##VIDEO ID:6LmyyBeWzb8## e e e e e e [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome chadam to the September 10 2024 meeting of the chadam select board please note this meeting is being recorded and will be available shortly Hereafter for scheduled and On Demand viewing in on any smartphone or tablet device if anyone else is recording the meeting please notify the chair I don't see any notifications here in the room I don't see any online so I'll proceed pursuant to Governor Healey's March 29 2023 signing of the acts of 2023 extending certain covid-19 measures adopted during the state of emergency suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law General Law chapter 30A section 20 until March 31 2025 this meeting of the chadam select board is being conducted in person and via remote participation every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings as provided for in the order a reminder that persons who would like to listen to this meeting while in progress may do so by calling the phone number 1 15894 54410 conference ID 203 386 491 pound sign or join the meeting online via Microsoft teams through the link in the posted agenda while this is a live broadcast and simal cast on chadam TV uh Xfinity channel 10 1072 despite our best efforts we may not be able to provide realtime access we will post a record of this meeting on the town's website as soon as possible and with that um our first order of business is to establish a quorum uh Mr Mets present Mr dykin pres Ms Davis pres uh Mr Shell is present and Mr necastro present um this evening we have um something of an elaborate uh agenda uh we have minutes of July 9 2024 we have uh public announcements and agenda requests we have a report from uh the director of Public Works uh regarding chadam Wells pasos and drinking water testing Etc uh we have uh two public hearings the first is the fiscal year 2025 tax classification hearing and the second is a traffic Traffic Safety Committee uh recommendation with respect to five um changes that are being recommended by the Traffic Safety Committee uh we will then go to public comments on the business agenda the business agenda consists of uh number one uh considering um a proposal to amend the town's budget and financial management policies uh number two a considering a request to remove the no parking signs in front of 513 Main Street uh number three considering acceptance of a memorial bench uh donation at the Old Mill uh Boatyard uh four is considering an outdoor display of goods and sales at 632 Main Street um five is considering acceptance of a tree donation at a tree of trees uh donated proposed to be donated at Veterans Field um six is considering acceptance of a donation of $50,000 to the tree production bylaw revolving fund and seven is considering acceptance of a donation of uh Road plates over the tide gate on the mor asyland Causeway um eight is I think that's the next one is um considering the a second reading of the electric vehicle public charging station policy and finally nine is we have um considering uh committee appointments for two committees the Conservation Commission uh and cultural councel and then finally we have an executive session um to discuss strategy with respect to litigation regarding 32 mil Hill Road and with that I will go back to inviting a motion on the minutes of July 9th so moved second uh any comments Mr necastro thank you Mr chairman I have three um the first is on page three and maybe you caught this Kathy the in the um uh last uh full paragraph um toward the bottom of the page the reference to uh the evaluation committee meeting on July 11 June 11th I think it's June 5th when that vote was actually taken um then on page seven I do have a sentence I wish to insert uh in the um at the end of the third full paragraph after the phrase was discussed I want to insert the following it was stated that a financial analysis should have been done comma and that Reliance on a rental model versus ownership for the Buckley property was a lost opportunity I'll read that back it was stated that a financial analysis should have been done and that Reliance on a rental model versus ownership for the Buckley property was a lost opportunity and the final um edit is on page nine but you may have caught this the third line the word negation I think is should be negotiation oh good catch thank you you didn't catch that any I didn't catch that no I did good for you thank you um I just have one um and and I did check the um the tape to confirm this on page 23 I know you have this Kathy um the vote on Mr Burling game indicates that I voted no um that's not right I voted yes any others with that we will take a vote Mr Mets I uh Mr dykens M Davis Hi Mr Shel say I hi Mr necastro hi um next public announcements and agenda requests any from the board no uh Mr Burman Greg Burman your director of Natural Resources I just wanted to follow up with a notice that was in the main sheet last Friday that we've actually had some decent progress with the removal of the trees or about to have progress with the removal of the trees out on the tidal Flats uh many of these trees were lost from Morris island due to erosion they've been causing you know hazards to navigation the town's done what they could to remove the worst ones all this time we've worked with the Refuge uh monoy uh uh National Wildlife Refuge and starting on the 12th there'll be a conversation to talk the plan through with the neighbors on Morris Island on the September 16th The Refuge will begin actual removal of the uh stumps and root balls that are on the tile Flats bringing them on to shore they'll be cutting them the next day on the 17th and then the 18th of September hopefully that will be the last day where they do all their chipping cutting and removal of that material off site uh DPW has agreed to help with some of that uh transport over to the transfer station but this has been something that we've been very much encouraging and looking forward to the Refuge you you know has been uh accepting of our uh immediacy but federal government doesn't always move as fast as we would want but that said they are planning to remove most if not all of the trees on those flats and then we do have a $10,000 uh partial mitigation for 97 to Lippi they were hoping to use to get the trees that are uh in deeper water or further offshore so we do have a plan in place to try to remove the immediate trees and then we'll be working with the Refuge in the offseason to look at Future U Seasons this is going to be something that we need to keep our eye on in the future thank you um any other public announcements or Andor agenda requests from the public I don't see any online do you Jill um more check no I do not so Mr failey Wells posos drinking water testing and pumping update good afternoon Rob failey director of Public Works I feel naked without a laptop up here so I apologize I just gave them the uh the report just before this meeting so uh hopefully they'll navigate for me so um just want to go through the temporary treatment at well 5 it continues in full operation for the summer um through the temporary GC filter and and we'll take it offline for the winter sometime around uh indigenous people's day uh the permanent treatment at uh facility for Wells 5 and8 um if we go to the pictures on the next Slide the 2-in thick Foundation slab was placed on August 15th that's the top picture and the bottom left picture over 60 concrete trucks and two pumper trucks poured over 650 cubic yards of concrete um concrete form workor and reinforcing steel continues to be installed in Pre preparation of the foundation wall concrete placement and that's the picture to the right shows the the slab placed and they'll do the walls in two separate pores if we jump to page three please um Wells 10 and 11 well 11 is online and um and functioning attributing up to 300,000 gallons per day we are still waiting for approval from the Secretary of Energy and environmental Affairs to activate wealth 10 we did consult with Town Council and until all uh conservation easements are in place we cannot pump water from that well so uh they uh expected to have a review of that conservation easement language sometime this fall is the best I can get from them so the chadam water pumping status uh for the month of August Wells have been pumping 13 to 18 hours per day storage tank hit lowlevel alarm 10 times this month um seems like a lot it's probably not too unusual for in August uh tend we tend to have drier weather in August but 10 is uh it's alarming um all sorry all the lowlevel alarms are still occurring on either a Monday a Wednesday or a Friday um water sampling uh 30 bacteria samples there were no bacteria and any of the samples that were sent to DP and P six samples were taken from well 5 and those were non-detect um other things just ongoing uh we started our hydrant painting um and um violia is working with us um we have a water service uh material data that's needed for the lead and copper database um we need to report that to D by the middle of October um so we we sent out a um kind of a survey for residents we had over 750 or so responses which is pretty pretty good so we're going to send out another survey at the next water billing cycle if we go to the next slide please uh pumping comparison August 2023 versus 2024 um increase of a little over 5 million gallons for the month or 6.8% uh if we remember though last year we had voluntary watering restrictions in place so that could be some of that difference uh yeah Mr dikin yeah just just a quick one Rob on August 25th 1.6 million G is pumped 100% above where we were last year any notion about that were we back flushing or anything or testing typically this time of year we're trying to just Supply the demand um I'm not sure what day of the week the 25th was I don't you it could have been like a Monday or Tuesday last year and maybe it was a a Saturday or something this year I'm not it just does jump out at you 100% increase it's that's a lot it is a lot I mean we do have a lot of daily fluctuations y um but yeah 100% does kind of jump out at you doesn't it I'm going to look at the date okay thank you you're welcome uh if we go to the next Slide the um the pumping comparison graph Sunday it's a Sunday the 25th is a Sunday yeah we are seeing uh for some reason higher usage on Sundays more than any other day um and I'm not sure if it's you know turnover day for rentals or it's typically Saturday yeah typically yeah so I'm I'm not really sure I don't I don't have a good explanation for that thank you um the pumping comparison chart um blue on the upper chart is August of 20123 pink is 2024 it just again just shows different way to show the daily fluctuations that we have and then down below it's the same thing in a bar chart blue is August 23 orange is August 24 on the next slide uh it shows really it shows well Wells 1 through 7even on the Le hand side of that chart are U very high performing they were running every day in August uh same with well number n um well 11 had a few fits and starts we're still working out some of the bugs there but it's still contributing quite a bit almost uh 5.7 million gallons for the month of August and then the pumping graph below it just shows the effort level of effort for each of those Wells for the month on the next slide um it's our 2024 year to date pumping um the third column in from the right is uh what we pumped so far this year at 336 million gallons last year's pumping was 349 million gallons so even though August was 5 million gallons higher we're still about 13.5 million gallons less than last year and then again the chart at the bottom is just the uh the level of effort year to date on the next slide um is the USGS observation well data um one thing that's concerning to me on here is you know as we've been talking throughout the summer it seemed like the we were climbing out of the drought pretty well um but you can see how steep that decline that seasonal decline line is to the right um it's really taking a steep dive this beautiful weather we're having we're paying a price for it because we're not getting a lot of rain to replenish the groundwater um so what we have to really watch is how far does that trough go uh in the fall before it starts to recover when we get some of that um that fall early winter rain that helps us uh reestablish that same thing for uh for Brewster down below very steep uh seasonal decline again um we're never out of the woods but hopefully we'll get some uh good steady rain to help replenish that and my final slide is just the 5-year pumping comparison um we're pretty close to average so 81 million gallons in August uh 406 hours of pumping um if we go back two years previous we've had water uh watering restrictions so um they may not be good years to go by but the two years previous to that uh August 20 and August 21 uh were down uh from from those levels of effort so that's all I have for you happy to answer any questions any questions thanks very much okay thank you report um so public hearings do we have a notice of public hearing for the uh tax classification I don't think we do we do not do we it's not required and that's noted in the staff report okay so um Ardell Kelly good evening we're here tonight um as we do every year annually after our values get set by the Department of Revenue to present to you the options for setting the tax rate according to Massachusetts General Law chapter 50 section 50 of the acts of 1982 and chapter 91 of the acts of 1983 the select board is annually charged with determining the allocation of local property taxes by the adoption of a residential Factor open space discount residential exemption and or adopting a small business exemption but before we get into the different options I just want to give you a brief glance of how the values have turned up um as you can see from your agenda packets that this year we have a 10.7 decrease compared to last year so our values are only going up by 6.3% on an average so we're starting to see um values are still going up don't get me wrong I'd like to say they weren't but they're not going up at the pace that they were also we have a tenative now that our um values have been approved a tenative tax rate of 3.47 which is a 10% decrease from last year our Dale I'm sorry 10 cent 10 cents okay sorry 10 cents um now our value percentages as far as our classes have not really changed we're still sitting there at 94% for our residential and with the CIP commercial industrial and personal property we're at five just a little over 5.5 so off we go to the different options so your first decision is to vote a residential factor of one so that each class maintains 100% of its value tax share and the shift of the tax burden from residential and open space or shifted to commercial industrial and personal property on the matter of open space the town of chadam um does not have anything designated as open space actually there's one Community out of the 351 that do have a classification over space and that's Bedford on the matter of the residential exemption the residential exemption grants an exemption up to recently there's been a change to 50% of the average residential property value for all residential property owners who are here year round the burden basically shifts within the residential class with the yearound residents having a lower rate and the seasonal and higher-end homes um rate would be increased there's also the small commercial residential with the result of legislation in 1994 this exemption allows the select board to exempt up to 10% of the assessed value of commercial properties that are assessed less than a million and occupied by businesses with less than 10 employees now the problem the weakness of the small business EX extion is the fact that it does not benefit um the small business owner it benefits the landlord now the board of assessors met on August 27th 2024 and they have voted to move that the town of chattam continue to tax all classes at the same rate by adopting