##VIDEO ID:zuiQ2u10WGg## open it up thank you oh here's frck I'm gonna bring perfect thank you you um okay Athena are you staying with us today or are you um do you have other stuff going on I'm gonna hang awesome okay um it says he declined to be promoted as panelist so I'm just gonna live him leave him on allow okay that sounds good all right hey FR you have to click to be promoted to a panelist um and it's okay if you um want to keep your your video off um while we while you're walking I know you said you heading home yeah so I'm just about to leave so I'll be listening but my video will be off totally fine absolutely fine all right so we are going to start uh I'm going to call this meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. on Thursday November 2 first and I'm going to start by calling on everybody and seeing who's here and that you can uh hear us and we can hear you let's start with councelor Ryan I'm here excellent uh Lynn grimer present excellent and counselor ET present awesome and I am also present so we are just missing uh Pat d'angelus today we typically start with public comment there is no one here from the public currently um and so with that we are going to move on to the town manager goals um and I have them pulled up here we did get some comments back from counselors um and then I have some comments from based on the meeting so give me one second sorry I just realized I pulled up the wrong document all right okay all right so I'm going to go ahead and share my screen okay all righty does this look like where we are what we were discussing last time looks familiar I guess yes good okay um So based on the council discussion it seems like folks were supportive of the categories as we have them written the one note that I had was there was some discussion about the last goal area um of community and strategic relationships uh and the question of whether that language was strong enough to get across the um sorry that dog just knocked bunch of stuff over uh to get across the message of the the Strategic element that was my interpretation of that comment uh if other folks have a different interpretation of it I'm I'm absolutely open to hearing it personally I think that we will get at that through the objectives in um in that area so just to scroll down here this was the community and strategic relationships um I think we get at this in the objectives I'm also realizing this is I had still track changed in this so let me stop sharing for a second um are folks comfortable with the language of community and strategic relationships or do other people have thoughts on that based on that one comment I think it's fine sorry okay L I think it's fine I think we should leave it for now let's not let's focus on seeing how things fit and then come back to the overalls okay that sounds good all right so I'm going to share the feedback that I got with the based on the document that I um had shared with the council um I got feedback from Mandy Joe um and it's t it's hers is mostly on the objective so if the committee agrees I would like to um start start working through the objectives if that's okay all right so let's start off with climate action um and thinking about the objectives here so in the last area I mean in the last um evaluation the different objectives were use a climate lens with making when making budgeting construction repair hiring and operational decisions thoughts on that as an objective for this uh this round I have my own but I'd like to hear from the committee first Lynn I think we need that but I think it should be combined with the p um I'm not going to get the acronym correct the carp using a we should use the lens W with guidance from the carp so that we can get both of those in one place and that okay that forces the town manager to then report in relationship to the carp which is what they've done okay um any other thoughts so my take my take on this one is that the word climate lens use a climate lens is meaningless right like that is that doesn't mean anything and so I agree Lynn that if we're going to include something about that I think putting it in the context of the the cartp makes a lot of sense um I also I need to ref familiarize with the myself with the CP but is that part of it right like one would think that that would be part of the climate action and resiliency plan is using a climate lens um and so I think we could we could revisit that but until I I'm clear on what that means like what the process is to use a climate lens because I think people could use it to justify or use different degrees of it uh I don't I don't like writing it because I don't feel like it's getting us somewhere unless the action item is Define the process that is a climate lens Lynn the reason I choose choose that is because the um it has clearly defined goals we've asked that they report on those goals yearly and in many ways those Define the areas by which we should be looking through a climate lens anyway but what is a climate lens sorry sorry sorry I didn't well I mean it's climate application I the word Smith of lens isn't the issue I'm getting at I don't like it any more than anything else but I just want to remind you that later on we use the word lens again in a whole different context I have issue with that one too don't worry councelor Ryan so what happened to the first sentence of the existing uh goals which says to continue to make progress on the council's climate action goals and to prepare the town to be resilient in the face of climate change um that's what I put into my draft document as kind of the overarching objective um to make progress on on our stated climate action goals and to prepare the town to be resilient in the face of climate change um and uh so why is that not the the main statement here and then what a climate lens means I I have the same sort of problem with that kind of phrasing but uh what it seems to mean to me is looking at um the kinds of budgeting construction blah blah blah decisions um in the light of our climate action goals and in in the light of our commitment to Preparing the town to be resilient in the face of of of of climate change so um I take the lens to to mean uh basically using our basically that first statement so um I don't see why that isn't the objective and then everything else would go into specific action items um or you could perhaps incorporate um that first uh item in the in the existing goals you could simply Say by using a climate lens when but again it seems like that just means is follow the you know pay attention to the climate action goals and and and so why you know I think this is adequate just as it is and then specific items would go under action how does the climate lens add anything to this statement I wor I'm not married to climate lens at all I didn't think you were um I think agree does it right it doesn't mean anything but um so I I my other question for you is so there's continue to make progress on the council's climate action goals and prepare the town to be resilient in the face of climate change part of me thinks that we almost should get rid of the word and here so my first thought is I wonder if we should get rid of the word and and says continue to make progress on the council's climate action goals to prepare to prepare the town to be resilient in the face of climate change my other question was whether a second objective is this one which is support the development of climate action focused bylaws um because I think that that's these are kind of the two prongs of it right this is the what are the things in the kind of within that executive function and then this is the what the council would be working on uh Lyn so first of all I agree with getting rid of the word and in the first one and second of all it seems to me that again this is where we would all need to go to look at the carp um but I believe it might refer already to legislation so in some ways I see action as legislation budget you know building um inventories you know etc etc vehicle Fleet inventories all that yeah exactly so can I ask a question do do we have separate Council climate action goals from what's been identified in the carp we have three climate action goals and then the carp was built upon them they're they're right in the the beginning statement of the carp I have in another room I it's you know it's something like something about carbon neutrality yeah what percentage by 2050 and stuff like that it's it's basically mirrors the state goals okay councelor Ryan so we have the FY 24 EAC annual report um which I've been scanning and um it has a number of U it sort of gives us an update as to where we stand in a whole set of areas and it would seem I don't know if it's our task but at some point um we need to incorporate some of this into um specific action items if that's what the council wants to do but basically this is this is our eyes and ears on on climate is EAC it's certainly not me um and uh you know so we want to use the work they have done in the past year and look at their recommendations and see if there's anything in that that we could particularly focus on um but uh it's a it's a many page document um and there's a lot of stuff in here the question is what what could be highlighted or focused on if if anything is is to my mind um in terms of that column of action item yeah but back to yeah go the objective column you say support the development of climate action focused bylaws I mean that is the way that we as a council um I don't know yeah so this is to kind of give some context to this one so first actually George what year did you say the document you were referencing what year was that from it's FY it's the most recent report it came to us like three weeks ago yeah okay um so right a couple years ago I was the ecac liaison and I worked with the chair and they developed priority area goals for that they wanted to recommend to the council which I actually found to be very helpful as we went into the goals discussion because there's so much there in in the carp there's so much um and and having ecac look at it in the current context because every year we get further away from when the carp was written and things shift it was really helpful to have ecac look at it and kind of do a quick rep prioritization and and refocus for the coming year um that could be something that we as a council think about asking uh for for this particular area because it's so linked to that specific committee um that could or or specifically within the carp it doesn't even need to be this goal area it could just be like within the carp what do you want us to what are your recommend ations that's a thought the second thing uh the context for the climate action Focus bylaws this was this came out of a desire last year Lynn I'm going to look to you to to support me on this um as I try to recount this this last year came out of a desire for specifically waste huler to be written into uh the town manager goals because there was a concern that with one of the primary sponsors leaving the council it might not get as much focus in the com year and so the sponsors wanted it written into the town manager goals to kind of assure that progress would get made and then the conversation was well we don't want to limit it to just waste huler we don't necessarily want to put specific bylaws in here because there are other ones and so we ended up go ended up at this kind of medium place or actually I think this was actually at the council this this got written um was there's climate action bylaws including um the waste Hall solar bylaw and other that might come up we wanted to leave space for if other ones came up um so that was why that that was why that initially got in here was counselors wanting to make sure that the town manager was going to continue to focus on these in the coming year I don't I have yeah I have a language in front of me yeah support the development of climate action focused bylaws including the Wast hauler bylaw that could include Universal curbside compost pickup and P fre structure comma solar bylaw comma and other potential bylaws I know I I just I wanted to clarify like what why those were written I understand why they're there so this should probably stay and I think yeah or not but under it would be then specific you know bylaws that that wants him to work on yeah and you know or yeah do you think that I think the point you were making earlier was do you think we should clarify this should we separate out do we need to separate out executive and legislative here or do we think that we can kind of keep it as written here action items yeah go ahead I'm sorry no you're fine personally I would want to play around with changing this to say uh can make progress on take action on the portions of the climate action adaptation resilience plan that have been prioritized to prepare because I don't think that this is necessarily meaningful um we haven't really talked about council's climate action goals we refer to the carp because it's a more actionable document um and it gives specific things that we should be doing so part of me wants to change that first