agenda carries the Planning Board’s report on that ordinance, with Ward 5 Councillor Lydia C. King listed to move either first passage or referral to committee. The council and the Planning Board heard the proposal jointly on October 19. Separately, Ward 7 Councillor Andrew W. Varela is introducing a zoning ordinance on battery energy storage systems, to be referred to the Planning Board for a joint public hearing; its text was not printed in the agenda.
Two items concern a group called Seal the Ballot: a communication from the city solicitor about the group’s October 28 referendum petition, and a petition from the group asking that voters’ views be factored into any future vote on changes to the city seal. Both are listed to be received and filed. Neither document was posted.
Committee reports
Davis is to report for the Committee on Administration and Finance, which meets with the Committee of the Whole at 6 p.m. Thursday, an hour before the council, on the Skipper on-demand ride program and any contract with Via Transportation. The agenda lists the recommendation as unknown because that meeting falls after the agenda deadline. Councillors objected in September to a five-year Skipper contract they had not seen. Merkl and Ward 6 Councillor Katelyn Holappa will report that the council’s review of its own rules and committees, taken up Monday, stays in committee.
Also on the agenda
A hearing continued from October 22 on a National Grid pole at Bridge and Flint streets. Second and final passage of an outdoor lighting ordinance that bars floodlighting and decorative lighting that shines onto abutting property, exempts walkway, driveway, safety and holiday lighting, and sets fines of $50, $150 and $300; and of a handicapped parking space on Cleveland Street near Jefferson Avenue.
Four prior-year bills that need a two-thirds vote: $23,477.11 to EJ Prescott from the water and sewer budget, $2,055 for tree maintenance, $219.63 and $75. A $2,000 donation from Beverly-Peabody Lodge No. 1309 to the Veterans’ Services Department, and two donated paintings by Festus S. Rousseau valued at $1,800 and $2,400.
Mayoral appointments of Andrew Diaz to the Sustainability, Energy and Resiliency Committee and Gabriel Sanchez to the Beautification Committee, the held appointment of Natalie Iknaian to the Beautification Committee, and reappointments that include Glenn Larose to the Salem Redevelopment Authority through 2031 and Gary Santo Jr. to the Licensing Board through 2032. The appointments and reappointments are listed to be held under the council’s rules.
Road race permits for the Festivus 5K for Autism on December 13, the Wicked Frosty Four on January 1 and the Marblehead Half Marathon on April 11. A National Grid petition for underground work on Everett Road, with a hearing to be set for December 3. Fourteen claims against the city, a seaworm license and two drainlayer licenses go to committee.
How to speak
Public testimony is limited to 15 minutes in total and up to three minutes a speaker. Sign up through the city’s online form, which is open until 6:30 p.m. Thursday, or on the roster in the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall by the same time. Zoom details are on the first page of the agenda.
