call the meeting to order at uh 2:11 um in terms of because Bobby is running behind um in terms of amending the agenda I would suggest that we move the 2115 nominations and votes uh for offices of the board to at the end of the later in the meeting so that Bobby can be here um let's say move that down to 240 let's say um I think we need to take out the 210 and maybe we could add um if not for this meeting another next month um a mission statement update for the COA board because we don't know if we have no right we don't we don't uh which is why I use the word right upcoming right um thoughts on that I think you should okay I I like the idea of substituting the should statement um just a heads up Janine texted me um at 1:15 to say that she cannot make it today hopes to see us soon K is there any way that we can get a cof schedule for today oh yeah no here I got a next one want a another one yeah run a couple off thank you sorry there's no director's report on this but I don't have a director's report for you so how intuitive of you to know that oh yeah well this keeps going like it's going we won't have anything to talk about um with the new statement down here on public input I need to talk to you later because it's not going to have anything this [Music] has thank you very yeah taking [Laughter] and that's both like to have um okay so the uh as I understand that the agenda will be amended as following the 210 discussion regarding upcoming board vacancy will be deleted um the uh nominations and votes for officers of the board will be moved to 240 um hopefully in order to allow um Bobby to to get here um and uh March asked that mission statement update be added for the COA would to have our mission statement oh I see okay and and where would you like that to go have any um 2:30 I mean after thoughts on open off hours any place we want to put it okay we're open today open today we're open today so why don't we put it right after the the the agenda are you going to do it later yeah why don't we do it um now yeah why don't we do it now after the agenda is approved any other changes I make a motion that we accept the agenda as amended I second all those in favor I all those opposed hearing none motion passes unanimously the amend the agenda is approved as amended um meeting minutes for last month which which I know marel just sent out many folks have chance to review those take a couple minutes yeah yeah I did I did not can everyone hear Okay no Okay so you guys are all loud talkers except when you sit around theable you talk very softly then see the adds to the background noise so all right so we are now in the process of uh just taking a glance up well we the June 11th meeting minutes that Mary Ellen just sent out um I read them just before coming in and they seem F to me yeah I didn't see as I ran through them I did not see anything e if there are edits I can take edits um Mary Ellen's um shifted Mary Allen's priorities for a little while um her Statewide Outreach coordinator meeting has started back up again they're going to meet once a month it happens to be on the second Tuesday at 2 p.m. it's GNA take minutes but she's gonna take minutes from the recording so she won't be here joining the meetings so she'll still be doing that so if there are edits she can either take the edits from our discussion in the recording or I can take notes on the edits okay so in the event of any member being absent Rec consecutive meetings can you guys talk just a little bit about I know you guys are talking to each other but why are we here if we can't hear you right three consecutive meetings and that you mean in terms of the COA board policies yes y okay and we are adopted these in May yes so May June and July would now be three absences for Janine is that what you're saying yes okay where are we but don't we have to accept the minutes first we did no we did no well when we do because we adopted we accept those so fair point are we comfortable with the minutes I we have to accept these minutes first before we move on or are you asking a question about what is talked about in there in the minutes for that section okay now I understand yes sorry I'm catching up here I know so Marge is making sure that the section of the minutes that pertains to the adoption of the COA policies and the clarification of what we did the last meeting is accurate okay yeah yes and it's my understanding that they are that it is accurate so the question is and what happens after that after we accept these well after we approv the minutes so you wanted to talk about the policy pertaining to absences by Rees okay so do we want to approve the minutes first I make motion we accept the minutes second all those in favor i i al the poos hearing none that motion passes so in terms of I don't have a copy of the policy I have it right okay so that's unfortunately not on the agenda I know um but we accepted those those are the bylaw yes right right and we all had those in our emails right so I I um so the question is should I I contacted I I left a couple of messages for Janine earlier sent her an email um she did not respond to me directly um and obviously she's not at this meeting it was my understanding that she was considering not continuing on the buing um she but evidently she has not yet notified the board of Selectmen to officially have that go into Force so the question is how to proceed um in the absence of her um following up with that does the board feel like I should uh reach out to her again and ask her to anybody have any thoughts on that or can I I'm I'm just I'm not to be a a stickler I'm just gonna say um given given the way we revise the agenda it's not on the agenda so I think you either need to revise your motion to say you wna you want to leave the upcoming board vacancy in it and we discuss it or you want to take it out and we don't discuss it today I think you've got to fix it okay I know it's procedural I'm just saying let's um my recommendation be to adjust it leave we can discuss it leave it adjust a the amend the amendment to leave it in okay for a discussion purposes you with that marer so then the motion would be to amend the amendment that removed upcoming board vacancy and to reinsert it yeah so one of you needs to I'll make the motion that we amend the amended agenda to leave the discussion of for vacancy and then when Mary Allen does the minutes I those two amendments right next to each other so then there needs to be a second all in favor okay I mean I guess it's a potential board vacancy though yes yeah I guess potential more than um now go for it sorry all right so I did I pulled up I have the the section of it where it says the attendance y it says absent for three consecutive meetings except for reasons of health or extenuating circumstances has reported to the chairperson advance of the meetings yeah um any on the occasions the council May on regard recommend shall request move the select board so the question I guess for us um comes to do we feel that um the criteria has been met such that we can ask the select board to either request a resignation oh hey Bobby that's all right I understand right here but I as the chair is it possible for us to have any comment about this um let's let's flesh it yeah yeah yeah let's flesh it out a little bit but I I'll come back instead of talking you know to her you're not getting any sending her a certified letter and then you'd have an answer which she's not returning c yeah yeah yeah that's my suggestion we also probably have to one of the things also says is that the rules and the regulations may be amended by provided that the amendment has been circulated to all members at Le 14 days prior to the meeting so I'd go back to when did we send this for your to start with three months the approved one well it would have been this would have been the July would have been the third month I think we approved did we approved them in may we approved them in May so the approved ones went out with well they went out in April I assume I mean we saw them in April right we make changes that's why I don't remember so what happened is in the April meeting Dennis presented the first draft y it might have even been a second draft but no you get at the March meeting you handed it out at the end of the meeting and said take a look at it in the April meeting everyone looked at it and made some changes to it and then you guys agreed to make a motion to accept it as amended and then in the May meeting you brought back a version of it for everyone to see that was Final with the changes that were made there was some confusion about whether you needed to reapproved but I said no you put those into effect in so technically