part to be about the carp and and taking action on those items but what we also could say is none of us have read this recently enough and we should come back to this one after we've read the carp um councelor Ryan uh let's hear from Lyn first I'm still dig some of this so I think it could say to continue to make progress on the council's climate action goals we have specific goals at Guided by and then the carp in order or to prepare the town in other words put carp right in there but but there really are a very serious set of three goals and we've not what are they I'll go find them we adop we adopted them in our first term I remember I I just can't remember what they are and I feel like go look um that yeah because we should be referencing them more like they should you know think it's we have an entire body whose existence is is is to implement and to work on these and they have we have a six-page report from them about three four weeks old uh which lists a set of of of suggestions I'm not sure how many of them are actually actionable from our perspective but why are we trying to do their work um we're not going to take the place of of ecac um and uh so it it seems like this language is perfectly adequate um if you want to ref refence carp fine um but essentially everything is in that um and then the question becomes given that what are some specific things in the coming year that we as a council think that the town manager should focus on um and a lot of that would be guided I think by East ecac or at least by their report um right so that's really what we should be looking at is that report George I think that's really fair I just made a note the committee should revisit the ecac report and the council climate action goals and come back to this as well I also think I I would want the the ecac recommendations I think part of the power of these is that this is where we can uplift that not necessarily that specific report but those action items that they want to prioritize um because this is the guiding document for the town manager so I I see that report as guiding us on how to guide the town manager in that area counc has his hand up I see that thank you uh uh councelor ET and then welcome back to Lynn yes I think that's uh the point that may be emphasized which is that the EAC had a report and in the mid I attended they were willing to have the stop by to explain what would be a priority for the ecsa if that is an off that they willing to take off I think we could rege them okay um just making a note here and then I I wonder with this statement as it stands in the first box whether the second statement can just come out and that would then go under specific action items that's just I've just thought maybe we'll come back to it but um yeah okay let's so so what I'm hearing right now is I think we as a a committee need a bit more clarity oh I'm sorry Lyn so over under actions just so we don't lose sight of them I would list solar bylaw just don't don't even worry about sentences just almost brainstorming at this point solar bylaw uh waste huler bylaw and and I don't even want to get into words like explore whether we're going to do it or whatever that to me is velop the that would mean that the line okay I see what you're doing leave it there for the moment um is there anything else we want to kind of make sure we remember here is all I'm going to say at this point I'm I'm actually going to the town manager's goals I think that I'm going to have more um for me one of the things that uh I know they've been working on is the transition plan for vehicles and I think that that's really close to being done the other thing that's in the last year goals is the Community Choice aggregation um which we and yeah um other than that climate lens uh bylaws carp and federal funds support development and bylaws including waste toering composting Federal I I I don't want to even see state and federal funds in here anymore that goes in one place under Administration I agree um we've hit them all we've hit I think so so I think what we'll what we'll talk about at the next time when we come together once we've done that homework is kind of what goes in the action items for this box right what are the specifics for here all right um let oh sorry George so again you should note you already probably have that that people should go through the the ecac report because there's a number of specific items in here that you know we may think are something that the that the manager should be focusing on related to these larger goals like for instance the heat pump program or um a whole bunch of other things matter of fact there's so many things that we may get overwhelmed but still yeah there's a list of of things um the actual final page which says Town manager gold suggestions unfortunately in my reading doesn't really isn't very helpful um but a lot of the detail in the earlier part of this report as to what is ongoing um we could pick out a couple of things um and and say these are things we'd like to see the the manager work on and support um and then see what the rest of our counselors think um but I think yeah I think you'll find that the page six at least I think is is a noble effort but it doesn't really help us very much but there's other stuff in it earlier that I think could be useful so I'm gonna actually I'm G to ask that it be placed in the um packet for our next meeting uh and I'm and I will ask you know folks who have suggestions for what action items should be um placed in this if if you're a member of the public please email us those suggestions um and and we will review them um as well but I think we'll look at the ecac report we will um what else did I note here uh and and the council climate action goals and I will ask for both of those to be in the packet for next time so that um we've got them as a reference I there's one of other item that should guide all of these goals and that is we need to look at what the town manager wrote in his self- evaluation because he's given us Clues into new things that we haven't even listed okay okay yep good idea all right let's move on to um community health and safety so knowing that we're going to come back to to this continue to come back to this all right uh Lynn I I just like to make one more plea to see whether there's any way we could come up with a title for this that would Embrace racial justice so because if we think about it let me just say I I appreciate the conversation we had at the council the other night we were all tired but we really haven't reduced the number of goals very much and I'm still trying to figure out how to reduce them so it's just a note as to whether or not there's any way without losing social justice racial and social justice as a priority that we could have it with this title as well somehow because if you actually look at the two goals and the actions under them it it includes Crest and a couple other things that are very duplicative so Lynn I I no I hear you I think that we don't know whether or not we've reduced the number of goals yet because the goals that we're actually going to be looking at are the action items right so my the the objective here is to get the number of action items to be lower than the 80 whatever that were there last year um and that they be actionable so they're not up for interpretation I think that right now we have I mean even though we've dropped slightly the number of goal areas what really we don't know the count until we finish the action items um so that's why I think controlling as we go is really important but I don't know that combining categories if we're going to have the same amount of action items is going to help because like when we go next year to do the evaluation we are evaluating on the action items within these areas um if that makes sense right those are those are the checkbox goals that we're looking at so under this goal last time was rental registration okay we've adopted the bylaw we've uh it's in process we've asked for a kind of an annual update on it I don't know that we even need minut it you know continue to implement rental registration that would be no I don't think it needs to be in here uh the next one is continue to implement and assess Crest that I think we do need in there mhm uh resident oversight board I think we do need that in there sa I keep talking I just need a minute you I'm just I'm going for big words at this point uh Public Safety protocols it's still being worked on so yes it does need and programming for Youth Empowerment those four are still outstanding objectives or actions under these interestingly enough unlike a lot of other um goals and objectives those are a lot more clear pretty there's deliverables you can associate with those yeah I agree I was listening the whole time because headphones um Lynn I I agree that those have deliverables and are actionable and I think that there's a good discussion to be had about what fits under this Banner of community health and safety and what fits under racial equity and social justice I don't like combining them because I think that there are things that could go under the banner of community health and safety either now or in the future that don't necessarily fit under the banner of racial equity and social justice um I think they are a vend diagram but they're enough separate um that I feel like keeping them separate is is valid um but I do think that there are things that fit from the old goals that might be moved um I think for the Contin okay so if we just think about the go ahead councelor R I think we can come back to this this um I argued last time that we should keep them separate um I'm I'm I see the force of what Lynn is saying when you look at these particular items um they um they're pretty much focused on the issue of of of race and racial Justice um and so why shouldn't they why shouldn't that be considered part of community health and safety um but let's for the moment I think we're not going to resolve this but I I'm a little bit more sympathetic this evening to what L is driving at um I think when we finally go through and and start putting in action items maybe that will help us I just want to make an observation about this category and and just point out that the senior the word senior or seniors is not mentioned here and that that's not acceptable to me I'm I we need to um craft some kind of statement that that acknowledges um the condition and the challenges that our seniors face in our community and the towns need to begin to address them or continue to address them so that's something that's glaringly missing from my perspective that I'd like to see added at some point under this category that seems to be the right place for it to be as to the larger issue of collapsing this uh into one single goal um I'm still I'm not against it completely um but we're not going to resolve it tonight let's let's just see how it plays out but could we please have something about seniors somewhere in this document yep I just added a comment here when we get to the action items um that that makes a lot of sense yeah it should the uh um and I I'll try to work up something myself but um okay this has we need to really acknowledge that we have Youth Empowerment um fine but um this is a crucial element of our community that has traditionally been I think ignored and that's not right it needs to be in here so when we look at the objective the big picture vision for this area is it fair to say ensure the safety of residents of amorist and maintain the health of the community I ask that because I you know I think maybe that's just the open question is is this aair objective if we like it that's fine okay great Lyn likes it George how do you feel about it objective Wise It's very broad but I think many things fall under it but it it is one of the fundamental uh objectives it seems uh of any kind of you know good Community is that it it it is concerned about the overall safety well-being and health uh so you you could put in well-being if you wish um um there's there's the actual sort of safety issues there's questions of of of just well-being and overall you know quality of life and then there's the question of Health um right so community health and safety I'd like the well-being in there somewhere but it doesn't you know something to that effect but yeah I think it would be S Fair to say health and well-being of the community I my question is are we healthy and are we well can we say maintain or can we say develop or like support because I I honestly I think to Ure it's to ensure something yeah it's fine to Ure right we want to make sure the people are safe we want to um do what we can to ensure that that that that that that they're they're healthy and that they have that the overall quality of life is is as good as we can possibly make it as a community okay so years back that was covid that was that was a very Ser right that's what I'm absolutely yeah but that doesn't you we're very lucky that we do not have uh lots of lead pipes in town but if we did mitigation of that would be under this goal right like that's that's the kind of thing where yeah