##VIDEO ID:uBvEwANe8hs## I call this special town meeting to order I have no idea what that sounds like new sound system um I call this special town meeting to order I'm Joan Barry Town moderator welcome and thank you all for coming out tonight this is a very oddly timed meeting in many ways but it's good to see so many of you here um thanks to town and School staff and act and TV for making the arrangements and setting up this meeting on this unusual schedule um how many folks are here for the first time I know there were two little pipsqueaks down here but a few people great thank you for coming um as we go along we um hopefully everything will become clear I'll explain things as we go we will be using pro and con mics they're labeled one is pro two is Con and then I think they're on the other side up at the back three and four if you have a question or you are calling the question you can go to any mic um when I recognize you please state your name and street before making your comment or asking your question keep in mind that you are officially speaking to me the moderator though of course your comments are meant for everyone else in the room this is designed to keep the temperature down and keep the meeting flowing smoothly or moderated if you have questions I will recognize the person most appropriate to answer you will have two minutes to speak not including the response so if you have a question then you get the answer you may have the remainder of the time if you need it um but do not feel the need to use up all the time if you don't need to um timer you should see timers around the room um I will accept a motion to cut off debate or move the previous question once there has been sufficient debate to inform the town meeting members of the pros and cons of the motion you may not make a statement and then move the question you may only move the question moving the previous question requires a second is non-debatable and requires two-thirds majority to pass moving the question is to once we say we're done debating we're done in the absence of a motion to move the previous question following a robust discussion the moderator May determine usually through a showah hands that most of the voters are ready to vote and the vote will be taken at that time um so as you noticed you got your old school green card on the way in as compared to um what we've been doing as the clickers the we felt the number of folks who would be at this meeting and the work that it requires to get the clickers ready seemed like this was a better um more efficient option and just so you know we are looking at the next gen clickers which will not lose their batteries and roll down the aisles and all of that stuff um so hopefully by the spring meeting we'll have something different um at this time I'd ask Miss arenol to introduce the folks on this side of the stage good evening uh my name is Fran Arsonal I'm the chair of the act and select board um to my right is Dean Charter Vice chair Alyssa nickel uh who has the role of the clerk and David Martin um and Jim Snider Grant is here in spirit he's in a plane he's on a plane somewhere thank you thanks for oh sorry uh John mangera the town manager Tom bean the assistant Town Town manager and Leo Marcado our town clerk thank you thank you Mr Cole could you introduce the finance committee yes thank you madam moderator uh at the end of the table We Have Allison Jones uh next is Roland bordon this year's clerk I am Jason Cole this year's chair Steve noon gang Chen is our associate member sitting in the back table uh by by sheer luck of the draw not by any uh any specific reasoning uh we have Scott Sullivan this year's Vice chair Adam ndi Greg jarbo Christy Anderson and kin hog Seth who's another associate member uh absent tonight for a family uh for a family reason is Dave wellinghoff but we thank him uh for his service as well thank you okay we will move right along to our first um first article you should have seen this version um out in the checkin area there were a few different places where it was stashed um article one I must read the entire motion for legal purposes so please bear with me article one authorize acquisition of property located at 19 and 35 weatherbe Street one David Martin moves at the Town authorized the select board to acquire the deed of a fee simple interest of the properties at 19 and 35 weatherbe Street for the purposes described in warrant Article 1 two two appropriate $3,680 th000 for the purchase of both 19 and 35 weatherbe Street three authorize the treasurer with the approval with the prior approval of the select board and recommendation of the community preservation committee to borrow up to $1,888 th000 for the purchase of both 19 and 35 weatherbe Street provided that the rep payment term is not less than 15 years nor more than 20 years and to transfer appropriate and expend the set amount and apply any net premium and acred interest received as a result of such borrowing to the costs of the project and reduce the borrowing authorization by the same amount four transfer appropriate and expend existing Community preservation funds in the open space set aside in an amount of up to $1,300,000 for the purchase of both 19 and 35 weatherbe Street five Raise appropriate transfer or accept gifts and grants of such additional funds as are necessary to complete the purchase of 19 and 35 weatherbe Street six authorize the select board and the Conservation Commission to submit on the town's behalf any and all applications deemed necessary for grow grants and or reimbursements from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the United States or from any other state or federal programs seven authorize and direct the select board to impose a Perpetual conservation restriction on the acquired property in accordance with Mass General Law chapter 44b section 12 on such terms and conditions as the select board May determine eight authorized direct the select board to delegate the care custody control and management of the conservation land to the Conservation Commission subject to the Perpetual conservation restriction and nine authorize the select board the town manager the treasurer and the Conservation Commission