##VIDEO ID:0GOSRylFsto## right good evening everyone and welcome to the August 13 2024 meeting of the East meow Town Council it's now 6m and I'll call the meeting to order if we could stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge aliance of the United States of America and to the repic for which it stands one nation under God indis now take a moment of silence to reflect on all the at home and abroad thank you all right first item is just in accordance with Mass General law this meeting is being video recorded by Ala and if there's anyone else in the audience if you can identify yourself seeing none we will move on to public comments is there anyone that would like to make a public comment for the council if it's not further item on the agenda seeing none we will move on to council comments does any councelor have a comment right see none we will move on to H good evening everyone um so uh construction uh continues at the high school um most of the enabling work is starting to take shape um the new parking area has been installed the Horseshoe um you know obviously a lot of the the construction that's happening now is so that they can actually do work when school's in session um so they're getting a lot of that squared away the um access road to the back of the building were obviously most of the construction will take place has been installed um the school building committee recently voted um to submit the 60% design to the msba uh that was at our meeting on July 23rd um I believe we've already received comments back from the msba on that so that's moving along um constructions complete on uh aside from a few punch list items on the sidewalks on Pleasant Street um from Indian Spring to Porter um and on Hampton Road um from Parker to Angela Lane uh our contractor DP morce obviously worked very swiftly and efficiently um to complete the whole project in a matter of weeks um so nice job to them and and the DPW for fostering the project um Paving is also underway uh on Ridge Road East Circle and North Circle we had a water main project there a couple years ago um we installed some drainage uh there's been quite a bit of uh pavement deterioration from the water in that area so um DPW uh before we got the paving contractor on had installed some French trains in our RightWay uh adjacent to the pavement um so uh Warner Brothers is now in their Milling overlaying uh adjusting structures as needed um and installing curving um so I think we're looking to be cons substantially complete by the end of the month and then obviously my favorite phrase from DPW weather permitting subject to change um we have hired a new HR Director um audre staples uh her first day is next Tuesday August 20th uh she uh comes to us uh from Westcom um but she also previously worked in HR for Monson and Long Meadow so quite a bit of um Municipal HR experience which was sort of our main focus um as with most most things industries on the municipal side are different than the private side and and HR is no different so we really stress that as a requirement uh so we're happy to have her as part of the team um I can step down as the HR Director which I'm sure everyone's happy about uh so yeah pop in and see her after uh Tuesday next next week um she's she'll be at 382 North Main um okay Jamie you have the tissues ready um so we have to uh unfortunately well I guess we're just gonna say he's retiring Don macki after uh 19 years of service to town of East meow at elcat 16 of which at the direct as the Director um I won't I won't go into too much and we don't have time to discuss uh all of Don's accomplishments and what he's done for our community uh personally professionally um and I know everyone's going to miss him um he he is an intelligent caring thoughtful individual um and one of my favorite conversationalists of all time if you ever have three or four hours to kill stop yeah um honestly congrats Don um Tom I don't need to be behind theen watching you you can't see yeah congrats I I sincerely uh look forward to the next time we get the chat me too absolutely thank you congrats um we also recently reached an agreement uh for the taking of 382 North Main Street um the the documents of that agreement are in there we're in a sort of a due diligence area here with uh a updated um appraisal uh further inspection um and sort of putting all the administrative things together so that um you have all the information you need to make a vote most likely at our first meeting in September um almost everything has sort of been vetted out at this point um it'll just be putting everything uh in order so that you guys are are set to vote uh in September um we got up some upcoming events uh Center Town District discussion uh is that Thursday August 15th uh 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at East Village Tavern um so the uh the conversation continues uh uh about the center Town District so feel free to stop in and say hi and uh you know we're still still want everybody's input so the more input we get the more we can uh put a put out a product for the entire community so uh cultural council's uh arts and Brew Festival uh August 24th uh 12: to 5:00 p.m. at 4:45 Baldwin Street uh which is Brew practitioners um that has historically been a great event so if you have time on the 24th head over there uh magicians uh art M live music a lot of a lot of live music I guess so um head down and enjoy yourself on the 24th um and we have coffee with the town manager here September 4th 10:30 a.m. um we just a couple of updates that I didn't submit that have happened uh him and everyone from Finance has been working diligently to close out FY 24 which was we got the email at 4:48 this afternoon uh no issue whatsoever uh so our Auditors will be in uh final week of August first week of September um and we most likely I think we looked at the schedule last year we need Revenue numbers for September 30th then we can submit for free cash certification and that probably will take place the first meeting in October I'm not sure what the date is but I think it was the 11th last year so that that seems like that lines up um and that's all I got for tonight great thank you Tom does anyone have any questions all right seeing none we will move to Communications correspondence and announcement first item is Proclamation for Don Macky on behalf of the Town Council so of course as Tom alluded to uh Don Mackey has been working for the town for quite a long time and especially with elcat and presenting the meetings to the public in an accessible format and getting the information out there which has been amazing but he also has a rich history before that both in art and writing and he will continue to do so with the East MTO Film Festival that he's co-founding Beyond retirement and uh also producing a short feature film so he will definitely be active in the community and around to move forward so on behalf of the Town Council be it hereby known to all that the town of e Meadow offers its deepest appreciation best wishes to Donald J Macky for his 19 years of service and dedication to elcat and 16 years as director 12 years as organizer of National Night Out four years as Broadband committee chair and as many accomplishments and contributions in the Art and Design industry dated this 13th day of August 2024 uh the Town Council behalf of myself Conor go thank you Conor thank you J the next item is the it ad hoc committee update would you mind providing Ralph did Ralph okay ahead so um myself Ralph and Kathy met I don't remember the date nth of July July with uh Tom and with Kim who's not here um we were discussing the it um budget how it was deficit for the um salar salaries thank you um and to be honest with you I wasn't at the meeting that you guys discussed it at so I I I wasn't there to discuss it at the meeting but when we got there um Tom explained that he was well aware of the deficit and um it just happened that the It software line item was also um in Surplus so it actually worked out well but I believe going forward you guys have now implemented a new um policy yeah policy so that way it not happen again but I but I think overall it was he was aware of it um and the fact that the um I software was not fully spent so it worked out well but I think going forward that won't happen again anything so if you don't mind one of the main things that we were concerned about was the $440,000 Surplus right and based on knowing how much software costs and all how did we come up with $40,000 more and so we reached out to Ryan and he explained that um some of the computers and all are so old or were so outdated they couldn't even take the update for the software so they didn't have to spend the money on the updates um which made a lot of sense and he was able to break it down I mean line item by line item which was fantastic but I don't think we can rely on getting $40,000 every year um they they've taken care of that and like I said going forwards any computers that have to be updated will be so the software will be able to to keep up to date great anything else that's a good recap and we move on to item C which is the affordable home homes act allowing accessory dwelling units this was just more of a informational thing that'll be coming I'm sure as a topic of discussion for future Council and planning board meetings but um Governor Healey uh recently signed the affordable homes act into law which essentially allows accessory dwelling units by right um and of course presently our bylaws had more restrictions on that so there will be some amount of change I'm sure that will be coming forward but that doesn't go into effect state law wise until same time in early February so at the moment in Eon me it's still not allowed by right until changes are made so just as a form of communication for the the public those discussions have already begun in planning right yeah so Conor if you don't mind sure um so through the planning department are they going to be holding public hearings and stuff with regards to this I know um I'm already receiving phone calls questions um concerns um especially based on an accessory use current bylaw allows an accessory dwelling to be 5et from the property if it's 10t behind the house and the concern is oh my God I'm basically going have a mini house right next to my property line and what if I want one there and then they're only 10t apart and I mean there's hundreds of questions that just erupted from all of this and and honestly we haven't dug deep yet enough to to but we will be looking at all of all the requirements in all of the Z to make sure obviously we have to do whatever we're required to do by law by Statute but um I I think there's probably like most things room for the towns to do what they need to do with their zoning do you have anything you want to add to that yeah so the planning direct director um Rob Billa has a presentation plan for the planning board on September 17th at their second meeting of the month um and it'll just be an overview um because of course the details for how we want that to look locally um we have until February to figure out those Contour thank you thanks comment sure moving forward now this isn't going to surprise anybody but I'm really concerned about this change and um do we as a town have any leverage at all legally in terms of establishing our own criteria perhaps restrictions I mean they've said no owner occupancy Allowed by right you can have a house on every lot and where does um our um home home rule legislation