Okay so we've got to ensure the safety health and wellbeing of the amorist community I'm sorry you also again thinking into objectives you know one of the things that come up repeatedly this year for me at least has been the whole issue of safe routes to school and keeping our young people safe and making it possible for them if they wish to bike or walk to school in safety it's also a part of our uh roads and sidewalks issue um but it's uh so many grants are available I look forward to an action yeah yeah we'll put you on that um but so that's another topic there another element go here absolutely right but yes covers a lot okay good Lynn did you have a thought on this phrasing I I keep wondering why under actions you're not listing what we what we're going to keep from the existing goals because I haven't touched actions yet um I was really focusing on objectives but but if you want to do that we can absolutely do that now think while we're there we might as well sure I have I have a problem with that is that that's already four action statements and we're going to add a couple more and pretty soon the action items are going to become a huge La list well we haven't decided whether we're keeping them or not so let's let's talk about them Lynn that's absolutely fair so first one was facilitate the implementation of the rental registration bylaw we have talked about how that has been enacted and do we really need an action item that says continue to do it I think I'm seeing a lot of NOS okay number two was continue imple ation and assessment of the community responders for Equity safety and service department um I I have a question about this one not because I don't think it's a good action item but because I think it's two we have not seen the plan of assessment for Crest yet um and it has not necessarily been so present could be present a an assessment so I kind of see this yeah I see this as two smaller action items and and Lynn I know that we we talk about the num concern about um the the number of action items but I also think that if they're if they're smaller is that does that change it right like if it's a smaller action item of present an assessment plan for the cross program um versus one action item of implement and assess I'd rather have two that are versus having one that is two ultimate things right do that I don't know what do you I I personally think that basically it's the town manager's responsibility to do the assessment and to present it to us I don't think we we need to approve the assessment plan no it's not what I meant sorry I was just thinking about what I don't want I think implementation and assessment should be two separate action items is what I was saying well we've implemented Crest it's it's implemented right I mean yeah I I mean at this point it's a free it's a an ongoing program the real issue is so do we need that as an action item I think if we just said we were taking out I think it needs to be assessed yes okay so conduct assessment of the the crest department or program and report back to the council yeah and and report back all of this is report back to the council okay so maybe that's true that's true that's true okay all right okay well he could tell us I've done the assessment and he's yeah okay um all right next up was proposed to the Town Council a plan for the creation of a resident oversight board consistent with the council's vote still needs to do that okay should we keep it in here as is yep I think so I don't have an issue with it as is either okay okay all right um undertake a review of Public Safety protocols if anything it's continue to M undertake the review but that's it's not done maybe it should say complete the [Music] review um was that vote did that vot I'm sorry George no complete the review yeah it's yeah thank you all right fine full sentences yeah um that's fine do you Lynn with that vote I'll have to I can look it back up but was that vote also including making recommendations for changes and is that something that the council would even approve it's been wishy-washy in the past about who uh only if it if it's uh relates to bylaws uh if it's actually part of negotiations with police contracts or that kind of we have nothing to say about it it's right it's we we adopted under the uh recommendations from the um CSS CS no cswg cswg we adopted that they should do this safety protocol and in Paul's annual evaluation he mentioned that it was underway but not completed okay and then last was develop programming for Youth Empowerment still ongoing okay so we're also talking about just for the record adding in uh something relating to seniors and something relating to sa frots to schools so I do think that this is when where we're going to have to talk about uh manageability um and for the record what I've been talking about with Paul or what I talked about with Paul was us getting a bit further getting uh an idea of where we're going and then I'm going to meet with him to get his feedback on it as well um and I will bring that feedback back to the committee to discuss in terms of kind of what's feasible for you're not going to ask him to actually come to a meeting I asked him what he'd prefer and I think that it was he he wanted to sit down and talk about it and then possibly come to a meeting um but I think for the first round I was going to just present it to him and get some initial feedback mostly I think I'm going to assume timing wise I don't I don't know if he needs to come to a whole other full meeting um right off the bat George did you say that you would think about or come up with a proposal a proposed wordage for wordage verbage yes for seniors yes yes yes yes um okay is there anything else under community health and safety other than what we're going to come continue to come up with no those were the only three only two extras I have questions about this last one develop programming for Youth Empowerment um are we expecting new programming for youth empowerment every year this is something that this the town manager talked a lot about in his self- evaluation this year of what programs they were offering I'd like to know what completion of this looks like yeah what would it mean yeah interestingly enough I I actually had a conversation recently with Paul about this and the first part of this has been done there is now a an assessment it's just like done in the last day or two an assessment of what existing youth programs we have throughout M amest and it's huge it's a huge number and the real question is what is our role in pulling it together okay so I think there's some people are going to say I won't stop short of having a Youth Empowerment Center and yet when you think about all the ways in which you might do Youth Empowerment it would be a huge mega Center because it would have a gym and it would have food and it would have blah blah blah so um I I don't think the council has ever come to a con decision about whether or not we're willing to support an actual freestanding Standalone Youth Empowerment Center and because then yeah yeah then it gets caught up in the issue of and by po Le or should it be for black youth or you it just the reality is this this assessment of our existing youth programs should give people a lot of questions so Lynn is it that we're asking him simply to to come to us with this or send us this assessment we're not really asking him to develop programming that's been done and it apparently has been done extensively so I don't think this really belongs here it should be something to if anything at all should be something the effect of you know report back to us uh with you know your assessment of the current state of Youth uh programming in ammer um is that what we it sounds like that's what we want I mean we can recommend to the council but I will tell you that at a council meeting if we put in just you know assess youth programs or you know share assessment of youth programs across Amber that will not be satisfactory to some counselors well I think Factory to to seven I don't know I think my issue here is that this is vague and to me insinuates that we should be creating new programs every year and I don't think that that is a fair ask of our town staff when who who are already asked to maintain and continue I think that if I do think this is a bigger discussion of what's the direction the council wants to go because whether it's a Youth Empowerment Center versus youth programming are two really different things so I I think Lynn what I'm hearing from your your point is this is something the council is going to need to vote on and I need better verbiage here so if this is something the council wants to include I am I would support taking this out not because I don't support youth programming but because I don't think that we should be expected to develop new programming every year and this needs a better end goal um end result so until it's actually clearly articulated I don't want to put it in there um but I think this is something that we should talk about with the council in terms of why it's not in there yes all right so I'm goingon to say um remove until clearly articulated and voted on so you don't believe remove and replace it's just take it out completely and have a discussion with the council where in that discussion it the point would be made that we're really now waiting to get an assessment of existing youth programming because a fair amount has been created and does exist and before we can make any further recommendations or steps we need to have some sense of what actually exists and we don't and Lynn says we're going to get something like that so and an evaluation of it how effective it is and and who it serves and uh right before we talk about anything else yep okay okay um okay uh do we want to go on to economic Vitality for next all right so economic Vitality the objective um first objective I can never tell hang on I got see if I can view this as not um there's that word wellbeing again I [Laughter] think I don't like aashian well-being I think this is just me uh I just got say need to come out and just say pres fom health of the Town we're really talking about the economic health of the Town yeah it is I don't know what yeah with the wellbeing you know this town is never well [Music] so okay it's always always there's always something there's always something you know there are always opportunities to fix something um all right so first objective is to ensure the present and future economic health of the town um I don't know that you can ensure future economic health I don't think that that's a fair thing but I will let it go I think that's me being picky uh I don't ensure feels like promise and and plan for or or um you know something to that effect I don't know it really is about long range planning um and uh I agree I mean it's it's a goal it's it's right right that's an objective you're right you're right it's an objective that's fair that's fair okay um had some edits in here uh and I think it's fair so uh these are Mandy's edits okay all right Mandy sent me some direct edits um and then Pam sent me some some um suggestions not as track changes so Pam said I mean sorry Mandy said to work with closely with local institutions and business entities to promote diverse neighborhoods commercial Enterprises new growth in downtown and Village centers she proposed striking affordable housing I agree um I think we have a housing affordability entire goal I don't think it needs to be an economic Vitality does that make sense to other folks councelor ete your face is here um councelor ET can we I recognize that man okay I know hello he's much healthier you're muted but got that glow he's got a glow about him that glow being as well he's well his being as well oh I think we need to rephrase everything to say the being of the economic entities okay I have a problem with this though um tell me tell me your diverse I don't what does diverse mean diverse neighborhoods what does diverse neighborhoods mean great question what kind of diversity are we talking about economic diversity ethnic diversity racial diversity religious diversity what is diverse mean here I don't think I don't understand how I have a lot of questions about this one two I don't understand how this is economic Vitality to work closely with institutions and business entities to promote diverse neighborhoods so I'm not clear on how you work with well I guess what you categorize yeah I don't know I'm struggling Lyn I think I know where it came from but uh yeah Lynn so to me this and housing should go together okay but but what does it mean to you ly are you talking about economic diversity you're talking about people of various different right what are we talking about here able housing is a way to ensure economic diversity that's under affordable housing this our housing affordability this is economic Vitality this is about working with local institutions and businesses to um promote commercial Enterprises and new growth in the downtown of Village that's what this is about is part of this because many of our business entities are building housing I'm sorry and that's