##VIDEO ID:62c2QswcgCs## [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and this is the uh regular meeting of the select board for September 10 2024 I'd like to start off by uh moving that we go into executive session for the purpose of providing an update on strategy related to collective bargaining bargaining with each of the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees uh and local 950 International Association of firefighters f ofl c uh and to reconvene an open session at approximately 5:45 uh all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi jar votes I uh again we we will return approximately 5:45 h [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] that [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening I'm Bernard Green chair of the Brookline select board and this is the regular meeting of the select board for September 10 20124 uh let's start off with uh some announcements and I have a few F I'm sorry yes I was just looking at you oh Oh I thought you you're reminding me of something okay um first of all at our August 20th meeting of the select board uh we unanimously agreed to begin the process of negotiating a new contract with the Town Administrator uh which must be completed by March 15 2025 for a new contract for the three-year period beginning September 15 2025 secondly uh I want to um remind people that tomorrow is the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attack in New York City and uh Washington and in Pennsylvania over the past few years we have held a remembrance event with the fire department department at fire station 5 on Babcock Street to recognize the Brookline connected people who died on that day and The Bravery of firefighters generally including the 343 New York City Firefighters and paramedics who lost their lives on that day uh today uh this year's uh remembrance event will begin at 9:00 am. at fire station 5 on Babcock Street and it will include a Statewide remembrance ceremony by the fire department I hear from many people that our simple event is very meaningful to them and greatly appreciated uh so I urge people to they have the opportunity to come by and participate uh second thirdly I'd like to at at at the request of the principal of peer School Jamie yadov I'd like to um give a shout out to two people who really were very uh uh helpful in preparing uh old Lincoln School and um the uh Newberry campus for uh the use by the uh peer school students during the construction period and those two individuals uh Town employees Sarah goodling the town's operation manager and Karen King uh the peer School operations project manager uh thank you for your work on that uh on that project which made it possible for that to go a lot smoother than uh otherwise would and finally tonight is the presidential debate that begins at 9pm we're going to try to be efficient in running this meeting and not as loquacious as we sometimes are so that we can let people shift their focus from town politics to National politics which could decide the ability of our town to function as the progressive community of which we are proud to be a part so uh because because of that I reduced the time or the um length of my announcements uh anyone else have announcements they like to make not to put too much more pressure on okay oh you should have seen why I have written down I'm sorry that I do having having made the point that I I was going to leave at at quarter to nine um but I have been asked um U and I to to say that um it may be time for us to have a presentation on this status of pilot negotiations uh at a public meeting and I'll just leave it at that and ask that that be TI put it on the Futures list y thank you well Tiffany could you uh put up picture i s you this is one of your vacation photos this is not for those who think that the select board is okay you know that's great so the you know I'm I'm going to talk about this is because one uh this is something that was incredibly unusual an anomaly uh in the experience of of our business districts um this got quite a bit of public interest um over the weekend and yesterday and today uh the the a broadcast media organization showed up uh this morning and was filming so um oh you can't hear me um and so what i' I'd like to do is just uh give a little bit of background here and assure the public about what's been done um this was a uh situation behind um several restaurants in the St Mary's business district uh that occurred over the weekend uh into yesterday and today um the uh operator of uh the the food court um in St Mary's uh ended up having a challenge with the their uh their trash hauler and this was the result uh this uh this was an incredibly unusual situation it was a mess um but I do want to assure uh the public and first thank uh the Town Administrator uh the commissioner of Public Works uh the director of Public Health all of which uh who showed up um to attend to this situation um as well as uh the DT DPW and health inspector um to correct the situation um it has been cleaned up um I went by there before I came here all the trash is gone um it's understood that the trash hauler that has been contracted with will show up tomorrow uh to make sure that the bins are empty and this is an a super exception to the exception um and I just want to thank uh the town staff for responding quickly uh working with the restaurants to make sure that they had the situation under control um and this situation should never never ever happen again um and uh I just want to thank uh the staff for doing that and assure the public that this has been corrected and we were focused on it very quickly so this was not students moving in this is not students moving in this is four restaurants that share the dumpsters yeah okay student eating okay I apologize for that slender statement that's I used to be one students wouldn't do that um a couple of things uh the September um Town Hall newsletter has come out you can click on a link um on the Brooklin ma.gov webbsite our town website and you will discover um a re really good useful uh it's useful every single month September's is no ex exception um a lot of good um announcements in there keeping you up to date on all kinds of things so I I recommend highly that people read it especially the portion of the newsletter devoted to the positions that um are on boards uh commissions uh uh and uh other bodies that are appointed by the select board and uh that are there are positions that are filled by volunteers but some of them are currently um vacant and we're always on the lookout for talented people willing to volunteer their talent and their good thinking to various capacities that um exist under our boards um committees and commissions and people should read the newsletter from you know front cover to last page but also pay a special uh attention to the um section on the boards commissions committees that have openings right now and the process for people to step up and serve on boards committees and commissions so uh that's my plug for the newsletter um and and I want to Second um our chair's uh mention of the uh Memorial uh ceremonies that we have every year at this time um to look back at the heroes of and those who died tragically um on September 11th um 9:00 tomorrow at the um 9 o'clock tomorrow at the Babcock Street Fire Station um it's both solemn uh and uh often um surprisingly informative in learn learning about people in your own Community who have connections to uh the tragedy um but also the um the sort of Glorious heroism that uh was inspired by the tragedy uh of September 11th before I turn to Chaz to make a very sad announcement um I'd also like to just mention that yesterday's not yesterday Sunday's Brookline day was an incredible success yes um Epiphany or whoever brought in perfect weather and uh a lot of people attended a lot of very um positive comments that I've heard both there as well as later on so um that that was very um very very good event I want to thank um the whole team across all the Departments to made that happen really ex incredible work from from public works from Public Safety um you name it all the Departments that came out and participated in the mini Town Hall Tiffany and Christina and the select board team who really did incredible work but a special word of thanks to the recreation department who really um who spearheaded this it's a year-long process for them they're already back at the table looking at how to make things better um so I want to thank Jacob Martin and the recreation department who was the Project Lead there but the whole Rec team with Jacob who made that happen um you know their work is just incredible so thank you for that wonderful event yeah um I do have sad news to announce uh which is that um uh we learned over the weekend that Mike denafo who serves as the public safety budget office director and was a former longtime employee of the school department passed away uh he was 55 uh he passed away from a sudden illness um Mike was a really beloved fixture of this community um and I'll say that lightly uh he worked for Brookline for almost 18 years tomorrow would have been his 18e anniversary um he was a remarkable uh figure he served on the as the treasur on at the coolage corner theater um he was deeply involved in local sports he was a deep ficado of our national teams but also participa in local teams um you would see him coming a mile away he had a formidable collection of tracksuits that he wore um he was such a beloved boss and colleague and to employees he would say it's hot dog Friday and the employeers would say I didn't know it was hot dog Friday he'd say it is now um and he would get them hot dogss he was just a wonderful man um and his loss is really deeply felt um I believe his suburi is posted with the Lawler Funeral Home in West Roxbury you can see information there about where donations he was his family would be seeking um and also the wake is on Sunday at that home and the funeral is on Monday in West Roxbury um so for all of us here we really want to say goodbye and um express our condolences to Mike's family um real real loss for the community yeah thank you uh okay public comment um Tiffany you want to lay out the ground yes thank you for joining us for public comment this is an opportunity for us to hear your perspective on the issues in Brookline 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 boards 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 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 person we have signed up to speak tonight is Samantha zoo and I have Samantha on online Samantha I'm promoting you now and you'll be able to start your video and begin your 3 minutes hi uh my name is Samantha I live at 32 James with my husband which is a block away from the Waldo durgen project and I'd like an update since the August 6 meeting which I watched some of the recording for um so even though the project was paused in August to increase communication I received none I contacted chest realy directly and they said they're following rules when they contact only immediate abutters so no need to contact those on James Street many of my neighbors were uh on the call they're from James Street so they were speaking up at the August 6 meeting so I'm not sure why the developer still didn't contact anyone on James Street my questions to the board are what did the developer and the board do during the pause in August is there a risk of aus o uh over once the demol demolition is over or will there be continued risk as the debris are removed will residents be compensated for air filters that we have to buy uh my husband and I have been reaching out to the town multiple times but haven't received answers so thank you for your attention and you can follow up with your email address we'll try and get the answers to those questions to you over email thank you for bringing it to our attention Okay so no immediate call comment no I can we tend not to make immediate replies to public comment but we will reply over email to you uh the select board just the select board may an email um if Tiffany can follow up with you offline uh uh in the uh the chat function I believe is that correct yes and I have your email as well Samantha okay thanks we will follow up with you but yes thank you for bringing that to our attention we will make sure to follow up okay we have no other speakers who signed up in advance however um if you are online and would like to speak during public comment you may use the raise the hand feature we have approximately 20 speakers online is there anyone in the room who would like to speak it looks like no one else is raising their hand or would like to speak in the room at this time thank you okay let's move on to our count calendars uh starting off with miscellaneous I'd like to vote items 5B to 5i in Omnibus fashion once we pull out items 5e and 5i for discussion are there any other items that people would like to discuss separately okay um regarding item 5e um the library is seeking authorization to fill three positions and we're losing three valuable Library staff who are resigning for various reasons I've been asked to give a shout out to one very special librarian with unique expertise and National and a national reputation in library circles that is Robin brener the teen Services librarian Robin is moving on to a supervisory position at the wurn library and bear with me um the the um shout out is a little long but I'll try to make it uh go fast um Robin served as a librarian for the town of Brookline for the last 18 years and was the library's first teen librarian she was instrumental in starting the teen collection and running popular teen programs Briner helped design or redesign the Library St space that became the teen room the first dedicated space for teens at the library Brenner championed Library services for teens and was named one of the American Library association's movers and Shak ERS in 2007 Berner is also a comics and manga expert and represented the public library of Brookline annually at both National and international conferences in the past she has been a selector on the prestigious Prince and odyssey award committees more recently she served as the president of the graphic novel and Comics round table for the American Library Association and has used her expertise to curate brookline's large graphics and manga collection for both teens and adults something you probably didn't know about right during her time in Brooklyn Bruner was often the creative mind behind many of the libraries largest and most successful programs from bringing talented authors to our libraries for visits to coordinating large scale annual events brener expanded the library's