e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] does she have to does she have to welcome chadam to the May 21 2024 meeting of the uh chadam select board please note this meeting is being recorded and will be available shortly Hereafter for scheduled and On Demand viewing on any smartphone or tablet device if anyone else is recording the meeting please notify the chair seeing none I will proceed pursuant to Governor Healey March 29th 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 1508 945 4410 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 chatam TV Xfinity channel 1072 this 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 with that I will start the meeting with the establishment of a quarin select board Mets pres select board member dykin present select board member Davis present and the chair is present select board member nastro present thank you a quick review and I'll I'll try to do this the way you have always done it uh Corey if I screw it up you can uh help me get over the first first time tonight we have um two sets of minutes April 30 and May 14 uh we have public announcements and agenda requests we have a public hearing uh with respect to a utility installation of a of conduit um uh from a proposed handhole uh for a customer installed handhole uh at 229 Main Street uh from eversource we then will have public comments on the business agenda this evening uh I'm going to rearrange the business agenda just slightly uh we've had a request um that the public be allowed to par participate alongside of the uh the board on the um review and discussion and follow-up items from the 2024 annual town meeting and I'm going to move that down uh from the first item to the um I guess it'll be the now the third item so that we can get the more routine items out of the way and then the things that only involve the board will be uh we'll start with that discussion of the um the town meeting uh we'll also consider a use of town property uh request for the Town Hall basement on December 31 2024 for first night uh item C is considering a donation acceptance for um Kate Gould Park um some planters from the Garden Club and the chadam Chamber of Commerce um and then we will uh as I said have the uh the town meeting discussion followed by a discussion of Select board liaison assignments and we'll close up with select board summer 2024 meeting schedule um and with that that uh I will invite comments and our motions on uh the the uh April 30 minutes Mr chair U um move approval of minutes for April 30th 2024 do I second uh any comments on the April 30 minutes Mr necastro thank you Mr chairman uh I have a couple of the mostly U typos which Kathy May already have caught on page two at the very bottom there is um something left out on the motion I think you caught that then on page um four um Second full paragraph Mr Shell made a motion um Town Council is U misspelled cou and on page five right in the middle um attorney Bill Riley third line we should insert the word commission after district and then on page eight I had a question this has to do with the very end the board enter entered into executive session I I didn't check prior versions to see how we've done this but you have an indication of the motion to adjourn I don't know that that has ever been disclosed except when the actual executive session minutes we simply I think say the board um ended executive session at whatever time six well you already have it the board adjourned at 6:55 that would this motion would be included in the um executive session minutes that's it Mr chairman thank you um Miss Davis um it's just a um housekeeping but um participating from the board uh I just want it noted that member Shireen Davis participated in the 4:30 pm executive meeting only okay okay uh we have a motion in a second uh did you have something Jeff NOP oh sorry um select board member Mets I select board member dyin hi and select board member Davis abstain select board member ni Castro I and the chair says yes I um okay the minutes of May 14 move approval second uh any comments if not uh yes Mr necastro yes thank you um on page two um I just have a couple um page two under public announcements just wanted to clarify um with some edits here what actually I said in the second line where it said um toward the end includes I would insert responses to the comments made at the public forum and then I would strike the phrase incorporated into the design and then on page five just a typo one um third paragraph veterans we should insert the word field in the motion Veterans Field and lastly um on page seven four the fifth full paragraph um second line um before Council chadam Council and aging I would insert director LaCrosse or the Council on Aging and I would insert board and then in the fourth line of that paragraph I would strike um I'm sorry in the in the Fifth Line I would strike the word given and substitute commanded for her hard work and my last um item is on that same page um I I don't have an amendment to the a correction to the minutes but we had a request uh and an offer from Elaine Gibbs that her um written statement that she read to the board be attached to the minutes so I would request that that be attached to the minutes okay um so we'll any comment or objection to that so we'll attach that to your motion to approve with that attachment so amended and the second second um Mr matters I um uh Mr tikin hi Miss Davis Hi Mr necastro hi and Mr Shel say I okay public announcements and agenda requests start with the board Mr Mets thank you Mr chair I just wanted to take a brief moment to thank all those who uh went out on the lovely weather on Thursday and cast their votes on the various candidates of the various um individuals on the ballot this year um I mean obviously I'm particularly grateful of my results that I'm still around but um I just want to appreciate those people who stepped forward and exercised to write the vote so thank you thank you um Miss Davis um this is just um for um T manager acting T manager who I talked to over the weekend about this issue but I wanted to bring it to attention because I think there was a few people that were talking about it in social media um and it's about the opening dates for the downtown public bathrooms last week weekend we were at a restaurant downtown um behind the Orum and the parking lots were absolutely packed and as we're having our lunch there must have been um and this was like 1 p.m. uh after talking to