why is it is part of this because when we often when we think of at first when we think of economic Vitality we think Mom and Pop shops right but the reality is that much of our economic Vitality is in the industry of housing so are is this referring to working with local institutions I read that as colleges and universities um and business entities to promote diverse neighborhoods is this the business entities that have the power to be building neighborhoods right what is Right does that who's he supposed to be working with here so I think my question is I don't know what my question is Lynn I'm sorry Lynn your hand is want to just have you step back and and in a in a whole world what do we need to do to have our community be strong in terms terms of its economic vitality and that's why I say sure we need to work well with businesses and you know and so we've been working on trying to streamline permitting all that other good stuff another and and that really you know continues over on the other but I will also tell you that I've continued to hear complaints not about that but about the new health inspector okay then the other piece though is what are we doing around housing for where our people live and how are we helping to bring in and make our housing diverse in terms of economic um ability and so to me the two are so married to each other and I I know people are going to want housing to be in there um oh she's trying to shrink the goals again this is a goal shrinking move yeah I'm trying to shrink them I know I don't think that that Lyn Lynn I I hear you but I don't think that combining them necessarily shrinks the number of action items um that would be my my concern here George sorry George I yeah um I mean Lynn is right in the sense that housing is is crucially connected to economic Vitality um but again I'm because housing is complicated and it's got also the afford aspect attached to it um I'm I still think it probably has to stand alone as its own category um but can we just focus from moment I mean economic Vitality essentially it means working with what the bid the chamber is it talking about Amis college and UMass um you know these are these are broad term what local institutions I guess that means the the university and the colleges um it also means does it mean the chamber and the bid are they business entities um there are businesses like restaurants and shops and so on and then there you know there are organizations that serve them like the bid and the Chamber are we asking Paul which he already does to some degree uh work more work closely with uh the university and the colleges and the bid and the Chamber to um you know promote and develop commercial Enterprises and new growth in the downtown and Village centers um and to what degree can they actually you know well anyway is that what we're saying here um so if if it is why don't we just say that why don't we just say work closely with University and the colleges college and bid in the chamber um and with local businesses um I hate business entitities I don't know what an entity is it's a word that I just I don't like it but I don't know but is that is that what we're asking him to do um and um you know I mean I know what I think we need is is actually an economic development director but that always is a dead and um I mean we could try to put it in again but it won't go anywhere um but we don't have anyone who actually spends most or all of their time on this issue and that's why it is so difficult um it just Falls between many stools um and so once again we're adding it to Paul's to-do list um instead of to the to-do list of a staff member that he could assign to do this there is no staff member he can assign to do this um right I we also should probably ask ourselves who you know who in town hall is actually going to do this it's not going to be Paul I mean he he has meetings occasionally zc has meetings occasionally um but um you know the catches catch can um so yeah George I think that that's where I think those very valid questions tie into what are the action items that we would put here um and and again if this is an objective it doesn't necessarily have to have an action item every single year right we we could really emphasize one whole area in a year um in the past this was proposed revisions to zoning bylaws to increase and support Economic Development review and revise policies to support year round population in town I think your your point and Lyn I think you were saying the same thing about what is the town manager's obligation in this um is really important as we consider what the actual action items here are I can't off the top of my head think of a specific thing in the coming year this is just me and so I'm seeking ideas of what are the what are the action items that we would be proposing here say we keep this as is right now what are the action items um Lynn and then George go ahead so again in the broader view of Economic Development there's everything including road accessibility so one could argue in this last year getting the rotary for University Drive promotes economic development one could argue that um a partial or full overlay on University Drive that would allow additional housing would promote Economic Development um one can argue that keeping our streets clean and our Pavements in good shape promotes economic development yeah one could also argue that about schools y'all are really just not going to let this one go on me are you and then you the schools could argue You could argue the schools are Economic Development yeah so I think that any but but to that sorry go ahead George and then I'll I'll go after George you go I'm I'm I'm taking that so to that end though Lynn anything that promotes a healthy Community is going to promote Economic Development just as economic development promotes a healthy Community you know I think that that's where it's one of those things that I think you could argue every everything fits in um because it's part of that symbiotic relationship of a healthy community so I think that maybe what we need to do is Are there specific action items in the next year that we would propose the council approve whether it be that master plan on sidewalks and Roads does that fit under economic Vitality I don't necessarily know but you know I think if there are specific action items that might help us to hone in a bit on the objectives right now I think the objectives are really broad I could argue that what this should just say instead of promote diverse neighborhoods commercial Enterprises new growth and downtown I think that this could just say to promote economic health of the Town um I struggle with these four Cate or three categories um yeah I don't know uh Lyn sorry go ahead I I've said what I want to say George sorry so looking at the existing document um item two review and revise Town regulations to reduce barriers to operating a business in amest um I go back and look at Paul's self-evaluation maybe one of the three of you has a better grasp of this but have we actually had any success in that area in terms of you know is that you know related to um you know the the health regulations I mean what what is um you know so that's a specific and the question is has that actually been done and has it been successful and that will take time number the next one and his proposed revisions to the zoning bylaw to increase and support Economic Development throughout the town which as Lynn points out I think she would point out that largely involves housing um and that's what's happening at University Drive and it could also happen in a number of other places in town if the council were to instruct the town manager to instruct the planning director um to instruct the planning board or encourage the planning board to continue doing what it is started to do um is that a message that we'd like to send to Paul for the coming year um to continue doing that sort of thing not stop at just you drive um but also look at some other areas either specifying them um or at least you know asking them to find other areas like that in the downtown and Village centers where Economic Development could could happen um that's a specific and it's in existing goals as we have okay do you want me to write that um I'm just saying we have some existing in the current document some of which could perhaps be continued okay so which ones do you want me to carry over just for now the purposes of I'm just suggesting that two and three two and three could be carried over I still don't know what four means yeah I'm all ears but I have no idea what four means okay you know I yeah but but two and three seem you know I'm open to being corrected or you know being pointed out that we've actually done that and things are hunky dory at least for the first one and um you know I do think there's a lot more we could do in the second one and I'd like to see the council encourage the manager to encourage the whoever the planning director turns out to be to continue to pursue that I think I even I even if the council votes on it I wouldn't be opposed to specify in you drive or specifying you know if there's a if there's a specific project um that's not necessarily a revision to the zoning bylaw but specific projects yeah the problem with specific areas is it gets everybody gets their own particular you know uh Silo it might be wiser just to say that you know because the planning board's already begun to think about this and it would be nice if the council could say yes this is good keep doing it and to tell Paul that this is important and they should keep doing it and hopefully he would appoint or hire a planning director who would be wanting to do this so George my issue with that is I think we as a council should be taking a vote and if the majority of the council votes for the town manager to prioritize looking at the a uy overlay I think we should do that my issue with this is I think that this could be interpreted in too many different ways and so I don't think that there I think the way that our Council falls on different issues there are certain certain things like what does it look like to promote healthy housing or whatever that looks really different to a lot of different people on the council so I think that we as a council yes we're going to debate and discuss it a lot but I think we have to be taking votes on where that we want the town manager to take his to spend his time and I think we need to give them specific Direction my concern with this is that this is still really broad I think we should if there's if there are specific revisions to zoning bylaws that we want him to be looking at we should specify this otherwise we should be prepared to give him high marks if he does anything relating to zoning bylaws even if it's not what we like um because that's what we're saying the goal is the goal is to propose revisions whether or not we like them doesn't matter if we write it like this um Lyn then then George yeah I just want to point out that you know there's areas for instance right now that are zoned research that actually if there were zoned business might be developed differently so it's not just all about housing uh but it's and but I also want to point out it's already 7:30 and one of the um proclamations both proclamations have to get done tonight um and Kathy Shane is in the audience and I think she's joined us for one of them as as a sponsor yep I I saw that K Cathy was here as well um I will I will keep us on track with that thank you for the reminder councelor Ryan so I agree that that the language in this second box needs to be um sharpened um and and made more specific um I'm gonna add a comments yeah but I'd like to see something like this at least before the council for them to discuss and vote on um along the lines of what's Happening you I don't need to mention you drive is something that needs to be worked on it's being worked on and it's going to play out however it plays out um the staff and Paul and the planning board and planning director have all been involved and they've done what they are supposed to do it's taking longer than I would have liked but that I'm not a patient person um but that kind of thing is something that I would like I would like something like that to continue in the coming year in other parts of town and I'm not sure I want to specifically say where I'd like to leave that up to the planning board the planning director um I have my ideas of where it should be I'm sure others have their ideas but uh ultimately it's going to come I think from U their work um and so we I'd just like us to encourage them to continue like Paul to see that we'd like him to encourage them to continue okay thank you um okay so before we dig into housing affordability is there anything else we we can pause here for tonight and go to the resolutions and then if we have time come back but I know housing affordability will be a big one um and so is there anything else around economic Vitality that we want to talk about for objectives or uh action items at this point so Conn this connects to um the goal that comes later in terms of uh the uh