as appropriate to enter into all agreements and execute any and all instruments as may be necessary do I hear a second second it's been moved and seconded Mr Martin uh good evening uh thank you for coming out to this special town meeting I'm David Martin uh from the select board article one uh would authorize the town to acquire the the property on weatherbe street that I'll show you in a minute for the purposes of conservation uh the prop property is composed of two Parcels at 19 and 35 weatherbe Street that are bounded on the northeast by the Bruce Freeman rail trail the entire 33 Acres will be placed under conservation restriction restriction by June 2025 essentially combining them with the existing conservation land to the South and West already owned by the town the larger part of the property is wooded it's basically unimproved except that it has some old radio ham radio towers on it a smaller part contains an old house uh not the house towards the right in this photo which is someone else's property rather it's the house in the in the shadows in the middle um uh more in the center of this photo the wooded area in the distance is is this iconic piece of property that you see from rout to from when I first came to Acton I'll never forget this dramatic change in landscape after entering Acton from the conquered rotary so how do we get to this point Acton's open space committee has had its eye on this property for a long time when the family that owns the property approached the town a couple of years ago the town was busy with other things especially working on the water dist with the water district on the 549 Main Street property the sellers were patient the select board and town manager moved forward this year to negotiate a memorandum of understanding to purchase the property contingent on town meeting approval that's what we're discussing uh in this article the community preservation committee has already voted their approval notably the town has received a half million doll land grant from the state that Grant must be used this year if town meeting votes to move forward please note that the motion is worded to allow some flexibility in in funding sources as we close the deal however the purchase price is fixed by this article the price for both both um Parcels is $ 3.68 million that includes $80,000 for closing and conservation costs plus the old house and the old radio towers are being removed by the sellers since only CPA money grants and gifts will be used this purchase will not change taxes or compete with operational needs of the town the plan for funding the total amount includes 1.2 million from the CPA open space set aside $1.88 million of borrowing against future CPA money the that $500 ,000 Grant from the Massachusetts uh land grant and a th000 $100,000 gift from the Acton conservation trust thank you to AC for their generosity uh the select board voted unanimously to recommend article one if you get out your opera glasses you can read what the moderator uh read earlier if you forgot your oper operator opera glasses you can just have to remember what the moderator said said Thank you thank you finance committee recommendation the finance committee voted unanimously to recommend this article we'll open the floor to town meeting members wishing to speak on the article speaker at microphone too uh Bob Van Half Moon Hill um I'm not opposed to the article but I must say that I am disappointed that yet again the town meeting is being asked to support land acquisition for conservation purposes and at least as far as I know there was no uh preliminary discussion about whether part of the land might be used for affordable housing development uh the town has at least in 2021 had over 1,600 Acres of of conservation land out of close to 12,000 acres in the whole town and um we're adding to that I think there may be more that's been added since 21 um the Boston Globe today editorialized about the use of CPA funds for land acquisition that at least in some towns has been specifically used to block the development of housing I'm not saying that that's the case here but I am disappointed that there was not some discussion about whether some portion of this land could be used for affordable housing development thank you speaker at microphone three I have four questions could you introduce oh I'm anang uh billing Street South Acton swamps uh I would like to know how much we're paying the land over per acre uh what is the debt load of the CPC when we add this 1 8 million uh 800,000 onto the uh top um what is the percentage of a land in Acton that is uh now in uh tied in conservation tied up in conservation restrictions and four have you considered that future Acton residents might need usable open space for something other than conservation Mr Martin yes than thank you um I can answer some of your questions um the price per acre is about um $109,000 per acre I believe um the uh Debt Service um for future CPA money will be about $170,000 a year assuming that we um um borrow for 20 years and assuming uh certain interest rates so that's not a a committed number that's an estimated number I don't know the answer to your other questions it's the percentage of land already in conservation I'm I'm sorry I don't know I don't know if anybody else has the answer to that question I don't I I'm I'm hearing that someone say it's 21% but um uh okay then my final question about future residents of act and and needing of needing open space for something other than conservation Mr Martin so um I agree that um there are other uses besides conservation uh the select board does discuss those they're not in fact we discussed them for this article but they're um that didn't end up being part of the deal for this article uh mainly because the land grant requires uh con conserv that that the land be conserved speaker at microphone 4 hi I'm Ward Bine from Half Moon 23 Half Moon Hill um my question is on Section seven um where it says that the land will be held in conservation land in perpetuity subject to terms um by the uh board and I'm was wondering um what those terms might be and whether or not this will end up being conservation land in perpetuity Mr Martin uh yes the it