come in we have any options before us most of these questions were asked at our we we they there's planning department meeting every Tuesday morning and most of these questions have already come up so our attorney is pouring through the legislation now to find out where we can move and where we can't yeah know you are El makes for good reading on the weekends all right if there's nothing else we will move on to public hearings it is now 6:16 spring time so this is a liquor license change of stock interest for Shak just good evening good evening haven't seen you in a couple of months missed you guys so let me just open that so this is a public hearing for a liquor license change of stock interest for Shaker Bol Inc located at 168 Shaker Road the council members present are Jim leaden Kathy Hill Anna Jones myself Connor OA Marilyn Richards and Ralph paig and I would ask the clerk to read the legal notice into the record notice is hereby given under chapter 138 of the general law that Shaker bow Incorporated DBA Shaker ball at 168 Shaker Road East lung Meadow has applied for liquor license change of stock interest the Town Council will hold a public hearing on the application on Tuesday August 13 2024 at 6:15 in the Council on Aging media room 328 North Main Street East Long me mass the hearing can also be attended via Zoom webinar or the council G quag Tom cler Clerk of the council great thank you jie and I will now open it up to uh from Shaker yep uh so my name is Josh Goldstein attorney from bacon Wilson and I'm here on behalf of Shaker bow and I'm Adam oliv here representing the ownership group good to see you guys tonight yep uh so this is a ve a fairly straightforward transaction uh between the husband and wife uh wife who is a silent investor is transferring uh her 7% ownership interest to her husband um who will also be a a silent investor uh for nominal consideration that the um they're not involved in the the day-to-day operations of the business this is more of a technical change and procedural change rather than any actual changes to the operation of the business um transfer has no actual impact there um so that's it's fairly straightforward in that regard great and since this is a public hearing I will now open it if there's anyone in the audience that would like to offer input if you could state your name and address and your comments all right seeing none I will then close the public input portion of the hearing is there anything that the council would to ask or discuss pretty straight forward seeing none I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing I make a motion to close public hearing I'll second that okay motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion seeing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed do we have to do roll call I don't know if John's present yeah not then there's no okay okay and then we'll entertain a motion to approve I move to approve the liquor license change of stock interest application for Shaker bow Incorporated doing business at Shaker bow at 168 Shaker rolled second motion's been made in seconded is there any further discussion I seeing none all those in favor please say I oppose great thanks we'll move on to number eight orders of the day and Licensing matters number one is a disciplinary hearing for El press Country Club due to non-compliance with Town departments so sorry we couldn't hear you back I will try to speak up very to hear back there all right so this this time it's a hearing to the discipline uh for Elm Crest Country Club non-compliance with Town department so was a little bit of context back on July 19th I had drafted a letter and sent it to Country Club to notify them of this hearing before us tonight on August 13th and this is to consider uh essentially revoking or not renewing the liquor license that own press Country Club holds due to various non-compliance issues with Town departments and supporting documentation was sent with that letter as well and it was all sent with certified mail and receipt to our town clerk um Kathy is the chair of the licensing committee is there any additional uh cont well some the the context is is uh substantially uh detailed uh some seven years ago the country club experienced an unfortunate uh fire on the premises due to careless disposal of smoking materials um and then also later that month the building had a fire which was caused by an overloaded electric cord all of both of those events rendered the uh property um not able to be used certainly keep my glasses on and look at my notes Here uh electricity and utilities were shut off to the property per firewor regulations of course on the 21st I'm sorry the April the 12th of 2021 the fire dep Department issued an order of notice uh regarding several violations uh one of which is the uh storage of flammable uh liquids that had not not up to that point been addressed uh in 2022 it uh became uh known to the fire department that that the facility owner had completed demolition work of the damaged portions of the building without taking out permits through the town uh the work ex removed the existing fire protection sprinklers alarms sheet rock drop ceiling several interior wall partitions and interior stairs uh at this point the building was rendered unsafe and the fire department marked the four building sides with a 4tx 4T Red X that's a universal um sign uh known in the fire industry as a dangerous situation which uh instructs firefighters not to enter such a structure regardless of the uh severity of the uh fire if were there to be one because of that again um because the fire uh suppression uh system was removed without permit or written permission from the uh fire department uh that directly violated Mass General law 148 27A uh to this day no permit has been uh issued or approved for the removal um from the office of the fire department fast forward to January of 2024 members of the fire department building department Town Council and Health Department met with the um owners of the um El Crest Country Club uh DAV flurry and um discussed the conditions of the property and what the plan that was going forward because the uh facilities present there prefabricated um small buildings much like this the uh pre-made sheds you see on folks property was being used as uh like a pro shop as well as a storage and serving place for um beverages The Building Commissioner found that the building that particular structure was in non-compliance it had not had what I believe is regarded to a 304 inspection Ralph does that make sense yep and what that means Escapes Me Right Now however it one has not occurred um the health department uh director said that the facility was not in compliance um to the uh extent that a food permit uh food and beverage permit could be a non-alcoholic beverage permit could be issued and of course the fire department reiterated its concerns about uh the unsafe conditions of the um burnt property um not with understanding and I was not present at that meeting but my understanding is Mr flurry indicated that there was interest on his part uh and attorney please uh if I'm misdating anything uh please say so um that he had some intent to move forward um to uh make the property suitable for whatever his next plans were and there was a sentiment that he was going to be approaching the planning board to ask for a site review for his special permit um long story short it's seven years that the all alcohol license which allows the serving of um alcohol beer and wine on premise uh has not really been fully utilized uh the owner has had multiple opportunities to reach out to the town to uh rectify the situation and um we're at this juncture that it does not there's no outward appearance that um any substantive move to improve or alter the premises uh is being undertaken so it was the recommendation of the um licensing subcommittee that the council uh revoke this license and and take it back to the F which brings us to tonight's thank you for the overview Kath you're welcome um oh now open it up to you if you'd like to offer any good evening Benjamin Cole on behalf of the lcy I have one of the principles here with me tonight Mr Gregory Lynden Mo um the summary is very accurate um and it was at this uh golf season is the first golf season that the golf course hasn't been open that was a very difficult decision for uh the ownership to make this year it wasn't one that was made lightly but given all the factors that were involved it determined that from a business perspective it was not going to be able to open this year in the last meeting that this Council had I appeared on behalf of the ly had just been retained um since that time um I've had multiple discussions with the ownership group and they completely understand the town's concern with the use of the license they also understand that they're not going to be able to open and utilize this license in the immed immediate future that is just a reality that they have had to face it's not one that they take lightly it's one that they wish they could change um they were a victim of circumstance with litigation and everything that ensued relative to the multiple fires that occurred at the property with all of that said and knowing that this Council um would like to see the license utilized the ly would like to propose the option to attempt to sell the license between now and the uh renewal time for the license in the event that it's unable to enter into a an agreement to sell the license between now and then it will voluntarily relinquish the license back to the town will not seek to renew it it is the hope that they will have a plan with regard to the golf course and proposed uses and the overall scheme of what they're going to do there within the next few months or or maybe even years because it's going to take time in order for that to occur knowing that the town is at its quota based on our discussion last time I think this is the only license that really isn't being used and there aren't any available based on our discussions last time that in the event that their plan is is to open up a golf course and to utilize a license at that premises that we may be back before this Council to seek special legislation to get an additional license for that property it is intricate to a golf course to have the ability to serve alcohol and and in the event that they continue on with the golf course they're going to need that and I understand that nothing can be bound by this board to another or this Council to another Council but it would be our hope that the town in general would look favorably on that application and would assist the in the pursuit of getting an additional license in the event that that comes to fruition so the proposal is that we have the opportunity to to sell it and of course it would have to change location right it's not going to happen there and then in the event that we're unable to do so by the end of the year the town gets it back we won't renew it and Ben thank you and Greg L again and I do represent the ownership and comment that you made um on on the seven years I can completely understand it from the town standpoint but um what Elm Crest went through and what we went through for the last seven years it was almost a David and Goliath event against Philadelphia insurance company and it expended all of our time all of our resources at the end of the today I I wouldn't say that we prevailed over Philadelphia but we hit a good spot and that is behind us uh last year which has