partnership with University and amers college they're key players in this in this uh uh category does it get mentioned here as well I mean again we don't like duplicating um but I think our economic the EC future of this town in large part will depend on how well we work with the university and with the amers college in particular um in terms of of of this general area along with housing I think both these areas and are they are crucial players and um maybe we'll save it for the the later category but um is it worth mentioning it here I don't know anyway that's fair and I think the question is mentioning it more than just alluding well you're right it's under local institutions again that's why I'd like to work closely with University of Massachusetts and Amber College the am are the chamber and the down business groovement I mean to be specific we want you to continue to work with these entities around these this area of Economic Development you could even call it Economic Development if you want instead of economic Vitality but um anyway whatever um Sor all right right no no no thank you this was really helpful and I think we're we're making good progress we will continue to continue to work on this um I'm going to save it so I don't forget uh and I will continue to seek feedback from the council as we go hopefully minimizing um the amount of changes we have to make at the council level so just as a reminder before our next meeting if folks could uh review and I'll make sure they're in the packet and I'll try to send them to you even before the the packet's posted um review the ecac report and the council climate action goals um just in preparation George so I I it sounds like we're not going to get back to this tonight which is unfortunate but we'll see how it plays out it looks like that's what's G um so I'm worried about the timeline here um we meet again on December 5th and we meet again on December 19th and then we're done yep and the council will vote on these Lynn when when would you expect the council normally would vote on this on December um 16 16th so actually we only meet once more before the council's supposed to vote and I don't see uh anyway this is the age-old problem um this is the age-old problem um there's a chance we will need to call another at some point special meeting possibly uh or um of go specifically um on the we're still working on objectives well we're moving we're kind of doing both um we've definitely gone into action items at this point a little bit okay anyway it looks like we have one uh uh scheduled meeting before the council's going to vote on this at the moment yeah so thank you 16th is when they vote okay right so um what I will do is uh I can I mean would folks be open to doing a special meeting specifically for this to specifically for the goals or do you have suggestions on how we might move through this in a faster way I think we're going to have to do a special meeting okay and that's before December 16th so we meet on December 5th I guess you could meet again on December what is it 12th 12th what's the Thought uh the let me just mention that that's the charter Review Committee meets that night okay I personally don't care but it Athena can't be I think this is one of those things where we could do it with without Athena if Athena just opened our meeting and turned it over it's a rare instance but it's totally possible yeah um would are folks available on the 12th see I can be maybe that means we won't have to meet the next weekend we can all go to the um Sip and stroll I would I would enjoy that very much I'm sorry so people are available on December 12th or they're not I am available Lynn can be available councelor what about you are you and I I will reach out to Pat to ask her don't see any reason why if if Pat can do a meeting at all she's not going anywhere given present all right State okay um counselor are you available on the 12th um apparently I should be um okay if there any changes you'll be informed ahead of time but right now good time all right so here's what I'm gonna say I will say Let's uh plan on a special meeting on the 12th I would like to only focus on the goals um I would like to not add anything else to that agenda I will not let me just rephrase I will not be adding anything else to that agenda um it will only be the goals what I would like folks to do if you're able to um I will send out the the document um that we've been working on just so people have a a fresh copy of the um of the version that we've been editing today um and what I would really like for folks to do is to go through and put your suggestions in so we when we come together we're kind of combining suggestions and editing each other's work versus kind of pulling from scratch so please go ahead and if you were king or queen or ruler of the world what would be in your objectives and action items bring that to the meeting and we will discuss them all together um we will we will discuss it at our uh at our next meeting as well which is before the 12th I think I hope right right the fifth we meeting it seems to me like we should be able to focus on the fifth and the 12th entirely on this I'm also going to suggest that we not bring anything to the Council on the 2 because we really don't have much more to bring no I think that's fair I will ask counselors to kind of do the same thing uh and because it's it's been helpful to kind of know in advance what their priorities are so I will ask counselors at the second to please if you have action items do the same thing of asking of go put them in the document and send it to me so that we can discuss it um we may as go not put it in there but U that way we kind of we know at least we'll know sort of what's coming um which will be helpful for us so um Lynn if it's okay I I won't bring a document to the council but I'd like to emphasize that and and send out that word dock to everybody um to get their feedback okay sound good yep all right good work everybody we're I know it's slow this process weirdly needs to start in September but um yeah that's where we're at okay so let's start because Kathy has joined us Kathy thank you so much um I cannot bring you in if we bring Cathy and do we have a it doesn't matter they're not discussing other committee members but or committee business um Athena are you able to promote Kathy to be a panelist I think that would be helpful and we are going to start our discussion with the resolution opposing the expansion of the Pioneer Valley Chinese immersion Charter School I think um Athena may have stepped away not sure okay Kathy we will bring you in as soon as possible I'll try to get Thea's attention thank you all right so um we have a lot of comments on this one um Mandy sent some Jennifer tab sent some I added a couple um I had added myself um as a sponsor but I'm happy to remove myself as a sponsor as well I I you know I think it's hard when go kind of gets a little bit of an unfair crack at this and as I started going through and editing I was like I I do care deeply so I had tossed my name in there but I didn't check with the other sponsors first so I'm just sharing that I'm not attached to my name being on there or not all right um starting off Mandy had deleted town of ammer we have been keeping town of ammer in our resolution title so I would like to reject that proposed change um from a for from a consistency standpoint we have specified town of ammer she doesn't like it but that's what we've been doing um and I added the word the' in the beginning here um counselor ete any other issues on the title um no I was just going to ask if this particular version of the document is in SharePoint the comments were not in SharePoint because I couldn't share opinion okay from other people um until we were uh discussing it if that makes sense so but but this version without the comments was in SharePoint unless I did something wrong yes it it was there it's just that the size is a bit small the screen so I can see the changes is that better that's better thank you okay um and then I made these in alphabetical order uh yes Kathy hi Kathy welcome um I don't actually want to uh participate in the word part but I did see some of the comments on the accuracy of statements so I just wanted to speak to to those if I can about them absolutely and also to impress on people on the urgency of getting this done there's uh the last point that we can submit a public statement is December 13th um on on the expansion and the schools have now um done an excellent letter so one of the questions in this is this the regional or is it the regional and the school at the point I drafted it we just had the regional but this the school uh ammer school committee has also passed this on the 19th and it we there will be a signed letter by the superintendent with her name on their letter head um that we can attach to this resolution so where it says which is it RC it was left vague because I wasn't sure by the time we were looking at this that it would be through on both but I confirmed today that it went completely through so where you see Regional school and just um the hang on sorry Kathy can I pause you right there so just specifically in this line should it read the ammer school committee exposed the expansion of pvcics in 2017 and the ammer region ammer pelum Regional Schools voted to send a letter opposing is that what you're saying so the ammer regional school and the ammer school committee okay both of the Committees have voted at first when I wrote it and later you'll see it says some Regional because at the point I drafted it only the regional had acted so wherever I'm just G to I don't want to go through each line but there were questions on a couple which committee are we talking about and the footnote now should be a reference to that letter as of November I guess 19th which would have been Tuesday when they did the second vote and they added her signature to it so I just that's just um yes exactly okay then I I I saw that um Mandy had raised a question about the paragraph that says almost 3 million this is directly from Desi data and I can share a screen with you it's if you you have to go up a little bit I think is this this one it's highlighted in purple it says nearly 3 million and y that can't be through it's 2.97 million so it's nearly that is transferred Us full tuition to PV CIS for the 128 so I am not counting the other Charters and if I have a screen I can share if you want to see it or I can copy and paste it but desie does a print out that for every school that sends to the Chinese emergent gives the total tuition and that's the number I'm using there um okay and so I I sent Lynn some notes on this but if you need we don't usually put Source notes in there but that is um when I said nearly so it's confusing because the net we spend each year once the state reimburses part of it is 3.2 these these are two different I'm just referring to the tuition that's sent to them thank you Kathy and and for the record we have started putting some footnotes in to clarify data points like that um it might be helpful if you are prepared to speak to that at Council but um I don't know if the committee would like to have a source uh I do think uh I do think it would be helpful to say according to desie whereas according to desie flawed funding formula or somewhere in here specify where that came from okay the the I'm gonna have Lynn go and then Kathy come back Kathy um so we pay three million near nearly 3 million in tuition and then there is reimbursement and so the reimbursement is part of the formula so at this point it sounds like even with the application of the formula we pay 3 million where in fact once the formula is applied I think we only pay like 2.3 or something yeah yes so I can give you what the the net impact on us is not nearly three that's correct so I can I can fix this I have to I actually have an argument to be made that this is not Clarity consistency nor actionability well it is Clarity this is It's accuracy um I I think that there's I think my issue on Clarity is about Clarity in in my mind and I'm to hear from the committee but Clarity in my mind is is this understandable um I I think that Kathy if you have other language you want to propose in this area if I wanted to make it super simple it would say the the funding formula sends nearly three million doll in tuition um from emist and emmer Regional based on Desi data but I can I can Wordsmith that and send it back to you and then give you a source note so what Lynn is saying is that the net impact on us is not that same number because we get reim a partial reimbursement for it so it's it's more like two and a half and I had to compute that number because this is referencing just PVC I have it for the whole Charter group this is just for that group um okay and and so here's the issue I am not going to be at the council meeting so for me the best way to do was if you to clean up this language I can take the language and give you a much more um Academic Way of stating this and I can put the source note in it but so Kathy the only so sorry you could have cleaned that but it wouldn't be