you don't want to reboot or you're going to reboot it appears to be working now but I'm seeing an error message so if I need to ask you to pause the meeting so that I can reboot or address the error then I will ask you to do that thank you um and we're not yet recording are we yes we are recording thank you um good evening it's March 18th special Town council meeting and a finance committee meeting with the Town Council there are two meetings tonight this is the first one it's a public forum on the Appropriations outside the annual budget regarding Community preservation act project allocations and we're required to hold a public forum for these kinds of Appropriations outside the normal budget the open meeting all allows us to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the council physically present however I'd like to welcome all of the councilors who are here tonight in the town room with us and those who are online uh this meeting is accessible in real time via Zoom by phone um and as a live broadcast on ammer media channel 9 and live stream given that we have a quorum of the council present I'm calling the special Town council meeting to order at 6:33 I'll call upon on each counselor by name and they indicate that they can hear us and we can hear them and then please mute your mic again Pat dangeles present Anna dein gothier present counselor ET present Lynn grimer is present councelor hanii present Bob hegner present councelor Lord present C uh Pam Rooney here councelor Ryan present Kathy Shane here Andy uh Andy Steinberg present Jennifer to present and councelor Walker will be joining us but she is not with us yet um I want to just check the audience and make sure she is not there no thank you um I'm going to now call upon Bob hegner chair the finance committee to call the finance committee meeting to order and make sure that if there are other members of the finance committee besides the counselors that you make sure they can hear us yes I'm calling uh the um ammer finance committee to order um we have a quorum of the count of the committee present and the only person that I haven't well Alicia is not here and uh Matt Holloway I don't see him either in the audience or uh on screen so we are we're we're good though we have Quorum thank you there's no chat room for this meeting if we have technical issues and I'm warning you now we've been having them all day um we we may have to pause the meeting while we reboot Etc um there will be a public comment meet part period as part of this first meeting but it is for the purpose of speaking to the proposed allocations of the community preservation act funds there will be a general public comment period in the second meeting along with public comment during the two hearings that we're holding but we'll try to be explicit which ones are for special purposes in which one are General okay the order of the agenda is as posted so with that I'm going to ask the town uh Clerk of the Town Council to please put up the list of the um Appropriations for the community preservation act we are not going to have a special presentation on this there has been a presentation to the council though brief but a much more thorough discussion at the finance committee meeting after this meeting tonight the finance committee will be meeting again and they will make their final recommendation and if you would just go to the Chart so this is the list of recommended proposals uh and they fit into three of the four categories of community housing historic preservation there are no no no open space proposals and there are proposals in Recreation so with that I'm going to ask if if there are people in the audience who would like to speak to the particularly the community preservation act proposals Athena were there any specific people for that okay are there people on Zoom who would like to speak to the community preservation act proposals please raise your hand at this time okay this is just for the community preservation act proposals Simeon strong will'll unmute you please go ahead and make your comment hi I'm uh Georgia barill the uh chairman of the trustees of the amorist historical society and Museum and I just want to say simply that this um Grant to the Historical Society will help us move forward with needed changes and we're aware that uh we will be applying to other sources of funding that won't be totally CPAC but I just encourage you all to let let this uh proposal go through there's a good chance or a possibility that we'll actually get some funding from the Massachusetts cultural Council to cover part of the $75,000 if so there will be unspent money that will be returned to the town so we'll hope that happens but we won't hear that until June or July that's all thank you thanks for joining us are there other people in the audience on Zoom or in the room who would like to speak to the community preservation act proposals we're going to hold this public for until 6:45 so if anybody would like to speak to these proposals please raise your hand uh point of order we can close the public for early but the regular meeting can't begin until 6:45 right I that's I was really asking when is it that we can close the Forum I think we 641 thank you um as soon as you get your computer Bo booted up we'll make sure you can hear us and we can hear you Alicia okay I'm last call for any comments with regard to the community preservation act funds oh there's a hand please come forward Street and I didn't speak oh okay thank you very much Vince o Conor 175 Summer Street I did not plan to speak to this issue but um hearing the chair um I have been the ride to work and uh a young lady's Ride Transportation for her children to preschool for the last five months I started the week that I announced I was going to run for City Council in north hamb and I will tell you that um young lady lives at Jesse's house which is the old uh right next door to the first church it was The Minister's house um in historic times there's a really bad sidewalk in front of the house that makes it look like a slum and there are some other issues at the house that I think should be addressed it is certainly an uh a a uh deserving and appropriate uh recipient of CPA funds and I hope if it's not in the regular budget that the council will consider going to Jesse's house taking a look at that sidewalk and uh talking to the residents I think who have they have four or five families in one bathroom in that building uh and and you know uh see what you can do thank you so seeing no other hands for public comment with regard to the actual CPA funding recommendations that have come before the council I'm going to close the hearing would you like to make a motion to close the hearing yes I would like to make a motion it's not a hearing the public forum thank you right I'm going to make a motion to close the public forum is there a second a second on adjourning the meeting thank you um with that and no further discussion we'll take a roll call vote and we will begin with Pat d'angeles hi Ana delin gothier I councelor ET I Lyn grimer and I councelor hanik hi Bob hegner I councelor Lord I uh Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes and Steinberg hi Jennifer to yes and councelor Walker has joined us and how do you vote yes thank you you need to push your button yes thank you um the that meeting is adjourned at 6:45 in 2 minutes we will begin the next meeting Lyn do you need me to adjourn the finance committee I'm sorry yes Bob I do yes so Finance meeting is adjourned as well thank you e hi it's 6:45 and this is our second meeting on March 18th 2024 it is a regular meeting of the Town Council as I mentioned in our previous meeting uh we are allowed to do this because of State law and we do have a quorum in the council physically present in the room although that is not required and the meeting is accessible by Zoom by phone and as a live broadcast on ammer media and also live stream uh I would just point out at this point that there are 11 counselors in the room uh given the that we have a quorum of the council present I'm calling the March 18th regular Town council meeting to order at 6:45 I'm going to quickly call on each counselor again since we're having some connectivity issues to make sure you can hear us and we can hear you Pat d'angelus present Anna dein gothier present counselor ET present Lyn grimer present Mandy uh councelor hanii present Bob hegner present councelor Lord Lord presentent Pam Rooney here councelor Ryan present Kathy Shane here Andy Steinberg present Jennifer to present councelor Walker here let me explain that we have two hearings tonight during which there may be public comment as well pertaining specifically to each of those hearings as we have them later after we get done with those hearings we will have general public comment if you would like to make General Public comment and you are in the room please sign up with Athena if you are would like to make General comment and you're in on Zoom do not raise your hand at this time because we need to have hands raised for people associated with the hearings I will call on you at some point though okay very quickly uh we have two Council meetings coming up in April the first is a regular Town council meeting it'll be here in this room and it is regarding the school budget the regional school budget um there has been there will be a date by then set for the actual um meeting where we will have hearings Etc on the regional school budget we don't have that date yet we will also meet for a regular Town council meeting on April 8th at this time I would like to recognize Kathy Shane who is just going to give us a brief two-minute preview of the upcoming Fort River groundbreaking on March 26th at 3:30 Athena will you be able to put up the slides um as she's putting them up I decided I'm so excited about the fact that there's going to be a groundbreaking on March 26 and everyone here is invited at 3:30 at the PT River parking lot that I would share a few pictures of the school um since many of you you last saw it a while ago this is a view from the entrance and one of the things you're going to notice as first the school and then the parking lot is built is there solar cies and here they're um the ones you see out near the grass they're going to be protecting bicycle racks so they're also serving two purposes next slide you know we're at the um early design package work begins phase March 24th so there's been a series of Milestones the project for the school is going to go out to bid in July with September construction beginning on the school and the fields with the expectation and we're on time for the school opening in September 2026 next slide there's been a lot of work on both interior and exteror design on the charts I showed when I was talking about the school you could see the back side of the school what we've just finished with a fantastic playground equipment working group is laying out the playground and Equipment which is full of exciting new kinds of play structures one of the people in the meeting one of the teachers said we've created a playground Wonderland for kids of all ages it's really very exciting next slide um just to sum up as we said at the very beginning we have an amazing school that we're building thanks to all the residents it's an Innovative school with creative places for indoor and outdoor learning and play it's a climate action school it's going to be the town's first public Net Zero building and we're getting a new community resource we're restoring the fields there'll be playgrounds Trails a rain garden and more for families of all ages so the very last slide is the sign that's going up at the construction site to say this is really underway and um I'm going to just say now and keep saying a big thanks to everyone in armmer that who has supported this school thank you very much thank you uh we're going to move to our first public hearing that is an AT&T petition to install a small cell device on an existing eversource poll adjacent 25 East Pleasant Street is there thank you please come up introduce yourself and proceed thank you uh good evening my name is Edward Parry it's p re I'm an attorney at Brown Rudnick One Financial Center Boston Massachusetts I'm here on behalf of AT&T I don't know if you have the slides available from our plans that we submitted we do uh do you want to put the slide up atheno but you can proceed while she's getting that terrific so AT&T is an FCC licensed provider of Wireless Services uh throughout the Commonwealth Massachusetts and the United States uh AT&T is having some Network thank you that that's fine uh is having some network issues in this area on East Pleasant it's actually on prey Street and East Pleasant you'll see there's a dep picture or a photograph of the telephone pole or utility pole that we plan to use it's actually already located there in that Island small cell facility consists of three components if you look up on the top of that hole in that depiction that's the 24.9 in antenna uh there are conduits that run down to that equipment box which contains the radio and switching equipment that box is about 4 feet long 2 feet wide about 2 feet deep there's a shut off switch below that and then an electric meter so that uh National Grid can uh capture all of our electricity uses and uh bill us accordingly uh that's the extent of the uh facility and what AT&T is proposing we'll use the existing pole we do comply structurally with uh the poll is only at about 175% loading after AT&T's installation likewise we will comply with the emission standards and everything I've mentioned this evening is in the town council's packets with that I'd be happy to answer any questions okay are there any questions from the council see n are there any questions from the audience either on Zoom or in the room please come forward state your name where you live hi my name's Edward moan I'm from 45 Applewood Lane uh more of a question to AT&T and maybe not appropriate but how do they decide where to upgrade because uh South amest is a wicked Dead Zone and just wonder is it because we have students at bars in the center of town that we're upgrading or just a question would you like to come forward and talk about where you decide to upgrade I will so TNT's obvious coverage and capacity needs this is an area that the radio frequency Engineers are noticing they were having a degradation uh in the network uh there were limited budgets uh limited resources AT&T picks the place that you know it feels as the best for the network uh that's how they're selected so they're done through engineering uh there may be more coming in the future but this is what we have planned right now thank you are there any other questions from the audience either on Zoom or in the room are there any questions from counselors Kathy I'll have one that you can but maybe the T answer but maybe the town can this is an adjustment specifically for A&T if Verizon also in the same Zone needed to do something are we talking about telephone poles with multiple attachments utility polls I mean are we um I don't know when T-Mobile comes along and says that you know I'm just imagine what this poll starts to look like yeah unfortunately there are limitations to the polls National Grid will only allow one small cell facility per each uh this is just for AT&T so in your hypothetical if Orizon needed to wanted to provide coverage uh they would have to find a different pole and attach their equipment to it same with T-Mobile I do think in doing our research when we submitted the application I do think the town council's handled one or two of these in the past uh I'm not sure where they're located but I did notice uh there was an application previously submitted maybe in 2017 or 2019 uh but each carry would have their own and National Grid will only as I said only allow one attachment so then on some level the town would have to look at the polls that do or don't have something on it and start to think of when these because we we as a council won't know that what's already been given but um to make sure that people who have different Services aren't somehow having dead zones because their poll has already been taken so I I appreciate your answer there can only be one on one poll that's correct you're welcome are there any other questions from the council okay seeing none I'm going to make a motion to close the public hearing is there a second second are there any other questions or comments Kathy you still have your hand up thank you then I'm going to move to a vote to close the hearing onor Devin gothier I councilor I Lyn Grier's and I councelor hanii hi Bob hegner hi councelor Lord hi Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jennifer top yes councelor Walker yes Pat dangeles I thank you um thank you for your attention in your consideration thank you thank you uh we will be voting on the actual motion to approve uh as we get to that part of the agenda okay so now we are opening the hearing in this case uh for a public hearing on a Verizon petition to place four conduits on College Street through new man holes be on between boltwood Avenue and Railroad Street please come forward state your name and please provide us with an overview certainly good evening Don voner with Verizon um I trust everybody has the plans yeah they do we'll we will show them on the screen oh um uh do we I'm sorry Athena you've got them okay got it the purpose of this plan is to remove all the telephone poles along street can you speak closer to the mic certainly the purpose oh that's much better yeah you're right the purpose of this plan is to remove all the polls along College Street uh from boltwood down to and just under the railroad Bri um I I walked earlier this this evening um took the me took measurements and they're pretty accurate to what you see there um give or take a foot or few um and uh there were no Stakes or spray paint where the holes or man holes were going to be but the measurements were approximate to to what you do see for the the two poles on the end and the length from where the new manhole would be at Dickinson to boltwood okay uh I noticed that Guilford moring is in the audience Gilford did you have any questions or comments yes I I just wanted to point out this is a request made by the town this is part of the project of taking the wires down on College Street we've talked to all the utilities except for one and we're slowly getting them and working out plans for how to accommodate uh their utilities in the road and this is going to be a the much larger project we talked about ever Source will take their W wires off the top um Verizon this is their proposal where they want to put their wires and then we'll be talking to Comcast uh go goet tell and actually charter we've already we we have to talk to Charter next um to design how they want to put and where we'll put their conduits in the road we'll take all these plans once we have the other four other three and there'll be a construction plan drawn with exact locations based on their plan for the future um installation that hopefully we'll be able to put together a project with the College of amers Aris college so Mr Morin at one point I was under the impression that this should be done uh we should do a continuation of this hearing because we were awaiting additional information is that true no we're we're going to do this piece and then there will be another hearing for a piece of um telephone wire Verizon Wire that we're going to take down on cely street as well okay thank you uh are there questions from the council pamaron will the con uh construction of the duct is the duct bank already in I know we went through a lot of construction last year um this is tying Into the Now an existing structure question no um we we will put the all the utility are the um telecommunications utility plans together and do one construction that we actually install all their conduits in at one time and then they'll come back and pull wires through them there'll be one more utility construction project there'll be one sewer project and then the road project on colge street okay did that answer your question Pam well actually so it just raises the question will will College Street on that stretch be under construction all summer not this summer but sometime in the future sometime in the future okay and we hope that we give residents plenty of warning um are there any other questions from the council okay then are there questions from the audience either in the room or on Zoom please raise your hands I'm seeing none I'm going to come back and just make sure there's no more questions from the council okay with that I'm going to make a motion to close the public hearing is there a second second we'll move to the vote councelor ET I Lynn grimer is an i councelor hanii hi Bob hegner hi councelor Lord hi Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jennifer to yes councelor Walker yes Patty Angelus I Anna Devin gothier I okay the hearing is closed thank you thank you very much we will be voting later on okay um with that we're going to move to public comment this is general public comment so if you are in the room and you want to make public comment please make sure you've signed up with Athena thank you if you are in the audience and you would like to make public comment please raise your hand at this time I would like to point out that there are 45 people in on Zoom attending this meeting that does not include an unknown number who are on amoris media again I'm going to make one last call that if you are on zoom and you would like to make public comment please raise your hand at this time are there any other people on Zoom okay last call uh there are six people on Zoom how many people in the audience 14 14 let's begin with the audience in the zoom room and at this point on Zoom after the six the last person is Michael prie okay so please go ahead and call on three minutes or two minutes um You' have 14 and I now have one more uh eight uh three minute two minutes two minutes thank you so um public comments are matters within the jurisdiction of the Town Council residents are welcome to express their views for up to two minutes at the discretion of the council based on the number of people who wish to speak the council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during general public comment public comments are not reflective of the opinions of the Town Council I also would like to just add for those of you who have signs with you that um please make sure that if you want to