the staff there must have been 10 to 12 people that had come in that weren't customers at requesting to use the restroom and as the town is bustling and the parking lots are you know getting full and whatnot I think um we need to assess when the town's getting busy now is it simply just just around Memorial Day or is it more the month of May so I would cons ask that we look at whether to open our town facilities earlier than later thank you good point yeah I we we spent a lot of time downtown this weekend and um it was mobbed all weekend so um was today too any any others from the board uh Mr oppenheim um thank you David oppenheim uh two agenda requests uh the first one is and and I it's it's an agenda request so that we can get clarification it would be regarding uh Stepping Stones Road property and 127 old Harbor Road and what's going to happen um I don't know I think they're sitting there uh waiting to be uh maybe an RFP or something like that so I think you know we're just in the middle of our dealing with rfps on uh two properties the the former Buckley property and meeting house but I don't think these things should just wait we need to continue making progress so I'd like to see an agenda item to um so that we're all clear on what the procedure is is it going to the affordable housing trust to handle the rfps or is it something that's going to be done Cooperative they're own differently they have different requirements available to them or options available to them and um so I'd like to see that on sooner rather than later uh so that's one thank you and the second one is and this has come been coming up for a couple times I think there needs to be an agenda item and a serious discussion about how people are going to pay for their hookup uh their um sewer hookups and I'm not just talking about growing departs I know the the waterways advisory committee oh I'm sorry Water and Sewer advisory committee is working and looking at the issue with grinder pumps and things like that and hopefully that will uh come to some resolution at some point but what's changed a lot is is there are people now getting their requirements to hook up I believe when it passes at some point in time when it's approved you're given two years I believe it's I believe it's two years to hook up and even if it's gravity let's leave the grinder pumps out of the whole thing um when this all started when we prove this what 12 13 14 years ago um and going back even pre pandemic if you had a house close to the road and you were hooking up gravity feed and you didn't have to change your plumbing it really wasn't you know it's expensive but it wasn't you know an enormous amount of money like everything else that's changed I've had several people that I've spoken to and people that have brought it to my attention not really understanding process and everything else you can now be looking if everything is easy and you don't it's gravity and your Plumbing's going out the right direction of the front of the house and there's not a lot of landscaping you can probably do it for five or $6,000 if you have to change your plumbing and reverse it if you have huge Landscaping issues grading issues and things it can start to run 15 to 20,000 it's nothing to do with grinder pumps or generators or CH you don't have to change your electrical things so I think we should I've always thought we should be able to have an option of doing this by edent I think we should look into betterment options uh it's done all over the place it was discussed and it was it was told it's too complicated I don't even understand that idea betterments have done all over the place whether it's for water or sewer process um for a lot of people they can't come up with 10 or5 or $220,000 they can't get to the bank they don't have a helck or something where they have a line of credit interest rates are very expensive people don't want to jeopardize their mortgages and things like that so there's no cost to the I mean once it's set up there's basically no cost to the town if the town gives pays for it it's put on your tax bill it's secure and the benefit to the taxpayer is they get to pay for it over many years 20 years or something along those lines and they're paying the interest rate the town's paying instead of the interest rates we're hearing about mortgages are now what 7 and a half% and things so I think that um this should go on your I mean it's kind there are a lot of people that have been noticed that they need need to do it there I a lot of people don't want to come to this body and and talk about their personal finances which you can certainly understand um so I just it just makes sense for town government to do this uh and again it's not all over the country it's done all over Massachusetts um and perhaps before you actually if you set an agenda item perhaps at that date that you discuss this you may have information of what the process would be if you did if you chose to do it and what the methodology is so it could be resolved fairly quickly thank you thank you um I see two hands oh I'm sorry uh DD Holt here in the in the room in person thank you um good evening uh D Holt chadam um I am agenda item request and I represent nobody except me for this request um I think uh at town meeting the discussion regarding uh article 40 the airport a gentleman who identified himself as a a 92-year-old uh longtime resident uh either made a suggestion or asked the question is what is the best use for 100 plus acres and um uh if you were at the meeting and there was a enthusiastic response to that that matter and so the more I thought about it I thought well you know why not why not take a look at this um times have changed a lot certainly our needs have changed what hasn't changed is the amount of land we have as a matter of fact we're losing a little bit to erosion so it it made sense to me that it was about time I don't think a a study of the uh best use of that land has been done in I think it one was done a long time ago I don't know how independent it was but it seems to me it's it's it's time to look at that again I mean we have a lot of needs now um so my my uh I guess suggestion for a um an agenda item is that the board consider a discussion of if that's even worth uh going out and commissioning an independent study to look at or not so that's my request that it be discussed and see if it's of any mer Merit thank you thank you anybody else in the room if not I see two hands raised online