programming to F to fit the evolving interests and needs of our patrons Beyond these impressive events her unw unwavering dedication to teen patrons was a daily effort and one that brookline's families will miss dearly and let me just say uh programs like this for teens is so important uh the teen years are very difficult years and to have an opportunity to do something uh like uh programs in a library can make a big difference between whether they go one way or another or successful later in life I know that was the case for me uh when I was a teenager the select board on behalf of the town of Brooklyn and in many and its many past present and future teens thank you Robin for your 18 years of service to Brookline we wish we wish you well in your future endeavors and take pride in our contribution to your continued success thank you to to Rob brener great next regarding uh item five I this was appropriately placed in the miscellaneous category because it is the acceptance of an annual federal Grant given for a variety of important Municipal public Ser Public Safety purposes however it is our practice to pull out miscellaneous items for deeper discussion when a select board member or a member of the public raises a concern or a question a couple of our residents have raised questions about this grant so I asked Chief Pastor to give some more detailed background on the vehicle being purchased by it including its value for the type of incidents that have occurred or May in the future occur in Brookline uh Chief Pastor on Zoom there Chief I've promoted you thank you and good evening good evening um I appreciate you pulling this item out and for giving me the opportunity to provide a little bit more detail that I hope will help ease um some of the concern so um I will acknowledge the fact that $227,000 is a large large amount of money um and I do want to clarify These funds have been earmarked by the USI by USC specifically for the purpose of procuring this vehicle um we are currently the only jurisdiction with usasi who does not own an armored uh vehicle that would AR offer um you know protection for our officers or members of our community uh should the unthinkable happen most other communities in fact own um what we refer to as beats which are far more militaristic in appearance um and they are far more expensive so we trying to be mindful of both the cost and the appearance um When selecting this vehicle which is a 2024 Mercedes Sprinter van um to minim I you know the militaristic appearance um while still getting the benefits that unfortunately we feel in this day and age that we need um so just to provide some clarification um my notes um in you know in very Mo very simplistic terms um what this vehicle is is just you know it's an unmarked vehicle in my opinion it does not appear militar material militaristic um and it's the equivalent of a ballistic shield or um the ballistic vest that we wear every day it's just obviously larger and on Wheels and easy to transport its purpose is strictly defensive and to protect lives um I understand the concern um you know that a Community member raised that it might not be needed that often and quite frankly I hope that we never need it and I would equate it to having the infant Tylenol in your cupboard when you have a little one at home you hope you don't need it but you're sure glad you have it when you do um and I am happy to answer any more specific questions about you know the model itself to the best of my ability um but hopefully that helps clarify some of the concerns that were raised thank you let me just add that uh u means uh urban area security initiative which is a federal program that provides Federal money uh to um purchase equipment uh such as this land any questions U John yes uh I want to just stipulate that I um I think that the uh individuals who have raised questions about this um very appropriately you know pointed out that this um perhaps deserves a little bit more consideration um than it would have gotten if we had simply voted it in a bundle um as part of the um miscellaneous con um consensus agenda so I thank them for that I also think that the chief um did a very um appropriate job of addressing the questions that were raised uh I I I remain um a little bit in doubt as to whether we should take this vote uh tonight for the following reason uh and perhaps some answers can be provided right now we have what's known as the surveillance technology and Military type equipment committee um which as I understand it was created by um town meeting action and specific Ally to address questions that sometimes arise about the um uh Technologies and and equipment that um enter into our um use in our Police Department through a you know a pipeline to um equipment that was originally for some kind of surveillance purpose or some kind of military purpose and that we created that committee for the purpose of reviewing this these types types of questions the the type of question we're facing right now with this piece of equipment and so I need to know has that committee had a chance to take a look at this and advise us and I'm not saying that their word on it on whether we should vote in favor of this should be final but have they had a chance to advise us because um it seems to me if we created that committee or if town meeting created that committee for that purpose um we we should be hearing from them before we vote on this okay let let me just say first of all Scott ananian one of the members of the committee is in the audience um we are trying to wind this committee down and find some other ways to handle some of the issues that it was uh designed to handle one of which is um a recommendation that uh the police department provide a uh annual report on uh UIC funded um equipment uh and vehicles uh that um Chief uh interim Chief U mark Morgan uh began doing and I asked Chief Pastor to continue that process which would be a report to the select board uh or maybe to the pcac we should think about whether that's an option uh as to what uh what type of equipment and vehicles are being acquired using UICC funds and it's certification or at least a statement that these um this equipment uh or vehicles are not of a mil militaristic uh sort um and don't violate any of our uh bylaws or or or other rules um typically uh and you can correct me if I'm wrong uh Chief Pastor um you know we've used these funds for everything from training uh and and cars or vehicles uh to um t-shirts so I mean it's a broad scope of things um although it's been abused in many uh communities around the country um I don't believe that that is the case here in the Boston metropolitan area and clearly not with respect to the brook line police department um you know the the Acquisitions that we uh uh things that we require acquire are clearly within the scope of a municip of a civilian Municipal uh police uh department so Bernard yes um to I I think I I would I'm perfectly happy to vote on this now uh I think it's very important to note that this is a modified civilian vehicle you can down you can down to a Mercedes dealer and buy a sprinter van uh anytime uh this is reinforced internally uh and it is a defensive uh as opposed to an offensive device uh it's not like buying machine guns uh and it's not like buying a hanvey that's going to go through somebody's uh somebody's building um uh it's uh it's a a a refuge basically in case there's a need for a vehicle that is armored and uh you can't pick up the newspaper today without seeing that some nut somewhere has taken a gun and started shooting uh in in uh public place I think it's really important for us to recognize that um it can happen anywhere and that if this is a vehicle that will uh help us um mitigate a situation like that that there's no particular reason not to have it well y Bernard thank you uh and chief thank you for um your explanation Also earlier today I know you uh replied uh to a number of inquiries which I appreciate the community um raising their concerns um I um I I looked at the vehicle uh the specifications that you provided uh I think as my colleague Mike sanman had said this is you know this is a uh a non-descript essentially a panel truck Sprinter van that has been reinforced um it doesn't look military at all um it is in fact for defensive purposes um and you know it's Insurance just in case uh it it it is a shield and you know I just want to remind people that we've had some significant threats um against um synagogues other religious uh institutions we've had threats against schools we've had school shootings um you know recently an individual was just picked up who was threatening to uh to attack a synagogue in New York City um uh and they were picked up by Homeland Security thankfully that was averted um you only need this once and you never want to have it used um so I am very comfortable with this this is not a military vehicle uh this is a public safety vehicle to protect the public and the individuals that we rely on as first respond ERS and they should have every tool at their disposal to protect themselves and to protect the public so I'm very comfortable in approving this this evening John uh yes and it seems obvious that I might be a minority of one on this but um it wouldn't be the first time um I I would ask my colleagues do you do you disagree with me when I say that we created the surveillance technology and Military type equipment committee and sound meeting created that committee specifically for the purpose of reviewing these kinds of purchases do you disagree with me on that no I don't think that's true well I guess it is what on the other hand if we're trying to trying to wind down the committee and assign its assign those responsibilities elsewhere doesn't make a lot of sense I have to admit the phrase we're trying to wind down that committee is new to me I I that was news to me to to hear that I didn't know we were trying to wind down that committee um if it was a Committee created through an action of town meeting um can we are you know simply announced that we're we're winding it down um uh we still have it as far as I know it's listed on the town website that has membership one of the members of the committee is here right now um two of so two of them excuse me I obviously miss somebody but um you know you you're assuming actually it sounds to me uh if you as though you are assuming the role played by that committee you're declaring this is not a military piece of equipment and we created that committee for the purpose of determining what is a military style piece of equipment and what is not um so if you want to just ignore the committee then just say we're going to ignore the committee and not let them play a role in this but I think that's a change in how we have done this in the past I'm not comfortable with it Scott ananian is in the audience and he can correct me if I'm wrong but uh the charge to the committee did not provide for continuing oversight provide for a report uh and we did that report like three years ago and and and issued it we're trying to what we're trying to wind down now is the um surveillance aspect to our work and that's that's been very difficult uh for a variety of reasons um but you know one of the recommendations was to set up a procedure for giving notice to the select Board of um items such as this funded by USI um and you know that that was done for a while uh and I'm trying to get it re reestablished that was you know the one thing that did have a gap um Paul so I and I appreciate John uh raising the issue about the committee and the committee's charge and is it still in force and frankly we should add that to a future discussion about the future of of of that committee um I for one don't see this as a military vehicle uh this is a piece of equipment it is a a public safety vehicle that happens to be uh reinforced so that those inside of it cannot be harmed by ballistic missiles uh and and ammunition um it's it's not a surveillance piece of equipment um it's literally a public safety vehicle that will protect our officers and the public um and I don't you know I'm concerned about us second guessing at every step of the way um you know our chief uh in our Public Safety leadership on the direction that they're going with with with the police department um I'm very comfortable with the leadership I think they're uh they're pragmatic and thoughtful um they are open to uh you know uh the the public safety uh committee that we have in place um and we're providing oversight um I don't I don't see this as needing a committee to review a request for a a public safety vehicle um that's a van that's been reinforc to protect the offices in the public so again I'm very comfortable moving forward with this this evening okay unless there are any other questions I'd like to move approval of items uh 5B through 5i including the two that were pulled out for for discussion all in favor please indicate by saying unless you want to pull out the U the van so you can vote on it separately yes okay so I I move approval of either u b 5 b through five what's letter before I H H five H uh all in favor please indicate by saying I don vanak hi Mike Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David Perman I and chair votes I now I move approval of item 5i uh acceptance of an award from the US Department of Homeland Securities urban area security initiative grant program um for an emergency for a vehicle in the uh costing uh costing the amount of $227,000 all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak uh no and I would like the minutes to stipulate that um this expression of no is not a no to the vehicle because I don't feel I have a chance to vote on the vehicle um until after the committee that we appointed for the purpose of reviewing these kinds of purposes uh purchases excuse me has had a chance to review it it hasn't had a chance to review it so I don't feel that the vote should be taken tonight that's why I'm voting no okay uh Michael sammon the minutes will reflect that yeah I appreciate that and I appreciate that you pulled it up um hi Paul Warren hi and David Perman hi and your votes I um okay can I um ask that um uh we it's we have some interviews and we originally had to uh agreed that we would try and move interviews of these folks earlier in the in the meeting could we um the next item is not is it it may take us a little bit of time and I wonder if we could go to the interviews yeah I think that's probably appropriate U request anyone object it is just that we noticed those items for six and 6:30 oh okay no okay so we're really stuck with this I'm sorry but it's they're they're public hearings um okay you're kind of in a rocking hard place right yeah we are because