it must be conservation land in perpetuity for um because of the land grant um because of the uh agreement with the sellers and because we're using CPA money um to acquire it um those terms and conditions have to do with things that are allowed for conserved land for example we can allow accessory parking on the land uh accessory parking means um parking for a use um consistent with the conserving of the land so we could have a certain number of parking spaces to allow Trail use for example that's just one uh we could build a kiosk that might be um or some other small structure that's associated with the use of the land so uh uses that are uh related to the conservation use are allowed and could be negotiated when we arrange for the conservation restriction thank you speaker at microphone two Judy croner of Parker Street you said that the uh land grant of $500,000 has to be used this year do you mean that it has to be the closing has to be next month or is this a fiscal year uh this calendar year so yes we would have to closed by the end of the year and then um we're required to have the conservation restriction in place 6 months after that so by June 2025 speaker at microphone three just hit the button there you go there we go sorry new to this uh I'm Rob corduck I live at 17 Horseshoe Drive 17 Horseshoe Drive or Horseshoe Drive is a property adjacent to this land uh I would just like to say that I am strongly in favor of moving forward with this this feels to me like a one-time opportunity to secure a large tract of conservation land to help keep act in Green for the environment for our overall property value so I would just U again like to say that I strongly support this so thank you thank you speaker at microphone 3 I think you have to hit the button there Carla hiler uh Stonebrook I just want to say this is a wonderful opportunity for Acton I was on a walk last week with a u Wetland biologist where he explained by acquiring this land for conservation um actually is a unique opportunity and this is something that we all have needs we yes I understand affordable housing yes I understand a whole number of things that we should be concerned about but this particular opportunity allows for um Wildlife preservation it allows a number of vernal pools that are back there to remain connected and again God ain't making more land as my father used to say so this is a wonderful opportunity for the town of Acton we have a lot of financial resources to help us acquire this land and I can't help but say this is something we really need to preserve for our future for our children for our grandchildren and in generations to come thank you seeing no others oh no seeing no others we will go to a vote this does require a 2third majority to pass we'll start with a Voice vote if you could use your normal voice please so all all who are in favor please say I I all who are opposed please say nay nay I declare that the vote does pass by the two-thirds majority required thank you in general I like to discourage Applause though that was within keeping I think we'll now go to article two authorize collective bargaining agreement facilities cemetery and Public Works Dean Charter moves that the town appropriate and transfer $60,000 from free cash to fund the cost items contained in collective bargaining agreement between the town and its facilities Center and Public Works Personnel Union afscme do I hear a second it's been moved and seconded Mr Charter thank you the uh this agreement uh has come out as a result of a lengthy negotiation between the town manager and his office and the union involved uh thank you to both of those entities for getting this job done it's a three-year agreement the uh the most noticeable item in this agreement is year one fy2 the year that we're in right now all positions are receiving a $2 per hour uh wage increase fiscal 26 it'll be a 2.5% cost of living increase fiscal 27 same 2.5% cost of living the uh it's a slightly higher adjustment the first year than what you're used to seeing this is because we've been having a very hard time attracting and retaining employees in the public works operation the uh some of the other units did receive uh somewhat larger pay raises in the past few years this is attempt to uh to catch up as most of you have seen uh if you drive around town you see the flashing light signs we're constantly looking for Public Works employees uh the low pay scale that we had was part of the problem other parts of the problem which we're going to attempt to address uh have to do with the working conditions including the existing facility and the the lack of any kind of facilities at the public work Works building for female employees which we're trying to recruit um that'll be a subject that we'll be discussing at our Maytown meeting the other items that are of interest in this agreement include some wording due to for overtime adjustments discipline and most noticeably notably the town will pay to train an employee to get a commercial driver's license cost of that training can be upwards of $66,000 we have in this contract brought in new wording which will allow a clawback provision so that we don't spend $6,000 of taxpayer money and have the employee leave within a few months so we do have some some good protections here for the uh for the taxpayers and hopefully we'll be able to recruit and uh and have a good Workforce in the long term because we're already in year one of the contract we do have to appropriate $60,000 from free cash which will fund that first year that $2 per hour increase um thank you if you have any questions be happy to answer Finance finance committee recommendation thank you madam moderator this is a fair and fiscally responsible uh agreement and the finance Comm committee recommends this article town meeting members go ahead yeah uh Fred ller uh 25 grasshopper Lane so three questions one is is this in line with other towns around here and like the cola and and other raises and things like will will this make us competitive um I guess maybe it's a two-part second question does Massachusetts allow the clawback like can we really if someone if we're training and and things like this and and someone does leave to