uh I'm going to guess that NS might be Miss Stern is that right that's correct you're you're you're up okay Nicole Stern good evening select board guests public I am asking that as a newly organized board you will as soon as possible vote to allow public participation during the discussion of agenda items not out of context at the beginning of a meeting I am requesting an agenda item that including that and an opportunity for answering questions from citizens as you look back to last Tuesday's annual meeting I hope you reive the message that so many of us tried to send through our votes we are looking for transparency honesty and the opportunity to participate public forums and hearings should be held before you vote on an issue the public should be given an opportunity to address articles before they are put on the warrant the public should be allowed in real time to comment on agenda items at your meetings chatam voters want genuine effective access to the process I look forward to seeing this request quickly implemented sending as our select board your message to the voters that their participation is valued and respected thank you thank you Mr um and I'm going to guess that the SB that has his hand up is Mr Buckley that's right good guess uh yes Steve Buckley I have a request for an agenda item and uh that is regarding um official email accounts uh was not too long ago that the uh select board uh was using their personal email addresses for official business and um I don't like I said I forget exactly when it got switched over but uh you all have official email addresses that end with chadam d.gov and so you're not commingling your personal correspondence by email and with your official correspondence by you know which is great and that's the way it should be for any government employee and I would like to suggest that uh anyone who is conducting official business as a committee uh member also have the same uh a privilege I guess or the idea of being that there be a separate official email account that they will receive their official uh correspondence concerning official business and uh they won't be subject uh to public records requests for their personal uh email addresses so anyway that's what I hope to put on there and I would think that the bonus would be that uh you might get more people uh applying for some of the empty spots uh on the Committees if they knew that that was the case they get an official email address even if it wasn't permanent of course only while they were committee members so I'd like that to be in an agenda item if unless unless the town manager can do that with a you know wave of the hand or whatever administratively then I'd like to be a topic of discussion thank you very much thank you Mr Buckley um anything else from online or in the room I I I want to add one comment of a sort of a nature of not a request but I just want to follow on um Corey's expression of appreciation for being elected I I was pleased to see that um I think we had about a thousand votes I was happy to see that uh uh obviously the candidates that won congratulations uh my colleagues uh Mr necastro and Mr Mets but I also want to say to Mr Phillips thanks for running and and I hope that that b speaks um increased participation by uh folks from your age cohort so thank you um on that note I will turn to um the public hearing could we read the um notice of public hearing please my my pleasure um town of chadam Select board public hearing notice the chadam select board will hold a public hearing at 5:30 on Tuesday May 21st 2024 to consider a petition from NSTAR Electric Company doing business as eversource energy to install for 40 foot 40 ft of one 1/4 or 1-4 I it's separated so I can't tell quarter inch I guess conduit from proposed H uh handhole 16-3a to customer installed handhole 16 h3b at 229 Main Street chadam the public is welcomed to attend the meeting in person or participate via Link in the meeting supp posted agenda all interested parties are encouraged to participate uh Chad and bard of selectman thank you do we have somebody here from ever source to present online I believe you have Julie longa online yes I'm here thank you welcome thank you so good evening my name is Julie longer and I'm representing evur and again evur is proposing to install approximately 40 ft of 1x4 in conduit under Main Street from the proposed handhold 6 over h3a to customer installed handhold 16 over h3b this work is necessary to provide underground service for the home at 229 Main Street thank you are there any comments or questions from the public seeing none there's one online Mr chairman oh I didn't see um I I don't recognize PR but you're you're recognized to speak or ask thank you can you hear me yes we can hear you okay thank you um my name is Pam runquist th the pr um so I am the daughter or one of the daughters of Maryanne gray who owns uh or owned the property at 233 Main Street and my mother has passed away but the property is now owned by our family trust and um we got a notice about this hearing but the um doc the diagram of the properties shows another name uh as the owner uh or was listed as the owner of our 233 Main Street there's a name of Daniel Dimitri and uh we we don't know who that is and my sister who's the administrator of the trust who unfortunately is traveling today so couldn't be on she has been trying to call both eversource and the city assessors office to find out where that name came from the Daniel Dimitri so it's not we're we're mainly just concerned about why this name popped up on this um plot um this diagram of the properties when that isn't somebody who we know who it is can I get some help here Mr chairman I'm actually checking online I'm checking databases to see if I can figure this out all right so we're we're making an inquiry online if you'll bear with us momentarily any other comments or questions from the public how did you get notice of of of this if it wasn't addressed to you um yes so uh good question um so it was addressed to Daniel Dimitri but sent to my sister's address so so you you so the London Ohio addresses your sister correct yes so that address is correct it's just the name is disconcerning to us because we don't know who that is Mr chairman the Assessor's Database has the property owner is Beach days LLC in New Jersey at at at 229 Main Street no no no we're looking at 233 Main Street is the question apologize yeah it's 233 Main Street is our the family Cottage and it should