##VIDEO ID:z1_d7qXGMk4## [Music] [Applause] [Music] all [Music] all [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] h [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening I'm Bernard Green chair of the Brookline select board and this is the meeting of the select board for January 7th 2025 um let's start off with announcements and updates and if you'll indulge me I'd like to read a statement it's a little long but I think it's really important um I'm going to start off by saying welcome back to the New Year 2025 unfortunately tragedies hit over the holiday season a major house fire on Sergeant Road a day after Christmas fortunately no one was injured the death of a beloved former teacher of English at Brookline High School on December 29th Barry Mark Schuman after years of battling and illness and the most tragic loss the death of four members of the goldsteen family Matthew his wife Lyla and their daughters Valerie and violet they died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the at their vacation home in New Hampshire over the Christmas holiday the home's gas heating system was determined to be the source of the carbon monoxide leak the school committee I'm sorry the school Community is probably well aware of this loss but I think it's important to let the broader Community know some of the details of the impactful lives of the goldene family so that we do not think of this as just a school loss but a loss for our entire Community Matthew Goldstein was a beloved math and health teacher at the Edith baker school he was a strong supporter of students and was the teacher responsible for the school's Math League and his gender and sexuality Alliance Brook lion superintendent lonus gillery and ma said Matthew Goin was an exceptional educator and beloved member of the school community and they are deeply heartbroken to learn of his passing Mr goin's Dedication to inspiring students and shaping young minds has left an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of knowing him Dr G continued Lyla Goldstein was a proud graduate of Brookline High School class of 1988 she was a beloved and respected member of her class and remembered as a smart kind and admired student their daughter Valerie Goin was also an educator working with Teach for America as a fifth grade instructor in uh Rocky Mount North Carolina she graduated from Syracuse University just last May at Syracuse she led a program to teach high schoolers career Readiness and financial literacy New Hampshire does not require carbon monoxide detectors and homes unlike Massachusetts but carbon monoxide detectors must be in working order and properly placed for them to provide sufficient protection important information and a helpful pamphlet can be found on the fire department's website using the link on the left side of the page for smoke detectors and go to that web page where you can click on a link labeled guidelines for meeting the laws requirements which is about 34s of the way down on the page so relative to that Chief salivan has provided a statement from the fire Department that provides some additional guidance on protecting your family from carbon monoxide poisoning and because during the winter time carbon monoxide poisoning is an increasing danger I'd like to read it Brookline fire department joins with the entire Brookline community in mourning the tragic loss of life recently suffered by the Goldstein family carbon monoxide is a tasteless odorless gas that is respons responsible for hundreds of accidental deaths in the United States every year the ma the vast majority of which could have been avoided if working SE carbon mon monoxide detectors were on hand is required under Massachusetts law to have carbon monoxide detectors in all Residential Properties that employ the use of fossil fuel burning equipment including those with an attached enclosed garage carbon monoxide detectors should be placed placed on all habitable levels of a residence including habitable portions of the basement and attic and must be placed within 10 ft of each bedroom door please refer to General law or contact the Brookline fire department Bureau pre fire prevention Bureau for specific installment requirements do not wait for the sale or transfer of your home to protect your family with these life-saving detectors I think that was important enough to spend probably about four minutes um uh discussing so um I hope that's a helpful reminder of uh the gold scen family and what they meant for our community as well as the uh things we need to do to uh prevent uh future accidents or future tragedies like this so anyone else uh yep thank you Bernard and thank you for um for those words and it was a a incredible strategy yeah um loss of that family um and you know we're we're planning on doing some uh some vacationing in the in February with the children and we'll be going to New Hampshire and we've actually purchased you can buy portable um carbon monoxide detectors that you can take with you for traveling um and we'll be we'll be we have those devices now so but thank you um I did want to mention um that there will be a free skating event on January 11th hosted by the friends of Lars Anderson Park and the Brookline Green Space Alliance this will be on January 11th it's entitled under the stars at Lars um so you can skate Saturday January 11th from 5:30 to 9:30 um it's free skating um rentals um and there'll be some uh some demonstrations and and skating there with some really incredible uh uh figure skaters that they put on a performance last year which was quite amazing and I think Bernard you attended that as well last year so um I wasn't skating you weren't skating but you were you were certainly there saying hello to folks that would be dangerous uh but it is uh it's it's it was a a fun night last year um a lot of people came the skating is beautiful uh Under the Stars so in our wonderful open air uh skating rink at Lars I think that's actually on our agenda tonight as well yeah so anyway that's an event on the uh on Saturday January 11th from 5:30 to 9:30 great thank you any other this John um just a couple of notes um I thank the chair for his remarks um uh about um some local folks who suffered tragedy over the um holiday period um I want to just mention that because I was reminded of this on my way to this um meeting uh as I was listening on the radio to the observances um in honor of Jimmy Carter um in Washington and um I won't go you know into great length about it but I I think that um people have come to recognize with the various tributes that are being paid to um former President Carter that he was an extraordinary extraordinary human being who said an example that few of us um can hope to emulate um he wasn't perfect um and the words that um sort of stood out for me as I was listening to the house speaker and then vice president Harris um pay their tributes to Jimmy Carter was that he he practiced believed and practiced that we are all made in the image of God um and we are all equal and that is just one of the fundamentals of U what he stood for in an outstanding way in his example um as a president uh so just wanted to take note of that I also want to say that I correct me if I'm wrong we're not going to meet next Tuesday right so I wanted to highlight a meeting that's going to happen you are meeting next Tuesday I'm sorry we are meeting next you're off on MLK day week well then I take that back um I'll I'll save the announcement about the the other event until next week okay thank you any other comments sir okay let's open up for public comment um Tiffany read the rules and let's begin 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's an opportunity at the conclusion of the select board's business for additional comments members of the public sometimes raise questions during public comment we may be able to provide a quick answer to a question but are more likely to work with staff to get a more 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 any person wishing to speak must begin their comment by identifying themselves with their name and either their Brookline Precinct number or street address uh the first person who signed up in advance to speak tonight was Abby Swain Abby I'm promoting you now Abby you can start your video if you're comfortable and begin your 3 minutes all right I'm on thank you for hearing me um uh I am compelled by duty to um offer a public comment on the candidacy of um Robert Shon I'm not even sure if I'm saying his name right um for a seat on the planning board I did submit um written comments so you have everything in detail should I uh begin to exceed my three minute um uh limit um not all board members may be aware of a case that uh Mr Shon U brought before the zoning board of appeals a few years ago he appealed a burn building permit that had been issued to his nextd door neighbor for reasonable accommodation under Ada um and our bylaws for a relaxation and setback requirements to construct an accessible entrance and garage and that was to allow um safe Ingress egress by the disabled child um living there who uses a motorized wheelchair so that child um her wheelchair and the vehicle that must convey her to many appointments um is a sizable vehicle and therefore the um the uh neighbors uh requested a you know a fairly um sizable um uh addition to their house I attended the only reason I know about this is I attended the zba hearing on February TW 2nd 2023 where this was um heard and submitted a written comment in view of um the perspective I have as the parent of a wheelchair user um and it's my understanding this situation hasn't yet been resolved um there have been other I've heard litigious um disagreements between Mr sha and his neighbor regarding building zoning and preservation issues um I don't have first knowledge uh firsthand knowledge of those um exchanges and therefore I'm not going to touch those um but it seems um from my um uh perusal of the materials submitted to the zba um and other public um materials that um Mr sha may have a rather a tin ear for reasonable accommodation issues and rights um and accessibility practices and and since um accessibility law and policy is applied in cases that come before the planning board and it's ing duties um you know and is part of the vision of the town to be inclusive I think that's very important there are couple things in um Mr Shan's application also that sort of jumped out at me that he may not be an ideal candidate he um stated that he was not afraid to take contrarian positions and over and over um compared his uh experience in financial portfolio management um to managing a portfolio of neighborhoods unified as one might desire for that post thank you for your attention um and you can read my comment thank you Abby the next speaker is Don I'm sorry um uh I know it's not our practice to um respond to a public comment but um there's more to the uh issue between Mr Shon and his neighbor than meets the eye and uh I would urge um anyone who's listened to the comments to uh Reserve judgment thank you the next speaker is Don oats Don I'm promoting you now Don you can start your video if you're comfortable um state your name and precinct number address for the record um it's not okay sorry my video button was locked here we go my name is Don oats um I'm in Precinct one I'm the neighbor of Rob Shen an butter and you can begin your three minutes thanks thanks for allowing me to address my concerns regarding um Rob's candidacy for the planning board the role of a planning board member requires a commitment to enforcing established processes and ensuring Fair informed decision-making and Rob's record shows a repeated failure to follow these processes himself raising serious concerns about his ability to enforce them for others in June of 2012 Rob and his wife purchased their home and weeks later they gutted the entire home down to the studs until nearly all historic fabric was gone the extensive renovations amounted to a full demolition of a historic home built in 1900 and listed on the national register of historic places this was done without inherence to any zoning preservation or demol demolition bylaws and without any public process on August 29th 2012 the preservation commission staff sent a letter to Mike yanovich then Deputy Building Commissioner pointing out that the home was permitted for renovation not demolition the letter highlighted that all historic Windows had been removed in violation of the permit all historic features including Timbers and windows were to be replaced by the owners exactly as they were before but despite this order Rob Shen and his wife Kathleen did not comply and there is no record explaining why these violations went unenforced meanwhile Rob has sued the town of Brooklyn as you've heard the zoning board of appeals and my family despite the unanimous decision of the zba to uphold the permit granted for our accessible addition as a reasonable accommodation under Ada federal disability rights laws he undermined the Town Council The Building Commissioner and the zba because he felt that instead of a timely and less burdensome reasonable accommodation process mandated mandated by Ada we should have followed the protracted 40a process this is despite his own record of bypassing these same processes when demolishing and rebuilding his own home this is a hypocrisy that demonstrates an inability to enforce policies fairly or make decisions objectively when my family requested a handicap accessible parking spot which the town designated in front of his home at 10 Beach Road he opposed its placement due to personal preference even en listing select board member Mike Sandman to support his objection despite previously rallying Neighbors including Mike Sandman to oppose my garage permit on the grounds of safety concerns near our corner lot he advocated moving the accessible spot into a decades old no parking Zone