go to another department or something along those lines is that a legal thing you can do here or um and I guess a second part of that is like our other uh cities offering the similar CDL training and and stuff like this Mr charer so all I can say about the the wording of the contract for the clawback provision is that these were all negotiated uh in conjunction with the uh the Union's representative the Union's lawyer and town has its own labor Council which were very involved in that so I defer to them I couldn't hear your first question sir oh I curious does this make us competitive like the cola increases and everything is this in line with with what we're seeing in other towns and and the cost of living in the future yes it is it does bring us more competitive um the issue that we have for uh for Blue Collar employees and people with those kind of licenses and experience all of the towns and the private sector are all competing for the same pool of employees so we think right now with this plus the other uh benefits the town offers we think we're in a more competitive situation than we are but I'll be able to report back more coherently in about six months thank you seeing no others we'll vote this does require a majority to pass all who are in favor please say I I all who are opposed please say nay the vote does pass unanimously article three authorized collective bargaining agreement Public Safety dispatch Dean Charter moves that the town appropriate and transfer $155,000 from free cash to fund the cost items contained in collective bargaining agreement between the town and its Public Safety District dispatchers Union International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 25 do I hear a second it's been moved in seconded Mr Charter once again we have a contract here that was negotiated uh between management and the uh the Teamsters Union uh we are actually in the first year of the contract already we're in fiscal 25 slightly different package that was uh compared to the one that we last voted on year one is a 2.75% cost of living increase fiscal 26 A 1.5% increase fiscal 27 a 2.75% Coler increase the uh we have added some other language to the contract to provide an additional step for more senior employees and we have adjusted the shift schedule because we're already in year one of the contract we will have to appropriate money tonight which is $115,000 which funds the uh the first year of the contract the year that we're in right now uh be happy to answer any questions finance committee recommendation thank you madam moderator finance committee recommends this article speaker at microphone four uh Dan Dan Buckley Independence Road can you put that screen on for the percentage is is there any reason why that isn't the same as the other one we just did for percentage for the for the bumps Mr Charter so these are the results of of negotiations uh we didn't seem to have the disparity uh with this particular unit as we did with the uh DPW workers the uh these negotiations have taken a long time and that's what was worked out um obviously there's a lot of uh strategizing involved on both sides for how to uh how to increase the salaries properly but uh you know there's no underlying strategy here other than trying to uh provide proper compensation and be able to make sure that we've got a Workforce ready to uh step in thank you speaker at microphone one uh it's a combination of a question and an observation sorry I forgot uh Ian Watkins uh Strawberry Hill Road uh observation and a question I suppose that you've talked about the cost in free cash but you haven't said how many employees are affected by the negotiation uh so it be kind of useful to get a feel for how many employees you're talking about to understand the cost in free cash per employee basis um I believe that in the public works department I believe we had 27 employees I think in this particular unit I think we have nine employees I'm looking to the town manager for uh yes hi thank you John Manager Town manager uh we have uh 29 in the DPW so just just off uh and then we have uh ninef uh 10 in the dispatchers group but a few of those are part- time thank you speaker at microphone four just a question um um why wouldn't these cost of livings be included in the original contract if they were only Oney old and are there second question other contracts that we aren't including like are we are we signing contracts in the coming uh that we know we're signing soon that we'll have a similar problems Mr charer so the excuse me the uh the contract that typically is a three-year contract for both units and that contract had expired so they were continuing working under their old work rules for they've been working now for about six months under the old contract so this will basically it's a two and a half year contract but some of the pay obviously is going to be retroactive for the first six months the contracts expired uh at the end of June seeing no others standing we'll vote requires a majority to pass all who are in favor please say I I all who are opposed please say nay the vote does pass unanimously article four Town Capital purchase replacement of ambulance Dean Charter moves that the town one authorized upon the recommendation of the select board a lease purchase financing agreement for the acquisition of an ambulance that may be acquired through the issuance of debt provided that the term of such an agreement does not exceed 10 years the useful life of the ambulance as determined by the select board two authorize the town manager to enter into such an agreement on behalf of the town and three appropriate $140,000 from from the ambulance Enterprise fund to fund the payments for the first fiscal year of such lease purchase financing agreement do I hear a second second it's been moved in seconded Mr Charter thank you so as I'm sure most of you understand our firefighters are cross trained as firefighters and as either EMTs or paramedics we run our own service the town currently has on its books three ambulances they're used extensively in point of fact the majority of the uh day-to-day business of the fire department now is providing medical assistance these are the the three ambulances