enabled us to refocus on really the future potential of the property and allows us now to refocus on that before we were just didn't have the resources available um at all and and and did our best uh to communicate with the town but even we didn't know the future direction of the business because of uh the situation itself at hand are there any counselors with any discussion yes please sir so through the chair um jeie correct me if I'm wrong this license wasn't renewed although they applied for it um we never signed off on it because they didn't meet the criteria of the businesses that's great currently you don't have a license well I I did check the ABC's website and it does say that the license is has been renewed and that it expires on 1231 2024 according to the ABC's website my understanding is that the license was renewed but wasn't issued because it wasn't in compliance that's more accurate that's accurate what what you just and so the check that they sent in we've cashed no no we never cashed it we held on to it yeah we don't as was we held on the license also so without paying for a license the abcc still says that they have a license yeah because probably renewed blanket wise with the others with the abcc I think the issue would be that it's renewable but the sub isue is uh at least by our this town's bylaw is that in order for it to be issued it must all conditions must be met you know compant conditions must allies with the local licensing Authority which is you to actually issue that physical license correct we need to have that on hand to have any deliveries absolutely so the license was renewed but just not issued and we can't get it issued until we provide a certificate of compliance right we can't provide a certificate of compliance until we bring the building up to code and right so I I believe it's been renewed and it's just just hasn't issued so it's still a viable license that could be sold in the event that we find a buyer do you have a sense I'm sorry chair uh that there might be a potential customer out there for your I believe that there's some interest out there I I represent a lot of of restaurant tours um I believe uh and I I've also been in contact with a consultant or adviser who is a broker for liquor licenses throughout the Commonwealth so uh we we'll hopefully get some interest in it um because they they did expend money when they purchased it so to just relinquish it or have it revoked they're going to lose out either way so giving them giving the opportunity to try to recoup some of the the losses would definitely be in their interest and I still think would benefit the town because ultimately if the someone comes to the town and says we're looking for a liquor license I'll give you my card call them have them give me a call about that hi um at your at your last at when you at the last meeting when you spoke on behalf of the applicant or El Crest I thought you mentioned something that it was a long struggle but you finally got the insurance money from the from the fires that took place why did you let the property go to pot it's not a golf course anymore it's a it's a it's a field the grass is this High and in fact there was a farmer out there mowing the grass and rolling it for hay and so to bring that Golf Course back to its pristine condition which it was in it's going to take a lot of money a lot of money it will um now you mentioned that um you would like to sell the license now I'm not a lawyer and I will tell you that in my experience with the town I mean the town has issued X number of licenses that we provide to an applicant who is going to utilize that license on the the property that's being licensed you're asking us to let you take this license and barter with anybody who was interested in a license and we don't even know where that will be well they would have to come back before this Council I realize that sure so I mean you you would still have the ability to approve remove a transfer and change of location relative to the license I understand that I just think that the town of good faith has renewed the license for a number of years even though yes the golf course was open I'm not sure how what your membership was in terms of supporting the property but the mere fact that you let the property go to seed it just sends a message that you know you're not interested in a golf course that location is and I'm concerned that how long is this license going to be in your pocket until you find a suitable person to sell it to um I learned earlier on that we don't have pocket licenses now that's what I was socializing years ago now maybe the the philosophy has changed but I would be more inclined to vote to revote voke your license this evening without prejudice and have you folks work hard on determining what you're going to do with the property um it may not be a nine-hole golf course with something else it may be who knows you may want to come back for his own change and put condos there you may you mean there are lots of opportunities I mean it's a beautiful piece of land but it's going to take time and we've already sat on this for a long time and it's not fair to other folks if they want to buy the if they want to purchase the license through the town then they should um like you did when you came to the town but we didn't charge you $50,000 for the license when you came to the town well the town didn't own it no right so purchased it they purchased it as part of the transaction pretty close to that amount right right around $30,000 and and I understand you're you're when you were when you took the the property through the auction is that what you say correct but the initial license so I'm you know they come what's what's the license fee for um 2200 22 that's the renewal fee there's there's no fee to the town to apply for a new license right renewal fees come up after right okay I'm just personally I think that you need to show us that you're really serious about doing something with the property to bring it into compliance to sell it to someone who has um the fac the resources to be able to bring the property up to the standard that it deserves and and I just want to clarify a few things the the first comment the pocket license you don't know when you know how long we're going to hold it my suggestion to the council was give us until the end of this year to until the renewal time if at that point we don't have an agreement to sell it we relinquish it back to the town so we're really looking for a three and a half three month when when's the renewals due November 30th November 30th they have to be signed by so if we don't have an agreement by November 30th we're not going to renew it we're not going to submit a renewal application for the license so it's a finite period of time to address that concern your other concern relative to the the fees associated with the license to the extent that the town had another license and an applicant came to the town and said we want to open up a restaurant or a bar the town can't charge more than the the annual fee so to deprive the the current owner of the license the ability for a three Monon period three and a half month period to try to sell the license I think is just doing a disservice to them and trying to allow them to utilize the license because the town would be in the same position Either Way Conor sure so what would happen if the license was revoked is the Town Council has the power to do that the abcc needs to be notified and that license number would be dead but it would allow an available license for somebody to come apply for new license just like everybody else would right do you have a sense Genie of of any interested parties in the passing if one were to become available on all alcohol license no I'm not aware people call for the off- premise like the package St the never available market for that right so through the chair sir so I just want to clarify a few things obviously the fire years ago um this town and the planning board has in my opinion bent over backwards trying to help out we've allowed um a tent to be used we've allowed a little storage shed to be used um but the license is a restaurant license is what we consider it because our bylaws do not allow an all alcohol on premise license without the service of food and a full menu well nothing personal there was really the banquet facility was closed a full menu was packaged sandwich in a refrigerator that truthfully I looked at and they were still in there from last August no one's buying those and I mean we allowed that we we were hoping to work with you to that the horse would get back on its feet and and we've done this for multiple years and at some point we have to say okay we've already done our job we've already tried to work with you I know the situation stinks um but I think it's time to move on from this I mean literally I think back in January when I brought it up we should have moved on from it um and I would just make a comment to the council going forwards I don't think we should sign any licenses that don't meet all the criteria at that time um we should not be renewing and holding in abeyance um if they don't meet the criteria Springfield does it you know what you lose your license and then you can reapply once you meet the criteria I would say going forwards we should consider that um but I do think we've done everything um I understand their position of course they'd like to sell the license and try make some money off of it um who wouldn't but we've held it so long I think it's time to move on my thoughts thank you also think um I think La last month we were ready to revoke it but I think um Mr Coy when you came in you had um mentioned that your client wasn't available but you guys were going to come tonight and he I I think I'm pretty sure I remember this correctly that you know there are plans and you were going to present them to us and I don't really think this is what we were expecting I think we were actually expecting some type of well and and in speaking with the ownership group um the reality is after my discussion with this Council that nothing was going to happen to get this license up and running within a short period of time and I know that's what this Council was looking for we I could have brought plans and we would be here and and I think Mr paig you said it you were going to be two years until you get the place up and running even if you bring plans next next month so that's why I've offered a different solution to the to the issue and I think it's one that still benefits the town in general and doesn't deprive the the town with the ability to utilize the license in the event that there's someone that wants to to purchase the license and it hasn't been used and I understand that there's been a long history but it's only not been in use for eight eight eight months and in the grand scheme of things there's case law on the abcc that says if a place is closed down for six months you you you have at least six months to be able to try to sell a a license you can't just take it after six months we're at eight months and 13 days we're at over a year because last August Elm Crest closed I I was there they put the gates up um from what I understand the last of the league moved out to a different golf course and and that was it so so although you're saying it this is the first full year it hasn't been open uh in all due respect last year wasn't much of a golf course um the people were hoping they were hoping that the settlement came through