we we similarly you know we thought we get okay let's let's talk talk fast all right uh next uh our calendar um transportation demand management plan for Neta uh this is a public hearing uh who's going to make a presentation on this have net in on the line we have net as Council and we have Jonathan Simpson um from town council's office are both prayer I see Jennifer depaso is um Jonathan I've also just promoted you hi thank you um Jennifer depaso Gilbert I represent Neta and uh several months ago we got in contact with the transportation division uh and requested that they consider um removing the requirement that's currently in the transportation demand management plan that requires Neta to have six uh private spaces that are rented across rout9 on Boon Street going east H we don't believe we need those spaces anymore and I have been working with Dan Martin in the transportation division to get him some more information that is ongoing I've also spoke to um Jonathan Simpson who made a determination and I don't necessarily disagree that the language in the license at paragraph 20 which is actually attached as an exhibit to the host Community agreement seems to indicate that the select board um can be involved in the tdmp and so I see that on the calendar the question is whether to designate or direct the transportation division to take a look at this request and obviously um have no objection um and I'm still working with the transportation department they had some additional uh information that they wanted that we're Gathering and I'll continue to work with Dan Martin but if there's anything else specific for me that I can answer tonight I will um and have happy to take further direction from Jonathan and and whoever thank you yeah this is this is a delegation of of authority here so the transportation division can sign off on this if you're satisfied that this is a situation where they're going to be able to do the due diligence and make the determination so so we're voting to delegate yes okay this um any discussion I I just have I have a quick I have a quick question um so there's two there's two locations right there's the com the the the hotel um no the hotel was was eliminated long ago so th with those spaces are no longer utilized so it's only the six across the street no there's 11 there's um 11 on site and those are required with the special permit so there's 11 existing right on this actual site and then during the height of when Neta was the only um retailer in town when it was a three sometimes up to 3,000 people a day the town's traffic department required Neta to get additional spaces at the Homewood Suites which they did 25 that has um since been eliminated so we still have the 11 on site and then there's and then there's six across the street and there's the six across the street yes so I just my only question is what do you know the utilization of those today are those mainly staying empty are they used for employees you know the on average there's about two of them that are used um once in a while the ones across the street or the ones yes by lamora by lamora on that side on the east side with respect to the ones on your site so yeah there's no um there's no real parking issue there's no queuing um it's been reduced just because there's so many stores now and also delivery of medical um has really reduce the folks that are driving or even walking or coming to the site and so I would say on average talking to my client about two are used sometimes for a manager um and sometimes for folks that are coming Eastbound and they're just so used to pulling in so obviously what we would do if the transportation division is satisfied with the information and believes they are in fact no longer needed we would be sure to get that out on the website and let customers know that those are closed um so yeah so the scope of the authority the delegation would be really just those six spaces okay that's helpful thank you if we were if we were going to try to get rid of the 11 onsite we would actually have to go back to the zoning board of appeals because that special permit had the approved site plan showing the 11 on site okay thank you that's very helpful so this is a public hearing and uh Tiffany is there anyone in the audience or on Zoom that would like to speak on this matter uh Fran peer did sign up in advance but I don't see Fran peer online or in the room to speak on the matter um if anyone online would like to raise their hand to speak during this public hearing please use the raise the hand feature to do so there are approximately 18 participants online and no one is using the raise the hand feature and there are a few folks in the room I just saw Fran enter the waiting room so she may be Happ okay yes Fran is here Fran we are talking about the um transportation demand management plan and it's the public hearing you've signed up in advance to speak I'm promoting you now and you may begin your three minutes if you'd like friend are you with us ran we can't hear you so uh Fran has uh signed up to speak on the 2 am hearings and then oh okay wrong one thank you then sorry Fran okay anyone else looking to speak on this matter it looks like no one else is raising their hand or or desires to speak at this time okay in that case I'd like to close CL this hearing and and I move U approval to of directing the division of transportation to work with Neta um to amend the retailers Transportation demand management plan to eliminate the requirement that the retailer rent the six off-site parking spaces across the street uh at the Moa restaurant um period okay all in favor please indicate by saying I yes can I just ask a quick question does it then come back to us they're doing the analysis or are we basically saying they're going to make the decision they'll make the decision okay thank you all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak I Mike Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David Perman I and chair votes I thank you next uh designated districts for 1:00 am and 2 am licenses this is also a public hearing and our presentation will be made by Tiffany Oliver thank you um Tiffany Oliva assistant Town Administrator for operations and I am going to share a slide deck here okay back in May 2024 is a part of a regular meeting agenda Town Administrator Chaz KY presented to the board a memo on hours of operation outlining a need to create a more structured process for the review of requests for hours of operations Beyond midnight for common vict liquor and entertainment licenses uh since that time the town has halted the review and acceptance of hours of operation requests for these license types be Beyond midnight and um that has led to the further development of that proposal since May so tonight's presentation is for your information and for possible vote to authorize the select board licensing panel to review and recommend applicants for late night which means 1 or 2 a.m. common vict alcohol and or entertainment license es for approval on the select board's miscellaneous agenda if they're located located in one of the four proposed districts that we'll talk about those are bin Village Common Wealth a coolage corner or Washington Square and then with applicants falling outside those four districts to come before the select board on the regular agenda for review and discussion so that's a lot up front but just wanted to go ahead and outlin what the proposed recommendation is before we drill into the details okay um to begin back again in May Chaz presented those four four areas coolage Corner Washington Square Commonwealth a and Brooklyn Village which represented those areas that already had kind of clear lines that could be drawn with regard to closing times in neighborhoods that already have some businesses closing at 1:00 a.m. and 2: a.m. so again those four general areas have remained much the same though in order to make this a bit more digestible pun intended for our restaurants and bar owners um we've changed some of the street boundaries since May so that they better align with the same commercial area boundaries that Economic Development employs and its annual uh storefront survey um that way our current Brookline restaurants and bar owners would be more likely to be familiar with those boundaries so I'm going to click through these maps for you oh and um these are uh all eight of the commercial areas that Economic Development uses for your reference again we're only recommending four for this policy okay so first is coolage Corner um page Corner the northmost point being the intersection of backp Babcock and John Street West Mo mes West most point at Maran and Beacon southernmost at Harvard and Alton and East most at James and Beacon Washington Square with the northmost point halfway up Willison road towards Salsbury road but not quite reaching Salsbury Road Road westmost point to re Regent Circle southernmost down to Regent Circle between there and tapen and then also Garrison Road being another southernmost point there um eastmost point being to almost to the crosswalk at the summit path the third area is Commonwealth a uh northmost Point obviously being at Commonwealth a westmost at Naples Road southernmost at the edge of Winslow Road between Babcock and cron Shield Road as as well as dmer Street and then East most point at St Mary Street and then finally Brookline Village with the northmost point near the intersection of Vernon and Harvard westmost at Washington and Greeno Circle southernmost point just before Acorn Road on High Street and eastmost point at Washington Street and River Road hopefully being so new I haven't pronounced too many of those street names wrong um thank you if approved uh we will have a live GI GIS map on the website so restaurants and bar owners can know which areas have been designated for expedited late night licensing um and so you can see that here there's an overlay here of all of the districts um they can search their address and it'll show them if they're in the district or not so drilling into what this process actually looks like if you are in one of the four proposed late night districts you would submit an application as usual with all of your materials that would go to the licensing panel for review and then and if has everything in order the licensing panel would recommend for approval and that would go onto the select board miscellaneous agenda for likely a presumptive approval um applicants in other areas outside of the four districts would submit again their application with all their materials the licensing panel would review it um if it was a request for 1 or 2 a.m. we would offer them to close at midnight if they do not want to proceed with closing at midnight buter prefer to go forward with one or two then we would ask that that that applicant proceed to the select board on the calendared agenda for discussion um and so that would go on to the calendar agenda for discussion and possible vote and it would really have to be an exceptional case um for it to go forward so some Community feedback um we met with um well first we've collaborated closely with the Economic Development Division obviously as this department has a uh I view and perhaps some of the better relationship with restaurants and bar owners we also met with the Small Business Development Committee Chaz and I on June 11th to get a sense of how they felt about the proposal and if they felt uh late night hours was important to their business operations overall and to find out how frequently they were actually staying open uh past midnight uh for this public hearing tonight we issued a news flash and social media post last week announcing a public hearing on the proposal which reached 495 subscribers and 1,500 unique visitors we also posted this on our soup ass signs throughout town the select board licensing staff also sent out letters and surveys to restaurants and bars throughout Brookline more than 50 and um unfortunately we only received eight eight total responses to that survey um only one of those responses respondents currently has closing times Beyond midnight that was the ABY um but three have late night licenses that they used to only open open on special occasions like on New Year's Eve um one felt that the costs of staying open beyond midnight were too high to make it a productive business choice three felt like late night had a significant uh caused a cons significant increase in their sales and one felt that it had a moderate impact the others were unsure um so in general reviews in both the survey and with the Small Business Development Committee were mixed um but about a mod they're uh sorry they weren't mixed on the proposed districts over while we receive positive feedback about that we did also bring a proposal to them about having a model where after midnight you could do takeout only um and that had mixed reviews in both the spdc and on the survey so one more thing before I close out we did have a question that got raised in a couple of meetings so wanted to share this data with you um about police calls so these are police calls in 2022 2023 and year to date in 2024 here at the bottom um in all four of those districts covering building checks traffic stops Security Alarms crime reports traffic crashes and special attentions special attentions being a category that would include some of those noise complaints um you'll notice that coolage corner is probably the larger driver of police calls in the four districts while the others remain relatively low uh special attentions which includes noise complaints are probably the type of call that we receive the least amount of in the four districts out of the six categories of calls in this table and I do want to know we reached out to seagar reace director of Public Health um to just get a sense of if she's getting any calls about or public health is getting any calls about noise violations um she indicated Public Health doesn't usually handle noise VI noise violations at night um they typically only get calls related to Construction and Equipment noise but she hasn't heard of anything agrees in these areas so so I'm happy to answer any questions or if there's anything Chaz wants to add I would just say it was great I just say one the one additional thing is right it's only the this is the option of potential expedited our policy on the licensing panel is if that someone raises a legitimate concern when it comes to the licensing panel it goes to the board anyway so this just gives the opportunity if there is no objection no substantive objection for it to be put through but obviously if there's a concern even if it's in one of these districts then it comes to the board anyway so let me ask a question first