a factor of one and to reject the residential exemption and the small commercial exemption do you have any questions uh Dean go ahead thank you Mr chairman Dale I I think the the assessor vote was on uh September 5th you said7 um I just wanted to ask with respect to the residential exemption um just for the benefit of the public I you mentioned uh at that meeting um the break even point or the Tipping Point we're the break even and the Tipping Point is 3,750 th000 and we currently have 155 properties with a chadam zip code that would be affected those would be chadam taxpayers chadam residents year round residents that could be affected by 155 and how does that 3.75 million compared to um the prior this past year um this past year I don't have that figure in front of me I'm sorry it was something under two 2 million yeah yes it was yeah okay thank you so if I could just follow up I know Jeff has a question but I just on this subject the the 3.75 number that you just quoted is that with a 35% exemption no that's the the break even Point all across the board whether it was 10% it oh it doesn't matter okay okay thank you yeah I just had a question on the residential exemption give us examples Adele I just had a couple questions on the residential exemption you gave us in our package some examples of if at at a 10% level then at a 35% level and did I hear you just say we could go to a 50% level correct and I didn't know in time to put that in the packet but I have done the sheets out so just give me one moment no problem I I just would you know and I can tell you yeah what the tax rates will be for that yeah that'd be great and the and the the savings to a residential year round taxpayer at the 10% level is is is fairly di Minimus at $334 if I read your your detail correctly but at the 35% level it gets to be more material if you will at one one you know 1,200 call it $1,300 I just wonder what that number is for the 50% level $2,929 at 50% so that gets to be and the tax rate would go to $439 for the overall tax rate for the for the okay then another questional one other question on the uh personal property taxes how many how many do we actually assess peral how many residents or non-residents I should say do we assess a personal property tax and how how much money do we do we bring in the money that we bring in I'm not really quite sure um as far as how many people we currently tax it's about 4,280 people accounts I should say okay out of 70 how many 7,44 yeah so would you say 4,000 out of 7,000 okay mhm and we also have the personal property exemption so your your dwelling um it's based on your building value so you would have to have a building value of 500,000 or more before you even got a personal property tax you still might be a secondary homeowner you know it's but you will not get a personal property bill so who does get a personal property bill then anyone with the value of a building that's 500,000 or more or in a condominium the value would be a million or more and you're nonr res and pardon me nonr that's an important Point yeah y but it also am I wrong that it it also applies to um non to to corporate ownership that and to businesses as well yes yeah okay thank you goad can I just ask a follow so how do we know how many properties are actually paying a personal property tax yes that's what I was saying the 4,000 y people that excludes people that are Exempted because of the value of their their house um pardon me that excludes the people that are Exempted because of the value of the house so 4,000 people but we also had to take off you can't um we can't just assume that because in the residential class on the 7,44 you also have vacant pieces of land that we wouldn't be including obviously for the residential exemption that's why you see see on the charts that I gave you for the 10 and the 35 in there the eligibility might be a little bit different than the actual count okay thank you yeah go ahead please and I I forget and I apologize but what other towns in the cape have passed a residential exemption the other towns on the cape that have passed a residenti is provinc Town Wellfleet Truro and barnable um now those towns I just spoke with those towns this morning and their splits um the lowest they go is 65% um and the highest they go is obviously in anake at 8020 and provinc town at 79% for seasonal NE Tucket had it for a while they've had it from the very beginning in 1998 and Ptown just off the top of your head do you any idea when they passed it I want to say it was like five six years ago now when you referenc the 8020 and and nck what did that mean 80% are seasonal 20% are year round yeah and well fleet was the lowest in that they had 65% you know to 35 and we are and we are we're sitting there now at um let me just go back I should know it at uh 58% seasonal and 42% okay as year round and that's our best estimate yeah you know we try doing our certification to send out our forms for people to fill out that they're required to do under personal property for their contents so we could have a really try to get a stronger base of where we stood but as the Department of Revenue will tell you that's that's the hardest thing to predict is how many people will actually apply if I might as well sorry but and the board of assessors Mr Burke is here has no appetite whatsoever to to mess with the residential exemption no appetite who the board of assessors the board of assessors no no no not at this moment in time Nick Brown and Mr bur correct so I yeah I just want s please no I was just going to say um Now with uh the the governor putting out you know over 49 different policies to help out with affordable to there'll be a lot more options out there besides the residential exemption so something to keep in mind moving forward do go okay I I just wanted to follow up on on on Jeff's questions the 58% today that that does if you if you know fluctuates it does fluctuate but it has come down a little bit in the last few years when I first started um over nine years ago um it was always 6040 I saw from notes from prior assessors okay it kind of maintained that and then after the pandemic it kind of dropped and we're seeing actually more and more people moving into town yep so it'll be interesting to see how if that Trend continues or if it'll stop yeah okay go ahead I was just going to suggest Mr chairman even though there was no public notice it is a public hearing and we might want to invite no good point um any comments from or questions or otherwise uh desire to say anything in the public I don't see anybody in the room um and I don't see any hands up online do you Jill don't okay I think we're good thank you do we want to hear a motion go ahead Mr chairman I move that the town of chadam continue to tax all classes at the same rate by adopting a factor of one and to reject the residential exemption and the small commercial exemption do I hear a second second um uh all those in favor uh Mr Nic Castro I Mr Shell says I miss Davis hi uh Mr uh dykin hi and Mr matters hi thank you I just have one brief Point um I just want to remind you all to sign the la5 um and as well I wanted to let you know that the excess Levy capacity this year is 3,562 29515 and that was in your packet but I just wanted to remind you thank you very much ell do we have to sign that manually or can that be signed electronically it can be signed electronically do we have to take a vote to approve that do you no okay is what it is thank you thanks very much yeah um can we have a reading of the public notice hearing yep uh town of chadam Select board public hearing the select chadam select board will hold a public hearing on Tuesday September 10th 2024 5:30 p.m. in the large meeting room at the Town Office Annex 261 George Ryder Road to consider the following thickly settled speed advisory sign installation one sign at Barnhill Road after the intersection of Harding speech Road two signs with 30 m hour Rider signs on cross street placed at the discretion of the Department of Public Works two new stop signs at the intersection of Cedar Street and Battlefield Road establish a No Parking Zone on the west side of shatak place from cross street to the parking lot at the rear of Chase Park installation of radar advisory speed signs two radar advisory speed signs on Old queenan Road in the area of Winterset Drive placed at the discretion of the Department of Public Works these signs are standard size and style and recommend recommended by the board to the board by the Traffic Safety Committee all interested parties are encouraged to participate in person or remotely via the link in the posted agenda sign the select board thank you um I guess the protocol is to invite comment from the public for I'm sorry you have Joan forgive me yes Joan thank you Joan Craig the chair of the Traffic Safety Committee uh I want to thank lie uh former Lieutenant Andy Gard for presenting this in on paper format prior to his retirement as mentioned we met on July 25th to consider these proposals um we recommended the thickly settled advisory on barn hill between Harding's Beach and Hunter one of the reasons is there's a lot more traffic there with a lot of the new buildings there and also with the um boers going down and traffic is heavier um currently there is one sign on Barn Hill Road near the beginning of um by the uh forier excavation property and our committee feels that a second sign is necessary for this area I don't know if you want to take these separately or can we I'm separate yeah I think that's a good idea think anybody wants to speak yep no no well I think we have to offer the public an opportunity to comment if there if there are any comments so then I'll take a motion so moved with respect to the the first the this the first one yes Harding spe that the standard thickly settled advisory sign on BR Hill Road after the intersection of Hardings Beach and okay thank thank you second okay all those in favor Mr Mets I uh Mr dik uh Miss Davis Mr Shell says I Mr necastro I next case the next item and you'll see um on the screen Cedar Street and Battlefield the committee recommends the installation of two new stop signs at the intersection of Cedar Street and battle Battlefield this would make the intersection which includes stage Neck Road a three-way Allway stop intersection as there is currently a stop sign on stage Neck Road we also recommend that the crosswalk on Cedar Street be repainted refreshed to improve visibility the committee considers a request for the installation of speed bumps on Ceda Street and took no action on this request um any comment from the public I will I'll just say I'm I'm very familiar oh I'm sorry yeah go ahead put speed I think that that that was withdrawn no we took no action on that right I I was just going to comment I'm very familiar with that I think that's an excellent idea um particularly coming um I guess it's really um North uh on Battlefield around on De Cedar is just completely blind um and and particularly if you're trying to go on to uh stage neck that that is an accident looking for a place to happen so I'll take a motion moved second all those in favor uh Mr Mets hi Mr Dyk Miss Davis Mr Shell says I Mr necastro I next case uh next is cross street the committee reviewed a request from residents on cross street I'm sorry Joan I'm sorry moment cross street or shatak place Crosset well cross and shatak is that right cross street is next shadic is separate okay oh I'm sorry go ahead the committee reviewed a requests from residents on cross street for the installation of speed bumps after discussion the committee has approved a recommendation for the installation of two thickly settled speed advisory signs with a 30 m hour Rider sign on cross street signs on cross street the specific location of the signs is recommended to be at the discretion of the DPW in accordance with applicable regulations and policies and I know you also received information from some residents in that area so I just have a question here um this is on the agenda but it's not in the notice does that matter thickly settled signs do not require a public um hearing technically I included them all initially um as a PR caution because of how uh Lieutenant Goddard submitted this report so if that one is not on there it does not impact the public hearing the stop signs really and the parking zone are the two that definitely needed to be listed so you're okay to okay all right I'm sorry um in the back um um my name is Lua Quinn I live at 186 cross street um have been there since 20 02 and full-time since uh 2021 um I want to thank the Traffic Safety Committee for taking the petition of our neighbors um regarding the speeds that are traveled on cross street and my neighbors uh many of whom are here and signed the petition as well um and thank you for your recommendation we did want to make um two additional comments um if not for um Amendment tonight for consideration um we are a very heavily trafficked Street all year round like several other streets that I'm going to mention stepping stone being one Sam Rider being another um we are also a a shortcut um for people coming down stage Harbor and up stage Harbor and I would remind everyone that there is exactly one speed sign on all of stage Harbor and it is at the intersection of Bridge Street and Stage Harbor so by the time people are traveling down stage Harbor and whipping around the corner onto cross street um they are going at excessive speeds and I'm sure the enr's who are here tonight and live at that corner can tell you about the screeching tires um also coming from town people tend to accelerate after they get past uh Chase Park and you did hear us about that we just wanted to point out that in addition to being a shortcut cut all year round um for school buses for Town trucks for construction um for landscaping in addition to Passenger cars for at least 6 months of the year we are heavily trafficked with baby carriages bicycles dog walkers um on a very narrow sidewalk and a fairly Narrow Street so the only thing I wanted to point out in addition to what you have recommended um is that if you go to Sam Ryder as an example the speed limit there is 25 M an hour I don't think anybody travels that but it is 25 M an hour and it is posted if you go to Stepping Stone where there is a thickly settled 30 m hour there is also a radar um alert system so people can see what they're traveling as there is now on Cedar Street we as a neighborhood um in the future would love to have considered um not just a thickly settled sign but a lower speed limit than 30 m an hour um and would recommend um adding the radar so that people have an understanding of exactly how fast they have accelerated on that street um so that's uh my public comment uh many of my neighbors are here if they have anything they'd like to add I'm appreciate that that's it thanks Joe you thank you any other public comments um yeah go ahead Brian thank you um Brian Phillips 374 Orleans Road what I want to say is all these signs are uh kind of eye pollution and uh they're not really effective they're not going to stop people from speeding uh if you want to stop people from speeding you should probably set up a speed trap or if you see frequent Speeders write down their license plate and they're making model and reported the Chad police and they give him a speeding ticket thanks thank you um Miss Gibbs uh yes thank you elain Gibbs I live at 152 cross street and I'm very pleased that this has come up I did not sign the petition I didn't know about it I would Echo what the previous speaker had said uh we in addition to the commercial vehicles and local traffic uh and tourists we also have a lot of Walkers bikers and Runners because of part of the loop and sometimes they're riding in the road they're walking in the road they don't use the sidewalk uh it's actually like being in a video game and it's very dangerous and I had two recommendations um I I really think that uh cross street is actually like two separate roads you have it from Main Street to shat and then