Legislative affairs panel recommends moving pole-permit review to city engineer, forwards updated fee schedule

The Revere Legislative Affairs Subcommittee on Aug. 25 voted to recommend two measures to the full City Council: an ordinance proposing that requests from utilities for new pole locations and conduit be handled by the city engineer and a revised Appendix A fee schedule that updates a range of municipal fees.

"National Grid comes up before us for pole locations and conduit locations. In my opinion, that would be best suited to the city engineer," the councilor who introduced the motion said, describing the change as a way to free council time for other matters. He added that the engineer would still notify the ward councilor when National Grid made a request so the councilor could canvass neighbors and raise concerns.

Supporters argued the change would put technical decisions in the hands of the engineering office. "It our time is better served handling motions than having to deal with somebody who does come up here from National Grid and really does not know what we're talking about," one councilor said. Councilor Kelly opposed the change, saying it could reduce residents' direct access to councilors and restrict an avenue for immediate local input.

The subcommittee recorded a roll-call recommendation on the pole/conduit item: Councilor Garrino Sawaya — yes; Councilor Haas — yes; Councilor Kelly — no; Councilor McKenna — yes; Chairman Argentio — yes. The motion received a favorable recommendation and will be forwarded to the full council for consideration.

On the second item, Richard Vasquez, the city chief financial officer, presented a modified Appendix A fee schedule that cleans up obsolete fees and updates building, gas, electrical, and inspectional-service charges. Vasquez said the city had not adjusted many fees during his eight years in office and that the proposed schedule aligns Revere with comparable nearby communities such as Chelsea, Malden, Medford and Salem. He said fire prevention fees and parking fines were not part of the package and would be addressed separately by the fire prevention office and traffic-related bodies.

Vasquez recommended reviewing the fee schedule more regularly — he suggested every three years — so fees remain competitive. The subcommittee voted to forward the ordinance amending Appendix A as amended; the roll call shows unanimous support: Councilor Garrino Sawaya — yes; Councilor Haas — yes; Councilor Kelly — yes; Councilor McKenna — yes; Chairman Argentio — yes. The revised fee schedule will be considered by the full council.

Votes at a glance: - Ordinance (council order 25 1 44) amending Chapter 12.2(o) (poles, wires and cables): favorable recommendation to full council; recorded roll-call — 4 yes, 1 no (Kelly opposed). - Ordinance amending Appendix A (table of fees): favorable recommendation to full council; recorded roll-call — unanimous yes (5–0).

Clarifying details from the meeting: the pole/conduit proposal would shift initial permit review to the city engineer while preserving the council's ability to call utilities before the council; the appendix A revisions cover building, gas, electrical, and inspectional-service fees and remove obsolete fee items; fire prevention fees were explicitly excluded from this package and will be reviewed separately with the new fire chief.

Both items will proceed to the full City Council for consideration; the transcript records the subcommittee's recommendations and roll-call tallies for the legislative affairs items.