um Tiffany I know that you said that there have been no there's no opposition or there was no opposition to the districts as as as as formed but was curious as to why in the coolish corner District you stop at Babcock Street a number of restaurants North there that's JFK Crossing we that basically moves into JFK Crossing there oh so JFK Crossing but we're not including JFK Crossing because JFK Crossing none of those restaurants are currently open past midnight uh I think there's one restaurant in JFK crossing that's open till one um but they I think that's for delivery only is my understanding well yeah so thank you great presentation um and I was you know part of the licensing subcommittee that kind of initiated this question right there's um first I want to offer some anecdotal experiences that I had because I live in a business district I'm in a butter um and this this is a great time of year for us and Amy and I it's beautiful weather you can open your windows at night and of course we have all the college students coming back and it takes them about a month to figure out that they can't drink till 2 3 in the morning and stumble back to their dorm and get value for their $90,000 a year education um so I guess that's my funny way of saying um the the the places that are open late and typically you know this these are B these are this is Boston or Fenway um we do experience uh disruptions at you know 3:00 in the morning 2:30 3 o'clock in the morning when when they close we're all trucking down our our road um and and you know and we're never going to call the police it's usually you know a couple of minutes of hearing them do their thing as they walk by um so that's just anecdotally that I I have experienced this directly myself my family um the question I have is whether it's should be 1:00 am or 2 am that's broadly kind of the question I'm asking myself is you know should we townwide say 1 1 am is the cap like that's the latest or is 2 am um that's kind of the way that that that I'm I'm thinking about it and I'm on the fence about it um you know not not a lot great happens after 1: am or 2 Brookline any not well anywhere New York maybe New York so and uh um I would much prefer uh to set 1:00 a.m. is the standard I can't I I think that anybody anybody who wants to be open to 2 amm ought to come to the select board doesn't matter where they are whether they're in the heart of kage corner or on conth Avenue or wherever uh I think that the i i for about 20 years I lived on Beacon Street uh so a block closer than you and for a part of that time close enough to Fenway Park to pick up the uh uh the uh the stuff that happens after the ball game and for a few hours afterwards and you're right every once in a while there was a bit of noise and then it went you know somebody come down the street noisy and they go away but um that's originating from outside of town there's nothing we can do about that I I don't think there's any particular reason to encourage uh uh restaurants and bars to um provide that opportunity in Brooklyn see I actually and I appreciate your comments Mike um I I'm actually asking myself should we ever go past should we say 1:00 a. is the end time and and you know there's there's maybe some folks that already have 2: am. and they're grandfathered in but we don't we don't open till 2 am the business is said we haven't asked him that question um I think for a couple of them the special events will be the kicker um and to David's point when we raised this earlier West Coast games um places that show things that don't go that tend to go until you know if it if your game starts at 10: it goes probably till midnight or 1 and then so the question is can you get people out of the bar in time or you throwing them out too early or whatever but again I think those are exceptional cases I don't think those are every business um you know you you would it's a that's a question that we would have to take back to the planning team and and obviously discuss further um to get some information from the businesses that have those about how they use them I think in some cases it is particularly UNC Commonwealth a parody with Boston um and for others it's um the special use cases the for special use it's a it anybody can come for a license for a particular event so the trick is once you have an alcohol license you can't get a one- day license once you have you can get one or the other but not both but even even opening time is not necessarily serving of alcohol yeah open you can't you can't alter the terms of your license is my understanding so you can't you can't get around the standard terms of your license by getting a one day license okay David I think I liked Paul's initial suggestion that one am be the norm but that uh restaurants would have to come to us if they wanted to stay open until 2 I wouldn't want to completely foreclose a business seeking a license until two for the reason that Chaz just reminded of that I brought up when we previously discussed this if your business model is to bring people in to watch West Coast games that start at 10 p.m. some start at 10:30 if it's a baseball game that's going to go past 1:00 a.m. and then people are going to choose to go to an establishment in Boston instead of Brooklyn if they're getting kicked out in the seventh inning in the third quarter uh so I'd want to be very mindful of that uh but we can get around the potential uh limitation on businesses by having those establishments come before the select board if they want to stay open until two I we always have that option I think we can and that's that is something we can take from this we can say okay we you know it will be one in the Special Districts um and uh one in the midnight everywhere um one in the Special Districts for potential expedited consideration two must always come to the select board so I yeah I think that I can I can I think that's reasonable to have them come I I will ask one thing um we have um we used to get minutes from the licensing subcomittee that summarized the public hearings what we heard um we we're not getting those now are we and what happened was we we and this is It's really interesting oversight on our part It's because the now the panel has to approve its own minutes it used to be you had to approve the minutes and then we realized that there was a yeah meeting law considerations there that you shouldn't be approving that panel's minutes we get draft meeting minutes from them so when we're actually having these meetings we can hear what people are say yes from from here on we will make sure that the the meeting minutes from the licensing panel meetings are in your packets thank you okay this is you have to vote approval on the licensing panel for the minutes or you don't have to vote approval for those minutes they'll just be in your packet for review when no no no I mean I'm talking about I'm on the licensing P now yeah yeah yeah okay okay this was a public hearing and I'd like to open the public hearing I see that one person from the audience is coming to the podium is actually we have someone s you may have to sit down Scott yes we actually have someone who signed up in advance so that would be Fran perer first Fran I'm going to promote you now Fran I have now promoted you you can start your video and begin your three minutes when you're ready hi I'm Fran perer tell me you member Precinct dat advisory committee Council on Aging speaking on behalf of myself um there may be some areas where it's appropriate to be open late at night although I shudder to think about all those people going home at 1 or 2 a.m. after a long night of drinking and partying however many of our commercial zones are single block Carters embedded in residential areas with businesses as little as 3 feet away from residences I would like to describe my personal experience with the JFK Crossing Harvard Street restaurant that has a late night weekend music permit and is only 40t away from a house with children I really like this restaurant and its owner but not the evening noise in the summer they open their front windows essentially removing their harbard street wall what is it like for the Neighbors well One Summer Night I had to raise the volume on my TV to overcome the music even after closing my windows on another night after two hours of listening to a maddening drum beat I went over to the restaurant the owner said that the police had just come because of a noise complaint police have been called to this establishment several times because of noise I've spoken with the owner about noise complaints from my p8 constituents we discuss ways to reduce noise for the houses behind the res restaurant however when the Harvard Street windows are open the music blasts throughout the immediate neighborhood patrons of these late night establishments Park on nearby residential streets especially in areas where various Town programs are vastly reducing parking spaces on Main Streets people seem to use their loudest voices as they walk to their cars voices carry late at night waking up children and adults making them very cranky when they have to get up early for work or school I I would hope that any late night openings would be prohibited from outdoor dining areas I would hope that places that play late night music would be required to have noise remediation and sound in insulation and despite their best intentions businesses will open windows and doors to cool off or to be covid sensitive that significantly increases noise to the surrounding neighborhoods in summary businesses open late at night will be noisy therefore if the town does permit late night districts they should be a specified distance from houses and apartments thank you um if I can have 30 seconds to respond to Bernard so p8 is my precinct and I agree with him that the coolage corner District should go one more block to stemman there are at least three or four restaurants between bed cck and stemman that would appreciate um later evening times thank you thank you Fran Scott you may approach the podium and begin your three minutes thank you Scott and nny and town meeting member preing 10 um yeah I didn't plan on speaking but just uh had uh two sents to offer one is that in addition to to late night games The coolage Corner Theater also has midnight showings um that start at 11:59 p.m. Friday they've got three of four of them three of them coming up four of them coming up in October um and uh when your closing time is uh is 1:00 am you're kicking people out starting at 12:30 right so um it's uh the the 12 2 am seems late but I think if you mentally back it up by how long you have till people start getting kicked out of the The Establishment it's not quite as late as it seems I do wish I was still young enough to to um take advantage of some of those late nights I have fond memories of Deli house and in Boston which was open till I think 4 am. while it while existed and was the only place to go um and I think Brooklyn does have a commercial opportunity there in if it is open if there are late night establishments there aren't that many of them and they attract people who um who need a place to to sit and have some food late at night or or get a drink it's not always people you know guzzling alcohol just till closing time um you know it could be people who just want a pizza at one end um and uh and finally because I'm an old theater guy I'll just also note that theater typically starts at 8 not uncommon for a play to run three hours you're already at 11:00 p.m. and again if uh if this closing time is midnight that's you know half an hour to go and have a coffee after after uh the show if that um so there are legitimate opportunities for uh for late night stuff and I'm I'm glad the board is taking the opportunity to um to allow our businesses to explore them thanks thank you um if there's anyone else online who would like to speak please raise your hand using the raise the hand feature at this time and if there's anyone else in the room who'd like to speak they're currently approximately 19 participants online and three individuals in the room and it looks like no one is um ready to speak at this time okay uh then I'd like to close the hearing and in the discussion or people willing are ready ready to vote John um I'm ready to vote I just do want to stipulate a a couple of things uh I'm ready to vote on the package as presented to us um by Tiffany I I commend um all of the staff who who worked on this I think um I think we had good reason to sort of raise a question as to our policy on this matter I think it's been dealt with and I think the proposal is reasonable and a good one um I I think Fran peer has raised an issue which deserves further consideration uh doesn't necessarily need require us to to you know um not vote this tonight um because really what one one of the primary issues that um enters into the you know noise problem uh area is the entertainment licenses it's not so much the liquor it's not so much the opening hours it's the entertainment and as a person who's um had the experience um of living near uh an institution where they um provide facilities for events um uh and who has experienced the incredible level of noise that can result on a hot night when they leave the um doors and windows open to ventilate and they've got a a wedding party going on and a band and you can't believe how much noise you can hear it's all over your neighborhood it's pounding because of drums it's h you know it's extremely annoying because of you know all of the bass sounds that come through over and over again that was dealt with by curtailment of uh any of that type of activity at 10:00 at night and so uh what had been a huge headache because you never knew when it was going to end and you were trying to go to sleep at some hour after 10: maybe even 11: um all of a sudden you'd hear it start and then you'd say come 10 o'clock we'll be okay I don't have to panic um and there's nothing more unpleasant than having to get up in your pajamas and go to a nearby event venue and say say when is this noise going to stop and uh I won't say who had that experience but maybe it's somebody here at at this meeting tonight um so I'm going to vote for this but I do think we should take a look um at at the limitations we put on entertainment um hours and those will be taken up once the proposal comes to the select board so we should just keep that in mind um any other uh Paul yeah I just wanted to make sure I thought I thought I heard from my colleagues that what we what we wanted to vote was the committee would do 12 up to 1:00 am. yep and then if if someone wanted to have a 2 am license then they would have to have a public Hearing in front of the select board is that is that