##VIDEO ID:GoEYZi7H6G0## what are you wasting your the other side of the know your neighbor ready I see oh yeah okay it being 6:00 I'm going to call to order this select board meeting of September 99 2024 I want to let everybody know that chancell tele media is broadcasting this meeting live and recording it for later rebroadcast um if you would join me in the pledge of Allegiance stes thank you so we have um four members of our board here tonight and one member is joining us by Zoom Pat Malone is joining us by Zoom this even so we will start with public service announcements okay so first we have um an announcement from the age friendly chelsford um the friends of the senior center I'm sorry um they're introducing October know your neighbor socials all around Chelmsford free know your neighbor kits available to all chelsford Town departments groups and clubs or businesses they include pin um Icebreaker chat cards to encourage conversations name tags and printed flyers and a social Media Kit if requested um if you're interested in hosting your own you can contact Deb serani um at 978 25153 3 and you are supposed to register by September 25th 2024 PR your kit next we have a Proclamation the town of chelsford proclamation for national service dog month September 2024 whereas we believe in the joyful transformative power of the human canine Bond and inclusive inclusivity of all residents and whereas in the United States 64 million adults and children have a disability and only 16,000 service dogs from accredited training programs exist Nationwide and the need is growing and whereas we recognize and support organizations which provide expertly trained service dogs ongoing support to ensure quality Partnerships and puppies that are specially bred raised and trained for their future careers and whereas service dogs Empower people with disabilities to lead life with greater Independence and enhanced quality of life and whereas national service dog month aims to educate our community about the benefits of service dogs and the laws protecting them and whereas the town of chelsford continues to work toward becoming an inclusive community in which all residents and their service dogs are embraced now therefore in recognition of service dogs and the adults and children with disabilities in our community we the chum select board do hereby Proclaim September to be national service dog month and encourage all residents to celebrate service dogs and be respectful of the rights afforded to the adults children and Veterans who lead more independent lives because of their assistance next we have an announcement uh about The Walking group that is hosted by the health department they welcome you to join as they walk on the Bruce Freeman rail trail the 2 and fourth Tuesday uh of every month May through September from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. they meet at the 110 ball fields at the intersection of Fletcher Street and chelsford Street um for questions you can contact the health department 978 250 5241 another announcement from the chelsford health department department they are hosting a karaoke sober Edition every second Friday of the month it is at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts in the Cabaret room from 7:00 p.m. to 10: p.m. free admission mocktails available for purchase and snacks and next we have an announcement from the strategic planning committee uh we and our strategic planning consultant Barry Dunn are hosting a community kickoff event for the Strategic plan uh it is familyfriendly there'll be free ice cream snacks and kids and craft activities available Gathering starts at 5:30 p.m. and the formal meeting will start at 6: and we're really encouraging anyone who can come um and would like to uh weigh into the future of chelsford and get an orientation to the whole process to please join us thank you than uh the chumford health department would also like to announce CPR training Monday sep September 23rd um at the chelsford Town Hall at 50 Billa road that is from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. it's $20 per person Chelmsford residents only and participants who complete the 4-Hour training will obtain an American Heart Association heart saers CPR AED first aid certificate that is valid for 2 years questions can be directed to the chumford health department also from the health department uh we have a depression and anxiety support group facilitated um every fourth Tuesday of the month from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the chumford Center for the Arts in the Cabaret room more information can be found with the health department 978 [Music] member 27th 28th and 29th a large selection of fiction non-fiction children and young adult books it will be Friday the 27th from 9:00 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday the 28th from 9:00 to 5:00 and Sunday the 29th from 9 to 1 and it is at the Town Hall gym at 50 Bill reca Road it's a great place for kids books uh next the chumford health department is announcing the third annual ual Fall Festival Saturday September 28th from 11: to 4:00 on the chelsford town common there's free princess performances a petting zoo a bounce house Touch a Truck face painting food trucks and vendors selling drinks and food um and that's great Virginia and another one from the Strategic plan committee uh we'd love to see you at one of the inperson events or the kickoff on the 18th and