at the same busy Corner potentially creating hazards to people in property while undermining his own safety standards turn study ordered by the Town transportation committee as a contingency for the spot on the corner found that fire trucks and school buses would need to drive not only on the sidewalks and accessible ramps but also on the grass of the federally protected Longwood Mall Historic Site which Rob is also o TK head of the friends of the Longwood Mall despite this the spot was installed there in December a year after my request should have been a simple request Rob's record demonstrates not only a disregard for legal processes but a pattern of obstructing accessibility and reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities these actions are not compatible with the responsibilities of a planning board member who must act with fairness consistency integrity and inclusivity thanks for your time and consideration thank you the next speaker who signed up in advance was Scott Ryan Scott I'm promoting you now Scott you should be able to start your video if you're comfortable state your name and Precinct or address for the record and begin your three minutes hi thank you for the time uh my name is Scott Ryan I live at 190 Dudley Street um right at the Dudley and Lee roundabout um I appreciate the time uh I uh raising a concern about disturbing and dangerous traffic Behavior at the uh dudle lee roundabout I've lived at this location for about nine years now and I've noticed over the past few years very dangerous uh driving behaviors including excessive speed uh both on the Dudley side and on the Lee side um you know to and from Route n it's really used as almost a slingshot for people to come around you know from Lea Street around the roundabout towards Route n the speed limit used to be 35 miles an hour it's gone down to 25 both on the Dudley and the Lee side um and that unfortunately has not um changed any uh driving behavior um it is uh extremely dangerous there have been multiple accidents which have been reported over the last few years one uh recent accident took out um I believe a telephone poll there were two accidents within the past few years right at the the stone wall and pillars in front of our um uh driveway one took out the entire Stone pillar that had to be rebuilt and then uh just last month there was a car that leapt over my neighbors's um a stone wall and half of the car was on top of the stone wall uh as you probably know this is a very um uh uh busy um walkway and sidewalk going down to the reservoir families use it bringing their kids to school and it doesn't seem to matter what the season is whether it's icy or not um there are accidents there year round and it's very dangerous I have two young girls uh that um live here and it is we don't let them go down to the end of the driveway alone because of the number of accidents uh in fact even when I bring down the uh garbage um I I get a little nervous um so it's primarily a speed issue you know I uh I am a Orthopedic Trauma surgeon uh in Boston and I take care of patients who are injured in accidents like these um the drivers tend to be fine but you know if any of these cars had had hit people it would it would most certainly be lethal um and uh that's my you know my biggest concern and fear uh the only thing that has helped um has been uh constant U police presence uh which I've reached out to them and they've been phenomenal uh with their response but the behavior is very aggressive and dangerous so we even get beeped at just uh from the round about turning into the driveway um so I I ask that um I would consider um doing an investigation into some other practices thank you for your time thank you the next speaker is Donell O'Neal Donell I'm promoting you now then now you should be able to start your video if you're comfortable state your name and precinct number for the record thank you um good evening everyone happy New Year first and foremost um my name is Donell O'Neil senior town meeting member from Precinct 4 I'm also an the advisory committee PX member as well um I'll be brief what I love about our town is that that each year what I've witnessed for over 45 years is each year we strive to be a better Town Better Community I I grew I was brought up at the Historical 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury and what I learned there was that the people in that church that building actually made the made the church and I feel that way about our Our Town our community our community makes Brook line the people in our town uh make it our town and that being said each year by the grace of God we we we're doing I've witnessed I I see this we're doing our best to be better better neighbors better just better community members this better in general better better policy makers try to make everything a little more Equitable throughout the whole town we've been able to do this this Zoom allowing for a broader participation amongst the community members in this town I I'm proud of our town I love I love being a member of this community here and I just ask that we continue to especially this year knock down the barriers that have been in our way for for many many many years um let's continue to bring everyone to the table and talk I love being at town and you know I'm saying this on my own behalf I you know I'm not too excited about this CH thing coming up um I'm I'm not I'm not excited about and 30 seconds thank you you know we've been a community a town for many years and it's allowed for folks like me and others to be at that table and speak up um to help knock down them barriers thank you for your for giv me this time um have have a Good Year everyone look forward to knock down those barriers thank you thank you the next speaker is Regina fry good evening healthy New Year to all um Regina froley from South Brookline Precinct 16 and a town meeting member um struggled over this how to present this um many years ago very few people who know this that the public comment period was created by an action of a select board person Gil Hoy it was his idea to start it and it started right here at the select board it was such a good idea that it began to spread to all your boards and I think most people really appreciate that you have that policy throughout the town but there was is a distinct difference between public comment and public hearing and recently I think it was the 17th of December they were treated this the same the public hearing has always been onto every board I've ever participated in or observed um they have always allowed unless there was a line going around the corner they always allowed a a fair amount of time for people to say what they needed to say and it was definitely not the same as a public comment period so I hope this is the first time I saw them conjoined as the same policy and I hope that the select board will go back to your predecessors um in very recent predecessors who allowed the public hearing component as long as there aren't a lot of people to have extra time to be able to say what they need to say the whole idea of calling it a public hearing is that you get to hear and people don't always get to say what they need to say in three minutes so I that is my comment tonight and I hope that you will take it very serious ly thank you thank you that concludes our time for public comment at the beginning of the meeting um if there are others who wish to speak um please hold your comments till the end of the meeting yeah okay well there are other hands raised as well so oh really yes okay um how many more people are uh at least one so two in total well what okay there just two people why don't we let let them speak you have to speak up here you may go ahead and approach the podium yes please state your name and precinct number for the record this is a deviation from our practice which is pretty dangerous but you know I think we can accomodate you time go ahead go ahead um good evening everybody I'm ranne Snider and I've come this evening I think to make a deal with you I want to trade something I W to I want a public promise from you that you'll do something and so here's the Dilemma um I hired an arbor a small company to prune a tree on my land and um and we negotiated a price and then I came out to see the work and the tree was only half pruned and they said to me in great detail that they couldn't prune the rest of it because it went through town electrical wires and um telephone wires and internet wires and they're not allowed to touch it um but I shouldn't worry because down the street they're doing the next block and they'll be coming to my house very shortly and so I said um well we negotiated the whole deal I'll pay you for half the tree cuz you've done half the tree and when the town comes down the street and finishes it I'll pay you for that for that half but I don't want to be left I actually said to them I have more faith in you to finish the job than I do the town and I said that to them and I turned out to be right because the town never came back and did my block so I live on the corner of Perry and Brook streets and they did there may be four blocks they did block four and three they never came back to do two and one so I've come this evening because the man came back to me today and said I've come back to finish the job and I said I don't give you permission to do it you told me that it was too dangerous and you didn't have permission to do it so what's different why should I let you do it he gave me some reasons and I said no I'm sorry and he said well what are we going to do and I said I don't really know but I'm going to go ask some people who might and so I've come this evening to tell you that I'm willing to pay him for the rest of his job that's undone okay we we get this this is really why we shouldn't deviate from our practice having done so you have to look right I know let her finish say it again Bernard I don't he no continue continue but I think yeah well continue and then I'll say what no continue continue I'll finish up and you can deal with it so um so it's a small company he obviously came back he wants to be paid and I want to pay him but I don't want to be left next fall or whatever I want to guarantee from you guys that you will send your Department of Public Works to your tree department down to my neighborhood to finish the job before spring which is March 21st do you think you can do it and um I want to pay him I want this to be done you have 30 seconds very request and it's in your hands to do it thank you thank you the next speaker is Jocelyn Murphy jyn I'm promoting you now if you could state your name and precinct number for the record thanks so much for taking my very brief comments good evening Joselyn Murphy town meeting member in Precinct 16 last Friday some of you witnessed the spectacular release of 37 geese and ducks that were impacted by the December oil release into the muddy river if you were unable to witness the event it is truly worth watching one of the videos produced by the news media or by the New England wildlife center the agency rescued and rehabilitated the birds that had been oiled the event marked an extraordinary collaboration between the state and local agencies both public and private that responded to uh this local environmental disaster however in the aftermath of the incident it appeared that there is no organized plan in place to respond to emergencies in Brooklyn involving domestic pets and Wildlife it is my understanding that the office of emergency management is the appropriate organization to work with relevant staff to identify policies equipment and training that may be needed to address such a response please consider recommending the inclusion of an emergency response plan for domestic pets and wildlife in the emergency response strategic plan that you will be discussing this evening thank you thank you that concludes public comment at the beginning of the meeting um I apologize for allowing uh speakers to go over the uh 15minute period um and with respect to Ruth Anne Snider's comments I would sort urge her to uh send those comments to the select board or individual members or the Town Administrator it's the type of um uh issue that is better and more effectively uh addressed in that way um but it you know I did what I did and uh I'll just say say we've we've already responded to her we did the right thing let's keep going okay uh any that's that's the end of that and um moving right along so I move approval of uh first of all item 3A which is the minutes for December 17 2024 uh any edits I added one little edit to clarify um part of the minutes any others from the town from the the select board no no okay I'm move of approval all in favor of uh uh the minutes for December 17 2024 please indicate by saying I don vyak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David prman I and chair votes I next I'd like to uh um move items 3B to 3M in Omnibus fashion unless someone wants to take an item out and discuss it at a later it at a later meeting or vote it separately uh select board members can also comment on a particular miscellaneous item if they would like I'd like to comment on items 3H and 3i which relate to donations from the Korean church to the fire and police departments we really appreciate these donations um and the donation to the police department is for community policing projects and I just want to say as I often do that we have an excellent Police Department partly because of its commitment to community policing they don't just Chase robbers as some people think they should but in but they integrate with the community to provide services and to be available when people feel threatened by criminal activity or want to report activities that may threaten the community community policing is especially important for young adults whose brains may not have fully matured as mine wasn't when I was