City Council — Regular Meeting, October 21, 2019

City Manager's Agenda (13)

• CMA 2019 #264A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the reappointment of the following persons as a member of the Historical Commission for a term of three years: Bruce A. Irving and Kyle Sheffield
• CMA 2019 #265A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the reappointment of Ann Roosevelt as a member of the Water Board for a term of five years, effective October 21, 2019
• CMA 2019 #266A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the reappointment of the following persons as a members of the Fresh Pond Advisory Board for a term of three years, effective October 21, 2019: Janice Snow, James Barton and Deborah Masterson
• CMA 2019 #267Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of a supplemental allocation from the Office of the Attorney General, Local Consumer Aid Fund for $11,000 to the Grant Fund License Commission (Consumer’s Council) Salaries and Wages account ($10,000), Grant Fund License Commission Other Ordinary Maintenance account ($500), and Grant Fund License Commission Travel and Training account ($500) which will be used to allow the Consumers' Council to continue the mediation of consumer complaints from individuals in Cambridge as well as in Somerville, Arlington, Belmont, Watertown and Waltham which do not have their own complaint mediation program
• CMA 2019 #268A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-135, regarding the temporary relocation of the Taylor Square Firehouse📖 read
• CMA 2019 #269Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of the Fair Housing Assistance Program Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the amount of $38,234 to the Grant Fund Human Rights Salary and Wages Account ($25,034) and the Grant Fund Human Rights Travel and Training Account ($13,200) which will be used to cover a portion of the salary of an Attorney-Investigator, who works on cases from the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP)housing-general
• CMA 2019 #270Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $30,000 from Free Cash to the General Fund Elections Department Other Ordinary Maintenance account which will be used for the storage, delivery and pick up of ballot boxes, as well as to cover increased costs for voter guide preparation and mailing, voter notification cards, election vendor services, and costs associated with truck rentals for the Municipal Election
• CMA 2019 #271Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of the appropriation of $300,000 from the Parking Fund balance to the Public Investment Fund Traffic and Parking Extraordinary Expenditures account, to increase visibility of bus lanes that were installed in two locations in Cambridge in 2018transit-traffic
• CMA 2019 #272Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $5,000,000 from Free Cash to the Public Investment Fund Executive Department Extraordinary Expenditures account for the City’s annual contribution to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line Extension (GLX) projectbudgettransit-traffic📖 read
• CMA 2019 #273Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $110,000 from Free Cash to the General Fund Executive Department Other Ordinary Maintenance account to support the City of Cambridge 2020 Census Complete Count Committee
• CMA 2019 #274Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $163,707 from Free Cash to the General Fund Human Service Programs Other Ordinary Maintenance account to increase funding for tenant eviction prevention services consistent with the recommendations of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Tenant Displacement. Also in response to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-90 and 19-99tenants-rent
• CMA 2019 #275Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of the Friends of the Community Learning Center (CLC) grant from the Jacobs Foundation in the amount of $38,000.00 to the Grant Fund Human Service Programs Salary and Wages account ($33,437.00), to the Grant Fund Human Service Programs Other Ordinary Maintenance account ($1,563.00), and to the Grant Fund Human Services Travel and Training account ($3,000.00) which will provide support for Bridge Program advising, coaching and mentoring, advising for the ESOL/Certified Nursing Assistant Program, and education and career advising for other CLC studentsschools
• CMA 2019 #276Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the additional appropriation of the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program grant in the amount of $60,000.00, funded by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services and administered in Massachusetts by the Commonwealth’s Department of Housing and Community Development, to the Grant Fund Human Service Programs Other Ordinary Maintenance account ($60,000.00) to allow the operation of the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) serving Cambridge and Somervillehousing-general

Communications (45)

45 resident communications received for this meeting — transit traffic (10) · trees (3) · zoning (2) · schools (1). Individual letters are summarized in the city's agenda and are not republished here, by policy.

Policy Orders (9)

