##VIDEO ID:4G12V0tAR34## [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] for e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] for [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] for [Music] select board for August 20th 2024 first of all I'd like to move that the select board go into executive session for the purpose of approving executive session minutes discussing strategy related to bargaining with a non-union employee and discussing strategy related reled to a litigation matter bargaining with a non-union employee and the litigation matter must be discussed in executive session because an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigation or bargaining posture of the town and the chair so declares an executive session therefore to be necessary I move um going into executive session on favor please indicate by saying I John Van skak hi Michael Sandman I Paul Warren I uh David Perman I and chair votes I select board will reconvene an open session following the executive section at I believe six o'clock right [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] in [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] all [Music] oh [Music] h [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] all [Music] [Music] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] in [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] I [Music] [Music] in [Music] I [Music] [Laughter] [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] all [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] oh go okay good evening again Bernard Green chair of the brook Clin select board this is the regular meeting after executive session of the um select board uh as select board for August 20th 2024 um let's start off with announcements and updates from the select board anything Mike uh yes um so as as uh I think we all know there's a chest Hill commercial area study going on and a community Advisory Group and we convened that knowing that um there was a purchase of the chest Hill Office Park uh in the works uh and um just the same we started that without having any um specific proposal in front of us what we are looking at is revising zoning in a way that would promote commercial developments in the area between basically between Hammond Street and Hammond Pond Parkway along uh route n uh we uh now do have a proposal from Chester Hill realy the of the chestn Hill Office Park um and we'll be discussing that at the uh at a public meeting in September 16th I think is the first uh public meeting of the community community Advisory Group that we be put together and uh the developer will be making a presentation I believe on the um 23r uh of uh uh of September in any case those will all be posted meetings um the project uh that they're proposing incorporates a lot of what the community asks for in the workshops that we held uh a member of the developers team attended all of those workshops and listened pretty carefully um there's a trade-off between um providing all of that and Building height because they're uh putting parking underground in a place where there's ledge which is an expensive process and so they need to have a fairly substantial building above that in order to justify the cost um all of that will um I'm sure be of great interest to members of the public and uh I'm hoping that people will attend the meetings that uh that we'll be having the public meetings that we'll be having uh to uh uh uh take a look at what is being proposed and to hear from our own consultant uh about our own e uh economic evaluation thank you Mike any the Paul hi thank you uh Bernard I wanted to mention a save the date for the community uh the comprehensive plan as you know has begun and the steering committee with staff and our uh consultant partner agency have been busily working to prepare for the formal kickoff the public kickoff of the comprehensive plan uh that will take place October 9th I know it's early it's still just August but we want to get get on your calendar October 9th uh Teno scheduled for 700 p.m. um and we will announce the location uh when when we get it out there we finalize it uh that will be uh an in-person uh kickoff and then uh likely to be followed on the 10th with a virtual kickoff for those that uh would like to be able to participate and won't be able to attend the in person so save the date comprehensive plan kickoff October 9th at 700 p.m. and then following on the 10th at a time to be determined thank you thank you John yeah just quickly uh there's something that is going on right here at Town Hall which I think um deserves uh some extra mention and that is that uh the Department of Public Works has been hosting since Monday since yesterday uh a week-long clothing Drive um at the right here at Town Hall and if residents um have unwanted clothing Linens accessories Etc they uh would like to drop off um they can do so during the regular Town Hall hours um Monday through Thursday 800 to 5:30 FR Friday 8 to 12:30 dry and odorless textile items will be accepted and collected by helsy which a lot of people are familiar with it's the partner um that works with the town in textile recovery so um if you need any more information about you know what's recoverable um you just go to the Brooklin ma.gov webbsite SL textiles so it's you know brooklinema.gov textiles thank you I'm getting rid of a lot of Suits maybe I'll bring for you no longer need that stuff uh anything else okay um moving on to public comment um thank you for joining us for public comment this is an opportunity for to hear your perspective on the issues in Brick line that matter to you each person speaking tonight is limited to 3 minutes you don't need to use the entire time but you may if you like once 15 minutes has been met there is an opportunity at the conclusion of the select board's business for additional comments members of the public sometimes raise questions during public comment we may be able to provide a quick answer to a question but are more likely to work with staff to get a more more thorough answer and respond over email we'll let you know when you have 30 seconds remaining and when your time is up please conclude your remarks at that time if you have more to say you are welcome to send an email to board members expressing your thoughts in Greater detail the first Speaker we had signed up in advance is Linda pelky Linda I'm promoting you now and you should be able to start your video and begin your 3 minutes okay thank you can you hear me yes thank you uh good evening uh my name is Linda Olsen pelky I'm a Precinct 17 town meeting member and advisory committee member on the land use subcommittee and now Vice chair of the comprehensive plan steering committee and I want to comment on a calendar agenda item that you have number 13r which is an update from the planning department concerning possible zoning warant articles for the fall town meeting um I first though want to remind everyone that Brookline just adopted a very significant zoning expansion last fall so as you know town meeting overwhelmingly supported a comprehensive Planning and Zoning reform effort which has begun with the public kickoff plan for this fall as you just heard from Paul the purpose of the planning effort is to establish a fact base on current conditions it's to do Trend analysis and scenario testing to get a feel for what's possible and desirable in terms of growth and change and to deeply engage with the public to determine what the goals priorities and vision of our residents are around land use this engagement and Analysis are necessary to both understand what our residents want for our future and to understand the tradeoffs and to make fact-based determinations about likely impacts to our quality of life infrastructure services and Facilities any meaningful zoning reform needs to be an outgrowth of this process after all you wouldn't go shopping for clothes for your child until you know what size they wear for these reasons I would say in general that the town should refrain from making impactful zoning changes in interim as it relates to the current proposals from the planning department and possible citizen Le petitions I can quickly speak to the specifics efforts to prevent demolitions in general are Justified I feel because when a historic um structure is demolished that act is final and irreversible so I support the proposal to seek a two and a half story limit in our single and two family zones it's interim and preventative when it comes to the changes around adding an additional structure on M District Parcels stemming from issues of ownership it seems that this is a very complex topic and that much more care and consideration needs to be given to the factors we may wish to include in a zoning change to address an additional structure such as climate resiliency parking and curve cuts and the potential unintended consequences to what would be a townwide change are too great to rush through something you have 30 seconds I'm very concerned about implementing permanent changes to the Adu zoning we just passed based on preliminary interpretations of the law I believe we should wait until we better understand the expectations of the state and I am deeply troubled by the rumor of additional ill conceived upzoning proposals proposals from citizens I would hope that Advocates would engage in the planning process and understand the benefits of incorporating multiple perspectives and a more holistically and that concludes your time and publicly Ved and tested zoning reforms thank you thank you the next speaker sign up in advance is David Gladstone David Gladstone if you're online could you raise your hand okay I don't see David Gladstone online um if there are any speakers in the room who wish to speak tonight could you please approach the podium and then could you please say your name for the record and then we'll begin your three minutes of course hello again Sena haiz Brookline resident Precinct 4 miss me speaking in the capacity of bnbc national program director boy oh boy did you guys dig yourself quite a deep hole all of the attempts to steal money from the black and brown Community stop a darely needed daycare for low-income mothers steal that idea and act like it was yours all while claiming this town is a progressive Haven for equality Sho meanwhile child rapists and racists alike seem to think Brooklyn is the perfect environment to come and breed more monstrosities oh man if I were you guys I'd pick a new woke theme because the pink washing racial Harmony landscape isn't hitting Chaz my boy I'll start with you so confident in Reading zana's statement that she was attacked by bnbc the same zarana that took a bnbc employee to court about an issue with an entirely different organization news flash that didn't hold up either because one bnbc had nothing to do with it and two that newsletter according to the judge was free speech a concept you folks like to stifle when it's our community I expect your apology will be just as loud and proud as your lies that's without even mentioning you accusing me of being the voice of another person and another organization the same organization that spoke virtually at a meeting that I attended in person along with you the same organization that sent two Personnel to your very office H not looking so confident in our baseless accusations now are we I'm not surprised though you people always seem to have a hard time telling us apart better get ready for that defamation and discrimination lawsuit when you're so-called investigation is done with I hope that Zionist blood Money saves you you Deborah zarana and all the others in court because it won't save you on the day of judgment it may interest you also that an ARP Review Committee Member came and dropped off a letter to a bnbc employees home I believe you all got a copy of the hardly coherent rambling that included insults and more harassment Brook line governance just can't help itself and to those that have been asking if I've moved on from Brook line just because you don't see me doesn't mean I don't see you I'm here to stay baby and see you around neighbors thank you once do you get to the podium if you could say your name for the record and then begin your three minutes are they jany PR for Brookline resident so today I speak in the capacity as a black man right um it's a little bit baffling last year beside you David a lot of you were quick to voice your opinions about issues concerning black communities and uh recently we read on the news about the racial bullying of that student in school and none of you including you it's it's okay to get heed about the best us and none of you have said anything it's always surprising when it concerns black people except you have to use it to demonize us you guys are quiet that's pathetic weak cowardly that a kid would go through that in school and none of you said anything and try to move on like anything did happen in Brook line and you call yourself leaders you really do call yourself leaders um what a shame though keep doing what you do it's expected we expect that from the 2.5% in our community beyond the white tokens that you guys have trying to represent our communities very very annoying um but keep doing what you're doing um a heart goes out to that parent though and I I want to commend that father for taking the right action hopefully that will set president for other parents to do what they need to do cuz a lot of our kids been experiencing that in schools you know call the N word and the school does nothing and so as the leadership you do nothing to as well that's number one number two in reference to Appa we're going to be reaching out to the Inspector General because it's a lot of stuff that has gone down with Appa at a conquest who was a member on the committee with you Mike has come on this Podium to actually confess that he had nothing to do with signing papers that were approved and he he was the one in charge of vulnerable communities right for the funds that had to do with our community so $2 million out the way and nothing has touched our community you guys don't have proof show us one proof that black and brown people most affected by the Appa benefited from from the Apple funds you have 30 seconds thank you the people most affected by the pandemic show us one proof that you've done anything we'll see records don't lie and Truth is a very beautiful thing I know you guys think you're good at covering things up we're good at digging things up too so in due time let's see where that goes thank you thank you the next speaker is John Herbert online John I'm promoting you now you can start your video if you're comfortable and begin your three minutes uh thank you very much I'm H John Heber the town meeting member in Precinct 7 I would like to add uh to the remarks that were made by Linda Olen pelky on the uh subject of item 13r in the discussion of Warrant articles um that uh as I understand it are designed in part toh to change zoning it's come to my attention that these articles these warrant articles are being considered that would change the zoning bylaw to create more housing uh in Brookline and on on the face of it uh that may be you know that may be warranted and it may be a good thing but I find such proposals disturbing for a number of reasons Chief among them the possibility that some could well undermine the work the Town town is doing on the comprehensive plan that Mr Warren and Miss pelky referenced a few minutes ago uh town meeting and the major political groups in recent sessions spent a great deal of time and energy honing housing policy to comply with the MBTA communities act and accepting new guidelines lines for accessory dwelling units and in assembling the steering committee to put the comprehensive plan for Town zoning to be put into effect now before the new regulations have barely had a chance to take effect and with outcomes that are impossible to predict even for those regulations new proposals are being floated none of which have been carefully studied or even for which the electorate is marginally aware the changes designed to increase housing in population density may be fabulous for developers and the 40 BS that can run rough shot over zoning rules but they could be disastrous for our town for everything from its trees and Open Spaces to services and infrastructure and for the privacy and quality of life of its existing residents and for years to come I too urge the town not to make zoning changes apart from the work being done on the comprehensive plan thank you thank you are there any other speakers online or in the room who'd like to speak during public comment tonight there are 36 speakers online and no one else is raising their hand to speak at this time thank you next uh the miscellaneous calendar first of all are meeting minutes from August 6 2024 I'm Mo of approval unless anyone has any corrections or edits all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren uh yes Bernard I'm gonna qualify my eye I did send in an edit uh to the August 6th all right I saw that I assume those were added so I'll say I yes thank you yes okay um okay Paul Warren and chair votes I oh I'm sorry David David hi okay and sure votes I uh next uh we have an announcement pertaining to review of the board's executive session meeting minutes from January 1st 2024 through July 31st 2024 for purposes of whether to disclose said minutes and I'm going to read um a u I'm going to read an explanation here Town Council is designated by the select board to review the minutes of the board board's meetings in executive session periodically for the purpose of determining whether the minutes may be released or should remain confidential because publication would defeat the lawful purposes of the executive session under the open meeting law the determination must be announced at the select board's next meeting and included in the minutes of the meeting I have reviewed the minutes of the board's meetings in executive session pertaining to the following dates and have determined as follows uh this is Town Council uh meeting date and then determination January 9 2024 release uh January 30 withhold February 6 withhold March 5th withhold May 21st withhold June 25th withhold and July 9th 2024 release okay um do we need to approve that vote to approve that that's just an announcement I think that's just the announcement okay okay next um next we have miscellaneous item C to G and approvals of recommendations of the select board licensing committee on August 14 uh which are items H through K I'd like to vote these in Omnibus fashion unless anyone wants to pull an item and discuss it separately anyone want to do that among the miscellaneous items okay I move approval of items um uh 7 C through 7K all in favor please indicate by saying I uh John Van skak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren I David pran I and chair votes I okay go to our calendar items boards and commissions interviews we have interviews um with candidates for the Brookline Commission on disability the age friendly cities committee and the preservation commission uh let's start off with the brook line Commission on disability could we start um Mr chair with the age friendly cities committee first and come back to uh the commission on disability okay and the okay please come up and introduce yourself and explain to us why you want to be a member of this committee the age friendly cities committee sure thank you my name is Marco Rosenbach I live in South Brookline Precinct 16 I've been a resident of Brookline since 1985 first in Clos corner and then uh beginning in 1991 in South Brookline I raised two kids um in Brookline through baker school and I would like like to reside in Brooklyn for as long as I possibly can and so I'm very committed to creating an age friendly City I is part of a national initiative and a Statewide initiative and I I am a public policy person so I'm very excited about the opportunities that Brookline has to create an age-friendly Community um using a combination of um resident driven uh um specifications but also a lot of the evidence-based things that are being developed nationally and Statewide in terms of policy proposals um I also have lived experience um as a caregiver for my mother who um died in 2022 of a combination of things but including dementia and a big part of creating an age-friendly Community is to address the needs of people with dementia um so I'm very excited about this I started out as a volunteer um and then was given the opportunity to become a Committee Member um and I would love that opportunity I retired um after about four decades doing Health policy research so that's another one of my passions is Health policy um and so I have a lot of time and I would like this to become one of the things that I do in my retirement do you have any questions for me oh I'm supposed to ask that yeah does anyone have any questions for uh M roback John no questions but I just want to say as the select boards Le is on to the AG friendly cities committee um that uh Margo's application uh is very welcome and I'm uh already kind familiar to the extent that um uh she has been following the activities of the age friendly cities committee and has been um asking questions and uh I think um all signs are good for um us to benefit greatly if if we approve Maro as a member of that committee thank you I apologize for misstating your name is no problem so uh for our VAST TV audience uh talk to us about the age friendly cities committee and and what specifically uh your policy background would bring to that yeah so it's very holistic um and as um you've heard I've been attending a number of the meetings so one of the things that I was actually very intrigued by is some of the recreation opportunities um and so for example I went by Skyline Park and there's a lot of issues um not a lot some issues that could be addressed to make it more age friendly so just looking at the various opportunities Transportation I think the whole um um issue that's being dealt with with regard to bike lanes and those are not particularly agef friendly