young and who may engage in in inappropriate activities that if caught early can be handled in a manner that will not have long-term consequences our police can make these determinations because of ongoing work in the community during good time so that when something happens and it's a bad time for the individual Police Department can more appropriately respond so I just I'm using the donation from the Korean church to to make that uh observation and also to say we really appreciate uh the Korean Church's um involvement in the community and and their support for many activities uh here in Brooklyn with that unless there are other comments or items you want taken out I move that we approve items 3 H to 3M I'm sorry 3B to 3M so all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak I Michael sanon I all Warren I David prman I and shair of votes I okay and by the way that includes item 3B which is uh our meeting schedule for 2025 um there have been some changes so if people want to see the meeting schedule just go go online to our web page and okay and the final version is in the packet as well so folks the final made okay that's great okay let's go to calendar items boards and commissions interviews uh we're uh interviewing candidates for the zoning board of appeals Steven Brooks and the planning board Robert Shon uh is Mr Brooks here in the audience yes please come to the podium so introduce yourself tell us a little bit about yourself and why you want to be a member of the zoning board of appeals and your stepen Brooks I live at ten carry Road um I'm an attorney I I'm just started my 31st year of practice primarily in uh real estate most of my practice is real estate closings Bank work uh sales purchases 95% residential matters um I don't actually do any zoning work my office is in Dam um I served the town previously on the nth school committee uh select you know selection committee and once that wound down um that was the extent of what I did prior to that I was a coach for my kids in baseball and soccer um so at this point I have a little time I had heard that there was an opening was asked to submit my uh application uh which I did but I I would suggest that I someone that knows how to apply the facts to the law and would be a a good candidate for for the position I'm available to do it um I have some pretty considerable experience in the legal World um started out as a litigator full-time and then moved over to the transactional work that I do now um but I think I'm pretty good at uh analyzing situations and um interpreting the uh the law great uh Mike all just what was the nature of the work that you the litigation that you did Civil criminal so my practice was probably 95% criminal uh before I did a lot of jury trials then I decided to have children and uh that is not uh necessarily a complimentary practice when you want to raise your kids so I moved into the transactional work did you work in um public defender office or uh we independent oh independent yes okay thank you uh David you address in your application how there'll be challenges regarding the chapter 4A amendments and accessory dwelling units and I'm wondering what you mean by sort of being sensitive to those changes well I think that there's going to be some new challenges based on that change in that we should be ready to help with those and help the town with those you know there might be some people that are looking to test the limits of that um that provision so I think that we should be in a position to discuss that depending on how much comes through the pipeline uh John thank you very much for replying um have you had a chance to observe the zoning board of appeals in in action and um take note of that that they currently at least meet on Thursday nights and I'm assuming you have no issue with that no I don't have any scheduling issues great okay any other uh questions or I wonder if we could um just explore the question that David asked about the challenges that you U uh that you see and that some people may try to stretch the limits uh and I I guess I would say that one of the jobs of the zoning board is that there are people trying to stretch probably every zoning limit that we have and and that sometimes it's appropriate to let them stretch that that limit and sometimes it's not um any sense of how you apply what what You Know Have you thought through any criteria that you would used to decide when uh when it's appropriate to um to go beyond to Grant a variance no I haven't thought about that frankly I just know that it's something that we're going to have on our laps really soon so I intend to familiarize myself quite well with it and you know take each case as it comes okay yeah you mentioned um affordable housing I believe in your application is an important issue you have any thoughts or or new ideas or um approaches youd take on the zba that are related to affordable housing well I don't know about the affordable housing part I certainly it's something that's on all of our labs in every community so I think that the the recent amendment to chapter 4A is is intended to address that and that might be part of what we're going to see in the next few years right nothing Beyond adus though nothing Beyond nothing specific okay any other questions or okay thank you we uh we'll be making our decisions on uh um um appointments to the zba at a later meeting so thank appreciate your coming in and and making application of course okay okay uh next is uh planning board Robert Sher sh sh sorry I thank you uh Rob Shon uh Town member will you move the Bic up a little sorry will you move the mic up to you thank you town meeting Member One um here to uh to discuss application for the planning board um just let me address real quick um the comments that were made earlier I'm not going to get into tit fortat with that I just other than say that I thought the comments were false misleading and unfair and I'm happy to answer any questions about those um if you have anying the questions um my prepared remarks are that um I have lived in Brooklyn for 17 years with my wife I have two kids uh at the Lawrence School I'm on the executive committee of uh the Brookline Green Space Alliance uh I'm leader of the F of the friends of Longwood Mall um I have worked in the investment industry for about 35 years 27 of them at puam Investments where I was a member of the operating committee um I uh managed a team the asset allocation team that was responsible for uh the multi-asset and retirement portfolios at putam um I say with humility that um I want to acknowledge that I while I've taken an interest in recent years in urban planning and zoning I'm by no means an expert I have no expertise in those areas uh architecture design urban planning zoning um and you know I plan to study that I have been studying that um but I think you know I think that there is a lot of expertise already on theing board in those areas and what the reason why I want to apply for the planning board is because I think I can bring some diversity to the board diversity of skills and diversity of P perspective um so you know I've been thinking about um you know my experience in portfolio management I see analogies to uh urban planning and portfolio management you know I think that it's um you can while there's a lot of you know it's exciting and there's a lot of upside to planning for long-term growth it's also a risky Venture and um I think what what i' like to bring to the board is this perspective of risk management thinking about um how do you know how do all the decisions that get made in urban planning how do they impact all aspects of uh the of the of the the the built like so uh safety um uh Transportation residential uh Green Space commercial all those aspects are impacted by these decisions and I kind of want to take that kind of perspective that risk management perspective and bring that to um the planning board so that's kind of uh a big reason why I thought that my experience could be relevant and help the the the board make uh good decisions in the future so uh with that I just say in conclusion that um really excited about uh the opportunity to kind of um help you know develop Brook Line's growth and um just excited about uh that kind of you know having potential to have that opportunity um it's you know I'm very invested in Brook Line's future and um I really kind of I see the planning board as a place where the implementation of the comprehensive plan is going to be a really important place to be over the next five years and I like to be a part of it he thank you um so I guess I'd like to start off with a question um related to the comments that were made earlier you I know the two sides of every story um but you know the issue of uh your sensitivity to accessibility issues very important to me and I think to most people in this community who have either children or other relatives um or friends who for who accessibility is a really important issue so address you know your your sensitivity to and and you know your thoughts about you how on on the planning board uh you you should think about issues of of accessibility and um you know General issues of of how we you know make sure that we're not excluding people with handicaps from yeah I'm absolutely very supportive of making sure that Brook line is accessible in all ways to to you know disabled people and I think it's it's just a really important issue I think what you know my particular experience highlighted is that there wasn't uh a well-defined process for doing something like um what my neighbor wanted to do and that's kind of you know what we the reason why we went to court over this is because there wasn't a a process in place and that in our opinion the town proceeded illegally and you know frankly I mean I think the courts agreed with us um so I think that you know Brooklyn should make more robust regulations about about how to go about how people can go about getting special permits and variances um in this case and make sure that it's an open process a transparent process where everyone in the neighborhood can participate and get their View and that you know these things aren't done in secret um behind closed doors as had you know could be the case and you know in the way things were set up before so um but yeah I'm very supportive of this you know and this in my particular case we've never been opposed to uh getting a garage for our neighbor it's just the size of the garage and the fact that it was going right up against our property line is what we had a uh um an objection to and our neighbors were just unwilling to work with us to compromise on that whatsoever so um but so that's there no our opposition to this particular garage there no reflection whatsoever on our feelings about accessibility and granting of special permits for people that need it okay uh Paul y thanks Robin thanks for coming forward first you should know in full disclosure I know Rob um I'm a PRI he lives a couple of streets over I've known him for years um I have a significant high regard for him he's a person of high moral values um and I'm I'm very familiar with the situation which was a dispute with a neighbor let's let's categorize what that is it's a dispute with a neighbor um I in no way shape or form believe that Rob has any ill intent towards those that have uh disabilities or need accommodations um in fact I think the experience probably makes Rob even more qualified to be able to serve on the planning board because he can understand what what anciliary impacts are um as you're considering uh building proposals but if you could speak a little bit about that because you did mention that you don't you're not a zoning guy um you're not an architect I think there's three Architects or maybe four on on the planning board already help help us understand how you would approach um adding value when there's a specific proposal in front of the board so I know that that that your particular case um didn't go through the planning board it was actually circumvented but if if a similar type of proposal or a building proposal is going to be you're going to be hearing these proposals how would you approach it and and your thought process about how to help improve uh the prop The Proposal versus just saying no yeah I mean I think I want to you know be open-minded to every everything that comes before the planning board work with the other planning board members uh to come to a consensus when you know wherever possible um look I I I'm a big believer in listening to the public and making sure that all the input from the neighbors has been heard and considered I think that's very important I think that's been a you know a big motivating force for the for the planning board in in historically and I want to continue that yeah I just think that you know I I do have something of an analytical or quantitative uh bent which would might I might be able to add some some some more kind of a more of a quantitative uh analytical approach to to issues I would I would hope um but yeah I just I think I have a long track record in my work experience of uh engaging in vigorous debate with my you know but at the same time maintaining collegial relationships with my colleagues and leading uh you know change going forward and and so I think that's one you know I think that same kind of those skills are very applicable in the planning board um Mike uh thanks Bernard so you and I have corresponded I think by email but this is the first time that we've actually yeah we have yeah me um uh and um I appreciate your explanation of the circumstances uh uh uh with the uh with the oats family um the um question I have is you mentioned risk you know you have a risk management background and I'm just looking at your professional experience and wondering about the period of time when you were an independent consultant shown timing strategies I was always told that um you can't