• POR 2019 #342That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Inspectional Services Department, the Department of Public Works, the Cambridge Historical Commission and other relevant City departments to determine the feasibility of expediting the Demolition and Rebuilding permitting process in the event of a natural disaster
• POR 2019 #343That the City Manager is requested to consult with the Police Commissioner, the Director of the Cambridge Housing Authority, and all other pertinent individuals to determine the feasibility of piloting a program of assigning additional security officers to work collaboratively with and exclusively within Cambridge Housing Authority premises in and near Central Square and the Porthousing-generalpolice-safetytenants-rent📖 read
• POR 2019 #344That the City Manager is requested to form a “Dog Issue Working Group” with representatives from neighborhoods throughout the City to discuss dog park issues📖 read
• POR 2019 #345That the City Manager is hereby requested to confer with the Cambridge Fire Department, Human Resources, and other relevant departments to determine the feasibility of instituting and funding a Fire Cadet Program
• POR 2019 #346That the City Manager is requested to work with the Department of Public Works and any other relevant City departments to evaluate changing the surface of the Tudor Street Dog Park to eliminate hazards created by ingestion of small stones from the surface of the park📖 read
• POR 2019 #347That the City Manager is requested to work with the Department of Public Works and residents of Fresh Pond Place to ensure that any sidewalk hazards are mitigated before winter, to include the potential resurfacing of the most weathered sections of the sidewalk
• POR 2019 #348That the City Manager is requested to work with the Department of Public Health, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Human Services and any other relevant staff to review all the City’s policies and procedures related to the procurement, installation and disposal of artificial turf
• POR 2019 #349Amendment to Chapter 8.12 of the Municipal Ordinances of the City of Cambridgezoning📖 read 📄 PDF 📄 PDF
• POR 2019 #350That the City Manager is requested to work with the Housing Liaison, housing staff in the Community Development Department, the Cambridge Housing Authority, CEOC, HRI, Wingate Companies, and the 808-812 Memorial Drive Tenants Association to provide immediate multi-lingual and individualized guidance and counseling to the tenants at 808-812 Memorial Drive, so that they can make fully informed decisions about their housing choiceshousing-generaltenants-rent

Resolutions (10)

• RES 2019 #344Get Well wishes to Sal DiDomenico Sr
• RES 2019 #345Get Well wishes to Dorothy Harr
• RES 2019 #346Congratulations to the Baby U Program on the occasion of its 10th Anniversary
• RES 2019 #347That the City Council go on record congratulating Officer Michael “Whitey” Daniliuk on the honor of receiving the 2019 Community Peacemaker Award
• RES 2019 #348Resolution on the death of David Lange
• RES 2019 #349Congratulations to Chloé Cunha, on being chosen as The Comedy Studio’s November 2019 Comic-in-Residence
• RES 2019 #350Resolution on the death of Theresa Vasseur
• RES 2019 #351Congratulations to Yvonne Gittens and Toni N. Phillips on being honored at the 1st Annual Janet "Ms. K" Kendrick Sisters of the Center Brunch at the Cambridge Community Center on October 26, 2019
• RES 2019 #352Congratulations to Kelsey Perkins and Tim Depin on their recent wedding
• RES 2019 #353Resolution on the death of Norman T. "Ted" Coffman

Applications & Petitions (2)

• APP 2019 #81An application was received from Kho Chi Liao, requesting permission for a curb cut at the premises numbered 406 Norfolk Street; said petition has received approval from Inspectional Services, Traffic, Parking and Transportation, Historical Commission and Public Works. No Response has been received from the neighborhood associationtransit-traffic📖 read 📄 PDF
• APP 2019 #82A refilling Zoning Petition Has been received from Joseph T. Maguire of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. transmitting a proposed revised amendment to the zoning ordinance by creating the Grand Junction Pathway Overlay Districtzoning📖 read 📄 PDF

Other Business (20)

• AR-19-123Report on 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
• AR-19-124Report on the legal authority of the City to ban the use of natural gas in newly constructed buildings
• AR-19-125Report 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
• AR-19-126Report on reviewing the language for Fuel pump warning labels
• AR-19-127Report on instituting regularly scheduled public conversations between Public Utilities' representatives from Eversource, the Water Dept. Comcast, Verizon and any other appropriate entities to keep the City and public informed
• AR-19-128Report on allocating more funds in the FY21 budget to Inspectional Services and 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
• AR-19-129Report on considering directing a portion of future PILOT funds into the Affordable Housing Trust starting in FY21affordable-housinghousing-general
• AR-19-130Report on requesting 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
• AR-19-131Report on Creating a Director of Arts and Culture Positionarts
• AR-19-132Report on planting new trees in Magazine Beach Park in the Spring of 2020 with a special focus on the eastern end of the park and the grove areatrees
• AR-19-133Report on the proposed amendments regarding the prohibition of Natural Gas Infrastructure in New Buildings
• AR-19-134Report on 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 intendshousing-general
• AR-19-135Report on 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
• AR-19-136Report on identifying a suitable location on the City website to house information regarding the Municipal Code and to track non-zoning legislation and amendmentszoning
• AR-19-137Report on determining if ISD can be given the authority to issue citations for smoking in non-smoking buildings and to report back to the City Council
• AR-19-138Report on addressing the previously requested investigation of the possibility of entering into an agreement with TransCanada to obtain up to 100% renewable power for all municipal electricity needsclimate
• AR-19-139Report on determining whether it would be possible to allow a permitted area for serving alcoholic beverages on Danehy Park property during special community-wide events
• AR-19-140Report on ensuring that the redesign of the Harvard Square plaza and its coming renovation be used as an opportunity to further improve the safety of all crossings in the surrounding area
• AR-19-141Report on looking into the idea of hiring a social worker in the FY2021 budget for the Central Square Library branchbudget

• a memorandum from Assistant to the Council, Naomie Stephen regarding the recommendations for the Dedication Committee 📖 read