The Boston City Council on Wednesday approved a package of grant acceptances, an appropriation for school design work, and a contract extension for ladder trucks, and adopted two personnel waivers for police applicants.

Highlights of actions taken:

- The council passed Docket 1831, accepting a $1,000,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the Boston Parks and Recreation Department for capital improvements at Salem Park in Dorchester, including a play area, a children’s bike loop, a splash pad, accessible pathways, trees, rain gardens and upgraded lighting and courts. Councilor Colette Zapata and Councilor Worrell spoke in favor; the council suspended the rules and passed the measure by voice vote.

- Docket 1834, the city’s award of $48,900 from the United Nations Development Program for a pilot to use AI‑enabled traffic signal priority to address chronic school bus delays, was passed by suspension of the rules. Councilor Pepin, chair of the Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology, said the grant will help generate potential solutions for school bus timing.

- Docket 1835, a $44,780 grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for water quality assessment at Chandler Park Pond, was passed. Councilor Colette Zapata noted the monitoring will help address algae blooms and urban runoff and will begin early next year.

- Docket 1836 authorized the Procurement Department to extend the term of an existing three‑year contract for ladder trucks for the Boston Fire Department to allow delivery of the remaining trucks on schedule. The council conducted a roll‑call vote; the clerk recorded 12 votes in the affirmative.

- Docket 1690 received its second reading and passed. The council approved a $2,500,000 appropriation for schematic design work at the Ruth Batson Academy (formerly the John W. McCormick School) in Dorchester; that action moves the project toward potential Massachusetts School Building Authority support. A roll call showed 10 votes in the affirmative on second reading.

- Two personnel petitions granting waivers to allow applicants to enter the police academy were adopted. Docket 1847 (petition to waive the “maximum major requirement” for Ryan Cuzzo) and Docket 1848 (age waiver for Jose Reyes) were passed after suspension of the rules; roll calls recorded 11 and 10 affirmative votes respectively.

Other grant communications and referrals: the council referred Docket 1832 (an $895,657.87 grant for RESIA workforce services) to the Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development and Docket 1833 ($99,476 pipeline emergency response training grant to the Fire Department) to the Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice.

The council used suspension of the rules for several matters and recorded roll‑call votes where required for contract or appropriation actions. Where a roll call was recorded, the clerk’s public tally was entered into the legislative record.