time the market but I'll let that go and uh uh ask you a little bit about what how what is risk management how do apply it in the case of uh of an application for a project well I think you know my experience with in portfolio management is thinking about how um any any individual decision in the portfolio can how it interacts with all the other things that are already in the portfolio and so I think the same thing is applicable here like you know I I want to think about like I said in my prepared remarks that I want to think about how every decision is going to impact all the different areas and I think you know it's it's there's a lot of considerations that are really on the top of Mind of people you know things like you know what is this project going to do for the to the schools what's it going to do to traffic and what's going to do to Green Space right and so I want to think about all those and way and make sure that those are all those risks are being considered when we're thinking about projects that are they're going forward and I think another you know another risk is are we properly considered ing the you know the input from the neighborhood and the people that are you know that are affected and impacted by any individual project right the planning board have you have you sat in on some planning board meetings I've sat on planning board and I've watched uh way too many recorded planning board meetings um over the last uh last month or so okay so I've gone back about maybe six months and watched pretty much you know a large number of the meetings and you've seen that a lot of the decisions that are made are really based on technical issues on they are like facade and and and and Shadow studies and so forth I understand that you know and and I I honestly I'm not going to have very very strong opinions on a lot of the the lot of the technical issues you know I'll leave that to the to the Architects on the on the team but I do think you know that with the comprehensive plan you know being done that there is going to be a big role for long-term strategic planning and the planning my understanding is that the planning board has a has a big role to play in that in the implementation of that plan and that's really where I think I can I'm going to be most helpful and most useful okay thank you could John I oh sorry um thank you for applying for the planing board position um I just want to speak to um an aspect of this that um I'm not sure has been addressed uh quite quite enough from my perspective and that is simply this question of whether one has to be an architect or one has to be a professional planner to be on the planning board and um if it's not obvious from the way I I have posed that question um I I I don't think one one does have to be one of those things I think a planning board without some Architects and some planners uh would not be a good thing but we have that um and there is a role to play I'm going to express an opinion here forgive me um there is a role to play for people who think in terms of their neighborhood think in terms of the town's um history think in terms of Green Space um think in terms of what it means to um try to match um the context of the architectural context and the the existing planning context of neighborhoods in what comes before the planning board and um uh I I think in in that regard having people who have done some work um at the neighborhood level um on you know a park in their neighborhood um have done some work in terms of um getting involved with something like green space Alliance um that that is a perspective we need on the planning board as well so I I just want people who might be listening tonight and thinking in terms of their own future willingness to take part in whether it's the planning board or some of these other boards that and commissions that we have in the town um there's always a role to play for people who are just contributors to the life of their neighborhoods um and have had experience with the town and have had experience working with their neighbors on the kinds of issues that pop up at the neighborhood level and um that's going to guide me in in my response to uh you know the candidates we have before us to to be on the planning board uh David you referenced strategic planning in uh your answer to Mike saman's question and I'm wondering do you have your own personal Viewpoint about strategic planning and what your role would be on the uh planning board or is it more implementing the findings of the comprehensive planning committee I think it's going to be very important to implement the findings of the comprehensive planning I'd like to get more involved in that process going forward um especially as I have more time available but um but yeah I mean I think the obligation of the plan planning board is to implement the plan as that that's comes that comes out of the steering committee could I say one more thing and that's this just you know I was thinking about this I know we have some members of the disability commission here um I mean it's kind of emotional but I don't even think D and oats knows this but you know I have a cousin who uh who uh has Pat you rheumatoid arthritis when I was you know 12 years old she's two years younger and she's still you know she's in her 50s now and she struggled her whole life in wheel chairs I just sore over Thanksgiving um she's had a tough life so I I'm really hurt by the accusations that I'm some kind of disability bigot it's just not true and I just want to say that on the record thank you great thank you okay we we will be um before you go we will be making our decision uh at a later meeting thank you for applying okay um boards and commissions annual reports excuse me uh uh next we have a presentation by the chair of the brook line Commission on disability James Lee of the commission's annual report to the select board I'm gonna find out right now yeah there more thank you it says it's connected okay is the first slide up there it is and where is the pad this is it here okay terrific okay hello to the select board thank you for having us in here to present our work over the past year um just by way of introduction my name is Jim Lee I'm the current chair of the Brookline Commission on disability and with me tonight is uh Henry winlan also a member of the Brookline Commission on disability um I know that you went a little bit over on public comments so I know we're a bit behind on the schedule but I have to say that the work that the commission does is important so over the next three and a half hours I plan toly mly but I would like to start with just a little bit of uh history I'm sorry did that go one time okay there we go there next oh okay can we go back one slide my apology okay so um just a little bit of history in 1983 Massachusetts passed mgl 40 this gave cities and towns the opportunity to create disability commissions Brookline was one of the first in 1986 they created the commission on disability by town meeting and then in 2017 Again by town meeting vote they reaffirmed their commitment to the brook line Commission on ibility saying that the commission is part of the town and will continue on with its important work like every like every commission or board or committee we have rotating members our current members are Sarah Lyn air Joan Mahone Lynn Meek Elaine obber Rob Heist and the aformentioned Henry Winkleman our two newest members our Franklin paneta Lopez and our new select board uh liaison is Mr Mike Sandman two very important but non- voting members are Sarah Kaplan the Ada coordinator here in Brooklyn and Nancy Moore is our transportation board liaison now all of our members either have a disability or have a family member with a disability or are somehow closely associated with the disability community and with that a few people have mentioned what is a disability so disabilities are complex and there's obvious disabilities and there's you know not that obvious disabilities as an example if you see somebody with a white cane you can assume that they're visually impaired or blind you see somebody with a listening device then you can assume that they're hard of hearing or deaf you see a wheelchair user you know that they have a physical disability but there are not so obvious or unseen disabilities such as as a traumatic brain injury or perhaps autism or learning disabilities like ah ahdh so what does the commission do for people with disabilities their families and the town as a whole we try to remove architectural and technological barriers if necessary we Advocate or we even fund the new technology to make to remove those barriers we also provide families with informational resources who are dealing with disabilities so that they can find the resources that they need one of the big things that we have dealt with over the past year has been the transition plan here in Brookline this is a self-evaluation by various Brookline departments and this is not uh By Any Means A A A Guta kind of situation but we review with them their ADA compliance it's an open communication between the Ada coordinator the various department and the Brookline Commission on disability and what we try to do is improve the physical access the communication access and the program access now one of the big things that most Commission on disabilities are associated with are variances and just briefly I want to describe what a variance is because we actually had a meeting yesterday and somebody asked me So for anybody listening who doesn't know what a variance is a variance is a request that goes to the Massachusetts architectural access board to alter or uh not Implement at all a specific Ada Code Compliance in massachusett we use what's called 521 CMR that is our a essentially our ADA compliance code so somebody will submit a variance to uh alter that in some way and when they do that that variance comes to us we will review it and then we will provide feedback to the Massachusetts architectural access board the two biggest reasons that people try to alter a uh a code compliant issue is financial restraints in other words it's just a lot of money for the cost of the overall project or physical okay in other words just there's just no room for it okay so that'll come to us we will review it and then we will Pro provide information back to the architectural access board sometimes we sometimes we have no complaints about it sometimes we offer Alternatives some of the big ones that we have been involved with was the coolage Corner Theater Ashby Hall at 400 Heath Street and the pier school but we do go beyond variances we do more than variances when the town needed uh new listening devices for town meeting we worked with the Ada coordinator to review specifications get quotes and ultimately we funded the purchase of those listening devices we also worked with the Brookline Public Library to introduce an American Sign Language introductory course provided by De ink one of the leading organizations for uh American sign language that allowed 25 Brookline residents to take that introductory course for free and when the Brookline Farmers Market was receiving requests from Seniors and people with disabilities for an accessible Porter party the Brooklyn Commission on disability funded that as well not surprisingly we've gotten many thanks for the porter party we've also worked with the Brookline High School scholarship committee we have created a program to provide two scholarships annually for graduating seniors with disabilities this allows them to advance their education and start their careers but we also like to think of ourselves as a resource for the town when the United Parish Church wanted Outreach to its people to people with disabilities they came to us we gave them ideas to improve the physical access to the building improve communication and enhance approachability to people with disabilities each time that an ad hoc committee comes up in the town of Brookline they also turn to us typically they want one of our members to be on their committees we've had members on the Davis path Footbridge committee the Washington Street design Review Committee and and the Open Spaces committee we also have permanently Liaisons to The Pedestrian advisory committee as well as the age friendly cities committee and when departments here in Brooklyn need additional money that's not available and they need grant money they typically turn to us to support and we provide that support we provide that support through letters of support to various organizations we have sent multiple letters to the Federal Highway Department and we have sent letters to the Massachusetts office on disability now to be quite honest sometimes we win some sometimes we lose some we have received money in the past to put in an an accessible pedestrian signal on Harvard Street and this past year we received funds to mitigate 30,000 pages of archived Brookline documents making those documents screen reader accessible a few commission specific accomplishments we wrote our first new orientation new member orientation document this year this goes through the history of the disability movement the history of the commission itself as well as rules regulations and bylaws of the committee of the commission and also the roles and responsibility we have reviewed and provided feedback to New Town policies as well as select board policies what's that did it come up I'm sorry I'm sorry looking forward we plan uh we're working with The Pedestrian advisory committee as well as the Department of Public Works to create a sidewalk prioritization policy we're also planning on creating an accessible parking map this will show all of the accessible parking spots here in Brookline and we plan on evaluating those spots as well if you have a par an accessible parking spot that's next to a tree next to a post next to a bike rack an accessible spot quickly becomes inaccessible