it was first presented to the board in a well March but April um it was approved in May so this would be the second V this be the second mon yep so yeah so I think it has to go into effect if it's approved in May I don't think the May meeting can necessarily count I think June and July two months of absen yeah um so the question for me is um do we continue to make efforts to reach out to Janine prior to the third month um just to get a sense of how she would like to proceed or if she would know just I feel like I'm you know there's I'd be happy to call her get her phone number okay no actually that's not a bad idea um and again Bob just to let you know I I I I I I left her a couple of M messages on her phone and also emailed her yeah um just phone and I didn't hear back um so but I I think it would be great if someone other than I yeah kind of reached out to her yeah called Janine okay and again we're trying to get a sense of what she would like to do um so that we can move forward uh one way or the other yeah um because it's an untenable situation to allow it to linger perpetually the other board members feel comfortable with that I didn't I'm not going to read it on out on the recording that's gonna end up on the we so I guess W that's outside of the that's okay I just didn't want to read out her personal phone number want to make sure that we're public meeting sort of covering it on that basis as well too not putting anybody else into that situation it's got to go to the chair that's what if she's gonna call out yes calling out sick you gotta call the chair yeah no no much better and to Janine's credit she has always contacted me with right an assorted reason um so but I think the policy does then makes it very clear who to contact yeah right but it Al yes and but and even in the presence of repeated contacts to whomever the repeated absences still become problematic um so I'll just say if I could I say I know you haven't been at a lot of meetings recently uh I I'm not the best at attending meetings myself as they say and uh I get uh I get the uh medical report and uh so I get to you know she has a Val reason I just tell her or contact you select one maybe she wants to be reappointed she's got a valid reason yes and I think that yes I I think that'll be fine and I just want to I think it it would be good for her to give a clear yeah answer to the board yeah um as to what her plans are and then act upon that so that we can move forward yeah in the absence of that the clock strikes midnight the August meeting comes around um but then you know it's another month um so um so that's thank you for doing that Bobby and and and let you know and you can call each member each of us individually with with what your conversation is my number okay um you okay uh so the next item uh thoughts on board member open Office hours for the fall the reason I wanted to bring this and you know obviously we um had uh we made an effort at at at open Office hours it did not go particularly successfully um there there was only to the best of my recollection only one occasion where there was one person there except for when I attended the Pleasant Street North nor Al scheduled monthly meeting at which time barara had you know just hung up the notice and there was pretty good attendance at that and and people seem genuinely engaged so my one thought I had for the fall is that instead of holding an open Office hour meeting where we go where we sit and wait for them to come to us that in September October we go to them that is one meeting a month maybe or one meeting every other month some member of the board goes to that committee's meeting and asks for their suggestions inputs questions about the senior center or running the operation or so that we get I don't know it's just a thought it's not necessarily senior directed but it does kind of increased the visibility of the board and the senior center I if we if there was any way to even go wider than that there was some way we could get into Autumn Ridge as well too to see sort of if there's anything if you think about what the board's supposed to be doing is the advocacy is there anything that's from that perspective that they have and I don't know the answer to that I I think it's a great idea I think there's a lot of little subgroups of people in town that tend to have senior members um one one really good or one really terrible option would be go the right um would be as as the building committee is doing that very thing you could either put them in the same meeting or you could follow them one could Trail the other like you could schedule each of those the building committee and the COA to be like well let's do one for August and one for September with that same organization if they're willing to give us or otherwise two time slots although again could be terrible if one overshadows the other so okay so I I to answer your question I think they're valid it's just finding out Way by which to make it more workable so that it is getting well if it goes on and again we're just we don't need to if like a COA board member Outreach we put that on the agenda of particular um boards you know and again I you know pick one the Conservation Commission the air housing Authority the you know the autn ridge folks um FL Street Apartments have their weekly or yeah weekly coffee I guess Hill what's that Turtle isn't Turtle Hill or condo they have some seniors I don't know where turtle Hill is in air I think it's off of Lon Hill off West Road y okay y um but those aren't all seniors they're not all seniors but there's a good number I've delivered special meals up there but do they have regularly do they have like Community meetings regularly scheduled they they have to have HOAs I've delivered our meals up there and so they'll be required their their incorporate Articles of Incorporation will require them to have one meeting a year at least so I think the leg work that needs to be done is how many condo associat or how many of these organizations to create a draft list and then divy up who's going to contact each one of them and find out we might be able to fill the next 12 months worth of meetings you know spaced out you know we might be able to schedule that now because maybe someone will meet in December and another one will meet in April we can we could go ahead and ask now to be on there that coming up with that list I think it's same here too that we could do again doesn't have to be 900 a.m. a coffee and really advertise it here too um so the folks who live in these buildings how do you have a a monthly or weekly meeting no no no no we don't okay that's but you guys don't yeah um start one that might be something to talk to Teresa about okay yeah so is there ever a meeting of the Housing Authority here yes it's a meeting once month okay for the board members just for the board members no to the public okay but there's no tennis meeting no okay so you have that meeting there all we have is a box put suggestions or questions into there is and I don't know his name there is a tenant representative and I've only met him when he was introduced there's been no public forum like going to each building or even having a total meeting that anybody has so if you have uh it's hard to say because you're splitting them up between advocacy and like issues and those types of things like how do you drive that so you would go to the tenant representative or you would put a note in the we each building has a suggestion box and you put your suggestions or comments into that box yeah I don't even know how often they check them I I was told that um boxes checked every time the rent box is check but you each have like a porch area or a um communion communal room yes but it's have the size of this yeah it wouldn't be big enough to hold the entire community in one place wow can the tenant speak at that monthly meeting that's really what this becomes for for them yeah oh I'm not sure I think there's 18 in Building C and um our Building B rather Building C is like a community a community center well that's where people who um can't quite live on themselves that they need extra help and everything okay so all they have is a kitchen area okay okay and building a if if you had 20 people in there there's no way no way okay it would something would have to be done down here but there is no tenant meeting for so if I come with my box of coffee and my Donuts outside on a summer day outside on a summer day yeah so Bobby did you want to add something yeah I just wanted to inquire is is the pleas streets they have elected representatives or do they uh meet there's one person for the entire housing and and but Pleasant Street has a week which I