City Council — Regular Meeting, October 7, 2019

City Manager's Agenda (6)

• CMA 2019 #258A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appointment of the following persons as new members of the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Board, for a term of three years, effective October 7, 2019: Loring Brinckerhoff, Avril de Pagter, Mary Devlin, Jackie Jones and Daniel Stubbs
• CMA 2019 #259A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board recommendation not to adopt the City Council zoning petition to amend Article 19.000 of the Zoning Ordinance regarding utility and infrastructure impacts of large development projects that require a Project Review Special Permitzoning📖 read
• CMA 2019 #260A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-101, regarding community outreach and participation of residents, especially low-income households, in Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) programs and servicesaffordable-housingclimatehousing-general📖 read
• CMA 2019 #261A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-42, regarding sidewalk markings for mobility devicesbike-lanestransit-traffic📖 read
• CMA 2019 #262A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-46, regarding whether the MBTA is in compliance with the amended Settlement Agreement in the District of Massachusetts case Daniels-Finegold et al. v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authoritytransit-traffic📖 read
• CMA 2019 #263A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the votes necessary to seek approval from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue of the tax rate for FY2020budget📖 read 📄 PDF 📄 PDF 📄 PDF

Communications (47)

47 resident communications received for this meeting — bike lanes (24) · housing general (6) · affordable housing (5) · zoning (4) · climate (1). Individual letters are summarized in the city's agenda and are not republished here, by policy.

Policy Orders (22)

• POR 2019 #321That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department, the Harvard Square Business Association and the Harvard Square Neighborhood Association to determine the feasibility of closing some portion of Harvard Square to vehicular traffic on a select number of days during the summer of 2020 to have open market-style eventstransit-traffic
• POR 2019 #322Recognizing LGBTQ+ History Month
• POR 2019 #323That the full City Council ask the City Solicitor to report back on the legal authority of the City to ban the use of natural gas in newly constructed buildings
• POR 2019 #324That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct the Arts Council and the Department of Public Works, in conjunction with the Rindge School of Technical Arts, to determine the best re-use for the four honey locust logs from Inman Square to create public art for the communityartsschools
• POR 2019 #325That the City Manager have appropriate city staff review the proposed Welcoming Community Ordinance
• POR 2019 #326That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to provide an update to the City Council on the number of free MBTA passes issued to CRLS students in FY20 and to consider expanding the program to include qualifying Cambridge residents of high school ageschoolstransit-traffic
• POR 2019 #327Fuel pump warning labelsclimate📖 read
• POR 2019 #328Public Utilities' Planning and public meetings
• POR 2019 #329That the Cambridge City Council go on record stating its severe concern for the developments in Kashmir and declaring its solidarity with the Kashmiri people, specifically Cambridge’s Kashmiri community, that they may soon again be in contact with their families, friends and loved ones
• POR 2019 #330That the City Manager is requested to work with the Electrical Department to ensure that City Hall is appropriately illuminated in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day and Hispanic Heritage Month on Friday, October 18, from the hours of 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m
• POR 2019 #331That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to allocate more funds in the FY21 budget to Inspectional Services to help combat the city-wide rodent issue and report back on the feasibility of providing monetary compensation to homeowners who have had to self-finance traps and what funds could be allocated in the future to help homeowners buy trapsbudgethousing-general
• POR 2019 #332That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with relevant City departments and the Department of Conservation and Recreation to install NO TURN ON RED signs along Memorial Drive where it intersects with Cambridge-owned streets to improve the safety of heavily used pedestrian and non-vehicular, multimodal commuter routes along and across the Charles and increased enforcement by the Massachusetts State Police at these intersectionspolice-safetytransit-traffic
• POR 2019 #333That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Budget Department, the Assessor's Department and the Community Development Department to consider directing a portion of future PILOT funds into the Affordable Housing Trust starting in FY21affordable-housingbudgethousing-general
• POR 2019 #334That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to allocate more funds in the FY21 budget for the small business improvement grants and to confer with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office on whether other cities in Massachusetts have been facing similar issues with ADA compliance and what can be done to protect the small businessesbudget
• POR 2019 #335That the City Council go on record in support of House Bill 3116, Senate Bill 2034, and the establishment of Governor Baker’s Low-speed Mobility Device Advisory Working Group as part of the Safe Driving Legislation, Senate Bill 7
• POR 2019 #336Creating the Director of Arts and Culture Positionarts
• POR 2019 #337That the City Manager is requested to work with the Economic Development division of the Community Development Department to retain a financial/economic analyst to conduct a confidential financial analysis of NED’s pro forma to inform the council in confidence on the value of the proposed upzoningzoning
• POR 2019 #338That the City Manager is requested to seek permission from the Department of Conservation and Recreation to plant new trees in Magazine Beach Park in Spring 2020 with a special focus on the eastern end of the park and the grove areatrees
• POR 2019 #339That the City Manager is requested to direct the City Solicitor, Community Development, Public Works, Inspectional Services and any other related departments to review the proposed amendments regarding the prohibition of Natural Gas Infrastructure in New Buildings. TABLED ON JANUARY 27, 2020climatezoning📖 read
• POR 2019 #340That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Affordable Housing Trust on the matter of increasing funding to the City’s HomeBridge program so that access to homeownership may be made available to a wider range of incomes, as the program intendsaffordable-housinghousing-general
• POR 2019 #341Proposed amendment to City Ordinance 1.12.040 regarding City Solicitor opinion on proposed ordinances📖 read 📄 PDF 📄 PDF
• POR 2019 #320That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the Fire Chief to report back providing information confirming that the temporary location of the Taylor Square Fire Station to the Alewife area continues to provide uninterrupted service to residents in the Taylor Square Fire Station area