that would be a modification from what is currently proposed um in Tiffany's presentation and I'm fine with that M you you okay with that okay that's I agree yeah that's what I was interested in myself yeah okay yeah good okay um then I'd like to move approval and let's make sure I get this right um M approval of the four designated districts that would allow restaurants and bars to apply on an expedited basis uh for a 1: A or 2 am closing time with the 2 amm closing time being um subject to approval by the select board is that that the ACC so I would say I would drop the 2 am from that I would say the 1:00 a. would the prop The Proposal now would allow bars and restaurants in these districts to apply for expedited consideration up to 1:00 a.m. 2 am licenses must come before the select board in all instances y okay essentially there's no difference between the districts then at at this point right right at well at 2 am there's no difference between the districts yeah at 1:00 a.m. there is a meaningful difference because if you're in the district you qualify for going to the panel if you're not you're don't and you know and and and I and I believe that over time if we find that there's not issues and you know maybe we can modify further right okay um if uh we have for the record the correct statement of that vote I'm move approval John Van stoak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David proman I and chair of oai okay next boards and commissions in interviews uh let's start off with the brook line Commission on disability yes um and before we get started I just wanted to note that kierum batia actually emailed me just a little bit ago to indicate that they'd like to withdraw their application um but Franklin um benetta Lopez Is With Us online uh Franklin I am promoting you now and you should be able to share your video and um our chairman will begin the interview Tiffany who uh withdrew uh Karen batia thank you okay so tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're interested in U being a member of the Brookline Commission on disability yes hi my name is Franklin and um I I'm sorry we can't hear you very well can you hear me now that's better yes thank you better okay hi so yeah so hi my name is Franklin um I I've been using a wheelchair since the age of two um I was hit by a car when I was two and a half um and so um so I know what it me uh what it what it means to be using a wheelchair for over 30 years and um you know so Franklin can you actually just hold on one second we're going to try to turn your volume up in the room sorry thank you thank you we're working on that right now here does that turn it up for the whole room Franklin can we try again hi I think we can hear you much better now all right yeah reintroduce yourself and why you want to be on the commission sure excuse me so my name is Franklin P Lopez and um the why I'm interested is because um I am in a wheelchair I've been um I got hit by a car when I was two years old so I've been in a wheelchair ever since um and so I know growing up um as a wheelchair user I fa a lot of barriers a lot of face a lot of a lot of um um you know a lot of difficult challenges um and so um right now I'm currently a disability Advocate at the Boston Center for Independent Living sorry um I'm an advocate for the Boston centor for Independent Living um so um I'm always trying to fight the good cause the good fight I guess um and um yes that is my my reason why thank you have you um been able to attend any of the meetings either Zoom or um in person of of the disabilities commission um no I I mean I've I've there has been a couple times where I had we had to reschedule um because I'm currently working um a second job in the morning um I work at a Brooklyn pool so I have to go to bed by a certain time to get the proper rest so there has been a couple times where I where I've joined but then because of time um there's always been res schedules John Franklin thank you very much for your application um I I'm going to raise an issue which is not um in any sense Franklin um driven by your particular application but uh is driven by some recent events uh that that I have been involved in uh involving problems of other committees commissions boards etc's Etc with um poor attendance at meetings and the Crux of the matter which strangely enough we I don't think we've ever addressed this is that most boards committees and commissions already meet according to a semi-regular if not regular schedule for example um once a month on a Tuesday you know or once a month on a Wednesday um and um it works for the membership of the board committee or commission um uh and they can get regular attendance and meet the requirements of a quorum because of that um we never ask applicants for these um boards committees and commissions this is a board committee or commission that tends to meet um you know once a month at 7 pm on a Tuesday it will you be available to attend that meeting In fairness to the applicants and In fairness to the Committees I I don't think we should be unknowingly populating these boards committees and commissions with people who from the from the get-go can't attend their meetings because they have a conflict and because of one appointment um you know there has to be a reconfiguring of what was a carefully assembled schedule um that met everybody's needs um so uh I I I just want to put that note on the table for us to consider as to whether we can figure out a way around this so that we don't walk into situations where we are creating attendance problems for committees by uh by our new appointments so uh the the committee uh the disabilities commission meets the second Wednesday of every month at um 5 from 5:30 to 6 so uh that's it's a question of being available Wednesday evenings uh once a month and so perhaps we should just say Franklin would that be possible for you um yes that would be possible I mean I do apologize I was just told I I it was interview I wasn't told you know when to when to participate or how long to to stay I was just told it was an interview so I wasn't sure which role I was playing um but um in the near future yes um I would be available during those times okay great and I think the disability commission if the only Commission in town that does this would be very very sensitive to issues like that yeah so I also just wanted to point out I think perhaps Franklin originally misunderstood what you were asking and I think what if Franklin correct me if I'm wrong you were saying about the rescheduling of this interview not your attendance at Commission on disability because I actually do think that um the commission on disability chair has spoken with Franklin and also um Franklin has been in connection with other members as well so I just wanted to make sure you understand that I that he wasn't saying that I think Franklin you weren't saying that you don't show up when you say you're going to show up to Commission on disability meetings great great good to hear okay um any any other questions or thank you Franklin I appreciate your interest in in the commission and we will make our appointments at a later meeting but thanks for your in thank you okay next the police commissioner's advisory committee um so our first uh applicant is Mark Gerber yes Mark Gerber Is With Us online Mark I've just promoted you you should be able to start your video and then the chairman will begin the interview can you see me now yes we can okay hi so um please uh introduce yourself to the select board and uh give us a sense of why you're interested in being a member of the police commissioner advisory committee sure uh my name is Mark Gerber I'm a town meeting member for Precinct 13 um I was uh recently made aware of the committee this is the about two months ago I wasn't even aware that we had a uh a police commissioner's advisory committee um recent events here in norfor County actually made me um I guess more concerned about uh police oversight and um you know potential civil rights violations of of uh citizens by the police and so uh given that I had reached out to some people within town and they mentioned that oh there's the police commissioner's advisory committee uh you should really you know get involved with that if you have an interest in what's going on with the police in town and uh I have no particular acts to grind with the police in town I think they do an excellent job and I'm very happy with police commissioner Pastor I just feel like I would like to be more involved because I feel like that there obviously problems in other towns I'd hate to to think that there's a problem here in Brooklyn but I would like to be part of any solutions okay you mentioned uh norfor County we are a part of norfor County I know other parts of norford County obviously accident of History um even though we have no uh physical connection to the county um so what what um what was your reference to norfor County um oh the cas is and and its relationship to your interest in the sure sure the issues in Canton primarily obviously and Sten Karen re case with the Karen Reed case and now the Sandra burchmore case clearly cases where um you had um corruption within the police department manifesting itself with obviously wait people being much too familiar with each other to be willing to look into obvious crimes yeah how how do you how do you see the pcac having a role in a situation like that um which is outside of its uh area of responsibility I'm talking right now aah hold on I'm sorry about that that was my daughter um I don't know exactly if the PE peace act would have a role in a situation like that I do understand that the police commissioner's advisory committee does get involved with reviewing complaints um ongoing complaints not just complaints that have you know been sealed and are done with um and I think that's an important role for a Citizens committee to be involved with um sometimes a uh select board can be too close to the police department uh we we're seeing that in Canton where you're seeing a select board that clearly fails in its role in overseeing the police department they've become extraordinarily friendly with the police department and have become part of the cover up now none of this is to suggest that there's anything like that going on in Brooklyn what I'm saying is that this is why I think the P Pak was probably instituted in the first place to provide a um uh maybe a dispassionate uh outside uh group of citizens to also review what's going on with the police department I have no particular experience in law enforcement or policing I'm my background is in banking uh I work for a commercial bank here in Boston so uh I don't come from a law enforcement background or a a law background okay any other question um oh yep uh hi Mark thank you for um your application willingness to to speak with us you mentioned in your application the uh school resource officers that was particularly an item that you you did have uh on an could you talk a little bit about that um and why you believe that should be reinstituted and what role perhaps the pcac would would play in that okay well um I've um so I have two two children in the public school right now one uh freshman at the high school one in the fifth grade at Lincoln School um and uh I've also had a daughter who attended a different High School in a different town who um and this would be the town of NM and I have seen in NM the use of the police resource dog very actively within all the schools uh within NM I think their dog's name was rocket it's a golden retriever it goes to the schools on a regular basis tends to create a very good relationship I think with the community and the police uh because that dog is everywhere social media it's in the schools on regular basis the kids know it the kids trust the police officers because of the dog um I think it's an important way in which to show especially young people the role of the police and be able to explain the role of the police to um to younger people in addition obviously the dog provides therapeutic benefits I know that I've heard um the police officers from Needum talking about some of the training that they do with the dog in terms of working with children and I'm sure they do the same thing with bear when you go into a tough situation with the dog um the dog is uh able to calm and it provides Comfort to kids especially in difficult situations so I would like to see that reimplemented I I think it's a good program in other towns and uh I think it's just unfortunate that we don't have it I'd like to think that being on the advisory committee I can be a voice to get that to happen I don't know what the obstacles are in terms of getting resource dogs back into the the resource officers with the dogs back into the school I don't know if that's under the police commissioner advisory committee's um role ultimately would be the school committee would y okay okay thank you and the superintendent okay well I don't know what we could do to advocate for it so be very important so any other questions John uh hi Mark and uh thank you for coming forward and applying for this commission um in keeping with the the point I made at the when the prior uh candidate appeared uh the pcac uh of late has been meeting Mondays at 7M so I just want to ask you uh is there anything in your schedule that would prohibit your participating on a regular basis Mondays at 7M no there's uh nothing nothing on my schedule at Monday 7 p.m. great thanks you keep Banker hours right I keep bers I'm a nino5 yes okay okay seeing no other questions thank you for your interest in um um the police commissioner's advisory committee and um as I as I always say we're going to make our decisions uh for appointments at a later meeting um we appreciate your presid presence here thank you very much Bo thank you okay next is John Hillyard uh great John hillyard's in the room with us okay hey hello good evening good evening so introduce yourself and tell us why you're interested in being a member of the police commissioner's advisory committee sure um good evening members of the select board administrator Carrie assistant administrator ala um my name is John hilard I'm honored to be here tonight and talk a little bit about myself and share why I'm interested in serving on the committee a a little bit of background I am not the John hilard from the Boston Globe and Brookline tab we were worried about that different John hilard just for context uh I've spent the last 15 years uh working at tech companies uh I'm currently the director of engineering at a blockchain company called polygon um I spent a lot of time looking at code and analyzing data but first and foremost I lead teams which means I spend