show your sign you don't do so in a manner that blocks someone else's Viewpoint you thank you okay uh with that we're going to start with the organ good evening my name is Jean Horan I live in Precinct 3 I'm here tonight as chair of the Council on Aging and a longtime resident in town to urge you to commit the remaining arpa funds to the renovation of the bangs Community Center an area dedicated to the senior services I invite all the seniors here this evening to rise and or raise your hand and signs to show our town officials we are here to raise some cane to ensure that our voices are heard woohoo of the five meeting rooms at the bang Center only three are currently available and able to be used by the five Municipal departments that reside in Banks the senior center offers over 45 programs each month from Food Distribution exercise classes music classes rainbow coffee hour and more cultural events like the MLK celebration happen at bangs the bang Center also offers its spaces to community groups like boltwood project clearly the bang Center is well utilized by the entire ammer Community young and old day and night the bang Center is 95 years old and needs to be brought up to code lighting signage bathroom pull cords and security cameras are a few of the critical improvements which need to be addressed not to mention the elevator which is currently out of use and has been for nearly a month now restricting those with Mobility impairments for moving around the different floors of the building the arpa funds are once in a-lifetime opportunity to fund needed repairs to banks that would otherwise take years to fix I strongly endorse the remaining ARA funds to be spent on the updating of the bangs Community Center the entire Amis Community will benefit from this investment thank you thank you uh please I have to ask that we not demonstrate in the room at this point what it does is cut into other people's speaking time so thank you uh we're going to move to Jennifer sha she is in on zoom and we will unmute please proceed Jennifer hi my name is Jennifer sha I live in District 5 and I'm a member of the ammer school committee but my comment today is my own and does not represent the school committee one of the items on your agenda today is the town manager's appointment to the elementary school building committee the charge of the esbc indicates that it needs to include a resident with experience in energy efficient public architecture engineering or construction which you have an architect Jonathan salvan a teacher or resident with knowledge of current educational Mission and function of current facilities which you have in Jonathan and Resident member Angelica Bernal and a resident with experience in effective community outreach a position I don't see filled amongst the current members and a function I don't see mentioned in the town manager's recommendation membo for Mr Bruce C as a side note I don't know Mr and I mean him no disrespect I understand from the memo that he has followed this project closely from the beginning and I thank him for his interest and involvement in this important project getting back to the committee charge it also says that preference will be given to parents guardians of young children who may be in the elementary schools in five years the charge was adopted in June 2020 so five years from then would be 2025 another applicant for the position Amber cono Martin has a child in the second grade in the common anes program and she is a skilled experienced and accomplished Community organizer in addition she herself is bilingual in English and Spanish the espc does not need two resident Architects at the expense of a parent of a child who will attend school in this new building and who has both deep and broad experience connecting with the community this project is so important to the school community and I urge you to prioritize Community engagement the town manager may tell you that the time for Community engagement has passed however it's always a good time for Community engagement in fact I learned today that there will be a groundbreaking open to the public in Eight Days A a session an event I did not even know about so that's always a good time for Community engagement I urge you to vote no on this appointment and send the town manager back to follow the committee charge and appoint a parent with community outreach experience thank you thank you for your comment and for sticking with the time we're back to the audience um DK younger I'm sorry I can't pardon me I'm sorry thank you please come forward dick Oro uh triangle Street ammer please lean up to the mic sir dick yor got triangle Street in amest an emest resident for 61 years this sign says at all the bang Senior Center needs help and the help can only come from you folks now I represent the senior center which is one of only five residents of of the Bank Center but the building's not up to code there's over over over 5,500 seniors that need a better facility and deserve a better facility and um and you you know you know our needs um we will keep those in front of you so that they don't get forgotten amongst all your many other demands and responsibilities and we just respectfully ask that the needs of the bang Center and all its constituents be addressed thank you thank you for joining us we're back to the zoom Chad B baswell please unmute and proceed state your name and where you live good evening Council Chad basell here can you hear me yes we can excellent uh District 3 uh yes I'm calling tonight I mean I'm not sorry I'm not calling I'm tuning into this Zoom meeting to express my concerns over the uh Dei policies that are currently being implemented in the municipality the law uphor racial discrimination and it appears that this municipality is engaged in discrimination via its adoption of of its Dei policies which exclude certain applicants for a variety of benefits based on their skin color no racial discrimination is benign it is always it always demeans the dignity and worth of every American to be judged by his his or her race instead of by his or her own Merit and essential qualities it appears the city is in violation of Civil Rights Act of 186642 USC section 1981 which states all persons shall have the same right to make and enforce contracts to the full and equal benefit of all laws as enjoyed as is enjoyed by White Citizens this statute protects the equal right of all persons without respect to race exclusion is illegal yet you have allowed yourselves to be Hoodwinked by racist Doctrine pedal by mentally ill commun as funded by yids EXC these people drug their children with Jewish Pharmaceuticals traumatize them with satanic grooming then convince them to chop off their genitals so as to completely ruin these people you ought to be ashamed of yourself you are in violation I suggest you get with your munip Municipal attorney immediately and correct and and abort this diie policy that you are implementing thank you thank you thank you my apologies to the audience um Vincent o Conor thank you Vincent oconor 175 Summer Street and I have a completely separate topic this evening um the council has received my uh written uh statement of that I made in January about raising additional revenue for this community but this evening I have a four part propos proposal to deal with the this community's most serious problem which is housing um and I'm just going to summarize issues because of the shortness of time the first is asking the council to request a special Act of the legislature to revive the amoris rent review bylaw which was in force in the 1980s and early 90s to deal with our outrageous rent increases second asking that the council enact controls on what standord standards landlord use to qualify prospective tenants basically the standard that says that if you're a prospective tenant you have to earn in one week enough money to pay your rent I have presented in the written document that I've given the council why this is a very discriminatory provision especially against families third asking that the council enact a a uh protective uh ordinance that would keep landlords who re who are part of a subsidy program that have family tenants from demanding from those tenants a full last month's rent despite the fact that they have a contract with either a state or federal uh agency that provides that they will get paid V every month your time is up uh and thank you there the landlord the to the landlord's shareff thank you for your final thing is in writing Vince and everybody else has to have comply by the two minutes thank you and thank you for your written statement Michelle Miller is on Zoom please unmute hi can you can you hear me speak a little louder if you would though okay let me how's that good okay great hi my name is Michelle Miller I use she her pronouns and I live in district one in the past couple of weeks I've been included in email Communications between residents and counselors regarding the distribution of arpa funds it is clear to me from these discussions that some residents are not clear about the distribution process particularly who at the local level is responsible for Distributing the funds I'm here to share with you what I'm hearing in the spirit of providing a governmental system that is transparent and responsive there seems to be a perception that the distribution of funds by some people at least is the town manager's decision and that the council has no say in the way the funds are allocated while it is true that through the town manager's executive powers he is tasked with deciding how the funds are used it is also true that the council through its legislative powers is tasked with providing the policy that informs the man manager decisions specifically in December 2020 the Town Council passed a resolution affirming the town's commitment to end structural racism this resolution is the policy set by the council that the town manager can use to make decisions like how arpa funds are distributed additionally the town has made a $2 million commitment to reparations for its black residents another policy that the town manager can rely on when making decisions it is my understanding that a request from a nonprofit organization that directly advocates for and serves black residents in our community has been made to the town manager I urge the town manager and the Town Council to consider the policies that have been set by the Town Council regarding its black residents and also to revisit the treasury's guidance in terms of equity um as as it pertains to ARA funds thank you thank you for joining us um going back to the room next I have a Robert Menon Menon okay hi my name is Robert Mitten I live 33 K Road um I'm here to speak for the survival center uh we that the survival center need a lot of repairs I used to make Windows for houses and for every other things I notice the sealed on the windows are let cold earing so you lose the money on the heating uh need to be reped uh know the cracks on the cement in the hallways had to be repaired um we need more money to have more funds to get more residents to have fun um it's I noticed the seing center used to be a lot of people we need the space how important to raise the money to repairs and other things uh I want to say thank you for the council take my time to talk to you and thank you thank you for joining us we're back to zoom um a person with the first name of Albert yes thank you can you hear me hello hello can you please State your full name and where you live yeah Albert Fish District 3 all right um add a little thing here um I Heard the one talking earlier about diversity equity and inclusion programs and I wanted to say diversity means fewer white people inclusion means the exclusion of white people and Equity means stealing from white people um I saw this on a flyer and there's a film called defiant by Devon stack on GTV flyers.com and it really just kind of woke woke me up to just how much you know anti-white hate is out there um and then I had a little speech here I wanted to read uh the goiam are noticing a great amount of anti-white ism coming from the federal state and local governments uh we have government run programs that give assistance to non-whites only such as housing vouchers to Asylum Seekers we have a criminal justice system that lets criminals burn Loot and murder but investigates Christians praying at baby murder factories we have six Jewish corporations controlling 96% of our media and how can white people be fairly treated when the whole system is rigged against us how can we be expected to want to live in a society that puts a Target on our backs I'm calling for the city council to pass a resolution condemning the rise in anti-white hate we have a right to address our Grievances and regardless if you like it or not it's your jobs to hear these statements white people are sick and tired of being attacked robbed raped and murdered you can learn more about at GTV flyers and GL tv.tv in Northville in Northville Michigan a group of blacks lared wiped family to a home with the Facebook Marketplace ad then they proceeded to hold a one-year-old baby and the father at gunpoint while they raped the mother you tell me how this is acceptable in our country for our women to be raped by violent criminals just this week a few weeks ago at heel Wood high school in Missouri a white teenage girl was beaten by a black Savage to the point of being hospitalized in critical condition she had her head bashed on the concrete multiple times during the attack multiple blacks were seen acting out in a bloodthirsty rage these types are attacks are the new normal for us whites and we're sick of it I can't condone violence against the blacks but it's just disgusting the way they treat us it's great to see a massive amount of red py going on here people like to pretend that oh it's just the zist in Israel and Palestine but it's all the Jews stupid Jews absolutely hate non-jews and they're the real person's time is up thank you the Jews we're going back to the audience next we have Yasmin Branford hi I'm yasine Branford I grew up in ammer actually I went to crck from school um I run ammer extensions in beauty salon on 116 for about 15 years now I was asked to speak by my president BBA AAA and um I just want to say that when I applied for the arpa funds I was told I I didn't qualify but I thought that the arpa funds were here for black businesses and to build up the our community Through you know businesses small businesses so and then they told me something about some time thing like I I didn't qualify because of the time and all this other stuff and so um I just want to say that you know I thought that was unfair and but I'm not surprised that we were overlooked we were told that they didn't you guys didn't know we existed that you guys didn't know black business is existed in ammer we were told that and we're not surprised um we were told that uh I wrote down some stuff okay basically you know I'm just you know I you know I I and you you guys will be seeing me more often I should have been coming to this meetings more often anyway I'm part of this community I've been here my whole life and so you'll be seeing me more often but you know we're going to keep on because we feel like we deserve to be recognized in this community you know you know how many black um kids mothers parents call me up and they're so happy that I'm here I'm the only black hair salon in 20 miles of this whole entire area and they're so happy they're like oh my God we didn't know what we were going to do okay so we're not going to like go away and disappear and like I said you you guys to be seeing me more often I'll be around like I should have been coming more often anyway to these meetings I'm part of this community I I feel like I built up this community somehow I've been here my whole life so thank you thank you for joining us thank you we'll please go to Michael pery who is in on Zoom hello my name is Michael pie I'm the CEO of Hilltown Community Health Center a federally qualified Community Health Center hous within the baging center um we provide uh health care including um Primary Care Dental Care Behavioral Health Community programs um and Eye Care uh at the bang Center and I'm here to ask that we if you guys could use some of the arpa funds to do renovations to the bang Center that would be great paying particular attention to the signage both internal and external for the building I think that would be um hugely beneficial to all those that utilize the bang Center we've had several cases where individuals both patients and vendors have come to the bang Center and have been unable to actually find uh the health center um and then also looking at space we've had to really prioritize uh services that we provide there um as an example our laboratory we've uh done away with the Bas day Reference Lab and utilize that room that the lab was in now as uh alternating days between behavior health on site and other days um using it as insurance Navigators because we don't have room for all the services there together another example is that we uh use one of the dental operatories um alternating it with uh ey care Services again because we don't have enough space for all the services to to coexist at the same times so again just here um representing both the baging center and Hilltown Community Health Center uh asking that if it would be possible to use some of the arpa funds to do some Renovations for the baging Center thank you thank you for joining us back to the audience Ed cage [Music] yes my name is Edward cage um W so many things that go through my mind when I come uh here because I want to be able to say something that makes sense you know and I think about the Opera funds and and and what it was said to do when dispersed by our town manager and the people that make the decisions um I did a I did a lot you know having a chance to have a a a service a taxi service and and ammer and I volunteered a lot more with it than I actually made money because Craigs doors needed some help I came I delivered people that were homeless I took them to wherever they asked me to take them you know and uh but but that's what we do a lot here is volunteer we're only good to volunteer most of the time when it's time to really look and see how it could benefit us like being able to restart businesses that that were impacted by just just what happened not just the pandemic just the just the tough times Town manager we really would appreciate if you could look at small businesses um like the one I ran when it was above water um I want to come back I want to be able to help people I want to be able to help myself and my family so if you would just have any consideration to the folks that were left out the proper funds would would be a good way to help people that are struggling that have been struggling that are volunteering that try to do work in this community to be a part of it um consider that thank you thank you for joining us we're going back to the audience Deborah Ferrera can you hear me we can okay hello everyone uh my name is D ferera from ammer um I'm one of the co-chairs on the community safety and social justice uh committee but today I'm calling and the comments are my own and my own opinion um I just want to urge the town manager and Town Council to please consider giving some of the OPA funds to the black Business Association of ammer area the BB AAA um they have submitted an amount and I'm hopeful that you all will fully um fund their amount I ask that you fund their request um because they were passed over during the first distribution of the oper funds um this will go along with your commitment with the town of ammer commitment Against Racism and and really dealing with the infrastructure of a structural racism within uh the town of amers and as we know the BBA they do want to commit some of the money towards Youth Development and and Youth Empowerment and that was something that the community safety working group wanted to focus on and since that hasn't gotten off the ground in terms of um the Youth Empowerment Center and the youth programming this would be helpful um so please I want to really urge you all to look within and think about and really funding these black businesses they are part of ammer and they deserve to thrive thank you thank you for joining us back to the room ver dougman cage good evening my name is VI dangman and I'm president of amorist media um I reached out to counselors um greetings friends um good to see you both here um at Town Council um so Town manager Paul balkman uh you know amoris media we all know we want to build on Maine and gray down the road here and uh we put in a request for $250,000 um to help us get there um I hope that everyone understands the importance that we provide as a nonprofit to this community um we're the longest running organization that does um uh local access and uh we just wanted to get this type of um support so that we can build the Dr demitria shabaz um rjo shabaz um media art center um which is available for everyone in this community no matter where your politics land um so that's an important um feature I also want to um speak in support of uh direct cash payments to um households some that is a fature of the black Business Association of amorist area request um I was really moved by my ex-husband's um public comment um earlier that you know this really should be this second round should really help to rectify what didn't happen in the initial round because we are really talking about individuals being able to support their families um Ed operated um little Eddie's clothing and and accessories um back in 2003 um in in the town of ammer so we are people who have been contributing to this town thank you for your time thank you thanks for joining us uh Alma car shabaz please unmute and continue thank you yes uh milar shabbaz in South ammer I have to say I'm rather scared to give my my own address where I live with the kind of uh folks that are coming out of the Woodworks it really is threatening it really is scary it really makes me cry and grieve for our town um this is so hard and you know um Everybody of course entitled to their opinions we we definitely that but it seems like I I would really want to look at policies to know how much you know you got to we have to we have to deal with here but um but yeah again it's it's it's also good to know what's out there and what it is we're really striving to overcome and as councelor uh former councelor Miller was saying you know we we said we've come a