and then also on a much bigger level basically we're trying to make Brookline a more accessible Community this is on the micro level as well as the macro level micro level just moving down the street or getting into a restaurant on the macro level enjoying our Open Spaces attending town events or participating in town governance and then also we hope to finally conclude the trans transtion plan with each department here in Brooklyn and finally I'll say this year we're very proud of what we've accomplished in 24 we're looking forward to 25 and with that gentlemen I will take any questions that you might have Paul Jim thank you uh I love the slides well very well done um and thank you for your your service to our community I I wanted to ask about metrics um you know when you're getting into uh sidewalk sidewalk sexability number of uh you know ramps number of accessible parking spaces you know I'm just curious what you have metrics that you use that as a commission to track and see how we're making on progress the commission works with the Department of Public Works the Department of Public Works actually does have metrics on the on every sidewalk and the side you know the so the side walks it's going to be based on levelness is there tree roots things of that nature and there are metrics and it goes there's categories there's Fair good poor excellent within those categories and it's again it's based on the levelness of it how much uh concrete is broken and so on as far as accessible parking spots go there are categories there's uh actual for every 25 Spots You're supposed to have one spot and then at 200 it drops down to 3% at 400 2% so there's percentages of every parking space that says how many SP how many accessible Spots You're supposed to have and do we and do we um I guess my point is periodically are you reviewing the metrics with the DPW just to see are we with the DPW yes we have okay we have been and as far as the parking spots go we're we're going to be reviewing those we do have a current there is a current map of accessible spots and going to be updating that this year great thank you uh David you mentioned various ad hoc committees that your commission uh serves on including open space committee which ad hoc committees or other committees in town do you feel that uh you're not current where you you do not currently have a presence and you'd like one um I I I would say probably the planning board I would say the planning board and and this has been a a something that I've looked into and maybe I should be a little bit more aggressive on it honestly it it it bothers me to a certain degree that a Constructor in Brookline would be requesting a a variance and I have no problem with them requesting a variance I completely understand some of those barriers that they face however it's frustrating that it's it starts here goes all the way to the Massachusetts architectural board then comes back to the commission on disability who goes back to the Massachusetts architect tal board who goes back to the to the building officials to to grant that variance you know I feel like if we were involved in that process from the beginning and we knew that they were upcoming perhaps there'd be other ways around that Mike I I thank you Bron thank you Jim uh I just want to say that my experience as a Lon from the select board um has has been an education for me uh and I think that uh this is a remarkably diligent thoughtful and well-informed group informed about the rules informed about the nature of various disabilities uh they do a wonderful job and this presentation is an example of how they can put it all together yeah thank you I'd like to second that and um I hope hope people realize that you know disability or the disability commission doesn't just help people with dis dis abilities or current disabilities um you over the last few months I've been walking around with the cane so in a certain sense I was disabled uh and and really open my eyes to some of the uh inaccessibility around town but more more importantly um I remember last year at the high school graduation there was a student who uh was severely uh disabled in a wheelchair but her mind was still intact I mean not intact her mind was incredible and she was uh very good at math at at at complex abstract mathematical uh uh processes and is now at the UMass Boston uh um studying um math you know which way over my head but that's an example of how when we when we don't provide support and accessibility to people with u disabilities we lose so much that could be critically important for everyone's um benefit so I guess I'd like to also uh Echo again Mike's comment about um both the importance of disability commission but also the good work that you're doing so well thank you so much I appreciate it any everybody you know everybody on the commission works very hard I I have to say um ever since I've been a member um it has been really um great to work with them because everybody has an interest and everybody works very hard we really do and we have we have great meetings and again we we're involved with various committees and we're always bringing information back it's been it's been fantastic okay thank you for the report then okay thank you so much I really appreciate it thanks Jim next uh we we have scheduled a marijuana retail establishment license violation public hearing um we have received a request from Jeffrey Allen um the attorney for um for the Cannabis uh store to postpone for temporary postponement so he can address some uh issues that um he hopes to resolve until uh January 28th um I think everyone has received copy of that uh that letter and anything you want to add uh Chaz before we vote on whether to accept the postponement uh no I would just say um you know we've we've had conversations with they when they requested this we had conversations we said this would be the final extension and that we would um see them on the 28th if the board agreed uh to move forward with the to the um continuance of the hearing to then you do have to vote on this just because their license is conditional on this hearing going forward soot would be to continue the hearing and extend the term of their license to the 28th okay anyone have a um objection to this you're doing that okay so I move approval of the extension or the continuance of the hearing and the extension of uh their license until the hearing scheduled for January 2 8 of this year um all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael sanman hi Paul Warren hi David Perman I and chair votes I next Emergency Management strategy review so who do we have uh on Zoom to discuss this I see Chief Sullivan and Cheryl an Snider Cheryl an Snider okay so thank you uh Mr chair and um appreciate the um select board taking a look at our strategic plan uh I first want to uh acknowledge and compliment uh the hard work that's done every day but uh specifically on this strategic plan by Cheryl uh in her role as Emergency Management coordinator um as you know the the office of emergency management didn't have a formal structure until just a few years ago uh as we segwayed into covid uh and Cheryl had previously been working at the uh Health Department which was a great asset to US during the the co years as the emergency uh preparedness coordinator for this for the health department and it has transitioned into this role uh through the um use of uasi Grant originally and then um the value was uh obvious uh after you know the pandemic that we needed to uh bolster our Emergency Management function in town uh and um so she has taken on a number of different um projects over the course of the last few years to update all of our plans uh and one of the um one of the major ums that we we are presenting tonight is the uh presentation of the Strategic plan uh I want to make a differentiation at this point because I know there was a public comment about um the uh the situation at the muddy river and we're happy to address that uh but I would ask that that gets held off until after the presentation of the Strategic plan uh because it really um it is is more of a conversation about the operational plan which is the um comprehensive emergency management plan which is uh currently under review and should come before you as a package the later on this year um so with that I want to uh just and um just reiterate that this is a strategic plan this is not an operational plan so this is a path forward for Emergency Management over the course of the next five years it is based on the national uh strategy for Emergency Management planning for uh municipalities counties uh and uh it is modeled after that and uh I'm going to allow Cheryl to uh go through the highlights of the plan uh for you I know you have a copy of it and uh you know we're not going to read it word for word obviously but just the highlights so that you can uh um you can better uh comprehend what it is what we're trying to do so with that I'd turn it over to Cheryl Cheryl you're on mute sorry about that uh thank you Chief uh good evening select board members uh Cheryl Snider Emergency Management coordinator for the town of Brookline as Chief Sullivan mentioned the office of emergency management is working to is new and we want to develop a a very good strong strategic uh em function for the town and we want the board to be in agreement with the uh path that we have chosen to go down as we all know we have finite resources in town um and in the world uh in Most states Emergency Management is handled at the county level that uh allows more resources to be available to do the planning necessary to be prepared for emergencies uh particularly catastrophic emergencies uh we are lucky in Brooklyn to have an emergency management uh office uh many towns in the area do not um specifically nearby here we have Needum quinsey and Somerville and of course Boston um because we have finite resources we've prepared this strategic plan which discusses uh several paths uh several goals that we think are most important to developing the Emergency Management uh function here in town and uh I'll go through those rather quickly um our mission is to develop and maintain a comprehensive emergency management program for the town and our vision is a resilient Brook line equipped to protect and Empower its citizens prepared to face any Challenge and able to recover swiftly and effectively from emergencies through proactive measures there are four overall goals in this strategy to support the vision of dep developing and maintaining the Emergency Management function for the town the first is to prioritize development and maintenance of the town's comprehensive emergency management plan also known as the SE and both Hazard specific and functional annexes of that overall plan our second goal goal is to ensure the functionality and Staffing of the Emergency Operations Center including development of asset management resource management and logistical systems our third goal is to develop and maintain a multi-year townwide cross functional emergency response training and exercise program and our fourth goal is to seek and administer Emergency Management grants and other funding to support the vision and the mission that we have discussed here so with that uh I will take any questions that uh the select board might have um our chair has temporarily left the room but um I'm filling in anybody with questions David in terms of your emergency response timeline U objectives for fy2 you mention evacuation and I'm wondering what is the current practice for informing the public uh Town employees Etc what the evacuation routes are how are people made aware of it where are those plans kept Chief do you want to say something first sure yeah uh so we we have multiple Avenues of letting folks know uh that uh the the we'd be doing an evacuation uh it it there's there's two basic types of evacuation there's you know there's um area specific and then there would be you know in the the event of some major catastrophic event that there would be uh townwide or areawide which would include other jurisdictions uh for the most part for a community like Brookline it would be a specific neighborhood that potentially there was a hazardous materials incident that we would um call to evacuate an area uh or a neighborhood or or whatever the case may be what as we as we look at our operational plans we would develop you know a perimeter and then we would um we would execute an evacuation and and doing so uh one of the things that we have been pushing uh for our members in the community is to uh sign up to alert Brookline uh which is our primary means of getting the information out very very quickly we can geofence uh alert Brook line so that we're only hitting those folks who are signed up for emergency Cor responden is in a specific area or we can do it townwide um there's there's also uh social media uh that works in correspondence with alert Brookline the messaging uh needs to be consistent so people are not getting different messages from uh you know social media and and that's something that is very important because uh the quicker we can get our message out uh and and consistently the the less confusion there will be for folks who are getting on social media and getting their information perhaps not from a source that uh comes from an official Source like uh Emergency Management or from uh PD or FD or wherever wherever the case may be or their Town Administrator uh so th those are two of the areas that we have um you know in in a lot of cases it's just emergency um responders going door Todo uh and knocking on doors and saying all right we need you to either shelter in place or we need you to move in this direction uh and um so that's that's kind of the base way we would get the word out um if it was a larger issue and we were in a regional evacuation we would be uh through the the Town Administrator coordinating with