they were hoping that the course would uh um be taken care of um so that they could utilize it I mean this town loves Elm Crest I mean we have a huge history going woy back and um like I said I just think I think from a Town's perspective we've done more for Elm Crest trying to help out the best we anyone else have any other comments I may just one question has there been any communication of the residents next door in terms of what's going on or any potential plans or just hey hang in there with us any type of back and forth of the people that around that property uh no not much okay no I I I certainly I certainly uh hear your your sediments and um from a resource standpoint we're at the point now where yes we do have resources and and we stand 100% behind Elm Crest one thing we do know is golf very well and you the the property may look worse than it is last year but it's just like having a beard and shaving it off the core golf course is in uh good shape underneath uh and we're using this time rather than uh running the business this season is to focus on the future potential and our opportunities and the town's opportunities with the property as well so um and longer term looking out I see us uh uh coming back to the town if clearly the end of the we we clearly in the future won't have a liquor license here and we didn't want to present plans as Ben had mentioned to to waste your time because we want to come to the town with defin more definitive plans than just rough plans um right now today it would have been too early for us we're still working on it and we'll be coming to the town um but as we we look forward um we'll likely come back to the town in pursuit of uh a liquor license in the in the future when we're when the town's ready we're ready as well so those plans are are still in our our longer term great one more comment please um a few years ago and um Jonathan torch is not here but he said it was like six years ago y um and he was on the planning board that you folks went before the planning board for waiver of site clean review for some modifications that you were going to do on the property and at the time um the planning board in their you know with their wisdom felt that what you were proposing really required a sight plan a full sight plan and you left with the understanding and we understood that you would be coming back with a full sight plan and you never came back you never came back and that was years ago yeah I don't all us having uh you don't remember what that was before the fire any plans um to change the the El Crest facility I know it was focusing on the if you're looking at the the golf the club on the right hand side an elevator was going to be put in you were going to do going to be do you were going to do something to the um the 19th Hole or that's that's when we were going before the insurance company just closed the account that was the the two-year period that we were making progress with the insurance company all the elevator was code upgrades and believe it or not that's started some of the problems like the elevator because it took up most of the restaurant area and the and the the insurance company was unwilling to give us the same space for the restaurant so the restaurant got very small uh it just the elevator was just very demanding and so they wanted to keep the exact same footprint would not budge off of that but we also had to do all the code upgrades and we were required to do an elevator upgrade but we just wanted to have the restaurant space uh for for the patrons the same amount of understand and so yes we were um we hired engineers and we were coming to the town we were there and then everything stopped with them and I don't want to get into into that that that complaint but it was it was pretty unfair and deceptive on us what they did to us it really was and I can't even I wouldn't wish this on anybody unfortunately my parents are going through it right now they had a house fire it is awful dealing with insurance companies I often think that especially on the commercial side they're almost designed like not to pay people out like I can't I can't even explain it but going through the court process and I respect what Ben does uh but that was that was not fun it was extremely expensive for elest extremely expensive and time consuming on all the Partnerships to battle this company with seemingly unlimited resources um and we do not do not are looking to profit off sale of uh the liquor license uh we're just looking for some like cost recovery that we have into it it just helps us it helps the whole business longer term and the golf course itself because all the all those proceeds go back into the golf course okay thank you yeah you're welcome guess my final comments would be I I see the struggle that uh you guys have gone through and it's definitely not something that anyone would wish upon you and I definitely want things to uh improve on your behalf but at the same time from the town's perspective it seems like this has been an ongoing NeverEnding process and I think we just have to have a conclusion sooner rather than later and even though three months doesn't sound like a long period of time we've already kicked the can down the road so far with so many different accommodations so I wouldn't be in favor of continuing the license Beyond tonight that's said is there any further comments I will entertain a motion I'd like to make the motion please um I move to revoke Elmcrest Country Clubs all alcohol on premises licker license without prejudice due to their non-compliance with Town departments second motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion we roll call Vote for This one I Kathy yes Anna yes I yes Marilyn yes and Ralph yes okay thank you thank you you read this I wrote our next item on the agenda is a approval of a one-day entertainment license for the Islam cultural Council for the Arts and Brew Festival if there's anyone in the audience that would like to uh speak I'm having a really hard time hearing you so can you repeat it uh sure it's just about the arts and Brew Festival so if you want to come forward to the yeah sure you could also just state your name and address thank you so we are having our third Annual Arts and Brew Festival the first year we had it at bre practitioners it was great a little windy but we really had a successful day our second year it was a de I don't know if you remember that rainstorm but I think there was a space about this big that didn't get wet so we had a cancel that day and there's no rain dates so um and we we exist on a grant so everything that we paid for we lost that we are having our third show the August 24th and so far everything's in place we have musicians we have food trucks we have artists authors 12 to5 got a grant from the town very generous Grant thank you so I don't know what else you need to know from me everything's falling into place really nicely as long as the weather cooperates we're good state your name and address for the record state your name and address for the record my name is Jane Riley 357 Pinehurst Drive eastl Meadow thank you good J Jane do you know if um the Norcross house might be having a tag sale on the same day or if there's any other activity going going on that you could sort of you know send people to you know them and they send people to you yeah that happened the first year so that was good we got n crust people and we sent people to n crust but that was in June so I don't know of another event that day slang that out there may be something across the street at the Depot they seem to have a lot of activity and that's in the same area so that would be wonderful to just have people spend the whole day there go to different things that would be great yeah okay great there's no further discussion I'll entertain a motion okay I'm done yes I will uh make the I make a motion to approve a one- day entertainment license for the East Long Meadow cultural Council for the Arts crew Festival 45 Baldwin Street August 24th 2024 from 12: to 5:00 pm second motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion seeing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed great you thank you then our next item is approval of a lior license for St Paul the apostles church is there a motion I move to approve a one- day liquor license for St Paul the apostles Church 235 Dwight Road for a wedding reception on August 17th 2024 from 6: p.m. to 11: p.m. second motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion seeing none all those in favor please say I any opposed great next item under licensing matters is update on the ABC hearing is that something you would like to as the license I can give the update certainly um it is a common practice of the ABC to make routine compliance checks with all licenses throughout the Commonwealth and uh back in midm March of this year a compliance check was initiated at the tutor house and unfortunately the check yield a failure on the part of the the attendant at the cash register to um check the ID of the purchaser who was not uh 21 years of age so that yielded a violation and violation yields a hearing the hearing was held in mid June Genie June early June yeah and uh just recently the abcc rendered its decision uh and the decision was to simp I shouldn't say simply because it still is a violation but simply in the sense of the severity of the consequence and they rendered a letter of warning to the leny um to you know be much more Vigilant um the owner of The Tutor House appeared at um on online all of the hearings are done uh remote uh and expressed his you know um concern that they had deed made uh committed a violation and has uh given his word that his employees would be much more Vigilant and and in truth to to date he has never uh suffered a violation in all the years that he's owned the license which is what I suspect perhaps just the warning was um issu a written warning was issued we've had other circumstances in town with other licenses in past years where there were violations and they the particular establishments had somewhat of a history with violation so um the abcc is uh not merciful when you start to develop a track record and have has the authority to render a variety of um consequences um and so uh in this particular situation the status is that the Tutor House received a warning and we move on great thank you for the update you're welcome so we have no financial matters this night so approval of minutes I will entertain a motion I make a motion to approve the July 9 2024 Open Session minutes second motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion all those in favor please say I I any opposed so old business we have our first item approval of the Town manager goals um Marilyn Jim and John torsa were on the subcommittee to the goals the chair committee so I'll ask her to the overview for us thank you Conor okay the Town Council Town manager evaluation subcommittee met on August the 7th um to review the 19 goals that were submitted by our colleagues on the council um we went through each goal and actually it triggered some very interesting conversation and I found it to be a really really good meeting um it was difficult because every goal has its value however we recommended four for our town manager to tackle over the next year and I will tell you that um the first three had multiple um suggestions from other counselors so in some way we've all sort of been on the same page which is nice um so I will read you the goals