be the Maran greay Trust the um family of Mary and gray that is the gray Family Trust on the Assessor's Database so perhaps there was a mistake um so ever Source when they maybe they didn't change a name perhaps on you know from a different map so so do you apart from that issue um do you have any um problem or objection with the um our approving this installation no no we don't um we would just you know like to um the diagram updated with the correct name of our trust um so let me leave our fames owned it for a long time so it uh for a decade so it um it maybe it's just a mistake it was pulled from another property but um Mr chairman yes sir maybe uh since we do have a representative from ever Source maybe that individual can follow up with u yeah I I I was going to ask that we actually have both our town uh official whoever is responsible for providing the list and ever Source uh or eversource alone if they acquired it on their own confirmed to the actual um homeowner that that they have the correct address but subject to that if there's no objection I would take a motion move approval Mr chairman second all those in favor Mr metus hi Mr Dy hi M Davis Hi Mr Shell says I and Mr necastro hi okay thank you very much for that um correction yeah thank you for taking care of it I appreciate it so we will now turn to public comments on the business agenda except the comments on the um annual town meeting which we'll take um in parallel with the discussion and the business agenda includes um discussion of the request for use of town property for first night on December 31 that's item now a Item B uh donation acceptance with respect to some planners for Kate G Park item D select board liazon assignments and item sorry uh D will be um e is Select board summer 2024 meeting schedule are there any comments from the public either online or in the room I don't see any so I will turn to um the first item considering use of town property uh the Town Hall basement thank you chairman shell my name is Paul Stuka and I'm representing first night shadam tonight uh for the first time in at least five years we will be having first night on a weekday and one of the facilities we use is the basement of the town hall and we would like if possible to get access to that room beginning at 11: a.m. to set up our first show would be at 100 p.m. and our plans would be to continue through 10 p.m in the evening which is the last show of the night uh usually I come to you in October November to ask for Town facilities but this one we decided that we should address earlier in the year given that it is a week night this year thank you um do we have any comment from the town staff on that you thank you Mr chairman so as stated in your in the agenda report it is a regular work day for Town staff and so um our suggestion was that the um the group be able to gain access at about 2:00 p.m. to set up but then start their uh performances at 4 p.m. only to not distract from the work that's being done at Town Hall um we're certainly happy to revisit that but that um is you know something that staff thought would be important is that you know there's if there's music playing um it may be distracting to some of the workers in the in the building at that time that's not quite what you asked for well the later we get in the fewer shows we have that's the that's the situation well uh Mr Met no I I it's been quite a while since we've had to deal with this type of situation for I haven't done it in my tenure and this is my fifth year I want to say they you the first night was allowed to start around like one or two for performances I know early in the I guess my my feeling is on that day most people are already not looking to do regular business if they're going to do it they're going to do it in the morning because most likely if if the weather's good Town's going to be fairly active parking etc etc so I would definitely not want to interrupt regular business in the morning but I don't think 1 or two in the afternoon to start performances is unreasonable for one day because we can certainly plan accordingly um and it is in the downstairs meeting room area which is really not a area that we use on a regular business today anyway it's all our traffic is upstairs so um I think it's I don't think it's going to be that unreasonable to go a little bit earlier and I would report rolling it back a couple hours but I'm open for discussion Dean Mr chairman the the memo that we got from the staff says and I'll read it the relatives the pertinent sentence so uh in past years when New Year's Eve falls on a weekday a regular workday performances held on Town H Hall at Town Hall have not begun until after 4 p.m. when the work day ends so staff are not interrupted however performers were granted access to the space at 2:00 pm pm to set up if necessary so I don't know how far back that goes I heard what you said about the past 5 years um but I I just think that should be out there in the as part of the conversation I I Shireen go ahead yeah I um I I tend to agree with Dean on this um only because you know we um we have people it's not just about customer services but people are working on projects or or uh you know have been um delicated to do specific tasks during the day and you know if there's a music playing and let's say it's not acoustical music then it could be somewhat distracting um I don't think that um we should put that out on the 10 employees and that's my thoughts oh you planning music uh early in the afternoon or uh the plan would be to have music now we could change the agenda to have life music earlier in the afternoon certainly or a puppet show or you know I'm serious um we could certainly change that yeah you know we could change our scheduling but you we'll accept whatever you grant us but the fewer shows we have obviously the less attractive it is to the community but you know we could plan activities that are not alloud and do not require a lot of sound equipment early in the day I I think I would like to find a a you know a happy res resolution here I am getting the feeling that there hasn't maybe been a full discussion between yourself and the and the town staff am I wrong about that I mean I have not discussed it with the town staff I think there's been some back and forth on email between our entertainment director and the town staff and clearly the request was to have it as early as possible yeah but you know we understand this is not a usual situation at