the uh heads of government in Boston and and on the surrounding communities uh for a uh a region wide evacuation which is um also part of an anex that we have uh We've we've actually had exercises on that over the course of last couple of years uh at the Metro Boston Homeland Security region level so um it's it's a comprehensive um you know um aspect of getting getting the word out and then putting people in in motion so I hope that answers your question do yes thank you Paul yep uh thank you and thank you for um the overview and also the the details in the the plan itself is is very comprehensive um I wanted to move to gold number four which is uh gets into the funding funding and support of the vision and mission of the office of emergency management um and there's some tasks in here that talk about planning and funding um and I guess my question is you know in fy2 there it looks like you are creating you're advocating for the creation of an operating budget I assume we don't have that yet do we um this is FY 25 right yeah so but the ne but the budget the plan for the budget do we have a sense of what funding is going to be required going forward um do we have a projection of costs um we're working through that in terms of the what the FY 26 budget is going to look like that will be that'll be um put out in the next I would say less than a month now so yeah yeah I mean so again I'm just trying to get my head around about how as we were creating this office this this this this function we have it place we seated it y but it's it does seem to be skeletal right now right I mean and we we are you know the other thing that we do and I'm sure the chief can cherl can speak on this is a lot of this work is Grant funded a lot of the work that we do here is particularly reliant on outside sources of funding and we want to maximize that level the good news is there are a lot of those things available to us and it's not just for example uasi it's a lot of different sources that we're very the whole em team is very good at pursuing um and we use that to balance that out so when we we think of this as obviously you know emergency response is a critical function a critical team function so we make sure and each and each department has a role to play because it's really cross functional but there's But ultimately we do need to fund yes there's a core Emergency Management function that is funded online items in the budget right and it's and we're counting on mainly um grants for for that I you know I want to do I want I don't want to say you know what what percentage we're talking about but yes we rely I would say the Emergency Management excuse me uh Reg could you yeah please do yeah we rely on a combination of grant money and operating money in order to make this happen okay Mike um following up on that I we we're about to have a change of administration in Washington with a set of different ideas about federal federal budget and I assume a lot of this money ultimately comes through the federal budget um and I I think it just as a caution it would be sensible to um think about what sources we might have uh if there's a drop in the amount of support that we get from the federal side yes and I would say I would all I'd say on that is we're doing that work I mean Cheryl has done a lot of that work already in terms of risk analysis and assessment and the chief and we're working all of us are working together to make sure that there's no disruption in our functions in the event of a change in federal policy that impacts our funding okay thank you let me I assume this was an asked before I came back but uh with respect to theh question raised by uh in public comment um so we're going to be addressing issues of wildlife such as water file but also I assume coyotes bears and other animals uh in our operating plan uh could you sort of give us some um some sense of how that's going to uh what what that's going to look like I assume we're talking about protocols in the operating plan of how we respond if there's an incident such as uh happen at the muddy river but you flush that out so yes um you know again I I I want to differentiate between this strategic plan and the operating plan but uh you know the there is a level of uh capability at the local level that we have to be cognizant of um and I I am very um very mindful of mission creep when it comes to Emergency Management uh and to make sure that uh we're we're not overstepping the operational capabilities or the functionality of our uh Public Safety departments our DPW and and the you know the employees that we get you know we get the the vast majority of our support and operational capability from um when when it comes to things like coyotes and and bears and so on and so forth those are operationally um a part part of the day-to-day operational protocols and policies and and uh strategies of each of the Departments that would have an a hand in that so in particular the Animal Control Officers and so on and so forth um Emergency Management is for natural and man-made disasters that reach a certain level uh and you know we're very cognizant of uh trying to maintain you know where the level is you know it sometimes it gets money but uh no pun intended but you know there is a uh you know there is a there's a there's a differentiation between what is a day-to-day operational incident or event and what Rises to the level of Emergency Management uh functionality uh and so I just want to keep that in mind as we as we go through the discussion um when it comes to um the public comment earlier uh I've had discussions with Miss Murphy over the weekend uh and assured her that we would be looking at all of our um all of our plans with regard to Wildlife as well as the uh domesticated animals that we deal with uh in a Sheltering plan uh and uh anything that would rise to that level uh and where the town of Brookline resources can fit into that um a lot of what we do is facilitate uh and we have we are the handshake between the local officials and federal and state officials uh and and that's where Emergency Management really makes its uh you know makes itself a a a real asset and so when it comes to these these issues um there are there are state and federal assets and that are far more capable uh of dealing with uh the the the issues at hand that we would just not necessarily have the internal capability to to deal with so as long as our plan is uh realistic and and that is that it includes the resources and that are at the fingertips of the operational folks and or Emergency Management if it does rise to that level uh that we can make those phone calls get those assets on the ground as quickly as possible uh so that we can start the mitigation process and uh and you know take take whatever steps necessary to reduce the impact of of the incident so uh yes we're we're we're looking at you know what what was the after action uh from the response to the muddy river and you know thankfully we had a wonderful um you know program on Sunday where uh all of those geese and water file were were cleaned up and let go um we're always looking for improvement we're always looking for um you know alternatives to uh get boots on the ground and and get folks uh in in and and starting that mitigation process as early as possible any other questions uh thank you Chief any other questions uh John Chief thank you so much um you know I keep thinking uh all of us here and also people who might be listening at home it's kind of hard to get your heads around you know get your minds around this you know what what exactly are we talking about here how do you plan for an emergency um what kind of emergency uh and so on I I just want if you don't mind um just take us back to the emergency that we're perhaps all most familiar with which was when all of a sudden the world had to shut down um because of covid and it happened to coincide with my first term on the select board um I had I and others had to conduct campaigns you know virtually we as a select board never met face to face in person for at least a year um after I got elected we had to figure out all kinds of new ways of doing things but there also had to be someone in charge and decisions were made early in that emergency which I think might help people to kind of get a better understanding of what it means to have an emergency management plan um because um the there we couldn't let government just come to a halt but we also couldn't let people Gather in buildings and we we couldn't have meetings of the select board uh at the at the start of this when certain decisions had to be signed off on by the select board well if the select board can't meet to sign off on those decisions what's our plan for you know who will take charge of getting those decisions made and there were decisions made and you I think you're quite familiar with them you want to just talk about it a little bit and what we learn from it sure uh thank you for that John uh you know it is a great example um it is a it's it's kind of the other side of the pendulum if you will in the scale of emergency you know uh disasters from you know a potentially a 100 or 200 gallons of release of fuel oil to Global pandemic but the the process is is kind of similar um you know the if you look at the uh comprehensive emergency management plan when it comes to the Emergency Management functionality um you look at the annexes and that gives you a good indication of what level of incident event disaster whatever you want to call it uh is where the Emergency Management function kicks in otherwise below that is generally the day-to-day operational folks who are doing the work um in the particular case that you're talking about um obviously you know the the the time frame um between when the the assets at the federal level and even even here in in the East Coast um we're we're getting the idea that this is something bigger than just a a small breakout on the west coast uh we had a little time to develop uh and we were we were meeting um about three weeks prior to um the the disaster emergency declarations that were declared at the um Federal and National level at we were meeting at the local level and and starting to develop uh our response and what our capabilities were what our um resources were what expertise we had uh you know I I I will give you know I'll give a shout out to uh Dr jet the former uh Public Health commissioner who had been raising the flag about uh a global pandemic for a number of years uh professionally and locally and no one saw it coming EX except for our Public Health director and he you know he did uh and and uh you know it was one of those times where I think he he was it was saddened to be spoton but um when it comes to taking charge so to speak when there is a a local or a federal disaster declared it is it is um drawn out in the laws uh of the Commonwealth and federal laws as to how the how that impact the the ability of local government to be more Nimble um in the event like you said where the select board can't meet face Toof face uh and decisions need to be made um uh Mr clner at the time as the Town Administrator um you know had many many years of experience as a professional Town Administrator and he was able to um you know navigate those Waters pretty quickly uh and get right on the emergency declarations uh and and start to decentralize or centralize the the government uh and the decisions um understanding that at the end of the day it it it is in ineffective sometimes to have to wait for the wheels of government to turn in their normal functional way going to the select board getting you all together in a quorum we didn't have zoom then we didn't have you know and there there were statutes and we had to we had to get uh the uh the governor to um kind of uh wave the public meeting laws so that you folks could get together and you could make decisions and um but meantime the operational folks who are who are qualified in in dealing at that level basically at that point it was the Emergency Management function as well as the public health function uh with cooperation from obviously all of the other um departments in in town as part of the emergency management team um we were we were able to start to make those decisions early uh and we we we were a model in in Brookline for a lot of things so they were as a small community uh there were there were much larger communities with a lot more resources and assets that were looking at us and going hey where did you come up with that and we just kind of went well experience and and just you know the this is what makes the most sense and and we were able to uh I think we were able to navigate that uh that pandemic with um a great deal of success even even the U you know the the tragedy as it was the the overall Outlook was was a success thanks uh Paul yeah and this uh and thank you chief for that comprehensive answer and thanks to John for for asking it and this this question is related to it um you know I it's it's the things that we the big things that are uh the scariest right the complete failure of the water system or contamination of the water system uh the complete failure of electric grid it's a regional issue um you know perhaps you know some other type of of very disruptive Regional issue uh that would disrupt you know primary sources of water food heat Health um and it sounds like we've already kind of dealt with the health one a little bit is part of this strategic plan in this do you do scenarios are we prepared and have walked through what would we would do if we lost uh the availability of clean water because of some contamination or failure of the water system so I would say at the local level probably not you know uh that we would we would be part of the regional response and it wouldn't be specifically to Brookline um we are at the you know Boston Homeland Security Metro Boston Homeland Security level uh we are we're