ly at times in terms of um making it a walkable City so just trying to bring some perspectives on how just a lens from an age friendly perspective and I I've been really impressed and excited by the diverse attendance at the meeting from a lot of the different parts of the Brooklyn um Community um whether it's Recreation or disability Human Services health and so just really trying to think through what a lot of the opportunities are for creating um an age-friendly Community also I live in South Brookline and oftentimes South Brookline is forgotten um a lot of focus on North Brookline at times and so that's one of the things we've talked about is making sure that there are events that could be held in South bookline for example at the golf course um to attract people from South Brookline so um you know in terms of getting input and all so AP I apologize if I'm um missing something here um age friendly city is a designation of a national body as I understand right yeah and and so explain to our VAST TV audience um something about that yeah it's a national initiative through AARP um and so Massachusetts has been designated an ageef friendly state and Brookline age friendly community and so um what I have learned so far is that um there is a planning process um to identify um uh plans for the future but things to make Brookline um more age friendly um I think it's still in a somewhat formative State I've been listening for example to um one of the listening sessions that was done um at the state level and um I I think some of it gets um you know that it's still at a pretty early stage in some of the planning from what I can understand and so um there's a lot of opportunity to be listening to um what residents are interested in and building um and contributing to this plan great thank you uh yes Paul uh thank you Bernard Maro thank you for your uh your application and for your your comments I was U moved by your each story about your experience with your mom um which you know you raised the issue about um age friendly cities and being more friendly towards those that have memory issues and and dementia do you could you talk specifically about that and what types of opportunities or improvements or things that you think we should be doing um as a community to help help support uh you know individuals with the mention yeah I think that there are some new initiatives like for example um CMS the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services has a new program just awarded within the last couple of months and there are two local awardees one at um at Hebrew Rehab and another at good hosp at good sheeper hospice and so I have talked with ruthanne who is the head of the senior center about making connections to them to learn more about their program how it we might connect Brookline a little bit more closely with some of their initiatives a lot of best practices the the area of dementia care as you probably know is is still at a pretty rudimentary stage and so I that's one of the reasons why CMS has awarded it's several hundred three or 400 programs around the country to look into best practices um and to experiment so I think part of the idea here is that it it's still an area for for development and for thinking about um you know there are various elements related to making it walkable so that um people with dementia that there there various things you can do to make it safer for people with dementia so I I will say that there's definitely a lot that I also have to learn and that I want to learn and be able to contribute and use some of the knowledge that I think I could bring to inform the the work of the committee thank you thank you um Tiffany how many openings do we have on this committee um on the age friendly cities committee I believe we still have two remaining openings and do we have any applicants other than M rosenba this is the only other applicant at this time um John is our board layers on do you think it's appropriate to um vote uh can I I'd be all for it any objection to that um no objection at all but I do want to make a comment okay um uh particularly since we're just about to vote I think to approve your application which I'm delighted to to join uh in doing there is something called Vision zero committee which is uh putting together uh policies that um will hopefully bring um well fatalities traffic fatalities down to zero that's the vision Zero part and and serious injuries as well and of course a lot of the victims of uh accidents are elderly people who get in the way of a vehicle uh and um uh that's not quite the right way to put it get in the way of a vehicle are hit by a vehicle um and uh I think it would be very helpful to have u a joint meeting between the two um because there's the the vision zero committee looks more broadly at transportation and I know that that is a major component of what age friendly cities are focused on so uh I hope to see us all together like that idea a lot thank you um so hearing no objection I'd like to move approval of uh Margo Rosenbach to um be a member of the AG friendly cities committee um any objection okay in Favor John vak hi Michael sandon hi Paul Warren hi David prman hi and chair votes I congratulations thank you and Mr chairman um if we can reschedule the interview for Franklin to the next meeting he had a work conflict so was unable to join us okay and go ahead and go to the preservation commission interview okay you can do that and so that is with Brook Richard okay so uh we never confirmed with um Baran but btia no we were unable to confirm with Kiran okay uh Brooke Rich Richard Brooke Is With Us online so Brooke I'm promoting you now you should be able to start your video and share with us your interest and experience for the board hello yes please introduce yourself and tell us why you'd like to be on the preservation committee and what uh expertise background or interest you could bring to the committee sure um it's nice to see you all thank you for taking the time to interview me for the um preservation commission I um live and work in Brooklyn I live on pill Hill work um in the village and um I care a lot about this neighborhood I care about the buildings that um the beautiful buildings that I'm surrounded by and walk past every single day fascinated by their history um I had a personal experience in um with our own home which is at 131 High Street where we were granted permission to um to demolish a part of the structure that was deemed insignificant and add a new structure to the existing um Carriage Barn which was a very big ask I've come to understand and watching a lot of the preservation meetings um there was every single detail that had to be approved and considered and so I've been through that process myself um I felt that the commission many of the members who are still there had very um thoughtful recommendations and um I enjoyed the process of it and just took a lot of pride in the fact that there is a standing commission to to protect the buildings that are here but also walking that fine line of allowing um the buildings to to remain um to progress and have life there's the neighborhood that we're in particularly um a few blocks in all directions of us there's this um interesting generational passing of the torch that's happened almost every family around us has moved in within the last few years all of our kids go to Lincoln and so I um completely sympathize with the changes that they want to make to some of these historic homes in order to accommodate their lives that were um different from the lives that were lived 150 years ago and at the same time I have um great reverence for the materials and the proportions and beautiful um you know the the importance of the architects who built these structures so long ago and so it's it's a real fine line to walk and um I I would be it would be a great pleasure for me to take part in that and also um I feel like it's something that I could contribute to my community which I would really enjoy and appreciate uh in terms of my history I have um a degree in interior architecture and worked in interior design for about a decade along with my partner and we did work some work in Brooklyn Boston some in Cambridge um we did have the opportunity to work on a few historic buildings on the inside but of course the exterior is considered as well um there were big Renovations that we did and just learned a lot along the way about how how it all works and um so I have that experience that I can bring to the table uh and just as well as um like I said being part of the fabric of the neighborhood in all kinds of ways so that feels like an important in terms of the passion part of it an important part bring great thank you any questions from the board Mike no actually U oh I'm sorry looked like you raised your hand well I I was sort of uh I would um uh interior Brooke raised the uh uh the point that she's uh an interior architect uh and um that's that's a u discipline I actually wasn't wasn't aware of certainly aware of architecture but uh that's really uh um interesting I wonder if you can talk a little bit about the linkage between interior and exterior when you're when you're doing work on interior in particular the um a relationship with the um um charge of the preservation commission yeah I'm sorry what was the last question um as uh your skills in interior architecture relates to the responsibilities of the preservation commission which is primarily interested in things going on outside of a building right sure um interior architecture is the same as interior design they have Chang if you're if you're more familiar with that profession interior design and interior decorating are very different and so it's a hard differentiation to make unless you're in this world but my degree started off as um a master's in interior design and is now called a master's in interior architecture officially I think they made that differentiation because people would often confuse interior design um which is you know a three three years of education in term and Cad and and you know it's you're dealing with things structurally um and all of the systems inside the building versus interior decorating which is is um it's just its own profession that's very different you can get a certificate and you're essentially decorating the inside of a house so when when we're working in interior design um we're not we're in terms of the supporting exterior walls if there are um a proposal that's being made on and part um from an interior design perspective we would have to work with an architect to efficiently Stamp Those plans but when we're making changes to that to that exterior as it relates what's happening inside like let's say um you know you're you're working out the space on the inside and and and some extra windows are being required or um something that is changing that exterior facade that's where interior design and or interior architecture and architecture have a gray space so we can't officially I can't officially Stamp Those plans but I understand how it all works and I draw them in CAD and work with an architect who then will formally submit the plans okay Paul thank you thank you Bernard thank you Brooke uh first I appreciate that you live in one of these historic structures and you've had to suffer through the process I'm renovating them as as uh my wife and I have as well we also own a historic home um and I I think you're right I think uh interior architecture certainly uh impacts uh the exterior um as we try to make these older structures more livable for our modern lives can you speak a little bit about um you know Energy Efficiency and and you know your views on that we've had lengthy discussions about Windows and you know we're we're pretty rigid with uh maintaining uh historic windows with single pane historic glass with storm windows can you talk a little bit about your views on the role of uh of Energy Efficiency uh relating to the climate crisis and and and how that may affect your role and your views on on the preservation commission sure um yeah we're at an interesting Crossroad right now especially in this historic district because the importance of um the home being energy efficient contradicts often the need to um preserve to preserve the history of the house um the you know most of the time it is just the uh front facade that faces the street actually it's all the time that the um the historic commission has jurisdiction over and so I think that there is um an in between answer where um energy efficient needs can be addressed in parts of the house that aren't seen um from the street and you know I know that issues like solar are um kind of on the table and being discussed right now solar I think has a little bit of a ways to go before it's a great marriage between you know they've got all these Sun panels that don't make a whole lot of sense on these old historic buildings um and in fact they can't even put them on um on a lot of the roofs right now that are in the historic district so that's not that's something I think that comes to a lot of people's minds but it's not quite working right now but maybe in the future as roof tiles become um a little bit more discreet and receiving solar energy maybe that that will happen hopefully down the line but for now I think that um most of those most of those things will have to be done should be done you know hopefully families will do it on other parts of the house in terms of the windows that's a tough call I mean I understand that the um storm windows placing storm windows um over the the old wooden True Light Windows is um considered as energy efficient as um the new windows that have the gas in between but you know it's a matter of of personal opinion I mean personally I I mean I think it's very important to stick with the materials that that has to be done uh with the historic commission um but like in for with our house for example we went with new windows that had the recommended um M dimensions and divided glass glass um but yet they are double pain glass that are energy efficient so there are ways to kind of um straddle both and get benefits of both I think I preferred that over the storm window because I think that and doing that you know we we stayed in kind in terms of um the dimension dimensions of Windows that were on the historic part of the house and I think that um you're able to like experience the old details better than putting a shield over what's old in some cases so a shield meaning the the storm window okay so they're kind of they're and there's and one other thing I'd like to say so um I've transitioned now I actually have my own business uh with with my partner we were given uh when we were in interior design we were we were a commissioned to make um furniture for a lot of the homes that we worked on and we ended up starting our own company um where we make fine wooden furniture and also bronze hardware and uh we use a lot of uh well all New England makers we collaborate with them to make these pieces and so I've come to know to know uh very you know personally and just we've done a lot of research on the makers around here we're lucky to have them in New England the Mak who can make Windows um there's really old trade schools here and other parts that um you know that that belong on these old houses um they can replicate them really beautifully other parts of the country don't have that that sort of thing so we should use those resources if we need to great thank you um Tiffany my understanding is that we have a number of uh applicants we do not have a number of applicants for this commission what we do have is five vacancies um four of which are for non-voting alternative member seats and one full voting seat I do understand the preservation commission has had some issues with Corin which they rely on the alternative members to fill a voting space if someone's not there so they are looking to fill these seats as soon as possible okay since I set a precedent by voting the woman from the um broken the rules ber I yeah right um I guess for the preservation commission I'm a little more I'm a little less comfortable doing that yeah um it doesn't reflect on you uh Miss Richard but um I'd like to put off making appointments uh for a later time um but thank you for your very informative presentation and and response to our questions uh and we will be back in touch with you very soon yes I just want I I I want to know that that's our normal process from it before so it's not that we're saying oh wait a minute here we let's go back to our normal process I appreciate that I wanted to add one last little tiny tiny thing which is that um each of the sessions that they have is like a history lesson so I would look very much forward to learning more um I drink up all of that information because I walk I walk down the streets every day and and knowing the stories behind the homes is um fascinating for me we we have always uh thank you uh we have always um on certain occasions voted at the meeting where the the person's interviewed um but I know Chaz May uh forgive me grief for doing this deviating from are uh not always but usual practice but give me grief you know no problem David just for clarification so there are five vacancies one applicant is that correct at this point at this time yes okay and the preservation commission is a pretty significant commission that I want to be very careful how we understood I'm I'm not questioning your decision to defer I just want the general public to know get your applications in yeah yeah yeah okay thank you thank you thank you Brook okay next um public hearing which was scheduled for 6:30 and is now 7:15 we have been later than that in our public hearings in the past but uh question of approving an entertainment license for Mad Hatter experience uh doing business as Mad Hatter experience um okay it licensed for Matt Hatter experienced LLC doing business as Matt Hatter experience at 1187 beac Street um and the reason why this is was not taken up or or um addressed at the licensing uh Committee hearing is that uh this is um going to be a unique um event uh an interactive experience that will be held held from September 13 20244 through January 5 2025 it includes laser light shows um between Monday through Sunday 3 P.M to 11: p.m. um and we just wanted to give the board an opportunity to uh discuss this uh learn about you know what what is being proposed and some of the issues that uh that it will raise Mike yeah so uh one of the factors was I I was on the representative to the on the on select board representative on the licensing hearings and um one of the factors that was that the um uh applications uh uh needed to be approved first by the police department the building department uh and those are those have now been approved they're no longer pending but what this is is it was very interesting discussion the S it's a sound and light show as you say using lasers it's it's going to be on the in the inside of the I would gather the main sanctuary of Temple ohaba Shalom on facing on Beacon Street and one of the things that we were a little bit concerned about is that they're seating for up as many as 350 people um and we're concerned about traffic and parking and so forth uh in that uh in that area although it's very accessible on the on the green line it's right there in front of uh of the building um so uh those are the topics of discussion I don't think that there was any great concern uh about this it's I'm limited if it if it turns out to be a difficult problem uh it's time limited and um it's a interesting use of the uh of the building during its off hours a building that has been used for light shows in the past although not laser light shows but you know shows I think using candles I tended one it's nice um but uh you know it it did attract a large number of people so I assume that the um uh the producers of this show have talked to uh the um the temple and uh you know have a good understanding of of you know the issues and how they're how they can address them so um we have two people it looks like from uh the uh program uh could you introduce yourselves and tell us a little more about what you're planning on doing and and how you're addressing you know issues that uh are presented by such a unique program yes I can start out so hi hi everyone my name is Luis delagarza and I'm the project manager for this uh this show this uh nature themed uh light immersive experience that will be taking place on 1187 Beacon Street um and I wanted to pass it over to Ryan who will be the lead producer to this event hi good evening uh thank you for having us back uh we're also joined by Kevin Madden he's unable to turn on his camera but he's our senior leadership team as well and he's uh joining us as well as a third member but Luis and I uh are the main points for the experience and we're happy to further answer any questions or clarify anything from last week or hear from any any members of the public who are attending and have questions okay go ahead so yes so addressing the the the concern about parking like you said there there is some street parking around the area and there's also parking garages that they paid parking garages that are within a walking distance from there around coolage corner um which we will be able to communicate using our FAQs as well as using some of the CRM messaging for the guests that will be attending once they have purchased their tickets um we will also be able to really push the public Transportation as you mentioned the green line is right there so we have means to be able to communicate that the different Park parking and transportation methodologies in order to be able to um make it to to the experience and as you mentioned we have been working very closely with the temple who have done similar experiences as this inside um so we have been every step of the way we've been discussing with them like any potential issues making sure that when we like protect this entity of space but also being good members of the community as well and they've been around for a long time so they're they know what they're