certain distance uh with the resolution ution of 2020 with the whole uh charging of the African Heritage reparations assembly to do uh the work it did over two years working with all facets of the government um of ammer all facets of the community community lisening sessions that open to to to any and everybody um you know we we've come a certain ways and it's one of the areas the our report indicated was the help for businesses this is in the spirit of arpa too arpa had a certain thing I I love bangs bangs is housing the Civil War tablets which I'm so appreciative for but you know the bangs got to come out of another pot you know um but the the the critical spirit of arpa I think is for the businesses and I think for for amoris media as the kind of critical business that it provides for our town all through pandemic and everything else and so I hope really we'll we'll see progress in this direction in the very very troubl times we're living in thank you thank you for joining us back to the room algra Clark I have to push no is it is the green light on yes then you don't have to push anything thank you um so my name is algra Clark I'm a resident of District 2 and I did come here tonight to speak to arpa um I remember hearing that arpa was supposed to be utilized for the most vulnerable and most impacted people and businesses from covid um so I do think that there is a place for senior center reservations to fall within arpa um and I do think that the bangs hosts Dei and Crest as well and having those departments have better access is also important um I did visit there the other day and the elevator was out and I just thought how are people going to get around that might have mobility issues it it was actually a big topic that we spoke about at the community safety and social justice meeting the other day um again our black residents are disproportionately impacted by covid and so I do support what the black Business Association of ammer has put forward especially with their focus on youth um and finally I wanted to speak about Youth and mental health um having two children one who was just four months old when the pandemic hit I noticed differences in how they have adjusted to the world post you know the major wave of the pandemic and I know that right now the Regional School is facing cuts um the school committee has voted to reinstate some of that money which I fully support and would like you all to support as well but I think one place that arpa could be utilized would be to restore the mental health positions that were on the chopping block as well as the restorative justice positions um I know originally there was money set aside in arpa for the move to the middle school and it was like a couple hundred, there was also $500,000 for mental health and 300,000 for Early Childhood so I think with that money there's some that could go towards youth mental health as well please thank you thank you um sorry I was distracted uh Lauren Mills please enter the room and state your name and where you live generally where you live yes hi I hope you can hear me hello you're breaking up a little bit okay um can you hear me now yes we can please start the clock okay good evening um my name is Laur Mills I um have lived in amher for seven years and I wanted to speak um specifically about the need to break out of these um that put ourselves in um wife what is black um is a multicultural Community it's and Center is the community CER um Community Ines young includes old it includes everything in between and our uh School generational are I think we just lost you Lauren um perhaps you would like to send us your comments in an email to the Town Council I'm sorry for the disconnection back to the room let meio McGee correct me if I'm mispronouncing please correct us if I'm mispronouncing the name thanks good evening community members my name is l McGee and I am a Dean at the middle school listening to the comments tonight has demonstrated that we have a long way to go in educating our community this is a no-brainer financially support black businesses it may make you uncomfortable but do it anyway the regional school committee took a bold stand last Thursday to protect the quality of our schools we cannot continue to cut the school budget every year and expect to maintain the quality of our schools I grew up in Springfield the quadrangle is a beautiful place with beautiful museums there's a large wonderful Library lovely Parks great Transportation so why are homes more valuable than little bitty amers the schools let us remember that our schools will determine whether the community will be able to read the books in the big big big new library the schools determine the value of our homes not the Library ask the Town Council to take a stand to protect the quality of our schools and protect the future of amers as a thriving educated Community now that we have a dream team Regional school committee I believe we can once again be amongst the best schools systems in Massachusetts thank you thank you for joining us we're going to go on to the zoom excuse me thank you uh jna re good evening can you hear me we can jna my name is josa reg and I'm a resident of district one um Town manager Paul bucklan as you decide how to allocate the remaining arpa funds I hope you'll give priority to support for blackowned businesses providing assistance to lowincome and bip Park families and seniors in Amherst building a permanent homeless shelter and funding academic and mental health support for low-income youth who have not had the resources to catch up on what they missed out on during the covid-19 pandemic Our Town must do better to live up to its stated values as a diverse Equitable and caring Community too many families of color black families in particular have moved out of Amherst because they do not feel at home here thank you for your consideration thank you for joining us back to the audience Jill brevik my name is Jill brevik she her I'm in uh district one um I want to speak tonight to bring to the council's attention what seems to be an ongoing pattern of discrimination against marginalized residents um I want to take a minute to uh urge you to weigh in in support of the black business association's request for arpa funds tonight uh to write past wrongs and to show a commitment to equity that amoris residents so badly need in this moment right now um I also just want to take a moment to reflect on the recent ceasefire resolution that was uh passed on March 4th now this meeting has passed but I don't want to move past what was a problematic uh example of an area in this town where we need to see a lot of improvement um at this meeting counselors were openly rude to Palestinian Arab and Muslim residents who went to great length to speak about their suffering during what is an absolute atrocity that is going on right now um and to share honestly about their treatment in this town to plead with the council to see them as human the council um councilors promoted racism by introducing and voting in favor of two problematic amendments to that resolution showing they were refusing to listen to hours of Education provided by marginalized residents in this community um they gutted an overwhelmingly popular and fact-based resolution in favor of a few unfounded views and their own deeply held racist beliefs as the Public's ability to tolerate these abuses in silence reached a Breaking Point the council failed to uphold their code of conduct certain councilors called us shameful divisive they dehumanized the residents in the room in the same way that they were able to Res dehumanize civilians in Gaza and while the resolution may have passed reluctantly on behalf of many who are still shaken by March 4th I request a public apology a formal reprimand of councilor Ryan complete your statement the completion of promised anti-racism trainings and the addition of a trauma informed training thank you so much uh I would like to okay I'm going to pause a moment and just ask again that there be no not audience demonstrations thank you um we have one other person Jeff kelman Lauren had her hand up first I'm sorry oh Lauren yes I'm sorry Lauren we lost connectivity with you please come back and begin your statement Lauren it's not going well maybe you could use a phone instead okay com thank you thank you Lauren for your efforts to join us um welome back to the audience Steve braic hi everybody my name is Steven brevik um from district one go by heem this won't take long I just want to reiterate what others have said about the council's demeanor a few weeks ago on March 4th the way the meeting was managed um was a circus there are a few of you on this Council that I hope have done some reflecting since this meeting specifically councel Ryan councelor Steinberg councelor Grier I hope you'll do the right thing and apologize for your tone your language your behavior your ignorance was out of line listen you guys got a tough job like we get that but you have been entrusted with our leadership in this town to treat the residents in the way that you did at a point in which they were quite vulnerable was abhorent our community deserves better I just want you to think about that also wanted to offer my support for the arpa funds being allocated based on the recommendations of the black Business Association thank you thank you for your comments we're going back to the audience uh on Zoom uh we lost one but I do see Fanny Rothchild I'm I'm speaking to support the allocation of $250,000 from arpa funding to support ammer media's campaign to build a new building to serve all our community I have been a member of amoris media since I moved here in 1983 I was a board member in the 1990s s this station has been a Lifeline for me providing me with community and skills and a place where I feel strongly that I have been making a difference in my community why do I value it so highly well I feel like it assists residents in creating by assisting residents in creating media programming amoris media brings together people their Heritage their passions and their interests but giving us all a voice and n media provides a container in which we can flourish as political responsible and Equitable citizens and town me Town members by producing a rich array of programming it covers the gamut for example Town Council and committee meetings educational events and spiritual artistic and literary Pursuits it fills the Gap left open by local TV stations and newspapers it covers everything by documenting and sharing minority happenings that gives a voice to those who wouldn't necessarily have an outlet Pro by providing training and TV and social media production it brings our children into the community providing them with skills and a sense of self-worth gained by their new found abilities to create media and communicate out to the World by covering human rights events like those by my local chapter of ader national ammer media is helping our town to be a more just and Equitable community summary I see ammer media as providing and strengthening community and therefore welld deserving of $250,000 of phase 2 arpa funding to ensure that this building is constructed soon thank you thank you thank you back to the audience John bonifas good evening my name is John bonifaz I live in District One I want to endorse what's been said tonight by Jill and Steven brevik and by Dr shabaz and others I'm here to address the question of accountability elected officials must be held accountable when they act in ways that are contrary to their public duties and responsibilities I have four points of accountability to raise point one is a basic tenant of our democracy that people who serve in public office are public servants if councelor Ryan said at the March 4th meeting on the ceasefire resolution you think we basically work for you anyone who thinks that they are not a public servant does not belong in public office and councelor Ryan should resign and if he does not resign this Council should publicly reprimand him for his conduct point two it is important that members of this Council as in any any member of elected body stay awake for public proceedings if you cannot stay awake because you have a condition or you're too tired then you should not be in public office there were members of this Council asleep during key portions of the testimony on March 4th during heartbreaking testimony they should not be on this Council if they cannot stay awake point three we need people who are honest and transparent with us as constituents we were told in one particular meeting with a member of this Council that she could not talk to us about her views about the ceasefire resolution because it would violate open meeting law which was Preposterous we confronted her on that point and she then went ahead and began to share her views and point four this Council needs to be accountable to the resolution it passed to end structural racism and commit to reparations and that means supporting portion of ARA funds to Black businesses thank you thank you Jeff kelman please enter the room state your name and where you live my name is Jeff kman uh I've lived in ammer for 25 years District 3 uh I've been very impressed with uh what people have spoken about um what what how people have spoken about most things tonight I am seriously concerned about the caller that who called in it's around 720 who spewed anti-semitic rhetoric and I'm shocked that the Town Council has not said and reminded people who are commenting that we they will not tolerate that and I expect that the moderator would cut off someone who is spewing anti-Semitic roric or any hate speech whatsoever I it it makes me feel that you are complicit and that you condone this type of speech which I know or I hope that that is not true and I have two children and a wife we are committed to this community and right now I'm feeling very unsafe with a caller like that when and you have that person's name so when that if that person steps up again I think it's important that you remind him and everyone else who speaks that that will not be tolerated thank you for listening thank you for your comments back to the room uh Leila MUSC hello leam shc she her um district one I'm here today to ask the council to advocate for the black Business Association of ammer request for arpa funds and to repair the harm caused to marginalized communities in ammer both during the first round of arpa funds allocation and during the March 4th meeting where a number of counselors display displayed disregard cultural insensitivity unprofessional conduct and racist rhetoric causing harm to grieving and at risk members of this community like many families my Palestinian Colombian family moved to ammer because of its Progressive values and so that we could raise our kids in an inclusive and Equitable environment organizing around the recently passed resolution in support of a ceasefire in Gaza was my introduction to amorist politics and my first meaningful insight into the positions represented on this Council during the March 4th meeting several councilors were at best dismissive to my community's experiences or completely oblivious to the harmful racially coded rhetoric they used during private and public discussion around this issue at worst counselors were overtly hostile to The Grieving marginalized Palestinian Arab and Muslim community members who were required to educate an audition again and again for recognition in this community that we enrich I'd like to take a moment to thank and acknowledge the work of councilors d'angelus Walker hanaki Lord and Devin gotier who recognized and acknowledged the harm caused by their colleagues during this meeting the council now has before it two opportunities to repair the harm it has caused and support the diversity that each of you has committed to nurture I urge you to listen to the expertise of the black Business Association of amist area and its recommendations for the needs of black business owners and residents I ask that the councelor address and acknowledge its pattern of discriminatory double standards I ask that the council complete its promised anti-racism trainings and update the town with progress on social justice goals and I ask for a public apology especially from counselors grer Steinberg to Shane Rooney and Ryan perhaps then this Council May begin to rebuild our trust thank you we have no more people in on Zoom is there anybody else in the audience Pat onaku good evening can you hear me all right so on back District 2 I'm a 40e resident and I am the president for black Business Association of amest area bbaa first of all I want to thank all our supporters tonight who have spoken in support of uh bbaa uh getting Apper funds as some of you may recall two years ago I was The Whistleblower who exposed discrimination caused against existing black businesses some of you Town counselors you approved a white nightclub Drake $300,000 and when some members of my group tried to apply for upper funds they were denied upper funds were supposed to help the most vulnerable and most impacted by covid do the right thing repair the H that you cost and yes the the um the economy is recovering but you must understand that it's very hard for black businesses to have access to Capital due to lending uh uh discriminatory practices I we are we are asking for $ 1.5 million but it will impact both uh black residents Youth and black seniors um I think we should prioritize um Apper funds to to marginalized group including Hispanics Asian and other lwi income not just only black people uh I see that my time is on almost up but let's do this do the right thing and let's not drag the Civil Right uh office of Attorney General thank you for joining and lastly I want to uh really thank I I want to congratulate uh councelor Alicia Walker for his award couple weeks ago for black excellence and I didn't see that on our town website why is that thank Youk thank you anybody else from the audience Georg Malcolm my name is Georgia Malcolm and I work with the um the high school my son was the one that was a student speaker and I looked at his speech and I thought what a Croc because the very things that you supposedly want to uphold is just it's all a lie I mean five years later Mr ban told me that the Continuum which shows where you towns are he's like okay we're not there yet and there's no effort putting Black Faces into positions don't mean anything because we have quite a bit of Black Faces in positions that are some Clarence Thomases and some hersel Walkers so we are our very own hersel Walkers and Clarence Thomas in this town in positions of power I want to acknowledge the school committee of ammer the region because we have it we finally have someone in there they understand the importance I mean like ma said I mean the the education system is what drives the value of the homes in this town and I mean you guys are so shortsighted because Paul Buckman spent a million dollars on dirt you know a million dollars on dirt I remember I was in here once you know there's a social constru I'm going to send you guys a video during the black lives matter movement somebody shared it and whoever those two people that called in they don't have to worry Amorous white supremacy culture is very intact so don't worry um the Dei is just a faad there's nothing happening in the schools there's nothing happening here because I've said to Paul you need to involve people with different perspectives and he told me straight up no he wants the power because you guys have given it to him so apparently just like with Mike you know you guys are just figureheads but I want to remind you that you have a social contract and that contract as elected officials is to ensure the well-being of the people in this town I don't reside in here anymore thank God and um the students in the public schools it's really problematic and disappointing to say the least considering I had myself be a part Cathleen Anderson good evening my name is Kathleen Anderson I'm a longtime resident of amorist I moved here in 1974 so I've been here almost 50 years I'm a former elected official to the school committee I'm also co-founder of the study circles dialogues on race and class we spent six years discussing the issues racism and classism amongst the adults in the community as well as the students in the high school I'm not going to repeat stuff that other people have already said in terms of the systemic racism issue or the ceasefire um issue from the March 5th or 4th sorry March 4th U meeting um but I want to uh stress the importance of understanding what racism is and what it is not and racism is a system of power and privilege that only white people have and the only category or the only group of people who can be racists are white people and so we have asked in this community to educate white people around racism and to how to eliminate the effects of that and one of the ways that that has been able to be done or has been attempted to be done is through the diversity equity and inclusion programs so I'm I'm going to um end but I want to make sure that people understand The Importance of Being socially just and having a socially just system um we're supposed to be the kind of community that Embraces those kind of attitudes and behaviors and I want to encourage people to take that on and to do that if you need any resources ask me I've got plenty for you thank you for joining us Monica cage good evening my name is Monica cage uh I live in District 3 I own a business in ammer called crowned by cage I'm also on the board of the black Business Association of the amoris area I hope that if the if the arpa funds are allocated towards BB triaa I would use the funds to scale my business in this town because I really would love to stay here instead of finding a place that would be more lucrative or supportive um I'm constantly finding myself trying to preserve the integrity and defend the the culture of this town when new uh members of this community come to me for my business but sometimes I can't help but just stay silent and Nod and agree when they do bring up the structural racism or their own experiences of racism in this town instead of keeping that negative light on the town of amers I bring up the black Business Association and how we put on community events that promote uh Black Culture and excellence and history not just for February but for all throughout the year and so I just want you all to keep that in mind when thinking about how these funds should be allocated and how it supports our community not only