we're always updating those plans and have those things in in mind as we go through that process of regional planning uh and certainly with our our friends at Mima uh and even FEMA uh those those questions are constantly being um analyzed and what capabilities we wouldn't necessarily have the individual capabilities of of mitigating or or or actually but we would be but we would be involved in it right so I mean we're the last Mile right so we at least are we do we work and are we in coordination do we at least understand what what the State national response would be to some significant Regional failure like water uh or the electric lid or the fuel supply or the food supply I I I would say that in in the in the National strategy sense we we are uh because we are and and I can tell you that you know since 2001 uh and covid and the the um the foresight of the select board and the town to actually um put together an emergency management function that that has the capability of working dayto day as opposed to the ad hoc kind of we just respond to winter storms Emergency Management function we had previous to that and cherl gave you a list of you know there's only four or five communities in the Greater Boston area that actually Fund emergency management at at a level even The Limited level that we're funding it at uh and so you know we are we are engaging every every month every every uh quarter with Mima uh and with our FEMA uh counterparts uh and those are the those are the pressing issues at the federal and state level and so yes we are we are far more involved and prepared uh to be able to act in a manner that is is in coordination with any federal or state um uh uh response than we were just a few years ago okay all right thank you Chief yep okay any further questions or discussion so Chief we really appreciate uh the presentation and all that you're doing it's a lot more complex than I think many people realize but you know way more important than uh uh people realize also so we're next going to vote on the question of approving the Emergency Management program strategic plan any questions about uh that just just just as a matter of course uh Mr chair that you know this is not a static plan this is not you know this is what we're going to do for the next five years we will be reviewing this plan and as we were able to meet some of these goals maybe uh they get they get shifted you know from FY 26 to 27 uh it's it's a it's a dynamic document but it's it's giving you what our our vision is at this point so you know it it's not static I just want to make sure everybody understands Berard we're giving you the authority to move forward with that Dynamic plan yeah so Bernard just to follow on my comment and again this is not a criticism at all um it's in the spirit of it's a d damic plan um it would I think it would be helpful to have uh some clarification or even specifics around this issue around Regional uh severity right so something something of the magnitude of we lose we lose clean water we lose the electric grid we lose access to transportation for food sources I mean these are the things that that should keep us really really Al because it affects you know thousands of people and the people that the very people that would help us and respond are also being affected as well similar to what happened with covid um you know it's that I'm not saying that that should be added right away but I do think adding a section or an objective or an activity that is a a periodic and regular coordination and check-in with you know Regional State uh actors and and and emergency folks to understand how we would work and collaboration with them that would be really helpful to have included in this sure yeah wouldn't that be in the draft wouldn't that be in the annexes that you're it it is to a certain extent and you know that's why it is so wholly important that we stay uh involved with the uh mbhs uh and our you know and at the EMD level with Mima and FEMA um the the plans that you're alluding to um Mr Warren is are are available at the federal level and Cheryl and I will uh research those and get those to the select board so that you know you you have an idea at least that you know it's not just me saying that that this is a priority for the federal government and the and the state government that you you see that that that background work uh for um in a lot of cases it's it's prevention right I mean it's it's what what is the federal government doing to prevent Bad actors from having access to those things that's Way Beyond us but it it goes it does go further down into response and mitigation okay CH did you have a no I just wanted to emphasize what the chief is saying here also what Bernard said about the hazard annexes which talk about the issues that we might face and the kind of interaction there but it is it's a point well taken we are and we are doing we are you know as the chief said we're not just part of these inter uh governmental conversations we're we're we're an integral player and I think that speaks again to you've talked about with Co you know we've we've learned a lot and we are viewed as a model with other communities so it's good to be part of that and um you mentioned the operational plan and that's a separate plan that we're going to deal with uh sometime in the future um is is that uh an update of an existing operational plan over that that's correct so um goal number one is to uh get the uh 2025 and it's in draft version and it's being uh reviewed right now by the emergency management team and the executive U uh fun uh the executive team of Emergency Management as well as the the entire emergency management team um we will go back and we'll address the issues that were brought up uh surrounding the wildlife issue and uh make sure that our annexes are are up updated to uh address whatever concerns we might and capabilities we might have there um but that is in the um in your objectives on page uh seven you'll see that fy2 is to finalize the 2025 version of the S plan um the the S plan uh is has been in the past about a 400 page document that lived in a 4inch 3inch or three-inch binder uh in the back of somebody's car or on a shelf somewhere um it is it has been remodeled by FEMA and Mima to be a much more streamlined um um document in and and more functional for the operational folks so that you can just go in and obviously that with digitization it's much more uh available to our um UniFi command posts and our incident commanders to be able to pull up an Annex and go directly to that Annex and see what uh you know what the what the next steps are so electricity yeah well we also we also have batteries so that's that's good so so the simp plan is the operational plan is that we it is okay it is the simp Library yeah that's what is on my on my desk in my office is the 1995 plan and to and to your point uh Paul is you know we specifically download the plan to the hard drive of the computer so that we're not relying on the Internet or Wi-Fi or um even in in this case electricity so that it it's available on the on the hard drives in our cars and uh in the patrol cars and um the supervisor cars anyway and where it needs to be okay okay yeah I think you understand okay move on um okay so I'd like to move uh the approval of the Emergency Management program strategic plan for 2025 to 2030 um all in favor please any questions about that no any further questions no all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak I Michael sanman hi Paul Warren hi David Perman hi and chair votes I thank you Chief and cherl thank you and we look forward to receiving the uh simp plan and reviewing that in great detail all right uh next Center Street Lots question of establishing and approving a charge for the Center Street Lots committee I see Meredith Mooney is at the podium so uh please uh present present uh what you have for us certainly and introduce the person behind you yes so that's actually my primary role this evening is to introduce tesler who's the newest member of The Economic Development Division he joined our team back in September really hit the ground running helping to support the Chesnut Hill um commercial area study as well as the economic development advisory board's ad hoc committee subcommittee to support um that study as well and uh shortly after joining our division Zach also received his certification his aicp certification certification as a planner so we're very lucky to have Zach and his talents and experience Zack is is going to be Staffing the Center Street Lots committee and managing the Center Street Lots study um and I'll turn it over to him to give a update on the project and answer any questions or issues that might come up in your discussion about the draft charge that we included this evening okay thank you all for your time this evening it's a pleasure tesler yes tesler te SLE RK um well thank you for your time this evening I have um I think a few updates and a kind of brief recap to um start us off so as you all are probably familiar um this work grows out of um one of the long-term Economic Development and long-term planning divisions arpa funed projects the first phase of which was the coolage corner parking and ceruse study which we currently wrapping up and then sort of as that project tamps down um phase two is going to be kind of coming off of the ground um so phase two being the Center Street Lots exploratory study um which has been funded by arpa in the amount of $225,000 um so some updates since marith was here last to discuss the project with you all um we finished Contracting with a really wonderful consultant team a few weeks ago which is being led by um spec Dempsey in consultation with um chant who was leading the coolage corner parking study um as well as Eisenberg projects on tactical urbanism and site activation um and we're here today to present a draft charge to you all which would Empower a select board appointed committee to study the lot and make recommendations regarding its future including by vote if appropriate um the committee will be chaired by select board member Mike sanman um and the application process we foresee hopefully opening later this month taking about 3 three and a half weeks um after which time we'll get the committee up and running um staff will um submit some recommendations um and we're happy to work with the select board on the application process um speaking for its timeline more broadly uh we're hoping this study will last just over or approximately one calendar year though the committee's work might extend beyond that point um in the hope of selecting either one preferred scenario for the future of the Center Street Lots or um possibly um working on further study of several um preferred scenarios um so with that um we're really excited about this project um we're excited to get the committee up and running and to be working uh with Mike on this project as we are in t Hill um and with that um I welcome your questions and any feedback you may have either on the project or on the committee that we're hoping you will appoint over the coming weeks great any questions from the board I think the charge is very well very well done and and clear and um it's going to be great uh Paul yeah I have a a couple first I have a comment then I have a couple of questions so first is we are specifically making this a public body it's a voting body it's reporting to the select board this committee correct it's not like the other the other one the other one that you're doing right which has raised a lot of concerns um a lot of concerns so uh that's great that it's public um can we talk a little bit about some of the scenarios that we what is the breath I mean is this A blank slate and this thing could be another 20 story hotel or are we talking about uh getting rid of a parking lot and turning into a park is it going to turn into housing I mean what are the scenarios that we're talking about and are we putting any boundaries on them well I think the charge s limits yeah I was going to say that's what the charges limits how far out of balance is gonna go and yeah but pretty I I don't think that that the that the committee is going to come back with a suggestion of a swimming pool with a hockey win above and parking below I mean that this is the Center Street lot has been a has uh I'm not sure when the Cent Street Lot was built but it's certainly in the 50s I think um and ever since then there has been there have been discussions about doing all sorts of things with it double decking it um U turning creating a sit a mechanism so that you could um support stores facing it as opposed to having the back of the stores that are on Harvard Street um and uh in the past it ran into neighborhood opposition the the neighborhood has changed uh and so maybe we won't see as much uh uh much of that but um it's pretty well as a as a practical matter there's so much attention to that that it's it's very unlikely to come back with something wild wild well and again well that's what I'm trying to understand I just I don't see and maybe I'm just not reading it well the town policy objectives on the um second page yeah plays out sort of the parameters of what they're going to do and I think I mean I'm impressed by the fact that they address all the issues that I think are really critically important uh in a piece of pro or site that large oh and I by the way I think it it's I I think it's worth saying that um the uh that this is put together by Zach and with and I know Meredith had a a look at it and I had a look at it but um uh this is the thought process of the staff member who's going to be uh well when I it's okay for me to finish my so so I gu I want to just explore this a little bit further around what um because I don't I don't necessarily know if how much constraint we should put on it so I mean can this area can this lot turn into mixed use uh commercial and