you have it from stage Harbor Road to shatak because of the curve and people gain trem tremendous speed uh I have seen people going 45 50 m an hour I had an an incident myself where I had my blinker on to make a left into my driveway and I started to turn and the car behind me from out of town he was from New Jersey passed me on the left in oncoming traffic and uh if I had turned one second earlier I would have been hit broadside at my door and uh it it would have been really serious ious uh I would hope that we could go do four signs in other words have two one on each you know going in each Direction on the the first section coming from Main Street and then two on uh the part coming from stage Harbor because otherwise people aren't going to know it and I would absolutely agree 30 miles an hour is way too high if you post it for that and people are driving 30 it's going to be really dangerous so I would hope it could be 15 to 20 and then we have maybe four signs instead of two signs it's a very dangerous road it is I can't tell you how much traffic they're all trying to avoid the rotary so they they use uh cross street and it's heavily traveled all year long but particularly in the summer and there's a lot of pedestrians bikers and um uh Runners so uh thank you very much thank you anyone else from the public any comments from the board Jeff yeah it's a really busy road um Street I should say it's a it's a it's kind of the back way out of downtown as well so I find myself using it all the time and I would support um what you recommended this evening I also support the use of the the speed limit radar that says you know hey your speed limit's 25 but you're going 40 uh old comers I've noticed is very effective there you come up the hill at Old comers and boom Oh I'm going too fast so I find those very effective I don't know which end you put it on um whether it's the the highs speed end towards stage Harbor or not um but I support all your recommendations if folks want 25 miles an hour that's fine certainly with me I would recommend that and I'm pleased that it didn't go with speed bumps I I speed bumps I don't I don't they're just I don't want I don't really want speed bumps all around town I really don't um they're nettlesome they're you have baby carriages you have people on motorcycles and bicycles and and you know it's just just a kind of another imped but anyway I think hopefully we can do this without speed bumps is what I'm saying thanks Sergeant Mone please good evening Lou Malzone uh Deputy Chief of Police um just to provide some information there's been uh some talk lately about the the radar sign that was on CA Street uh it was also on um stepping stones last week the department has two new pieces of equipment one is a digital readout sign that we can move from place to place the other one is a box that we can mount that doesn't have a digital readout which lets us get data from those roadways on you know traffic time of day volume of traffic so we are testing those using those that's why you saw one on Cedar Street last week Stepping Stones this week and there is actually one um on Cross stre right now so I just wanted to clarify it is it doesn't have a digital readout but it's giving us data on speeds and volumes and we'll be able to provide that data you don't want to unfortunately I have to ask the people in the audience if you want to comment you you're going to have to go up and make a use a microphone uh correct me if I'm wrong um we're not telling you where specifically for that reason so be before you go away I I just want to say I have I I Drive Cedar all the time that's my way home and back um and I thought the uh that digital readout was very effective I I mean not only for my myself but but I observed um other other drivers um you know really being affected by it and I don't know how difficult it is to come by those I don't know how expensive they are but they do have a really positive impact on traffic I think that's been my experience they do in the and and again we're that's a new unit for us uh we're testing it uh Ceda Street was one of the first places we had it you know the the reports that it provides you are you know have great information on it breaks down you know we had it up there for 10 days so it breaks down by the hour you know how many cars you know the outliers of speed the average speed the 85th centile which was right around 30 which the speed limit is so the the information is great and that's that's information that we'll be able to provide um we are testing those pieces of equipment um but I but I agree and that's the feedback we got that residents on Cedar Street said the placement of that sign seemed to slow people down I think it did I miss it we'd like to get more yeah yeah Dean yeah thank you Mr chairman chief U few years ago um when the subject of uh sidewalks on stage Harbor Road was being considered uh I had a conversation with both um the former Chief and the former deputy chief uh about the speed limit on stage Harbor Road so it's still 30 mil an hour it's still thickly settled 30 mil hour what does it take to reduce it to 25 just a vote of the board of select the select board it's uh make a notific to mass theot the town accepting um I believe it's chapter 90 section 17 c um there's three steps those are the first two um and then the signage and the same thing would be true for cross street and would same thing would be true and I know the town can adopt to do it on a street by Street basis or townwide in thickly settled areas which there's quite a few towns in the cape that have done that yeah um thank you I I I share what Mr dykin said about speed bumps I really don't support them and I um I don't think we really want to get into I from my perspective I don't think we really want to get into that uh in the town of chattam if we can avoid them I think there are other Solutions thank you okay did yeah go ahead sir while he's coming up I will say that our our committee has talked about in the past the fact that some towns have implemented the 25 M hour speed limit in some uh thickly settled areas throughout the town we have not brought it up but might be something to consider sir uh Frederick Nolton a 59 shat place I just want to say that I you know every day drive along cross street and have not in fact observed the speeds described although um if other people have observed them so be it I would like to uh second the comments of a previous speaker that be beond a certain point uh signs you know do become visual pollution and also you know beyond a certain point uh obstacles in themselves uh on sidewalks into bicyclist but so one might hope that the positioning is you know clever and takes account of that if one has to multiply signs thank you thank you okay any other comments take a motion I move to approve and I would move a 25 M hour if we could make that part of the motion as well on cross street can we do that I don't know if you can do that tonight for your motion but if you want to vote the the 30 m an hour and then uh direct me to investigate the process for reducing it further it might require a public hearing although that's kind of what I'm I'm fine that's fine and but but and the 30 Ross Street is already 30 is it not yes s 30 yeah I think that so but um maybe let's start got an agenda request to um put that on the agenda to discuss reducing cross street uh or maybe a public hearing to that effect or all streets that are noted as thickly settled that that yes yes that well that's yeah yes sir so would we want to bring that to the board or as Joanne mentioned the Traffic Safety Committee was thinking of maybe a future agenda for them would it be more prudent for them to weigh in on a recommendation of a townwide scenario I mean I I think that that does make and we also need to factor in what um officer Malone told us wut Chief Malzone told us about the the process with the state um so that has to be factored in so maybe that is an appropriate thing to refer to the Traffic Safety Committee in the first instance so you'll take the motion as it is and then refer the this new part back to us and ask you if you would take that up promptly sure yes so done moved okay so moved second thank you um for the record the motion was Mr dykens second was Mr necastro all those in favor Mr matters I uh Mr Dyk M Davis I Mr Shell says I Mr nicastro I okay Dean Mr chairman I'm going to recuse myself from the next item involving shadic place and my property is directly affected thank you I'm going to leave the room okay so the next item is shadic place the committee reviewed a request from a resident on shadic Place requesting the establishment of a No Parking Zone to allow them to exit their driveway during peak times the request detailed how vehicles have been parking on shadik place and the placement of these vehicles prevents residents from easily and safely AC access access assing and exiting their driveway after discussion the committee recommends the establishment of a No Parking Zone on the west side of shatak place from cross street to the parking lot at the rear of Chase Park parking would still be allowed on the east side of shatak place shadic place is a narrow roadway which does not allow room for parking on both sides while still maintaining emergency vehicle access for the remainder of the roadway the rear of Chase Park and the private roads extending beyond the parking lot this recommendation maintains the ability to park but offers control to maintain access thank you comments from the public yes ma'am I'm Harriet Prout I'm at nine shadic place even though I'm Number Nine I'm the first house on shadic Pace on the left on the westand side of shadic place I'm a full-time resident I've owned my home home there since 1995 I've been there full-time since 2015 I have a concern it there's it seems to be that we're taking this action just for one driveway which is across the street from Rise Colman and uh Allison Coleman's home it's been under construction for probably this is the second year and there has been many trucks and and parking there that has been very difficult I'm sure for this resident and I would just like to to maybe work more with the neighbors in the area to see if there can be a resolution to this instead of having no parking on the entire Street on the east side and so also I think if you put a a a a it's the west side it's the west west I'm sorry West Side so the west side is going to be no parking so they would park on the east side that would okay so um the the the sign is going to say only parking on the west side no it will say no parking on the west side no parking on the west side so I think that would almost be an invitation for people to park on the other side of the street the east side where no one really tends to park anyway it's all only the landscapers and so forth um the the I I live there with almost there no there isn't anyone else there in the winter it's it's um me and it's Joan sprag is on cross street and I think there's Don is on K Ken place other than that there isn't anyone there in the winter and we have many bus busy times in the winter here in chadam we have the uh October Fest we have um the stroll in December we have first night and I think this is going to be an attraction for people to park where they don't normally park there now and um I would like to see it more in a in a in a more Focus to this individual driveway than to have it on the entire Street um thank you very much for your time thank you uh yes sir well while he's coming up for those of us who are directionally challenged challeng like me um if you're driving on shat off of cross toward um the park we're we're talking the west side is the right hand side is that right okay thank you uh Frederick Nolton of 59 shat place again I have a driveway obviously letting on to shatak place if uh this proposal is indeed triggered by one construction site uh it does seem a you know serious overreaction uh to you know apply a No Parking Zone to that entire side of the street on the west side of shatak place there are in a row three very small properties on you know handkerchief siiz you know plots of land which have just barely the space to get one car off of the road and in any second car who which might want to you know be there temporarily or any house guest they have would be bor by such a policy um it seems you know altogether too interventionist and uh indeed as the previous speaker mentioned uh you know the bigger encumbrance is in fact uh the landscapers trucks that park on the other side of the road and there seems to be uh no proposal to uh you know rule them out so I cannot really see the purpose of uh a blanket prohibition like this which would be a you know considerable hardship to at least three of those houses thank you thank you um yes ma'am I'm Tina me I live at 17 shatak place which is on the east side and I think all we're doing with this proposal is moving traffic from the west side to the east side and I would ask that the traffic committee look at the congestion especially at the intersection of shatak place and cross because those cols whip around and whether you're parked on the west side or the East Side attention is still need needed to be given to that entire street so I agree that this proposal is needs more study and more thought given to it so thank you thank you anyone else um the board um no I appreciate the the neighbors speaking up and and and raising some concerns because that's exactly what the public hearing process is about um and and based on you know the input I've seen from the residents so far I'm I'm not ready to act on this so um we willing to let it be reviewed further discussed and analyzed um but I'm not going to move it tonight um Shar um I agree with Corey it's clear that the neighbors have um expressed their concerns and what they feel would be the results of of this decision and perhaps we need to take a better look at um as mentioned the beginning of the of the of shadic places as what the issues are there Jeff you hear the public uh the neighbors loud and clear and um likely to agree with uh prior speakers here quick question are there times when there's parking on both sides of the street and emergency vehicles would have a difficult time getting to the back of Chase Park and or the windmill area it was brought to our attention because of overflow parking from the park and also overflow parking in all areas in the downtown area especially during the summertime and so that's why the concerns were brought to our attention and we felt that parking on one side versus both sides would be appropriate thank you yep I understand so yeah I'm inclined to go along with my colleagues here I I would like to ask um Joan if if you had substantial input from the immediate the immediately affected Neighbors in in the deliberation process at your committee uh it came to our attention from an individual whose driveway he could not get out of um and and again it was specifically because of the problem with the construction I will say that I went down again to day to see and as you go in from Cross there was no problem but down from that construction site there were two very large Appliance trucks on that right side so that if there was parking on the left and the right there would definitely have been a roadblock um so yes and that was the sort of the thinking that that generated the decision to uh ban parking all away from from uh cross street to to Chase Park that's correct the gentleman had pictures at our meeting and um there was no way anyone could have gotten out of his driveway because of some of the traffic and the traffic committee as you know we've been before you before and we'll be before you very soon again uh traffic spreading from downtown into the side streets is enormous and um and a concern and that's why we brought it to your attention yeah well appreciate it I I I guess I I would just say I'm I'm of a similar mind here that we pass on this and hopefully in your deliberations you can um get um comprehensive input