that we chose to um ask Tom Tom um Christensen as our town manager to tackle for the next year the first one is building space usage and needs assessment plan the town has made great progress on the space needs at Town Hall with the acquisition of 382 North Main Street a plan should be developed that addresses the shift in usage of office space between the two Town Hall buildings potential future uses of the existing Town Hall at Center Square all Town buildings and departments and their needs including but not limited to police and fire departments priority and general timing for example shortterm 3 to 5 years 5 to 10 years 10 to 20 years of recommended actions order of magn itude costs for example 100,000 1 million 10 million 100 million and potenti I'm sorry how to read that and potential funding sources the plan should consider regular repairs maintenance renovation addition replacement consolidation and location we suggest that a committee be formed with the appropriate skill sets and not be comprised of a majority of town employees second goal Road Improvement plan the council recognizes how expensive it is to properly maintain our roads however the condition of well-traveled roads in town have deteriorated in recent years conduct A needs assessment of town roads and create a 5-year plan for its implementation that addresses repaving of Roads a updating the sidewalk plan and completing more connections for pedestrian safety considering upgrades or redesigns of busy intersections updating and simplifying language throughout town oh I'm sorry signage throughout Town priority and general timing of recommended actions and order of magnitude costs and potential funding sources the third goal Capital stabilization fund this idea came about during this town's during this past Year's budget process we recommend that a capital stabilization fund be established along with recommendations for its funding for the next five years if leftover or smaller amounts can be set aside in a dedicated Capital stabilization fund over the co course of a few years it may help the town accomplish some of the larger ticket products projects excuse me that come from the rec commendations out of goals one and two among others and the last goal um is number four car break-ins and theft strategy crime is a popular topic among residents especially on social media the council recognizes the hard work that our police department does to protect our residents how can we address car break-ins theft and other Petty crimes either through additional resources or technology so that be it thank you thank you Marilyn I would just add that it was definitely difficult to narrow it down to four goals because there were a lot of great ideas that we all had submitted um but there was definitely a lot of consensus among the top three or so on direction of town over the next year that we'd like to see um we also include four uh goals because we figured the first three were things that Tom would especially directly be responsible for whereas the fourth while he would be responsible for would probably most likely have a lot more of a public safety and like police chief involvement so may not be as I'm consuming on his part as the the first three as we work on time management of course trying to be consider is there any uh question questions on the the goals from any counseling good question no uh the top three were probably on my list too um and I'm interested about uh the fourth one um so yeah no I'm it's all doable great if there's no further discussion I'll entertain a motion to approve the goals um I make a motion to approve the manager goals as presented second it motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion see no in favor please say I I any opposed great second is the proposed amendment to traffic rules and regulations adding no parking on both sides of Melwood Avenue from Maple Street to seavoy Avenue from 6 a.m. to 8: a.m. and 1: p.m. to 3 p.m. so I suppose Tom would you provide some context on how this came about before surely um so the um site plan approval decision um for the new high school um as with most uh decisions written by uh the planning board or voted on by the planning board um has conditions of approval um and I'll read condition uh e uh voted on by the planning board no parking signs shall be placed on Susan Street nordon Street and both sides of Melwood Avenue um of course uh administratively uh there are some boxes to check before that can happen uh the traffic rules and regulations would have to be voted on and changed to create no parking areas um and then obviously putting signs in is a whole other follow but so basically um regardless of um whose decision it is to make a no parking area uh it's sort of triggered us to uh have this discussion about creating a no parking area in our traffic rules and Rags for Melwood uh Susan Street and nordon already are no parking no on street parking anytime um uh Melwood is not um so we would be creating that area and of course the uh hours Andor um how far up and down M would we want to go is youro prerogative so uh we just wanted to have the conversation um when we had the conversation last time the council agreed that it was probably a good idea to um get the input from the abuts and it sounds like that message was received so we didn't waste any postage which is good um so I think just sort of kind of getting the input of let's face it those would that would be affected by this the most um to see what if any hours we should put on this or if we shouldn't do this or we should um there's obviously pros and cons to all but um it's easy for me to say I don't live there I don't park there so I think again with most of our initiatives these days I think it's a good idea to get as much public input as we can before we make a decision so that's where we're at great thank you Tom for the overview so at this time I'll ask if there's anyone in the audience that would like to provide comments on it whether you're for or against or questions um if you would come forward to the microphone at the table and state your name and address for the record buch of us all right Cassandra chero 15 melad app um I think we need it uh I've lived there for SE well I lived on Melwood almost my entire life but now I live at this end of the street and I've lived there for seven years and it is a problem it's always been a problem um during the start of school and the end of school where people Park on both sides of the street and I don't know if you've driven down Melwood but at our end of the street it's a little bit more narrow than the other end so when there's a car parked on both sides it's difficult for one car to get down just a normal passenger vehicle and then you take into account the kids crossing the street to get to their parents cards parked on our street and often times they're either walking through our lawn which they don't have a problem with or they're walking in the middle of the street then you have the high school students speeding down the street us trying to get to our homes or to leave our homes and heaven forbid there's an emergency vehicle that needs to get through because we do have a lot of elderly people that live on our street and it's pretty frequent that we have ambulances or other emergencies Vehicles come down there's no space and I'm very much for the hours that's fine because as one of my neighbors I believe emailed you she's not here like if you have people over there shouldn't be no parking all the time but the also the problem comes down to enforcement because technically on our street there are two no parking signs at the very beginning like right at the mouth and people still park right there on the edge of the street which is very dangerous when there's all that commotion so I want the sign like we want the signs but we want enforcement of the signs that's it Cassie hi one second one second Cassie the people that are parked yeah they're not part of Carline they're just parked and the kids so instead of going into the Horseshoe for to pick up their kids because traffic they Park on our street okay so but they're now this is a what's that what defines parking are they in their cars are their engines still running they're idling like they they're either idling or they're actually in park car off yeah and then they'll like turn into our driveways to turn around they'll sit there they start lighting up around like what 115 like 105 1115 and then school gets out at 145 they're still there till 2 2:15 waiting for their kids to come out okay so if it weren't we could say no standing I mean that would well this that this is all part of the conversation right we can say whatever we want it just needs to be but I just want to make sure that what we do is effective and that people say I'm not parking I'm not parking my car is running and right and and I think hopefully the the the distance from the street of the new high school and the new traffic pattern is going to sort of curtail some of this anyway but um again the the conversation needs be had I think yes and yes and no because it's a direct lineup which we were not aware of until the plans came out that the driveway was going to line up directly with our street but then also now that there's a construction happening like right now with the school year we just think it's going to be worse like this year while the hores year is closed and stuff and the amount of times that I've seen somebody like go into the driveway that's right next to the high school's driveway you know which what I'm talking about the house that's like back and right there I don't like exit my street you know 247 but the few times that I do every time I've seen someone accidentally turn down that person's driveway and reverse back into Maple so I just I think it's G to get worse before it potentially gets better yeah certainly during construction I I'll agree with that I mean nobody's going to want to go anywhere near the site exactly so I'm sure that if only get worse now I I was I guess I was talking about um you know when when the school's done um that's a considerable distance back from the road now than it is you know what I'm saying and the problem of it lining up with our street I guess is also like then it will directly line up with the street you know what I'm saying yeah I get yeah I get not necessarily a parking thing but yeah I see what you're saying yeah that could potentially create more just normal traffic oh oh well I and I don't know that there was there that was mentioned through the traffic report or whatever I I don't I don't know there's still going to be the same amount of students and cars so I don't you know what I mean yeah and again I thought they tried to get most of those cars to get away from that driveway on on exit now they're they're down more towards the church you would right I think that's the way it was designed and I think that's what the traffic report bore out but I mean we could obviously look into that more but yeah if you come sorry I'm sorry yeah so I go in here yes please Tim Gara live at 21 Melwood so does the new does the new entrance and exit to the high school feed right into Melwood does it why not it does line not right now but I'm sorry but you know when all of said and done it was so with the layout and again it's again it's probably my fault we're not paying more attention to it is that was that the plan all along when they when they rolled this plan out for the high school yeah I mean that that was the that