least it has not been a usual situation I mean I'll I'll defer to whatever the will of the the group is here on this side of the table but I I kind of wonder whether it wouldn't make sense to put this off a week or two and and let you have a serious conversation this is what we'd like to do hear what their concerns are and try to come back to us with a uh something that you can all recommend to us is that is that okay yes we'll look at some activities we may be able to schedule that are not requiring a sound system or certainly loud music good thank you thank you yep thank you uh next item is a donation acceptance for Kate G Park and we have Angela bukar to present thank you very much thank you congratulations congratulations on your reelection so as part to uh the chamber we uh have a beautification committee and we we like to reinvest a lot of our um Surplus into making things pretty we have partnered with the Garden Club so I have Katherine with me and also Edie from the the Garden Club we have used their services and and in partnership with with the beautification this year to decorate and plant flowers in our window boxes on the Main Street Booth as an extension of that we would like to put 36 in round Planters where you see those two arrows just opposite of where the apron enters into the park so imagine it as your front door and inside of those Planters we have four seasonal changes so in your packets I believe you saw the quote of what we're looking at so the initial investment would be the purchase of the actual 36in round containers and those containers are classically rolled Planters crafted from strong durable polyurethane the Planters are recommended for interior and exterior use also the polyurethane will allow for the dirt and things as as you know rain it'll keep it clean but Aesthetics it would match and won't chip so it would actually match the fence by way of really really giving a beautiful entrance to the park we're looking at the initial annual planting season to begin hopefully right now before Memorial Day um and in that you can see the menu of flowers that we're looking at planting for the summer planting we have fall planting and then winter planting So based on seasonality and what those flowers are certainly but there will be a change and it will also mirror and reflect what's happening at the booth as well so that is the the booth is actually a town garden and on the garden tour but then this would be a nice extension with with the flowers there as well and then we do have a proposed uh 2025 planting so there's four seasonal change outs the investment and gift to the town would be in an around $3,200 in gift but if you look below you'll that the labor has been gifted also from the Garden Club at no cost they'll be watering planting um 7 hours of watering maintaining around 30 weeks of actual maintenance so the flowers will be beautiful up until spring of 2025 the ask is that we can actually put the Planters right at the entrance of the park in some cases some of those flowers can be repurposed or reused and replanted into town Gardens where we currently have some of the other flowers as well so that's what we're here thank you questions from the board Corey um well first of all thank you very much for this donation offer the only question I have is and and I'm not sure if I'm mixing up my locations a little bit is this a general area like the Boy Scouts Cub Scouts setup on band concert nights is it this EX the area or is it a little bit to the side and I'm only asking is is there any relocation of past history past pest activities that are happened in this general area that we're going to make adjustments for um if we put these planners in I don't have any knowledge or history of where they set up um if you look at you know the size and where the entrance is you know certainly if we tucked it closer to where the entrance was we just don't want to impact that gray apron so it would actually look as two bookends as you were entering into the front um and certainly if if they needed to set up they could set up you know right beside it or and again they they they're not physically you know harnessed to the ground so if we needed to scoot them and and move them you know certainly we could as well they'll be heavy because they'll be full of soil and plants but um it's really it's to make it so that it looks like a beautiful fr ENT no okay thank you de thank you uh thank you Angel these will look very nice but appr propo of what Cory was asking it might be and and I'm very much in favor of doing this might be worth a conversation with the Boy Scouts so that there there are no surprises or uh in negative impacts um as you go forward with this when do they is there history or is there IM they do it on band concert nights on Friday night as far as my memory serves me is it's band concert nights and because you can't sell things in the park it's just on this little out skirting area that they set up and I remember popcorn and glow sticks I glow sticks okay okay so um different activities in the past but it's right in that kind of just outside the entrance area so um and they made have pivoted over the years I I don't make it down much as I used to I'm kind of busy in my own shop so um I don't exactly know exactly where they locate now but I my memory serves me is that they're in that general area there's sometimes in the rear where the parking lot is down below where but I have seen them in that general area as well and technically the Planters would be inside the park where where the fence actually in the apron ends so they would have to be out either on that sidewalk or down at that parking lot but you know definitely worth a phone call and and just confirming but um I think this is a nice Community collaboration and I'm very supportive of it have the conversation with the Boy Scouts I just have um I don't want to be the skunk at the garden party here I I'm in favor of this I I think it's wonderful I just have two questions one is is this heavy enough so that it's not going to be able to be rolled over or I mean it's it's somehow going to be anchored um either by weight or otherwise I'm going to defer with the I'll have Ed come in and speak about the actual weight once the soil is put into the containers okay okay H Ed Hamilton these containers will end up being quite heavy they'll have a lot of soil in them we're planning to put hydranges in each one and plants around them so I think they'll be