um rescue 35 is uh is supposed to be the primary the idea is you have a primary ambulance a secondary in case you get a larger event or simultaneous medical events which happens very frequently and then a third ambulance as a mechanical backup for one when when and if one of the other ones breaks down so our our newest ambulance was was purchased in 2022 it has uh 51,000 mil on it this is as of of the 1st of January right now it has over 75,000 miles on it rescue 34 a secondary again back in January had 107,000 miles on it now it only has 108,000 miles on it and that's because that ambulance has been broken down and out of service since July rescue 33 is the mechanical backup that now has has moved up to having 96,000 mil on it we've been informed by the office of eer emergency medical services that most likely our mechanical backup ambulance will not be certified next year due to its condition these vehicles work very hard and continuously Around the Clock the uh the biggest problem that we have with them and which is why we're here tonight is that it takes 24 to 25 months to get the ambulance after we've signed the purchase order for it so it puts us into a real problem trying to keep these ambulances going and trying to continue to provide a high level of care for all of our all of our residents and visitors to the town of Acton they're also used extensively for um Mutual Aid to other towns uh we have actually an enhanced level of uh Emergency Medical Services compared to some of our neighboring towns so sometimes they have to call on us or there's just not enough ambulances available cost of this new ambulance is about $650,000 the annual payments on it would be about $140,000 and that money is acquired from the ambulance revolving fund if any of you have been unfortunate enough to be HED off in one of these ambulances at some point you get some paperwork from the insurance company saying how much that trip cost that money goes into the ambulance revolving fund and it's used to purchase new ambulances and other medical equipment and to assist with the pay of some of the paramedic firefighters so there'll be no tax impact it's actually your insurance company is paying for these things one way or another so we think we're not in a we're in a precarious position right now we think it's very important that we get going on purchasing this ambulance hopefully the one that's been out of service since July will come back again so we won't have a a real severe situation if our backup is not certified again but I think it's very important to be able to move ahead with this quickly thank you finance committee recommendation thank you Madame moderator the finance committee recommends this article this is a vital piece of equipment for our town and due to the long the lengthly time to get a new one would the finance committee does recommend this article thank you seeing no one standing will vote this does require a 2third majority to pass all who are in favor please say I I all who are opposed please say nay the vote does pass unanimously thank you bringing us to our final article so before we dispose of that once again thank you for coming out on this unusual time and hour um but looks like we'll be we be done before we normally would have started so Article Five veterans tax abatement annual Cola increase frean Arsenal moves that the town accept the provisions of Mass General Law chapter 59 Section 5 Clause 221 to increase the property tax exemptions for veterans equal to the cost of living as determined by the Consumer Price Index for such year do I hear a second it's been moved and seconded miss arsel so Article Five um the veterans tax exemption annual cost of living increase the the hero act let's see what am I doing here the hero act in Massachusetts refers to an act honoring empowering and recognizing our service members and Veterans it was signed into law by Governor morah hey on August 2nd 2024 this Landmark legislation is designed to provide significant support and benefits to veterans in the state key Provisions in the hero act um are increased disabled veteran annuity which raises the annual annuity from 2,000 to 2500 over two years um expanded vet hire tax credit increases the tax credit for small businesses hiring veterans to $2500 extended active duty service buyback program extends the time frame for veterans in public service to utilize this program from 180 days to 10 years MO modernized servic is an increased inclusivity promotes inclusivity for lgbtq plus veterans and improves access to mental health and other services additional additional benefits and support includes various other Provisions to enhance the lives of veterans and their families overall the hero act represents a significant step forward in supporting Massachusetts veterans and recognizing their service and sacrifice a yes vote on Article Five will ensure that the exemptions remain consistent with inflation in the same way that several other means tested and Senior tax exemptions that the town offers due and the act and select board uh recommends this article and I just wanted to give a shout out to Mark juicy the photos are of the annual pancake breakfast in this at the high school um for on Veterans Day thank you finance committee recommendation thank you madam moderator the with immense respect and gratitude for service members and Veterans the finance committee recommends this article seeing no one standing I will just note um in case anyone wants to go look this up it's Mass General Law chapter 59 Section 5 Clause 22i not 221 it's 22i seeing no one standing we'll vote this does require a majority to pass all who are in favor please say I I all who are oppose please say nay passes unanimously thank you um I believe Mr Cole has a point of personal privilege yes I do Madam moderator I would uh like to ask the town meeting members to join me in thanking Adam NY for his six plus years of service to the town as he is retiring from the committee tonight thank you Adam and please remember you're always welcome back I'll recognize a motion from Miss Arenal do I hear a second uh did to dissolve town meeting there's a motion to dissolve town meeting all in favor thank you very much