does bbaa want to support you young people who want to start businesses in this town but for everyone who needs to find Community or resources or anything that our businesses um are useful so thank you thank you for joining me that's the end of our list here thank you before we close public comment although we are have taken our last comment I would like to provide the following information to the audience it is just as shocking to those of us in the council to hear people say the kinds of things they've said tonight but the first Amendment broadly provides individual rights to address the government to speak and to express themselves including their right to say hateful and offensive things I am generally unable to shut those conversations Down Under the first right First Amendment to the US Constitution unless their level of speech Falls with an exception articulated by the courts which have ruled on this issue such as fighting words trth set threats to a particular individual harassment of a particular individual which we came close to or incitement of imminent Lawless activity if a question exists as to whether a particular speak speaker is engaging in unprotected speech I must defer to the principles of freedom of speech this is an issue we have spent enormous amounts of time with our attorney on and will continue to do so it is as uncomfortable for us sitting here in the council as it is for you sitting at home and in the audience tonight to have the kind of hateful speech that we heard tonight thank you I'm going to oh Lauren you have come all the way here here to speak to us in person please come forward and thank you for that special effort Lauren my son's Crocs on I ran out the house um yes my name is Laur Mills I've been living in Amherst for seven years I am on the board of health um but I am speaking of my own words and my from my own experience um I think what I was trying to say is that um we need to get out of the blocks of what is black and what is white um Amherst is unique to me because it is a multicultural community and that means that it encompasses intergenerational um folks from baby youth uh middle years and up to adulthood and seniors and Elders the bang Center is the bangs Community Center it's a community space and I'm happy that in this um current time we were able to um hold um a started drumming Circle in the bangs Center the bangs Community Center um I am concerned though that the council and also the the way that things are shared or not shared by the town manager and by the town counselors as far as funding makes people feel like they have to choose one group over the other or o over another and that should not be the case I feel that again the community a strong Community is is is an intergenerational community and the bangs Center bangs Community Center should hold programming not just for seniors but it should also hold programs for Youth and I just would hope that the politics of the town would not pit groups against one another thank you for coming all the way from your home to join us when your connectivity didn't work we really appreciate it we're going the council is going to take a break we're going to take a 10 minute break and then we're going to come back to the next items on our agenda please make sure you unmute unmute your mic and take your picture down and when you come back put it back on e yeah e e spe e e yeah I mean you CL e e e e e we need to be uh turning returning to our seats and getting ready to start again e Athena I have a question we're going to be moving to the consent agenda but I'd like the council uh first of all make sure you're all back aathy camera um thank you okay we are all back uh if there is no objection and if there is please raise your hand I would like to add to the consent agenda the two poll the two public way polling things Mandy Joe I don't object I'm just confirming that's in case people in the audience don't understand what you're saying adding the AT&T petition where there was a public hearing today and adding the Verizon petition where there was a public hearing today that is correct is there any objection to that okay um so the following items were selected and maybe the clerk could Clerk of the Town Council could put the motion up on the screen and add in the two items the following items were selected because they were considered to be routine and it was reasonable to expect they would pass with no controversy to remove an item from the ENT agenda for discussion later in the meeting ask that it be removed after I've gone through the list once okay the request to remove an item from the consent agenda does not require a second I would also like to State make sure you understand that while we may include an item and vote on it in the consent agenda there is still an opportunity when it comes up on the regular agenda to discuss that item if you'd like more background okay okay uh to move the following items and printed motions thereunder and approve those items as a single unit 6A adoption of child abuse awareness month Proclamation 8 A1 approval of the AT&T petition to install a small cell device on the existing eversource poll 350 over3 on prey Street adjacent to 25 East Pleasant Street 8 A2 Verizon petition to place four conduits on College Street through new manholes between boltwood Avenue and Railroad Street 8 A3 approval of the ammer farmers market request for long-term use of the public way I will just pause for a moment and say we have checked with the powwow and they did not express interest in using the um uh common this year um 8 C referral of bylaw 3.26 new property to governance organization and legislation committee this is referred for legal review purposes and clear consistent in actionability it's the first time the group will have taken it up 9 A1 3 to five approval of town manager appointments Conservation Commission Rachel laugher director of community responses responders for Equity safety and service camil Tariq Elementary School building committee Bruce Jones Library committee Alex lefave are there any items that people are asking to be removed councelor Walker um I would like to remove the appointment to the elementary school building committee please thank you are there any other items okay so the motion is up on the screen and uh unless there's any further questions or requests to remove I'm going to move to a vote I'm going to second the motion ah thank you um that would be good all right um Lyn grimer is an i councelor hanii i Bob hegner I councelor Lord I Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg I Jennifer to yes councelor Walker yes turning the page Pat deangeles I Anna Devin gothier hi councel r i it's unanimous thank you thank you for your patience and for hanging out thank you uh we are going we've already done the pre the resolution and um councelor hanii are you able to read the last part of that yeah um so this is a resolution uh well it's a procl child abuse and prevention Awareness Month Proclamation that declares the month of April as child abuse awareness and prevention month so now therefore be it resolved that the ammer Town Council declares the month of April to be child abuse awareness and prevention month and further recognizes this Proclamation by raising the Child Abuse Prevention flag from April 1st to April 30th 2024 to help cultivate awareness for all residents of ammer that FL that flag raising ceremony is on April 1st at 4:30 p.m. thank you um we're now moving on to uh presentations and discussions and we're going to have Paul bamman is going to do a presentation on the arpa funds thank you Lynn and are my colleagues who are going to join me see David and Leah and Martha so we need to bring Leah Harver uh David Zac and as you do that I will introduce these people who are coming in David Zac is the assistant Town manager Leah Carver is the assistant com troller and Martha Martini is our arpa grants administrator and Holly Drake who is our controller and acting uh co-executive co- Finance directors in the audience and can join if she'd like please raise your hand if you'd like to be brought in Holly and right now she's going to stay where she is oh no she's going to come in come on in Holly okay thank you all for being here please proceed thank you so um I appreciate the opportunity to present this um proposal or this proposal it's a plan of allocation of or I'm G to take this off better for people um opportunity to prevent this plan uh on allocation of arpa funds and I just want to note that this is a plan that was developed before the compelling comments um that we heard tonight which I appreciated and also uh welcome comments that come will come from the council after we make the presentation um this the goal of our allocation this is the third round of allocations is to align the allocations uh with the town council's goals um and to recognize while we are grateful for the funds um it's also been a challenge in terms of administering all the funds from a from Administration point of view and um and to State how I think we have done a really terrific job and and utilizing our funds um next slid so the agenda for tonight is to talk about the background to go give you an overview summary of where we are and to talk about the operating principles that we used when we were looking at the allocations and again I'll welcome your thoughts and comments at the end U I want to thank the staff who put a lot of time into this um they they put a lot of effort into thinking about how we could best allocate the funds and one of the things that we always think about is that as we allocate funds we know that there will be an audit at some point so we're always they're very diligent about ensuring that any kind of allocation that we make is in alignment with the arpa rules and regulations um next slide so you may recall that under arpa which is the American rescue rescue plan act the town received 11.9 million do uh in funds and this is the funds were specifically to respond and recover from the co 19 pandemic and just for perspective this is about half of the money that um the city of Northampton received so it's a substantial sum sum of money but uh not nearly as much as some of our neighbors the budget that we allocated in the first round of the 11.9 million was 9.8 million and this was based on multiple efforts of outreaching out to the community and talking to a lot of key stakeholders for reference the funds that we have that all the funds must be obligated by December 31 2024 that means the the funds have to be under contract however they're being um spent and all the funds have to be spent by December 31 2026 any funds that aren't spent by December 31 2026 are returned uh we are going to we have to report on the status of all of our unencumbered funds by March 31 of 2024 and we do we make reports regularly to the Federal government on the use of arpa funds and in 2023 in our round two we had allocated we made some small allocations including $50,000 for food delivery by the survival center these are pre-exist uh initiativ I had some pre-existing um uh efforts made $150,000 in additional aid for Resident Aid residence assistance $100,000 to develop the resident oversight board $100,000 for to repair Wastewater pump number four $100,000 to cover remaining FEMA and car's expenses which we can explain to you a little bit um different time and 295,000 to for repairs to overuse Recreation facilities so what we will do now is this sort of mirrors the last presentation so I'm going to ask uh Leah and Martha if she needs to jump in to sort of walk through where we are on each of these initiatives Leah hi can you hear me yeah okay um so the public health category um is sort of continued funding we've continued to fund the four new fire and EMS staff they will continue to be um on arpa through the end of the fiscal year um we've continue to fund a portion of the public health staff an assistant and a part-time nurse um we have finished up the premium pay for employees um and we are working continually on translation translation services um and sort of trying to increase that townwide um as we speak and um some of the funds did go to the implementation of the crest program as startup costs next slide um for our resident eight programs as Paul mentioned we did um introduce some additional funding uh the two very successful programs the resident emergency aid program um which has given money to Residents throughout amers and continues to have money available if anyone is still in need um and to the survival center to continue their uh mobile delivery program which also is a need in the community um also the acquisition of the former VFW site for a future shelter and for permanent permanent Supportive Housing um that has been purchased and we are still working um using some of those funds to sort of Aid in whatever the next steps are demolishment probably of the build thing um and a driver has been hired by the senior center for added Transportation um to and from their programs I think next I think Dave was going to do this one yeah good good evening everyone um so I think most people are familiar with the wayfinders project down on Belchertown Road and uh utilizing the former East Street school and we've allocated $1 million to housing affordable housing I think we're all very aware of the crisis both in amest and the region for housing in general and affording affordable housing specifically so this allocates $600,000 to this very exciting project uh we are well underway design is uh U moving along quickly this will produce 78 units um in the East Village and one of the important things here a huge takeaway is that our our uh investment of $600,000 is going to leverage for to 45 million for the project and that's really exciting at this time we're looking at um new projects to get in the pipeline with the additional 400,000 that is remaining in this in this category and the goal always you've heard me say this before is to get those next projects ready to go so we've got this exciting project in East ammer we have the wonderful project up in North ammer Valley CDC and then um additional projects coming down the way you'll hear more uh information about wayfinders they hope to be in the 40b permitting process later this year next slide okay um as far as infrastructure goes we have increased funding again um for this category um the major additional funding was for facility repairs to Recreation areas that were very well used um at the height of the pandemic um so some repairs and updates have already begun on many sites around town um um there was a need for placement of the Wastewater pump 4 um which actually fits in very well with the infrastructure investment by the treasury um that they encourag so we did fix a portion of that um the funds used to close out the FEMA and cares grants um probably will be a little less than 100,000 um but that is simply um the FEMA and Care Grants that started in the middle of covid had many adjustments in terms of what was eligible expenses and they changed it many times um and sort of in the end arpa sort of came in and knew that there were a bunch of eligible a bunch of expenses that people thought were eligible and were no longer eligible and they gave the authority to use arpa funds to cover that um so we will need a small portion of that um and then we're still working on um continued funding for the other categories of cyber security public Wi-Fi Municipal fiber um a new downtown public restroom which should be hopefully going in shortly um repair to some Trails um and then some enterprise Enterprise fund support which is basically Revenue replacement at the peak of covid um when parking in sewer revenues were not coming in next um so in the education um the preschool programming that was started um at the last presentation has continued and it will continue through um the remainder of the school year um and those programs are listed in the pie chart um the school funds that were originally requested were specifically for the sixth grade transition to Middle School um unfortunately this goal was postponed by the school committee um at their meeting in February of 2023 um and the new timeline does not fit in with the arpa spending timeline um so that contract has ended next so I'll jump in here we've we've uh continued some of the great work that the town is doing um across across the community in terms of sustainability um we've allocated some of some of that uh figures you see in the pie chart to some smaller uh projects like uh updating building inventories uh Fleet inventories for vehicles um but um equally as important um support for the mobile market which is a hugely successful and very popular program bringing healthy and and affordable uh food to um um many members of our community so that will continue to get funding it also a small amount of money has gone toward our community garden effort down at the Fort River Farm where we have over 40 gardeners participating in that program uh recently um we launched the sustainable dashboard uh I'm sure many of you have visited this this is really kind of the One-Stop resource for sustainability information in our community it includes data um energy usage for buildings Transportation information and um collaborative um uh resources um for things we're working on in our community and then finally uh the large piece there $385,000 will go toward a program that is just being launched now uh the heat pump program for residential heat pumps um and this is a a a real response to a critical need to um help residents um create uh opportunities for themselves to convert to green power um that's also affordable for them in their residences so that's how we've allocated those funds okay um in the category diversity equity and inclusion um we did add an additional 100,000 for uh the creation of the resident oversight board um which has begun and is still continuing um and the other programs are still uh being worked on um Amis recreation still has their money for programming um in few for a few upgrades to their facilities namely the pools um the Youth Empowerment money still exists um the community engagement money still exists um although most of that was used for the co ambassadors during the first two and a half years of the pandemic I believe um and there was money put aside and used already um for some staffing at the beginning of the opening of The Office of Dei next slide um under this Economic Development and business grants um there are actually two expenditure categories according to the treasury um one outside of that is the small business um which we did a lot money for new businesses um so new business grants growth grants technical assistant grants um and economic empowerment um and there is a chart of some of the grant recipients and the second half of that category um was to provide Aid to impacted in industries of the Arts and tour tourism um which the treasury had set aside as a separate category um to provide Economic Development to towns um and also provided economic devel to artists and performers um and it's also benefited the surrounding downtown businesses thank you Leah and Dave um and jump in if you know if you want to anywh so the Su just to summarize um and I'll go through this quickly since we just already did it uh 1.8 million on public health and safety and and some of that was the premium pay for the essential workers uh we had we added four new firefighters EMS positions which are now being transitioned as to into our regular budget format um Public Health Staffing there's support for the development and uh establishment of the crust department and translation services the resident aid program included funds for to purchase the site of the VFW uh for the the future development of a homeless shelter and with support of services and that's a big win for us that's been a longtime goal and this gave us the opportunity to act very quickly and see and be able to purchase that site which is a great location um a lot of effort being done now to secure the site uh we will be demolishing the building and then uh actually making that available for other uses while we continue to investigate exactly and assembles funds to build a homeless a permanent yearr round 24-hour day homeless shelter with supported services and housing um and then there was also funds for the survival center for food delivery and funds to support the senior center van which Transportation was a major priority for the senior center um the Dave talked about the million dollars for design and development of affordable housing 600,000 of that going to the wayfinders proposals on at the East Street school and on beler toown road and 400,000 coming up in with other programs as we as we move as we develop additional sites for affordable housing uh 1.8 million for for infrastructure projects which included the downtown public restroom which is nearing the ability to go out to bid um recreational facilities Capital project management which we have the experience of the person who's helping us through the elementary school and the Jones library and a m a bunch of other capital projects to move them forward um we talk Revenue replacement for Enterprise funds this is U that might sound strange to people but it's for our tra um transportation fund which relies mostly on um parking Revenue uh that pretty much fell through the floor and the arpa funds were provided were allowed to be used to fill the fill that that that emptiness there uh and improve our cyber security um reestablish our our our fbir from connecting all of our town buildings and Facilities uh and then also rebuild our downtown Wi-Fi network Paul could I jump in before you just on on the VFW I know um you know folks have been patient as we've moved forward with that project but I just want to put out there in addition to what Paul said that we are in the process of hiring an architect to begin the visioning process on that uh project so we should have somebody on board um I would say within a month and our goal is to you know partner with of course CGS doors uh work with and and in collaboration with our Housing Trust um but also members of our community so there will be a couple um public um uh forums where we work have our architect lead those forums where you as the as the council and other committees and Boards can join us and really participate in in in creating a vision for what that site will be and the needs that'll serve in our community so it's been a while coming but um I just wanted to put that out there that that is a