was the site plan that was approved okay and as far as the traffic like like who did the traffic pattern was it somebody that was local or was that the state uh one of the design Engineers I don't have anybody it would have been a subset of of Jones witz at architects or or SM smma I would assume the site the site designed tyan Bond they subcontracted Ty bond to do it so it was a local Consulting engineering but do we know that for sure that it was actually somebody that did the site and looked at the site and saw the school at entrance and exit yeah it's it was a requirement of the the site plan approval okay and that's written somewhere in there yes yep somewhere okay that doesn't make me feel good if I can uh interject um like just I'd like to just see it because to me you know living on that street for a year now trying to pull out in the morning it's uh it's tough even when school's not there if you go to take a left-hand turn out of the street at the high school and someone's going to get creamed I mean and I I just see with the traffic with a direct feed going down Melwood I would say it if I did or didn't live on the street I really think that there's going to be a problem for the town if it just doesn't look at making an adjustment as you were saying I couldn't quite understand what you were saying but if we dump the cars down more towards St Mike's where it's not the crest of the hill in that in that turn I I just think that be that's going to be a real problem yeah so to say if it's not too late for an adjustment for a traffic pattern or no right hand turn no left-and turn something I would just say to the council with all due respect you know it it's going to be a problem yeah so I think all this came up during the the S plan approval process um we can certainly look at the numbers but I don't know that the proposed conditions showed many straight across coming out of the the Horseshoe now that it lines up because most of the vehicles that are now coming out that way to sneak up Marshall or Melwood are the the students trying to get out of the parking lot quick yeah they they can't go that way now they have to go to the church you know what I mean so that's the exit that's the exit now oh okay so even though it lines up the exit's all the way down okay okay good okay no that was my that was my only question you speak on the committee about um signals there were we are we putting in signals so no we're not we don't have the traffic count that warrant warrant a traffic light there will there be a beacon or I I don't remember now there are two crosswalks on either side of that main entrance now with the beacon and it's further down from the top of the hill which I think everybody mentioned so that there's more time to for people flying over that hill on Maple which they do uh to to see the intersection and the crosswalks whereas people coming out of that horseshoe now I mean you're at the top of the hill and it's pretty unsafe so yeah that's all been taken into account um they'll be uh the flashing beacons at both crosswalks um and again I I I feel like they concentrated most of the tra the exiting traffic down towards the the exit near the church okay will there be crossing guards that I don't know um something we could ask the the police department ass signs crossing guards historically haven't had him at the high school to the age of the students but students can be talked about for sure however the the school building committee has um spoken of in length about the importance especially in two weeks when school opens up uh because it's it's a you know an interim plan and everybody's kind of upended to make sure that there is consistent um police Staffing there morning and you know afternoon in in that critical hour I would have thought 20 minutes but I I believe you when you say some folks line up uh 45 to 50 minutes that that I'm envious to pick up a 15-year-old it's not Meadowbrook however um and of course when the new school is ready and it opens we will still make sure that there is adequate police there because it's all um the enforcement piece is the key uh and the committee made the made the statement or or at least I did then enforce it if if you get repeat offenders in the first week give out tickets you that's the only way you're going to make um a statement because this is a it's going to be a busy intersection there for the next 3 years until you know you're back to a new normal and people learn what the parking rigs need to be we'll make sure through the committee the building committee that we emphasize the importance of um police um presence yeah no I mean I think that's an excellent point because this traffic pattern is going to change every year geted change change change again you know as you get into stages of construction they may have to make a temporary right uh Readjustment it's it's the nature of a large project there's no avoiding it there anyone else in the audience that would I just hi Carol Kelly 17 Melwood uh I just want to agree with what neighbors have offered here and the no parking signs are long long long long overdue and but Kathleen what you said with the enforcement of them that's that is the key and I think right now with the construction going on and the children going back to school what in two or three weeks weeks we have to put this into place now we have to do something now because it's very dangerous when you're going down the street particularly in the afternoon when the parents are lined up there waiting they they line up all the way to the corner the other day I was down there and there was a worker truck down there and it was just like I hope nobody's coming because I can't see and you just and that happens with the parents there they're on both sides all the way to the corner we need the signs but we need the enforcement for it also so thank you and I I don't know why this is so hard to to do just signs there anyone else that would like to uh Robert 181 Maple Street I have the property across the street from the entrance of the high school and we've been there for 25 years and I'm supporting the no parking signs on Melwood uh School pickup time is the worst part of the day parents are parking all over the street they blocked the mailbox trash pales there's been situations where they park over the driveway we can't get groceries in and out of the uh the car uh they park in our driveway we have have to ask them to move high schools to descend on the property they walk over the lawn to get to their rides I'm not the crazy old lawn guy but I've asked him to politely uh not walk over the grass and I've gotten sporn at I've gotten uh called names and I've been asked well what do you expect if you're living across from the high school um I've had kids playing football on my lawn uh a a mom came to the door wanted to start a fight because we asked her daughter not to be on our lawn it's private property and they have no right to be there they leave trash behind they collect water bottles and wrappers and that they don't want to take home with uh the parents are waiting they see all this happening and they don't do a thing um we uh we served on the scholarship committee uh we um uh we've been a small business in town for 25 years we try to generate funds for the kids even the obnoxious ones um our daughter's graduated from the town and they're both well and we want to give back a gift uh but I also expect the high school will inform the students and their parents to respect homeowner property walk on the sidewalk and please stay out on my parking lot um I uh you I hope that um you take the statement to Heart protect the area our property encourage respect and good Civ behavior from the students and their parents especially to newly Senor senior citizens and um it it just seems like courtesy has been forgotten and maybe it has not even been taught at all thank you is there anyone else in the audience we all agree all right is there any Council comments oh you can go first so my curiosity after reading the traffic rules and rigs um are we looking at doing this um for the entire year are we looking at doing only during the school year um I mean what are the thought processes and um I mean I drive up and down that street and I would be more upt to take the hours off and say no parking from here to here period period no can't do that because of the residents that live there what if you have a friend coming over that's actually allowed in here um there's exceptions to it if you're having a service at the house you know like a landscaper is allowed to park there if you're having a delivery about a relative that's permissible okay what what would you need doesn't specifically say that but if you had a visitor therey and they couldn't fit into the driveway she couldn't make it tonight but I she said she was going to email you that she wanted the hours she would be opposed to the full day because like if she had people over her driveway small if she had people over and they parked in the street she didn't want them then getting a ticket so I don't I don't want to derail the conversation but this sort of why we were thinking about the parameters and I think Jeanie said it almost after the first time I brought it up was is it when school's in session right like on a Saturday or Sunday we don't need to tell people they don't have to park there because their only reason they're parking there is to pick the kids up from school so that was a that was why I had the hours on there in the first place just to sort of generate the conversation and then I'm not there all the time so the discussion is what are the parameters that they that the that the residents see out in the field uh on a day-to-day basis and my guess is it's Monday through Friday 7 to 9 or whatever and 1 to 3 or 12 to two or what whatever it is um that was that was the original thought and that was so that they didn't lose their sort of on street parking for guests I mean that that's no fun if we just say you can't park from here to here at any time um how do we make it if we're going to enforce it then everybody's getting tickets and they're going to be sorry they showed up today which I don't want to see can we make the signage say something along the lines of no parking for school pick drop off and pickup yeah I mean we made the no left turn during or when Carline is full at met Brook I mean we can make any sign we want um but yeah I don't know how wordy just between the hours of 7 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3m. Monday to Friday 7 to n 1 to three sure Yesa um I can't help but think about Parker Street for pickup at metal Brook Summers Road for pickup at Mountain View and is it Elm Crest at bur for burland y I feel for you guys I completely understand because driving down Parker Street Turning of metal Brook is a complete nightmare where are these people supposed to go and if we do this in Melwood are we gonna have an issue on Parker Street Summers Road and Elm Crest I think some of the difference though was like cars can kind of be on Parker Street well and that's what I was just thinking like maybe it's not as bad because it's on one side of the road maybe not both correct these are people literally Park they Park their all be long no they park there for 45 minutes because of Carline but it's not a carine but it's not a car line is they don't have a Carline at the high a side street not a Main Street park on our street where's Carline control on it's in the loop of the circle or in the parking