whether or not you can make it to that Please be aware that there is a social pinpoint website where you can provide input directly into the community-based Strategic plan there's a survey that you can take uh you there's also a section where you can provide open comments to an ideas wall and you can have uh discussions with your fellow residents on a third section of the site so we encourage everyone to at least take the survey thank you and did you want to speak to the fire station y so the next one is um for the proposed Fire Station construction projects um on November 5th there will be a ballot question where chumford residents decide whether to fund construction projects that will provide upgrades to two fire stations in town namely station three on Old Westford Road and station five on Acton Road um the the demands in the community have grown our population has doubled more than doubled since the stations were built the number of calls has gone up by a factor of 7.5 and when you consider um the locations of the stations and being able to safety sa uh respond to Public Safety needs as well as the living conditions of the firefighters uh both of these stations need to be renovated and updated uh they are not current to current ocean standards they don't um accommodate multiple genders and our firefighters are in unsafe environments where living and sleeping quarters are very close to contaminants there are a number of public education opportunities and events listed on the brochure um and I would just like to point out that if you'd like a live tour of the stations we're offering that on Saturday October 5th there will be an information session on Thursday October 10th and an open Q&A before the election on October 29th we're also going to be releasing videos within the next couple weeks um giving video tours of the stations around table discussion and a demonstration of an extrication event so please um come to one of these events or visit the website where you can also use an estimator to calculate the tax impact to your home thank you next we have a save the date from the um choose chelsford about the choose Chelmsford age strong job fair and this will be held Wednesday October 2nd from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. meet with 30 local employers and this is at uh 50 B Road at the rear entrance more information can be obtained from calling them at 978 244 3303 and last but not least we have a request from the Chums for DP W the Chumps for DPW is seeking contractors for snowplowing for the 2024 2025 winter season um they are offering $1,500 incentive payment for each vendor or piece of equipment registered with the town all completed application packages are due Monday October 21st 2024 and um for more information I would contact the DPW and that's all we have for today okay thank you okay uh next up is our public input session section of the U meeting is there anybody that has from the public that has anything they want to talk to the board about today there's nobody in this room anybody on Zoom okay thank you committee vacancies the following committees and Boards have vacancies as of September 9th 2024 the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee the CCA Town Hall advisory committee the the center Village master plan implementation committee the clean energy and sustainability committee the commission on disabilities the Community Action Program committee the Conservation Commission the cultural Council the diversity equity and inclusion committee the historic district commission the holiday decorating committee the parade committee the Personnel Board the public records advisory committee and the recycling committee and also the Roberts field advisory committee if you are interested in serving on a Town border committee please complete an online application available on the town website or contact the town manager's office for more information okay thank you okay next we have a a public hearing we have just one public hearing this evening and it has to do with the um renewing or not the Verizon cable television license um so federal and state law require that hold the public hearing uh to consider approval of the town's proposed Verizon renewal license this hearing is for the public to have an opportunity to comment on the proposed non-exclusive renewal license and provides an opportunity for us the select board to deliberate and vote on the proposed renewal license copies of the legal advertisements and a proposed license are entered as public hearing exhibits by way of background Chum's cable license is due to expire on October 31st 2024 this hearing follows prior public proceedings and diligent ascertainment activity to identify town and public renewal needs a copy of the proposed renewal license has been available for public review in the clerk's office public cable file we're great to have we're we're grateful to have ch TV executive director Pete padulla and town manager Paul Cohen um here to uh to discuss their due diligence and hard work throughout the license renewal process in this proceeding we're open to accepting comments about C matters relating to the proposed license renewal um members of this board may also have questions or comments so before proceeding to public comments um I'd like to briefly recognize Verizon's representative John Harrington for his cooperation working with the town on a licensing uh process so Mr Harrington uh if you'd