doing and uh yes and Ryan any more to add on that end yeah I think uh there was also one uh question that was kind of asked last week uh in our in our meeting about security and I just wanted to clarify that uh um the security is the measures that we have taken in place are 100% in collaboration with the the temple and their leadership team they're line with their default security processes and our security are also trained for um any sort of uh risk management or anything that go wrong let's say but uh all of the the wants and ask and you know entryways to be checked and secured or in collaboration with the sanctuary so it's more so making sure their needs are also met as well as our events right that was one of the issues was discussed it wasn't the the security that these folks have is basically event security and there was a question about how integrated that was with the Temple's own U security so um Paul oh sorry did you have your hand up I just put it up Bernard so you okay I think John beat you okay um uh one of the reasons I was glad excuse me that this um particular application was pulled from you know those that would be approved on mass is uh I just think more people should know about this because it's I'm fascinated that this is a form of entertainment that apparently you know is quite popular I'm going to get you know if people haven't already figured out that I'm culturally clueless they'll they'll be sure of it by the time I finish here um and uh I note that you are have set aside a tentative schedule of a large number of dates pretty much Thursday Friday Saturday um Sunday uh from September 13th uh up until January 5th uh what is the average audience that you're expecting for each of these shows average right so what we so size like I mentioned Max Capacity is 350 we're expecting about 200 per session and each show will be about 30 minutes 30 minutes so yes this sounds really neat so this yeah 30 minutes and there 30 minutes of transition between the shows yeah so I I'm just I'm thrilled for you that you've created a form of entertainment that is really you know drawing people in significant numbers to Brookline and um uh I I I also want to point out that for those who follow the selectboard agenda and you know get to experience what what the content all all of the pages for each item that we can address um this application I just want to say is a model of um of an application that um G gives all of the necessary information and in a very clear and straightforward way and helped me to understand what this proposal is all about so I want to thank you for that thanks for the kind words thank you hey Paul I uh thank you um I I just I I was wondering do you have a sense based on your other experiences how many people would typically come from public transportation versus you know driving and 200 per 30 minute show that's quite a bit amount of turnover um can you just speak to that Ryan do you want to take it or do you want me to take it you can take it l okay so honestly it depends City by city um so right now it's roughly about half and have but it honestly depends on the city some cities are a little bit more driver focused something like like Texas for example um but some of them are more transport uh public transportation but I think about 5050 is going to be about roughly what we're looking at Ryan does that sound about right yeah I was going to lead with the same thing that unfortunately it does kind of come down to what the general population uses um thankfully the uh the MBTA uh has a really great Network it's one of you know the the few great networks in the US and uh it has really high ridership so we're hoping that most people see oh there's a stop right out front there's Bike Share right across the street um and then those who feel inclined to park they can go patronize coolage Corner have a coffee have something to drink after and and have a nice little walk it's about five to seven minute walk from coolage right to the temple as well so um you know obviously as we get started and and go through we'll be able to see more and see see what messaging is working and what's not and and kind of adjust as well throughout the run to focus more heavily on public transportation if needed so I Bernard if I just a quick follow up I um I guess I would really encourage you um 50 50 is a lot actually 100 cars there's not a place what 100 cars over there um it to really encourage um those that are going to attend to use public transportation or or ride share or a bike or a scooter um I think that's that that would be an important part of your messaging I think uh to to your to your patrons yeah absolutely and as we had mentioned last week in the meetings well that was a major concern for us um and something we anticipated would be um you know asked about and something we had asked ourselves as well how can we try to mitigate um as much car traffic as possible um and so yeah we will definitely be trying to make sure all of the messaging all of the the copy all that is very clear concise all that is upfront um and not as hidden you know as an FAQ it's right on the ticket page as soon as they get their ticket for the experience parking instructions how to get their instructions are right there so you can't really miss it okay thank you this is a public hearing so I'd like to open the hearing uhany is there anyone interested in speaking if you're online and would like to speak on this matter if you could use the raise the hand feature at this time there are 32 participants online and no one is raising their hand to speak in our vast audience here at Town Hall no oh is Rosenbach yep hi Marco Rosenbach I reviewed the application as well and yes it was really interesting and impressive my question is what the charge is going to be for tickets I don't think I saw that anywhere and I'm thinking of it in terms of accessibility to abroad population yes so I think at the time when we did this application we hadn't finalized the price but we're looking to have an average price around $22 per person so that's what that's going to be the average ticket price and then for the other point there currently is no ticketing information on line we haven't actually publicly address this as we wanted to go through this application process to make sure everything is within good standing um so assuming things are correct uh very soon all of this will be accessible to the public yes thank you man your first show is uh three weeks from [Laughter] now get on the yes we find that most people yeah is this the first time in the US that you've done this it is yeah it's been done a handful of times in Europe um our our creative partner is from Zurich and so this would be the first one in the us and we're really quite excited to bring it the Brookline do you have any um sort of like a plan B if um you don't get the type of response here in Brooklyn as you've gotten in London or Paris or wherever I mean by plan be I mean like we always have ways to really like be able to tap into be able to figure out what's go what's really not resonating with the folks and we can really address that based on the marketing or however case may be um but uh right now we're we're very uh positive and confident that like positive confident that we have a great show and I think people will really really resonate with people yeah we can do a lot of user research and we also want to um you know reach out to the local businesses around the area to find ways to cross promote or get them involved as well and um you know not come in but more be part of the community while the time being and I think that's a really important aspect for a lot of events and experiences to be known like hey this is part of the community and like it's accessible to anyone and come on out and enjoy while it's here right uh any other I had one other question Bernard one last oh we're still okay go ahead uh so just a last question you're you're a Target who are you marketing to what's your what's the profile of the attendee that you're that you're trying to encourage to come so this show will really be for everyone for all ages but we think that really like both students and families will really be able to enjoy this um that's what's really been useful well the kind of demographic that we've attracted within something like this in Europe and we think that that will really also be the case here great thank you David how did you identify Brook line for your us debut how did that come about yeah so we uh our partner has a very kind of set you know architectural needs for the experience and one of the questions in a big way they said that they'll get let me know one second here over yeah sorry please continue uh yeah sorry um we our partner has a lot of architectural needs obviously because this is a 3D scan of the space and every uh Pro projection map is is set to each location so um we did a lot of venue scouting uh throughout you know the East Coast the Midwest even the West Coast um and our relationship with the temple was really uh great so we talked with them it fit the needs for our partner and uh they had some great availability and it was just a very open and clear dialogue between them where were able to decide like hey this would work for us it would work for them uh so that's how uh we we came about it so between really great venue Scouts from our from our team and a really beautiful and amazing Temple we were able to kind of set our sight here uh unless there are any other comments from the audience um I'd like to close the hearing and um make one final comment and that is uh three weeks to set the price do the marketing and all the other things that go into making a successful um event so get moving yeah don't waste any time yeah oh you will you won't any other comments from the select board okay hearing none uh let's see we have to approve the entertainment license um I Mo of approval of the entertainment license for Matt header experience um at 11 to be performed at 1187 Beacon Street all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David uh David Perman I and chair votes I thank you okay next EV char ing fees um I see Sam DS is going to come to the select board to discuss this I believe we have Sam on the call he's he's here in person oh fantastic hey Sam hey Charlie thank you so much good evening select board um thank you for having me this evening to talk about electric vehicle charging rates at Brookline Parks um this is going to be somewhat similar to a conversation that uh five of us had in October of last year uh but following a discussion with the park in Recreation Commission um so first I'll introduce myself my name is Sam DS I'm a transportation engineer for our Department of Public Works um I would like to thank a number of uh the staff including commissioner Sho um the director um Dan Murphy and our new director of sustainability Alexander Veo for all of their support as I have worked on electric vehicle charging um to start sorry it's the down arrow there we go uh so quick overview I will try to keep this brief sorry is there hold on D would you mind moving the captions to the left there to the right sorry I guess thanks um I will start with a really brief overview uh slight update to the map that I shared in October of last year uh we've been making progress on installing new stations um primarily in North Brooklyn as you can see uh we are currently nearing 50 level two charging ports um and are about to wrap up our fourth uh level three charging port in the Webster Street lot uh in coolage corner um in the bottom left don't miss out on the Elliott Street Brookline Recreation Center which as of uh 1M today is the newest location for a level two public charger um the orange are the ones that are wrapping up so as of yesterday that wasn't done um so as of uh as uh the town looks to expand our Network we are limited in the locations that we own um and so uh this started the conversation with the commissioner about uh UTI and uh the director of parks and open space at the time Alexander Veo about utilizing the town's public parks uh for providing publicly accessible charging and uh through two meetings with the Park and Recreation Commission um we held a preliminary conversation and then a public hearing uh for are uh installing two charging stations which total four ports at the fisher fisher Hill Reservoir Park the Su Recreation Center skyline Park and Lars Anderson Park as shown on the map um at that public hearing oh sorry I'll start with uh funding uh because that's I love to talk about funding so um thanks to uh a state earmark um I don't know who to thank for that but someone um was very gracious in providing the town1 000 in funding to support public charging uh in addition uh through many grants that um I worked on for uh Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and ever sources Make Ready program these four projects will end up costing the town uh z um and so these are the totals of the funding received to date uh it looks like it's around uh you know a little over $800,000 um so lastly the rates so um in October we had a great conversation about trying to provide Equitable um and affordable access to public charging while not creating a burden on the town um to date we have been successful in maintaining the 25 cent per kilowatt uh electricity rate for Town parking lots which was based off of the current rate that the town pays uh and in a conversation I had with Charlie via email uh in the last hour um the determination is that we uh estimated the uh cost of electricity to be 24 cents and we are currently with uh uh a earning 24.8 cents per kilowatt so we are right on Target in terms of creating a net zero cost uh public charging Network um and so as part of this next conversation uh we worked with the parking Recreation Commission to uh determine what uh what the town is currently paying in electrical costs at our Town's Parks because that varies from what we're paying at our other locations um and when factoring in the fee that is collected by charge Point um we uh landed on 35 cents per kilowatt as the uh price that would allow for a one to three cent overhead um net profit you want to call it to cover costs that do come up over the years um and uh a recommendation of $10 per hour as an overstay fee if someone remains uh plugged into the charging port 30 minutes after their session is completed uh the user would receive a notification to their phone that their session is completed and they have 30 minutes to uh to leave or they will start getting charged per the minute um and I actually think it was select board member sanman who was uh supportive of a higher overstay fee when we were when I was last year in October so um that is what I am here to get feedback on today so that is all the slides I have and I'd love to hear what you all have to say mik so um I I think you're you're probably aware there are two of us here who have EVS so we're um sort of plugged into this issue uh love it sorry uh couldn't resist um so this is first of all expansion of network is great U one thing I would say is that um uh for a level three charger uh you shouldn't you it would be really better not to have a 30 minute um window uh EV charging at level you know level three occurs much faster um and you really want turnover there's a lot more money in that charger uh in in terms of capital investment you really want to turn that over as quickly as as possible it's the most convenient sort of charger so um I I I think think you might have a I know that if you go to a a public charging station it's typically a 10-minute uh window and you may want to consider that um and I'm pleased to see the $10 an hour uh overage uh charge um I wonder if you could tell us I know the Webster Street lot is just about to get its uh it's uh charger turned on where are the other three level fours so uh so Webster Street accounts for two of the four level three ports yeah and then the other two ports are in one station on Beacon Street 1361 that's owned by greenspot okay um so I'm happy to revisit the uh structure for the level three station um I would just like to point out that the stations that are being proposed in the Parks or at least three of the four Parks will be high-end level twos which currently output three times the energy of a standard level two so we get about 20 kilow per hour oh wow um so versus the seven that is typical of a normal level two so uh only one location does not have the current capacity that's Su playground uh so that's the one location that will get a standard level two but all the others will be getting two high-end level two stations okay great thank you Paul you're on mute Paul you're muted sorry about that thank you for pointing that out uh two questions uh my first question is why the difference between Municipal parking lots and um you know Town Park uh you know Park and wreck parking lots why are we charging more is my first question then two um where does the fees and fines ler are those going into the general fund or are they going into park and wreck so as Charlie just shook his head I'll answer the second question first uh that is they are currently going into the general fund and uh I'm actively working with Charlie Melissa and commissioner sh uh to determine the future of the revenue generated which is uh you know and and how that will operate in the long term um in terms of the revenue generated and expenses going out so we are we are thinking about that um to answer the first question um it was based off of a review of the electricity bills for all the parks and the rate that we currently pay per kilowatt hour to eversource um just uh in short terms depending on the size of the meter right it dictates the price that you pay per electricity and so just uh based off of the meter sizes of our Public Town Lots um we were paying a lower rate when um and in our in our Parks because we use less electricity there uh we are actually paying a higher per kilowatt rate um at the parks and that's how we ultimately set the price so may I follow up I'm still unle I'm still unclear on this so we get charged a Kil kilowatt hour the town gets charged and you're saying Parks get a higher charge yeah just it depends on how much electricity each location is pulling and because the parks other than operating lights or um other relatively small electrical features they're not um they're not consuming as much energy through those Transformers as say like the to Hall Public Health lot like we came off the Transformer uh that supplies the electricity for the Public Health Building um that's going to you know that's going to use a lot more energy and therefore since we're using so much more energy we actually there's different rate structures within eversource and so we therefore are paying less money per kilowatt for the locations that we are consuming much higher energy and it just it turns out that at the parks we're not you know some of the electrical bills at the parks are $50 a month you know yeah so okay so the the if I understand what you're saying is a kilowatt charge per hour is location dependent we don't have a standard kilowatt per hour charge for the time is there I mean is there a benefit to standardizing it so that you know members of the community can get a an expectation of what they're being charged for Charlie would like to hop in yeah so um thank you uh Sam so Charlie young assistant Town Administrator for finance so it's a good question Paul um you recently saw that we came to you with a supply contract for uh Electric elect which is a flat rate for all of uh for for you know all of our buildings but eversource the utility sets a tiered rate based on the volume of the user so for example commercial rates are different from residential rates um the most residential uh meters have uh actually the same um rate but some are a little some are a little different depending on the size of the property uh and the usage on the meter so I hope that answers the question but it's not something that we have control over it's it's set by eversource but you're basically saying the parks pay more for a kilowatt hour than Town Hall does for instance exactly because power is purchased on on volume and so they get you know you get a a better rate if you have higher volume yep okay uh David question I have is did you look at what peer communities charge did that factor into your Calculus or your recommendation to us it it factored into to a recommendation for the initial proposal um in October of last year where we were looking at um public parking lots that incorporated a parking uh parking fee and so since Town Parks um we do not have a parking fee when you're at the parks um we I looked at other communities but this is really uh around the goal of providing um as Net Zero charging to increase adoption as possible um while not burning the town so I I've definitely investigated other communities but as part of this I did you know I didn't particularly investigate other communities just because we're trying to offer it as close to at cost as possible mik uh David when we looked at this in October um the folks in transportation actually came in with a higher price and and the feeling was that we wanted to encourage adoption and we want of electric vehicles and we want to encourage people to use the Chargers and so we said well let's see if we can set a break even rate uh and that's essentially what you recommending for the parks John uh Sam thank you very much for the presentation uh and thanks for the really good work that is being done uh to spread uh the availability of this electric recharging um but a couple of questions uh do do we have do we track do we have any way of tracking um how much electric vehicle ownership there is in Brookline and what the trend is over time uh yes I've I've tried to do this internally and I'll have to follow up with um there's this weird caveat where uh electric vehicles as they are registered with the town I think that would be through the assessor's office um for some reason Teslas do not count in the same category as all electric vehicle registrations so it's