The Everett Board of Aldermen voted and approved a raise and a stipend bringing their yearly salaries to a total of $25,000 with the stipend for expenses totaling an additional $5,000.
The decision was reached unanimously by the board and will go into effect during the next legislative session.
The one holdout necessary to stop the raise was Alderwoman Millie Cardillo who had previously told her colleagues she would not vote for a raise. She, however, changed her vote in the last minute and went for the raise to make it possible.
A liquor store got the go ahead on the Parkway.
Opponents of the liquor store said that if the city’s Overlay District, designed by the mayor and community development department, had been approved, no such business would have gotten the right to exist there.
Opponents said that Restaurant Depot is a perfect example of a business that gave nothing back to the city when an overlay plan in place would have forced the corporation to pay attention to architecture and design, to landscaping and lighting, to set back and aesthetics. A linkage fee would have been required as well with an Overlay district in force.
“It is just a big warehouse,” said one opponent.
Almost two months ago, the Aldermen voted down the mayor’s Overlay initiative.
With that plan, the mayor and his community development department were hoping to set some standards on development along the length of Route 16.
The aim was to gain some control over design issues and to have a say in what exactly a new development of redevelopment would look like and work like in this heavily traveled and highly commercialized are of Everett.
In other matters, the mayor has named Ed Mastracola, a former DEA field agent with decades of experience, as the city’s Emergency Call chief while Winthrop resident Michelle Karas, a longtime and highly respected employee for the town, was made the city’s Parking Clerk and she also heads the IT division.