attended and I think Katie's planning on attending as well for the for the for the purpose of the building committee has a weekly coffee that's just kind of like the tenants getting together and and it's yeah so and the one that I attended was I mean they had 8 to 10 people AG to 12 people there um who kind of are going to be there and it's a great way to kind of meet them and and see what their concerns are specific to the senior center um but you know nature being nature you tend to hear a little bit about housing authority concerns as well but um for the purpos of the senior center it was a good way to kind of reach out to them and it seems like that's you know Wednesday mornings at 10 o'clock is the time at at Pleasant Street Department so uh next steps um cond associations so I will uh I'll compile a list of all the town official Town um board and committees um and when they presumably monthly or or bonly meetings are um I mean some of them will be more relevant to our purposes than others but it would be good to just have comprehensive list of that and it's going to be fairly easy I think just getting it off the web um did you want to Mar did you want to look at condo associations around town and Bridge and um I know Lon Hill or Turtle what's that turkey turtle turtle turtle the turtle car turtle turtle caring yeah yeah they launch canoes and stuff behind it and again I'm just trying to sort out a way that um and again my thought is that although this will piggy back nicely on the building committee work and just kind of increasing informational awareness regarding that my thought was more about the senior center and operations and in the long term you know how to make the seniors in town or the people in town more aware of what will is available and will be available here and what they think might be most helpful for them um and um and that would hopefully continue even after the building is buil um yeah yeah Kati did you want to um talk a little bit about the building committee and your a oh sure so the building committee met at the end of last month and we reviewed initial floor plans um for the senior center I need hang those up actually um and the site work you know then looking at the soils and the soil samples um the the data like the the online database soil data um looking at those the architect um going for the architect is going to refine the floor plan based on our initial feedback and begin to look at for the two sites under consideration how it could be cited on each site and then um we authorized test borings both at um Bishop Road and at um rman Harvard Road contingent upon approval of the appropriate School Authority which we now have so um test boring will start at some Dan's Dan DPW Dan is on vacation right now but um that will start to get coordinated when he comes back so long story short it the process is moving forward um starting to feel very real now with two specific sites and a floor plan and um on next week on the 19th there will be a public forum here at the senior center to go over sort of review progress today and then to talk in more detail about plans uh I have a survey um just a basic survey for people about what they'd like to see out of the senior center and the opportunity for them to comment specifically about a couple of things about the design that we were really most interested in public input about obviously like we're interested in all the public input but there were two areas that we were had specific questions for the for the public on so any and all are welcome to join us on the 19th hi come on in Vivian and as we said Autumn Ridge went okay and Autumn Ridge uh we you know I did the first sort of public Outreach meeting with Autumn Ridge can just leave it on a table back there thank you um and they had you know some great questions um I think it was a lot of people who there's some of them that attend the senior center but most don't so I think it was a great to get feedback from a um ever widening set of set of people okay were they pretty receptive to it or yes they all lik it I guess I could be more specific they all really liked it they thought it was a great looking they um one person said that they weren't quite aware of all the things that were happening here or that could happen in a new building and so they had learned something um there was one yeah um you know I think many of the people that were original autum Ridge tenants participated in those public forums way back so they were pleased to see the continued forward progress um there's one person who um wasn't in favor of it and it's good that's fine yeah um they yeah they were just um not in favor of using taxpayer dollars to build a building in general so thank I had I talk to P this morning I talked to four people over the weekend um in regards to I had the diagram showed them to and explained it to them and I had some seniors and then I had some other age group that would be seniors eventually and they all said to me first of all they did need a second floor and then it's like the building is too big the space is too big there's much too much and it's not going to pass the time meeting and these are people from air that I have discussion over the weekend no that's good that's good to hear you know um like I said some were seniors and some weren't so I got both sides of it they said it's not going to pass in the town of at the town meeting and did and did they seem like they would raise those concerns in a more public prior to town meeting that is will they be think so you know I don't think so like they won't be here on the 19th or they won't be well no because one of them was a town person now lives in Abington so she's not here um and she was big in the town of year years ago she used to hold office here and then the other senior doesn't come here because he doesn't want to admit that he's a senior so he does come here and then the other two were right you know I've discussed it with Mary about you know people don't want to come they're not old enough right you know so I mean what's going so they're talking two floors what is going to be on the second floor that the majority of seniors would be using so question the um upstairs will have a card and Game Room it will have an arts and crafts a flexible office a flexible meeting space but um an arts and crafts could go up there it will have a um a fitness room with gym equipment the wellness office will be up there um and second set of bathrooms um what's going to be on the first floor so the first floor we'll have the cafe Cafe Library sort of reception kind of area it will have the offices it will have a multi-purpose classroom similar in size to the one actually a little bit smaller than the one upstairs and then um the downstairs will also have the large multi-purpose room in the commercial kitchen and the equipment lending room and a patio and an elevator yes we'll be an elevator um this particular architect uh is very sensitive to seniors has a lot of expertise in developing and building with seniors in mind so the stairs are quite wide they're built with a six inch Riser rather than a seven or eight inch Riser so they're elevators going up large elevators they're a lot more gentle on the knees a lot of people who cannot walk up a standard staircase can actually walk up these um and it is a great opportunity actually to build leg strength when current like the standard staircase is too difficult on the joints this is a little bit easier and and just and I I didn't know this because I had initially my initial thoughts were it's going to be one story or you know and in talking to not only this the architect that we selected but also the other architects who were involved their sense of it was that there are significant cost settings from having two floors because you only need one roof so the and the roof on a building is an ex is an extremely expensive part of the building as Foundation yeah yeah so you get more you get more building for less money in a way if you have two stories instead of one larger one story building and the other thing that they thought was that um for seniors getting around if it's on if you only have I don't know seven or 8, Square fet on each floor 7,000 let's say it's a lot easier to navigate that go up the elevator and walk between rooms or walk from the elevator to the room than it is to stare down a long Corridor that's now has to be several hundred feet long well 150 ft long let's say so your actual time having to kind of maneuver around is less because you have less distance to travel um so those were two thoughts on on why two stories instead of one and I was initially a fan of a one story building as well but the the