not easy to go to the assessor's office and get a comprehensive um number what I can tell you is the trend in a number of unique users that use the town's public charging and how it's been a linear Trend upwards uh over the last seven months um as we all continue to see ev adoption grow so uh we we had originally gone from you know about 300 and something unique users relying on our chargers uh to over 500 unique users um and as we all know 50% of uh Brooklyn residents are renters including myself and uh rely on those public Chargers so we've definitely seen a linear growth in that great um and a a related question um do we track uh the the usage um you know installation by installation by installation by installation so that we can compare uh let's say installation a uh where frequently less than you know uh a third of the stations are actually in use um at any given time of day versus B where there is they are often all in use and people sometimes complain to the town that we need to put more there and do we adjust accordingly and um I don't want to cause anybody to think I I'm I'm advocating this uh uh but do we at least open are we open to the possibility that sometimes there might be more than the needed number of stations in parking lots where we could really use a few more parking spaces for non-ev vehicles and are we open to the possibility that we'll make adjustments in that direction as well yes um I mean we we're all aware of locations in town um where I think there was uh great support to increase EV uh charging access and there might be more stations in the Fuller Street lot and Kent Webster Street Lot than are currently needed um given the uptake of EV adoption uh but however there the counter to that as you brought up are locations like Center Street East and the Babcock Street parking lot uh which are extremely heavily utilized you look at a map of Brooklyn you'll you know obviously understand why that's the closest location um and I'm def I'm working on a a grant right now with commissioner sh and director Veo um to about putting in a extremely fast 250 kilowatt station through a CFI Grant um and other possibilities of expanding charging in those locations because of how highly utilized they are I do have data on that I don't have it offand but um you know Town Hall qualitatively it's very highly utilized even though we have eight ports out there and then Center Street East and Babcock since they only have two each um hopefully there's no fighting but I can definitely you know I definitely know there's a lot of people who are who are looking to use those locations mhm you understand with a level two charger it takes a long time to charge a vehicle hours your point is David my point is that um that with that if a charger is occupied it's going to be occupied for a long time and somebody who comes along is going to have to wait a long time for it yeah and my question was about observed instances where routine basis like half or two-thirds of the stations aren't used so oh sure there will be okay and and I would say that that's true with the um you know there's 20 charging Point ports in Fuller street parking lot and um the utilization data those are not town-owned those are Green Spot owned um but that is that is a conversation I'm having with um internally about how we can reallocate those spaces to better to better match the demand I'm really glad to hear this that's right absolutely you've T you you've talked about uh looking at Town owned Parcels for expanding the overall footprint for these charging stations have you explored public private Partnerships perhaps there are private entities that would very cost effectively or ideally free uh welcome having a charging station maybe they see it as a way to increase their business to some degree uh great question I have explored it uh I created a uh a vendor profile on Stop and Shop just to try to uh make that happen and uh It ultimately did not pan out uh because I think Stop and Shop would be one particular location that has a large parking lot on Harvard Street that could uh but yes we I'm open to exploring private Partnerships but the one concern that I have going or that I in addition to other members of my team have is the ability to control price um and the impact that that has on uh both Brookline residents and the adoption of EVS uh we are seeing that uh private partner ownerships although are uh appealing because The Upfront costs are sometimes zero uh they uh when the stations become live you see prices that um are well above and beyond What U might be actually affordable to uh an owner who's looking to uh you know use their EV frequently enough can that sometimes be built into a contract with a private entity where you say for X number of years it's going to be index to uh being neutral cost neutral or whatever it might be um I can't say confidently yes but I know that the conversations I've had um it's hard to get them to commit to that because of the fluctuating electricity costs and the general uh price changes we all see with inflation so um it's it is certainly something that would be in the contract it's just what uh private company would be willing to commit for how many years at a certain price point given the fluctuation in energy costs okay okay thank you uhing there no other questions I'd like to call a question Char um and we're talking about increasing the charging fee 35 cents per kilowatt hour uh I'm Mo appr I'm Mo approval all in favor please indicate by saying I John vak I didn't know if Taz wanted to specify that's just at the parks location y it's just at these new parks Lo these Parks locations and then you're setting the overstay fee of $10 an hour after 30 minutes too just at the park location yes again and I'm yes uh Mike simman I'm sorry your vot we voting I and you know what we're voting on yes um Paul Warren I David Perman I and chair votes I thank you thank you all very much nice to see you all thanks Sam next uh and this is GNA be a long discussion I I assume Human Services Gap analysis and recommendations um I guess the G Reese is um on Zoom hi good evening yes okay oh there you are good evening director of public okay but than got a chance to use my um G okay Miss ree please discuss uh the the um the report that you provided us and uh where we go where we go from here sure thank you thank you uh seal director of Public Health and Human Services thank you for having us here tonight um also here from the Department is John kinsky and Leslie albal um about a year ago uh we contracted with uh kurc strategic advisers to really understand the landscape around Human Services is in our community and surrounding areas um identify the gaps and then come to you in the community with some recommendations on how to address those gaps um so I'm actually going to transition for the presentation over to Klick strategic advisors and introduce Tracy Klick and markers Alon um to start us off with the presentation and then the team um of all of us will be here for questions and discussion perfect Tracy they there yes okay okay um Marcos are you going to put up the abstract yes can you all see my screen yes uh there's a few other people in addition soal mentioned John kinsky and Leslie Aral but we also have Dr Charlie Homer here who is the chair of the advisory Council on public health and has been instrumental in hearing the results of this project through at least three successive phases um background secondary research a provider research and a resident survey which we'll talk about shortly we also have the pleasure of having Ruth and Doak here who was very helpful in guiding us on the impact Human Services have for seniors in Brookline a discussion that you heard before with the age friendly communities as Seagal noted in August of 2023 this um there was a request for professional assistance to conduct this Human Services assessment and GAP analysis we started in October and are finishing in the end of this month in on August 31st we've done a number of these projects Nationwide and what we're looking at with this Human Services assessment and GAP analysis is looking at demographic and diversity data with a focus on lowincome residents and what human services and utilization have been with a 360 degree review of looking at secondary research current and prior studies articles specific to Human Services uh extensive interviews and surveys of providers and a very significant uh effort to get input that was quite successful with residents and we'll go into some of these details um we're looking at what are the strengths and weaknesses of Human Services available to Residents specific with an i eye to health equity and any possible disparities our definition of the two key terms of gaps in these Human Services is human services that residents had trouble accessing or receiving and related barriers are the reasons why they said these Services were problematic if you can move this down Marcos the 10 Services were early child care and this was stratified by infants which is the most severe Gap um Toddlers and then preschoolers Education and Training employment assistance food and security assistance housing support language access legal support mental health oral health and primary medical care we can tell you right now the most throughout all of the phases the second secondary research the provider um survey and interviews and the extensive resident surveys and focus groups the and will come as no surprise and we heard from one of the presenters that like most Brookline residents he rents is housing support and the high cost of housing support in the area second was early child care this is the most costly state in the country for child care and it's a major impediment to women being employed and it's really significant at lower income levels third and emerging was Primary Medical Care um an interesting emerging Gap given the education focus of Medical Care in Brookline um but this is at the primary level Family Practice um Pediatrics internist and also related is home visitation the populations we looked at throughout were lowincome residents living at or below 200% of federal poverty level basically 30,000 annual income and Below although for housing and early child care and Primary Medical Care are three big gap Services we expanded this to 300% or 50,000 and Below because of the cost of living and the fact that many of them had gaps also our resident survey that Marcos will discuss included all income levels but we really focused and oversampled on these populations the other one was communities of color disabled residents any kind of disability this could be anything from a physical disability to to cognitive hearing Vision activities of daily living the lgbtq community seniors interestingly defined in as 60 years of age and more which most of the age friendly communities and a lot of benefits start seniors at that age not the 65 that most people think of because of Medicare and there are uh as like one of the programs you'll hear about Pace or program uh for um all-inclusive access to care that starts at 55 and Veterans Marcos if you could talk about the resident input and the community connections there I am okay thank you for that Tracy so for our resident input put um we developed a sample frame at a 95% confidence level with a 5% statistical margin of error so that led to a total sample frame of 382 residents that would be required to be collected to ensure that the population is representative of what the town of Brooklyn looks like and of course that was broken down by race ethnicity age uh different other components that was our shiny Beacon as we were completing collecting all of our resident input 382 was our goal we ended up at 460 20% over our goal so we collected um well above and beyond uring as Tracy said that we oversample some of our pocket populations our black African-Americans are Hispanics they were our targeted populations to ensure we oversample them we had 30 provider service 27 key inform interviews and four focus groups comprising of a total of 25 uh participants those focus groups were with seniors veterans bipo and Spanish speaking groups all of that um combined ended up being a total of 542 Community touches so it really was a well-rounded level of input um from different different segments and po pockets of the population um to ensure that again it was representative of the town of Brooklyn residents so Tracy um we're going to go to the overall ask and the request in what we came up with as far as Pro foras for what were 10 different priority areas and then do have a a brief presentation that shows you some of the displays that we have shared with definitely leadership at Seagal's department but also with the Charlie's group of the advisory Council our total recommendations we did both a bottomup review of priorities with a lot of detail behind this which is currently going through uh sagal's Department to be reviewed and Ed Ed and we have spreadsheets for each one of these pieces but our recommendations ended up from bottom up development impacting 43% of Brookline residents or almost 27,000 people and the cost at $1,173 6676 this was for residents that as we stated live at or below 300% of the poverty level the solution sets about $44 per resident now we do have some ideas not only for other funding sources many of whom we talked to I know Cara brutin is also on this call and we had a interview with her about ways we could possibly defay that and these things are heavily impacted by what the federal government might do so I will talk about some of those we had two overarching themes of awareness access and eligibility unlike many other communities the issue here wasn't so much awareness particularly with residents that lived in the lower income levels the 200% federal poverty level and Below they knew what these Services were they weren't sure if they were eligible for them now those people that are were 30 to 50,000 often weren't aware of them or definitely did not think they were eligible although they could be now this is not an easy thing to figure out you I I know I told this in one of Charlie's uh presentations and the group responded they were aware of this you don't lack for directories you have directories for almost every one of these Services you have them for populations the problem is it's almost information overload and these um Services change they're very um well flexible or dynamic and so the Clearing House is something that takes a lot of work for a resident to try to figure out and we had some discussions with the advisory Council and with leadership on would residents want to know everything they might be eligible for or just what they were seeking at that point and that is different by different population levels and different communities particularly communities with a language other than English so one of the solutions that we talked about and a possible vendor but not chosen but it's where we were able to get a quote is unite us there's another one called find help and they build search engines or electronic Clearing Houses of Human Services and or population directories into a central database a navigator or a coordinator that would work in the town of Brookline uh Department of Public Health and Human Service would function as a hub in a regional referral system and work with spokes to other dep departments or agencies so as an example here you would first build this electronic directory you might say there using ruthanne on the line you have a hub of town of Brookline and then the senior service directory could be within this Central database and they would be a major spoke there would be the opportunity to have different languages in these electronic directories but the key difference here here and why you have people like unite us and find help coming into existence is these are distinct by being closed loop referral tracking systems an open loop is you make the referral maybe you hear back the client or resident went there maybe you don't a closed loop does track it they track did they attend and if it's a series of treatments for instance somebody getting home visitation how many times did they attend they track the cost of it and the units of it which allows you to have a lot of information on what services people are using what are the demographics of the people that are using them and what is that actual impact that you're making um versus what you estimated paired with this is a benefits calculator a benefits calculator allows either at the spoke or at the Hub social workers or Navigators to help a resident figure out what are they eligible for again no easy feat here you would think that that would be you put in I'm a person that lives by myself I'm this age I have this annual or monthly income and I may or may not have a disability or chronic disease this all Chang is it a federal benefit is it a state benefit states are usually monthly Federal are annual and they change so these overarching pieces are really the core of what the request is or the priorities are we do have service specific ones based on those gaps I already discussed with you there are three that require some expenditure and it it's not my place this would be Sagal working with you to figure out when these get budgeted what is that fiscal year and what goes through this housing assistance number one Gap by far and discuss this with Cara and also with Aaron CH on Department of Public Works tency stabilization here and Cara educated me is restricted in Massachusetts to lowincome deed restricted households they are not resident specific but what we did at a high level was estimate what that impact might be and who would be the most affected or supported by it um the two are tency stabilization otherwise known as helping people who are in danger of getting evicted uh that became a real issue with postco um the issue with that and the problem is people usually rise with this as a problem when it's just about to happen and that it's kind of late um the earlier you can get into that tency stabilization it there is a process utility assistance here would be water and sewer and helping with those payments um the next highest one is seniors here's ruthanne's category um we had three areas that she felt were the priority food in security for elders Transportation assistance and a very important social isolation program support for those seniors who really are in danger because they are um loners or um isolated in their homes the last one that has uh expenditure attached to it and this one there's some open negotiation is for these women who particularly lowincome who cannot afford a child care center you have a real crisis in Massachusetts with Early Child Care particular if they're infants this would be zero to 15 months and many women then sayi use family friends neighbors or I will not work and the infants really need critical infant stimulation and education C at courses at that point in their life and both Boston Children's and Boston public schools had said they would be able to offer this Boston Children's potentially could offset that cost they said that would be a negotiated discussion now you do have then these health issues ues of oral Dental Health primary health mental health and disabled services and here there are two levels of programs that are possible resolutions what is listed is at no extra cost this is where the overarching uh benefits calculator and eligibility come into play you have a program known as uh PACE program for all-inclusive care for the elderly it provides Social and Health Services for both seniors 55 and older and disabled to keep them in their home so that they don't go into nursing homes and this is something that even some of the communities and I know Dr Homer had connected us to Amy sheekman and the two life's Community they say very few people know about this they have trouble navigating to become eligible and this is something they really feel the Clearing House and the um benefits calculator could help people be aware of um there are even more expansive programs um and we did talk through Brookline housing authority to two of the community health centers dimick and uh Fenway about their federally qualified Health Centers they offer similar wraparound services for Medical Dental Oral disabled and there it's you don't have to be in the elderly population the other caveat with pace is these are dual eligibles they're medy medies Medicare and Medicaid and with fqhcs you could just be Medicaid you could be uninsured it's a much more expansive program and then one last thing Marcos if you can go down a little just a little bit to show the Total Line in food assistance just so you're aware this is also one that is helped with the eligibility uh Clearing House and calculator one specific program that Mass health which is your Medicaid is wanting to promote through this is a nutrition prescription program where people with um Medicaid that have metabolic disorders diabetes obesity any number of those get food paid for and th this has been a pretty unknown uh program and they said particularly in the Boston metropolitan area and they would like to see more people in this this particular area and you see the snap use rate overused if you will compared to the percentage population in Brookline by black underused white hispanic and Asian Pacific and this is where you have the term snap Gap snap is supplemental nutrition assistance program or food stamps and there are um it's about a 133% difference between who's eligible and who may actually be using it in Massachusetts in Brookline Mass health had some of this information as did snap it is closer to a 30% Gap here's where people may be eligible probably are but aren't aware or can't negotiate all the um paperwork to get this done so our final conclusion here is again 27,000 rounded up residents we have it at a million 173 676 however with some negotiation Boston Children's also with the um unite us or the find help we have means to get that right under a million and 43% of the residents that 43% doeses square with your percent of the population that is at 