spring uh goal of ours in the in the planning department thanks Dave uh the next category is education where we have $180,000 it continues to support pre and after school programming for kindergarten through Elementary grades um they've mentioned the climate impact projects to improve food security um inventory Our Town sustainability needs and the one that we're really excited about is the heat pump program which will actually help um people uh to install heat pumps which is can be a high upfront cost but this but have a long-term savings um the $949,000 on Dei and Community engagement including the Youth Empowerment funds which we have retained so that that that project can move forward Recreation establishing the Dei office and and then the new $100,000 for the resident oversight board which is making progress this in the next few months um $419,000 which includes a major portion of that going to the Drake which had a specific area in arper that was carved out for it to help uh arts and tourism and also downtown business areas and then we have funds set aside through 12312 6 for Grants Administration including the legal work that has to be done the audit that that will be done Etc so I want to talk a little bit about what were the operating principles that we used when we talked about um so ARA as a program continued to develop and they were continued to send out new rules and things and we always had to continue to comply with the new rule so our first cut was whatever we decided to do with the funds it had to comply with the updated AR arpa requirements the second was we did not want to give any of the funds back we wanted to make sure the funds were protected from any potential clawbacks by the federal government that's not as real concern as it was about a year ago when um members of the Republican party and and the House and Senate at the federal level we're talking about if they trying to take funds back from the arpa program um so we we have a a plan in place if that initiative ever comes to we know how we can protect the funds um one of the things was we wanted to do is to avoid or minimize the creation of fiscal cliffs where um this one-time money would be used to fill an operating budget then that would create a bigger Cliff the next year and we we have and also would increase operating costs so we've been pretty good at avoiding that and then really to pay ATT mention to what the council had previously identified as community and town identified needs we looked at we made our presentation which identified many of these needs last June and um got feedback from the council at that point so after we do all the counting for what's been encumbered or expended that's about $8.1 million which leaves us with a balance to be reallocated of $3.8 million and the conversation tonight and what I'm really interested in hearing you uh your comments on is how that $3.8 million is to be reallocated next slide so we have three major sources for pending allocations the first is improvements at the banks Community Center and Dave were you were gonna talk about this one let your muted though yeah thanks Paul um so U part of our goal here and we've heard from many many community members about the the importance of the bang Center uh both broadly but also as as our as our senior center uh the space there is hugely important to to the many seniors we have in our community and uh uh their voices have been heard in in letters to the to the council so part of the goal here is to take a look at the entire building um the building has received some Capital funds over the years um but really does need some up upgrades in some major um major areas on not the least of which is Energy Efficiency and and making the building more sustainable but the goal here would be to bring on an architect and to kind of do a a mini visioning of what that building could be um both for seniors but also for the broader community so we'd be looking at you know uh categories uh of of work uh as I said Energy Efficiency HVAC uh defining the the senior center space uh a more in a more reasonable way looking at lighting and ventilation um uh um looking at um partial fire protection for the building as well as a commercial kitchen um to make the building more usable uh from top to bottom so those are some of the major categories I would also add that um you know there are flooring issues there um uh window treatments need addressing some of the Windows there are woefully old and not energy efficient so these are many Big Ticket items that we'd love to to include in this category to make the bang Center both um stronger and more accessible and and more welcoming for seniors but also more broadly make it usable for the entire community so I think one of the things we talked about was you know having having a kitchen creating a more um contiguous space for the senior center that can like more of a senior center uh on an entire floor creating a more hospitable home for our Board of Health our Crest department and our Dei office and then the common areas in terms for it's a very heavily used building for meetings and um exercise and all kinds of initiatives drumming circles we heard tonight um right now uh and and also we want to make sure that the senior center has space to create an exercise room so that that could be utilized and because that's one of the high priorities that the senior center has identified is um we have the equipment we need a space that's safe and monit that can be monitored so all those things we hope to um get out of our de the um renovation of the banks Community Center next slide so last time when we talked about solar installing solar in our town we had talked about the Regional School District because that was a a site a priority site when we got into looking at that site there were many issues that came up up came up one was we don't own the site the Regional School District did and we would have had to work out some agreements with the Regional School District about the construction who would own it who would take care of it over time not insurmountable but just another thing um and then um we start looking at other locations to meet that goal the goal of producing more clean energy by utilizing solar on existing on built environments as opposed to on Forest land and the opportunity at Fort River presented itself if you know our Fort River we talk about being a net zero building which has being met by uh geothermal but also about with solar canopies that Kathy had mentioned earlier today that covers about a third maybe a little bit more of the parking lot so there's twoth thirds of the parking lot that do not have solar canopies we could utilize arpa funds to place these solar canopies on it won't this won't get the entire it'll get about a third another third of the parking lot with solar canopies the advantages of this is that it and because it'll be a brand new parking lot with fresh pavement so there's no preparation the contractor will already be there putting solar canopies in this could extend it so meet the sort of goals that we had said last time about the Regional School District but put it on the elementary school it aligns with our priority for in our townwide Solar assessment over time there there's a a distinct benefit of the solar is giving us credits on our electric bills that if applied to the school district would provide electricity credits over a long time a member of the school committee actually had asked about this as an option um it could qualify for tax credit payments we might we need to look into that more um there might there might be some issues with that but also it's additional solar panels and a highly visible impactful project that is the going to be a real proud moment for the town but also for our children as well and then the last was one that I heard a lot from a lot of you about our roads and sidewalks and I think this came up a lot during the election as you were campaigning and you know well this is our sort of catch all as much money as we can put in here um we will put in we know that there's a large need for additional investment in roads and sidewalks um we would take the money that we had the 300,000 plus if anything else you know over the ne course of the next few months isn't going to come to fruition it would flow into the roads and sidewalks we know we can spend money on roads and sidewalks the need is there we have the technical capacity to get the money out the door um so that would be the plan for this so this is our website um so I welcome your comments and uh thoughts on on this plan okay um we are now to a point where counselors um are welcome to comment Kathy first of all thank you very much for going backwards and telling us where the money has already been alligated so I have just a few questions on that um and then your your last comment was to extent any of those estimated obligations doesn't need as much money it would just be redirected to roads that's what I understood you so um when Dave talked about the million um for affordable housing and that there were 600,000 obligated for the Wayfarers leaving another 400 we have to obligate by the end of December as I understand can it be to a general category called affordable housing or do we have to have another project that we say this project is getting it so just trying to understand whe you know does that 400,000 if you know and I don't I don't like a US it or loser way of thinking about it so I would rather say we have a project and this is where it goes so do you want me to list each each of them or um L how do you want me to however you'd like to comment so that was the comment on that one sure so Holly or Leah or Martha may weigh in on this you can't just put it into a general category it's say it's for this it has to be it has to be under contract so that it is guaranteed to be spent or it's scheduled to be spent and you can show a contract saying yes this is going to be done um Leah do you want yes that's [Laughter] correct okay so so so that's a remains to be seen that that other piece then on the um may go back into that so that's a good example so Dave says he's got other projects in the works but if they don't come to fruition uh in the near future we're going to say we need to program that money and what I'm telling you what I'm showing you tonight is here's how we would look to reprogram that money if it didn't become available then the heat pumps I think that those are terrific so I don't exactly understand how you plan to have that work but heat pumps are definitely eligible for federal tax credits so however you're getting them into and as I understood them it was help people afford a heat comp so however you're planning on getting that out making sure there's some assistance to people to understand how to apply for both the federal side and the state side um would be important yeah they just so people know public buildings heat pumps aren't eligible but homeowners heat pumps are eligible so right so this program and Dave may know more about it than I but Stephanie chorell our sustainability director has been working on this it's really to help lower income folks who don't have the capital to invest in heat pumps to be able to access it because it does save energy and helps promote climate action you know climate whatever resilience in the future and so it really is about um not helping just helping a broad range of people but specifically helping lower income folks who don't have that ability that's why I really like it so I just think that this other piece is you know if it's in 8,000 or 5,000 and there's a thousand you can get back you know making sure people understand that help educate folks to that andah or Martha Dave yeah I just wanted to add no Kathy you're you're spot on with that and I know Stephanie is on top of that um we would we would be working with a with a company to actually run the program Stephanie would oversee that contract but um we're not going to do that work ourselves the Outreach and all of that but Stephanie will oversee it and as most of you know if if you really study our our our energy usage in in town you know the university and the colleges are actually doing quite well the town is is is um doing doing well well uh in its own right and and you know launching the new net zero school is is wonderful but the actual demand the actual usage is in residential development so this this is both as Paul said providing funding for people who who may not be able to afford that upfront cost but it's also addressing those fossil fuels you know that that um that family that might be using oil or natural gas and helping to them to get onto electricity and more sustainable fuels Holly Drake has her hand up I'm assuming it's in relationship to this Holly um so I just wanted to briefly state that the heat pump program would be similar to the solar installation program that the town sponsored several years ago it would be for residents to get um lower cost heat pumps installed very similar to the solar program thank you okay one more on the f the sixth grade move to the middle school got moved off I mean we my memory is we had about 500,000 they're going to move at some point where will the money come from when they actually are ready to move now that the ARA way of paying for this has disappeared so we had offered that those funds to the school district in anticipation of them moving I think they used like $30,000 for planning or something like that but they notified us a year ago saying that we were not going to be able to expend those funds in the time frame that we have we won't be able to contract it uh by the end of this calendar year and expend it in the next two years so that's what we went with so it leaves a a hole in in I'm not sure exactly what their plan is for reloca okay maybe whole is not quite the right word not sure if anybody in the team knows more than I do on that unfunded um so I think I'll stop because I see other hands are up I do have a question on banks um not so much the dollar amount you've talked about but in in jcpc in the joint Capital planning committee one of the proposals is for roofs a big amount of money 500,000 and it was proposed for part of banks so I'm wondering if if this is here it can lower the other or this is an addition to that okay thank you this is an addition um Anna uh all right so Dave you said something and I tried to take really fast notes and I might need you to repeat it and it's about the heat pump program again because I think when I'm hearing about this I'm like what I want to make sure I'm getting the information out to people you know and and so what you're saying is that this is a longer term program that you're establishing the ability to um to coordinate that Stephanie or our our internal team wouldn't be coordinating it and this money will be allocated in the time frame I think I had that question about a couple of the the projects so you've got that that plan so first of all it it will be allocated it will be spent in the within the arpa deadlines and timeline that's no question um okay what I meant was Stephanie will be coordinating it but we will be working with a company that actually does the installation and the work itself and so as Holly said it' be very similar to the residential solar incentive program we did a couple of years ago the idea being you know um trying to help people uh break through that that threshold and those upfront costs can be pretty significant whether you're putting solar on your house or heat pumps in you know in your residence so so we will be coordinating it um I I don't have a launch date but all of that will be you know coordinated through Stephanie and there will be significant public Outreach and an application process and all of that you guessed one of my questions but not the other um do you have a thought on anticipated impact of this program how many uh residences or or residents or residences you may be able to reach I don't know that but I can take it back to Stephany and get more information I don't think it's an urgent question I'm I'm more curious thank you Jennifer uh thank you yeah I just had a couple of questions um about the Youth Empowerment I'm not sure if that was for a center or programming $500,000 was that to actually was that to implement or to study or both so it won't build a building but we want to develop the plan for it identify a site and actually get within the next um two and a half years get something up and running that's the goal that was one of the goals that we identified earlier I mean one of our challenges I be just be frank with you is that uh we lost our finance director and um he was sort of the s lynchpin for many of these projects and losing him I think we would all agree was a major um loss and I appreciate Leah and Holly stepping in but some of these things have um dragged a little bit but we did not want to lose the initiative because that was what identified early on as a high priority for the for the town so we we have that in with with effort to be made knowing what the deadlines are to move that forward I had another question about uh the bang Center I was just TR um it sounded like part of the money was going to be used for an architect and to do planning for the broader needs of the center but would like a kitchen actually get built with that money yeah the intent yeah so the intent is that we would have an architect come in work with the res you know the Council on Aging and the people who occupy the space talk to the community about what their needs and desires are and then try to design something within the budget that we have and see how far we can get so yes it's and we would want to be able to bid that out and get um under contract by the of this calendar year so the two two and a half million might might we get a new kitchen but it might not it's a goal commercial kittens are kitchens are it's it's it's on our list but it it's it's they're very expensive and we have to see how that where the numbers come in on that but that's the plan and Dave can address this that is included in the plan now right Dave I'm just yeah and actually the commercial kitchen given all the other needs of the bank center the commercial kitchen is is there there it's not an in insignificant amount of money but it's not actually the the the biggest ticket item in that 2.5 I did want to say too because I was listening to earlier comments about you know um Community needs and somebody did talk about the bang Center so it's no coincidence you know Paul just mentioned the um Youth Empowerment Center and that we don't have the Community Resources right now to build a a new building for that but we are looking at how we can better utilize Town buildings to serve youth in our community so the bank center makes perfect sense so there is a Synergy between Youth Empowerment work in our community and and the bang Center so we're looking at that it's downtown it's Central it's on the bus line it serves so many people now as were Illustrated in many of the letters we got and and you got and also um you know what we heard tonight from some of the speakers so invest in that building that's what we're looking at Jennifer yeah no thank you I have to admit I didn't realize okay thank you um a couple of questions um I think the one on the senior center for me was slightly answered which is um is two and a half million enough for everything that was mentioned um because it seems like there was a lot mentioned and two and a half million isn't that much but the question that came up to me was if we don't have a architect yet how do how is that money getting encumbered by December 31 if there's no design yet so you have to hire an architect design do all the Outreach for the design create the bid documents get them out and then sign a contract all by December 31 that that seems like an extremely tight timeline is it doable I'm looking to Dave you're right it's a very tight timeline um um we need to get into it we know that we know the work has to be done on the banks um and so we need to know what has to be done and the goal is to use arpa funds to do to support it I'm going sure you more detail on that Dave in terms of time frames no it's an aggressive time timeline no doubt we're we're ready to go I mean we're ready to to get an architect on board um been working with our internal team on that so we're we're ready to to go on that I I think um I might have used the word Vision about the bank center I think it's more program what is the program and the program will center around of course the first floor Senior Center creating a space for seniors to feel safe for exercise for meetings for all of the things that have been identified by um the Council on Aging and our senior center director so um and of course our facilities team so um it's an aggressive timeline but we're ready to go uh you know ASAP yeah so I just add that town staff have already done a fair amount of work on this they've done some plans some layouts talk with people so in terms of the occupants and laid out how could this be possible that's how we got to the 2.5 million we know that it trigger certain uh life safety features that we would have to address there's some building issues that they know but you know it's not like we're starting cold they've done a lot some already done some plans for it that say just to see sort of a what we call a fit plan does it fit all the needs fit we've we've had meetings with health Dei gr um and of course the Senior Center Council of asan have participated in those meetings so okay well if if it can get done or you think it can I I support the work at the senior center just a couple more Lyn please um the Youth Empowerment um one of the things you talked about as your one of your goals was not increasing operating costs or using this to support operating costs um if new programming is created through a Youth Empowerment Center how is that going to be worked into future operating budgets presuming it will have some ongoing operating costs it's a very good question um we know that the demand is there I think for an autonomous youth Empowerment Center um and putting aside funds to both create it and to help it get launched and then um looking at a recreation department model in terms of maybe there's a way to generate Revenue in some ways we don't have an answer to that one okay um the solar tax credits that you said might be possible so if I'm understanding that correctly I just want to figure out if I'm understanding this correctly we would spend arpa money