rather massive and and they will not be blown over or knocked over okay I yeah I'm more worried about they being moved than blown over or knocked over whatever and then my last question is um you have a one-year plan here what what is the plan for after TW the spring of 2025 we would hope to continue continue um and okay the the initial expense is really the containers okay okay I I'm I'm supportive if there are no other comments uh I will move approval motion second second okay thank you all in favor uh select board me Mets I select board dykens hi select board member uh Davis Hi select board member uh Nic Castro hi and select board member says I thank you very much thank you this I look forward to seeing this it look pretty okay that brings us to the conversation on the annual town meeting review and discussion of follow-up items um I'm inclined to start with the public do we have any comments or or there there seem to be considerable interest from the public I don't see any anybody online um Miss Gibbs has her hand up Mr uh Miss Gibbs uh yes I think the purpose for asking this is so we could hear what the board has to say and then we could comment so if you guys have your discussion then if we have anything to say I think that's when we do go ahead okay we'll do it your way um anybody from the board would like to start Mr dykens thank you Mr chairman yeah uh tell meeting um there are good things and bad things or things that I found you know heartening and certain things that I found disheartening I I think think the notion that we pass an operating budget capital budget mono Regional School budget um Tech budget um were great but I I I think you'd have to be a dunderhead to not feel a certain malays uh undercurrent of of dissatisfaction um anger even um at times which I found you know bothersome and and um bothersome and the the one item I think kind of spilled over into other items was the the article 40 on the airport and I'm not g I hope I don't steal anybody's Thunder but I I do think that article kind of set the stage even though it was kind of late in the agenda set the stage for the the rest of the evening we had 500 some odd voters there that quickly became 300 after that article was um was uh defeated um I have a little bit to say I'm not on the airport commission as you guys well as everybody well knows and and I'm not an expert here but I I I felt I I wanted to speak so badly at that town meeting I felt there was so much misinformation flying around so much mistrust uh and and not understanding some of the issues um I've spoken to a couple folks that I really respect after the town meeting and literally the quotes were we don't trust the airport commission we don't trust what every what anybody's doing at the airport literally and these These are people that are intelligent that ask good questions and and I I respect immensely so I I I I think that folks have to understand that in terms of trimming around the airport this town has had the right to trim and correct me if I'm wrong but we've had the right by bylaw to trim trees that were unsafe around that airport whether it was on the North End of the airport or the South End of the airport by right we just haven't done it we haven't kept up with it so I hope I'm speaking correctly there and we have every right to do so if to keep the airport safe if anybody can possibly imagine in the wildest dreams that the Cape Cod Commission working a concert with our Conservation Commission would allow the airport commission or anybody or this town to clearcut 60 or 70 Acres of of of woods around that airport they don't get it no no one those bodies are never going to approve that we would never approve that way so to to have folks stand up there and and say passionately that the airport commission is going to clearcut 60 or 78 Acres of woods is just mind-numbing to me to and not not respond I was so frustrated as not being able to respond to that because working in a negotiated way between those two bodies I can't imagine them approving a clearcut it's just not going to happen folks if it does then God forbid um the planes landing there and and then the 92y old I didn't get his name that to say that you know we should nuke the airport get rid of it does Mr roer used to call it the golden handcuffs the fa our relationship with the FAA and there there's something to be said if we were if we were to Nuke the airport and discontinue operations there and take it over for other purposes I can't imagine the FAA who has underwritten that airport to the tune of tens of millions of dollars over the years would not have something to say about that number one number two the airport is critical to to medf flights to to fishing to Commerce to to a whole bunch of different things in this town that are incredibly incredibly important to the overall well-being of this town I I believe it's a tremendous asset and de's you know request this evening was interesting because you know here it is very timely I thought but but we really take a hard look but I can't imagine the FAA wouldn't weigh in and weigh in heavily on on if we decided to do another incredible purpose there Council and aging are yeah there's a lot of land but it's an airport um so I I again I'm not an expert but I I I I was screaming for some common sense on that issue because what I heard was not a lot of common sense at times I heard passion I heard other other interests I heard you know folks worried about trees I get it we're all worried about trees we want to be as protective as we possibly can but I also heard an awful lot of misinformation that I really thought got out of control and kind of really after after that article really spilled into a bunch of other other articles um with negativity at some measure especially even at the beginning the the town meeting to mean I've been quite frankly I don't mean to take this over you guys but I've been a I've been a I don't think I've missed a town meeting since I landed here and I've never had the the feeling of negativity that I felt from the start at that town meeting there was an undercurrent of it I could feel it palpably um and you you know in years past and I'm not ringing my hands here but in years past if the select board the finance committee and the chronicle all agreed on on an article it would normally pass it would it would pass with some discussion sometimes without discussion but normally it would pass and that is not the case anymore and that's not not