300% of federal poverty level or roughly 50,000 and below so we do have a presentation that Sagal if you want us to display the heat that was your presentation um well you're were running out of time I thought that was your presentation well we we've been waiting okay that's our presentation uh see G do you want to add anything to sort of sum sum up you know what it is that you're recommending sure sure and I um I hope the SBO got a copy of the the Powerpoints can see some of the visualization of that um abstract so appreciate that patience um so yeah I think looking at the recommendations really um thinking about connecting to existing services but also adding some more spokes to that wheel with some of these um recommendations to help fill some of the gaps to connect residents to the Human Services um we identified I think nobody's surprised to see housing and Early Child Care high on that list um identified as the highest need um but that there are also other categories and having somebody uh person to connect to that but also having the tools to help them make those connections um and then some additional new resources that um we've identified here in the report um but really want to open it up for questions and um why we have uh KSA here to help us answer them and as she said really um inclusive not only talking to many other departments but really a lot of touches with community members and really representative data and I I have to say thank you I'm sorry I didn't see Charlie Homer Dr Homer on the list I was trying to look through the attendees so he has been very helpful in the advisory Council of Public Health um also saw a more extended version of this and has really been informative for us through the process can you specifically talk about the which I think is the main recommendation uh a human services coordinator Navigator coordinates long much longer yeah I think it's a it's a good starting point I think um really when I got here um there was really a push to try and understand what can the town do so really working with KSA I tried to really focus say you know there are a lot of other services out there that we can better connect to but what what is really the best first sort of step for the town to take to make those connections so a lot of back and forth to try and understand what is the best use of our obviously limited resources um so I think it's the coordinator to be that Hub to start to make those connections but also giving them the tools such as the United Health or the find help um clearing houses that were described as the tools to create that access um and then really interested also in the benefits calculator so those are the the two A and B and the overarching recommendations um again to provide those tools to allow this individual Navigator coordinator and we would obviously work with through the town systems to develop that position in detail but um understanding that those tools would be really beneficial to connect to all these and I think one of in nothing specific to Brooklyn Human Services tend to be very difficult to navigate and siloed um and so having that Hub to connect to all those fokes I think would be very valuable with those tools to address it um sorry yeah no hey David yeah just a quick question thank you very much for your presentation I notice that uh among your potential responses you talk about awareness particularly awareness of pace the program for allinclusive care of the elderly and that comes up in the context of mental and Dental Care Mental and Primary Care can you talk a little bit more about how you would go about raising awareness for this program and uh perhaps provide an overview of what the program would include I I I can certainly answer this and then ruthanne if you have any Intelligence on this I know you deal with it quite a bit Pace again is for a subset that is very sought after by Medicare Advantage it's a Medicare and Medicaid Program joint and this is a very high cost population and so the Medicare plans that are largely commercial here Medicare Advantage join with Medicaid which is a federal state program and they seek out these individuals they highly market for this the problem is they may market for them but those elderly or disabled residents have such trouble still in negotiate in navigating this um anyone who's signed up for a Medicap plan will see the those issues let alone a medy medy or dual eligible the programs covered are a broad variety these are the ones you see on television commercials a lot I get my a certain zip code and I get food I get Transportation I get wraparound services like translation um and even some of them will help with housing maintenance definitely they cover Primary Medical Care oral health Mental Health and so they're really comprehensive programs they're very similar to federally qualified health centers that will cover just Medicaid or any kind of insurance for lower income individuals but Pace really responds to elderly that have both Medicare and Medicaid and if I may just add I know um tracing some of our conversations um in talking with the organizations such as um senior housing in the community that has these programs in the facilities one thing that they struggle with is helping people navigate and get enrolled and know about it so having somebody on the town side to assist with that because it's not necessarily um residential based right correct correct me if I'm wrong here you don't actually have to at the senior housing you can be any Resident and take advantage of this program within the community and they prefer you to stay in your house that's one of the big aims of pace and so there they don't have a logical connection to a adult like assisted living community or Independent Living Community J you had something to say yeah a couple questions um with um the Clearing House and the the uh the network system is that something just question that David often asks is that something we might consider working in a partnership with a nonprofit um to develop I know we have we rely on nonprofits for example we have our mou with the um the uh the center you know the mental health center um for work on that front are there is there an ability to utilize those existing connections to potentially develop that or you know manage that process shakal um yeah I mean I think it's something we could explore um I I also want everybody that's involved with it has to be on board to put in that information for us to be able to track so I think sort of all entities need to be on board but who leads it I think is can be a discussion question right and there there are also some Federal grant dollars that can support it right um I think that's the other portion of it um with um Early Child Care and Family Friends neighbors um was there any discussion about the licensing issues I mean one of the one of the biggest things that we run into in trying to figure out how to work with Early Child Care is that uh Massachusetts is licensing regime is so strict um you know eec runs a very tight ship there is no as far as I know family friends neighbors license the only license that's available to folks would be um for the uh family in home care for less than 10 Stu less than 10 children um and that requires getting certified there's a $100 fee there's classes you have to take um there's no that as far as as I'm aware of there's no means of there's no less arduous means of certifying Child Care uh providers um in any sort of informal fashion are there is in your discussion with Boston Children's did that issue come up you know what was what was the response there well that's a good question that's why they restricted it to a lower amount of residents these who would be residents that couldn't afford a Child Care Center and they also can't get in there's too much of a waiting list the vouchers are meaningless because they expire and so this isn't even a center in a house this would be individual family friends or neighbors but Boston Children's is getting certified to be able to offer that Brook line Public Schools was interested but they hit the lure issues and they deferred to Boston Children's thank you now the other answer to the Early Child Care that's looming is if the uh child care tax credit could come back that would make a big difference that would make about 50% or more of the population be able to access it hey John I I'm just seeking some clarification on what we've um heard in this presentation um there is uh on page 11 of um the um the selectboard presentation uh a table and it shows some projected costs of a number of of programs priorities housing Early Child Care oral health care Etc and it shows a total of 1.17 3676 is that money to be um you know if if if the recommendations are taken as presented is that money to be budgeted in fiscal year 7 uh fiscal year 26 excuse me well soal do you want me to attempt this or do you want to take it I think this is the start of the discussions of what it might cost and we need to pick um I think we need to look through go through our budget process is is that I don't think it's a proposal yet I think this is our first time presenting it for feedback make of the final report the thought was from what I understood that the overarching ones were priority because they take time to get done although as you already heard they could be Grant supported but the specific service ones would go through the budgetary process and the overarching ones are are the ones that are in the at the top of this table correct um and uh I see mention of this um unite us and would that be a contractual service that would be provided to the town that is a contractual Service as is find help we went to them because a we know them they're the two best known Services nationally and we could get a quote that doesn't mean that's who you would pick and it doesn't mean some constituents have developed their own database yeah and I'm glad you you answered as you did because I was just going to ask Our Town Administrator wouldn't we have to go out put that out to bid yes yeah yeah I mean they're they're they're using existing they you know getting getting an estimate from an existing vendor to kind of estimate what the cost might be if we were to go out and get those bids okay Paul yes thank you uh could you do me a favor with a visual aid and put that chart back up you had it up and then you took it back down um the one with the services I wanted to drill in a little bit uh into the the seems like the number one or the the largest one is the housing um it's really small you need to expanded for my my bad eyes but it's the I think it's the house yeah the housing assistance yeah um it would impact 589 or something uh residents 700 plus th000 and it's broken out into uh tency stabilization in utility assistance could you break out uh stabilization and uh utility assistance how do what's the number if you were to separate those do you know how that uh 736 would be allocated yes we this is 63% of the overall budget request or the estimates so you're right it is by far the largest where seniors would be next actually the overarching is next and then seniors tency stabilization is half a million of that the utility assistance is uh uh you know anywhere between 150 and 200 now Cara brutin who I did discuss with this and Aaron in the department of public works for utility assistance there are some ways that this also could a be impacted by federal legislation some of this is dependent on our current politics but these housing and Early Child Care are heavily in play in current federal um legislation that's going through so you could really lower this one considerably and then there is also to Charles's question about a nonprofit there is about 128 760 that is offered through a nonprofit in tency stabilization but that's capped so this is one of these areas that could be reduced so yeah I wasn't I was trying to understand not really a strategy to reduce it just understand so if I heard you about a half a million is uh stabilization tendency stabilization and then uh 200,000 or so is U utility assets and I I thought I heard you say that was limited to Water and Sewer because that that's within that's within our control uh so we do have some programs that we do that directly uh the 500,000 would need to go through a third party right we can't allocate rent stabilization directly now we've done this a little about this this year right we um I believe we allocated money perhaps from arpa and the Housing Trust Fund yeah corre some rent stabilization with a third party um and I do you remember what that or Chaz do you remember what that amount of money was 200 one I thought it was 128 760 yeah so we we yeah it's around it's around 200,000 um is my recollection but we'll get the final numbers um for uh utility and it was a one-time payment through arpa um and then I meant the I met the stabilization yeah on the tent stabilization front um my recollection is that we with the affordable housing trust we have we allocated 200 and some OD of thousand on that front um to CDC to CDC yeah work with is saying car why don't you come up K you and they work for Metro West right to to develop this program with Metro West right okay but so my let me get to my what so now I understand the landscape here I I don't recall how many residents they actually affected with that 200,000 but I thought it was a lot less than this number uh this 589 I don't know how that breaks out between do you know what the 589 is for tenant stabilization tendency stabilization what portion of that is versus utility assistance you mean yeah yeah that that is uh probably around 200 so 200 would be the tendency stabilization for the larger number would be the utility assistance in number of residents but not in a dollars okay okay all right that's that that that's really helpful so the the utility the utility assistance we can do direct because that's within our control because we are we're essentially the utility for water and sewer um and then rent stabilization like we did earlier this year we'd have to go through a third party uh in order to administer that and that's uh and that would affect about 200 residents correct okay thank you very much and just so you know Paul we do have detail that uh I have a question for Chaz or maybe Joe um even though we are the utility for water and sew Water and Sewer does that give us the ability to um uh provide subsidy or whatever it is to private individuals no um that was that's unfortunately that big issue that we encountered when trying to deal with the senior tax exemption is that absent home Ru absent absent home Ru Authority we cannot set preferential rates for people so we do do it today though we do do what we do do it today we yeah we we have we have the program that's grandfathered in but that that doesn't that doesn't serve very many people stain your tax yeah so I guess I'm wondering why uh we have utility assistance down here as as um program um since we can't if we can't do it well I think the thought the thought of this is to is to think about where the needs are right and then you know if it turns out that we can't do it then we' be trying to be creative and figuring out Solutions um and I think too we got to be we have to be cautious no these this is just like water and sewer for strictly yeah yeah or just all but you know for example like and that was a separate for and I and I think too when you think about these in the the abstract for example the priority on seniors with trans ation assistance when we've gone out to get the the bids for that the cost that we were quoted was $1.4 Million over three years um now we got to figure out how to you know we these are these are estimates and they're kind of being built out but when we go out to actually see what the what the uh potential what the potential costs are those may change depending on what's available to us the vendors that Pro provide these services and so forth Mike have your hand up or you just well I'm just um thinking that uh the um brookly Mental Health Center Brookline Center uh gets funding from the Brooklyn Community Foundation some which originates with originated with arpa uh and and so that is a thirdparty assist for for rental assistance but it's very specific uh somebody needs 500 or 800 $ or something to cover a shortage for rent it's nothing like um the more or less $2,500 per person that would be required if there were 200 people in a $500,000 need um but the same kind of mechanism could work for really any kind of assistance if we root it through uh uh through a grant to a Community Foundation yeah assuming that we can use the grant money for that purpose which we could with arpa right right well and we can you know if we wanted to to to build that into our own budget uh we could do that as well I'm not suggesting that I'm just offering that as the mechanism thank you so okay um see I don't see Paul's hand up I don't see anyone else's hand um so thank you yeah I think the it's a lot of work um com through through for a huge huge amount of effort um and really the Capstone of of a lot of you know work being done to identify needs and then connect needs to the services so the additional information that's been generated as a result of this the next step on the staff side is to look through this and try and figure out as part of the budget process where and how this fits in mindful as we are that FY 26 is going to be a tough year and we need to figure this out yeah and and also I'd like to just note that you know we used to have a health and human services department the Human Services director was appointed as our chief diversity officer um and um Human Services sort of haphazardly have been carried out through various departments uh and you know uh Contracting with the um with the Brooklin Center and other uh organizations so this is an effort to sort of get back in the business of of helping uh our our residents with uh Social Service issues uh or issues you know in the category of Social Services um so it's it's important but we have to do it right so thank you they um Mike uh the um I just want to say that I I know that you folks felt like you got cut short perhaps but the the the slides that we have that you presented and what we have in our packet represents an enormous amount of very well put together uh information I don't want you to feel like you haven't got the message across because it's here and we can see it oh good okay thank you let's go on to our next item which is uh goals and objectives of the select board have update War articles planning oh I'm sorry okay my then we got yep my notes are not up yes Cara brutin please talk to me about the warant articles that are on the horizon I will um let me get the presentation going and then I'll be right there making sure we can see everything um so my name is Cara brutin I'm the director of planning and Community Development um I'm here tonight to um update you all with the work plan that our department has for this fiscal year some of these slides you'll remember they may be dusty but you'll remember from this past spring during budget season um I am going to tonight Focus just on the work that somewhat relates to zoning that as we lead up to the warrant article deadline in in about three weeks um so a couple slides reminding you what our top objectives were for this fiscal year then I'm going to share some data with you that might be of particular interest related to preserving middle income housing stock that's something that the community has talked about that's in your draft selectboard objectives and so I thought it might be a good time to preview some initial data points that might be of interest um to you all thirdly want to kind of map that selectboard direction related to preserving um some housing types with some the zoning warrant articles both past present and future kind of how how that works um I have two articles then that will very quickly uh mention that are aimed to primarily just avoid conflict with State Statute and then finally um an article summary that would amend the lighting and sign bylaw to be a little bit more flexible for our businesses and nonprofits related to signage as well as add some lighting regulations uh for Residential Properties and that piece was brought to us by some town meeting members and residents in South brookln um much earlier this year and we've been working with them and can fold that into the law as well so I just wanted to thank people that come to us early we can work with them um and make things happen um this presentation is on the website linked here um so brooklinema.gov 326 along with all of the current draft War articles that I'll be going over um as a brief reminder there's four kind of touchstones for our mission Community well-being the regional housing crisis racial inequities and the global climate emergency you've also seen this slide before um this past spring these are different objectives that we have um that meet multiple policy goals have documented community support and our efficient use of our um staff and other resources I'm adding to that since you last saw this a little bullet point since we are um continuing to work on the affordable housing overlay District feasibility with a subcommittee of the housing Advisory Board this also came from a resolution of town meeting um that is slowly progressing but it is it is work that we are um continuing to do this fiscal year that kind of white line that you see there it's dividing what we're going to get done this F school year versus things that we probably don't have time to get to they also don't have significant Community Support to move forward and we believe that they would make much more sense for us to tackle after the comprehensive plan um at least is largely underway if not completed so for example thinking about Beacon Street design standards um and the second example here is broadly expanding the accessory dwelling unit allowances those two things we think need a lot more Community discussion um before bringing forward so this is one of the draft objectives that you all have been working