sort of Industry standard is once you get over 10,000 square feet you are much better off the users have a better experience as Dennis said there's less walking to do to enjoy the facility when it's on two levels I know you had said that the seniors is the largest I know population wise in the town of air you said the seniors are the most um we are a small well let me clarify there are there are more seniors than there are children in the school district there are more people aged 19 to 59 than there are people aged 60 plus middle-aged people are adults are still the biggest population but when you're looking at those two end segments right so the the other thing was that the uh town is a small town it's not like Littleton so big now used to be a small town lon's grown with what's come into the town all right not much more is going to come into air there's not much space for anything else to come into air so it's still a small area and somebody had brought up the fact that baby bones you know is going to be a lot lower you know than it is now so people to you know that's actually not true the Baby Boomers are the biggest piece of the population so the segment of our population that is a senior is going to grow in air from now until 2060 we will get more and more and more seniors because the Baby Boomers the oldest of which are 77 so they age I believe 55 to 67 they have a pretty wide band So for the next several decades there will be more and more and more seniors in town it's not not just showing the four people over it's great you're talking to them to Katie this morning about it and I like it you know but a lot of people would say what we need with such a large scene C and there's a lot of rumor and like everything else that the towns and cities do a lot of wasted space I've seen it in the school department a lot of wasted space and it cost a fortune to build those schools and I I think that'll be an important part of the public input process is to see amongst lots of different groups of people what what their their impressions are and I do want to I do still want to maybe you could do that for August a senior center trip I think Wilbraham would be a lovely facility to see or maybe North Andover would be better North Andover would probably be better to go I never wilham where's that Wilber Ham's at West North Andover is close north andover's Senior Center would be very similar in size to what we're talking about and I think sometimes at least for me I have a hard time you say 14,000 square feet and you're like wow that's huge but if you if you were to walk into a 14,000 foot building that's totally tailored to things you might want to do um you might be surprised how not too big it feels we talked about that a long time ago yes so let me make a note the one that they're building in Littleton you know that we don't know off the top of my head CU I know they're building the two story there and they well they got the outside all done now they're working on the inside where is it where is it I haven't got to go in there yet but the address Street yeah it's right there where the old Senior Center oh it's down on the where the old school no building project Street Street he is to grammar school there you went to grammar school there oh my God yeah anyway I didn't mean so it's great it's great that you're doing that I it's important for as early in the process to hear these things and to understand what people's concerns are going to be um and and we'll see ultimately I think we all understand that at town meeting you have to because I know a senior every time they came into Littleton with schools I used to say vote it down I didn't even care what it was I didn't want to spend any more money on T my kids have already been through them but now they say senor Center I think a little bit more like well that might be nice some cost a few dollars more so it depends on where you are in the if there's more young people there are there are more seniors in the town of a then there are children you got to get the it's not either 8,500 it's about 25% of the population the seniors why not of every what's the population it's a little bit I want to say 105 11 Oh's gone up gone 6,000 7,000 maybe yeah about six or 7,000 that's going I'm on the town 10,000 10,000 and we're 8,000 right what 10,000 in towns and then we're 8,000 so I mean there is a just like how senior centers are run and operated there is a whole gamut of things yeah so the towns and Senior Center is larger I I'd have to go ask exactly what they're money in towns and help businesses in towns Sur air has more business than towns and has actually um but you're right there were private funds there involved um you know I think that would be an interesting comparison to ask the architect to put together for us which would be neighboring towns population sizes but again they're all funded differently the tax structures in each of these towns are different so um it's not always an Apples to Apples comparison yeah and interestingly for Townsend and I did visited you know if you buy that way they were very welcoming like seven or eight years well maybe more close to 10 years after they built their new Senior Center they ended up having to add on an additional space in back to accommodate larger Gatherings because so the initial cost of the senior center was then added to you know maybe a little less than a decade later well isn't Town one also a community center isn't it both it's attached to the library or they're part of the same complex but I don't know operationally how it is not operationally it is not a senior this it's not a community center the senior center operates as a standalone Senior Center the library operates as a standalone Library there is a large Meeting Hall in the middle that both of those share the senior center has priority usage of it between 9:00 am and 3 pm and the library has priority usage of it from 5: to 900 pm and then if neither one of those organizations use it needed at a particular time slot a community organization can rent it out they have a very specific policy about what they do unless it has changed in the last two years but that's what their very specific policy is there are lots of community groups that meet in that room but they need in that room as spaces available between the two that that share it okay funny so it would be like I call it the multi-purpose from over there that we can use it and they can use it right y I'm I'm trying to look at their um little plans right now to see if I can find any but I want encourage seniors to again talk to you know and just kind of get feedback on what people's concerns are obviously we'll answer them and encourage people to go to the official meeting raise these concerns and so that we can I have another question when do you think in your own minds we are going to be saying we're putting it on roton road or we're putting it on Bishop Road it's going to get done it's going to get started how many more months years do you think it's going to take guess a guess come on you're the comme so so at our next meeting at the end of July we should have a better sense of our estimated utilities costs I have no idea if the test borings will be done and analyzed by then um and then by that meeting there is also supposed to be work from the architect on how it could be how the building could be situated and so if any one of those things utilities um like if the utilities if there was something that was a dead end about the utilities or the soil or the sighting that would eliminate one site but otherwise I think we will have sort of a a choice of two and then I think the the committee as well as some public input is but I mean I don't think that's going to be more than a couple of months at the most right I mean just so so your estimate Maybe by Christmas we'll just say Christmas you'll say we're going to put it on Bishop Ro and this is what it's going to look like yes definitely by Christmas by Christmas you figured that we'll have a year so know and we can St putting like I say the shovel to the ground so so once you decide where it's going to go then you can get an official cost estimate so that's the next step and then it goes to town meeting and the town says that they and that could be October meeting it could be a special town meeting that will be determined by the timeline so the work the recommendation of the building committee then the um what did I just say the um where it's going located right then then the cost estimation then town meeting and then after town meeting would approve it then it goes out to bid for the construction drawings and the construction itself and then and that takes a couple of months