like to share a few words regarding this license renewal um you can do so at this time is he there he's there yeah if he done mute John and you're welcome to turn your camera on there there I am there you go okay thank you um no I'd just like to thank uh the the participation of the town and U uh Bill augus and working through this uh I know there are some fundamental changes to the renewal and um but it does reflect uh the present uh status of cable TV um in the country um and we were happy to work with the town to meet the cable related needs and um again I'd just like to thank everyone that worked on this okay thank you um and as noted um Pete padulla is here I'd like to have him uh come up to the microphone and give your thoughts sure yeah I am uh Pete padulla you guys know me I'm the director of Chumps for tele media and um yeah we've worked through this process it's it we um you know uh the Comcast renew was earlier this year it's a similar process attorney August helped us out a lot Paul Cohen and um we've done this before so um you know it's very we're we're happy with this contract um it's very similar um the only difference um I think this is what um uh Mr Harrington might have been referring to is that we did get a little less per capita on terms of capital but it it makes some a lot of sense when you look at the way subscriptions have been going so we did we felt that was very fair um it also is it's a good amount so we're we're comfortable with that we know that that will help us uh with our equipment needs uh going forward for the next 5 years which is the term of this contract um the percentage went up from 4.5 to 5% which is also going to help us out a little bit and we do get um the option to add an HD channel and we are have internal discussions about um how how we might make that work so overall you know we're just happy with uh with the way it's turned out we don't see any reason from the public access side to have any problem with this contract um happy to answer any questions if you have any okay any questions for Pete no okay thank you thank you very much for being here sure pleasure okay now we're ready to accept comments from the public and any interested persons um is anybody in the room that would like to speak to this contract apparently not anybody on there's nobody on the zoom either okay and does anyone on the board have any questions or comments um I just have have one question on page um 17 on the customer service section it mentions about outage credits and I just wonder if if that's automatic if um Verizon knows when certain customers don't have service and adjust their their U bills appropriately or if the customer is expected to call and Mr Hamington I guess maybe it would be you that would answer that um I I would answer it if I had the answer but I will get the answer for you when I'll report back to uh uh Bill August okay yeah I was I was just curious any other questions apparently not we're ready for for a motion um am I authorizing you close the public hearing I'll make a motion to close the public hearing I'll second oh sorry second we have three of them ready to close the public hearing all right we have a motion and and several seconds to close the public hearing uh was that Pat hi George hi Aaron I vir jinia I and I'm I with 5 Z okay now we'll take a motion I will make a motion to approve the non-exclusive renewal license effective November 1st 2024 immediately following the expiration of the current license on October 31st 2024 as presented second okay we have a motion and a second uh Pat I George I Aron I Virginia I may I make one friendly U wording Amendment to the motion sure okay um because the the town under the state regs files is supposed to file a statement uh with the state DTC with the license if when it's finally executed that that filing is supposed to include a very brief statement of reason so there was an a motion I circulated which just had some very general statements like having found that Verizon has the financial legal and Technical abilities do you have that copy of the motion yes we do okay is it I recommend reading that because then when we it becomes a much more it becomes much easier for us to do the filing we can use the reasons in the motion as the reasons stated in the filing letter okay oh the whole thing that's what it says that's the motion oh I understand you want me to read all four paragraphs that are in the motion here okay then I then I don't have to do any work chasing down reasons and getting approval of reasons the approval will be the motion and and they're written to be very general just basic as uh you know you can read it and you'll see okay okay does anyone on the board have any no concerns with this okay um then in that case I will reward the motion sure um I will make a motion to renew the Verizon license renewal uh acting in its capacity as the statutory cable television license issuing authority pursuant to Mass General laws chapter 166a and finding that the cable license renewal proposal of Verizon reasonably meets the license and cable related renewal needs and interests of the public and the town and finding that Verizon's financial and Technical qualifications and Verizon's proposed support for the local programming channels Studio facilities and services are reasonable to meet Town cable license needs and based on the recommendation of our renewal team consisting of the Town manager and Municipal cable Council