on and this in the packet tonight and that is to develop Implement and regular report on preservation strategies for existing middle inome and Workforce housing stock um so I just want to show a couple data points that might be of interest related to that um tonight I'm just going to you know touch on this um talking about the relative value um looking at that by housing type in Brookline so some of this you've probably seen before I'm sorry Tiffany can you move the caption just a little bit there's never a good place I'm sorry um thank you so some of this data you've probably seen before uh with the annual tax assessment um conversations average single family dwelling unit is assessed at uh 2.67 million if we look at two or three family um bu housing structures and what the assessed value per unit is it's the average is 987 th000 so just under a million by the way this is very similar to the average condo assessment which is like 930,000 and then at the bottom here is the average per unit assess value for apartment multif family rental properties which is about 538 th000 and just for um a couple benchmarks I thought it might be of interest to compare that two or three family average in the apartment average um with different area median income levels just to give you a taste there's all different ways we could look at this this example is just looking at you know a two-person household so we could also look at five six seven eight people household and the numbers would change but basically a two person household um that can afford an average two or three family unit is about 186% so almost double the area meeting income is what they would need to make an income in order to purchase that single unit um similar so that's like 242,000 annual income for the household um similarly that 53,000 kind of Benchmark is even that is 163% one and a half times the area median income in order to afford a half million dollar unit and that's equivalent to an annual income for the household of around 160,000 so uh one thing that I think a lot of residents have expressed and we have seen in in action and you all I've heard talk about this as we have seen in the past two or three family fairly modest structures being torn down and replaced by the same number of units but very large and very expensive so we had that kind of intuitive thought um that the two and three family um housing stock was a type that we might want to focus on preserving to um help with some more moderate although still very expensive housing stock in Brooklyn um and so when we think about okay well where are these two and three family Parcels located um it might be surprising it was surprising to me to learn that 57% a majority of the two and three family Parcels so this isn't zoning this is where two and three family houses are are in the multif family M1 District so our our our least dense multif family District the second most common is in our two family districts which isn't as surprising that 32% a year ago we filed in town meeting passed by white margin um a zoning Amendment for many of the two family districts that are in North Brookline um and that was in reaction to a lot of demolition pressure that we were seeing you know weekly or monthly through planning board and board of the appeals cases after we passed um so what we did with the T5 north of Harvard district is we basically layered on um a building envelope that people could build um and what that did is it immediately we saw a drop off of demolition cases in those neighborhoods and we also during the time as we were doing the zoning saw seven or eight um property owners that shifted from wanting to tear down that building to either adding on or making the structure that was there work so we feel that that was fairly successful but the big asterisk is at the same time as a year ago the interest rate started to go up so until the interest rates start to go down again we won't really know how successful that effort was so um we'll see uh so that's one big area of the T districts another the second the next kind of largest cohesive T District District Two family district is in the tox neighborhood and um this is work that actually has a long history of interest from the neighborhood in wanting to study um more closely and figure out what they what they would like to see here um you can see by the different color schemes but the basic history of more recent times last 15 years or so is that this is mostly a two- family zoning area is is near the Lawrence School um there was was an effort to create a a historic district it started off proposed much larger it's now just the pink area the kind of bowai um two shaped areas that are connected by a corner um there was also a similar effort in that purple underlay to create a neighborhood Conservation District which did pass town meeting um and then was thrown out by the courts for a long story reasons um a neighborhood Conservation District basically G gives um neighborhoods like this the ability to regul to add regulation in some cases like what do those front porch look like what do the uh roofline look like without going necessarily so far as a historic district which um at least in Brooklyn and most of Massachusetts means you can't even replace the windows without preservation commission so what we're hearing from this neighborhood is we want to see something in between we'd like to see a little more regulation but we don't want necessarily historic district everywhere and the other thing that we've heard from many um to meting members that live in this area is that they would like to see guess what a way to preserve the existing housing stock and they would be open to perhaps adding the ability to add a unit in the basement or within the housing structure um so this is a very interesting neighborhood um we are going to be doing the first site walks with this neighborhood we've been doing some analysis earlier the summer now doing some s sidewalks planned for this fall that'll kick off that work will probably take a year and a half so this isn't coming to town meeting anytime soon um but it's something that I mentioned we would be working on when I met with you all last spring and I just wanted to talk a little bit more about about what that study is so we've talked about zoning past present we're working on and now for fall town meeting um turning to the topic of the M1 District so most of our two and three most of the parcels that have two and three family housing is in a multif family M1 District um looking at the data of parcels that are the most likely um to end up selling to an investor this work actually I would say started when um is working with the MBTA committee that you all um appointed with de bka and others looking at the multif family districts and that's where we started kind of researching you know where's the highest risk of Quick Change um and it and it was M1 District which was why um ultimately the MBTA zoning did not include the M1 area because we just weren't sure how fast things would change if we made it easier so um looking at all of the parcels of where's that you know higher ratio of building area that could be permitted compared to what's existing the higher that ratio is the more likely someone's going to want to sell to capture that value of potential development um where could we at least add one addition unit and for the purpose of this we use a thousand foot unit just to make math easier um we're also filtering out um buildings that are not attached to other Parcels buildings so for example there's a lot of what looks like count row houses on Beacon Street those wouldn't be included in this most likely to be redeveloped because they're attached to other units on either side probably not a high risk um and then again Parcels uh that are not in a local history District because buildings that are are likely not going the preservation commission is likely not going to allow to be torn down so kind of filtering out all of those pieces they're almost exclusively in the M1 zoning District so the the most likely to be torn down given Market pressure given what the zoning allows so this is one example of a of one inone family neighborhood and what we happen to see here is three different examples there's a two family at the top there's a three unit condominium in the middle and there's a three family at the bottom you could imagine if you were allowed to have um additional building area which in this example this they certainly would you can imagine that someone might want to add another unit either by tearing down the existing two family or perhaps we've gotten three or four calls from people that are residents of these areas and want to stay in their home but would like to add a unit in the back um and they don't want it to be connected for you know preference reasons but also for livability reasons they need to stay in the home while the while something's being added but they are getting calls from investors who are saying we would like to buy your home did you know that your home your property is worth a lot more than you're using it for so they're getting pressure to sell but what we're hearing is they would rather stay they would rather stay and have the flexibility to add um a separate building rather than uh basically be uh incentivized to tear down the building and build multiple units at once one of the issues that we're hearing is um so the setback between if there's two separate buildings in a multif family District our zoning says you have to have 60 feet between those two buildings so this orange arrow is is about 60 feet so you can see that that probably would preclude most of these s Parcels um to add a separate unit however our zoning allows if you are all one ownership of the buildings you can ask for Relief by setback with this zoning board of appeals but if you want to condo your property you cannot access that relief so this what this means is the existing zoning is further incentivizing people that like own a two family to sell their property because they cannot access the same setback relief between buildings that basically an investor can if all buildings are kept in the same ownership I'm going to pause there for a second because I know it's late and that's complex and we don't have to learn all of it tonight but I want to make sure you understand the problem we're trying to solve y yeah thank you for pausing um C my question is uh it's one thing to sort of look at this as a you know as a problem because an investor is you know calling up and saying did you know you know I could offer you more than blah blah blah but they want to stay you know but what what is that investor contemplating doing from what we're hearing but also from what we've seen in other M1 districts is to tear down the unit and it depends on the what's allowed not every lot in M district is exactly the same but doing some quick analysis we think that there's about 60 Parcels that are either single or two or three family that are the most susceptible where the a number of units that are there or the square footage of building that is there is much different than what could be allowed to be there um by the zoning bylaw and but the investor would then build what so for example on a um on a two family you could this top example you could tear down that building and build eight or nine units you could uh because it's in an M District because it's in an M District district and we are silent on the number of units in the M District um what we do regulate is the floor area ratio so the building square footage so I don't want to get myself into trouble but from a policy perspective um you know is it in the interest of of the Town um to block I mean you know figure out ways to make sure that doesn't happen which part going which way the the the replacement of a two family situation with a six- family situation yeah so um to Linda's Point earlier it may be that during the comp plan process after that conversation happens there may be some neighborhoods that make sense to convert multif family back to something like three family that could be one possibility there might be other neighborhoods that like I was telling you about Toth Perry that are two family neighborhoods and maybe want to incentivize adding a unit it could go either way with a comp plan we are not recommending any big changes with the number of units that are allowed by zoning um this proposal is saying let's at least keep the playing field level so that we're not encouraging people to sell to investors in this in this in between time okay okay uh so again I'm just putting the the benchmarks of the average single family so these pars that we're talking about are most likely to sell to an investor the single family housing stock is pretty pretty much below the townwide average whereas the two and three family is you know fairly split over that average can you go back to that yeah okay so therefore it's gonna go a lot faster after this next slide um we are looking at filing a warrant article for this fall um with a goal of avoiding a Ute demolition pressure especially middle inome housing stock which that's still to be defined but you saw it you know this is certainly more moderately priced housing stock um and doing that by allowing um someone who wants to condo a property so one land owner but possibly different owners of the buildings to access the same special permit that an investor can access on a property today in the same way um in addition to that kind of as a Counterpoint to that we would also like to add a basic tree canopy standard that would be required on site right now the zoning language that talks about all of this talks about as long as you can show that light and air is about the same as what's there today or what would otherwise be allowed which isn't very well defined um so we think it comes down to having enough you know not only usable open space but also tree canopy um to make sure that Lots aren't overdeveloped again in this intermediate um time period are we ready to move on yep okay Paul has a quick question sorry car yeah sorry I waved my hand Bernard you didn't see it uh car great job by the way this is really helpful I just I want to make sure I understand on um the top Warren article Warren article a Warren article a won't necessarily stop investors from buying these two and three families and tearing them down it may it that that could still happen there's people there that going to put their house on the market um and an Investor's going to buy it they could still put up that six unit building right right right okay so we're not we're not preventing anything we're just saying for those those people which are probably few that want to expand their building by adding a second building behind it um that that's what this would allow right yep allowing the basically allowing the option for an owner occupied parcel right so so what does it take for us to prevent demolitions until the comp plan is done in these areas uh Joe's gonna kill me but I'm serious like what is because this you know the the one of the strong directives of the select board is to is to preserve you know middle- income housing um and and and that's that's a lot of what this is for the ones that haven't been taken and you know gut rehabed into $3 million condos what does it take for us to prevent the demo wholesale demolition once interest rates fall down uh and people start moving and selling um and investors buying what can we do yeah so two answers to that a longer term and a shorter term option that I'm seeing if Joe's gonna guess what I'm gonna say that the the option that makes probably the most long-term sense is through the comp plan understanding you know of that existing housing stock does it make sense to the community is do we you know when we have the time to do significant Outreach to Property Owners as well to basically um have the zoning better match the floor area that's there today so right now in our M1 districts basically um in many of those Parcels the zoning is allowing significantly more like 1.3 at least those units those properties I was shown you it's 1.3 or greater um square footage that's allowed compared to what's there today so right sizing that floor area that's allowed would be um one way to do that a short-term option that's been done um it's been done throughout Massachusetts it's been done in Brookline um is to have a temporary building moratorium that is very rarely done it is done I have seen it the most in communities that have said you know we have a water and sewer connection issue that's not going to be online for a year we have to stop um all demolition usually that moratorium also has some minimum cap so again thinking about infrastructure and in more Suburban areas you know there's a building moratorium but we're going to 40 units a year to be built you know there's still an allowance of some new units to happen the last time well one of the times that Brooklyn did that that moratorium was for six months it was for a very short time and um regulation wise and case law wise we would want to be very clear and careful that we would were mapping that building moratorium to an urgent and time bound crisis okay whether it's infrastructure or something and then also doing a study to fix it so yeah so I I I get that I think we talked about that during the during the um the Harvard Street um concerns about Harvard Street getting building like crazy but you mentioned the importance of community engagement and hearing from the community and engaging with these communities how much Community engagement has actually been done on warrant article a none I mean you know barely so we would bring that article to town meeting and we are so we are proposing and this why part of the reason why we're here tonight to hear from what you all think but we are proposing to do this to at least get on the warrant because if not we predict we will see signific some tear Downs in our M1 districts over the next six to 12 months so it's it's it's a risk either way we did this for example with the T5 and there was enough Community conversation about wanting to avoid demolitions that as we went through town meeting there was a wide wide wide support to do that even though there wasn't significant um Outreach done before the warrant article was filed um so let me just say to sort of alleviate that concern I I can appreciate that it's great to have a committee and a community engagement process and so forth but there are 255 town meeting Members Plus us uh and uh that's a pretty good sample of the community in terms of uh you have advisory committee review planning planning uh um uh planning Board review and so forth um there's a lot of review that will occur with this article even if you haven't done the the preliminary work yeah and there's also a little bit of gamesmanship here um if if this was talked about a year ago and we hadn't done anything people investors and people that would be willing to sell to investors would line up with agreement with trying to freeze the zoning by filing any building permit yeah you know when we're in a defensive measure like the T5 like this interesting comment yeah it's there's a reason to do it quickly yeah some some a a little bit less notice is beneficial if if if the mission is to be defensive yeah yeah yeah okay okay I'm going to Only Name these couple things because we're not we don't need to talk about them tonight I don't think um this the second Warren article that we're talking about has the same goal um it basically Builds on the ideas and work that happen in the T5 NH District by basically defining what a peaked roof looks like um the planning board has said to us very clearly that they are so tired of Permitting Cube you know flat top thre story buildings it's most of what they see in the single SC and T districts you know day in and day out um the neighborhood doesn't like it even the planning board members that love modern buildings um agree that it's not usually um in character with the neighborhood although sometimes it is and so they've been um working with us and wanting to Define two and a half stories more broadly than just that T5 and H area so this amendment would do so um in the single family and and two family districts so can I make a comment on that so ask me I'm sorry can I make a comment on that ber not thank you um the um I've had a couple conversations with folks who are attached to book line for everyone interested in book line for everyone and their view is that this is a down zoning uh and they have a what is essentially a competing warrant article that they're that they're putting together and uh I think myself that the nature and I've said to them the Warr article that you're putting together is a political mistake uh and you you really need to think about this very care definitely um but what is the answer to that comment that well you know this is down zoning because that will be asked um so for I would I would say for many Parcels if not most Parcels this will further restrict the building square footage that you can do on an on a lot but it is not the same across all Parcels we haven't done that analysis it would take a lot of geometry work on you know a couple thousand Parcels to say so but that kind of thrown out tagline does it further restrict what you can build on a property yes is does that mean that it's true for every property no because there are many many single family and two family Parcels that already have uh buildings that are non-conforming with our zoning that are above and beyond what's currently Allowed by zoning so it's um it doesn't go the other way it doesn't make it easier to build more that's for sure yeah um okay okay well you got that that would be a very interesting discussion to have at to meeting but I think the the other point that you've raised in the past is that this I mean just with Warren article a too this is a is a defensive posture Warren article that until the work neighborhood by neighborhood really and in conjunction with the comp plan with things like tox death Perry get done um this provides a a blanket