the as voted by go so both would have to be in the packet so yeah that's the only issue I want to just go quickly to the other committee members because they may have questions for you as we go Lynn and then we'll come back to you Lynn again the moment you say formula it means both what we send and what we get reimbursed so it's either it should be assessment assess assesses this amount intuition yeah the form what should it read whereas what deathy assesses whereas should it read whereas ammer schools pay nearly $3 million a year it's not true so I'm conf I need I need exact verbiage on what it should say not Kathy in order to have this clear consistent and actionable I think we need to have this sentence read what is it we're in the bottom line we're paying I frankly don't care whether it's three or 2.3 or whatever it's shocking mhm okay so I computed if you so can I quickly explain what actually happens then you can tell me which number you would like to have in here okay so the the what the state does is that takes the average spending that we spend per student transfers that amount with one small adjustment to the charter school for each of the students that for that so it would be the same average whether they went to the Chinese emergent or the reforming arts school and for the kids that end up going to the Chinese emerg that tuition ends up being nearly $3 million for 128 kids because our average spending is in the 22 to2 24 doll ,000 per kid which we send a lot more per kid than the other schools but at the town and Regional level the state does a partial reimbursement like 10% back to us so they take that tuition ship it over to the school and then in the um cherry sheet we get a partial reimbursement I have both numbers and so whatever you want I can put in here so the net will be not nearly three it will be I I computed it this afternoon for just the Chinese immersion and I have that number here so the net my estimate of the net is uh 2 2.6 million instead of 2.9 so perfect leave it at will be sends and I think diverts maybe should just read the funding formula or the funding formula nearly what it needs a it needs a verb diverts yeah because it what happens is it gets subtracted from our Chapter 70 and other education money we never see this money there's a cherry seat they give us money but they take it away and then there's the net but but this would be from ammer and are you okay with ammer schools cuz this is both the regional and the armmer district and the re we unfortunately unlike Northampton we don't have just one so we if you want to every place it says the Amis schools it means both I'm adding both of them together I think we need to clarify amest and Regional okay I think we need to say amest Elementary School and and Amis pelum Regional Schools which it does for the hund see it follows from the elementary and Regional so that okay um so I think we've and I can I have to give you two Source notes for that because one gives me the exact tuition that's sent by each district to PVCs then separately I know the reimbursement and I just did it I ratioed it because there are 70 kids who leave our elementary but only 69 go to PBC 69 of them go you know so I can give you how I got to the 2.6 Kathy could you just tell us could you just tell us where you got the data from and that way we could include this whereas using desie data it was determined that the flawed funding formula diverts that might be a helpful I can't see I can't no okay desie gives you tuition sent to the school the town has a cherry sheet that tells us how much was reimbursed for each of our two main bodies so it's state data what it's state data all of that is State data according to State data perfect okay so I'm thank you uh I want to go to counselor other councelor questions who haven't had a chance yet counselor at I think part of what I wanted to ask has been resolved but I was just wondering about the word flawed yes we are in a way being consiliary you can take you can take you can do anything you want to take those kinds of words out I don't care simp I just have to tell you the current funding formula yeah the current funding formula I almost think it's stronger to not have the opinion word in there to be honest yeah that's fine I think it's fine okay um all right Kathy was there anything else or anywhere else you wanted to speak to other before we get through no it would only as I said I don't um when I looked at uh some of the Mandy comments but I didn't get to see all of these I am fine with any word smithing on this you know for clarity consistency and other that that if missing words um so if there is a question on for example the there's one other one the circuit breaker I have a source note for that on how much did do we spend and PVC has none um so and um there's one other comment I think that might be helpful to have you respond to Mandy had commented on the whereas in the years since pbcc last request to expand amist has been required by the state to divert 3.2 million for 160 students and accumulative 28 million to send tuition to students enrolled in area Charter Schools uh and Mandy wrote that uh it was misleading amist has been assessed 1.5 million in fy2 the region not just ammer has been assessed 1.5 million assessments are not diversions their money ammer never actually receives we don't write a check to PV it's complet it's completely correct it's ammer Elementary and Regional together sent and I can simplify it even more for you um rather than the earth I was using a Northampton one when I wrote this and you can say whereas um I'll give you a be new beginning where is as in fy2 emmer and the emmer pelum Regional has been is assessed by the state a net 3.2 million is it still for 160 students yeah that's accurate the rest is and and and uh oh and and so what I want to say here is when you subtract the amount that is being sent the net that's being sent each year from the total education our education money has been about flat so we don't need the cumulative 28 is is since uh 2017 that's true so I'm just inverting them yeah it's a cumulative 28 million since 2017 the last time they asked to expand um but this is this is in total this is the whole Charter formula is doing this to us yep I'm just looking through to make sure and and F's objection to flaw you can you're going to see it appear frequently take it out every place I just saw another flaw go by floating by my eyes all right um so the um one of the questions Mandy asks is why are we sending it to just the people at the bottom I think um one of the purpose of this is that we can submit it to um the board we can uh submit it to our Representatives so I think Mandy had said um who who do we want to send this to so again I don't care what you do with that I I will say that yeah I mean I think we'll add yeah so our Representatives always want to receive these things right so yeah Mo most of the other things are pretty much word smithing in my uh so I mainly came on because I'd seen there was a question about fact and I agree the facts should be accurate and where needed we should have a source note um and if you find there are too many whereases um I had diffic I felt it was worth if there's places you can be more concise that's great okay so I do one thing I just want to let everyone know and then I will leave you to to do your work is the um I downloaded the documents uh for the rationale for them wanting to expand and they're going after more high school students by doing an enriched program because they've got $3.3 million in Surplus because of the way this formula works it's we we're paying them more than they spend on the students every year and particularly ammer is they have had enough to buy a building and revamp it which they used erer funds for and their projection is three years from now they will generate a million dollars a year in Surplus is what they have submitted to the board is the rationale for why it would be good for them to expand and the only way I can see them getting there is they're going after uh our Juniors and seniors because some high school students I think are not staying with them as long as they might because of the limited physical capacity of the building it doesn't have Playing Fields it doesn't have theater and art spaces and that's what they're looking to expand so this um because it does there's no adjustment in the formula for the fact that we still have to heat the building for all of our fixed costs there's nothing and I did put in this I found out California spend finances Charters directly Minnesota finances them directly Connecticut Finance they don't take it out of the district tax base and then they negotiate with the charter over their budgets so it's yeah we we started on this path and it's uh what we're now seeing what it does over time thank you Kathy so that's my soap box which I have to write for or a Gazette article rather than a a nice toned down resolution but uh there there will probably be fewer warehouses in The Gazette article I'm sure um thank you and I did do I did do the big difference between they spend $188,000 a year versus our Elementary at 24 it's special needs that's the biggie that is the really biggie they they don't have the children with the high needs so they don't have to staff up for it that's it goodbye everyone thank you thank you bye Kathy have a good night thanks Kathy um Lynn why don't you go ahead next and then we'll then we'll start doing line by line but I I was I'm prepared to go just go line you want to do line by line okay all right um any issues with counselor sponsors it should I think just say Council sponsors in keeping with prior um whatevers okay uh first where us I mean if you want to get rid of fatal or fatal um and and still make the point you could say deeply flawed or simply flawed or you could leave it the way it is um I I think deeply flawed or just flaw is fine yeah I I think right councelor fla is great okay um do we capitalize we capitalize all whereases the whole thing no I know no that was my question uh if we're saying Regional Schools it's lower case right even okay yeah um this was sorry this was my I'm just GNA Let It Go all right um next whereas I added in desie last time it just said the board yeah it's not the board it's it's Dy um and then I added that it was students um and just like a quick edit cuz I had already specified Dy earlier are folks okay with those changes yes okay um and then I added in the current Charter fun formula I generally found this um to be confusing because it switches from broad funding formula issues to ammer specific I think it it needs a little bit of a Clarity rewrite here so F from public schools by assessing the districts just should exactly it should just say assessing districts um yeah that that dcts um that is clearer to me and then I don't know that we need this whole list but doesn't matter okay next up whereas according to oh and I just did some quick edits here let me just read this again where is according to the state data the current why don't we say according to State data sources because it's more than one yep the current funding formula diverts 2.6 million Year from amest in amest pound Regional School see I would say amest Okay amest schools and amrest pelum Regional Regional um amrest elementary schools we have to get consistent either we're going to say it one way or the other am because they are called the ammer school committee and not the ammer elementary school committee I've been referring to them as ammer schools okay that was my thought there but I'm open to it I agree we should use one or the other so so it should be ammer schools and Amis pelum Regional Schools is that what you want to say yeah insert I mean I liked it this way but I will put it the other way well otherwise it's whichever way we're gonna do it we just need to do it consistently throughout and that and the schools in this case I think would be capitalized and over here would be capitalized that's good next one okay wait sorry can I ask a question undermining Municipal as well as school budgets well it does because then they want the money from us so but is that but is that the direct I mean I get that but should we say school first because I oh yeah would argue that undermining school and and fine I don't see yeah let's not um right committee opposed the expansion this thing is wordy enough as it is so V to send a letter the question is a letter to um why don't we just say voted to oppose because I'm not sure whether it's a letter or resolutions it's a letter I watched them but I is both are both of them letters uh I thought so resolution I think okay two oose yes okay um these are two different meetings so right yes okay um and I'm going to delete that okay next up um I I agree with taking out that sub section there too no sorry I had an issue with this this was a really confusing way to phrase votes to me oh okay um can you just take it out I mean can we get rid of some of these wees is this really important I think we could just say in 2016 when Charter School expansions were on the ballot Statewide uh mass or SE 62% of Massachusetts voters 