lot then where so then it would go in the loop of the circle down Maple no no they Park on our no I completely understand I completely there understand that but when when there's more cars than fit in the Horseshoe where does on Maple so people are just coming onto our street and parking we have nothing to do with carine okay so this is not is not so there's Carline on Maple and there's yes pickup on Melwood there is no carine technically there's no car no carine but if people can't get into the Horseshoe they back up onall the buses go in the loop yeah there are no vehicles allowed in the loop but they still go but but people need to be picked up right no they do it in address need to get a little control and ask them to come up and sit uh because of the microphone and all instead of just calling from the back of the audience sure doing a good job sorry you so there's no car line there's the loop that only buses are supposed to go in but normal cars still go in okay and when that backs up they back up on that side of maple like the school side of maple they back up normally they're supposed to get picked up through the church the the L the the entrance on the park the the church side there the parking lot yes but not everyone does that people Park on our street to avoid the traffic in both those areas so they're not having to try to take a left on Maple Street at two o'clock trying to get out get out uh Westwood or wherever yeah they either just head down Westwood to avoid it all together or they just go back out Maple so there is a car line but it's if you want to call it that if you want to call it that and it's supposed to be through the parking lot the parking lot not through the Horseshoe at all but people there's there's times on the Horseshoe that say no cars people ignore that there's supposed to be like no cars from I think it's like 6:45 to like 7:30 and then in the afternoon as well but people are in there with the buses and then that line backs up on Maple so another enforcement except that enforcement to me would go to school administration yeah didn't need to be School Employees out there enforcing a a parent coming in behind or getting stuck and I've seen it lodged not Lodge but between two buses where the buses should be able to line up end to end and not have a car snaking through there and and again it's not just an inconvenience for the residents that live there it's dangerous you know our neighbor Tim even said it's dangerous for him it's it needs to be addressed and again it's long overdue this parking there on both sides of the street yes oh no I thought was coming up sorry go ahead okay um are we creating a problem for a a street down one or up onewood I mean I don't know what's what's I don't know what's next what goes beyond Mill would I mean would people start parking on that street so like where sooy comes back around are they just going to go park on that I mean I don't know I I can't yeah no I I feel like the proximity is why people Park it's right across from the high school okay and the high school is not as far back as it's going to be but if they have no place to park yeah but there's the whole parking lot's open again it's an enforcement thing if maybe education too telling people that's where they need to go so Greg thomps School commun chair also member of the school building committee so we will have a dedicated School line or uh School pickup for students and a dedicated bus line there'll be two separate Loops which we don't currently have currently what happens is the buses line up cars come in behind and they're stuck so they go over on Melwood because they don't have to be stuck behind the buses the cars also come in the parking lot as you were saying and try to sneak out M that's all going to go away with the new school as Tom alluded to the students will have to come out and be forced to go out the toward the rotary the east side yeah okay the the staff parking will be in front of the building but to the same point that Tom made the new school will be basically where the soccer field is behind the school so the walking distance is not as conducive as it is now it's twice as far and we believe the car line will move rapidly because there's room not only to pull to the side but to go to the left of cars that are parked so no one's going to get stuck in there and there's plenty of room it's much bigger than it exists now and it's separate from the buses so the bus have their own dedicated Loop that only buses are allowed to go in and the and the pickup line will be exclusively cars I I don't dismiss the no parking signs I think that's a it's a valid point it's a good idea uh but I think it will be a little bit alleviated with the new design we're much better designed for traffic and flow you know we spend a lot of time and effort on it so it will be better but you know certainly still makes sense um in my perspective so thank you thank you any other Council comments so I just wanted to interject a little bit I I was talking about you know having it all day um after having read further and all and listening it sounds like setting hours to it makes more sense and then posting signs um saying hey these are the hours and if we catch someone parking there we're going to have to have our Police Department issuing tickets um I I know in hamton once you get a ticket or two you realize hey the police are here and you don't do it again that's it happen from a resident perspective is there any wisdom in just no parking signs at the very beginning of the street to alleviate the the Turning concern and then further back the hours to alleviate the uh you know if you have people over things going on your house like a combination of it or just I think we should have the hours just the hours because right now there there is no part but it's like literally just in the mouth of our street and it still is have to go all the way down the street I don't park all the way down the street I think just up to would be fine how far is that I think that was The Proposal was too there's no further comments I'll entertain a motion then so I would uh I would make a motion that we um change the traffic rules and regulations Section 5-6 parking locations and prohibitions by adding now let me slide down red yeah I know right there by adding Melwood AB under the name of Street under time uh 6:00 AM to 8:00 am and 1 P.M to 3 p.m. under side it will say both and under location it would say from Maple Street to seavo Avenue is there a second I'm sorry do we want to add idling to that or is we have to that's included do we have a definition parking that's understood when you're in a car no parkings no par well I know that but that's when you get under so just for clarification under traffic rules and regulations appendix five which is where we're at uh it includes stopping standing and parking perfect perfect that's what I wanted to hear yeah are you done I am done second motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion none oh is it just school days I mean I don't know how we make that point or you just it was not listed that way just it's straight that there's no parking from Melwood to seavoy from 6:00 a to 8:00 am and 1: to 300 p.m. I think that's okay for the regul for the paperwork but can we still have the signage say mon M through F signage say whatever the right so you created the document right the area is now no parking correct and sign the delineates that that's yeah all right motion been made in seconded is there any further discussion all those in favor please say I I opposed all right thank carries would like to deputize you all for the first week of school give them all patches stand out there it's nice to have people here you know we have our meetings so many times with empty empty seats so don't just come on the agenda just come no we never know what your what your agenda is and and maybe if you I don't want you to me you want a letter from me every week it's posted it's posted on the Friday before yeah but we don't remember to look it up like oh let's see they thank you all for your feedback on that thank you when do you think we'll get hey hey hey that that's a practical question two weeks and the be back right have poster board so yeah well I think uh we try to get the message out and uh there's no nothing we don't need a sign to um enforce traffic rules and regulations but I guess uh from a practical we'll get a lot of of appeals when right it was not posted a cop with the blue lights yeah yes they we talked about that well but I mean as far as the signs actually being the whole dug and put them in a few weeks oh anyway yeah okay that was really vague oh yeah oh yeah absolutely weeks or more yeah um I guess if we run into um you know you gota you gotta notify Dig Safe I mean that there there's aess is you can't just go start banging things in the ground so [Music] um yeah I mean I'll mention it to Daryl and Bruce tomorrow and we'll see what we can do on the schedule I guess in the interim if we get to school we can we can do the the fourth of live no parking signs just to just so there's something out there it's a lowc cost option and I know they don't work and they fall down and it rains all time and everyone's mad but again we can only work as fast as we can work um so to put whatever that's going to be six eight signs in three on three or four on each side of the street [Music] um and then they're going to be fighting over who gets it in their yard um but I I'll talk to Dar and Bruce tomorrow and we'll get a realistic schedule I'm not going to say we'll have them in no I understand but um yeah we'll see what we can do at least get the get them located and the Dig saves called in and then if we have the material then we can get them in when we can get them in good right thank you thank you all right the next item under new business is approving the uh waiver of provisions of section 5-4 of the Carter to uh Jean s below to the board of Library trustees is a motion I mostly approve the waving of provisions of section 5-4 of the charter to appoint Jean Cento the board of Library trustees second motion's been made and seconded is there any further discussion see none can I make a small is it is this something that we want to I mean you you have this right by Charter is this something that we want to keep doing every time I make an appointment on any one of those boards that listed to have you wave or do you want to I'll just mention that they're there because you don't have to do anything if the 45 days elapses then they're on right so it I I can appoint you can disappoint right you can veto it doesn't say that I can't appoint so we were having this conversation internally uh me and Deb because it doesn't prevent the appointment you just afforded 45 days to disallow that appointment correct so we were holding on to paperwork and these people have missed a meeting or something in the interim when when you actually interpret the charter the appointment can be made and they can go to that meeting but you have the 45 days to to to veto and so if you want to keep doing this I'm all for it you know I'm not trying to hide anything certainly not an appointment to a board um I just wanted to talk it out because I think this has been the procedure and I just kept it going um yeah it's a good question I I suppose I would interpret it the same way that they could serve until such time that the council decided they can't serve as long as it's within that 45 day period but I suppose it doesn't say that they