you know a blanket you know sort of a security blanket over the districts at large and then allows District by District that kind of analysis and it may well be that those districts choose something choose something else and you know come back to town meeting and say you know what what we want is this that's more in character with the neighborhood so wouldn't it be more sensible to put this in effect for a certain period of time uh as opposed because it does look you know to somebody sitting outside as down zoning and you're never we're going to change this and the comprehensive plan is you know going to leave it there so what's what's interesting about that concept is in a way it's kind of the reverse of a temporary building moratorium yes well it is temporary regulation moratorium right and it and I'm very much aware of that it's kind of a that's it's kind of a moratorium yeah but uh it it's a sunset yeah if I had to guess which is not a good thing to do I think that a majority of our planning board members feel confident enough this that this would help their daily work and that it is more right than wrong that doesn't mean that someone at anybody during the town meeting process couldn't add that Sunset Clause including you all um and um and if it is too restrictive in some areas after the compain discussion or you know even during the complain discussion there's the ability to look at certain neighborhoods and and Ratchet back the other way that's been happening for more than a hundred years Brookline okay if if the concern is about uh having too many Cube buildings was there any con consideration about making three and a half limit no um not yet I should say because our existing zoning in these districts wouldn't permit there's a height that wouldn't permit a three and a half story building oh yeah and uh carara didn't didn't this come out of town meeting a directive from town meeting to reduce demolitions from uh a warrant article that was filed by I think Nancy heler she wanted to put a moratorium in place and this is a direct result of that isn't it yes this is like the the kind of the next round of what we did with the T5 NH this is something that's more broad that's across the sscn T or a blanket as as Town Administrator Carrie said um and again you know our planning board is telling us we don't don't have the tools to um to regulate building forms that we think are appropriate to the neighborhood that the neighbors think are appropriate to the neighborhood and by the way what we're seeing is existing fabric being torn down and not replaced by more units not replaced by affordable units right and and again I just want to go back that a year ago or two years a year and a half ago this warrant article passed overwhelmingly um that was filed by Nancy H and and a number of other people which initiated this this work it's great that the planning department is going to make the planning department I mean the planning boards work easier but this was a directive from town meeting it is to do this right so T this is already been through town meeting as a directive now whether they accept it as a warnau when it comes back I mean that's to be to be seen but it's C the work that you've done here certainly is a result of a directive of town meeting okay should I move on go on okay so um there's another War article we're going to touch the Harvard Street zoning um the main reason is because the Attorney General flagged for us that uses like dayc carees cannot require a special permit so we just we need to fix that while we're touching the use table um we are recommending to add personal service uses for example hair salons um which right now are not included as um uses allowed on the Harvard Street Zone additionally and this came up last fall um there was lots of conversation at advisory especially with Architects about whether or not we should expand the list of allowed materials for the Harvard Street District the planning board is now in a place where they have recommendations to make that you know meet the spirit of what the community talked about wanted in past but it's very specific technical materials that might be needed you know closer to the ground or because of new materials that are available related to sustainability um that kind of thing so that's that one also um in the category of avoiding conflict of State Statute we may or may not by allar article related to accessory dwelling units um you can skip the first half of that slide we are working with Town Council staff um to go line by line and figure out what's absolutely necessary for um us to change prior to Springtown meeting in order to um not be in direct conflict with the state law that was just passed a couple weeks ago um for example the state law talks about not allowing um that municipalities can't say that accessory dwelling units must be owner occupied that's just one example so we don't really want to touch much of the adus this fall but we do want to make sure with Town Council that we are um fixing what we really need to fix it's in clear conflict with the state law because this law goes into effect in February 2025 in a couple months the law says that regulations may be drafted unlike the MBTA work it doesn't say regulations will be drafted so it could be a year be before state agencies um further Define what they want to see here or they may decide not to add any regulations um so this is a you know fix only what we need to only what we need to touch so more to come on that and then finally I mentioned this at the very beginning of the of the evening um our signage bylaw used to be called the lighting and signage bylaw at some point over decades the lighting piece of it disappeared from the zoning bylaw um and what we've heard recently over the last year or two um especially with some houses that have gone up that have long windy driveways maybe are set back from the road they're concerned about security so what happens they put these large outdoor lighting um holes on these properties which then annoy the abuts um so we are um we've been working with some residents and town meting members on this for since the early summer along with the Building Commissioner and have agreed to add some outdoor lighting regulations again focused on residential properties um in that same bylaw we'd also like to make the um signage standards a little bit easier for example so that this is if you know um where the spa is over right over there um this is that block this is a small little benefitness sign for the fitness studio and here is a little circular sign for I think it was Financial agency um that's how small our signage allows for blade signs which are perpendicular to the building um and this especially affects buildings that have you know one facade one building but multiple businesses in other words small businesses in them it makes it that area is divided up amongst them all so we want to tweak that um and also um look at the allowed height for building identity sign so think of the hotel think of Children's Hospital think of be um all three of those I should say hotels all of those uses have um successfully asked for gotten variances from the zba they've always been granted um and so we would like to think about regulation that allows that without a variance um but in a responsible way David regarding the outdoor lighting portion given that the Warren article currently reads uh signage would this be interpreted to mean lights that are a part of signs or is it separate it would be it would be separate um historically it was just happen to be in the same location because our small businesses our businesses that go through the signage review would they already include review even though there's no standards of like the goose neck lights and and things like that so that's why historically they've been together but they um but the regulations can and do actually cover both residential and Commercial properties okay I see Paul hand is up yep uh thank you cara just on the lighting um I'm glad to see that something like this is coming forward I just would ask that um that we consider um also those residential areas that abut commercial areas G districts L districts because there you know there that there's a lot of conflict there because the mix use housing along Beacon sink for example will have high impact Lighting on the sides or behind their buildings to light up their parking lots and that spills over into of course the abing uh residential uh properties so there's if we can apply the regulations and make sure that it's it's not just for single families in South Brookline it actually gets into uh these these multi-use uh mixus areas in north book line as well that would be really beneficial yeah we we would like to do that um I should say it's not just applied to single family in South Brook line it's applying to all residential um uses we would like to also look again at the commercial standards which you know the planning board does do fairly frequently um we have not started to look at that but we are working with a resident who is a lighting expert and so our hope is that if we can you know get the residential stuff back on the books um then we can we can move forward to also taking a fresh look at how the planning board currently regulates lighting and it would be great actually to to work with um Town me members in you know your areas um also Washington Square places like that where where those two uses come come right up against each other there is a lot of conflict with those two uses thank you uh Mike so uh I wonder if I could um get back to the changes uh in facade on on facades on uh aage Street uh one of the things that um we have to be very careful and guard against is uh effectively narrowing options on Harvard Street uh and uh I I think that um with all respect to the planning board there's a tendency to say Well we'd really like to you know have an opportunity to review things on Harvard Street um and yet we've labored mightily to put in by right zoning uh so uh without going into too much detail on the changes I I I just want to say that's a concern for me that I'd like to see I'd like to know for sure that we're not tightening the options in the in supposedly in the interest of Aesthetics I'm glad you asked that because I was not clear so this warrant article would only loosen what you can do on Harvard Street it would add more uses that are allowed it would make a use that's now Allowed by special permit Allowed by right and it would allow more exterior material types to be used okay thank you okay thank you car thank you for your time and uh these are one articles that you will U submit without our permission I don't hear an outpouring of how dare you file that now but that is why we are here tonight so just want to put that out there now's your time to stop us okay I'm the one thing I would be I'm really concerned about is that roof line you know and it's you're gonna have a clash it's inevitable I I agree with minut I thought we were ending this discussion David quick I I agree with Mike on that one because I'm I'm I'm a bit concerned about what will appear like downside down zoning and uh with Warren article a the goal is to essentially have an even playing field between an owner occupier and an investor but with Warren article B that doesn't sound like having a uh a neutral playing field so I just I worry a bit about the balance there so maybe if we could look a bit more on that one do I hear John and this is a question for staff um if it isn't already added to the the packet and the agenda for this meeting could we make sure that that presentation is added to the agenda for this meeting can I ask which article you're talking about not moving I I'm I'm confused now you just um it sounds like Mike and David are actually suggesting that we not do something which one are you talking about waren article B about the two and a half stories so in an effort to AV the one that the one that was that was explicitly directed by town meeting David that voted overwhelmingly to support that directive is that the one you're talking about I I think there will be people concerned about it yes just say I'm sure I'm sure there'll be people concerned about it but that's that that this Warren article is a direct result of a vote by town meeting so well there was a vote by well hang on there was a vote by town meeting to re to to do that in a certain area um to restrict Dem to to to reduce the number of demolitions to to absolutely mod moderately priced housing maybe we should speak through the chair if we're going to start having a back and forth on this because I want it could get out out of hand well I I I I I I'm puzzled by members of the board directing care as to what to do and what not to do as though it's been we've taken a vote on it we haven't there's no I mean I I don't hear that I I I I want we we we we we need direction from you so we don't we there doesn't seem there doesn't seem to be consensus so we're we're we're listening um if there's right now the position is we're going to move these articles if the board if a majority of the board says don't move this article then we won't but two members don't I don't hear that I didn't even say that I just I'm just expressing a concern and an issue that I think will come up that I hope through the process will be addressed I'm not suggesting we not move forward all of our Arles out okay thank you thank you bye okay next uh go goal and objectives um there's yes there's actually still another item under the discussion of Warrant articles oh boy I miss these things which is Jonathan Simpson for the restrictive covenant oh the restrict yes who's on restricted Covenant yeah good okay Jonathan uh good evening everyone uh thank you uh I this this should be brief um the article that uh I'm here to present on is sort of a final piece of the puzzle uh related to the puddingstone 40b development uh in Hancock Village one of the conditions of the comprehensive permit the putting Stone 40b uh received was that they the um the land owner prior to receiving its certificate of occupancy would um enter into a restrictive covenant that would bar the um building any additional structures or paved areas inside the site the the part that's covered by the comprehensive permit doing so outside of the comprehensive permit process um this is uh and they've now reached the point in the project where it is appropriate to um get that restrictive covenant uh executed and then recorded uh there is uh I believe in an abundance of caution we should have town meeting approve it there is an argument to be made that it is an interest and realis State and therefore the town should be um going approving any acquisition of such an interest by a two-thirds town meeting vote prior um we have a options my suggestion would be that the um in the runup to town meeting the board reviews the restrictive covenant answers all has all of its questions answered um and then executes it contingent on town meeting approval so that as soon as town meeting approval is obtained uh they can they can get that restrictive covenant record it matches the restri the restrictive covenant we utilized already for residences of South Brooklyn the other 40b in Hancock Village that was passed in 2022 the approval for which was passed in 2022 by town meeting although that was alongside the acquisition of an easement um but the the Declarations are Bas are essentially the same but for um the reference they reference different sites and different comprehens of permits um so that's I'm hoping the select board will um put this on the warrant uh as they same way they did in 2022 uh and uh allow the town to obtain uh this additional protection because this this entire condition and restrictive covenant was aimed at ensuring like I said already that uh there would be no surprises within the site within that it's it's only a portion of Hancock Village it's a it's delineated you can see it in the draft warrant article um but within that um part portion that that encompasses more than just the new building that there won't be anything uh else built on it other than what is already been proposed or potentially what is um proposed via Amendment of the comprehensive permit which would necessitate them going through the zba um and uh you know public process with notice to abutters and all of that so I'm here to answer any questions if anyone has it okay you're asking for approval of this um War article right well well you know it's it's not on the warrant yet but yes I mean the the uh the point would be that I'm asking for the select board to uh agree in Concepts to put it on the warrant uh so that we can uh Paul you had your hand up first yep uh just a quick question thank you for the explanation I understand what it is but the question is why what why would they be willing to do this why do we want I'm just curious about what what's triggering it um I well the big the real why is it's a condition of their comprehensive permit they can't they can't get their CFO until they do this um so the the going back in time as back when they were going through the the process initially I believe the zba um was concerned that the 40 the 40 BS had been sort of carved the lot line the sight lines of the 40b had been D drawn in a very specific way and the zba both with residences of sou BKE L and again at puddingstone was concerned that there was still space available with even within those Sidelines that theoretically the owner could make an argument in the future that they were entitled to additional density or paved areas on that s on that area through 4A um not withstanding the fact that there's an argument that that's the comprehensive permit you don't get to step over those lines to do anything with 4A I think the zba was was most comfortable just simply putting it as a condition and the applicant agreed so so a so so was a condition Jonathan and uh that condition they get their um certificate of occupancy once that condition gets satisfied yes and that actually puts those 40b units onto the Shi I would assume once they get their certificate of occupancy that's uh Cara could speak to this more I believe that is correct because they have been sort of popping on and off they get they they sort of come on and then they they took long enough that they fell off again and then they got a building permit so I think they came back on and then it took long enough so they fell back off again okay okay John uh John thank you for the explanation does this have anything to do with um and I'm relying on memory here but I'm I'm pretty sure um I recall accurately that there there was a a application made or a request made before uh and I'm thinking it's probably the zoning board of appeals for some sort of departure from what was the actual um you know development plan so that additional units could be added to one of the buildings um and uh on an on a space that was to be used for parking and then in return there was a space that was used that was um allocated to I think green space but nonetheless was vacant that could be then used for the parking that got displaced by the addition to the building does this have anything to do with that it does not uh critically all of that if if we're thinking of the same thing all of that is done is being done through the comprehensive permit process so that this Covenant says you can't do anything that's not within the comprehensive permit process that my understanding of of the arrangement that they're trying to reach there is being done as a modification of the comprehensive permit uh so if it's approved it will it would fit within the Covenant because it's within the comprehensive so this neither um opens the door to that nor disallows that exactly right what it would disallow would doing would be trying to do that by some other means yeah okay okay uh so you want to vote um so therefore I'm Mo approval of the um the Warren article uh to accept a restrictive covenant in favor of the Town between the town and putting stone at chesten Hill uh chest Hill project and I I I would just note this is a draft Jonathan needs to fine tune it but that's the the thrust of it we're approving going forward with right an article yeah right the meets and Bounds piece of it yeah okay all in favor uh John Vanya hi Michael sanman hi Paul Warren hi Davis uh David Perman hi chair votes I okay next goals and objectives finally okay nothing else hiding here I don't think um all right um thank you we I'll try and move through this uh swiftly um so you have my screen up here um and I'll make it bigger um this is the new draft based on the comments I received from select board members as well as the um comments from the previous meeting in July um um and uh there are just some uh one obviously I want to give you board members the opportunity for General feedback and anything specific you think is missing and then there are a couple of specific points that I wanted to go through quickly to make sure to hear your feedback on so that we can revise this and have it presented in a hopefully final or near final form at your Workshop in September yeah and at the workshop is where we have final opportunity to fine-tune it and so so this is not going to be not gonna come out of this meeting right right you have one more opportunity here to to revise so um were there any general comments from members of the board um things that they things or anything missing that needs to be put in no no none here Paul's goton a stand up Paul has a stand up okay Paul you have a okay yes I do I do for Chaz and I just wanted to I would have hoped to have had a conversation with you about this but I just didn't get time today um I sent you uh a specific item around reviewing our financial policies yes and I think you merged them together into the first line and yeah and I see that it's been it's been put there I just this this number one's become pretty muddled uh the you know reviewing our financial policies was meant to be we've got a number of policies that uh we reviewed probably in 2011 freecast waterfall CIP other things um that that