Resolutions (25)

• RES 2019 #319Resolution on the Death of Eileen Murphy
• RES 2019 #320Resolution on the death of Lee Williams
• RES 2019 #321Resolution on the death of Anthony DiGiovanni Jr
• RES 2019 #322Resolution on the death of Laura Pini
• RES 2019 #323Resolution on the death of Edith “Sue” Thames
• RES 2019 #324Congratulations to Upward Spiral Studio on their 10th Anniversary
• RES 2019 #325Happy 175th Anniversary to Old Cambridge Baptist Church
• RES 2019 #326Happy 90th Birthday wishes to Barbara Brathwaite
• RES 2019 #327Resolution on the death of Lloyd Haynes, Jr
• RES 2019 #328Resolution on the death of Detective Stephen Edwards
• RES 2019 #329Resolution on the death of Maria Couto
• RES 2019 #330Belated Happy Birthday wishes to Polly Allen
• RES 2019 #331Happy Birthday wishes to Georgina Dottin
• RES 2019 #332Happy Birthday wishes to Henry Wortis
• RES 2019 #333Happy Birthday wishes to Rozann Kraus
• RES 2019 #334Resolution Recognizing Jennifer Fries for her Leadership of Cambridge School Volunteersschools
• RES 2019 #335Resolution on the death of Francis Fulkerson
• RES 2019 #336Resolution on the death of Michael Francis Hanlon
• RES 2019 #337Wishing Joe Rose a Happy Birthday
• RES 2019 #338Resolution on the death of Stephen Edwards Sr
• RES 2019 #339Congratulations to Richard and Sarah Graham on the opening of Richards in Inman Square
• RES 2019 #340Wishing Joseph A. Aiello a very Happy 40th Birthday
• RES 2019 #341Congratulations to Emmanuel “Manny” Lusardi on winning the Cambridge Housing Authority Art Contestartshousing-general
• RES 2019 #342Congratulations to Union Baptist Church on its' 141st Homecoming Celebrationlabor
• RES 2019 #343Congratulations to the East Cambridge Business Association on their 10th successful "Smoke This Rib Fest"

Applications & Petitions (5)

• APP 2019 #76An application was received from Amorino Gelato JFK, LLC, requesting permission for a sandwich A-Frame sign in front of the premises numbered 50 JFK Street between September 6, 2019 thru March 31, 2020 with a start time of 11:00am and end time of 12:00amclimatetransit-traffic📖 read
• APP 2019 #77An application was received from &Pizza, requesting permission for a sandwich board sign in front of the premises numbered 3 Brattle Street with a start date of December 1, 2019 thru March 31, 2020 and a start time of 11:00am and a end time of 11:00pmclimatetransit-traffic📖 read
• APP 2019 #78An application was received from the Department of Community Development requesting permission for a temporary banner across JFK at Mount Auburn Streets announcing Cambridge Energy Alliance on October 8, 2019 through October 31, 2019housing-general📖 read
• APP 2019 #79An application was received from MIT Visual Arts Center requesting permission for fifteen temporary banners on Ames Street, Memorial Drive to Main Street, announcing Alicja Kwade: In Between Glances on October 7, 2019 and removal date of January 31, 2019arts📖 read
• APP 2019 #80A Zoning Petition Has been received from Suzanne P. Blier regarding Harvard Square Zoning Petitionzoning📖 read 📄 PDF

Other Business (3)

• a report from Councillor Quinton Zondervan, Co-Chair and Councillor Dennis J. Carlone, Co-Chair of the Neighborhood and Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts and Celebration Committee, for a public hearing held on September 17, 2019 to discuss the preserved Inman Square tree trunks and receive input from the public on possible future uses of the wood, which is a public resource 📖 read
• CRT 2019 #69 — A report from Vice Mayor Jan Devereux and Councillor Quinton Zondervan, Co-Chairs of the Health and Environment Committee for a public hearing held on September 25, 2019 regarding banning natural (fracked) gas infrastructure in Cambridge
• CRT 2019 #71 — A report from Councillor Dennis J. Carlone and Councillor Craig A. Kelley, Co-Chairs of the Ordinance Committee, for a public hearing held on October 2, 2019 at 3 PM to discuss the Welcoming Community Ordinance

Committee Reports (3)

• Health & Environment Committee hearing of 2019-09-25 — Report Accepted And Placed On
• Neighborhood & Long Term Planning Committee hearing of 2019-09-17 — Report Accepted
• Ordinance Committee hearing of 2019-10-02 — Report Accepted And Placed On