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Councilors review $150,860 free-cash appropriation for parking kiosks, soil remediation at 448 High Street
Summary
The Committee of the Whole discussed a mayoral request to appropriate $150,859.89 from free cash for replacement of remaining Flowbird parking kiosks with IPS kiosks and continued soil remediation at 448 High Street; staff said kiosks in the Boston Avenue/Tufts area are unreliable and the remediation is long-running.
Medford City Councilors at a Committee of the Whole meeting discussed a mayoral request to appropriate $150,859.89 from free cash for parking kiosk replacement and continued soil remediation at 448 High Street.
Parking Director Sarah McDermott told the council the city has 12 remaining Flowbird kiosks that “are unreliable and are not able to be repaired according to my meter foreperson, Mike Viola.” She said three are on Clippership Drive and nine along Boston Avenue between Harvard Street and Cousins Gym. McDermott said the kiosks cover multiple spaces (pay-by-space) rather than single-space meters and that the city already paid Flowbird $9,504 for 2025 service; deactivating problematic kiosks could permit refunds for unused 2025 service.
McDermott said replacing the kiosks with IPS machines would make payment equipment more dependable for customers and facilitate relocation of parking after the Tufts dormitory project removed about 40 spaces in the 400 block of Boston Avenue. She said the kiosks are solar powered and that single-space meters would also be solar but likely require more posts and installation work; she offered to obtain cost estimates if the council wished to compare options. Councilors asked about enforcement, daily usage near the T station and whether kiosks removed for Tufts construction will be reinstalled; McDermott said contractors expect temporary removal of four kiosks and planned reinstallation after concrete work is poured.
City Engineer Owen Wartella, speaking about the second portion of the request, described ongoing soil remediation behind businesses at the corner of Canal and High Street. Wartella said the remediation began under a previous administration and has been “occurring for 10 years plus.” He characterized the remaining work as operation, maintenance, testing and reporting and said the contamination source was identified as a former laundromat at the site.
Councilor Callaghan moved to refer the appropriation to the regular City Council meeting for final action; Councilor Singh seconded and the motion passed. The mayor's cover memo listed the appropriation as $150,859.89, broken into $92,859.98 for remaining kiosk replacements and $58,000 for continuation of remediation services. The memo said the balance of free cash before the vote was $22,311,303.11.
The committee did not adopt final appropriations at the meeting; councilors referred the item for a vote at the regular meeting where final action will be recorded.