housing would we do that it makes sense with this charge with this charge I think about what it is it's a parking lot right uh and so uh that we own yes we own we own the parking lot there's no question the um one of the constraints certainly is is that it's a very important component of providing parking right in in K's corner and without that parking I think the coolish corner commercial area would be in serious difficulty so at the very least you can assume that parking is has to remain is is s it I won't it's not quite sacran but it's it's but it would be a component of something of something other possibility that would be but anything else has to be uh in uh has to be done above it uh around it something of that sort David I'm sorry CH you no go ahead d i I read this similarly to Paul I'm not seeing any constraining language that says it absolutely has to be parking I think likely parking will be a significant component of whatever uh gets presented ultimately I'm personally fine with having that flexibility in the charge but the way it's currently written so for example toward the top of the second page last line the committee will identify and adopt a vision for the site and including desired uses and articulate further actions necessary to realize the vision which has been adopted that's pretty open-ended and that open-ended language appears multiple times in the charge there's mentioned somewhere else about potentially improving the tree canopy uh I personally think it's a good idea to have that kind of flexibility I certainly would want to see parking being a significant component but I'm not against the idea of exploring mixed use there and let's he what the community so this charge does allow for that right yes AB yeah because it's it has that openend but again I think we redirecting folks to the bottom of first page of the charge the town policy objectives mixed use housing isn't in there right the policy objectives that are being afforded being Advan there are multimodal accessibility community and public gathering space commercial area vibrancy connectivity for p pedestrian cyclists and motorists Green Space and urban canopy climate sustainability and resilience doesn't say mixed use in there so is that a possibility yes because the charge is open-ended enough that if that's the direction the community takes it in and those objectives are still met then maybe that would come up but I think to Mike's Point it would be difficult to imagine a situation where unless that's where the community takes it that's where it winds up well but okay okay I me I'm sorry it's said like this is a discussion this is a huge deal Bernard it's going to take some discussion so um because this I mean this is a tremendous opportunity for the town a tremendous potential opportun to do something with a very significant piece of land that the town owns um I don't know what all the all the options are I do think it's important that we retain parking because it's critical to the vibrancy of that area but there's also a great opportunity for maybe additional housing maybe additional senior housing maybe additional affordable housing so what's your objection to a fairly broad I don't I actually don't I want to I'm trying to understand does this enable a broad set of options okay right that's that's that's what it was unclear to me understood your concern okay that's what I'm asking I just want to add that under the town policy objectives there are uh Six Bullets and only one of them mentions parking so yes parking I think would be a significant component I would expect to see that but I I agree with Paul I like that this is going to be an open-ended charge and we'll hear from the community about what the community value is for that site okay any other questions before we vote do we need to add do we need to add a bullet that says specifically that uh consider uh potential housing options exactly your thoughts there um you know speaking on all of where your conversation is going I think we intentionally tried to leave this very open-ended to be a really community-driven visioning process um that being said we do have these Town policy objectives and certainly it is a wider Town objective to increase housing choice and affordability so um speaking as Zach I certainly don't have any problem with sticking that in um on the other hand I really defer to the community and um on the whole would be most comfortable with just seeing what the community has to say during the engagement process and I also do just want to clarify on the point of parking um that this study really did grow out of not only Decades of study as um the board has pointed out this evening regarding the Center Street lot but also um quite a thorough process that we've just been through with stantech to understand the parking and coolage corner and we've actually reallocated um $25,000 basically of funding that could have gone towards this round of the project towards um basically continuation of stant's work to understand more fully if there were to be any interventions regarding the Center Street Lot are we to double parking or take half of it away or take 10 spots away or whatever there would be some additional scenario planning that goes in before we even have this conversation to really get a better understanding of how the parking plays out if we start to reconfigure the Center Street lot so certainly parking will be top of Mind in this conversation um Paul yeah I'm sorry I'm GNA I'm going to stay on this for a little bit Bernard so this also coincides with the comprehensive plan right so this this specific new initiative um will be you're expecting to conclude when uh well um I'm expecting to conclude May 3d right but when's the when is this study supposed to be do we know when the study you're targeting to be done by March 31st 2026 2 we're targeting that the staff Le process will run approximately for this calendar year um with a little wiggle room I guess I um I would encourage some language or integration with what's coming out of the comprehensive plan because a comprehensive plan is also getting at priorities for the community longer term this is a longer term project that is consistent with what we're doing for the comprehensive plan I'm not saying kick it to the comprehensive plan but certainly um it should it should leverage and be integrated with the learnings from the comprehensive plan how how do we do that may I also just add so it is an arpa funded project yeah so we have the constraints of needing to spend those arpa dollars by a certain time we now have a contract with and I think you know we sort of anticipated that it's very likely that we could get to the end of the scope of work um and sort of laying out a set of options where it would take the community longer to decide on what the preferred option the direction would be so I I think we look at this as we're we're setting the table for what could potentially be a longer term conversation in terms of making a decision a commitment if we're going to go in a different direction with the Center Street lot yeah this is not inconsistent with the the comprehensive plan will be done by the end of this year so it's it's consistent right yeah uh Mike you have your hand up I'm just thinking that that uh that uh it it would be really as with chest Hill it'd be very sensible to have a formal Le and and you know member of this uh uh uh of this committee that either reports to the you know uh to the and is aware of what's going on in the comprehensive plan study study committee or vice versa so that you have some an open Channel yeah I do think the integration of that between the comprehensive planning process is really important I don't want I also don't want to be in a situation where again the comp PL vision is so much bigger so much more about the broad Strokes of what we want the community to look like and then there is this which is very focused on a specific area that needs to be informed by what the comp plan is is what is coming out of the comp plan so I think as it is develop as this process develops making sure that it is dialed into the comp planning process and is not ignoring what's coming out of that but is working in parallel with it is going to be critically important okay um anything else just still not convinced but it's okay I I'm just I'm I'm um I guess one um it go ahead I'm just I'm just I'm I'm going from the experience of what what's going on at Chestnut Hill right well and that's not going well Mike I'm not uh I'm not sure what your impression is of that experience uh but um uh the comprehensive plan so people talk in we talk about Brook line one of the and you know what the issues are in in Brookline that um it seems to me belong in a discussion of the comprehensive plan one is the changing demographics in the town how demographics have changed over the last 20 30 years and the extent to which we uh think that we can plan to um uh direct the direction of the uh the U demographics can we add Workforce housing uh can we uh uh you know if we can't what then then what um it's the uh the character of the community that is to be uh looked at considered shaped by uh hopefully shaped by what comes out of the comprehensive plan I think when you start to get into what to do with a particular uh parking lot or this is not um well it it should be you're I think you're you're trying to boil uh too much of the ocean no I'm not what I'm s and go I'll go back to my original comment about the comprehensive plan I think this this project should certainly understand yeah and be in communication integrated with what the comprehensive plan is learning about what the community's priorities are because there's very few pieces of property like this that we actually have control of right there's there's the there's other properties on Harvard Street that we don't have ownership up that are significant Lots but we actually have control of this space and I'm just saying that it should be the the potential options for the that space should include what we're hearing from the community from the thousands of people responses that we've gotten uh is to the priorities around Green Space Transit oriented housing affordable housing senior housing more options uh commercial development um th that's what I'm saying and what I'm strongly suggesting except that I mean whatever whatever comes out of this parking has to remain I agree with you the central I agree use of that property it's in the charge no okay I okay so okay I'd like to move on and um move to uh approve the uh charge for the Center Street Lots parking Center Street Lots committee uh on favor please indicate by staying I John vanak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren I'm going to obstain David Broman I your votes I thank you thank you for your time tonight okay thank you welcome aboard oh yeah welcome a board absolutely I um next 2025 annual town meeting setting the dates for the annual town meeting uh who do we have to present that is Melissa Melissa is on yes I'm here good evening sorry to keep you so long no worries no worries interesting discussion for for sure um you have in your packet a draft schedule for the 2025 annual town meeting um we've been talking about this with the moderator and I know the town clerk was away but I'm sure he won't mind that we are scheduling it uh a week later than um another option would be the 20th of May but we're currently uh looking at a town meeting date of May 27th which is a Tuesday um this means that if that is the date that you choose we would be opening the warrant on January 29th and closing it on February 26 we have a 90-day requirement now for the annual tab meeting um one thing to note in the draft schedule that's in your packet is that um the schools have reached out and expressed that they have commitments for the High School auditorium on May 29th which is Thursday so um that will no longer be available to us um which means that we would then um after exhausting the dates that are currently on the schedule we would um be looking at potentially if went six nights hopefully we won't need it um June 10th would be the additional night so looking tentatively at child meeting on the 27th 28th 3rd fourth 5ifth and possibly 10th if necessary um and so the draft schedule and happy to answer any of the questions you might have um also just to remind the board that um right now we are kind of preparing as if we um we know that there's a potential that the current legislation that allows us to hold uh hybrid Town meetings is still um set to expire in March and we don't have any other um legislative um proposals that would extend that um so at this point we're preparing as if um we may need an in-person meeting um but we're hopeful that there will be an extension of the current um legislation uh to allow for a hybrid option any questions with that uh with that uh amendment to what's in our packet um I'm Mo approval of the uh um annual town meeting uh dates including the opening of the warrant on January 29th and closing of the warrant on February 26th both Wednesdays yes I I just have one question and it's not because I'm opposed to this proposal but is there a reason why we're avoiding Mondays yeah tradition yeah it's just a long tradition that CH meeting has been starting on Tuesday so okay okay all in favor please indicate by saying I John vanak hi Michael sandon hi Paul Warren hi David Perman I chair votes I finally boards and commissions appointments naming committee Helen chopski of the school committee uh any um discussion or objection to appointing Helen shopski seeing none all in favor please indicate by saying I John Van skak hi Michael Sandman hi Paul Warren hi David Perman hi and Sher votes I and with that unless there are any public comments uh out there in the um audience uh I will close the meeting at five at 10 minutes until 8 excellent we did a great job to a record e e