a lot of time thinking about Vision strategy growth of my people and ultimately figuring out um the policies and and you know how to get a team to succeed and work together um and and ultimately you know deliver results and I'm hopeful that my focus and uh experience in that arena is something I could bring to the table on on this committee um on the Community Front I've lived in the Boston area for about 20 years I moved to Brookline with my wife 5 years ago um we love the town and the neighborhood we live in in coolage corner um and and it's a really special place um a year and a half ago I got elected as a TMM in uh Precinct 11 and my goals at the time were really to meet the neighbors feel more integrated learn about the issues and and find ways to serve the community overall and I think I'm here today as an extension of that the same drive like wanting to find ways to to serve the community and learn more and and you know make the community better any way that I can um more specifically for the the the police committee um the police play a critical role in the the foundational safety of a community full stop um several of my family members are retired police or uh Veterans of various uh Services um and I think this does per like inform my perspective um that being said I really strive to be very open-minded and data driven um and I still feel new to the town to especially town government uh and I would really try to bring open-mindedness curiosity in in my experience to this committee so in your um application you talk about um improving police community relations um particularly Outreach programs and feedback mechanisms um we have a number of Outreach programs uh used to any rate the school resource officer that we were talking about earlier and a similar walk and talk program and Housing Authority uh and we that through the pcac we we've developed feedback mechanisms for people to either complain or phase uh police things so um what do you think of those and and you know U you know what type of thoughts do you have with respect to how we can yeah sure Pro Outreach um particularly yeah so I I grew up in a really small town and I I think one of my sort of formative besides sort of family members that were ex police was uh being in ancillary like involvement with the Explorers unit which was like kind of like Boy Scouts but police related and I felt like that gave me a lot of you know respect for for the job and I also felt like it helped me have a less fearful relationship with police generally um and being able to develop a relationship with at lece when I got stopped and even if it felt unfair that I was stopped I at least felt like a little bit more comfortable than some of my friends that just didn't only knew police in sort of a you know conflict way and so I do think that community outreach is really important um and I have family members that like really took that seriously and I think that it was helpful for their relationships with the communities that they served uh John uh um I just want to continue my practice uh and say uh would you have any problem with a you attendance I primarily work with uh I work remote I work with a lot of people in Europe so I work very early and then my evenings are very free great and I also want to add um uh I I don't know if you remember but uh you and I had a very nice introduction uh uh on the election day the year that you first ran for town meeting and you're campaigning outside the polls in the Driscoll school right yeah the rain and and uh I was doing the same and uh we said hi introduced ourselves to each other um and I I admired John how how he went about running for town meeting he's kind of a door too guy right and really got to know his Precinct and uh I was very excited to be introduced to him just because I thought he's bringing a background um to Brookline and he's getting you know immersed in Civic life um in a way that uh is very positive and I'm glad to see that you're going Beyond town meeting and and and now looking at maybe service on the pcac so thank you any other questions well thank you for your interest in bcac and as I tell everyone we're going to make our selection uh for or make our appointments to the committee uh at a later meeting but uh we appreciate your interest thank you so much thank you Bernard we have is it two openings or three we have three vacancies three vacancies and then the appointment or designation of a chair okay thank you and and we designate chairs yes um um okay next next is Young Park who is with us online young I am promoting you now and you'll be able to start your video and once you've done that the chairman will begin your interview good evening good evening how are you so we're fine so introduce yourself and tell us why you're interested in the police commissioner's advisory committee and what you can bring to that uh committee sure my name is Young Park and always I introduce myself young forever and I have been looking for some volunteer opportunity for the town Brookline which I have been living for last 17 years so somehow this vacancy just I found and I decide apply for this do I have much experience with police work no do I really know much about Brooklyn Town how things working no did I really grow up here in the states no not really so that means I do not have much experience however though I have also very strong interest in police work only this year even if just living here in Brooklyn for last 17 years only this year twice I happen to really talk with a policemen and woman here in Brooklyn they just just like talk and look amazing they just young young and hard and they very the way their attitude very positive very bright and they but at the same time they really know what they are doing and I just want to be friend with those people that's very simple and my interest and that's why I decid to life for this and recently I just had some I have been working as a volunteer for Boston Public Library for last two two years and I just get to know people their librarian by name and what I hope is that I just can continue do the same thing with the for Police Department here in Brooklyn just only once one meeting per month but there also a lot of things to share I imagine I can also listen I can share I can also also look for a way if there is anything I can help make a contribution or just be a good friend listen to that's why I'm here now okay thank you so uh I've heard through your CV which is quite extensive um primarily in the library Sciences you know which could be relevant um but tell me U what how your background uh in library sciences and other things um would be be particularly useful on the pcac uh I yes now I'm working as a full-time actually start to work as a full-time librarian in a small academic library and I've been around the public library for last two or three years and also I see myself as educator and somehow I just like a uh get to know people Li aian I just out of a casual conversation it's not like official meeting but casual conversation since I just get to know those people they also share what they want to do what they need and mentoring initiative was one of those they really wanted to have just like career advice and also emotional support that also actually now as we just start writing things together as we start doing interview with those people together we just get to know actually what I is going to another level Something to Career Education something to do the policy issue and risk of course the most importantly it after it risk about how we deal with resource and actually that makes me very wanted get to know more wanted to do a little make more contribution those people and I just want to have a same idea same attitude to the police department here in the town where I actually live have lived so in a do I have a specific idea at the moment no but am I willing to really explore yes thank you any other questions Paul I guess I I just want to make a statement um your CV is very impressive you've been published over 30 times um I guess we should call you Dr Park um because you do have your doctorate um it is very impressive I think you know for for me the most important aspect of participating in this committee is being able to have an open and listen um and be analytical um can you speak a little bit about your background and how that because I do I really think that this uh this willingness to listen uh and not come in with a with with a set perspective uh because you never it is a complex subject um and it is about our society and our local Society can you talk a little bit about how your background might help with with that type of uh analysis and perspective please thank you so much for really yeah to say good thing about me but just you just call me young because uh that's how I answer let me try answer to your question this way I I do not share pretty much I mean I don't hide anything but I do not also put sort of things Dr Dr Park as like up front that's one of the way really uh stop communication with other people different people I just love to listen to people having different background that's the first thing to do is like remember their names first name also I also stay with them as a force name basis just like we are just the same people even if we have so many different background so much different ideas so many different ideas and different perspectives but still we are just like a same human beings feeling the same things like what is good and what is right we the basic things I do believe we also share the same things and yeah of course I guess that such like police work can be very complicated and I do not say I going to get to know everything is within couple of months I'm not that stupid either but I'm willing to listen humbly listen daily basis monthly basis so they get to know people police work those people and as a part of it's not duty but as a part of a fun to the person living here in Brooklyn thank you thank you okay well thank you for uh your interest in the police commissioner's advisory committee and as I've told other people we will be making our appointments to the committee um at a later meeting but thank you for buying okay our next uh interviewee is Elizabeth kernin is Elizabeth kernin in the room Elizabeth kernin if you're online can you raise your hand using the raise the hand feature I do not oh there you are okay it is Liz on here that's close enough yes I have just promoted you and you should be able to start your screen and then the chairman will begin the interview hello good evening please introduce please introduce yourself uh your background uh Etc and explain why you would like to be a member of the police commissioner's advisory committee sure well thank you so much um for your time this evening especially on an exciting debate night we have coming up um but my name is Liz kernin and I've been a resident of Brooklyn in Precinct 10 um in colge corner since 2021 um I'm currently a data scientist and statistician at Harvard Business school so my day-to-day job involves trying to make sense of data for Harvard faculty um which could definitely be beneficial to the work done in uh this committee especially for public hearings um even though I work mostly in business data my real passion and experience lies in using data and statistics to improve social policy issues including race class gender and criminal justice um which I explored in my master's degrees in sociology um from UMass Boston and in government from Harvard um in my time at UMass Boston I contributed to a study that evaluated gang prevention measures in Boston um and I've also volunteered as a tutor for incarcerated individuals studying for their bachelor's degrees at Norfolk prison in Massachusetts um so I'm just I'm further looking for more opportunities to be um involved in criminal justice research and Improvement um and one of my favorite things about living here is how safe I feel especially as a woman living alone um and I would say there are not that many places in the country where I would feel totally fine walking home at night by myself um especially not in the DC area where I'm originally from um and the community I grew up with um which were a majority black were all very fearful of the police so I know firsthand how imperative it is for the police and the community to maintain um trustworthy relationships to foster a more peaceful town and how important of a role this committee plays in terms of providing checks and balances to the police department um so using my academic and professional expertise I would love to contribute more to the town that I've come to love in the past three years um and I've already done a little bit of that by becoming a pole worker for Precinct 7 I'm working with um Scott ananian um whose full disclosure is also in the committee and told me about this position um but yeah thank you so much for having me thank you um any question Mike uh yeah um Liz you've uh you've applied for um three different uh uh boards and commissions commission for women uh commission for diversity uh Equity inclusion community relations and police commission as advisory committee and each of those requires um some time commitment and um I think it's uh it's kind of an OD question to ask but is there is there a rank order here a priority that where you'd like to get your feet wet before you get in all the way sure I think I was just checking off what really interests me I wasn't even sure if there were openings in the other committees um but I would say this one is the most I'm interested in the most definitely okay I appreciate that thank you thank you uh let's see I did have a [Music] question so talk to me in ter about uh your your concern or your interest in using data to uh contribute to you know equity and and um uh race relations Etc uh in Brookline given the Brookline situation or Brookline environment sure um I was in in preparation for this interiew I was looking through um the annual Brooklyn Police Department 2023 report um so that was very interesting to look through but I was also it it also popped up a lot of questions that I had that it wasn't included in the report like um were the people who committed these crimes working in the town um I know that there's data on whe there whether there are residents or not I'm also interested in nationality of um the people doing these crimes so um I don't even know if there's such data available um but I would love to uh dig into that further and um kind of create policies based on that programming PA yep Elizabeth thank you for uh for your application I have two questions for you based on some some things you said uh one I'd maybe expand a little bit on why do you feel safe uh in Brook line I'm