because we're not talking about where electrical goes in the W after all this that we've gone through for we'll say two years and the town says no we don't want to spend that money it's done yes well so that's done well no not necessarily so that's part of the importance of public input so if I went to like yesterday's meeting I went to I would say it was 95% thumbs up this is awesome now let's say it had been 95% this is preposterous we don't want this I'm right I would say when we explored Peron park there was that was like a 5050 split right so you don't know everything I'm hearing a sample size of one but everything I'm hearing so far far more po positive than negative that's our job as a committee to hear the public input as we're going along and to determine if minor or major Renovations are needed and who's paying for the purchase of the land itself there is no purchase of land both of these sites are Town owned but if at Town meetings that is it's important that as as we move forward with the momentum and the public understanding of this process that when the vote comes the vote comes if you lose that vote on the floor at town meeting okay it's difficult to regain the momentum and the P public awareness so on the floor at town meeting it's it's how the decisions are supposed to be made my hope is that between now and that point that the process not become sidetracked that is it not become we can't do it okay we will bring something to the floor at town meeting which we feel will be workable and is important for the city town of air to have what is the age average age of the people that go to town meetings that don't I think that probably varies wildly based on what's on the word yeah I know special Town meetings uh it they have a qu for a special Town depends on what the topic is if it was for the schools they didn't if it was for devans they always had a problem getting people right right so but I've asked you know I mean because I see youire with the town manager's office they might be able to answer that question I'm the new buildings it's not that I'm not far it but just listening to everybody oh yeah it's no it's interes it's great to understand where the concerns are so my expectation will be that the building committee has done what they've tried to be thoughtful careful considerate tuned in work to determine a site and a building plan then it will go to the public who will be looking at it from a different perspective there will be maybe some minor maybe some major suggestions and then the building committee will weigh those um and then incorporate the ones they think are feasible because you know there might be something that's wild just because someone suggests something doesn't mean you can always incorporate it but you take it into account and try and use it as a way to understand the broader sense of the Town it could go to town meeting and pass it could go to town meeting and fail then it would be on the select board to determine whether or not the building committee has some sense of what went wrong and what changes they would need to be make to make and whether or not they would want to Reg and try again but obviously the goal is not to go with to to town meeting with something that's not going to succeed the goal is to design something thoughtfully hear people out in advance understand what the concerns are address as many of them as possible and go to town meeting with something that the town can get behind and the town is a really diverse group of people so it's you would like to get kind of unanimous approval that will never happen that's right that will never happen I have given up that naive notion but if you get 6040 in favor of 7030 that would to my way of thinking now be a tremendous accomplishment anything above that would be great so and again I would encourage everyone to listen to those who have concerns um but individual concerns will not have or should should not have veto power over the larger good that will come from this right um you know it's the it's the greater good for the greater number is is kind of what we're we're shooting for so okay so building Outreach so on to votes for officers you have to leave minutes um so in keeping with um kind of like the general sense that we want to um diversify the the activities of the board and include more people in it and in keeping with the policies that we adopted regarding um the offices of the board um it's it's election time for board officers um so my Hope was that we would elect new officers for the coming year um and then kind of everybody would change their responsibilities so my thought was that I'd like to nominate Mary as chair who so so we need a chair what what positions do we need to build chair Vice chair cler Dennis your chair now I am chair now my opposition Dennis and I told you was that you called me and said you wanted the Slate of officers to be marry as wa I'm sorry okay answer um Katie's question first I I I think the appropriate way to handle it would be to ask if anyone is interested in each of them and let each person describe rather than rather than the existing chair proposing a slate yes yeah I wasn't propos I wasn't suggesting that I propose a slate well you just made a motion for you started to make a motion for she interrupted you so right but it wasn't for a full slip oh okay yeah I gotta go okay so let's so the question is are you interested in running for not I I had already expressed my interest to Dennis okay just recently as well as in the past but and I two but Dennis had his slate already set okay so I I think what we have though here is two people who are interested in being chair which is wonderful so if you have to leave it's been lovely conversation up to this point but if you have to leave then I mean I think we should table this until the next meeting because how how would you have a an election without the well you couldn't you right well you know whatever it is youve got three other people here well I said is I have you know I've and regardless of what not this is um I do have another commitment and I'm got to drive um I am interested in that being said I've said from day one or whatnot that I'm here to support the board in any shap way shape or form so okay all right so we'll we'll T so so Mary remains interested Mar you are interested I have said it I've been on longer and I didn't like how it went when I talked to you you had the board already pit the officers all right so um thank you told me wanted Mary you were going to be CL Mary would be chair and I would be Vice well I apologize if it I didn't mean to assign those things I was I was attempting to convey what I thought would be a workable board going forward given that I wanted to step down as chair um and that you were already serving as Clerk and I I talked with Bobby as well um and obviously we couldn't talk to Janine um so I apologize if I I was not attempting to tell people what the board ought to be I was proposing what I thought would be a workable solution in order to change the responsibilities that were currently um on the board so um so Mary has expressed some interest uh which I supported for chair you will also express interest in being the chair um and we'll bring it up so will be on next month's agenda okay does does anyone want to specifically express interest in the vice chair position or the clerk position like just so that everyone can be giving some thought I mean there's there only four of us but we're running out of bodies I mean are you interested in being clerk you said yes okay so so you know it's it seems to me that the the real disc is about who will be chair and then hopefully whoever isn't chair is willing to slot into the vice chair role I would well I think you know my point was I've been here I've been in every meeting Y and I told you that night when you said it to me I was like you overlooked you just you over and again it's not my view of it was not dispositive and just to apologize publicly at the time that I was thinking about this it I did not feel that it was something that you would have wanted to do that and again it was a presumption it was wrong again it was a presumption it was wrong up to that time it didn't seem to me that you would want to be chair all right so I think it's I think we have two clear nominees and um how do how do you guys want to handle do you guys want to talk about what your goals or Vision are for the board would that would that be an acceptable way to do it is do you just want to Blind like I think we should all agree on you guys should all agree we on what the process is well for the for next mon I mean given how I mishandled it initially um we will need to handle more