from all of the residents of of shatak place so that you know if as and when you come back um that's that's incorporated into whatever decision you bring back so you'll send it back to the committee so yes yes thank you um um I don't think we need a motion for that purpose do we um so um next item is uh the institution uh old Queen an Road and the area of Winterset the committee reviewed a requests for Speed reduction measures on Old queenanne Road in the area spanning from Skyline Drive to Stepping Stones the committee reviewed this request and heard information from DPW in the chadam police department regarding current conditions and speed enforcement the area is properly signed as thickly settled and speed enforcement is conducted regularly the committee feels that this area requires additional measures to help reduce speeds the committee recommends the installation of two Radar Radar advisory speed signs on Old queenan Road in the area of Winterset drive at the discretion of the DPW the committee feels that this area of roadway is heavily traveled in a residential area with a sidewalk on one inside and needs additional resources Beyond standard signage and I might add I think at our last meeting with you um we've seen pickup of traffic in that area because of especially um trucks and delivery vehicles bypassing the um the road um circles on Route 28 and going in this route instead and so there has been quite a bit of heavy traffic there thank you okay anything from the public the board sounds like a good idea to me okay y so moved second all those in favor Mr nicastro Mr Shell says I Miss Davis I Mr dykens and Mr meters I thank you thank you thank you very much very comprehensive um public comments on the business agenda uh Miss Gibbs uh thank you very much yes I'd like to comment on 6a and I that was made by Mr nastro I believe if I understand it correctly it's regarding the situation that we have with the Council on Aging and currently with Waterfront projects where uh the Warren articles failed at town meeting but the ballot question passed and so a special town meeting can be called to do for a doover uh I I think that that is a really bad precedent for us to set I know that people were very disturbed when the Council on Aging kept coming back and that happened and it failed by a larger margin I think it really diminishes uh the intent of having town meeting and when the voters speak uh they assume that they should be able to assume that that issue is um not going to come back uh within 30 60 days uh a lot of people are going to be out on away on September 16th after the summer and um it's also possible because you can vote on a ballot question early or absentee uh if you can't make it to town meeting uh I think that some people because they couldn't go to town meeting would have probably changed the vote on the ballot question had they listened to the discussion at town meeting so I am in support of moving forward I think it sort of adds insult to injury when we call a special town meeting with one warant article and it's going to cost the taxpayers $23,000 to carry it out uh for something that they thought they had put to rest temporarily and so that's my comment there and uh I had some comments on the electric vehicle policy uh I think you're going to be revisiting that again in the fall after the cape C Commission because I do think that report on parking and this should be handled in concert but two things that I noticed in it if I read it correctly is uh I there there's no procedure I saw in terms of implementation and I was wondering if when you discuss it you could just address whether or not since EVS uh charging stations can be put on any public Pro Town owned property you know we're talking all the beach parking lots all the town Downtown parking lots uh all the parks um and so I'm wondering is that going to be made by staff or will they have to come back to the select board to say we want to put you know three three charging stations at oyster Pond so that the public can weigh in on that um so hopefully that would be the case and just the second question is uh in terms of enforcement it said if a you know if a an EV or non is parked near a charging station blocking its use there would be enforcement but I just wondered if there's also enforcement if somebody plugs in their car and then leaves for five hours is there a way to know when it was plugged in and when it was charged uh because that would mean a lot of Manpower in terms of going around marking tires saying oh this car has been here five or six hours uh because some people might just consider that the cost of you know staying in chadam uh if they leave their cars and it kind of defeats the purpose of the charging stations so that's all I have thank you very much thank you um yeah Miss timson good evening and thank you for letting me speak I'm I have been talking to a lot of people and I'm sorry I I addressed You by name but I think you need identify yourself and tson Chad I've talked to many many people and regardless of how they feel about what we're going to vote on at the special town meeting they truly oppose the idea that this town this board not all of you but some are starting to create what I call a legal precedent and there's nothing better than presedent when you're trying to change laws and it's time this stopped it's time that all the people who make a super effort to come to May Town meetings and they have traditionally for years and years and years and it means eliminating all kinds of things on their schedule to be there and they're there because of the kind of government that we're supposed to have in this town where we elect you and you respect our vote and I don't think I need to say much more except that everyone I've talked to endorses Dean's concept and it's darn sad that it can't go on the special town meeting because it's an important issue and thank you Dean for bringing it up thanks thank you you anyone else uh yes sir hi Andy Baylor I'm the owner of blue Fin's Sushi downtown Main Street this is in regards to the removal of the no parking signs at 513 Main Street um I know it's not my property um but it does serve as a uh traffic uh prevention system by having three spaces that do prevent a lot of cars from blocking the main street if they're taking pickup take out dropping off people for different things etc etc the spaces that are there now and like I said I am very happy they're there if they're gone they're gone but I want you to think about this conversation of all the traffic problems the traffic problem is on Main Street if you have we we average 40 cars a night coming in and picking up and taking out so they pull in they're there for five minutes they take off but that's 40 cars they're going to have to park somewhere and if it's not them who's pulling in it's the resorts pulling in to drop people off it's people coming in town to drop or pick up so it serves as not creating a backup and as you were saying and hearing from people throughout Town everybody's parking farther and farther and farther into these other roads your decision is your decision I'm fine with it I just want you to know I personally myself observing it I see a better flow through downtown because you know when someone stops and blocks that road that traffic continues to go to that rotary and father Past cumbin Farms and it just becomes a bottleneck so you're not just saving you know three spaces for say three cars to park two or three times in a night that's up to six to9 cars you got 40 cars parking at that period of time so it's just a thought on traffic and I know maybe there's some pressure that it they that shouldn't be there it's really not fair that's up to you completely I'll abide with whatever you want I'm just feeling that it's been successful I know it started during Co but it's been a successful method to keep Main Street open and uh any any questions you have I'm happy to answer well I actually do have a question um and I I know what you're talking about I you haven't exaggerated the situation at all it's it that's a correct assessment of what what what goes on there uh my question is uh could you not do that carry out process in the back in the parking lot that parking lot is a really difficult place to do we don't really know how we would we would get that accomplished only because of the narrow aspect of going through Kent Place and back through the Squire and back out be behind the bookstore um in order to accomplish that you're going to have three cars sticking out um and I just don't know if you're going to have I just don't know if you can do it we can do we can try anything well I I I'm not suggesting it I'm just asking as opposed to the bottleneck on Main Street um having three four cars lined up there behind um your your your um facility and and the others that are adjacent to you right I I I don't know whether that makes any sense or not I'm just asking the question sure you can you can move the traffic to another place it's it's correct if it's five minutes or whatever is you you're just creating another it's but it will create more traffic in the back versus the front the front it's in and out in the back it's you have to be able to pull back out people have to get through um but it just depends on how people Park and it's it's very narrow and it's I mean I'm directing traffic in the back all night long I have to come out I have to have people move cars you can't be there people can't come through we have to set cones up on my staff parking because they're always getting hit by bigger vehicles because there's very little room between the uh the sign shop when people park there the ice cream store and our place um so it's just a that's a I mean I don't know you know how busy it is but again I do that's completely up to you guys okay Jeff yeah um I totally get it um get what you're saying Andy uh have ever ever thought of uh a delivery service you're getting that many takeout uh that much takeout demand any kind of door Dash thing uh you know you order we deliver I mean you know it's got to be a fairly liqu party of business I'm going to give you my stock answer to that go ahead who wants to buy high quality Sushi that's been thrown in a door Dash vehicle delivered down who knows where it's well I'm thinking it's more local than not I don't folks for me I just I can't see it it we can't see how it's going to get there with the quality that's why we never did that delivery service would we do a delivery service yeah yeah I'm asking that we we don't have enough manpower sometimes to operate so that's the hard part well it certainly gets the traffic away from downtown right thanks thank you anybody else okay thank you very much any other public comments Brian Brian Phillips 374 Road I just think we should do things to support our local merchants and not really care about the six people from New Jersey that can't park here in the summertime well I'll tell you New Jersey's having a hard time tonight you know um anything else okay um moving to the business agenda um Dean do you want to start thank you Mr chairman I thank you for putting this on tonight's agenda and my thanks to um um Miss Gibbs and Miss timson for their comments um I'm going to try to make this quick um but I am going to read a memo that I included in the packet uh I wanted to say up front um this proposal was not um is not directed at the currently um scheduled special town meeting on the 16th but it was inspired by the call for that special town meeting and the call for the special town meeting uh for 1610 Main Street which I did support um I didn't support the most recent one and I support the article at as is clear in the warrant my goal here is to discourage calls for special Town meetings that are based on an election ballot question result that differs from the the town meeting result that preceded that on the associated article I I I recognize that it's a legal um um mechanism or device um and I was not surprised when Town Council advised us regarding 1610 Main Street that it was legally permissible and I remember conversations with the town manager because we had Recollections that Town Council had advised us so that previously although when I searched the warrants I couldn't find an example of it previously I'm not proposing a Prohibition I'm just proposing um aspirational future conduct and my recommendation is not to ask for a vote uh uh in support um of it tonight but to Simply for the draft language that I proposed to the um finance committee and the town's financial advisors um for um comment back and my understanding and conversation with Jill is that the um financial advisers plan plan to if this is referred to them plan to um um um consult with Bond counsel so I'm going to read the memo um because I'm not sure that everyone in the public has has seen it it's it's not that long um my purpose in proposing this amendment is to lay out a formal marker in the town's Financial guidelines that would serve to discourage Town officials from using a prior ballot approval to support a proposition 2 and a half exclusion after the associated borrowing request failed at town meeting I would submit that such use while legally permissible should not become a routine practice in shatam for which the sequential model has tradition Ally been town meeting approval first followed by approval at a town election I believe that deviating from the traditional sequence can serve to undermine public confidence in the fiscal responsibility of town governance and should be avoided more often than not the proposal is modest it is not a Prohibition as I do not wish to tie the hands of those entrusted with oversight over the town's finances it is merely philosophically aspirational and hortatory in nature it also expressly calls for exceptions in cases of fiscal exigency for example to finance an emergent or urgent Town project or when the practice is needed for housekeeping purposes for example to re remedy an oversight in a borrowing article that was actually approved at a previous town meeting it should be acknowledged that town officials have utilized the reverse sequence only twice over the past decade resulting recently in the call of a special town meeting on two separate occasions with a with within approximately one year's time given this recent history I submit that the practice in question should not be accepted as routine Financial process going forward finally I'm not requesting that the proposal be adopted tonight I'm simply requesting that it be referred to the finance committee and the town's financial advisers for review and recommendation back to the select board the select board could subsequently exercise its judgment on the wisdom of this issue so um that's it I'm I'll we'll offer a motion at some point I guess depending on the conversation tonight thank you Mr chairman so I I just casting myself as a traffic cop here for a moment um I think we have three options here basically one is to accept Dean's recommendation which is refer at least the concept to the finance committee and and ask them for their input uh before we make a decision the the financial policies are the purview of the select board um so at some point we have to decide whether to do anything about this um or we could say uh I I guess we could adopt it without more this evening or we could reject it without more uh just in terms of efficiency of of meeting um I I I I guess I would I would focus on the the notion that it that it whatever we decide we want to do or whatever we might think we want to do I personally would like to have the input of the finance committee before I uh decide what I want to do and I'll leave it at that um Jeff thanks Mr sh yeah I and I agree um I would I agree with Dean's recommendation to um to throw this to the finance committee and get their get their read out on it so I would support that um I would support that motion I I you know it's fortunate and unfortunate in a couple different ways that we' have two of these um so close together I think they