really curious about that what do you think the factors are that are making you feel safe as a a person who lives alone and is female um and then the second question is you mentioned growing up in DC and not feeling safe and you know and how if you could talk about that maybe J Bose how these how these two things come together and how it may serve you well on the pcac it's an interesting question um I mean Court directly I mean relates to crime crime I don't see a lot of crime happening around me in Brooklyn whereas I saw a lot of that in DC um I think the police relationships might be better in Brooklyn than in DC as I mentioned a lot of um the friends and community that I grew up with were fearful um and probably rightly so in a lot of cases um where they had bad experiences you know getting pulled over the whole driving well black all that um yeah I think in general I that's just how I have felt living here I don't witness a lot of crime um everyone's been very polite and pleasant um and I as a pole worker I got to speak to officer Gruber who is um assigned to our Precinct um and I believe believe he's also one of the higher paid uh police officers in Brooklyn um but he was very great to chat with um and I was pleasantly surprised with my interaction with him okay thank you any other questions okay thank you Miss garan thank you as as I as I always say we're going to be making appointments to the police commissioner's advisory committee at a later meeting where we appreciate your uh application and your uh presentation to the select board thank you so much all right okay that concludes the police Commissioners advisory committee next age friendly cities committee uh we have Ruth Nims off uh as it looks like she's here in the audience good evening I I just need to say that um Luth is a former neighbor Hi how are you how are you nice to see you to see you I didn't notice you so please introduce yourself to those of us who don't know you and why you're interested in the um age friendly cities committee and what you can contribute to that that committee well um I was uh I grew up here in Brookline beacons fail tap in rosson Road Clinton Road went to the rle school graduated Brookline High then spent years in New York India and uh New Hampshire where I was eventually um assistant minority leader of the New Hampshire legislature and I moved down here and we lived in Newton and I was quite active in the community I ran for Governor's Council lost by less than 1% of the vote but I do love meeting people at any rate um then I moved to Brookline but I didn't really engage in the community because I was still very involved in Newton and it's just a few feet away and now as I've gotten older I realize I want to be engaged in my community and I notice um I read the Harvard study on aging and uh it talks about how relationships are really important and they're really important for our living longer and written books on uh parents and adult children and in-law relationships and I thought well you know when I saw this uh ad for this position I thought well you know that's what aging is about it's about really making close relationships keeping your old close relationships and that maybe I'd have something to offer I also um felt that some of my experience in the past might be useful in this um I know that the Jewish Federation of North America did a study of both Christians and Jews or on people of many backgrounds and what did they want in their aging years and what they wanted was community and work that was significant not necessarily paid but significant and so I thought a lot about that for this group I think we're extremely lucky in Brookline for all the wonderful things programs we have for people as they age um but I was really motivated to run when uh a friend of mine who can walk but can't walk very far uh couldn't go to his Bridge games at the senior center and his son bought for him a uh a four-wheel scooter and I thought oh boy our sidewalks are going to have yet another group claiming to need more space and we will need more space because more and more of us who might be perfectly able to walk might not be able to walk long distance we already know there's a problem with parking there so this got me thinking about okay what kinds of rules and regulations can we change to make uh things easier so for example and how could we use all the resources around so for another example is uh we have how many students around lots and as you know there are programs like nestly where students can live in people's homes but for some buildings that's illegal you know you can't rent a part of your room so I'm I was thinking about well what about changing some of the rules and regulations and I was thinking about the other resources we have we have swimming pools around now I don't we have a wonderful program at the high school and it's open wonderful hours in the summer but restricted hours during the year and yet we have hotels we have other places with and what kind of how can we get these resources that already exist to serve people in the community and I thought well that would give some terrific volunteer jobs for lawyers or for real estate agents to to look at some of these things so um that was some of my thinking uh that's what I would like to think I might bring to this and I'd be happy to answer any questions thank you any question from the board um no I think I think um Ruth has quite a um I'll tutor horn is an author um she has quite a um quite listed Publications that U very impressive oh I'm sorry very quick I'm the U like Le is on to the a friendly cities committee and in that capacity I was at a meeting with Ruth uh just today and um she's already contributing to the AG friendly cities committee for which I thank you and U that committee has a way of um attracting people uh who just come forward and want to serve on it and U uh Ruth is is U typical of uh people who come forward with a lot to offer and uh I'm really glad you did okay PA yeah I was just going to say first it was it's nice to see you again I saw you on online today I was particip than the H friendly cities committee this morning and um from time to time yes people just pop up that blow me away um and I am so impressed by your background thank you um uh I need to read the book on uh parenting adult children see if I can maybe I I need very cheap on Amazon these days it hopefully it'll be on my Kindle um and I think your your legislative background your ability proven ability to work with people and just the fact that you're willing to step forward and contribute um I just want to say thank you um it is uh we are really blessed to have individuals like yourself that all the folks that come forward but your background is quite quite impressive so thank you thank you one question I did have is I think I could serve over zoom and I want to be sure because I am going away a couple of months in the winter to visit my daughter and but I would you know just have to stay up later or earlier I'd have to look at the calendar and figure it out and count my figers and uh but I could do that but I did want to be upfront about that that I do travel um yeah to visit my 11 grandchildren yeah yes that would be no problem okay okay any other questions no well thank you um nof and uh as I told everyone we will make our appointments to this committee at a later select board meeting but we appreciate you coming forward and making application great and thank you for your time and for your service finally good good we are too if we speak fast enough um next we have the Brookline commission for the ARs Sidman um please step forward introduce yourself to those of us who don't know you I know you um and tell us why you're interested in uh the recline commission for the Arts and what you can contribute to that committee so my name is Katha seidman and I'm a town meeting member in Precinct 2 um and although um most of you know me um as a board member of Brookline for everyone and a housing advocate in a parallel universe I'm a multimedia artist working in metals wooden fabric as well as painting photography and installation and besides my artwork I have also worked as a production designer for television mostly working on working on historic drama documentaries I have received five Emmy nominations and three Emy awards for that work um I applied to be a commissioner on the Brookline commission for the Arts because I feel that the work of the commission would allow me to combine my knowledge of the Arts and the needs of artists with my knowledge of brookline's development environment so our community can experience the Arts in more places and times in our everyday lives um artist work creates the Lively creative spark that makes communities exciting and there are always many more artists of all kinds than there are venues I would like to explore ways to institutionalize as many different opportunities is possible for all the arts for example a program where empty storefronts can become popup art shows or performances a series of many concerts and shops with enough floor space similar to the basement jazz shows at the VFW opening our schools for performances and other events over the summer utilizing open areas like the newly covered outdoor space at lower Beacon for Popup events like a beer garden or a performance and open other areas around around Brookline to outdoor Arts exhibits similar to Studio Without Walls along the muddy river as a first step to accomplishing these goals I would first hope to listen to other Commissioners to see what they're they've tried before what worked and what didn't and bring artists in Brookline Arts organizations into that conversation at regular intervals those are some of my ideas about what I like to do to help the commissioner Commission on the Arts exploring to accomplish so if you have any questions any questions from the board so um I'll ask a question um I didn't realize that you had that artistic background um which is very very interesting I mean but you talk about you know art as sort of uh U you know presentations in various venues Etc um if you give any thought to art as a tool used in schools to sort of help uh students in in in the learning um I mean if that's clear but but you know you are are not as as something to experience to enjoy but a way of sort of um help of U connecting um you know students creativity with their learn the learning process so that's not my personal um skill based expertise but it's not my personal expertise but multimodal learning is really important and it's really important especially for kids who have executive functioning difficulties um and the more you can do that either via translating I don't know that it needs to be art per se but using the materials that art provides um can be really really useful um it's an it's an interesting a Arena that certainly the Arts commission could explore and work with it's like I said it's not my expertise so it's not where I think of going but [Music] um I know that through experiences with my son how essential that is so yeah could totally get into that okay well thanks Katha so you had mentioned um a little bit of I think art the section of development or place C today I attended a meeting I forget which one John you were at it um in the Small Business Development uh and there was an individual there talking about place and how you know uh outdoor dining for example and popups help people to spend time in a place versus being inside and missing what's happening can you talk a little bit you mentioned the St Mary's covered uh food core uh you know outdoor dining area that's completely underutilized by the way um there's a tremendous opportunity can you talk a little bit about how your experience and what your ideas might have to help create Place yeah so there's I mean just think of Brookline day okay that happened on Sunday there were lots of people around there was music all over the place there were certain performances happening there was people really were there for an event the more you could make an event say at at you know where St lower St Mary's you you took that over for an event like a beer garden or um for some evening it gives people a sense that this is where action happens it's true when Somerville has the band concerts that's over a weekend that they have all these I don't remember what it's called but they over a couple of over a couple of days they have a whole lot of bands and everybody comes there everybody all of a sudden really knows that Davis Square is a h happening place and it's very exciting and they want to um participate in that so I think that's the kind of thing I'm envisioning that there's a that there are different opportunities in different areas and getting the businesses involved would be really important so it's it's a way of talking to them like what do you need and talking to artists and say what kind of venues can you use and sort of putting that together okay thanks any other questions I just I I I just want to comment that I really like that answer yeah that's a good answer and I just want to comment that one of the things I love about this process is people that you're already well acquainted with you learn something you never even knew about them before and I I really didn't fully appreciate um and barely app you know knew of your deep deep background as an artist and your deep deep background in television and u i I salute you on both of those thank you thank you I was very impressive I was going to read you what I the most recent installation which is a 3D graphic novel uh that um that has um that's about it's called fugitive colors and it's about um it's about hey how AI the this this um uh there's a Genta has taken over this place and transformed this what was originally a free and open Communications grid to a now weaponized surveillance apparatus armed with masks drones and eyeballs magnifies seizes those who dare to show their color color was once in shrined law it was a Birthright recognized as bestowing kindness Wonder individuality along with curiosity and the capacity to dream now all expressions of color have been outlawed if captured fugitives are transported to an abandoned Munitions Factory in grasa for desaturation now those of you who are painters know that fugitive colors lose their um color over time grasa is a black and white painting and desaturation is what happens to fugitive colors when they even even photographers who use Photoshop know what you're talking about thank you for applying okay thank yes thank you for applying and we'll make make our appointments at a later meeting yeah it's Universal all right okay uh next um uh question of approving the moderator's request for hybrid special