necessarily a bad thing but it's just not necessarily the case anymore so I wonder bottom line to me is are we getting our message out and are we articulating our positions well enough to get the vote out so that folks are willing to support those articles that that we support because we we supported many of those articles unanimously and it it it it it's a bit mystifying um maybe it shouldn't be but it's a bit mystifying that when we work so hard and and scrutinize uh articles and present them as our our our warrant as our our listing of our priorities for the town and for us to spend so much time so doing and then having them kind of nuked is is somewhat disheartening so I'm not ringing my hands about it I just think that I want home immediately after the after the meeting and wrote notes because you know I I I had felt so strongly about some items especially the airport um I do think we should I'm not going to I'm sure folks are going to speak but I do think we should break some of those larger that larger ask apart for projects Etc and I'll stop there you guys but but um I think we need to do a better job I guess to to get out our voice and make sure the town understands our voice or our position um again I was a bit frustrated not being able to speak at town meeting um on certain articles but I'll stop there I'll have more to say later on but I thank you Mr chairman thank you Mr chairman um I have several comments covering a multitude of issues I'll try to make it brief I mean overall um I did not think it was an unsuccessful town meeting um we had 47 articles only four articles failed um three I would regard as especially consequential and I want to talk about them separately but the operating and capital budgets were approved without debate for perhaps as many as 5 years in a row I didn't haven't gone back and looked at them both School budgets passed without debate as did the funding for our Public Safety Union contracts without debate so I think in large part it was it was a very productive meeting and I do commend the voters for coming out expressing their voices and votes that's the Democratic process I do think there were some messages that were spoken and I share I share the concerns that Mr dykens talked uh about concerning the air airport which I'll mention in a moment um let me take up the topics that the the the articles that weren't passed the Waterfront Bond $1 million now we approved town meeting approved an $1 million Bond some years ago um I don't recall that there was any debate or criticism of that at the time and it functioned to fund a number of projects or begin SE the design on several projects including 90 Bridge Street then we ran into covid and 90 Bridge Street became more complicated because um not just because select board member Davis and I raised some concerns about the original um cost but if you remember the upweller was always going to be there and there was a a new structure that was going to be built for an upweller it was the boat house coming into chadam that complicated it and required a redesign so covid comes in prices go up and I think that contributed to the concern about the cost of the Waterfront Bond but I did have a conversation with the town manager before town meeting after the finance committee considered this article and I know although they endorsed it they had a split vote and they were concerned and I said to the town manager this approach I supported this time but I wouldn't support it again in the future because I don't think you can go to town meeting with basically with with what basically is a letter of credit and ask them to just give you a a pile of money from which you can spend now I know it's problematic not to take that approach because I think I've had a conversation with selectman Mets about this that Grant monies are more likely to come to us when the state knows we have this kind of flexibility but I think we're going to have to go before town meeting with project by project and we should start with 90 Bridge Street um I think that's an important project and I think that um I don't know if there are any um modifications that can be made that would reduce the cost the problem is you're going to have to pay for the modifications you're going to have to pay for the design of the modifications and that's going to run up the cost I'll leave that to the staff and um to work out you know with our Consultants as as as need be as we deal with the boat house the transfer station I was really very disappointed that that did not pass I really do think that is important for the safety of town staff and all those who use the transfer station and for the environmental considerations and concern of the neighborhood I hope that we can come back and bring that to town meeting um if there is some if there is some value engineering that can be done with that I I'll defer to Mr phy and the staff and the town manager the airport article I don't know whether expanding the map or updating the map was fundamental to anything I defer to the airport Commission on that whether as a matter of law but as Mr dyens pointed out the airport has been able to trim trees for upwards of 50 years they just haven't done it in more recent times and I think that um it's important that the airport work on better ways I guess to communicate and educate what it really wants to do I understand that there are only 21 properties that were going to be affected by tree trimming or tree REM tree removal excuse me um we know that there were about 180 additional properties that were notified and I was insistent that there be some sort of notification and everybody knows that but um there was a lot of hyperbole discussed uh at at the at the town meeting and I think the suggestion that the airport should be closed is ridiculous I will never support that and if I were chair of this board I would not even put the item on our agenda I had meeting with one of the members of one of the um leading critics of the airport recently and I said with all your criticism why don't you you bring a petition article to town meeting to close the airport let town meeting decide once and for all and I think you'll see an attendance that's a lot larger than what we had at this most most recent town meeting and I suspect very strongly that the airport the continuation of the airport would would would be upheld I feel very strongly about that and I will defend the integrity and honesty of the airport commission members and I