were very unique circum ances where we voted to have uh a a special town meeting um after the after the ballot vote uh was in favor of of the of of the uh actions that town meting did not favor um I think it's I think they're very unique and I'm certainly reluctant to have them become routinized in any way shape or form nor uh you know are we looking to subvert or supplant the the vote of town meeting and the wishes of town meeting um this is a very unique circum an I believe for this special town meeting coming up on the 16th um was not the the the brainchild or of this select board it was frankly brought To Us by our waterways committees with with I think very very strong argument so uh I think this is a very unique circumstance I understand the concern um but you've got a select board that uh that gets it and I think it's a good idea to remand it to the as the finance committee for their for their input and um understand that um in no way shape or form um would I favor at becoming routinized in any way shape or form but there are very unique circumstances that I would not want a Prohibition I would not want a Prohibition because you don't know so anyway those are my thoughts thank you um I agree with Jeff um but I think more importantly is to hear from the bond and financial advisers as to the impact on our triple bond rating um as far as that's concerned um so I'm I'm happy to I'm curious to see what the finance committee says as well good um M Cory thank you Mr chair no I mean the ask tonight from select member necastro is to refer back to the finance committee and the our Town's advis financial advisers and I uh fully support that um philosophically um I'd almost be at the point of recommending its approval um because I think philosophically we we have a lot of discussion that we're going to have move forward but um I won't get too deep into the Weeds on those right now so I will support or even move to refer this back to the finance committee the town's financial advisers for the review and re and a recommendation back to the select board um if that motion is accepted yeah I I'm I'm I will vote for that motion I i' just like to point out um that I I think there are a number of things here in in play not least of which um is the fact that we we we have in in some sense two different um electorates there's the town meeting electorate but there are the people who can't get the town meeting for whatever reason um and I don't know about anybody else but I hear from a lot of people who are frustrated because they can't express their will at town meeting um um by way of absentee ballot or mailin Ballot or whatever that's the state law and there's nothing you can do about that but when you have a a an initiative like either of these two that are I think think notionally at least some of the motiva motiv motivation for this um this proposal it's well to to to acknowledge that um you know the voters at the Town election expressed a point of view on a policy matter that we're not I don't believe entitled uh to completely ignore um any more than we're entitled to ignore as some people are suggesting we are uh doing um the the the voted the uh at at at the town meeting um I would point out that that you know the in in the case of the COA one vote was the difference between passage and and failure um and the the the votes at the Town elections um have been substantially in excess of the majority needed um and and I think that those are factors that are worth taking into account I also think that Dean's I by the way hitory what does that mean um I'm I'm only I'm teasing but um I I think that working on the conditions that that are worthy of the criteria um that ought to be kept in mind in deciding whether to go back and have a special town meeting uh is something that's worthy of of discussion as well but but certainly something that is an emergency or a matter of urgency whatever that might consist of Andor housekeeping I think those are worthy starts on the matter so with that I I I'm I'm happy to vote for Corey's motion I'll second Corey's motion and just just for the record I uh what will be referred to the finance committee is the language that I proposed that's fine and I'll read it it's one sentence we're adding um a subp paragraph 4 a to the financial the town of chadam budget and financial management policies which we'll read as follows proposition two and a half debt exclusion the town will strive to limit to circumstances of financial exigency or housekeeping purposes the exclusion of debt under proposition 2 and a half Massachusetts general laws chapter 59 section 21 C in Reliance on a ballot question approval that occurs at an election that precedes town meeting action to authorize propose borrowing notwithstanding any legal authority to make make such Reliance that's the motion okay all those in favor uh Mr matters I Mr Dyan hi M Davis I Mr sh says I and Mr necastro I and thank you allk you Mr chair yes sir aitor it's an adjective exhorting ex or encouraging urging to some course of conduct or action exhorting encouraging a hortatory speech well done excellent thank you very much yes indeed okay um the no parking signs in front of 5113 Main Street uh Miss Craig are you still here I am John Craig chadam I want to make it very clear I am not speaking for the Traffic Safety Committee and I want to thank Kathy Lewis for the background information that she's so diligent looked into and sent to all of us I think you have it in your packet also um this dates back to covid when um there was a lot of pickup um downtown and a group got together it's my understanding to pick four or five different areas where you could have pickup and it was um striped accordingly and after uh prop two and a half a number of those were decreased uh and now there is only the one that is in front of Blue Fin and it is as was mentioned by a previous speaker taking up three really good spaces um from a downtown that has limited space and um my point is there are other areas in town that also do Hefty pickup um they do find we do find areas to park or to even sometimes pardon me but double Park and send in the grandchild to get the pizza or to get blue fin or whatever it might be um so there is this priority this precedent that has been set um it was my understanding that this was going to be repainted and become three spaces again and that is not the case um I know there might be the possibility that you might consider sending it to the Traffic Safety Committee back to us it's not come to us yet this is me because I spoke to some of you that I have received complaints not only from some of the businesses but also from some of the community people and if you make the decision not to take action on this to to refer it mik my thought is refer it to the parking study committee uh group group sorry we're not a committee um because we will be looking at what the Cape Cod Commission has to say and perhaps from that information we may want to take a look at all the parking in Downtown thank you and I'd be glad to answer any questions thank you um Corey thank you Mr chair this this one's a tough one because I mean I know I get it I'm first and foremost Equity to all the merchants and Shop and businesses downtown is critical completely completely agree with that philosophy um so taking that aside this area is it's not exactly no parking it's no parking Tuesday through Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 9: 3 to 9: p.m. that's correct so um there are a couple other options we definely have on the table we could change the requirements it could be 5:00 p.m. I I'm just throwing this out there for for thought process um the owner of The Establishment in front of it these Blue Fins U mentioned about 40 odd takeout areas um so you do have to F factor in where are those cars going to go that particular area of town um Alley between bookstore Alley between the Squire maybe over by the you know Mayflower it gets a little bit tricky so there's no ideal pickup places I'm sure all the places all the food establishments on downtown chat would love to have a little little drop off eror so my question is is there a uh safety need a functional need a community need to have a drop off area in that side of town there or somewhere else so then you go back to the question does the TR Traffic Safety look at it does the parking solutions group look at it um I I'm a little reluctant to get rid of it because I do think it does serve a purpose in the area you can argue you can move it somewhere else I'm I'm indifferent about that but I do think it does actually serve a little bit of a safety um public service and but I would I personally think I would roll back the hours a little bit because if you roll it back to like 5 to 9 you're only talking about a 4H hour window which would be a test maybe try that for a year and then come back and revisit it we're trying to balance everything it's a no in situation no matter what we do do um but I would like to try see if we can wiggle a little bit and see if we can find a direction that may be the benefit of everybody um but I think I think at the very least rolling back the hours might make a little more sense because the three to three to five I think is um more amenable to the live traffic that people are shopping and doing things that you give them two extra hours per day um would be a consideration so those are my initial thoughts Shar uh thank you Mr chair um so you know this all starting covid uh we had pick up them drop off locations as Miss Craig had said um we did last year or two years ago decide to limit just that one area to 3 to n um Mr bayor made a good argument about traffic flow and the number of cars that are serviced for that and but he's not the only business that should or could utilize that he happens to be near that I would prefer that we we have a comprehensive plan happening now through the commission through the parking uh uh Solutions working group um for downtown and surrounding areas um I I I I'm sort of ambiguous whether to say yes or no at this point that's why I think it would be probably be better to just look at it from uh see what a referral would be from the parking working uh group and then um Dean you serve on that so maybe you have a little more insight into that and maybe you're already looking at that um but I think that you know we may had a great presentation from the commission uh we we assumed we knew what we were talking about or what our needs were for parking on in chadam and I was quite enlightened by what we actually do need to be doing so I want to continue that conversation so at this point um it's either what you know Cory had said about five five to9 or just leave it for now until we get a recommendation from those that know um Jeff yeah I mean I remember the Parking Solutions working group as well have been for a while and appreciate Jones participation and Dean's participation I'm a little ambivalent about this one it came into it came into being during covid um and understood why but I I feel as though it's not Equitable to the rest of the merchants so I'm willing to have it remanded back to the work working group but there's an issue of equity here for me to be honest with you um and you know I I understand dy's argument about um about traffic and traffic flow well the Orum has the same type of deal you pick up at the or room you go around the corner you run in um you double Park uh I get it um but if we're going to do it there then we should have it for everybody a pickup area in downtown and how we pulled that off I have no clue um so I'm willing to to vote to remand it to the to the Parking Solutions working group but um don't quite know what that solution is going to be or not at this case at this point you did get the summer out of it and um you know that's that's that's good um but I have an issue with back to be honest with you um thanks Dean thank you uh I I'm on the Parking Solutions working working group and my recollection is that this all started with the Parking Solutions working group I remember walking that in the middle of co uh with Chief Pina and um and Katie and um so we we put the recommendations forward and there with three three areas in town including across the street where the Jeweler is um and then that those were pulled back by the select board but I I think it makes sense to have this referred to that body um because they are looking at uh the the Cape Cod Commission a draft final is it a final report you are scheduling a meeting uh later this month sure thank you if I if I could so I I I would support a referral back to that committee and and I should point out and I think Mr bayor make makes some very good comments that are not necessarily self-serving in terms of traffic flow and those should be taken into account and um the Chamber of Commerce Merchants Association is represented on that group so presumably they would inform their members um who are who whose participation is very welcome uh before that particular body when if and when this comes before them thank you yeah go ahead Katie thank you Katie dunan director of Community Development I just wanted to clarify that the initial group was called during Co was called the downtown Main Street uh working group and it was to determine um not only parking but what what other types of um precautions to take during covid so I just wanted that um to be clarified we are um planning to schedule um a meeting for a discussion with the Cape Cod Commission um in the middle of October um they'll have some initial feedback for us um before they come back with their final plan but I do know that or if I recall they did address those spaces at a point in time and so I think that they may come back with the recommendation um that may be the way to go is to wait and hear what they have to say about those spaces and then bring it back to the board for more discussion so um I'm I'm not I'm I'm only going to swim upstream a little bit here um I'm I'm fine with a referral um and waiting to hear what they have to say in October but in my mind with a very clear determination that uh depending on what they have to say that we revisit this um whatever that recommend unless the recommendation is that uh it go away I I'm concerned about the equity point it's clear to me that that both the hours and the days are key to uh accommodating um the the business um in question there there at least two other businesses on Main Street that I can and one of them you mentioned which is the orfium you know the the cook the cookware uh shop you know you could you could have a the same thing out in front there so somebody can run in and pick up their sandwich or whatever that they've ordered um and I uh so I I think from an equity point of view it's it's it's time for us to deal with this I we don't have to do it tonight but I I do I do think that um we we we we should look to see what we hear from in October and depending on what that is take this back up again so I would take a motion um a referral motion if it was my understanding that someone a business owner was not able to be here but wanted to speak on it is that correct no uh from J mlin I'm here online but I'm speaking about agenda D the outdoor oh I'm sorry Goods okay sorry yeah thank you it's okay so um so I I would I would move to defer action and refer this uh subject to the uh part Solutions working group and and not take any action this even okay second all those in favor Mr nicastro hi Mr Shell says I Miss Davis hi uh Mr Dyk hi Mr Mets hi uh thank you very much thanks John okay next case um Mr sh sorry to interrupt but I am told that there's no picture at home on on the channel so just I don't know whether we have to stop or anything but I just I was told that my wife said there's no picture um I don't mark can do you have any input on that are we we're we're functional as far as you can tell we we can see you from home okay all right cool thank you okay you what about on on our chatam TV channel itself yeah it looks like it's broadcasting okay thanks I