meeting um on Tuesday November 19 2024 special town meeting so we say if we say no can we skip it moderator is not here tonight but uh he did submit the request um this is the first to meeting that um that Neil is submitting this request previously uh K poverman had submitted those requests so he's consulted with Town Council and with um Seagal uh on health issues and has uh requested a a hybrid meeting for town meeting in November you raise your hand or you just taking your glasses off just taking my glasses off so I can see you okay any questions fairly straightforward um unless there's anything else I'd like to move approval of the um moderator's request for a hybrid special town meeting on Tuesday November 19 2024 all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak I Michael sanman I Paul Warren I David Perman I chair votes I thank you Melissa thank you whoops oops so we can cover the next item too if you're ready yep we ready so uh the warrant closed last week last Thursday at noon and we had 20 warrant articles that were filed uh you have all of those individually in your packet and um tomorrow we'll post the full warrant um with everything online but it is currently in the select board packet so I'll just give you a quick rundown of what was filed so we have our traditional unpaid bills and collective bargaining warrant articles um we are just making a small uh appropriation for um transportation Network funds uh we are not needing a a budget amendment this year because our state aid numbers came in maybe $40,000 off from where we were so it's not worth reopening the budget for that small of an adjustment uh we have a proposal to create a veterans tax work workof program uh a proposal to create a youth coun uh question of authorizing the select board to uh sign a restrictive covenant for the pting stone property over near Hancock Village uh and then we have a series of War of zoning related Warren articles um carara had come before you a couple of weeks ago explaining a lot of these and then we have a couple of petitioner items I'll kind of do my little uh shorthand of of the way that I understand that these are but obviously um not as Zing experts so I apologize if I'm not adequately describing these um there was a proposal about the maximum story height in select districts uh two two and a half story height in certain districts another proposal on uh the lot size for single family conversions uh another proposal for um the ability to create a third unit in t districts uh a proposal to amend the Harvard Street zoning particularly around materials and uses another proposal around the Harvard Street area around design guidelines uh a proposal that addresses some issues around outdoor lighting uh particularly in residential areas uh an amendment to the sign bylaw um around some commercial areas another proposal for um addressing the the space between two buildings and then another proposal for accessory dwelling units in order to uh comply with a recently changed state law uh after that we have an amendment to the tree preservation bylaw we have a home rule petition uh around uh bidding and um relationships with nuclear companies or n uh nuclear weapons another home rule petition around rodenticides and then a resolution on Jewish heritage month and then another resolution on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas so those are your 20 Wars thank you any questions from the select board I I didn't realize that we had nuclear weapons in brine we've had this discussion about a vehicle can't contract with companies who also build oh oh is that it okay the apparent company subsidaries I will let you know if we have to buy a nuclear weapon yeah I I would realize it but not I'm sorry uh okay um unless there are any questions and this is not a hearing so I'm Mo of approval of the warrant uh for the November uh special town meeting all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David pman I and chair votes I thank you Melissa thank you um the next have one of those Warren articles we figured we could tackle an easy Warren article uh article one which is unpaid bills uh at this time we do not have any so the recommendation would be for um no action okay um and we are 35 minutes before Mike leaves of course we'll still have a have a quorum then unless someone else leaves but um uh okay so you're going to present that so okay this is no action because there are no unpaid bills okay correct we still need to have the hearing though in order for the board to take their action public hearing this is a public hearing uh so if anyone in the audience or anyone on Zoom would like to speak to foreign article number one uh regarding unpaid bills of a prior fiscal year please indicate by raising your hand there are approximately two individuals online and two individuals in the room and no one is raising their hand at this time there something else on TV that people might the the Red Sox game setting a new low right and and we have to uh put this on the agenda because if we have a bill from a prior fiso year that's not paid town meeting has to approve it and we usually do and they usually do but um Mike and I know about a situation where town meeting refused to approve a bill from a previous fiscal year U because there's some controversy about legal services but uh but that doesn't happen in Brooklyn so okay so close the public hearing since there's no one interested in talking about unpaid bills uh and uh move no action on Warren article number one with respect to unpaid Bill bills of a prior fiscal year on in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David Perman I hi and chair votes I thank you Melissa uh okay I think uh next is town meeting outcomes I think that's Chad yes okay so um at the request of uh uh select board member Paul Warren uh and our one of our town meeting members uh Mike tofl uh we've had meetings uh with Town Clerk and the uh moderator to talk about an issue that some town meeting members have had with regards to tracking Warren articles as they go along the process after they've been voted on by town meeting basically what happens after a Warren article is passed or even not passed in some cases whether are the what are the what are the next steps we wanted to create a single sort of clearing house a repository of information about what happens to your Warren articles when they're passed before they either if they're a bylaw they become embedded in the code or if they are um in acceptance of state law what happens next what the timeline is how the Attorney General votes on handles those things so um we've come up with this draft memorandum of understanding that memorializes our roles and responsibilities the town clerk obviously has um ones that are most immediately relevant to town meeting during in the iMed medmate aftermath of the moderator is has more long-term Vision to develop a sort of all things town meeting website that's his vision um and we're working to support him on that uh we're hoping that town meeting members will be able to build that out um and we'll be able to provide support and then uh on the select Board office what we would like to do is basically update um a chart on the town meeting files page that lists all warrant articles offered in any town meeting going forward on a prospective basis the action taken on them future actions pending and a point of contact for any questions and so I'll show you an early draft of what this is going to look like um and while he's pulling that up if I can make just a brief a brief comment um so this might okay yeah very brief but a little bit background can I then do it because okay may I may I have permission but not thank you um because I do I want to give a little more context and and some credit to Mike toffle uh Mike toffle uh reached out to me uh he wanted to file a warrant article uh back last May um he's going to put on the warrant uh to build into the bylaws and memorialize a process to keep Town meetings members informed as to the status of various actions that town meeting has approved um and I did this with another uh town meeting member who was going to file another warrant article if you remember around transparency and notification um I think for email uh email addresses right for uh anyway for Foye requests um and you know Mike uh I really appreciate that Mike was willing to hold off we met with the Town Administrator uh and and the town moderator and the Town Clerk and we came up with an agreement as to how we can make this happen without having to go through the warrant article um I actually attempted this with two warrant articles that are on the warrants this time that I actually think we could have done uh through uh executive action by the select board um we may still want to do that frankly um but I think this is important if to accomplish this because I think it sends an important message out to town meeting members and the public that they all they don't have to go the route of bringing a warrant article and all that goes along with that to actually affect change in policy um and this is a perfect example of it so I want to thank Chaz for drafting it and helping to pull it together and Mike toffel for nudging us along and thank you for taking initiative on this because that's an issue that is has been around for many years uh when when things that could be easily handled by executive action by the select board or town uh Department uh become warrant articles and we go through all the rig Ro that that involves so so you can see here up on the screen there's a draft of this document this is basically what Melissa does every year that's exactly right she so we would start right we would start from that and we would go from there uh and we would just update this on a quarterly basis on the town's website um with the understanding that as things move towards you know the there you can see here on this so this is the list from last 10 this is from Spring 2024 so you have all 19 of the original Warren articles and you have the two specials you have a brief description of what they are the type of Warren article the favorable action this open closed will be a toggle so you'll be able to filter them um so you can just show open Warren articles things that still have things pending um and then their status so a lot of these are done there's no further action necessary and so but still if you have questions here is here are the office or the individual to contact we will then list their email uh if there's a website and we'll put here when this item was last updated so you know for things that are archived you can see clearly see hasn't been updated in a while um but otherwise we will continue updating them on a quarterly basis um until they are in the no further action category so right now there are two still outstanding uh both of which are home R petitions uh one is that the legisl Le and one has passed through the article 97 and now is in meepa review so I think it's actually almost done with meepa review so that's where we are that's where we are and we'll update that on a quarterly basis great thank you and uh this is a public hearing it's not oh no it's not I'm sorry read wrong thing but we do have to vote yeah you do and um I I will just say there are a couple of minor edits to the umou that I want to make that don't affect operations it's just about clarifying what I've talked here about about you know up updates will will continue until such time as no further action is necessary and we have agreement from the moderator from the toor town clerk are both signed off on this okay again I want to give them the chance to make some final edits and reviews I also think I spelled Neil's name wrong on the sorry Neil so we're GNA vote on this subject to further clarification my goal is to bring this back to you in the miscellaneous agenda once it's final final okay so we're authorizing you to go forward and and negotiate and complete this so I move approval of um of our author of the select board's authorization or what's how do you say that authorizing the Town Administrator to negotiate and execute a memorandum of agreement regarding responsibilities for circulating information on outcomes from town meetings all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael Simon I Paul Warren hi davidman I and chair votes I finally boards and commissions reappointments question of reappointing the following candidates to Bo to various boards and commissions to start off with a small business development committee um David Gladstone um all in favor of appointing David Gladstone to the small business advisory committee you want to do these in omnius Bernard or um well we have uh 25 minutes do you you really really want to do that huh really okay let's do it in omnus well but I do have a question I may sure yeah I just want to be sure we're are we dealing with two different categories of appointments here one being reappointments of some people the other being new people on commissions and Boards being appointed for the first time and if so shouldn't we at least break apart those two uh votes uh my understanding you're reading the one two three four uh commissions committees listed the first four are all reappointments the last one with the Council on Aging these are all technically as I understand it members who have been serving so they're um either being reappointed to positions they're currently in as citizen members or associate members or they're getting promoted um as an from an associate member to a voting citizen member right okay and this is from a list submitted by ruthan and correct Yanda yeah okay okay so I'll just read off I think for the record I'll read off Small Business Development Committee David Gladstone preservation commission Peter Kleiner recline Commission on disability Robert P Heist Conservation Commission Marcus Quigley and Roberto snore Council on Aging here it's a question of reappointing the following members as citizen members Judith KAS and Alberta Lipson and question of reappointing the following members as associate members members Clara chin Reena Jacobson and Joan Katz and finally question of reappointing the following associate members to Citizen members Bey Maguire and Monique Richardson uh with that on favor of those appointments and reappointments please indicate by saying I an van skak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David prman I and chair votes I and with that our business is over unless someone would like to make a public comment at the end but uh we didn't go over the 15 minutes so I guess we don't need to do that do we no nobody left okay so our meeting is over and we can go uh watch the Red Sox game or um something else whatever is on TV