want to bring up two other items related to housing oh by the way with respect to the Waterfront Bond and the transfer station because there has been some comment around town as to whether the select board is interested in using the or relying on the votes that took place at the election in support of those those articles as a basis for calling a special town meeting as we did at the senior center I would not support that the senior center was a different story there was a one vote difference these these articles lost by more than that and if there are going to be new warrant articles on these items there should be new ballot questions now let me just say a couple of things about housing and this is really a messaging thing I think that the article dealing with the $750,000 contribution from the community preservation fund to the affordable housing trust was very telling it was nearly defeated and I think that sends a message frankly to the affordable housing trust that there is considerable public angst and concern about how the issues of Housing Development and density are to be dealt with and I don't want to read anything dramatically into it but I think people should pay attention to to that vote when you have somebody like a John car standing up at town meeting who has a history of involvement volunteer involvement in affordable housing and is a past shair of the community preservation committee I think people should take notice and the citizen petition at the end on article 40 article 47 which I supported I also supported the funding for the 750,000 as well that was somewhat complicated article and unfortunately it was basically placed at the last minute on our agenda and I think the message there is you're asking for too much in Too Short a period of time so those are my you know that's my critique of town meeting it's kind of a mixed critique but overall I mean I didn't feel as badly as others did I was disappointed very disappointed in um the bonding articles I was disappointed in the airport article because I thought it made sense I still think still think it makes sense and I think that unfortunately um a lot of incorrect information was put out about it or at least people didn't understand the the significance of uh the airport commission's efforts at safety thank you Mr chairman sorry to have taken so long Cory go ahead sure thank you Mr chair so I basically I'm not gonna restate a lot of what my colleagues have already said but I will go over a couple things one um with the airport um I am I am not of the opinion of taking any action to close the airport um but I am of the opinion there are some reasonable uh concerns that have been put out there that we can certainly have discussions either between us or the airport commission uh to get some clear facts out there because I do think the airport is an asset of the Town um but I do think there's some concerns about unknown factors that for growth down the road whether they're true they're not true we got to get ahead of that and clarify what the um future plan is for the airport I think those are reasonable conversations to have with the transfer station um I've been a big supporter of the transfer station um the elements of our staff safety accommodations lockers break rooms Etc um that a long overdue I understand you know this transfer station project is is you know the price is taking up as we go along every year after year um but we have to get these elements taken care of at some way shape or form because we owe it we made a we made a PR frankly a promise to our staff that we would to start addressing this and um we need to keep that promise uh because the accommodations are subpar and that's a nice way of saying it and I applaud to all our staff members who have stayed there working under those conditions because it really it really is not deal um the Waterfront Bond you know asking for another 11 million plus I doesn't surprise me um I know there's probably consensus or thought that we're going to come by you know article to article or project to project uh I still would like to talk to staff because I still have some concerns about having some level of flexibility to allow us better opportunities for grant funding the cport economic Grant uh Cort Economic Council has given an excess of a million dollar I believe it's like 1.5 million dollars on these projects um and I and I truly believe a lot of that factor is that we have some flexibility to Pivot and and move from a move from one project to another in a reasonable amount of time um so we need to come up with a balance I I don't want to do project to project if I can help it I really don't want to give up that funding that we've been so successful with and frankly I think we would continue to have success take a real hard look at that because I don't want to lose out on Grant fundings because we we've been doing that for the past housing um obviously the um the message was sent out there's you know kind of open up some conversations to the public um that vote was where to go the funding funding vote was 261 to 247 that's extremely close that was that was a message sent to the to the board um understood and heard and I think we can accommodate uh Communications transparency and and involvement with the public um I'm I'm supportive of that and I think the rest of the board can be um will be and and finally um you know the citizens petition article 47 um my analysis of that is um kind of the mistake I served on the planning board years ago before I was on the select board and the one lesson I learned um early is we put these articles together and there's the mechanics of crafting an article and then you got to have an educational element and then you bring it down to meeting it was done too short too short of a window article had Merit but unfortunately was not vetted in a manner that I think the public would have liked to have seen um you know kind of fested a little bit maybe it mended certain um components of it um but it it was just the way it was approached and brought to the to the town meeting that I think was one of the major elements of why it didn't move forward and was definitely postponed um but I think with the correct and proper discussions um you know that may have a a future another town meeting so I do appreciate all those who attend a town meeting um it was definitely a different tone than I've felt in a long time and you know I've I've attended my fair share of town meetings um but