can't serve until we approve it I thought the 45 days is what we had to make the decision do but it doesn't stop Theo like you I guess I guess the problem or the what I would try to avoid if there was um a candidate who for some reason had um an issue that we felt was not appropriate you know rather than a point and then make it public and then take this person off yeah it would be much better to deal with it beforehand okay yeah that's how that's how I thought it was there's only five of I mean it's really no big deal it's I'm I'm making this a five minute item now it's usually 30 seconds so I mean it's not a big deal and and if that's the way you want to do it I just there's all these things that I sort of inherited a process and we're just asking the question because we're holding on to this document and Deb knows if I have something on my desk for longer than two weeks there's a good chance it's not GNA it's not going to come back to her so if if the appointment paperwork could get signed immediately what difference does that make in the process but we'll just we'll hold on we'll hold off on an appointment it doesn't really matter because I don't want to I don't want that decision to or that situation to arise that I've appointed someone that you're that you're all so dead I'm not that's going to happen but I think that was the no but that's the reason it's in the charter so if my interpretation of it is taking some of your comfort away from that and forget it we'll just do it like this it was just it came up you were chatting about in the office and I wanted to have the conversation with you no big deal are you okay so through the chair so Tom when someone comes up um for appointment or you've decided on somethingone is there any way you can send us immediately an email because I would think if a name pops up that any one of us was really concerned about we could send a quick note back that say might have some concern on this one and at that point then you wait for the process okay I mean that would be my thought and again I only see this happening maybe once in every 30 years um so but considering where for of government and the change and why it changed I could see I could see it happening back seven or eight years ago so so and and and I guess I sort of brought it up to prompt the probably more crucial part of this conversation and that's for the four department heads that are listed in there as well probably may increase and that's somebody's already signed a contract and we're we're engaged with an employer or employment and you can say we don't want this person to be the police chief or the fire chief or the director and at that point we're down the road and and I hope this doesn't come out wrong but I you know sometimes I don't want to be at a situation where I'm asking your permission to hire someone because that's also expressly not how the charter reads and so there's a little contradiction there and that's why I kind of wanted to have the conversation about if this is how it's going to be interpreted here then we kind of have to interpret it over here that way too does anyone have any other comments yeah I mean I see it as you should still be able to appoint whomever you wish and send us a note that you know hey I'm making such and such appointment and then that kind of starts the clock for us if we feel that's inappropriate and then we could take it up at our next meeting to veto you'd have to be careful not to deliberate that oh right open meeting just notific that yeah it was taking place well and and if there's any changes to the new schedule a lot of these things will probably work out anyway right like there won't be this you know potentially five or six weeks between meetings depending on right where the dates fall so um all right fair that that's more than fair and this is sort of on par with our previous comments about more communication and notification and all that so all right so we had the motion made second a while ago any other discussion being none all those in favor please say I he opposed then the next item was the appointment of a Town Council representative to the El chess pool committee and that was because that subcommittee had a council representative on it who was previously Matt voucher who's no longer on the council that represent the council um so I had asked if there was anyone as a counselor that was interested John did mention that he was interested but I wanted to wait in case there was anyone else that was interested before recommending someone all right if there's no other recommendations then John it is yes they to teach him not still probably probably Matt got on there too and our next item was the Town Council calendar so this was something that sort of floated around it seems for a while since the council's Inception and so I have put together a more formal calendar of all the different activities that we tend to undertake throughout the year also layering in the different requirements that the charter and our bylaws and any other rules and regulations require us to do for example like we have to review the charter every 10 years we have to review the bylaw every 10 years but ending in a five it's like that so that we don't lose sight of it because reading the bylaws every day you would have no idea that we're supposed to be doing some of these things and then also like the first meeting of the month that we based on our goals is supposed to be the second Tuesday unless it can like a holiday or election all that sort of stuff so I put that all together for all of us to reference and then I also layered in tentatively but of course we can certainly it ending on the workload second meeting to return to having the second and fourth Tuesdays for our Council meetings at 6 pm here um I think you'll notice that like November and December it aligns like very close to the holiday those may not happen that was just a placeholder for discussion purposes but the remainder of the months from September through June would likely have the second meeting and then we would have just one for our summer schedule like we used to in the past um so that was mostly just an overview on the schedule that I put together but if there's any questions did a good excellent job excellent thank you so the two meetings um if we return to that is that going to be basically as needed as items come up or is it going to be just a standing second meeting I think it'll be standing unless we find that there really aren't items to Warrant it like won't end up the second one if it's just to approve minutes and talk about a town manager report but otherwise I think no offense Tom what does that mean you also want a town manager report every two weeks that's basically what we're looking at then yeah I think there's enough that I mean if our previous evaluation as a council was working on communication from last year I don't think it hurts to update on what happened over the last two weeks I'll make Rebecca right you got the first one oh sure so at the end of each meeting on the first Tuesday could you decide then if you're having the second meeting or would you want to wait I think we would probably have a decent idea really have your action items for the next meeting and yeah if we found that there were no action items then we probably would have a good clue that we didn't need it unless you know something came up out of the ordinary and it all depends special meeting you can have special meeting it's really you're the gatekeeper actually you have a sense of what's on on the back burner and I also envisioned as we get into budget season and some other matters especially with all the bylaw review over the next year that we may need that second meeting more as a workshop instead of regular business that's coming before us right we will have quite few bylaws not just the 2025 bylaw review but you know if there's a center Town District bylaw I mean that's going to eat up a lot of time um accessory dwelling units I mean these are all going to require two readings so solar two meetings yeah solar all of it I mean hens will be back I'm sure um so so that second meeting could help with a second reading you know especially if we're getting down to a point where you you know we've got some serious public outcry about these bylaws um and how long it may take us to do an accessory dwelling unit bylaw that we all agree on by the date that we're required to do it on um you know we've all talked about how long it takes our bylaw process and right you know the subcommittees and so I mean we're basically looking at in the next three months having a bylaw in front of someone planning board I mean to have that thing out by February so I I don't think two meetings um standing is aggressive I'll just do a better job of getting those reports on time wasn't on Thursday this week it was were on time you can Bank some of those days and and I think Conor some of it's going to be um basically up to you as you put it together um especially zoning bylaws uh going through looking at now obviously they have to be advertised and stuff and it may not make it onto the second meeting so you know it's going to go onto the first meeting the next month but um I'm good I am too I think I do like the idea of make making the call at the first meeting if we're GNA have a second meeting if we can just yeah we can certainly in for it and see what happens see what happens yeah okay great great if there's nothing else on the calendar um any action items for the next meeting um the one that comes to mind is we were originally going to have an executive session today on the pending legal matters but given some discussions with Tom on some of those outstanding things we didn't feel it was appropriate with the information that we had and what could be shared at this point but that will be coming before us in September so we will get back to that but we needed a little bit more time to review and prepare does anyone have other action items got just made some notes the council vote for the adoption of the order of the taking will that be for September 10 most likely and um Paul Morris set wants to have a second hearing for the hazard mitigation plan Mimi Kaplan on that date and legislative update did you want to do that too September 10 I had originally penciled that in but I think we may push that to the 24th if we have that second meeting okay that way there that'll give each of us counselors a little more time to prepare any questions or comments that we may have for our state reps so I suppose in the meantime before maybe the next meeting that we have on September 10th if you have any questions or comments for our state reps you could send them to Genie so we can get those funnel to them and did you want to also put on uh you've got the close of the Caple projects uh get an update on the ones that have been completed and yes those things penciled in from August we'll probably Shuffle to September and those a lot of those were were done when they closed out fy2 24 that's part of their process now is to shoot out the the the emails to everybody about the existing capital projects and if they're done because they want to close these accounts out too if they're just hanging around it's just an annoying an annoyance basically so yeah that that's we can we can do a good update on all that right seeing none we have no executive session so I'll entertain a motion to adjourn move second made second is there any session all those in favor please say I we returned at 756