don't mean I got feedback thanks pay the go um okay next case is the um uh Memorial bench donation at the Old Mill Boatyard uh Ted uh Greg please Greg Burman director of Natural Resources uh taking over for Ted Keon for this one um our newly constructed step access over at odill Boatyard um he discovered that uh installing a bench would probably be helpful for people oh perfect uh putting on and off boots and otherwise just being able to use those steps uh a bench was actually ordered and was ready on hand while we were contacted uh by a Scott and Jessica Pollock who were looking to donate a bench to the town so this seemed like a perfect opportunity we have a bench it's ready to be installed they would like to donate the bench if the select board uh is willing to do so I don't don't know if Jessica Pollock might be online I know she's traveling and was going to try to but may not have been able to Miss Pollock are you online by chance apparently not um Mr sh yeah uh Miss Davis um I'm just going to make a motion y um I move um that the select board approve the donation of for reimbursing costs for the bench installation at oill Boatyard parking lot as described um um in honor of Walter Pollock and the bench will read in memory of Walter Pollock beloved husband father and friend gone fishing second all those in favor Mr Mets hi uh Mr Dyk Miss Davis Mr Shell says I and Mr necastro hi I thank you very much uh and thanks to the Pollocks uh In Absentia uh next consider outdoor display of goods and sales at 6:32 Main Street chadam on September 19 and 20 24 U Jen Burkhart is I believe online with Jay mlin Jen before you start I I just want to declare that I have a um my sister-in-law is an employee of J mcgoffin um in Chicago I I don't believe that's a conflict but I just wanted to get that on on the table please I appreciate that well thank you Mr chairman and board for hearing and considering us we are looking to put three garment racks on our lawn F set back 5T from our property line approved from our landlord Mike Shaw um to do our annual Warehouse sale we've been on Main Street for 15 years we've done this sale the last six years and it's the first time we've had to go in front of the board for approval questions Cory no well first of all I want to thank you very much for actually following the process because that's a discussion up and down Main Street about you know outdoor sales of goods what's the requirement what are you supposed to do what are you not supposed to do if you do it and no one complains you're fine if you do it and someone complains you're you you got we have an obligation to enforce it so that opens up a whole new discussion so I'm going to keep it very simple I I appreciate you moving forward um I think if the landlord says fine it's 5 ft off the off the off the street um and we can keep it controlled I will um support this proposal because I do think we need to support downtown merchants and small shop owners and they could have just gone ahead and done it and I would not have liked it but that's what some people do that's this is the reality of the situation so I'm going to support the small business is that a motion just a motion I'll take a motion list there's any other comments that's a motion I'll second it uh all those in favor uh Miss Davis hi uh Mr Dyk yes Mr Mets uh Mr asro and Mr Shell says I thank you very much Miss Burkhart thank you and good luck appreciate that okay uh next case um considering acceptance of a tree donation at Veterans Field is Mr West online yes I'm here thank you for having me I'm Steve West I'm the president of the chadam athletic association and if you look at your packets beginning on page 98 uh kind of gives some background on our on our uh opportunity what we're doing is we're seeking the select board approval to plant six of uh Green Giant Great Western arbori trees that are 10 to 12T tall on the hill behind the uh center field fence at Veterans Field once we get the trees planted hopefully this fall uh which is about A6 to $10,000 gift to the town we would like to make trees are going to provide a nice backrop backdrop for our hitters at Veterans Field currently they're looking out at a white building and it's also going to provide an improved Aesthetics and shade for the end of the rail Colony bike trail um I've worked work with Rob failey I want to thank him very much for the diagram that he's presented that you may or may not have in front of you there um we've reviewed with the friends of trees and gotten their endorsements back in in uh early August reviewed with the bikeways committee at the end of August and got their endorsement all that documentation is in your packet uh and as I said the diagram of the planning location and a photo of the trees to be planted are also included in there so the bottom line is uh we're seeking your end your final approval for us to move forward to plant these trees thank you Mr West Shireen yeah I I I'm seeing the diagram and I'm I'm wondering if this is area where people pull off and they Park and watch the game or they sit and enjoy the games um and whether this would be in heting that sort of enjoyment along that road sh Shireen you know we we we need to raise a lot of money so that was one of the first things that I uh I I I checked all summer quite frankly and uh there there probably would be a few on the top of the hill that would have to move forward somewhat but in all it's it's it was it was very minimal impact uh of of of actual people that are up there and there's plenty room on the hill uh even at the most crowded of games for for them to move a little bit forward thank you Jeff yeah I had the same Steve this is Jeff dykins I had the same uh same question about seating looks as though it's pretty close to where folks do plant their chairs or sit on the hill so I had some concern there and I I'd like to know is the is the Genesis of this really uh uh to have a better backdrop for the hitters a green backdrop rather than a a white one for a right-handed hit hitter it looks like even a left-handed hitter as well but or is it really to commemorate or put a a stake in the ground to the beginning and the ending of the of the of the bike trail or or is it both it well from our perspective it's it's and I don't know if you can see you can't see it because I they won't let me show the they won't let me be on your your video screen but but it is from our perspective we are doing it for the purpose of both right-handed and left-handed batter okay um and that's the way it's you know we've measured it off very very precisely for that impact um but it also does kind of the bikeways committee as as Rob failey may or may not have mentioned to you guys at some other meetings uh is is trying to spruce up using a tree term uh the the end of the bike trail and make it more convenient and I you know I Envision possibly adding additional trees at some point later or you could put benches in front of the trees there's a lot of things you can do around those trees so um that's kind of where I'm at anybody uh Cory no I think the concept of planting you know really substantial size trees um are more beneficial than not so I mean I don't have an issue with it trees are good trees are good uh me too um I'll take a motion so moved accept we accept the donation of second uh all the I want to comment please yeah I I'm just I'm just questioning the placement I I understand that this is a beneficial and getting the understanding it's benefiting the the Batters and and whatnot I'm just I I'm just not you know I don't know I just don't feel like it fits right or it's comfortable to me and but that's a matter of Aesthetics so I'm not going to vote against it I just wanted to make the statement that I think you're going to find people be very surprised to see those trees there once they're planted and I'm not against trees just it's just the sighting of them that that that doesn't make sense to me other than the well let me ask just to give shireen's concern it's due um Mr West when you say move forward are you saying that people will be able to watch the game if they sit immediately in front of the trees yeah oh yes absolutely oh okay okay yeah I I I mean that helps me uh they won't be a probably yeah 10 or 15 feet of flat space in front of where the trees are going to be it's it's not it's there there's still a lot of room on top of the hill for people to sit and like like I said when I I I walked around there during the games all summer and we had we had it marked off for for a lot a lot of the latter part of the summer and literally you know we we averaged over 2,000 fans at our game and it might have impacted at the most maybe 10 fans On Any Given night did you want to say something Rob yeah thanks Mr chair uh so that you know Steve West is is correct there is a very large area of of flat are up there on both sides of the trees the way they're positioned and it really doesn't show it very well in the aerial image um it's it's really way off to the side uh the bikeways committee has some plans we recently installed a bench at the end of the trail we have some tentative plans about installing additional benches and making more of a a focused seating area there um but really it's it's only going to impact a very small uh number of people um Dean well I was going to ask uh how close is this to the street to Depot Road and is given what you just said are you keeping it a little bit farther in Inland uh from the road so that you can put these other amenities there is that what you're talking about so there's like a paved area at the end of the bike trail yeah uh so that would that would be the focus area of the uh kind of the end of the bike path sitting area Okay um kind of a focus po possibly a pavilion and a number of benches at some point I know that these trees can get pretty wide like 40t or so um but if you just look at this overhead that we had on the screen a moment ago it is placed a little it's placed almost uh in the center or close to the center of um that area behind the field uh does does it have to be that far inward from the street or well as they mature we didn't want them to interfere with the utility lines or the street or anything of that nature so we wanted to be planted and then not have to touch them again and just let them grow naturally in that brownish area is that just is that's not a is that a depression that's where they're sitting we're sitting that's where they're sitting that's the side of the hill going down the bank okay and and these trees will shade that area where when people are where people are sitting which is not true at night not at night it depends I do have one more question we we we used to pull in there and park in our trucks isn't there a parking area up there on that side of the there is not a parking area up there we we did away the town did away with that many years ago that was a yeah because because of the headlights gotcha that wouldn't they'd hurt the Batters thanks all right I think we have a motion on the table and do we have a second okay um all those in favor Mr nicastro hi uh Mr Shell says I Miss Davis abstain uh Mr dykin hi and Mr Mets hi all right thank you thank you Mr Wes next case thank you very much we have acceptance of a donation of $50,000 to the protect uh protection bylaw revolving fund tree protection bylaw revolving fund Mr oh Mr Burman you're a busy night tonight I do I do um so I'm actually a little sorry that our conservation agent Paul Whitman wasn't able to join us this evening uh but it's rare you get um such positive feedback as a donation of $50,000 so we're very pleased with the work that he did and apparently this homeowner is also very pleased with the work that he did so I I do just want to read one sentence of an email uh that we got just today uh we have great admiration for what you and your colleagues do to undertake the mission of conservation in our town we prefer to have this donation made anonymously anonymously so as not to take away from the focus of town efforts so this would be to the um tree protection BYO revolving fund which I believe right now currently does not have funds in it so this would be some good seed money if you will comments yeah this is great um I'm curious as to what kind of responsible um responsive service that that Paul did to Warrant such a a a nice act but I don't want you to have to divulge anything nothing ontour I no no I don't mean it that way I just mean like any any conversation might divulge the the the so I won't say that but I will say publicly thank you and I hope you'll be able to express that thanks if we do approve this um which I'm going to make a motion if that's y um I I recommend that the select board approve the donation of $50,000 to be deposited to the tree protection bylaw revolving fund and a thank you uh sent to the if possible to the donors and and I would second that with an acknowledgement to Mr Whitman as well of course yes great job obviously um great job thank you amen um all those in favor Mr nicastro I Mr Shell says I Miss Davis and Mr dykin Mr Mets hi thanks and and please do convey warm uh appreciation to all in concern Paul and the the donor to the extent that you can thank you we'll do thank you thank you Mr chairman speaking of thank yous did we ever send a formal thank you letter to the anonymous donor for the alridge garage gas station building are we waiting for the charging stations I'm pretty sure we did but I'll definitely look into that yeah I thought we did too but okay um next is the donation of Road plates over the tide gate on Morris Island Causeway there has been a furious exchange of agreements and advice and everything is is Mr talerman on the on online here Jay are you here with us apparently not okay um Jill can you give us a little bit of a at least a running start here on exactly what we're what we're dealing with here so um this project relates to Road plates that was put down to protect our roadway and with that the owner um had to had offered to donate them in the packet it was a little different than our normal protocol where uh he had put put it in as a $1 fee to the town to purchase after further conversations and certainly um Greg can jump in on this he had agreed to uh have a strict donation to The Town and so there's a couple of reiterations um definitely the one-year packet is the one that has been revised I think as recent as 3:33 today uh PM with review by Town Council as well as the property owners attorney Greg I can turn it over to you since you were involved in if there's anything else to add sure I mean with with regard to Town Council and not speaking for Town Council but his last email did say that he was okay with the this last draft that it would you know be acceptable for the town um there were a lot of permutations the first one was moving from a sales agreement to a donation and then just some in my mind relatively small word smithing back and forth between the lawyers uh but I think we got there at the very uh end here the idea behind these Road plates where they were put down due to uh uh very heavy and multiple trucks traveling across this area uh for the work at 96 7 to Lippi um we were concerned about the roadway before uh this work occurred uh we would be concerned afterwards so the property owner as part of the mitigation uh is willing to gift these plates to the town uh speaking with Rob's already left uh don't want to speak for him but after conversations with DPW uh he did say that they were installed properly and it would be you know favorable for the town to AC acquire these plates honestly we would probably leave them there until we address this area in a more substantial way we have some studies um some grant opportunities with the coast of resilience to look at this section to see how we might you know tweak it in the future but it definitely needs to be addressed just as a road if not for the tital Restriction it involves um so this is part of the mitigation 497 to Lippi uh and then I had made a very brief reference earlier to the $10,000 