formal and rigorous fashion so I think what will have to happen is we have two potential candidates um at next meeting their candidacies would have to be nominated and then seconded and then um the discussion would ensue as to which candidate you know the board members present assuming there's a forum C and then we would have to vote so those candidates who will be nominated and then that nomination will be seconded and then the discussion would take place and then a formal vote will occur and and that's how for not only the chair but also for the vice chair and the clerk um so I think that that's so I would encourage you know obviously Mary um that I've had some conversation with but also Marg to give some thought to what they want to see for the future and why they as chair would be you know and then um and then we'll go from there and again I would be willing I mean there the options are highly limited I would be willing to serve as clerk but that will need to be I would have to be nominated and that nomination would have to be seconded follow the same process yep okay when is the next meeting it'll be the second Tuesday of August which would be Meed no meeting's not adjourned yet noted it's the 13th um I think we still have public input yeah oh going right to what you are discussing right now have you given number one any consideration to expanding your board or asking if there's anybody else in the town of there that would be interested in being on the board I mean if you're just gonna and no okay if you're just going to recycle people every year you're going to get the same old ideas the same old attitudes the same old discussions where you need to consider about bringing in New Blood maybe there's somebody out there that would really like to be a member of the board but don't know how to do it or don't even know this aboard so so there's a process that the town dictates for all of the boards which is you're appointed to either a two or a threeyear term and at the end of your term you are asked by the town manager's office if you would like to reup if you would like to renew the town of air currently does not have any term limits on their boards and committee members other towns some towns do some towns don't the town of Air does not so a single person can reup as as many times as they want but when someone steps down that does create a vacancy on the board and so then that is advertise to the town manager's office on the town website on the town social media that there are open openings and vacancies and then um when we have had vacancies I've advertised them in the newsletter as well in the past and then uh someone who's interested in serving on a Town border committee submits a letter of interest I mean it can literally just be an email that says I'm interested in this position it doesn't have to be an essay um to the town manager's office then they would let the current chair know and then the chair um that board can recommend or not recommend that person to the select board for appointment so it's a pretty process that the others don't I mean why why did he think Mary for the chair and not B it's just personal personal opinion personal personal opinion it does not matter how good they are or how Dependable they are that's not part I mean so this it just because I like you no no what I'm just saying is this board votes as a democracy so the election is is a democracy of who every person on this board could have an opinion of who they would like to see as the next chair but that's just personal opinion what Dennis want as personal opinion isn't what will necessarily what will happen what will happen is the official process of election wouldn't wouldn't it been better off if as of right now what if it better off as somebody said who would like to be a chairman that's what I just said but no he already said her he already made his statement right no he made his statement now if it was me I would be very upset right that's why I stopped him and said no that's not the correct process the correct process is to Express to allow each person okay now you only got you got only one two three four more votes he's already got voted so if she's going to vote for herself and now there's two votes for one person and and most committees do take the next over Katie if you've been on Katie don't select men do and Recreation they just go around I actually go and they actually change seats but I do think they have to express I do think they have to express no no no I mean for the I don't think it's an automatic it's an automatic okay yeah I I haven't looked in enough to what other wordss do to know yeah I'm just saying I don't know I'm not doubting you I'm just saying I don't know if there's a tie on and it was that JN calls me up that's why I said so I think I think trying to move public help you that was decided I guess I was trying to reiterate Marge that it can't be decided that way that is not the right way deed it's I got the phone call it was that is and again this is Republican assumption too I my my my opinion as chair during the vote does not count for anything more than anybody else's vote that the chair has an administrative kind of role to play but my opinion or my view of things are matter of who should be the next chair or any other matter my vote doesn't count any more than anybody else's anybody else's all right so you know I don't get to pick things I mean I get to express my view of how I think it ought to go but I could easily lose that in have easily lose that view three to one or four to one right so but are there other matters for public input that people [Laughter] Nancy Nancy Jack Loney pwn Street I have a couple new items but I'll go to the old ones first on your statement on board meeting members missing three consecutive meeting yeah does that mean physical attendant can they attend by phone if they're not there can they do a zoom yes they could so actually count as attend as being in in the meeting any of those that's right okay how far in advance you need to be notified that a board me member is not attending in other words I'm a board member I woke up this morning with the flu I'm not going to come to the meeting but I've also been through chemotherapy and I have good days and I have bad days I went through for a year and there's just consecutive months that I'm pretty much in bed so I think in that case there's piece does anyone have the policies it talks about unless there are extenuating circumstances and then and then I think that becomes a judgment call between the board member do I have the energy to give am I doing the best service to this board at this moment of my heal am I able to continue so the health is determined by the board well M no no I'm just saying I'm saying it's not as black and white I'm sorry I didn't mean to talk I'm just going I'm I'm just going to read the policy right in the in the event of any member being absent for three consecutive meetings except for reasons of health or extenuating circumstances as reported to the chairperson in in advance of the meeting the council shall request the resignation of that member through the select how much notice in advance given in advance in advance 10 minutes before the meeting perhaps two days before the meeting perhaps I think that should be clarified well I don't think you always are going to have any any dramatic Advan warning you know obviously the more notice you can give someone the better but sometimes things come things come up I think that would be dependent upon the reason why they were missing the meeting okay the other thing I have two suggestions excuse me I didn't to on um I think it personally I think it would be a good idea for the van to be available on election days to take people back and forth to vote and for Town Hall meetings or special Town Hall meetings because a lot of people don't attend because they either don't have the transportation or they're not capable like somebody in a wheelchair or a walker that can't walk two miles to town hall right or something like that so we've always um been available for election day if someone would like to schedule a ride to go over to to vote they can schedule that like any other ride it's just it's from their house to town noticed because a lot of people don't know that they think it's just reg doctor's appointments that's point I can put that in um and then as far as town meeting we typically always run the van for town meeting and we do advertise that um at the April town meeting Sam was on vacation and I didn't yet have the PDM driver in place but for the two years previous to that both Town meetings we have run the B and I it should be a month in advance to let people