for approving of continuing Verizon as a license serving the town the chumford select well the chumford select board hereby approves the Verizon proposed non-exclusive renewal license effective November 1st 2024 immediately following the EXP ation of the current license on October 31st [Music] 2024 yeah that's what I had second okay we have an amended motion and a second so we'll take a roll call vote Pat I George I Aaron I Virginia I okay and then I five Z okay thank you very much Mr Harrington thank you thank you Peter Bill thank you all John thank you John and thank you uh I want to say thanks to Paul Cohen who was unbelievably diligent and Christina and and Pete thank you all and John thanks folks bye thanks thank you okay we have a couple uh we have one license uh this evening a one day all alcohol beverage license uh do we have anybody here to speak about that no okay do we have a motion for that I will make a motion to to approve the one day all alcoholic beverage license for St bant Armenian Church at 180 old Westford Road for November 23rd 2024 as presented second okay we have a motion in a second I'll do a roll call vote Pat hi George Aaron hi Jin I and I'm an i 5 okay uh next up having to do with uh license fees um James and and uh Christina I know um did some work to gather information about surrounding communities and and their license fees and uh different um requirements on license fees those that um have a maximum according to state law and what how many we have of each type and the revenue that we get from each type um is uh is Christina still on yes she is Christina if you want to give us a b brief update of what you found and uh make some recommendation if you have any about where we might go uh sure uh good evening members of the board uh so so James did a good job reaching out to uh some comparable communities to gather the information that you have there on that spreadsheet um so the the the the history of the select board uh licensing fees or relatively recent history um some of you were on the board in 2019 when uh a review was done back then none of the fees were raised at that time um and the fees from we did the same comparable towns back in 2019 and they they mostly all look the same at this point um prior to that review in 2019 uh some of the fees were raised in 2008 alcohol license fees haven't been raised since um in the year 200000 there was a two-step um increase voted in for license years 2001 and 2002 so we are looking at the same alcohol license fees that we've had for close to a quarter decade at this point you mean a quot a century quot a century uh that's what I mean yes okay uh anybody have any questions for Christina or any comments about uh I I can tell you I was at I attended a meeting this afternoon that was hosted by northern middle sex Council of governments with Managers from the surrounding towns like tuxbury dret and so forth and I asked the question is are you looking at license fees and because if you look at our data you can see not only have we you know nothing has changed in Chums recently we're we're at market levels and the answer that that came from tuxbury who was active on this um because as we know Dr and Westford and others are facing some fiscal challenges that we all are in this uh recent inflationary environment is they are looking at it uh but what they're going to do they think in tuxbury is provide the adjustments which they don't have yet but and but then give the providers A Year's notice in advance and that's very similar to what this board did back in 18 uh last time you adjusted the fees so so now you're sort of at the situation where our fee are relatively above the midpoint and and above the average but then if you look at the data where where it really is significant if is is really the issue of package stores uh where we have eight Package Store licenses we have 26 restaurant licenses and seven rest all alcohol and seven restaurant beer and wine um and then you only have one inh holder license um that's really where your revenue is because if you you C at the col which says 20 2024 Revenue obviously the biggest comes from restaurants all alcohol uh and then second from package stores and then third restaurants beer and wine everything else is sort of in the noise um and since again we only have one in holder the issue of the cob licenses and the one days which we wave again those those are mostly charitable you know so we don't for example early this evening you granted a license for St bans the T the board's policy has been always to wave those licenses as you can see there aren't that many uh and then the other issue is is on the clubs I mean that's the like that's the legion and that's the Elks and we know they're under duress and that's why you see those licenses haven't been adjusted but really where you're seeing the activity and where our revenue is is package stores and then restaurants um you know all alcoh call and beer and wine um and you know clearly we've seen you know that they've had uh adjustments in their fees and certainly the license that they pay today are are you know pale to what they would have been as a you know cost if insane bus business 20 years ago when they were last adjusted um so so the so the question is is you know you you know unless you're going to do a nominal adjustment for this year it's probably best to say hey we're going to you know and again doesn't have to be decided tonight but if