Residents Pack City Hall, Vent After Brazil Street Sewage Backup

MELROSE, MA — A standing-room only crowd in City Hall's aldermanic chambers let out weeks' worth of frustration and called for Melrose's transparency and accountability in the first portion of a tense meeting surrounding the cause of and response to Brazil Street sewage disaster. Thursday night's Appropriations Committee meeting was called for Mayor Gail Infurna's to answer to the Board - and it did - but the residents of Melrose first had their say.

"Hi everyone, my name is Silvana Ortiz. I used to live at 12 Brazil St.," said one of the residents who has been forced out of her home since the June 20 backup and subsequent overflow.

She followed another family that has been out of their home, the backup forcing a single mother and her three young children into one bedroom at a relative's home. Two of the boys have been complaining of a sore back from sleeping on a couch.

"I just want to ask a question: Whether this is covered or not," asked Jenny Zhou, speaking for her sister.

>>>Read: City Admits 'Glitches In Our System' Regarding Brazil Street

Other residents spoke on the issue, some of which said they've had sewage backups ruin their homes. And to them, the city's slow communication is familiar.

"Will city hall continue to take this reactive approach?" asked Cindy Yu, who said she has waited more than six months for the city's insurance to tell her what expenses will be covered. "What's the plan that can keep this from happening again and again to further residents in Melrose. I'm here today looking for answers. I'm tired of hearing more questions."

Other Brazil Street residents who live farther up the street from the backup called on the city to do right by his affected residents.

"This was not an act of God this was not a natural disaster," Rick Greski said, calling the strategy employed by DPW that caused the blowout "human error."

The fallout from the sewage blowout that ruined filled Brazil Street homes with human waste and sewage filth, displacing residents for weeks until they were told to move back into homes not ready to be lived in, has rocked the city from Infurna to the DPW.

Officials were called to the Board via an order filed last week by Ward 5 Alderman MacMaster and Alderman-at-Large Monica Medeiros. It was initially scheduled for Monday, July 15, but put off until Thursday so residents could be properly notified, the sponsoring aldermen said.

Criticism of the administration's handling of the situation started almost immediately and only intensified. The backup was first reported to DPW the morning of June 20, but MacMaster wasn't notified until later that night. Subsequent attempts to communicate with the city fell flat, MacMaster said, until Patch inquired about residents being placed back into what they said were hazardous and unlivable situations.

Residents of the two of the homes told Patch they felt Health Director Ruth Clay gave quick, incomplete reviews of their homes before saying they were ready to be moved into again. That green light preceded the city halting hotel payments for them, sending one family with a 5-year-old daughter back to an unfinished home that had just had dozens of roaches, and newlyweds back to a home that had hazardous waste in the heating and cooling unit beneath the living room floor. Clay later revised her approval of the latter home, but the city only initially extended the hotel stay a week - Infurna later said Thursday night the city is still paying for that family.

A review commissioned by the city said a massive clog of grease and debris in outdated sewer pipes contributed to the blowout. The city used Weston & Sampson to perform what it called the "independent evaluation." The city has and continued to use Weston & Sampson for a number of other studies and projects.

"The cards were actually stacked in the city's favor," Brazil Street resident Rick Greski said. "That report is not an independent report."

MacMaster also accused the administration of telling affected residents to stop speaking about the situation with him, something two of the residents confirmed.

"I'm troubled by what was communicated to the residents at their individual meetings with the administration this week, and what was directly asked of me by the Mayor herself," MacMaster said. "Whether it's the administration's unwillingness or inability to recognize the fundamental role of a representative government and the separation of powers, or something more nefarious than that, I do not know.

"But what I do know is that I don't work for the Mayor. I work for my constituents. No resident of Ward 5 should ever be dissuaded from contacting me. I will continue representing my constituents in the manner that they deserve, despite what was asked of me and what the residents were told by the administration."

The administration said MacMaster took it the wrong way, with officials saying they were hoping to streamline communication and allow MacMaster to enjoy his vacation.

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