know that it is available there's not enough notification that it's available so the town meetings are typically the third Monday of the month so it would be included in that months um newsletter so people would have between three and four weeks notice um so October should be in a September or October the SP is at a premium in the newsletter I don't know that I would advertise three months in advance I I think the month that it's in is is adequate what is it to third week in October it's third third Monday Monday third Monday in October and I think third Monday in April yeah that's what I'm saying is for the current the current as long as it's in that month's newsletter it gives people between three and four weeks to know that that's an option and make a plan I know there was an accident that did you have more what I just wanted to clarify one thing are you saying for annual Town meetings or were you saying for all alls and all committees special annual and if they want if there's another meeting that they want to go to that's important and is important to the seniors to get there to get there then I mean there is absentee voting I understand that but they can't get to the meetings so so for election day and the two annual Town meetings I'm 100% on board that's a that's a service we're already offering um I I I'm starting to get a little fuzzy on on the other Town meetings so like if conservation committee commission is meeting tomorrow night do you mean something like that what I mean like right now you've got the building commission great there may be other people that want to go but they have no Transportation no way to get there right and it might be nice to offer van service for your meetings that you might get more of a response for people who can't get there normally need another V talking about special town meetings if the Senior comes up it's going to be a special time meeting before October so then you'd want transportation and that's any Town meetings we offer van for I don't think it's realistic to offer the van for all board and committee meetings that's why I just clarifying yeah and the other thing I have is in your budget for next year I think it would be nice to budget in flowers for outside it's not much the last time I went botom it was like less than $60 but this year and last year were donations okay from me and from dot but I think it should be a budget item to make sure that the outside looks nice people enjoy the flowers and I think that's something that should go in the budget I can certainly um check in with Town Hall the budget for next summer is already been submitted um I can check in with Town Hall on how they um allocate funds because I know they have some flowers a lot of those are donated as well um but I will check in the town hall and what sort of funding mechanism they use certain be with donation from dot there still could be about $45 still left for donations those donations are track yes to what extent is that housing authority versus Senior Center I already asked them about that when because I asked them and somebody else asked them about the weeding and everything well what was done outside the building was requested and done by Ken the responsibility for anything outside the front of the building seea that that's I would I will have a conversation with Ken I don't rent the outside of the building any I rent the inside of the building anything outside that front door is not my responsibility so I'll that's a if there's confusion about it I I need to clarify it with Ken because when you rent you rent from the studs in so um that's a that's a really good conversation to having them I'll I'll follow up with him I have one last thing in the [Laughter] I know noticed in this month's news newsletter for van service it says in there for like when Sam does the trips and everything or even takes you to a doctor's appointment it says no tipping allowed that's not right if people want to tip they should be able to tip and if people don't want to tip they don't have to but saying something like that is not right it's not fair it's against the fiscal and ethical policies of the state of Massachusetts to accept tips for a job that Sam is hired for at a fair and unionized wage for and if Sam accepts tips of over $50 per person or per group per year he is in violation of the state ethical standards and he is subject to immediate termination so if you like Sam and you care about Sam and you want him to continue to drive you will understand that he is paid a fair wage he is not to be T okay if you're going to have that in the newsletter I would recommend that you after that saying no TI being allowed first state regulation I I probably won't write it in again no I I I hear what you're saying I probably won't write it in again I don't think it's necessary to write it in again but from time to time when we're doing updates on you know one month I might talk about what meal policies there are next month it's Transportation policies things whatever I put in the letter um next time it comes up I think that's a great suggestion I probably won't repeat it again this upcoming I have a question now Sam takes us to the beach right and he has to have lunch okay is it against the rules that we buy his lunch for him let us say that I I say to the girls would everybody like to give me three bucks so we can buy Sam his lunch and I say sam this is be your lunch for Drive not for driving us but for your lunch is that against those I mean that's a greater area whether that's a tip or not but I would also tell you that if Sam inur would that be appropriate is what I'm asking I I would say that's not necessary because any expense Sam incurs while driving the van is a work expense and he can submit a receipt to me and I can reimburse him for it so I don't think there's any need to do that I know but I mean let's say that because you say we can't tip them that's how we would feel that we want to thank him for driving us we're treating him we're not him we're treating him so what you're saying is we can't do it I what I so so here's here's the thing and what I'm saying is that it would be very easy if Riders are tipping him for him over the course of a year to be in violation of State ethical standards being in violation of State ethical standards is grounds for immediate termination why would you do that that's my point no that's why I asked to there's a dollar there's a dollar limit so we can't do it what you're saying is it's still the same idea it's not necessary Sam has paid a fair wage that you we can't do that you can't tip a person over $50 course of the whole year and I can't be accepting 49.95 from you and 49.95 from you and 49.95 from you that's also unethical so and do you understand those are the those are the rules set out by the state and it's designed because if you are if you are exceeding that amount it is actually deemed to be bribing a government official whether or not we think Sam is the same as bribing Robert the town manager is irrelevant those are the rules that we all agree I have to sit through an hour and 20 minute super dry training every single year where I attest that I will not receive tips or donations or goods and services you can't even bring me if you bring me a fruit basket at um at Christmas time that's $50 value I have to say Mary Ellen and Dennis and everybody here here is a basket for everyone to share this is not for me those are the rules like that's literally the example in the training every single I think it's every year is it every other year I we have to attest to that and and knowing that it is it is disciplinary newsletters that you put it that you st that it's a state ethical that's what I do regulation a lot of people way feel like he's going out of their way put this gave me wine that is these rules apply to All State Employees Town employees because imagine a situation where you a grievance against the town don't get paid so they get you just don't like the town count reason and you find out that the town accountant has been taken to lunch by a private consulting firm that wants to do business with the town and the private consulting firm has picked up the tab for that lunch every time the town accountant has gone out to lunch with them but thing what I'm trying to say is that it should be made clear not just say no don't do it give a reason give a reason okay because a lot of people weren't taking that that way they were saying the sledgehammer is down it is K it is not it is not punitive in any way it is meant to uphold High ethical standards for those who are paid by taxpayer dollars but people have and know that and not I'm glad you're I'm glad you're asking so if