78% of ammer Voters and 74% of Hampshire County voters oppos lifting the cap ex that's that's a better way to put it [Music] yes do County next excellent and what was it 78% 78% yeah and they just think that makes it clearer oh was lifting the camp on Char of schools yeah period good and semicolon and yeah got it okay then the next um yeah I deleted this y came from okay that that was just a major thing there yeah uh is this a footnote yes it's a footnote but the um what did she delete oh the space it's just deleting spaces yeah and I want to move that to after the there we go ah um okay and that footnote goes to that down here which we just changed what I don't think this is the right way to phrase this had documented we could say had documented disabilities we can't I think that would be better it's a yes yes good okay um and I think that should should say uh 23% of ammer elementary school students and 26% of ammer is there a dash there's a dash right I've done it yeah school students and amest Elementary should be yeah yeah okay okay I was wondering if you use um numerals for dates or we use 1119 or November 19 2024 I don't know that we have a specific way but I will change this to November um hang on see Regional from schs on no right uh and this was this amorist pum Regional or amorist Elementary that was out I thought it was the elementary school that did the it was the elementary elementary who met on the 19 met they just met on Monday night didn't they they met on Tuesday Tuesday night it was just the schools okay um and that would be the school committee though yeah okay get in give okay okay back where were we footnote where's my footnote be down below oh I'm way up here I know I'm going back to where the footnote was from all right coun we had made the change in the footnote I was wondering here we're told no not the footnote still back there oh okay um serves a student population with few special needs disabled I don't that's not the verbage that we use that's not the verbage we use footnotes we we used something different I'm wondering if that's the no we said we said documented disability but I I I don't think special needs cover special needs covers that okay yes so we're deleting that okay can't gr yeah um special needs student Lang by the way the footnote actually belongs after special needs students yeah you're right it does thank you okay all right great okay um anything else with this uh English language Learners is all of that capitalize cuz that's an acronym typically yes hell yeah like I need to call my partner downstairs to explain some of this to me because she would know the correct verbage um guest star all right next up whereas I I don't like this a few intensive needs students I don't like this at all I would actually like to just take this out because I don't why sorry because a few special needs students is really confusing we have no data source for it uh and I just think it's easily questioned okay and it's 8:15 and I don't want to go searching for that Source but um Lyn do you have the source um I could get one but um why don't we just say ammer School spends $3 million on just um intensive needs student students that qualified for circuit breaker Aid compared to none that's makes it true just take out the words on a few got it okay all right great thank you um I think that should say at not in right okay uh whereas benefits the more intensive need higher cost students World n schools [Music] because State formula capital S and after ammer put the word schools I I'm just I'm sorry I know I just don't I feel like it's redundant to have it in both places um but it's fine so okay rest is good I again no I I want to take this out the state formula doesn't use ammer spending the state formula uses School spending or town spending that out and transfers funds to Charter Schools without yeah okay um and and isn't this mix of student needs it's not just the mix of students it's the mix of student needs right yes okay um you are earning your place as a sponsor of this document I might want to remove my name okay whereas whereas certain sponsors are conspicuously absent this evening but you are here so thank you George I have you have earned your place all right your presence as well a couple other names up on that list better are not here let's keep going let's keep going I know um the hold on I um just give me two seconds because I actually this one earlier oh you okay okay um well you take your two seconds I need to get my water really quick one sec keep Talk Amongst yourselves okay it's 8 817 I'm gonna make a motion to while the chair is not here you just can't hear me too late we just did it George made a motion all right I'm not gonna say what it was for but I think you have an idea what it was all right so say we are getting chippy okay um yes we are Lyn did you find what you're looking for Mandy Joe's point is Amis has been assessed around 1.5 million the region is a different entity has been assessed 1.5 million so I think if we say ammer schools yeah and Amber the am pelum region yes are assessed right by the state to divert a net I think this is how we fixed that a net 3.2 right million uh you want million in there don't you still you don't want million taking I do I do $320 yeah no no mil what a dream and ACC cumulative 28 million I take it cative over since 200 I don't know what does cumulative mean here it's over a certain period of time starting from what 2017 since the beginning probably since the beginning of time I have no idea okay it just say I think we should take this out yeah I think it still makes a really strong point I'm guessing the original statement was 2017 cumulative to today but now we've taken it out it does yeah all right so either you put it back in or you take cumulative out it's a pretty big number it's a pretty impressive number but uh yeah I don't know okay I have a suggestion for how we could change it but I want to hear from councelor first uh councelor go ahead no this is a case where it may appear as if it's 2017 but can we be sure that it is 20 2017 if it is if we believe so then we could keep it in 28 is a huge number but if it is it it it makes sense if you think about it it makes calculating it makes sense could we say whereas in fiscal year 25 ammer schools in the ammer pelum region were were right yeah were are anyway someone help me with that one assessed by the state a net of 3.2 million for 160 students and since 20 since pvcics last requested to expand its enrollment in 2017 a cumulative 28 million yes go ahead and make that change and then I'll come up with something for the end what did I just say okay and since 2017 when pcis last to expand enrollment good a cumulative have got a correct enrollment and you gotta get correct I know that's all right you're doing great you're doing better than million okay undermining the stability of the amoris public schools and educational resources for our students yeah our students for our students okay I think this now keeps that big scary number in in a powerful way while being accurate this is turning into a nightmare to read or folks I can accept changes as we go to make it easier if people would like okay uh councelor not a changeed to make it easier to read but where that's okay yeah where are you where were take out the AG gotta thank you thank you thank you FR all right does this now make sense yes all right excellent job everybody up got it all right I was trying to beat everybody's hands on that one okay too quick we're too quick wait hang on so funny formula is it the can I add across the state or something just to our charter school has itself no no but this is saying this is it goes from broad to specific and I I just want to clarify where it's broad or where it's specific if that if that's okay funding formula is the same time generating surpluses for Charter Schools across the state including a surface that's that is correct thank you um all right the funds the effect or the impact the impact of the funds diverted to charter schools on the budgets are substantial comma representing 6% of the oper Elementary operating budget yeah I'm not I'd love toar it's a little awkward impact F I want to check M the impact is substantial just say substantial of the funds diverted to charge of schools is okay on the budgets of our schools is substantial oops so the budgets of our schools yeah good this is a valuable cheat feed for some of us uh you know to keep on hand for do we just I think we just want to take out representing whatever because I'm not clear about that but don't take out the colon in the and yeah there you go okay um actually with that taken out which may be right I'm not sure this is really needed then yeah they're redundant they are just kind of weak without that 6% which is pretty sizable and if we're not confident in I think this one is weaker yeah we just take it out okay that's great I like that okay go ahead the amorist area schools or amorist and ammer ammer schools and ammer Regal schools and then a comma right okay yep that's good and word the word and does stay there yeah tab was no she wasn't deleting it tab was saying there were missing uh words here but I think we've clarified okay whereas K12 K12 isn't an age K12 is a grade can we just take K12 students yes so the number has declined deeply and is forecast to continue to decline the our region does not need expanded capacity straightforward leave it as is fine okay next up strous advocacy over many years by Regional representatives in the state legislature chapter say we don't need reg never mind it's fine representatives and okay yeah you could take it out was what I thought made more sense but yes that I are represent representatives in the state yeah Chapter 70 State funding has failed to offset the law and annual assessments for charge schools net State supportive education has failed to keep Pace with the cost of providing quality education to public schools that serve a broad spectrum of students so Mandy's comment is this is not why what we why we've been advocating for increase chapter 78 and to imply that it is is misleading in danger and disingenuous and it's disingenuous because I don't know I'm not sure this is if this is Clarity do we have a do we have a voted on by the council reason why we've been advocating for changes in the formula councelor I think this is a criticism that could be brought up in the council meeting itself and if it turns out that this statement is disingenous then we can as a council just get rid exactly I agree Mandy did say she's like I I did my best to trying to figure out what was for go or not um but there might be some things that are Council discussions so right okay um okay all right whereas the Reliance on uh by the state excuse me on assessing local municipalities to fund charter schools has res municipalities capitalized I don't know that we've always been no and also we've been inconsistent on our capitalization of the state um I think when it's the state it it is capitalized but I'm uh we'll have I I will go back through just to make sure okay say result receiv no net increase in State education funding from 2020 to 2025 after subtracting assessments for Char tuition from Chapter 70 and other state funding other State education funding and then we have a period which we don't like it what is should say as I don't Jennifer's suggestion was incorrect and as Education costs continue to rise this is meant a decline in state support of our public close all right it it should to satisfy Mandy Joe say this along with other factors has meant a decline St support for uh and we will just specify here uh support of the [Music] word a new town H we do I don't even know how to say it Regional Schools you're doing a great job stick with uh thank you okay um I don't know why that duplicated it's something funky with footnotes but we'd already fixed that my God okay all right we're on the last page and it's only a twoth thirds page and look so few okay um okay feels like we need a comma somewhere in here but I don't know if that's just CU I like commas the Massachusetts Charter funding formula is in effect of tax on local districts without regard drain on schools and local budgets shouldn't there be an something in there like is in effect no all right fine no it should be is an effect attx it should be budgets not budget m mhm a sharp contrast to many other states just end it right there uh well you don't think we can say which fund charges schools directly no no that's that's that's no leave it in leave it in which fund that fund okay okay there was debate uh Jennifer and Mandy deleted each other's comments they canceled each other out one of them thought which one of them thought that so who whose grammar do we like more I think we should ask councelor ET on this one he's the Garian councelor Ed Chief Garian what what say you um I think that goes without a comma um and I prefer that actually okay okay whereas even Senator I don't like even in there I think it should just say whereas Senator kord's attempts attempts during fiscal year 2025 let's we are inconsistent sorry sometimes we say fy2 sometimes we