What's In Store For Melrose In 2022: Tuesday Minute

Welcome to the Melrose Minute, made with your Monday Tuesday morning in mind. This space will evolve over the next few weeks, so if you have any suggestions please email mike.carraggi@patch.com.

This is my first day back at work since Feb. 11, so bear with me.

Mr. Speaker ... The Mayor Of Melrose!

Sadly local State of the City addresses aren't as dramatic as their national counterparts, but there's reason to pay attention this week nonetheless.

Mayor Paul Brodeur's State of the City address is scheduled for Thursday, his first such speech since taking the oath of office in January of 2020. Of course, a few things have happened since then.

While COVID-19 figures to play an important part of Brodeur's address, the city also said he intends on setting his policy agenda for the rest of the year, which Brodeur is dubbing "The Year of Community Health and Wellness."

MMTV will air the State of the City Address on Comcast channel 22 and Verizon channel 38 at noon Thursday. It will repeat throughout the day. You can also watch the speech on MMTV’s YouTube channel.

Sports shoutouts!

Congratulations to...

Anna Mackey, who won the Div. 3 State Championship in the 1000-meter.

The wrestling team, which won the Div. State Championship. The place finishers were:

120-pound: Sean Thomas, 2nd
132-pound: Alec McLaughlin, 4th
145-pound: Oto Albanese, 5th
160-pound: Shea Fogarty, 3rd
285-pound: Brandon Marceau, 2nd

What to watch for

Can you hear me now?: Telecommunications companies have an alarming amount of power in installing small wireless communications antennas, more commonly known as 5G. They essentially cannot be told "no" by local communities. Melrose is at least looking to establish some regulations in an ordinance.

Free money...: Mayor Brodeur will be asking the City Council to accept quite a bit of money this week. The big one is $2 million for the Melrose Public Library renovation, which is coming from a number of library trust funds. The state is also handing a $50,000 grant to the city to address the water chestnut issue at Ell Pond. Community member Finn McSweeney 18 months ago wrote a very well-informed look at just what the water chestnut issue at Ell Pond is all about.

...and free cash: Ironically, the free cash is less free than the library/Ell Pond funding. Free cash is a surplus from the previous fiscal year typically used for one-time expenditures. Anyways, Brodeur will be asking the City Council to approve using $1.5 million of it to fund the Memorial Hall Renovation Project. Here's the last story I wrote in 2020 about the deteriorating building.

LOCAL PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Just Right! J.R. carved his name into the snow at Gooch Park on Feb. 4.

Send your best photos to mike.carraggi@patch.com each week to be considered for publication.

WHAT I BOUGHT IN MELROSE LAST WEEK

Restarted by membership at the Y; Beer at Beacon Hill (Peroni, if you must know;) A buffalo chicken calzone (or two) at Petrone's; Greeting cards and flowers at Pepperberry; A candle at Rou-Mi and Friends; A seafood burrito at Mexico Lindo (good but I think I'll stick with the carne asada;) Fries at Melrose House of Pizza (yes, just fries, this is a judgement-free zone;) Tons of coffee at Starbucks; Wine and chocolate pretzels at Buckalew's.
The Y membership offsets the eating out, right?

BUSINESS SHOUT-OUTS OF THE WEEK

None! But you're encouraged to tell me about a great recent experience with a local business. The email is mike.carraggi@patch.com.

READER QUESTIONS/FEEDBACK OF THE WEEK

None! You know the drill. Mike.carraggi@patch.com.

Need a laugh?: The Melrose Comedy Bar is yukking it up the second Saturday of every month at the Knights of Columbus. You can learn more at melrosecomedybar.com or following @melrosecomedybar on Instagram.

Week in weather(.com)

Upcoming meetings

Feb. 22 — Housing Authority, 5:30; City Council, 7:45

Feb. 23 — Retirement Board, 9 a.m.

Feb. 24 — Energy Commission, 7

Due to my being off last week, we'll return with the "Last Week's Stories" sections next Monday.