Monday, October 22, 2012
More restaurants are now eligible for a full liquor license.
More restaurants are now eligible for liquor licenses in Medford, but a new ordinance hasn't caused of flood of applications. The ordinance change, approved by Governor Deval Patrick last month, reduces the required number of seats at a restaurant seeking a full liquor license from 99 to 50. City Councilor Paul Camuso oversaw the ordinance changes in serving as the chairman of the council's licensing board. The ordinance change aims at making Medford a more appealing location for restauranteurs, Camuso said in a phone interview last week. "I think it will help us bring in quality businesses," Camuso said. "That’s really the whole point of this." As of the end of last week, no businesses already open in Medford had applied for a full liquor…
Monday, October 8, 2012
A look at items from the Medford City Council agenda.
A local auto dealership has offered up gifts totalling $15,300 to the city intended to be used at the temporary DPW yard, according to a city council agenda. Mayor Michael McGlynn has requested the City Council accept the gifts from Sentry Ford, which include heaters, a gas furnace, a rooftop heating and air conditioner unit, a rooftop ventilation fan, two air compressors, office equipment and furniture, according to the request. The council will consider the request during it's 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall Tuesday. Also on the agenda is a resolution from Councilor Robert Penta to discuss the $3.2 million bond the council approved for new technology in Medford Public Schools. Before its regular meeting, the council will hold a committee of …
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
$1.47 million grant will fund eight new positions for two years.
The Medford Fire Department has received a grant worth over $1 million that will allow it to hire eight new firefighters, according to an announcement from the city. The grant will be enough to fund the eight new positions for two years, after that it will be up to the city to come up with funding. Called a Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant, the funding comes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fire Chief Frank Giliberti applied for the grant on behalf of the city, according to a press release from Mayor Michael McGlynn. Medford was awarded $1.47 million. The city hired seven new firefighters last week, bringing total staffing to 114. The eight new positions will bring the total to 122. There are also …
Monday, September 24, 2012
A look at items on the agenda for the Medford City Council meeting.
The City Council will consider a request from Mayor Michael McGlynn to take out a $13.8 million loan for a massive overhaul to Medford High School's science facilities during its meeting Tuesday. The overhaul has the approval of the Medford School Committee, and while the request is for nearly $14 million, the city has been awarded a state grant that will reimburse 59 percent of the cost. Also on the agenda is a resolution from Councilor Robert Penta to discuss police and fire radio systems in the city. The meeting will begin Tuesday at 7 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Mayor says change has begun at authority.
A new executive director of the Medford Housing Authority should be appointed by the start of next year, according to a press release from Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn. The authority's former director, Robert Covelle, resigned in May at the urging of Gov. Deval Patrick after a federal audit showed he handed out contracts without putting them out to public bid, and separate reports surfaced alleging he often hired family and friends and practiced favoritism in the office. On Monday, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced an investigation that began last September had concluded and that Covelle had agreed to a $5,000 fine and a 6-year ban on public employment for failing to following procurement procedures. Covelle was appointed in 2009 …
Monday, August 27, 2012
Painting the city's temporary DPW yard would have cost $4,500 according to the city.
Medford used a Middlesex County Jail Work Crew to paint its temporary public works yard, saving itself about $4,500, according to the Middlesex County Sheriff. Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn and County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian toured the yard on Commercial Street Thursday, according to a press release from Koutoujian's office. “Recently our city yard was condemned," McGlynn said in a written statement. "We were able to get temporary space but it needed serious aesthetic attention and the CWP program came to our rescue saving us thousands of dollars we didn’t have.” It isn't the first time the city has used the county jail's Community Work Program for a project. Work crews have done nearly $40,000 worth of work in Medford this year and about…
Thursday, August 9, 2012
"This is voting against something that I think is completely stupid and a waste of our procurement officer's time." -Councilor Robert Penta
City Councilors approved the demolition of the city's public works facility, but an attempt to funding preliminary design work for a new facility stalled Tuesday. During its meeting Tuesday night, the council unanimously approved a request from the Mayor to use $160,000 to demolish the yard, and a second request to spend $63,000 relocating the condemned. In 2009, six of the vehicle bays were condemned after the roof began to cave in. In late July, Mayor Michael McGlynn called for the remaining 11 bays to be shuttered and for the yard to be demolished. McGlynn has also been attempting to finance the initial design phase for a new facility to be built at 21 James St. since early this year, but has been unable to get the five votes necessary …
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Project will cost $10 to $13 million.
The city council gave a partial endorsement Tuesday of renovations to Medford High School science labs that will cost at total $10 million to $13 million. Project managers showed three options to the council for the overhaul, which will receive 60 percent funding from the state through a grant. But instead of choosing a preferred option, the council decided to unanimously vote in favor of “the spirit of the project” during a committee of the whole meeting Tuesday night at City Hall. The proposed options hadn’t been brought to the school committee yet, and it irked some councilors to be asked to vote on it before it went through the committee. “We’ve been told by the Mayor that this project has the support of the school committee,” …
Friday, July 20, 2012
Mayor says city councilors have a "lack of understanding of what their job is."
Mayor Michael McGlynn is looking to immediately address building issues at the city's public works yard and may appeal to the state for permission to do so on an emergency basis. Six garage bays have been condemned since 2009, but McGlynn said workers sometimes access them anyway. In addition, other neighboring bays will be shut down, McGlynn said after a tour of the yard Friday morning. "These must be torn down," he said. The city will put together a list of immediate facility needs and may appeal to the state to take emergency action to demolish the garages, McGlynn said. The city will look into temporary alternatives for storing vehicles this winter, he said. McGlynn attempted to begin design and construction of a new yard with a bond …
Friday, July 13, 2012
Should the city make its budget information more accessible?
The City Council approved Medford's municipal budget for 2013 two weeks ago and it still hasn't received a complete, bound copy of it, councilor Robert Penta said Tuesday. "This is an insult to the taxpayers, this is an insult to this city council," Penta said during the council's meeting Tuesday. Unlike nearby communities like Malden and Somerville, Medford's city council receives the draft form of the budget department-by-department instead of in one complete bound copy in advance of the review process, Penta said. Other communities also put the draft form of the budget online, available for all the public to review. "We’re not even close to that," Penta said Tuesday. "We don’t even have the book." Although the council hasn't received a …
Matt
9:13 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
It's a good start, even if it hasn't resulted in any changes yet. Massachusetts is so full of ridiculously archaic liquor laws. Now let's bring back Happy Hours, keep bars open all night, let liquor stores be open whenever they want and maybe Boston (and, by extension, Medford, etc.) can really be a great, thriving city. Restaurants and bars would probably be more alive, people could be more … more ›