THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2022 Page 3 On a Happy Note… C ity Hall was actually festive this week thanks to the City Council, which voted with Councillor-at-Large Steve Morabito, who proposed that the Singing Seniors be awarded a Certifi cate of Appreciation for lifting spirits and bringing cheer throughout the city for the holiday season. But the Singing Seniors did not turn out for the City Council meeting just to pick up their award. The City Council was also awarding a Certifi cate of Commendation to help celebrate the 95th birthday of Arthur Foshey, a 23-year Navy veteran (not pictured) who served in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Lebanon Crisis. The singing seniors (pictured) chimed in with their version of “Happy Birthday” to help mark the event for Foshey. The City Council also awarded a Certifi cate of Appreciation to Sgt. Joseph Internicola and the MassBadge leadership. Dan Maguire was also presented with a certifi cate in recognition of his retirement in December as an employee of the city of Revere. Pictured with city council members are Dan Rizzo, left, and Sgt. Joseph Internicola at city hall council chambers on Dec. 12. Revere to receive $1.2 million in settlement money to battle opioid crisis By Barbara Taormina M assachusetts is expected to receive billions of dollars as part of a nationwide settlement with opioid makers over allegations they exacerbated the opioid crisis through marketing and failing to establish adequate oversight and controls. Revere is in line to collect $1.2 million through 2038 to support prevention, treatment and recovery services, city Finance Director Richard Viscay explained to the City Council, which approved creating an Opioid Recovery and Remediation Trust Fund at their last meeting. “It just makes sense to do this,” said Councillor-at-Large Dan Rizzo. “The funding is there.” Throughout the country, opioid overdose deaths have increased by 28 percent over the past year with fentanyl contributing to the increase. Revere has lost 20 to 21 people to overdoses over the past couple of years. Federal investigators recently announced the arrest of four men transporting four kilograms of fentanyl at Northgate Plaza. Just over $250,000 has been transferred to the new trust fund from the city’s general fund. By establishing the trust fund, the council ensured the money will be spent on the use for which it was intended. Revere has several opioid addiction treatment centers, but now more can be done to get ahead of the problem. Governor-Elect Maura Healey is continuing to legally pursue opioid makers and distributors and hold them legally and fi nancially accountable for their role in drug addiction and death. She recently announced a proposed $3 billion nationwide settlement reached with Walmart, over allegations that the company contributed to the opioid crisis by failing to properly oversee the dispensing of opioids at its stores. “Companies that contributed to the opioid epidemic need to repair the harm they caused,” said Healey. “That means paying for the treatment, recovery, and support services that families need, and changing business practices to make sure a crisis like this never happens again.” Candlelight Christmas Eve service T he First Congregational Church (230 Beach Street, Revere), will hold a Candlelight BICYCLE | SEE Page 3 Street will still have 11-foot-wide traffi c lanes in both directions, but pedestrian crossings will be shorter and traffi c will fl ow. Trepanier said traffi c surveys show that 10.6 thousand vehicles travel on Bennington Street each day. Approximately fi ve bicycles an hour use the road. City councillors seemed doubtful that the change would benefi t Revere. Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna was particularly concerned about how the changes would impact her neighborhood of Beachmont. She also questioned the lack of community involvement in the proposed redesign. “My biggest problem is Revere and Winthrop have not had any public meetings about this,” McKenna told Trepanier. “You need transparency. We need public meetings so people know what you’re doing.” But McKenna seemed already Christmas Eve service on Saturday, December 24 at 4:00 p.m. We will then hold one sersure of the outcome of the pilot. “You’re going to paralyze Beachmont,” she said, adding that Bennington Street is the evacuation route for the neighborhood. McKenna was also concerned that traffi c would back up and drivers would cut through the surrounding neighborhood to avoid getting stuck in a long line of cars. “The answer is not to take away two lanes of traffi c,” McKenna told Trepanier. “If you want to slow down traffi c, get the police involved. That’s a simple answer.” Ward 5 Councillor John Powers felt installing more bike lanes would open the door to more serious traffic accidents. “Before bike lanes, we need to get traffi c off our highways, and the only way to do that is with public transportation,” he said, adding that bike lanes might get one or two cars off the road. Trepanier agreed but said more cyclists may be inclined to travel by bike if they felt safer vice at 10:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. Everyone is welcome to celebrate with us! in a dedicated bike lane. City Council President Gerry Visconti also questioned the reasoning behind the pilot. “I’m trying to understand what’s broken that needs to be fi xed,” he said. Visconti suggested using the sidewalk instead of two traffi c lanes to create a bike lane. “A bike lane can be created; we can still have the sidewalk and the two lanes,” he said. “It’s like you want to create traffi c to slow it down.” Councillors were also concerned about how long a pilot program would last and whether it would become permanent without community feedback. Trepanier said the safety improvements were designed so they could be removed easily if they don’t yield the anticipated improvements. He also said that technically MassDOT has jurisdiction over this part of Bennington Street and the safety improvements don’t need City Council approval to move forward. For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers at 781-286-8500 or Info@advocatenews.net
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