on it for solar canopies and then potentially receive federal tax credits back that would then be able to be used without a timeline for other capital projects is that is if that's allowed that's what it would work for right that's what I understand okay cath knows better if I could just add in at least one other town they have checked could they use orer fls for this and get a federal tax credit the answer seemed to be yes okay you know I mean it was it's a little odd but and and just it's a 30% tax credit so when you compute what it is it's not insignificant um okay on panels my last question so thank yous um I know there's a lot of talk about needing Road repairs and all I'm having a hard time understanding how arpa funds and Road repairs relate to the original purpose of arpa funds which was issues related to covid and starting with 300,000 when there might be a lot more if if this is your default into what we would spend it on come December 20th to contract out um from affordable housing from potentially Youth Empowerment um from you know senior you know from all of these places Senior Center even if solar can't get there's a lot of places that there's a lot of we hope we can get it contracted by then but we might not be able to and our default is roads can you talk about why you believe roads is an appropriate spending for covid money I mean Martha Leah can talk about whether it's an appropriate category I can talk to you about why we chose roads one the first was because the council repeatedly has identified that as the highest one of its highest priorities the second is that we know we can spend it we can actually go back in time and allocate funds that we've already spent to oura based on these roads freeing up those funds for future road projects so we know we can get it out the door if depending on how much we we use Leah or Martha do you want to weigh in on the appropr yeah is Martha here because I think it is one of the newer um yeah eligibility categories yes that's that's it exactly as mentioned arpa continued to develop new categories subcategories and requirements regulations and they specifically added on roads and sidewalks as a permitted use may I just make one last comment about that to follow up I I feel like given the uncertainty with all of the rest of the spending that starting with 300,000 already in that one is a bit much um and that I I feel like much of that 300,000 could be spent for other categories um before we default to roads and sidewalks because we have nine months to find a way to incumber it in other areas that's my initial sort of thought okay thank you that's useful okay councelor Walker um thank you Mr bamman for I'm sure the cons able amount of time that went into making this presentation um I have a number of questions and comments um I'll try to pick ones that have not already been asked but I did want to say that for the type of learner that I am the presentation was really hard to follow um because of the way that it was set up um and so it was hard to distinguish what has been spent versus what is being allocated in the second round and then we have a a a slide that says summary summary of allocations through 12 3124 but that included things that were in the first round and the second round but then we had another category that said pending allocations so were those not included are those not due to be allocated by 12 3124 I just think it was really hard for me to follow especially for just having received it today um so that's just some feedback for me um and then also in terms of clarity in terms of where the funding is actually going there some some things that were hard for me to distinguish for example repair overused recreational facilities like what does that mean where did the money go what did it address that's very unclear um also Capital project management where did that money go what did it address like a lot of it was very broad blanket categories that didn't give me a very good idea as to what the money is being used for um um so I would like some more clarity on those things like what exactly that means Capital project man management over used recreational facilities um and then just some comments in terms of um some of the challenges with establishing affordable housing like I am always happy to hear that our town is looking to invest in affordable housing but I still do have the concern about how are we determining what affordable housing is um because you know we said 68 of the 78 units will be affordable units with a mixed mixed fed units so some will be for extremely low income so what does that mean so then how many of the 68 are actually going to be affordable housing units that's also very unclear um and then the 100K for the resident oversight board it says that work has begun and is going to continue I would love to know what has happened there how we plan to use the 100K and if that is actually going to create the resident oversight board or is that just still to look into things um also in terms of the monies that was gave to small businesses the uh chart had two categories that said growth grants versus startup grants I would love to know what amount was offered in each of those grants uh because it's my understanding and I could be wrong which is why I'm asking that they were considerably low compared to for example the amount of money that was awarded to the Drake um and so saying that we gave $5,000 to a business is very small um and so I would like to know the difference between a growth Grant and a startup Grant um I also would like to know the senior center van transportation it says that we um allocated money for that and I know we got a lot of comments about the frequency that rides are given and so did that increase the frequency or is that just maintaining the current schedule um also uh some clarity on what pending allocation means does that mean we're definitely allocating that or we're still thinking about it um I also wanted to know what would happen the tax credits when they received is that something that would be determined at another time or is that something we can determine before those funds are allocated um and I also wanted to just make mention of uh there was a statement that you made in the beginning before you started your presentation that said this presentation was developed before some of the compelling comments that that occurred tonight um and while I know some comments from tonight were specific like some of the details were specific to tonight but a lot of the comments that we had tonight we have heard multiple times well before this uh presentation was established and so I'm kind of concerned that a lot of those were not addressed in this presentation um so when I think about like what is the purpose of arpa funding we think about addressing uh addressing issues that were exacerbated or created by the covid-19 pandemic and when we think about populations and just categories of um residents and resources that were disproportionately affected by covid-19 um my brain goes to number one first and foremost black and brown residents and businesses um seniors youth low-income families um and so a number of those things have been addressed with these allocations but one of the things that is still severely lacking is black and brown residents in businesses and I think that's a major concern because it is clear I think research shows everywhere that these communities and businesses were already disproportionately addressed before the pandemic and the pandemic just further exacerbated that and so those areas are in significant need of attention um one of the categories that we have that was to address a portion of that in my opinion was the uh resident Aid um and I know I've talked to you about some of these concerns before but it feels like significant enough to bring it up again that there are a number of requirements and restrictions around accessing those funds that almost make it insignificant in in the way that we are Distributing those funds so for example if a family was really affected by covid in terms of their finances they can only receive the resident Aid if they are behind on their rent enough that they have already received an eviction notice there's no other way to access those funds so that means I mean speaking from myself as someone who has grown up living in poverty and as a low-income mother sometimes you have to make decisions as to which bills you pay and some times you can't pay them all and I'm sure that that was the case for a lot of residents during covid and sometimes people pay their rent as opposed to paying their electric bill or their heating bill which we are not allowing residents to receive aid for those things because of the way that the restrictions on these allocations are and I'm hoping that that can be changed because we would have such a greater impact if we had different restrictions requirements in terms of how we're allocating the resident Aid all right sorry can I just say one last thing and I think the bbaa in their proposal was addressing that also so you could kind of address two areas should that be something that you include um that was a lot to uh put into one question so I'm going to ask the town manager to begin with uh wherever he would like to and then we may have to come back and be prompted by what some of your other questions were so um these are really terrific questions uh so I thank you for them um the uh presentation we we it is complicated and it was unclear because things are moving a lot in terms of categories and things like that what we tried to do is match up the is to look at pre how we presented information in the past and try to do that obviously we could have done a better job because it's you know not as clear as people would like so uh we can work on that um you asked a lot of specific questions about how specific money we will we can get that in writing to you because I think we we have that all document I mean Martha could pull that up but I don't think it's time worth time well spent for the council but each one of those things on the um recreational facilities what does that what did we spend it on uh capital projects management affordable housing how many units um the $100,000 for the resident oversight board how what's that going to buy is it going to get all these I get I have all these questions the small business grants growth versus um startup um by Grant amount uh senior Transportation what did we I think a lot of them were like what did we get with for our money is that's it's a basic question which is really you're you're you're saying exactly what we should do pending allocation means that that's what we have said that's how we're going to spend the next trunch of money the round three that's what the pending allocation um it's not been allocated yet but because I want to talk with the council um the tax credits um forget what that one was um I was just wondering if once we receive tax credits is oh yeah where they would go and if that's something that is determined at another time or if that's something we can determine before we allocate the funds yeah I I think that's a separate transaction when the money comes back into the town I'm not sure how that works quite honestly we'll figure that out um and then in terms of the uh focus on black and brown residents and black and brown business owners I I appreciate that um and then the challenge we have talked about the challenge in accessing resident aid funds you know that program is run by Family Outreach of ammer and um you know we have not heard others really complain maybe Leah or Martha have heard others but I know that that's been a very popular program that's why we put more money into it so can I clarify something about that program yeah um I just the requirements you we can't overdue utility bills are an acceptable allocation so we've had plenty of people who have submitted for electric gas I think I heard you say that it wasn't an eligible expense you need to have a shut off notice that is part of the requirement I have reached out directly to the program yeah um or an overdue notice so we've done plenty of um applications where the rent is overdue the mortgage is overdue utilities are overdue um I just wanted to make sure people aren't not applying because of that um because I haven't heard of anyone that has been denied an application except someone who tried to apply twice I also would like to say that we have received emails to our Council email of residents complaining of such so that's interesting because I we can look into that councilor okay sorry if I can just say one last thing I'd be happy to resend my list of questions because I have them written down just to make sure but I was hoping that just before we move along that you might be able to speak to the absence of additional funding and support for black and bound brown businesses and residents and why we don't see that even in the third round of pending allocations so when we looked at there were many competing needs in many um very worthwhile things that we could invest funds in and when I was looking at how to expend the funds in a timely manner this is these are the things that I put on that I identified um again as I said this is you know hearing your comments tonight and others we will take all the comments back and talk about it tomorrow thank you councelor uh Pam Rooney please thank you uh I also want to appreciate the staff putting this together uh it is a little difficult to digest when it comes in after five and you've already gone off to make supper before the meeting so this is the first time many of us I think are hearing the details of this appreciate the background look um but I would I would reiterate what I just heard from counselor Walker and counselor hanii um the the roads in this case given that we have this this looming crisis in the schools um I want to make sure that we are that we're aware of this this really broad um looming fiscal cliff um so question on solar panels so is would the money toward solar panels in this case be in addition to what has been allocated for the project now or would it in fact help cover some of the solar solar panel cost to the project thus enabling us to lower the amount that we would borrow um as far as digesting this information would it be possible to post the breakdown just to remind us all in detail where where the money was spent a little bit like a jcpc capital budget just line by line of of where the previous monies went um resident oversight board the 100,000 uh uh Alicia brought that up but is there still money in there can we complete the creation of a resident oversite board with the 100,000 that was originally um identified is and then go to the bank center I am a strong supporter of putting money into the bangs Center I would like as as whoever is doing the space allocation process to recognize that from whatever we've heard there is already a dir of space for the health center there's already too little space for the for the senior center and their functions um we have staff there I would love to see the staff not be in that building and find them a home where the building itself can just be completely a a community center um to try to shoehorn in a Youth Empowerment uh location as well at this point in time I think is not possible and I would hate to try to go down that path in a hurry and endend up jeopardizing all the other programs that are just you know sort of competing at for for the space needs today um I think that's it for now but I I appreciate the information I I would not uh I guess if roads is a catchall that's fine but given our fiscal cliffs I I think we do have um more looming hate to say it more looming issues thanks I was brief did you have response to any of that no I I think um on our website uh which there's a link at the end of the presentation uh and just apologies for you getting it we were working on the pro presentation over the weekend and today is of two o'clock also so just just how we're we're in the middle of budget season just everything hitting all at the same time so sorry about that um so on our on our website um Marth can confirm what is on our website um sure on the arpa page of the website it has the past presentations that were given to the Town Council as well as each quarterly report that we do online to the federal government and then each we called them um snapshots each individual project has a snapshot that outlin how the funds were originally intended and some of the metrics that go along with that so all of those are available on the on the town website thank you Martha and one of the challenges we had for tonight was to really wanted to focus on the pending allocation discussion uh because I thought that was where the council's interest would be as opposed to analyzing how money was spent in the past and so we didn't really focus as much on on that knowing that that was many of that much of that information was on the website um utilizing my privilege as a counselor um I just want to go back to the solar canopy um we've already I believe designated an additional 5 million from our reserves toward the school project with the hopes that that would be reimbursed somehow or another through tax credits am I correct on that to a certain extent but I if I may you you we would need to look at the solar canopy as a almost a distinct and separate project from the school project meaning the additional five million that we no the one million that we're talking million we would be looking at that as a separate one okay um I I I I keep going back I'm totally totally in support of the elementary school project I'm just wondering if um the five we've already done the five million from reserves whether not this is the place uh to put this money although I I personally don't want to see us lose one dime of this money so I totally support projects that can get done and be done in time um and allocated now um I do um I think I'm going to pause there a lot of other people have mentioned most of the other things I would have asked about and so rather than take up time I'm going to go on to councel Lord thank you um I wanted to First bring up um the idea of affordable housing and how much money we are pouring into it and the Developers um there is a Bloomberg article about how college towns have the highest levels of income inequality I think when we are figuring out what affordable is we do it based on a median or some kind of um income average and when we're including the professors of Amis college and UMass I don't think it paints a fair picture I don't know what to do about that if we could ever disaggregate or separate those and see what affordable houses housing is for those that you know aren't tenure profession s or presidents Etc um so the I'm grateful that we're taking steps towards affordable housing but I think we still need to do a deeper dive into making it accessible for lower income families because all of us bring such richness to this town in our different socioeconomic brackets in our different ethnic backgrounds and religious backgrounds Etc um another a thing I do I am I would I would like to see some money allocated to more black and brown businesses and families because part of how we feel we belong is we see ourselves represented in the stores and specifically in food I see a few different ethnicities well represented and I don't now we do have a cake cake place a bakery yay but I was very sad to lose a restaurant in town um that could not get the help of the ARA funds one more thing oh and also I want to um agree with councelor Walker around getting access to the help you need I was unhoused here in Amis for nine months in 2010 so now like rent is the thing I pay even if it's on credit cards because housing and security is like real and so what if I've been buying groceries and rent on a credit card and I don't have access to the help I need because it's not a electric bill or a um you know a rental Bill ection notice we have a free store here in ammer and we don't check people's incomes we don't look at what car you drive in here we walk out on faith I know we can't really do that at this time with this money but if we could have a little more Grace and Faith for people to get the help they need um in a re in a in the world that I want to live in it'd be like hey if you need it come get it no questions asked and those of us who don't need it don't take it we're not there but that a world I dream of one day and I'll stay delusional um I do thank you for all the work you put into this oh I'm sorry one more thing those solar canopies that's tricky for me because I do I think people are hurting um and I want to prioritize our families and our businesses but I also know we're moving towards the green also nod to the house poor quote unquote I'm glad we're making some room for homeowners that are low income because they often get left out thank you Andy yes as far as the roads is concerned um the um act uh the the statute that created ARA program clearly permits that and um the Massachusetts Municipal Association Committee in which I'm a member which is a fiscal policy committee um did um earlier in the process uh try and do a little bit of an informal survey on how different communities were using um arpa funds and why and the reason that that was placed in the statute was the recognition that um covid crisis caused an inflation and construction costs and um therefore it was looking for places where communities were falling behind because of the covid crisis and uh the increase in construction costs was one of them uh as we look back on what happened with roads what we found was that uh because of uh materials costs as well as labor costs but largely materials costs that the cost of constru constructions of Roads went up tremendously and we were able to do far fewer linear feet of roadway uh than we thought when we originally had allocated money for it so it does seem to me that catching up on roads is an appropriate thing to consider and U that is what a number of communities reported that they had done in some fashion not necessarily roads but the whole range of different kinds of projects the other thing that I wanted to ask the town manager is with the um business grants uh um that were given out um in earlier rounds the economic development and business grants some of that was um of course allocated with uh the assistance of the business improvement district was there a process of establishing criteria that was um with the town participation in establishing