say fiscal year 25 let's pick one FY 25 I think is what we've used it has been that's easier than going back and changinging all the other ones okay to create a task force to take out merely to study and make recommendations for updating the calculation of required local my God boy okay died in legislature that's true okay all right a statement of fact it is well I don't know if they use the word died but I it's still true um we'll leave that in actually it never made it into the bill um just it should say uh never made it into the bill yes I okay sorry George that's s right into the final budget I bu Bill final bill it the budget is a bill that's fine okay whereas without fundamental reform I want there to be a comma there okay okay now be therefore be resolved the EM this is not usually capitalized in [Music] bulad typically see now therefore Town Council do hereby resolve that we join say and join with um okay we the a Town Council maybe should be Town Council joining with resolve to righte [Music] okay counc see you you can go ahead and start talking um this is for the previous paragraph I'm just wondering if that is the we don't go back okay goad Regional School whereas Regional School I know I know I know I know go ahead Concor sorry yeah whereas without fundamental reform is it the same type face size as it looks weird to me too I will let me double I'll double check that in a second thank you um hang on now therefore we the Amis Town Council join with the ammer school committee the ammer pum Regional school committee and the Northampton city council to hereby resolve why don't can I just say it's it's a resolution so we typically resolve something resolve to something right um and they're not resolving it with us right no that's what's throwing me uh we resolve to do X um we the am you could say in solidarity with or in support of we then resolve but right now it sounds like they're resolving with us it says basically joining with them to resolve and they're not joining with us to resolve anything they've done resolve that's why part of me wants this to be like something different um anyway uh do you hereby resolve coun in collaboration in conjunction with well I think we want to we want to resolve what we want to say what we're resolving first and then say in as in St and stand with our other blah blah Blas in doing the same but I think we need to clarify what it is we're resolving um we resolved that the Commonwealth's Board of Education of of es we resolve that the Commonwealth that's a capital Commonwealth I know and that isn't there we go uh Board of Elementary and secondary education and his common wealth uh I know of elementary elementary and secondary education reject the proposed proposed got yeah right all of them I mean right um we could add another whereas it says and be it further resolved we stand with the ammer school committee ammer Regional school committee and Northampton city council and doing the same I like that um okay be it further resolved that we that the ammer Town Council to bound right got it stands with the and school committee the AM PM Regional school committee and the Northampton City Council in in uh calling upon calling for these changes we're actually asking calling upon them to do something then we're call calling for them to reject this proposal yeah oh sorry sorry sorry I keep thinking we're we're changing the formula um in calling for the reje that's the next one proposal yeah I'm afraid and be yeah fonts are weird here I will I'll fix that in a second too my contacts are sorry drawing out um be it further resolved that the Amis count ammer Town Council president well this isn't the verbiage we typically use uh we typically say cause for this blah blah blah um give me a second has happened to the screen but uh oh really yeah I mean it's suddenly chopped off oh oh yeah it's chopped off because I was trying to find something else sorry oh my God the way you just made me panic counselor R okay uh let me find something to pull language from hang on cuz you know we we have verbiage that we typically use we typically say shall cause for this letter to be sent to um my gosh where's where's any Council resolution that we've sent we didn't Sun Shop local anywhere right [Music] no okay I if there's anything else for us to talk about while I dig one up so you're looking for language for this this next to last be it further result the like shall cause for copies of this right no I understand resolution um I always use the pride one because I'm very proud of it all right here we go let's see did we send any of that nope oh my God we're not doing a letter that the EM we're not doing a letter so we're not sending anything I think we just say that this resolution is shared with or something like that be sent to it it's yeah there is a I just want to pull it I have something you have it this is the um Gaza resolution that's what I was looking for okay what what did we say the it for the resolve that the clerk of the ammer Town Council shall cause a copy of this resolution to be sent hang on can you go slower go slower go slower the clerk of the immersed ammer Town Council shall cause a copy of the resolution to be sent to okay President Joe Biden yeah we're sending this one to Biden too I think the fact that we should cuss a copy is really good I swear to God I will cuss a copy that isent I can't wait for the articles about this meeting okay um shall cause a copy of this to be sent to and then we have Governor lieutenant Governor it should say to Governor Mora hey healthy oh my God someone else type Mora Healey um lieutenant governor Kim spell lieutenant right use LT period okay Kim Driscoll two L's I know that one I don't know Lieutenant no but I can't spell it right there's an S though right Secretary of Education jeer is it no it's not Jeff tuwe anymore who is it now I'm going to look it up right now thank you um secretary um and then are we just sending it to desie the fact that this continues to be called the board of Elementary and secondary education is driving me nuts uh Secretary of Education so and so and the Department of element the commissioner commission Commission of Education Tut Patrick Tut is the did I say Jeff Tutwiler I was close it is Patrick with a K and u w i l r u w i l e r the department of Elementary and secondary education and he is the commissioner commissioner okay okay okay so be it further resolve that the clerk of the ammer Town Council shall cause a copy of this resolution to be sent to Governor morah hey lieutenant governor Kim Driscoll Commissioner of Education Patrick chiler and the department of Elementary and secondary education and to speak with them expressing that is oh oh he is the commissioner of Desi yeah the Comm it's not commissioner it's Secretary of Education p rck Tutt Waller and Commissioner of Elementary and secondary education we should say and the commissioner and board of SEC Elementary and secondary education that's they have a board okay yeah capital b um okay thank you so um and to are we keeping this last part and to speak with them to express this body strong opposition yes to home to all of them yes I don't understand we're having a copy of this letter sent to all these people and we are what we are and that makes no sense to me when am I I think that Lynn because the the body has authorize this resolution that does enable you to speak on the board's behalf on the on the council's behalf about what's in this resolution right so I don't think that we we don't need the rest okay and a colon and yeah and this typically is the last one so I actually was shouldn't this go up here it should and then I'll add the end here yes and I'll add a period here okay I move that we declare wait we didn't talk about this one I'm sorry we didn't talk about this one yet we urge the Amorous representatives in the state legislature we don't we typically name them but that's fine uh and we typically we should send this to them too oh yes they should um uh represent close enough and senator [Music] goes Senator go Senator goes I thought Senator went I thought last was more was bigger but all right all right okay okay uh any issues with this last one and be it further resolved we urge that Joe and Mindy but now we should take we urge the couldn't we just say we urge the state legislator legislature yes to achieve or to address well yeah I mean the really the real thing we're saying here is that we just really want to back Mindy Joe and mind okay then why don't we say we support the amoris representatives in the state legislature in their efforts to achieve yeah that's fine that's good that's good there they certainly everything they can all right in their efforts to achieve fundament reforms leading to more Equitable and expanded funding the Commonwealth public schools and okay Lynn did you say that you had a motion yes I move that we declare this clear consistent and actionable a second is there a sec wait hang on I got write this down um I see this all right uh George you seconded yes I did all right I'm GNA call the vote uh councelor ete hi I am an i councelor Ryan hi and Lynn I all right you're fine thank you okay G save this I will accept our edit the good news is on the next one we actually did everything except for the two additions you want to try and get this one done too I mean we have to we have to sorry friends we gota because they're de have because human rights matter I can think I can think of things we have to George so that you and I can stand out on the North Common and freeze to death but and read this with with and read this no this is this is important I agree all right here we go do you have the one I sent you and look at all those spons Nam this is the one you sent me I thought is this not the one you sent me I think so I hope it is hold on this is the one I downloaded from you um with edits and questions well to use an ancient Sports metaphor we're now in OT we are and we are gonna be re knows what that means he knows okay ly it I found it I found the edits okay sudden death OT oh my God okay that's frustrating because it means I was looking the wrong thing all right okay this is the right thing this is this is the one that they have now suggested oh my God one in green okay they've been working on it some more they have oh that's right because we had some issues about the United Nations stes remember we did everything else right okay so let's take a look okay all right see that's looks okay called on everyone fine now um I want to just accept the change so that we can see it that's fine is that okay all right all right so they said I still think this should be stated and I wish that they gave us a date oh they did they you sent us a link this is 26 of February 2024 okay so whereas I'm gonna I'm gonna add it in whereas on February oh my goly g Willers February what did I just say 26 26 thank you we don't have the name of the general I'm gonna get you a name in one moment thank you good for you um 2024 United State Nations Secretary General uh I'll get it for you I get it Antonio Gutierrez is Gutierrez okay yep I was like going back through I was like Anyway spell that can't be the right spelling I copied and pasted it from the website that's how he spells his last name yes and it should be stated okay yes it will be stated all right take that oh my God oh my God St why is this format so a I know that it's set to it's set to this formatting that I hate hang on ah I'll deal with that later I can't deal this is D driving Bonkers I know I'm sorry I don't know how to do this hang on and the and the other one that we asked them about was this whole thing referring to New Mexico and they struck the whole thing okay what about New Mexico why is this panel let's finish what we're doing before we go to New Mexico please okay and can we all right I don't know why it it won't go away go over to the right and hit that little X under comments that should do it okay no it it it's fine okay that's fine all right we can read it I gotta sorry I got to make it all the same all the other changes were the ones we made before yeah those are from us um go with camri I'll change you to the other stuff later okay um so then the other question they just struck that Che it out excellent for the chairs and we deleted that okay so I that we declare this clear consistent and actionable edited excellent thank you you killing me I got to write this down all right I'm going to call the vote councelor ET hi councelor Ryan I I am an i Lynn I all right uh that passes four in favor none opposed one absent uh there's only one more motion we need tonight folks I move to journ is there a second George I all right fine I will second thank you um we're getting to be like Council meetings I mean this is look you know what about halfway through you stopped throwing shade about me about paved roads and started throwing shade at other people so I'm fine all right uh did we vote on this already councilor Ryan how do you vote sorry I vote I um Lynn ioun all and I am an i as well thank you all so very much see you again on the fth and the 12th and the 12 and again and again yes all right bye everybody