uh used for removing trees from deeper water so both of these are uh donation mitigation efforts uh that again our conservation commissioner Paul Whitman have been involved with this particular one is a uh donation and I think we may need to set up a special fund for the 10,000 and that will probably be coming at a later uh meeting for you to you know approve if you Suppy thank you so I I'm informed now that uh Town Council Jay tyman is on um Jay do you want to comment on uh your the scope of your recommendation please and welcome good evening good evening um thank you so we I don't have a a strong opinion on what to do here I think that's a policy question I do find the how the plates arrived on a town-owned way to be somewhat curious but if the issue is whether or not to accept them via donation and originally it was proposed as a nominal sale and I suggested it should be a donation then the owner of them uh or the the installer of them has requested uh an agreement that would essentially be tantamount to a release where they'd be willing to give them to us but as would be typical they'd be asked to be absolved of any liability relating to their Fitness or their use or what whatever um else may arise from our continued use of them um Jeff you were going to say something no I just uh is this acceptable to the you know our Highway Department DPW Etc is this adequate obviously it looks as though it's working so why wouldn't we accept that donation there there's no reason is there unless you tell us there is all right so Rob DPW director and I have talked about this before the offer was made we each agreed that it would be good if they could stay there so that was part of the conversation we had with the applicant so I'm just going to jump in having and Dean probably is right behind me at reading paragraph three um in terms of release of liability it goes beyond just the fitness of these plates for the purpose purpose that they're they're they're installed pretty much we're we're accepting that whatever claims we might as I read it correct me if I'm wrong uh Jay that we're we're accepting that um once we once we uh sign and accept these uh these plates uh we don't have any further claims against the uh the homeowner uh with respect to anything um including damages to the road or anything else if I'm not mistaken well I think and I I could um call up the agreement but I think it says a rising out of the agreement which is the donation of the plates so I I don't I don't read that provision and I'm happy to tighten it up but I don't read that provision as hey you can do anything you want with respect to the road I R I read it as being a release only with respect to the conveyance or the donation regarding the plates not the roadway not the tide gate not the shoulders not anything else yeah I I I and you're the lawyer here I I but I I was looking at the first sentence which flatly says here the town hereby agrees to release and hold the donor harmless um which may imply indemnification from any and all claim suits damages and liability of any kind period um yeah I mean I could I think the context is that it's with respect to the the plates but I could certainly repeat the language that I think is in the uh yeah the next sentence does say what you're saying arising out of or relating to this agreement or the transaction contemplated and and maybe you just put those together yeah we just tether tether them together to a semicolon okay then what have you yeah I'm fine then Dean yeah I was going to bring up that same point I appreciate you bringing it up Mike um just the concept of the of a release and a hold harmless Clause um is this something that you find Jay uh to be uh common in in a donation agreement like this I mean it's just seems a bit much to me I think it's a good it's a good question so it's something I would find common with respect to an agreement where someone is conveying Goods where they want to be then released from that liability in a donation we don't often see it that way we normally just see I hearby donate and so it's just a gift here I think it's somewhat reasonable if I was the owner of the plates the town expressed an interest and they've been sitting out there for a while sure I'll give them to you but if if they collapse if they break if they you know are not if they don't support the roadway I I understand and appreciate believe me I'm not one to easily give in and suggest that a town offer a release when one isn't um advisable but here I think it's a reasonable request by the property owner that look I'm giving you these plates and then I'm washing my hands of them so to speak I think is their position and I don't want to hear about it again I'm breaking it down into the vernacular but that's kind of their position and frankly it's not unreasonable for them to take that position because I think we could all conceive of situations whereby something that's in the road performing a function that Vehicles may go over or they there may be use of could result in liability so I think the more curious thing is if we didn't accept the donation what happens then because they're installed in the road it's not like they can just pick them up and and do something with them there's also a wetland nearby so the circumstances are somewhat curious here if the town sees a benefit in owning and maintaining the plates great if the town doesn't and leaves them the way they are then they're probably just going to stay the way they are the second sentence was added subsequent to the earlier draft it's very expansive in terms of um non-liability for uh consequential and special damages but it it seems whoever their attorney is was very was trying to think of every conceivable possibility here I guess yeah I mean I didn't really I I I let it go because it's doesn't mean anything if we're releasing them we're releasing them from and it's really just not from we're not releasing we're not indemnifying them we're not paying any damages so if a third party sues them we're not responsible for that we're just releasing them from our on our own so that would only mean if we're releasing them we're not suing them so the notion that there's any damages that Clause is essentially Surplus in in my view so if they felt it look good great but it doesn't really have any legal effect because we're not going to be suing them CG these um plates they they cost $220,000 that was the estimate given by the engineer that include installation that would yes was the town present when they were installed so this is the backstory of how the plates got here so this was an emergency certification by the Conservation Commission um we had been in touch internally with the town because the applicant was uh driving many many trucks that are very heavy over this area we already knew that this road had some issues to begin with um we were concerned about the trucks and uh specifically requested they do something to Shore that up um DPW went out and looked at the plates and the installation very shortly thereafter and again I I hesitate to speak for Rob but he did say they did a good job uh this is a contractor that the town has used in the past and he was comfortable with the work and this is the same this is my last question this this this is the same party that donated the $10,000 rrice yes the 10,000 which will be coming we just have to have the select board du a which Jay told us about before there's a special fund that we be setting up to you know get that in the right place to be able to do that and that but that was um a condition of of the Conservation Commission that they had to come up with those trees yes so this is actually part of that mitigation also okay all right thank you thank you J I if I may I Corey I I just want a quick question is the work done there are no more trucks driving over the road oh no there there are trucks still driving over the road so this is um the second phase of the work they had to pause the work over the summer uh we had it scheduled for that just it would have been too disruptive so they're going to finish the work I believe around October and then in addition to this property there's other properties coming forward that are seeing erosion that may have not the same level of work but you know slightly less but there's still going to be a lot of activity on this road which is another reason why you know it made sense in air mines for the town to maintain these plates instead of having to go back and forth and install and reinstall these constantly I'm going to have a follow up but go ahead just just for clear so this project there was no scenario like a a performance bond or anything that would protect the the access road nothing like that was in place I'd have to look at the order I I mean because if there a performance bond then we have something that we can fall back on to you know put the road back in in its initial State I guess the question is is the roadway before the plates went down what is the comparison of the of the roadway from when the plates went down to where it is now did even with the plates did the road um experienc significant deterioration damage wear and tear um because of the activities and if we were to say we were not to accept the donation I'm just trying to run out the mechanics of this um would the property owner be required to remove the plates and to make any improvements to the road um via the the project they're they're they're pursuing or or working on right so thinking more on it we did ask for and receive proof of a bond I don't have those details specifically on me but there was evidence of that um the condition of the road we did not have a full assessment of it beforehand but DPW and Costa resource director had gone out and the road was in disrepair it was only photographed and Visually inspected uh but there were sink holes around the area there was settling there was issues underneath um some weeping of material so at this point it starts to get difficult to say how much damage might have been caused by trucks versus what was already done and parsing it out um you know this is an area that that does need to be addressed by the town we're having a study to see how that tie gate might need to get re uh adjusted but it's not simply because it's not effective as a tie gate it's also a section of Road and Bridge that really needs to be addressed even before this work all right thank you so so the question that I is in my mind here is whether this is premature I mean I I this seems like we're we're kind of settling up with the homeowner uh with respect to whatever um effect his activity is had on the roadway before he's done with the activity and I maybe I'm missing something but um that's kind of what I'm I'm I'm feeling here so maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong and and this is really addressed to both you Greg and you Jay y so work will still be continuing on this project we don't necessarily have to take the donation today this week I mean it could be dated for when the construction is finished if you would like but yes there still would be work occurring I believe through October time frame for this particular property so great was it presented tonight because it would be in the order of conditions was there's something tied to the Conservation Commission for it to be heard tonight right so the the order of conditions has already been issued but it is subject the donation is subject to approval of Select board so that is not time sensitive right now so really this is just you know presentation to try to strike while the iron's hot with the applicant to try to get the deal done as it were um but you know the date on it doesn't have to be today we just want to get it in front of you to see if the select board is willing to accept it either now or in the future and and the donation we're talking about is this donation not the trees right now it is just this donation of the road plade this part of the order of conditions yes and and and I guess I'll just make one last comment here you know your your sense of I I'm to me it sounds like he's the guy who should be in a hurry not us and and I I but I don't know enough about it here to really be able to evaluate that so I'm really looking to both you and Jay for for you know insight as to why that may be a misapprehension no I mean the as far as the order of conditions I mean there is not a specific time for the donation to occur it just has to happen before you know it it's uh uh closed out so there is not an immediate rush on an a end or I leave uh the applicants end either um you know Jay can speak more to that but it's really just trying to finish something that's been uh uh definitely today been going back and forth quite a bit and I think we're relatively close okay did you want to hear from well yeah I that was yeah do you have anything further to add to that Jay I I don't I'm not from Beyond the donation issue is that I've looked at I'm not a student and haven't been involved in any of the other okay fair enough conservation matters or other issues surrounding it fair enough uh yeah go ahead de Greg does the does the order of conditions fail if the donation doesn't take place no we we very we talked about it internally quite a bit and while we did not write this for the Conservation Commission they asked our opinion on it um it's phrased such that the applicant needs to offer this donation to the town it's up to the select board to accept or not so if the select board does not accept it then the town needs to do a fairly serious assessment of what we're going to do with this project if the road plates were to be removed and you know Jay and I would need to talk about how that would work so I just wanted to make this comment I mean I I can get by the concerns I had concerning the release Clause based on the discussion tonight but your response to ch's question which suggested that there potentially could be some damage that was caused to the terrain in and around this area by the the tracking activities that have occurred thus far and I guess could will continue in the future that gives me some pause as to whether it makes sense for the town to accept these plates but exactly because if if we didn't accept the plates and take all the responsibility then then the bond well some of the the backing of why you put a performance bond out there it would be nullified because it's well you guys it's your problem now I think we need some more information about the bond yeah well here's here here's from my perspective if if the order conditions say he's got to offer the plates to us fine so offer the plates to us without all of this other stuff around it and I'm not saying I mean this is not about Jay this is about the town it it it they are basically saying we'll offer it to you but we want to change our legal relationship Visa all the activity that's going on there as a condition of our offering it to us I I'd like an unconditional offer that's what the order of condition says give us the plates and and we can talk about all the other stuff that's in here um some other time that that's kind of where I am the the order of conditions does that state it's an an unconditional offer for the road plates uh the applicant is has a substantial legal team and is very risk averse if you will no I understand I get that you know from DPW DNR perspective as soon as the road plates went down which we you know strongly encouraged the applicant to do it was better than it was before the road plates so that's and just to finish and I think Jeff wants to say something but I from my perspective that's great I just think the price for the road plates is a little high here in terms of the change of legal relationship that that's that's my sort of assessment of of what they're offering is but Jeff you were going to say no just and the the project goes on the road plates are there um there's no you know detrimental impact to his progress on the project so and I agree with Mike that we just see you know see if we can craft a different