the criteria and what kind of oversight role did the town exhibit when it um allocated those grants Le Martha do you want to take that or I have some notes on that [Music] um so when we started thinking about the criteria for the small business grants it was really there was no um guidance from the treasury there was no real guidance of sort of how to do the process and it was a lot of looking at other communities and seeing what other communities were doing as criteria um and then also following some federal guidelines um and so a lot of the criteria you know it has to be break and mortar had to be within ammer um Community you know employee less than 50 employees um all of that came from sort of what everyone else was working on at the same time through their arper money um and how it could contribute to Economic Development um and also the amounts that we wanted to give out um we also took into consideration the fact that way back then at the beginning of the pandemic there were still a bunch of money available from other sources um that had covid money for small businesses um that they hadn't been able to give out um so all of that thinking back like maybe three years now um was taken into consideration it was reviewed by um different departments in the town it was reviewed by our attorneys um trying to remember who else we actually review the criteria with so I have an answer to that okay I jump in so this is a question that was asked last time by the council so I can just read you the answer that we provided okay um yes there were written criteria created by the town and provided to the bid as the focus of this program was economic development for example the town determined that allocation between startup and growth grants we limited the max minimum Grant to $10,000 and required that at least 50% of the funds be awarded to bipo lgbtq women or other marinized community-owned businesses businesses had to demonstrate that they were negatively impacted by the pandemic the applicants payment of taxes had to be current and in Good Financial standing we cap small businesses at 50 or fewer employees and that the businesses be physically located in ammer okay thank you um George uh just a quick uh comment on putting money into roads um it's much more than just filling a pothole uh potholes you're all going to drive over tonight on your way home it's also about bike Lanes crosswalks crossing lights it's basically about pedestrian and bike safety it's not just um fixing up a hole or two it's about traffic calming so putting money into roads is about a lot more than just um fixing the road itself and we should keep that in mind mind it's a it's a very big need in town we hear it all the time when we uh talk to our constituents that keep in mind it's about more than just the road itself it's also about pedestrian and bike safety Anna I'm going to go to Pat since she's not spoken at all I'm still wrestling okay Anna please go ahead uh two quick comments I think one of the things Alicia you asked the question about the definition of affordable a while ago and I looked it up and I forgot to share the answer um that's my bad I was because I was curious about it too and I think it's a really it's a valid question of where can we create definitions that apply to our community um and I what I found is that the the text of the arpa bill does limit it to the United States Housing Act definition so we're Bound by that um by the definition there which I can send you the text of it's really long um and hard to get through but I can send it to you so I think we are we are bound to use the arpa funding by that definition if that makes sense um in terms of how we Define very low income and low income um that was the one thing I wanted to mention and then the other thing was the solar canopy project I think one of the things coming in today I was looking at the extreme fiscal cliff that we're facing in our schools and I'm recognizing that one time arpa funds will not stop a fiscal cliff they can hypothetically postpone it but finding an allowable use for AA funds in that a little bit tricky um the reason why the solar canopy is really compelling to me is because it would eventually or quickly start to reduce operating costs for that school building um and I think that we have seen the need to reduce costs anywhere other than Staffing that we can and this has the potential to support that Vision um so that for me is one of the really extremely compelling cases to be made for that particular project thanks Pat are you ready no thank you for no thank you for reminding me put on the mic uh thank you for uh talking about the criteria uh that was created um I would love to see more money in almost every one of these areas so but one of the things that I've been thinking about is what is community and and that it's not one thing uh would I like to see more money into small businesses owned by black and brown people yes but as we went through this I wanted to say that I felt um that the way that the arpa fund has has been distributed and potentially will be distributed has tried and to directly address a lot of the issues that have come up from the community safety working group from members of the bipo community in all areas we there was a call for Resident oversight board money is going there there's a call for Youth Empowerment Center money is going there we created Crest we created a Dei Department the mobile market Market is being funded which directly uh creates food access for people who have lack of Transportation by bringing uh po basically popup markets Lauren knows about it she was in on the creation that directly affects BAC and lowincome white people um you talk about um heat pump program you're talking about Resident Aid is there enough there no is there enough for small business no but I want us to acknowledge what we have been trying to do and that I think we've been doing a decent job um it's very easy to criticize and say uh say what's wrong let's take just a breath and look at what we have heard and what we have tried to do and are trying to do because I think that we have done a fairly decent job thank you um councelor hanii I'm going to be really quick I raised my hand to say the same thing Anna just covered about the solar of it reducing ultimately operating costs at our elementary schools which seems very important right now so plus one to those comments and since I'm going after pat plus one to Pat's comments too all right I think we're done with the comment and we do need to move on to to the rest of our agenda um I am going I'm sorry uh councelor Walker I just have a quick question about process so now what happens with the arpa allocation funding does the town manager just take into consideration our comments and then it comes back to us like will there be any changes made will it just come back the same will we be asked to vote on it the next time that it comes um first of all I know that town manager will take into consideration are now hour plus discussion on this and the many public comments as well uh arpa funds are actually nothing we do we don't vote on our arpa funds okay so uh we can ask for a report back at some point you know at any point in time in meetings as part of the Town manager's um report um Andor any time besides that so this doesn't come back to the council I I'm sorry I didn't hear this doesn't come back to the council not for a vote but for a discussion or for anything like this is just the last time we talk about it it can always come back to the council for further discussion and Report okay thank you okay um so uh given the hour I am going to suggest that I item uh four five 6 and 7 all if you will notice are referrals to the town services and Outreach committee all of them ask that we uh in the Motions hear back from them by May 6th and so I would like to combine all of that into one motion and that if there are questions from the Council that either they be brief and raised tonight or that we send we ask counselors specifically to send those to TSO is there any objection to combining the motions and I just want to check on which ones you're talking about so are you talking about all the ones that have with roadways I'm talking about everything regarding roadways so it would be belter toown Road Improvement ments it would be Heatherstone Road improvements okay that's that's all um I'm fine and I have question comments but I will put them together and send them to TSO so I just want to make sure there're maybe when they're being discussed that we get an alert for those of us who aren't on TSO so we can participate I don't have a question on every single one of them but I have a question on a few okay Anna I have questions on every single one I'm just kidding um I if we have questions specifically for Guilford um and we would like Guilford to have a chance to ponder those questions prior to going to TSO should we send them to Paul or Guilford or who to Paul all right thank you okay and also I I actually would prefer that all questions regarding any of these four items be not just sent to Paul but to be sent to the chair and coach and uh Vice chair of TS so so that everybody's kind of looking at the same pool okay could you point of whate could you remind us of the chair and vice chair I know the chair but who's Indy is the chair and George Ryan is the vice chair thank you Mr Ryan thank you so um Athena I'm getting you a motion she's trying to put this into one motion and just to be clear yes L if we're sending you to chair and vice chair can we also copy ball yes okay good I just want to make sure that we aren't sending some questions to Paul and other questions that in that's fine it's just do all three that's great thank you we're pausing for just a moment okay so all right you like me to read this I think that would be good and then one of us can put it in motion and the other we can look for a second and then we go on okay okay to refer the following permanent changes to the public way to the town services and Outreach committee with a report to the council by May 6 2024 permanent changes to the public way on belter toown road as shown on the construction plan titled belter toown Road Route 9 improvements sta 2 plus 72 to sta 11 Plus 43 dated March 2024 to the town s oops I'm G to take this out permanent changes to the public way on Heatherstone road is shown on the conceptual plan titled Heatherstone Road sidewalk concept dated February 29 2024 proposed changes to the intersection of AMD Street and University Drive to convert the existing intersection from signaled control to a full-size roundabout and permanent changes to the public way on West Street is shown on the conceptual plan titled sidewalks and double splitter Islands dated January 2nd 2024 so moved thank you a second all right are there any further questions or comments Gilford you have your hand up I was just going to say that these are pretty straight forward changes we're mostly just adding sidewalks um if you wanted to be bold and ambitious and save yourself several more meetings just vote to accept them and we can move on actually a couple of them do require that there be some public comment options so I certainly expect that uh TSO may come back to us and say accept them okay we'll see um the motion's been made and seconded any further comments I think we're to councelor hanii hi uh Bob hegner hi councelor Lord hi Pam Rooney yes Council Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jenifer to yes councelor Walker yes uh oh Pat dangeles Anna Devon gothier hi um councelor ET I Lyn grimer is an i it's unanimous okay uh we are now uh onto Item B which is the $1.5 million Regional School debt authorization I'm going to call on Bob hegner as chair of the finance committee to provide us a brief introduction or review of this and the summary of the finance committee's vote thank you Lynn um I I'll try to make this very brief um the um in um on January 23rd of this year the Regional School District voted to resend a $1.5 million authorization that had already occurred in the past uh on in 2022 and then it was revised in 23 um for relocating the amorist high school Regional High School track um and they then they reinstated the same borrowing but they changed the wording to make it less uh specific in terms of what the project the final project would look like and there are four basic options one is to keep the current track as it is just replace it uh then uh the second option or one B is to keep the C the current track where it is but enlarge it and put a with a grass iner field the third the second option option two is is relocate and reorient and re reenlarge the um the track with a grass inter field and then the final option was the same thing but with a turf field and we looked at the um and all this is in the report we looked at what the cost estimates were back in 2021 and tried to you know estimate how much they would have would appreciate so much um and then we looked at the um the funding sources available to uh the Regional School District and um these are all laid out in in the report um suffice it to say that with existing funding certain options can't be fund can't be paid for uh so additional funding would be required and that's with the 2021 estimates uh if you inflate things um the existing money may be enough to enlarge the current track but it probably isn't just so everyone knows so the the committee was was split on this uh we did approve it but uh it was not unanimous and we had some serious concerns with the project uh first is the uncertainty we don't know what the final project will be and especially with now the school the Regional School being having such you know a a fun crisis I don't know if we can if where this project will stand uh as we go forward um the the existing funding as I said may not even be adequate for um we certainly it's not going to be sufficient for the reorienting the track but it may not even be sufficient for the simplest uh uh repairs um timing there's a timing issue in that um updated cost estimates won't be available until the April or May time frame but we only have till the 23d to make we the council to make a decision on this I should point out there there's three things we can do we can say yay to um you know reauthorize the debt we can say no to reauthorize the debt or we can do nothing and the debt then is after 60 days and I'm not sure whether that's a calendar or a working day but after 60 days it's a pocket approval if if we do nothing so uh the three choices we have are to say yes say no or do nothing in which case that's a pocket approval um then there's no issue uh the long another issue is the long-term maintenance and uh replacement of the facility um it's not clear whether these are included in the costs um and then there's it's there's a issue with storm water water drainage and how well that's replaced and then finally there's a Athletic Facility strategic plan which was developed in 2019 and it does include the only thing it really has in there is the track and field But it includes a reorientation of that so uh if we if the school doesn't choose to go to reorienting the track then that strategic plan is basically uh obsolete so uh again we we did it we um we the the committee voted to uh accept the reauthorization of the debt uh although we had reservations about uh about the project okay is there anybody else from t uh from yeah Kathy please go ahead just expand on Bob I agree with everything he said and the reason we voted to move forward with a recommendation to say yes is uh otherwise the money that's on the book disappears it disappears from the regional school budget it disappears from our capital budget and what we're and it's important to keep it there so the decision on what will be done there's a deadline based in this of November uh there's additional money the town of amest has voted for as well as we voted for it out of our cash Surplus Free Cash Plus CPAC money some rewarding would be needed on that but there's enough money to do more than just a track once there's a decision what to do so the majority on the committee and Mandy's hand is up because she in the minority um voted to advise the council to move forward and say yes councelor hanii yeah so I was the one no vote um voting to not recommend this which was with a heavy heart because I really believe we need to resurface and reorient and do a reoriented track project for our students and for Equity purposes um but if we approve the borrowing now I have a real fear that the only project that will get done if something gets done is a six Lane track in place which as Bob just said um makes obsolete a downtown Fields master plan does not do anything for equity in sports um and in sports access um the school committee wants to take November to make a decision but they want us and tell us we have to tell them now without any choice or any knowledge as to which project they actually favor which projects they will actually choose or whether any of the funding is actually doable for anything other than an Inplay six Lane track I think it's too early for us to be making this decision I thought that two years ago when we voted and they said we had to do it now it was important we couldn't delay anything they needed a project so that they'd be building in 9 months or 2 years later and they're looking to build in another year um to ask us to do this when there aren't even cost estimate updates from three years ago so I'm not even sure and I'm not confident that the million and a half would cover a non- reoriented track I don't believe if our manager came to us with as many uncertainties that the regional school committee is asking is coming to us with that we would ever vote to borrow money I think we'd demand more information we'd demand updated cost estimates or even at least just projected inflation estimates from those even if they're not fully updated um to not demand it of the school committee just to keep something on a books while that might be important I don't think that outweighs all of the uncertainties that Bob so well summarized as to my concerns and so I regret that I'm going to have to vote no but I'm going to have to vote no George I'm sorry councelor Ryan so just someone help me maybe Kathy or Bob but what you said was if we don't the money goes away so Manny seems to be okay with that or she's not okay with but she knows the money's going to go away so maybe the question is to councelor hanii um that money goes away what that sounds like not a good thing so your thought on that may my question is really to you so I was advocating in finance for us sending a strongly worded letter basically or some message that says it's too early revote the authorization when you have updated cost estimates was the big one when when we know whether one and a half million will even resurface the track which we don't actually know right now um they could do that this month or next month it would start another 60-day clock but it would bring it within the town meetings forms for the other towns to put it if they wanted to on their own um warrants without having to call special Town meetings this was done off cycle so that the other towns if they wanted to have the discussion we were having now as their legislative body would have had to call a special town meeting it I was advocating for going back to the regional school committee and saying give us more information and revote it better uh Pam Rooney please thank you I appreciate the fact that that the school committee has opened up the conversation and sorry and acknowledg that there that there may be some options um some better worse um I'm I'm going to take the attitude that as everyone told me to do for the library ex excuse me point of order I can't hear the counselor thank you is it my voice Pam hold on is not your voice we're taking I'm going to call a recess for a few minutes Pam you're not in the room we're we're going to call a recess we can't hear you can't hear a zoom no we can't hear you because of background noise in the hallway oh pardon me Lyn did you say how long we're taking a recess I did not can we have a five minute recess please I can't hear you can we please have a five minute recess I would like to call a five minute recess so councilors can turn their cameras off and get up if they like for five minutes e e e e e e e e I'm extending the recess for another five minutes please turn your cameras off is I can't go to let's you can't no I'm not e e e e think we can begin could we Athena I can reconvene yes thank you we're going to reconvene please turn your cameras back on pamon I believe you were in the middle of asking some questions or some making a statement please go ahead and then I'll go on to counselor Lord thank you very much I have no idea what was going on but I um I guess I wanted to to be clear on my support for this project I understand it has gone through several iterations um but I'm but I appreciate the fact that this that the school committee is broadening its perception of what the project might be understanding that it may not fit some of the categories in the master plan um I think as many many people said to me during the the vote to extend uh funding for the library that maybe we just need to trust in the fundraisers and allow them to do their work between now and November if in fact the school committee can't get its act together and the fundraising including CPA funds from other towns um we'll know by November if it's AO or not I would love to see uh resurfacing of the track even if it is and I would love to see it an enlarge track for sure I would like to see how much in fact we can build of the project and I'd love to keep the opportunity open to do just that thank you councelor Lord please forgive me for asking the obvious but I've heard go away a couple times does that mean the towns reabsorb it is it a federal thing it is what does go away exactly mean thank you for asking that question um Paul what does go away mean if the if we don't if we vote no okay we have options we can vote Yes we can vote no or we can not do anything which is equal to voting yes okay if we vote no what happens to the money so if you vote no um I don't think that automatically disqualifies the project I think it needs three towns to approve I don't want to speculate I should find out Athena did you have something to say um if the towns don't approve the borrowing then the money is not borrowed it doesn't go back anywhere because it's never borrowed in the first place is that what you were asking