could use a review um and discussion and possible modification now I don't these other items here related to recruitment Equitable recruitment safety training opportunities for seniors those are all important things but how do they relate back to our financial policies our formal Financial policy like free cash waterfall yeah and you see I've actually flagged that section for potential deletion at at your suggestion because I think you know it it is now maybe potentially trying to do too much um I what I what I would say on this and you can see I I put the assess and update free cash as a potential addition down here um I anticipate that at your Workshop this September you're going to have the opportunity to assess and update those policies that we're going to come to you as we discussed in the summer with some recommendations so my hope is that that will be an accomplishment for you in fy2 rather than a goal in FY 26 um but um so it could it may it may actually be the reverse it may be that if you want to cut this F the first half of this and talk in in the second half about um devoting the appropriate Financial Resources um that may be an option um but it may also be worth discussing in the context of what comes out of the workshop well so that's actually you you rais a very valid point Chaz that um my strong preference would be to review and modify as as appropriate our financial policies um prior to the end of the fiscal this fiscal year so it should be done in fy2 right make you raise a good point I I appreciate I appreciate you doing that so hopefully we can solve these address these at at the workshop and and delete the first half thank you yeah thank you um I know that Bernard you had you had flagged this one about maximizing Community preservation act and you were concerned that you know it's not necessarily the board's role it's the CPA committee's role but I think one of the directives you gave to us on staff is that we need to be going to that committee and seeking that money out and you know putting all the eligible projects on the table so that the committee has the opp knows the full spectrum of what's out there that could potentially be CPA eligible so we want to take that you know that guidance and make sure that it's you know um driven home in the objectives yeah um we talked um there's this there's this language here about seeking uh reasonable sustainable development opportunities to diversify the tax base um Paul you would flagged that for potential deletion I and I think it's probably the same issue that you had raised with the with the first one which is it's it's trying to do a lot um in one sentence um but you know just a question there as to you know if if we don't have that in this one do we break it out is it is it is it is it left out um because I do know that you know the the idus is going to be there for you know Chesnut Hill West and and other projects that are ongoing um to move forward um in this and the next fiscal year what do other people think I mean I think that should stay correctly I me you the the idea is that we we're doing the community planning process but that doesn't mean that we're not doing other things and you know these these items in particular you know need to be um you know looked at uh in time for us to come up with a plan once uh they're ready yeah so uh Bernard the the reason why is I think they um they end up weighing weighing down the comprehensive plan you're you're qualifying it so for example um you know facilities in Brookline Village and and elsewhere children we've never discussed that um and you know that that this is the first time I actually saw that uh was was when it was was in this uh this document um again I just I think that we you know we continue to develop our comprehensive plan and other planning activities I just don't necessarily know if we you we should enumerate them all because I don't know what they all are okay so you're suggesting taking out the Clause beginning with including in chest Hill yes yes ending okay what do other people think that would be yeah my my main concern is that we're not we're not using the comprehensive plan to stop looking at uh it's not suggesting that at all right I I think it's um I mean it says including it doesn't say exclusive any think it's exclusive I think it's important to make it clear that even while the comprehensive plan planning process is going on these other things uh need to go forward what is the area around Chestnut around children's I mean I just Mike we've never had a conversation as a board and maybe that's part of the problem it looks like something got added on here um what has been added on okay wait David I agree with you and Mike that I think it's important to mention spe specifics now Paul's raising whether chess on Hill is the right specific and that's fine we can discuss that but I think having specifics is important because if we only have sort of this General overarching language then it's unclear what the goal really is doesn't make sense to make this a separate those specific um projects a separate uh item I think BR you actually had flagged the Children's Hospital facilities and the initial draft of this which is why it was in there um we if there's a concern about that specific project maybe we take that out and just say including Chestnut Hill West including but not limited to Chestnut Hill West since that is the big project that's currently in furthest along yeah uh my my concern would be in if we didn't include that because we have a major major major piece of un occupied space um at the commercial uh storefront or Street Front portion of part of that very successful U Brooklyn place you know one and two development and um we need to You Know M make it clear there has to be a continuing focus on getting an occupant for that space or solving the problem of that unclaimed space it's a huge gap in one of our more successful Redevelopment areas I think it's worth continuing this discussion at your workshop and seeing and so we'll we'll we'll leave this we'll leave this kind of the open question um and then finalize it at the workshop if that makes sense for the group yeah okay okay um just you know in the next um iteration of this just make sure some somewhere it's flagged that we're gonna we're going to talk about that yes we don't and we don't go into the meeting and then start thinking about it yeah um then um the last flag um um was that um a suggestion was made so first we changed the title of this thank you all for your s suggestions on improving the title of this last section we settled on improve the public way for all users um we talked about continuing prioritize um there was a suggestion made to combine goals one and two and to add a b add a goal about um completing the work on ada8 compliant Crossing signals um We are continuing that work I don't know and I need to talk to commissioner sh about this what the timeline is for finishing that um and whether it goes past FY 26 I know it is a continued priority and we're working at it um but I don't know whether or not that's going to be finished by FY 26 and we need to get clarity on that um one area um if you want to talk about that potentially another goal might be to put in accessibility in bullet three um but again that's a question of do you want to have that specific call out to the ADA compliance signals uh in the goals and objectives and if so how do we kind of measure that out yeah um that's another thing we should take up at the workshop but I I think that you know um accessibility uh is an important uh important issue that uh we have to make sure we include somewhere somehow okay we'll leave we'll leave this flag in and then I would just say members of the board if you have individual comments again please feel free to circulate to us and we will we'll take a look at them we'll make sure that we get a revised draft to the grou to out for the um for the workshop okay any other any further discussion that if not let's go on to the last item and I can go home and move you have two more items unfortunately yeah just two I well can I ask could I ask one question before uh So based on the presentation um with the Gap analysis on uh Human Services uh is there is there is there anything from that that we may want to incorporate into um our FY 26 priorities is is it worth a mention because there was a lot there was a lot there there really was well but the main thing that would be incorporated here is um funding for the um a position that was proposed I think so the language the language we had in planning for the future bullet three was continue development of holistic hub-based Social Services model of assistance that includes but is not limited to housing recovery office but maybe what we um or sorry housing stability office um maybe maybe should be it should be incorporated there yeah maybe we should make that more specific around the needs assessment okay okay we can we can make that at that's a good FL thank you it needs assessment but the staff position y yeah y okay good okay next boards and commissions reappointments um we have one two three four five six reappoint ments um and I'd just like to make U mention a couple couple things uh zoning board of appeals I asked Jesse Geller to sort of expand on his application which he did and I I hope people saw that in the um packet um and then there's some issue with respect to the Park and Recreation Commission uh and the reappointment of John Pan um and if you want to mention yeah know I'll be happy to bring that up and I I have something to say about that too yeah that's fine and and um you know th this is uh a result of the fact that we we actually have a policy that we adopted that um because we are um giving a lot of latitude to people who seek reappointment to their positions on various boards committees and commissions um in that if if there is no objection from the chair and if the chair in fact you know would actively like to see an individual reappointed we do not um take people whose terms have expired and require them to go through the process of submitting for a an additional appointment for an additional term and to come back in for another interview we we for the sake of our own the efficiency of our own operations but also in recognition of good service deserves to be rewarded um we're essentially routinely reappointing people um um in large number um but we do have one or two things that we set as thresholds for well when do we not reappoint someone and one of them was attendance and the requirement is that members of boards committees and commissions attend two-thirds of the meetings during their term and in this case of just this this one applicant who is a fine person who makes good contributions to the U Park and recck commission um but the attendance hasn't been um at the threshold it hasn't met the threshold and so because I think that is an important requirement if we are going to routinely U reappoint people who are already serving um I I have let Bernard know that I'm going to abstain um on that appointment okay and um the the policy that John referred to is a policy and I don't have written down exactly when we uh pass this policy but the language is um board commission committee members shall attend at least two-thirds of the bodies public meetings failure to do so may result in the removal of membership and possible replacement by the select board and I talked to Claire Bachelor Bachelor uh regarding um this individual and um you know he's an emergency emergency um emergency physici and apparently according to Clara um he had scheduled uh his work around the schedule of meetings of the Park and Recreation Commission uh number of meetings were changed um and uh it inflicted with his work schedule um she's she talked to him about this and she is convinced that he um so long as they don't you know change around their board their meeting schedules that he'll be able to attend uh you know meetings in a in a reasonable basis um so I think that given that the the policy says the select board may replace such a member uh the implication is if there's a justification for uh not uh uh kicking soone off because of U missing meetings um that we should uh reappoint them and I think that there is a justification in this case and I would defer also to CLA bachelor's um concerns but I I thank John for you know raising this and actually spending the time to look into well and and I know you've given it a lot of thought thought as well Mike I I think it's worth mentioning the advisory committee has a policy um that uh advisory committee members who have who have a reason for missing a meeting need to notify um the chair through the through the advisory committee uh support staff member the secretary of the advisory committee uh and just the same if they need to be away then they need to be away and if the meetings get changed around sort of need somebody's uh feet as it were uh I it seems to me like we have to give the person uh an opportunity to Y to to reappoint any other comments about that uh item um okay so what I'd like to do is to begin moving approval of uh the appointments to these boards and commissions so I'm Mo approval of uh uh Jesse Geller to the zoning board of appeals all in favor please indicate by saying I or do we want to do that in sort of Omnibus fashion unless them all except the last well yeah all except the last so I move approval of Jesse Geller to the Zoning Board of the appeals um uh Hugh Madison and Pamela Templar to the tree planting committee uh John Dukakis to the Brookline commission for the Arts Pam Goodman for the housing Advisory Board and Peggy Maguire for the trustees of Walnut Hill Cemetery all in favor please indicate by saying I John benak I Michael Sandman I Paul Warren hi David prman hi and chair votes I now our park and Recreation Commission I move of approval of John Payne for reappointment to the Park and Recreation Commission all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak abstain Michael Sandman hi Warren hi David Perman abstain and chair votes I okay boards and commissions new appointments advisory Council on public health um here's another is this's another issue that came up here um so the chair of the advisory committee on public health advisory Council on public health or of Public Health yes real name of we ought to changed that um so the uh chair has recommended that um well first of all there's a voting uh position open and two non- voting um um uh positions open uh the chair recommends that sherah fiser be appointed to the voting position and that mayin fredman gersman um and um Anthony ISAC aack be appointed to the non- voting positions um I raised a question of uh issue of uh diversity particularly with respect to the Asian community in town on this very important committee um and uh one of the the applicants um Macho U Mesi I think is how you pronounced her name um a pediatrician um you know I thought you know we should consider appointing her um to one of the non voting positions I was talked out of that by uh the um the chair of the of the uh Council uh who noted that um Anthony ISAC is um um Middle Eastern which is part of Asia right um and you know these issues of diversity are not you know they're not hard and fast rules they're just attempts that we we make to make sure that there's a diversity of of experiences of opinions um and um uh values on on our various boards and commissions but any rate um I also looked at the um the interviews of uh the very various uh applicants and um and their application materials with a little more in a little more depth and I'm willing to go with the recommendation of um Charlie Homer uh who recommended the three people I mentioned I don't know if anyone else has any comments um um did yeah U could you just repeat who the three are and yeah um Charlie Homer suggests that sherff fiser be appointed to the uh voting position and that Maran fredman gersen and and um Anthony ISAC aack I'll be appointed to the non voting positions I know that Maran Freedman gersman uh gersan uh suggested that maybe Mary kler would be a b um a better uh um appointment I talk to her and uh she is willing to take the position yourself so you you you spoke to maryan right Gan and do you mind if I just say because I I'm not sure how you intend to proceed but excuse me I um made the case to our chair that I I do think um we should be have the opportunity if we have a difference of of view as to how these appointments should fall um that we can make that we can express that through a round of voting is done when for example I think people are familiar with if we have multiple candidates for a school committee to replace a school Committee Member you know we've used this process where we give the each individual the opportunity to say my choice would be yeah and and so I if if you're going to do it that way I was I apologize for not mentioning that yeah because we did talk about yeah so uh what I'll do is go around and ask each select board member to indicate the two candidate well first of all let's vote for the not the uh um voting the voting appointment yeah um I move approval of um or appointment of sheriff Fischer to the voting position on the advisory Council of Public Health um all in favor please indicate by saying I and if you have a alternative uh person let me know but uh let's start this way um John V skak uh hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David Perman hi okay and shair of both Sid so we we're appointing Sheriff fiser to the voting uh as voting member of The Advisory Council and uh next with respect to the two voting a non- voting positions open um we have uh as I said Maran gedman gersan uh Mary Marian Freedman gban Mary C castler uh Mach Mesi uh Anthony aack those four are the your options uh as we go around please indicate Who You'd like who you would like to appoint and we'll see who gets the most votes you have a question Mike uh no you've just answered my question I I appreciate the opportunity to make my statement okay well you want to make a statement now uh well John's yeah yeah we'll just go around and get to Mike right yeah yeah yeah thanks Mike um so uh I I I happen to differ with the chair um of the advisory Council um on the selections for the two non- voting positions um you know that's fine um and and that's just some sometimes that's the way it falls uh but I do think the two strongest candidates um after Sheriff Fischer were uh Macho Mishi um and Mary castler and uh as the chair mentioned um the person nominated by The Advisory Council chair uh Marian fredman gban who's a wonderful person um but she spoke enthusiastically about Mary castler and said you know pick her you know because she's she's wonderful and the two of them get along great and I agree with maryan Freedman gersman I I think Mary castler is is very clearly a strong strong candidate and I want to I I would hope to see her be one of of the non- voting positions on the council and I think the same uh of the the interview we had with Macho manishi and so I think my two choices would be Mary castler and Macho Mishi okay um M Simon uh I agree with uh with John in both cases oh that John um got a newfound admiration for I took uh I I take notes when I keep notes for for the show because it's really hard to keep you have number of people I'm going back and looking at my notes and uh I I was going to say Mary castler uh uh as a in contrast to Maran gpan would be my choice but I looking at my notes um I think Dr Mishi would be the appropriate second okay um Paul um I'm gonna uh agree with the the chair of so I'm going to agree with your recommendations Bernard which are the the chair of the commission's recommendation as well I think um you know Anthony uh I appreciate his uh his background as a pharmacist um he brings a unique perspective uh he came with ideas that you know we had a lengthy discussion with him about ideas uh him doing research when he travels uh knocking on doors um that was that really impressed me uh his level enthusiasm uh in detail and I think Mar would be a great addition uh certainly from uh providing uh the her background um in mental health and also you know being a very active senior in our community um I think she'd be a good addition as well so I I would stick with Bernard and the chair of the committee hey David so I'm uh in partial agreements with John and Mike and partial agreement with Paul I agree with Paul that complicated I agree with Paul that I thought that Anthony aack presented very well as a go-getter who has practical ideas who researches and would be a very active member and I think that's important uh so in my initial list of three I actually I had sheer Fischer as well and we already voted on her uh so Anthony aack I I would support however I agree with JN and Mike about Mary castler I found her to be very impressive she has an extremely strong resume as mentioned Maran fredman gersan herself endorsed Mary castler essentially uh so my two picks would be Anthony aack and Mary castler well I have no problem at all with Anthony you know yeah yeah yeah sounds like we have three three votes on yeah Anthony and yeah so Mary Mary C oh we have two okay I have to vote yeah okay um let's see I I I'm gonna go with u um Charlie Homer's suggestion or recommendation for um Marian and uh Anthony so we have um three votes for Anthony so it's Anthony and actually Four Mike and I have changed our vote oh you've changed your vote okay okay so you bless me um let's see and actually five you five yeah now five you yeah okay and who comes in second Mary CES withler two unless you guys want to join make it unanimous okay that's it okay so we have two appointments to The Advisory Council on public health uh Anthony isack aack why can't I pronounce this Anthony aack and Mary kastler it's nice to have good qualified candidates oh really super super group well I I hope that we have reapplication okay good that's the end of um of our and the end of the meeting unless there's anyone in the audience who would like to make a public comment nope nothing to say Joe okay thank you everyone e e