THE MALDEN ADVOCATE - Friday, February 16, 2018

Page 1

Local news online at Advocatenews.net

Vol. 20, No. 7

-FREE-

www.advocatenews.net

Councillors review city’s longterm debt By Barbara Taormina ver the next 18 years, Malden is scheduled to pay back $90.8 million on loans for schools, roads and other municipal projects and improvements. And next year the city’s total debt could climb to $107.5 million with a $5.2 million bond for road repairs and reconstruction, and a proposed $8 million bond for energy efficiency upgrades to public buildings. The Finance Committee has been discussing the energy efficiency project for several weeks. Honeywell, the company that wants to do the work, has promised significant savings in energy costs. Still, councillors wanted a look at the city’s debt schedule before voting on the energy upgrades, and this week, City Treasurer Jonathan Davis provided a breakdown of how much the city now owes and how much it will owe if it signs a deal with Honeywell. “We are in no rush to pass that,� said Finance Committee Chairman Paul Condon, adding that councillors also want to see this year’s budget before borrowing more money. And Condon and Ward 5 Councillor Barbara Murphy have proposed putting the money the city saves on energy costs into a new stabilization fund so that it isn’t swept into the city’s

O

$2.55 GALLON *$//21

:H DFFHSW 0DVWHU&DUG 9LVD 'LVFRYHU

3ULFH 6XEMHFW WR &KDQJH ZLWKRXW QRWLFH

*DO 0LQ +U 6HUYLFH

general fund. That proposal was sent to the Ordinance Committee for review. As for the money the city has borrowed, Condon said that according to Davis Malden is in the middle of the pack when it comes to municipal debt. Davis told Finance Committee members that some neighboring cities and towns are carrying more debt, while others have borrowed less. Still, debt service takes a big bite out of the Malden’s annual budget, which for the past several years has been balanced by digging into the city’s reserve funds. This year the city will pay $15.1 million in principal and $2.7 million in interest. But a $6.7 million reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will knock the city’s total debt payment down to $11.1 million. Out of this year’s $180 million municipal budget, roughly 6.1 percent went to debt payments. Next year principal payments will total $12.2 million and interest will be $2.1 million. Another reimbursement from MSBA will bring next year’s debt payments down to $10.7 million. But if the road work and energy upgrades move forward, the total debt payments will be $11.8 million. In 2020 scheduled debt payments drop to $8.2 million, with $6.4 million due for principal and $1.8 million for interest. But again, if roads and energy upgrades are added in, the city will pay $9.3 million toward its debt.

IRU D &RQWDFW XV DWLRQ J OL E 1R 2

Published Every Friday

617-387-2200

Friday, February 16, 2018

Clothes for a Cause joins forces with Housing Families

Allison Lakacha, of Clothes for a Cause Inc., is selling cozy Melrose “zip code� hats as a fundraiser to benefit Malden-based Housing Families. Lakacha, left, poses with Patty Kelly, Associate Director of Community Engagement at Housing Families in Malden. To purchase hats, visit http://bit.ly/2BZixTZ. For more information about Housing Families, contact Patty Kelly at 781-322-9119 ext. 115 or pkelly@housingfamilies.org.

New zoning proposed for Rowe’s Quarry By Barbara Taormina he city is considering a proposal to eliminate the special zoning for Rowe’s Quarry and replace it with Residence C zoning. Ward 8 Councillor Jadeane Sica proposed the change that would trigger a three-story height restriction and a specific special permitting process for different land uses. Developer Roseland Property Co. is currently seeking site plan approval to build three six-story buildings with 326 units on the parcel of land behind Vining Street. The idea to eliminate the

T

tĂŜƚ ƚŽ ĹŹĹśĹ˝Ç ĆšĹšÄž ǀĂůƾĞ ŽĨ LJŽƾĆŒ ĹšŽƾĆ?Äž Ĺ?Ĺś ƚŽĚĂLJ͛Ć? ĆŒÄžÄ‚ĹŻ ÄžĆ?ƚĂƚĞ ĹľÄ‚ĆŒĹŹÄžĆšÍ?

)5(( 0DUNHW $QDO\VLV 2I <RXU +RPH

Ä‚ĹŻĹŻ hĹśĹ?ƚĞĚ ĆŒŽŏÄžĆŒĆ? Ä‚Ćš ϲϭϳͲϰϲϭͲϰώϯϴ

Rowe’s Quarry Reclamation & Redevelopment District was proposed last December during a joint public hearing of the Planning Board and the City Council’s Ordinance Committee. The Malden Redevelopment Authority (MRA) opposed the idea and argued that Rowe’s Quarry has its own master plan and is overseen by the Rowe’s Quarry Site Plan Review Committee. According to the MRA, the development has adequate regulations and oversight to protect the city’s interests and needs. But others argued that the Rowe’s Quarry master plan is no longer valid because it includes a ramp from the development onto Route 1. The Massachusetts Highway Department (MassHighway) has said that plans to realign Route 1 have been shelved and will not be reconsidered for several decades. “The state has been clear about that,� said Coun-

cillor-at-Large Craig Spadafora. “The change negates the master plan.� Sica and Spadafora have loudly and repeatedly expressed concerns about the traffic and safety problems Roseland’s new building project could cause in the surrounding neighborhood now that the Route 1 connection is off the table. But the Planning Board voted eight to one against eliminating the Rowe’s Quarry zoning district. The problem, according to City Planner Michelle Romero, is that the original proposal did not include any new zoning for the district. It was unclear what might happen if Rowe’s Quarry were left with no zoning at all. Sica’s proposal would tie up that loose end and will now head back to another joint public hearing of the Planning Board and the Ordinance Committee. Mean-

ZONING | SEE PAGE 10

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.