okay yeah the my understanding is the money has not been borrowed yet it's just been authorized but not actually acted upon it's not we don't borrow money until There's an actual project but on on each on our budget schedule the school budget schedule there's a line item going out 10 years to pay for this yes and that's where you know each year they're saying we're going to be spending this amount of money if it's rescinded that line isn't there anymore Council Lord did that answer your question okay councelor hanaki yeah I just wanted to clarify something for um Pam when she talked about CPA funding um we asked a little bit about CPA funding and the timing of CPA funding in finance committee as it relates to this project particularly for the other three towns because their funding schedule said there might be 200 plus thousand available from those towns when questioned further the Acting Superintendent indicated that he has not the regional school committee or the school district has not yet applied for any CPA money from any of the other three towns um that they have a funding cycle that is already passed for a fiscal year that begins July 1 um so if they applied on the next traditional cycle that money would not be available till fiscal year um 2020 six um so July 1 2025 um unless they asked for it off cycle um but to ask for it off cycle there would have to be CPA money reserved and he could not answer the question as to whether if they asked for it off cycle that the CPA committies have money that they could Grant off cycle um and if they cannot get it off cycle given that they have to have all money in hand before they sign um a contract after bidding and that they hope to bid in December of this year 2024 um no CPA money would be available for the project itself um because they haven't done it yet so that was also one of my concerns in voting no is even their current funding plan doesn't seem to meet the cycle they've told us they need to meet I guess the Dilemma for me is how to not walk away from a needed project and how to do that without completely killing the project and so I'm I don't have a great answer to that I am asking that question because this is a project that I and many of us have supported and would love to have seen it go with a reoriented track uh and so forth and I still would love to see that um in support of our athletes and youth of ammer and of the region so what can we do that doesn't kill the project that's my question Jennifer well I'm asking another question I can't answer yours but is the harm if we approve it and then it comes in at higher than the funds are available they can't do it I would or they'd have to go they'd have to figure out at that point what they needed to do I shouldn't say they couldn't do it but what is the harm in us giving them the go-ahead um on hoping that they can do it Kathy I think that's the right question Jennifer because this gives them the go- ahead to keep going and Lynn there there's potentially I mean the door is not completely closed on the other towns CPA as Mandy said it's unclear because they're out of cycle they did turn down the other towns the schools did go to them with a larger project and they turned down artificial turf so that was turned down so that money that might have been there was not there so I think this is a go-ahead to see how far you can get so we also had we have a new cost estimator the schools that isn't I don't want to say something negative about the first group because it's a well-known group but they have they do Mega designs and so there are parts of the project that could be the final lights or something that that could be done so I think moving ahead they're going to get a a cost estimate how much we can do with this amount of money and we will know more over the summer I mean I I feel more certain about this project moving forward than the funny financing of the Jones Library I just just have to say that I mean I you know and there's promises there that they're going to find the extra money but the Gap here is smaller you know on on the amount more money that will make at least a smaller project worth doing possible councelor Walker um thank you I am a member of the finance committee but I was not present for this discussion so I just wanted to State my support um for moving this forward uh for a couple of reasons one because this is not changing the amount of money that we had committed to Prior so there is no real great change to the council's commitment there was a wording change in terms of making it more vague towards what they could apply the funding to but I think that's to the benefit of our community getting something done um and I remember the council meeting where we had this at DIS in discussion the first time around and we had a significant amount of public comment in regards to the safety concerns with the field and so we all know funding is an issue in our town in general like every project we're trying to do right now we're having issues with funding we know I ideally we would want to do all things possible and spend as much money as possible to have the track reoriented resurfaced new grass what have you that might not be a reality we need to do something there needs to be some addressing of this situation because we saw how it's affecting our community and I think giving them something is better than giving them nothing um because it's not working towards the solution so I think right now the council is saying this is what we can provide it's the same amount we said said before I think the other towns have already um showed their approval towards moving forward in this way um and let's see what we can do um and if we can't do it they'll either have to come back to us or somewhere else and at that time we can make another decision but I don't see a huge negative consequential outcome here um although I do understand Mandy's concerns and they're valid um I just don't see it being having a huge negative impact on the council thank you Anna so I think the other part of the public comment that we heard talked about why the track in its current iteration wasn't working and I think that that is getting lost a bit in all of the conversations that we had about artificial turf um and so I think that I'm hearing the regional school committee and the other towns concerns about the artificial turf that does not seem to be something the other towns are interested in contributing to our region for um the the non reorientation of the track is making this really a non-usable surface for some sports because they're staring deadly like dead into the sunset um and so I think that for me the the sticking point is that reorientation and that's really why I'm stuck it's it's what sports can access the playing fields what sports can use access and use same thing sorry I'm I'm starting to get tired um I'm really concerned about a plan that does that resurfaces it that we have to continue to take care of which is understandable but doesn't do that reorientation and we lose this whole again I'm not wedded to the master plan but the master plan talks about the reasons why we want to do those things why we want to reorient it why we want to expand it um they bring an incredible amount to our community and to our town so I I'm really stuck on this and I'm trying to figure out why we can't say we approve this but not for option one um I don't understand why we can't do that why we can't say we want this track reoriented as the town of amorist because of what it does for our Sports and our town and our community um including the students from other other towns not just ammer so I'm I'm I'm a bit stuck on why we can't do that and I'd love a good answer um Mandy Joe so under this vote that we have to take today we can't unless we say no and and I think that's ultimately where my thing is and my opposition to this is is because I've lost the confidence that their funding plan will get to anything other than a resurface in place um whereas two years ago I had that concern but they had a plan that I could look at and say is possible but here their plan includes things that's that are almost impossible now um we if we say no one of my arguments in finance was well we say no with a strongly worded statement of some sort that says bring this back with one and a half million but a promise to reorient but right now if we vote the 1 and a half million it is all up to them on whether to reorient or not because the borrowing authorization that is in front of us is a default to non reorientation and non-expansion still six Lanes still the wrong dimensions for half of the sports it's not just that it's it's not reoriented it would be rebuild in place at one and a half million if that's enough money which is six Lanes not eight so can't be Championship events is the wrong inner inner Dimensions to do most sports we do so you can't actually play on the inner field for most competitive sports right now and that's what this borrowing authorization defaults to and that's always been my concern but we had school committee members and superintendents in front of us with a plan and and uh and fundraisers in front of us with a plan last time time that I could believe in we've got no one in front of us now and a super an Acting Superintendent that is admitted 200,000 of it is basically high in the sky because they haven't gone after it anymore um that's my concern so yeah okay councelor Walker um yeah I I appreciate those comments um just because I'm thinking about all of it but um um my question is then what is the alternative because if they don't we're not the full the sole funding source so if they don't come up with enough money they don't come up with enough money I I mean we are giving a portion of the funding that they need to do either one of the options the funding is coming from other places um and so I think that I mean can we not just include a statement that like we recommend this option this is what we would like to see since this is what we've heard at the council level without changing the commitment without changing what's in front of us in terms of the borrowing authorization like does it have to be super strict and confine our decision to we will only give money if it's not number one or can we just say we're you know we're reaffirming our commitment to this portion of funding we hope that we can address X Y and Z is that not an option um that's an excellent question councelor Walker um Jennifer Tob yeah I would just think the school committee wants would I mean that they would want to get to number two or certainly 1B so if we authorize we approve the authorization 1A is the default but I in this case I do you know have confidence they may not be able to raise the money but I would think the school committee and the school as much as anyone wants to be able to reorient the track and have it be uh eight Lane so they so it's competitive so they can have competitive tournaments I mean I would think they want that at least as much as we do is there a possibility that we can do two motions one is the motion to approve and the other one is the motion to send the strong message so the general law specified that the each of the member towns has an opportunity the 60-day window to express its disapproval and if one of the member tot does that then the borrowing wouldn't be authorized um so there's the only action that the council can take in terms of the borrowing authorization is to like um Bob had said earlier to approve disapprove or take no action if you wanted an additional motion to send um resolution to the school committee then you could do that but it wouldn't be part of the action on the borrowing authorization not Bing the the general laws are really clear about what the council can do with that authorization and it's not binding yeah any further motion wouldn't be binding okay councelor Walker you have your hand up oh sorry I just didn't put it down councelor hanck yeah I just wanted to say if this Mo if if the borrowing is approved they can use one and a. half million for any of the four options right now because that's what it's written as and the Assumption from the school committee and from the superintendent was that one and a half million even if they receive not enough money for the bigger projects the reorient projects would be enough to repair a six Lane track in place which means it would never come back to us they could just make that decision and I guess that's where I'm concerned because if we authorize it now they could just say well we don't have money for a reorient and either grasser Turf right if if they don't have money for either of them they can say well we're just going to repair six Lanes in place Andy steinber I'm sorry were you done I was gonna say so I'm not comfortable with that default which is where I I get concerned Andy just want to confirm my understanding of what Athena reported it's my understanding of the statute is if one pound says no Then the borrowing is not authorized for any towns that's my understanding as well okay Anna I who sorry part of I think why my head is spinning on this is that it took us so many meetings to get to a vote when we have discussed this in the past and we are being asked to do this I know Finance talked about it but we are being asked to do this in one meeting within an hour we didn't hear from the public we didn't hear like on this issue again we heard from so many folks and this is a different Council that's addressing this this time this is a different school committee that's addressing it this time so I'm feeling pressed and pushed on a topic that we have not given adequate attention to and so I'm just I'm voicing that I'm very frustrated we had strong letters from the former superintendent from the athletic director um we had coaches we had students we had Parents on all ends of this coming in and now we are about to completely change what we said what we said strongly twice I think we've done this at least twice 17 times I don't somewhere between 1 and 17 I'm not sure we voted three times thank you three times but I was right between 1 and 17 but the the fact that we are now doing this within an hour without adequately in my mind speaking to the folks engaged is engaged in this work is so alarming and concerning that I'm having a really hard time getting to yes and I'm that's just where I'm at I'm really frustrated with this and unfortunately we are up against the 60 days uh Kathy well I'm I'm ready to call the question but I don't want to have to have a vote on call the question just want to say on the very first time we saw the 1.5 there was no prolonged discussion it went through really quickly it was when the extra 900,000 was coming in the question was what the field was could to be that first time we basically the way it was worded said if we don't raise enough money all you're going to get us a track that was the thing that's now being rescinded they said if we get more money we're going to do an option two to b or four whatever the number was but the very first time there wasn't much discussion except a few people really didn't want to Anchor it to artificial turf and Mandy at that point also didn't like the original one because it potentially was going to get just a track so so the first time around there wasn't really much it it it was not even an hour I think when we voted it but the second time there was a lot and with CPA we didn't have a discussion we had a lot when we came up with that last trunch of money but I I'll just stop because I'm a strong yes for this so we'll we'll see whether there's a willingness to vote or not tonight councelor Walker um yeah I just wanted to respond to on his comment in terms of like the amount of feedback we got the first time around I mean I do agree that it's really helpful I I love when the community is involved and letting us know their thoughts but residents could have come to public comment and so maybe this is an issue more of like transparency and people not being aware that this is coming up at the council meeting today for this reason and that happens for a lot of the things that we do because it's really confusing to follow initiatives when they Bounce from committees to the council to a committee to a council to committee meetings that are during the week when everyone's at work so people have a hard time keeping up um so like I I get that frustration I agree I think that's a process issue um but I don't think that that should stop us from making a decision tonight because this is part of the process that we have and this has been in front of us for a long time and things are being updated and changed and so that's why we revisit visting it um I would like to move to approve the let let me read the motion and go for a second okay councilor Walker thank you okay to approve of the one 1.5 million aggregate principal amount of debt authorization by vote of the Amis pelum Regional school committee on January 23rd 2024 that's the motion councelor Walker did you want a second yeah okay got it you can even make the motion if you wanted and I'll second it how's that yes I was trying to make the motion but I just couldn't find the motion sheet in my packet so I was just saying I move to approve and I was hoping that the rest might just follow in but I'm also happy to Second it either way the motion's been made in a second are there other comments councelor uh councelor Ryan just humor me for a second if I were to vote no and if we were to vote no and the borrowing is can't go forward what message does that send to the school committee or does it send one what would be their reaction to given the conversation tonight I think it sends a mixed message one is we're not happy another one is we really don't want to kill the project but we don't like the uncertainty you name you there's a message in everything councelor Walker um I'm also just clarifying that because this is a debt authorization do we need 23ds approval or just a majority it's a majority president and voting thank you all right we're going to move to the vote We Ready Bob hegner I councelor Lord I Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan no Kathy Shane yes Andy seinberg hi Jennifer toab yes councelor Walker yes Pat dangeles no honor dein gothier I councelor ET abstein Lyn grimer and I counselor hanii no passes nine in favor three opposed and one abstained we're going to do a little dance and get a couple one more one or two more things done and that's it uh so um I'm going to uh at this point uh we're going to go to appointments for the design review board would you please P Place counselor he hegner in the audience since he is recusing himself because of this boat sorry Lynn I just have another comment on the previous topic if that's possible before you move Bob yep um well I would like to do this but not if there's not other general interest amongst my colleagues but can we also address sending a statement with that in regards to our I think there's General consensus in hoping that the school committee will proceed with not option one um I I'm more than happy to do that how about the possibility that since I don't think anything's going to happen between now and April 1st that we draft up something and bring it to the council for the April 1 meeting okay great thank you Pam yeah point of order I thought we were I thought the um not the design review board person was taken off but the elementary school board appointment was taken off consent they it was so we're going to start with the design review board okay drb was not on consent it was items one three four and five and four was removed drb not on consent because Karen Bloom is the wife of one of our we don't we don't need to say the reason for Bob's exension unless you'd like to share that I we I'm going to make a motion to approve the town man I believe Bob still if he's recusing himself needs moved thank you okay to approve the town manager's appointment of Karen Bloom effective immediately for a term to expire June 30 2025 to the design review board as filed with the town clerk on February 27th 24 is there a second second Brian are there any other questions or comments okay then we're going to move to a vote just get my votes councelor Lord I Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan I councelor Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jennifer to yes councelor Walker yes Pat Angeles I Anna delin gothier I councelor I Lyn grimer is and I coun Hanah hi and uh that is 12 in favor and one person absent that vot now we're going to move to the elementary school building committee uh we're going to make a motion to approve the town manager appointment of Bruce cuum effective immediately for the ter for a term to last the length of the msba building process to the elementary school building committee is filed with the town clerk on February 27 2024 is there a second second Ryan okay Ryan is a second are there comments at this time and I'm going to look first to uh you councelor Walker um thank you so before I make any comments I just want to state that I also personally don't know Bruce called him and I don't have anything against him specifically um but did want to bring attention to some of the public comments that we did receive in regards to this topic um specifically to the composition of the elementary school building committee board um and so there was specific reference to what the charge States would be the composition of the members of the committee um and the member whose spot this vacancy is filling was not only a parent um but was also a woman of color um and so we're losing those two identities on the board with this appointment which I think are two very significantly important identities to have on this committee um considering that we're building an elementary school I would love to have another parent whose kids will attend that school I think that's a significant perspective to have um but also another another bipac Resident um which we all know are not represented equitably across across boards and committees in this town um and because of how the process works um we don't know who else applied um and so I was not aware of any of this before the public comment that stated that we did have other applicants um and so like my two-piece in wanting to pull this off the agenda is to just make a statement that I would support a parent and a bipac resident to be on this committee to fill up the vacant role because that is um part of the demographic someone also who has experience with Community organizing and community