you're hearing that people are confused about it I hope that you'll clarify it with them um I will but I still think it needs when you put that in the next newsletter it should state state ethics so that if somebody has a question about it they can come to like you and say why is this unethical well and you also have access to the state ethics board that is any citizen of the Commonwealth can contact the State ethics board and ask them why those policies and it'll take forever to get through the St so what you're saying is if you get a Christmas giti to a fruit Bas that cost $75 you can't accept that as a Christmas present I cannot I cannot accept it I should not accept that because could be perceived as bribing government official the way that that is handled because we understand that not everybody understands that rule is you can receive it and make it available to the public as well so if someone let's say I don't know let's say nooba Park came in you know because they are kind and generous with us if they came in with a big fruit basket and said you know thank so much for you know working with us and whatever and then I would be at lunch I'd be like you get an orange you get an orange you get an orange because I can't receive it and keep it for myself are you talking $50 $50 what about $20 but if you'll give her $20 and I give her $20 she still can't accept it but that's that's getting more than 50 she's getting $50 for from people so this is where it gets real tricky because don't have any way so just like Supreme Court Justices you know and they're far more important than we are I'm not at all trying to equate the two but Supreme Court justices have to line out every single thing that they've received they have to submit their income tax returns they have to talk about where they've gotten donations right right I can't possibly do that right there's no way I can do that so if somebody brings in a $20 fruit basket during the holidays I don't think that's a big deal I really don't think that's a big deal because that's considered to be but the limit is $50 but the issue with tipping is if you're going to physical therapy three days a week and you are giving him two or three dollars on top of that 50 weeks a year you've given him $150 in a tip and not only have you given them we have 450 rides a month so can you see how if you're tipping a miring him how all of a sudden that could really get out of hand and there is no way for there is no mechanism in place for tracking what is a fair and what is a tip and that is why it is just best to avoid that so maybe there should be a general statement that no gifts of any kind or of any kind or tips of any kind can be given period rather than saying oh I got a $40 fruit basket let me get it but the fruit basket was given to you so that's your $40 limit for the year so if somebody gives you a fruit basket on Easter Christmas Thanksgiving times 40 right so that would be unethical that would be unethical for me to accept a a $40 fuit basket from the same person be unethical accept it at all period that's right that's so that's what I'm saying is the regardless of the $50 just make it unethical period I think we're getting into the getting to deep so so just a and Nancy you're asking some extremely insightful questions the the paid employees of the town or the state do not have an their opinion about these policies or their is is outside their control that is the the the the state legislature and and the state ethics commission decides what is the case and then they are required to follow it right if you if you have specific questions about why that is the case or where in the gra areas which way does it fall those questions are most properly addressed to the state ethics Commission because they can take you through the nuances of the policy and why it exists as such because it doesn't exist just for the purposes of the senior center in the town of a no I'm not talking about that I'm saying so whatever Katie may or may not decide is the that's not um determinative what's determinative is what the state ethics commission and I my sense of it is from your questions is that you want something determinative yes yes and so those questions should properly be addressed to the state ethics commission well if it's an ethical question for the town of air and my understanding basic no lawyer bathroom attorney if you want call it that that the state has a lot that you have to meet minimum but you can make it tougher if necessary as long as you don't go below what the state law is yeah it's just like getting a speedy ticket state law say 30 m an hour well if you're going 60 do you see what I'm saying so we should probably move on I wanted to apologize from we wanted to do the mission statement for the COA separate from yeah that was going to go on there but oh we did skip the Barbara also had public input so there we probably need to do both of those things or yeah the only thing was I'm just going to mention about the newsletter I know this month there was a problem but it definitely should be out before the 27th 28th of the night before and not the second ofs 100% agree us being closed for what was supposed to be two days of flooring ended up being three and a half days and I didn't have access to my computer during that time that put me personally behind you have a backup for your computer that you could have used another computer to make up no or taken it to a print it wasn't done yet because I didn't have access there were the computer got wiped clean and um totally reloaded well I don't have a I don't have a backup um access to all of the files no so um so I accept full responsibility for this month being out just um and then it was done and then the printer broke and that was like the perfect storm of things that went wrong that um delayed flooring project delayed computer repairs and then a broken printer a week off so yeah I mean all of that happening in that that week so um yes but I I agree with you it does need to come out a few days before the end of the month y okay that's it and on the COA missal statement I think it should be put on in August it's already almost four you're ready to go okay and and just so so you want to um from the ground up keep going after dancing draft and so it's not going to be a a it's not going to be a revised mission statement it's a new mission statement that is we haven't previously had one but the COA so what existed before was a basic one or two line mission statement thank you for the board as the senior center all together because remember when I came on there was there was a lot of trouble differentiating the board from the staff and the operations of the senior center so I they were talking about wanting to redo the mission statement and in the meantime at the same as we were going through drafts and I had suggested the draft that's currently found in the newsletter um there was some discussion about whether that was truly a mission statement or whether it was to to be a mission statement and then I had to give a presentation and I said I'm going to use this until in the newsletter as the mission statement of the senior center until the COA board tells me something different right and so then you know lots of changes happened on the board you know as people came on and off and so that just never got tied up so I think I think you guys could decide if you want your separate separate COA board mission statement that would appear in the COA board section I'm very comfortable with the what's there it is labeled as a COA board mission statement it should probably be in the senior center in the newsletter on the first page just as a description of what the senior does rather than admissions that would be my suggestion the only one that bothers me about that one Katie is that it says seniors and not air seniors air residents right y but Katie but I do think the Board needs its own mission okay so so what's in the newsletter now Katie will like my better ter Co-op as the senior center mission statement right and then we will from the ground up construct a separate COA board mission statement and I've been looking at okay yeah all right because that what's in the newsletter now is what I use at the top of my annual report you know that's a description of what we do here yeah and so I think they could be the same but I also think it would be very reasonable but I think to have describe what we do as a board to support yep the I think that would be more appropriate yeah yeah and to support your drive for it okay all right um do I hear a motion to adjourn moved second I second second all those in favor I I hearing none oppos mission is a turn that every time4