style of agreement with this guy um and just accept the road plates as a donation and satisfy the order conditions and move on without all the legal stuff thanks I'm not prepared to take action I'm not either I think we should defer this and get some more information um now you said Greg that this is this work is going to affect other properties not just this particular property but the trucks are going to keep going across this area right so this particular property is you know doing work now they'll the other properties are filing notices of intent to do similar work so this is going to continue uh nothing has to get settled tonight as far as the donation um if there is further you know negotiation back and forth regarding the donation agreement um you know our Town Council and the applicant attorney would probably work directly that's what the consultant requested if there was any more back and forth well I don't think we're there yet I mean I think I want to see I think others you know what what is the bond Arrangement is that likely to be affected if we accept this donation um I we raised the issue of wearing our roadways with the 900 truckloads of stone that was going to be brought to to to moris Island we raised the issue early on so I just think we need Clarity if you will on what the repercussions for that particular roadway are aren I think we probably need the plates and he needs a plates okay thanks and I I would add the concerns that Mike expressed about the the legal aspects of the arrangement okay do you do you do you think you have enough guidance from us as to where we would like to see this go I do I mean at some point I believe I'll get in with Jay again just because I need to get in my mind how you know we we don't have a preconditioned survey of the roads so trying to prove potential damages before and afterwards I don't think anybody's looking for I'm not looking for damages I I'm I'm just saying we'll take the plates the plates stay in place and whatever there is to be talked about in terms of the impact on the road and who's who's responsible and who has to pay what that's for down the road that's not not for now that that's that's how I understand what I think the town's position ought to be sure message received okay okay thank you thanks Jay of course um okay uh next case is um the EV public charging station policy the do we have a proponent here is Mr whan available Terry will be joining us and so the the um copy that you got today with the or just this evening with the yellow highlights is a result of the energy and climate action committee weighing in this afternoon they had a 3:30 meeting and Terry is online um he'll present uh the policy for its second reading as well as the comments from the energy and climate action committee welcome Terry thank you thank you thank you Mr chairman Terry whan uh projects and operations administrator and we do have also uh chairman wor shapter uh as available here as well uh from the energy and climate action committee uh so in your um package for this evening's meeting uh we have the second reading of the the draft policy um following up on the um the previous uh presentation uh we primarily went back and looked at a couple of key areas uh and a couple of other items that came up um in discussion and in the original uh draft of policy in the package that that you have uh again focused on on areas of uh providing um broader uh application for potential to use different uh delivery models for public stations uh and then also in the um the second component there were also um kind of expansions and and clarifications on on items related to cost so what I'm going to do right now though is I'm going to pull up the um the copy of for the public um edification and then also um uh to to to lead through the uh the discussion here I'm going to pull up um the what let's call it the Yellow Version which is um shows the um the comments that were um discussed today sorry hopefully could every see that no you can Apologize One More Time about now yes if you can enlarge it that would got it yep I'm going to yes so again as um the town manager just mentioned uh the revised uh hard copy package you have reflects some discussion um that happened this afternoon with the energy and climate action committee so the yellow um highlighted underlining or uh text for insertion for the purpose in addition to what was originally proposed in the draft you uh received also includes now um when possible associated with owning leasing or licensing electric vehicle EV charging station so that that new uh phrase um again corresponds actually with the language in the in the second uh section um uh excuse me the second um insertion here which was in the original Pro um package or providing poost locations uh to full service EV charging station providers for public use so again this just makes it um even more clear uh that we can consider um options ranging from Full ownership and operation to uh Outsourcing uh the provision of charging stations so everything from uh construction through operation and management uh preventative maintenance and then in the um some additional um uh recommendations from the energy and climate action committee um included adding the word fee to policy which uh in in our discussions uh and as if you uh hopefully noted in my staff report um really anticipating that that we're going to come back or there will be a need to revise the policy something along the lines of location policy uh as was alluded to in in some of your earlier discussions related to uh the results of the uh kit Cod Commission circulation study and maybe including input from uh Parking Solutions working group um Andor the uh climate en excuse me energy and climate action committee related to maybe the distribution or potential sites for uh to identify to or Target for public EV charging stations moving forward so again here some additional language the yellow over what was in in the original package so again um the first reference here is for Capital cost to acknowledge uh any investment that uh the town might have made for uh hard infrastructure and then uh after the um original proposal uh it was also recomend amended suggestion that um the language and basically this is language from the staff report indicating from the fiscal impact section that we specifically note that um where the fees go and that they will be deposited into the town's general fund and then the final uh under Authority we also had a discussion this afternoon this was this um in in the um meeting package that you received was not proposed to be changed but uh after our discussion this afternoon there was discussion on clarifying or making clear the intent of an annual review on a minimum of an annual basis and propose adjusting fees on an as needed basis so the intent here is to acknowledge that this is a new Enterprise uh that we will be embarking on um that U kind of build in a uh you know a a a check but then also acknowledging that there might be other um uh situations that really uh mandate uh looking at things um maybe conditions in the marketplace or other other uh changes in uh electric rates or delivery issues um again keeping the as needed basis so hopefully that's um clarifies what uh is on top of what was already explained in the staff report and I can entertain any questions or or or the chair also Bob I'm sure can U um weigh in especially on the ecac comments yeah thank you I'm looking at the clock so I'm going to try to make these very quick um The Elaine Gibbs raised a couple of interesting points I thought one had to do with um the policy of um locating future um charging stations the document doesn't particularly address that is that I mean my preference would be that the ultimate decision on those locations would be up to the select board perhaps on the recommendation of the Town manager or the energy and climate action committees where where do we stand on that issue well we we do need to have a the report in and I I was trying to articulate in the staff report that anticipating that we would need to come back quite frankly to add that section and most likely now with the from my opinion great input from the committee on you know we would have a fee policy and a location policy paragraph that would articulate where um you know preferred locations are so but that does need uh further work um as as we've discussed and as I referenced in the staff report uh you know would be best informed by having additional discussion U and review of the you know the final findings for the Cape Cod Commission report and then additional coordination recommendations from the ecac uh and door the parking uh Solutions as part of a proposal a further proposal or specific proposal to the select board so this this document may possibly bear a third reading rather than being adopted tonight I would I would I was trying to set up and I I see Jill I defer I I I was trying to point out that I think in in anticipation that this you know policy might need to evolve moving forward that we're not ready to make a a decision on locations at this point as we need further discussion but that from a timing perspective ideally this would be in place uh prior to the Eldridge garage um former ELD garage property uh stations coming online yeah that was our attention with you so first of all it's that the eldrich garage charging stations will be energized I Believe by the end of um either end of this month or or next month we're waiting for um eversource to finish the install so that and the town has purchased the the um charging stations and so we don't have a mechanism on how to charge and so that was the I guess the Inception of this policy was to get through that after further consideration of and we don't have other locations already identified um we'll need to come back to the board for those locations for your approval but we we need this policy primarily for the Eldridge garage charging stations I I guess my response to that would be I'd rather see if we have to take action either tonight or in at our next meeting in two weeks I'd rather see an interim policy for the elderd garage property that would that would go away once we have a more comprehensive policy that deals with location as well as fees that's my thought the other point that Miss Gibbs raised and a second Jeff uh she talked about basically how do you enforce um there's nothing here about enforcing against abuse by duration of time we know at the El garage property the at least in the in season the um the valet people are going to enforce that because they're going to move cars around but um there probably should be some language in in about that in in in the document those are my comments thank you Jeff I I want to see more uh muscle on the bone here if you will and more detail on fee on the fees fee policy they're going to be up and active and live what are we charging how are we charging how do we develop our fees do we have other towns to go to use as a as a template um but but I really need to see you know what we're charging here we're going to have live stations you know what's going on I think we need more detail to be honest with you I know this is a policy about oh okay we can charge a fee but what are those fees going to be and do we recruit our investment blah blah blah I mean there's more work to be done here I think thanks Cory simply stated I'm I'm not going to make a decision tonight on this I think the proposals that are put put in place that were presented to us tonight which were not in the packet that were not available for public comment to weigh in one way or another would be bad policy for us to act on it I think they're generally fine I think Jeff brings up some very good points I'd like to see another draft or some kind of version come up that we're crystal clear on and we vote on it that's the pure mechanics of it so I appreciate all this input right now I'm not going to vote for any policy tonight I'm GNA concur yeah I'm going to concur I'm G to say I I understand the desire to have a policy in place for the Eldridge garage I think it would be instructive to address the the issues that je Jeff is articulating for the you if if it's coming from you to come back to us and say this is this is what we're proposing to do specifically with respect to fees at the Eldridge garage and then we can we can incorporate that into the the the policy rather than the other way around so I I'm not ready to do anything tonight either so and I think we can show that calculation pretty easily uh for the Elder girl garage and add the location section that would probably just be a two-liner basically for at the select board's approval um Terry I know that he and Kathy worked uh and reviewed many of the other Town's policies I I know that was sort of La lost on tonight's discussion because we presented it before Terry do you have any last words on on establishing the fees before we we move on Yeah well yeah on the feeds and then I do want to address the other public comment as well uh but just yeah so again we if you want more detail we can uh put you know what the surrounding towns are charging um in their methodology so again we we we have collected that data um and then we have um um so yeah we we can do that and then also I just want to add that um regarding the duration of the if you recollect we did have some um uh samples of signs in the previous uh iteration of the staff report of uh and we did talk about this a little with the ecac as well is making sure that be very clear on what um additional authorities so again in the actual implementation of the signs as was pointed out by the the police chief when we talked about it making sure that the fines Andor if there's an ability maybe to to tow cars away that are in in a in a location uh so that that could we could bring back more clarity on that and then just to the broader question of of let's call overuse or people who are staying in a spot for a longer time um generally the the part of a fee structure typically includes um um um let's call it a more punitive approach of um because all is uh it happens in kind of a Wi-Fi environment uh and maybe the chair had brought this up in an earlier discussion where we talked about the ability to charge a um um kind of a penalty fee a as your if if your car is done and you do not uh uh disconnect and pull out that you you are charged a um a rate that discourages you from staying in that location yeah it's very similar to anyone who's had child care and is late to pick up their kid you get charged by the minute and it's it's a fairly High fee and it seems to work to get you know people to move their cars it's it's standard in in all all you agreements that I've ever connected to okay good thank you thanks very much Terry thanks Bob you're welcome thank you okay um appointments Conservation Commission Mr chair yes sir move to appoint Robert dako as a member of the Conservation Commission until June 30 2027 unless soon revoked or SU successor is appointed second uh all those in favor Mr Mets I uh Mr dykens uh M uh Davis Hi Mr Shell says I and Mr nicastro I and the um cultural committee Mr chairman I move to appoint Ann Wade as a member of the cultural Council until June 30 2027 unless soon rotter successor appointed second all those in favor Mr necastro I Mr Shell says I Miss Davis I Mr Dyk hi and Mr Mets hi um I think that concludes our public agenda can I invite you Mr necastro to move us to Executive session thank you Mr chairman I move that the board select would go into executive session under Massachusetts general laws chapter 38 section 21 parenthesis 3 close parenthesis to discuss strategy with respect to litigation parth is 32 mhill Road closed parenthesis if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigation position of the public body and the chair so declares with no return to open session and the chair so declares second second uh all those in favor Mr matters I uh Mr Dyan I Miss Davis Mr Shell says I and Mr necastro I okay we are in executive session