Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to March, Mayor.
[00:00:01] Speaker B: Yes, here it is. Good morning, Joe.
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Yes, spoke with Justin Stearns there back before Christmas.
Just shows you how long it's been so cold.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I know it has been a cold winter. Absolutely.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: And snowy. But we're now a meteorological spring according to the weather people. So there's that.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: Yeah, what's it technically? What's that? My 21st?
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Yes, for the, for the calendar spring, but according to Meteorologists, it starts March 1st.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: What the hell's the difference?
[00:00:35] Speaker A: One is meteorological, one is astronomical.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Oh, that's helpful too.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: Just work with me on this.
The earlier we can get spring going, the better, I guess.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: I guess it's going to be a tough month.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Oh, it can be the worst month, actually.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: Well, let's hope it doesn't turn out that way.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: For sure.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Major update last night to the city council from your DPW commissioner about how the city has responded to the two major storms that we've had. Are you, are you pleased with the overall performance?
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. You know, I don't see the meaning. Space certainly have been in touch with the commission before the presentation. And you know, it's been a brutal winter. I think that we handle it better than most. I mean, I don't want to compare with Fall river. They got three feet, but, you know, 21 inches is a lot of snow here.
And that teams, I think, did a terrific job. That doesn't mean you don't have challenges, you don't have issues.
Things happen.
There's different drivers and routes. Perhaps a street is missed. But, you know, overall, and I heard it from people coming in to Quincy from all over the South Shore that there was a huge difference. Well, they got to Quincy and, you know, we, we do it right, you know, and it costs money to do it right.
[00:01:54] Speaker A: And last time we talked before the blizzard, the cost, it was estimated at 2.75 million. Any estimate? Now after the blizzard, I would, I
[00:02:05] Speaker B: would definitely double that. Joe, is that right off the top of my head? I know they're, they're doing all the calculations, but, you know, it's.
We hire a lot of contractors, we use a lot of salt and there's a lot of hours there. So it does cost money. I've said this before with you. I've been through this a number of times and people forget quickly after it melts.
You know, people ride by the shipyard, take a peek at that snow dump. Marina Bay, a property near FedEx. Take a look at that snow dump. We moved tens of thousands of tons of snow and that's part of the cost. But to make things safer on schools and drop off areas, crosswalks, major intersections, some of the T stations, I mean you gotta do it, gotta make it safe. It's all about public safety, so it's all.
It costs money, but I think it's all worth it.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: How much was in the budget before the start of the season?
[00:02:59] Speaker B: Not enough.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: Well, I know you made a point to add to it every year. It was woefully.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Oh, we did. But then this past year we dropped it some because we took the last three or four years average and you know, we hadn't had a lot of snow the last few years. So of course if I left it alone, we probably would have been fine.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Well, I guess snowblower Hindsight is 2020 as they say, right?
[00:03:24] Speaker B: Sure. For sure. It is what it is.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Your city is allowed to run a deficit in that budget, is that right?
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Yes. Every city in town. That's one of the categories. You're allowed to overspend. I'm hoping at the state that comes up with some, some funding to help cities and towns. I mean, we're not alone in this. I mean, Southeast and Mask are clobbered, so I can imagine their budgets are similarly in the red. So whether it's allowing us to amortize over a couple of years like they did after this winter, 15, or they come up with some direct funding.
I know that when I talked to Lieutenant Governor Driscoll she said there was discussions about that, as when I talked to Senator Kane and a similar discussion we had. So, you know, we'll see what the state does. Hopefully that'll help soften it.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Anything still left to do in terms of snow removal?
[00:04:17] Speaker B: I think we're pretty much there. I mean, we talk about one off. Sometimes people call about a certain issue at an intersection and we'll send the crews down during the day and do. And do that. But I think overall as far as the moving snow in any large form, I think that's behind us.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: Very good. Let's hope it stays that way.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Indeed, indeed.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: I was hoping we could talk a little bit, Mayor, about a proposed ordinance that would strengthen the powers of the city auditor and whether or not that's something you think needs to be amended.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Well, I don't know. I'd have to read it.
Honestly, Joe, you know, the city was set up back in 1888 with certain powers delegated to the mayor and certain powers delegated city council and those been ordinance changes over the years. I certainly wouldn't want to affect the balance either way. So the devil's always in the details.
We'll take a look. I'm not sure what that means strengthening the audience powers. I mean, in reality all our numbers are there, they're online, the budget's online. People can look at anything and everything.
But again, I have to take a closer look at it. Okay.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: Also last night the council did discuss the appropriation for the new firefighter turnout gear and was placed in the finance committee. I'm told that is required for proper public advertising. Is that right?
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Correct? That's correct. Yeah. We didn't expect that pass last night under the, under the requirements, when you do any, you know, borrowing, there are certain requirements on the number of days it needs to be advertised. So we knew that going out, so that wasn't going to be an issue.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Okay. It's scheduled for March 16th and some counselors were looking for some assurances that the new gear would be safe. Is that going to be able to be guaranteed?
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Well, I would think they would understand that. I feel the same way.
We're going through a major effort after finding, you know, what we thought in the last set of gear was, would have been okay. But these forever chemicals, they're cancer causing and it's a problem. So we have done extensive work on and research on the manufacturing process.
The union, Tom Bose and his crew, the department in chief and his crew, they've done incredible work on it. We're not going to accept anything unless it's completely chemically free of cancer causing agents.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: What's the current status of the city's efforts to recoup costs from the current gear?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: That's in the lawyer's lap.
You know that there's been discussions. I don't know yet when they'll pull the trigger.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: Okay, very good.
And also a question raised last night about the appropriation from the community preservation fund for the Quincy homestead.
Wonder if you could explain that request.
[00:07:17] Speaker B: Yeah, usually we do these.
We do these together.
Late spring, toward the end of the fiscal year.
And this one, they're looking for it quicker so they can get the work done sooner at the darl d Quincy homestead. We have funded projects at that place before.
Ironically, it's owned by the state, but it's run by the Dames or the Daughters of the American Revolution.
They do a nice job, but they don't have much to work with. So we help them and essentially the state on this. I hope someday that maybe this site as well as some others get rolled into the National Park Service.
But, you know, we'll see. In the meantime, it does help dramatically. That is a. If you didn't have the Adams mansion in bread places, this probably would be the next oldest and most important historical house of the city. So it's an important one. The Quincy family, the Hancocks, huge part of the revolution and why we are where we are today. So it's a good project. As you know, before, we did the Hancock carriage out of the community preservation money that's at that location as well. So, you know, they requested this of the.
Of the. Obviously the Community Preservation Committee, as well as Karen, the director. And they forwarded it to me and I didn't see a reason not to hold it up.
You know, I didn't find a reason to hold it up. I thought it was something worthwhile to move forward with. So the rest of it will be done again as we usually do toward the end of the fiscal year.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Question was raised as to why the state doesn't pay for that.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: Well, it's a good question.
That's a question for DCR and their team.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Very good.
Now that we're into March, Mayor, I see we're doing a Remember the Ladies event again this year.
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Yes, yes. I think it's March 28th.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: It's become a pretty nice tradition and it's a great day to honor some of our local ladies who do incredible work and it's exciting. This year we'll be honoring our school nurses.
It's pretty cool. I think it's gonna be a great day and I think a lot of families will be very happy.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Very good.
Always good to talk to you, Mayor. Appreciate your time.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Stay warm, Joe.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: We'll be complaining about the heat in no time, I hope.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Absolutely. Guaranteed.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Thank you very much.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Bye now.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: Bye. Bye.