you're going to raise them a year from now to give them notice saying look the fee that's right now for a package s license of you know $1,800 um you know we're going to increase that to you know a greater figure but we're giving you a years's notice and the same thing for restaurants um you know if it's only been $2,500 for such some time and we see other towns you know um are above us and others are going to make those moves then that gives them adequate notice I think the concern in the past when I've sat with this board is you know you're in September and you're giving them you know two months notice that we're going to increase it by 500 or whatever amount of funding so that's why there's always been that sort of year notice in advance but but clearly you see where the revenue is the revenue is in the package s license in the restaurant beer all alcohol and beer and wine Paul who holds the in holder oh that's the the only in holder right now with the license is the element up in Drum Hill They don't serve alcohol at the holiday in um no no no and they and I and Best Western doesn't doesn't have a active license anymore and then they're undergoing Renovations the former Rison but that's not expected to be until at least a year from now yeah I mean looking at this the one that that seems to make the most sense to to raise would be the restaurant all alcohol I mean that one um pouring licenses pouring license yeah because we added a you know we've added a package toore license we don't know what effect that probably won't be in w't be ready for this year so we won't be able make a determination but I'm told that the package store businesses is decreased a little bit and we've added another one so that might be something to look out at at the time pat why I'm sorry so why are why are you honing in on the all alcohol the the restaurant all alcohol I mean that one um a couple communities are significantly higher than we are um on most of the others we're we're near the top if not at the top it looks like to me as far as what we're what we're charging although oh we're at the midpoint really well you at package to all alcohol we're at 1,800 and this I guess there's two there's two at 2,000 so I mean we could go up somewhat on those so I anybody have any thoughts on do I think it'd be reasonable to um look at going to the average on restaurant all alcohol pet um so like about 2700 as opposed to 20 yeah something like that I think and I think you're right that's the one that what could probably likely sustain it um so well yeah if you look at the average as opposed to the midpoint that's the only one that we are below average actually no like next to the midpoint column there's the averages right but if you look at restaurant beer and wine that's another one where we could go to 14 or500 to be at the average the two restaurant ones basically I think it's very reasonable to to look towards moving towards the average Paul can I ask you a question is this um is this part of the goal thing where we were going to talk about fees um is this are these the only fees that are under the purview of the select board yes these are the only fees under the purview of the selectboard we have we are gathering and have most of the data from other boards the reason this is here this evening instead of in context of others is because you're so close to the renewal process for the select board uh restaurant and Package Store license process uh because in two months you'll be executing those renewals and so that's why we accelerated this data this evening understood thank you but but I can tell you the results are very similar from what we've seen so far in in the other boards whether it's the clerk's office or Community Development in building department um we're we're we're seeing the same thing is it's and and obviously you know there's a reason for it um it's not politically popular and that's not a criticism it's just a valid point for when when a community is running a budget in our case of $169 million the blowback you get from the license holders or the public whether it's for a birth certificate you know is significant compared to the marginal impact it has on the town Financial bottom line and that's what it is and and it's not a knock on chord or any other towns it's just how the process works and the reality of of of governing um you know that being said um you know I think it's we should be looking forward and and my thought would be if you look at the for example the restaurant beer and wine versus alcohol it's like a two to1 ratio somebody who has an all alcohol is basically paying twice as much uh than than a beer and wine so my thought is if you're going to raise the beer and wine to 1500 then I think it' be appropriate to raise the all alcohol to 3,000 and so to keep that proportion because it is a much more valuable license as we know uh and then you know where we don't issue beer and wine package stores you know you don't have that same parallel to the package store alcohol but I don't think it's out of the question to you know to raise the packet store alcohol to like $2,000 um because you know that's again in keeping with you know towns that are are um of Westford and and such that are similar to us and again I expect that you're going to see other towns doing the same type of vote so today's midpoint and average is probably not what it's going to be a year a year from now when these are implemented right and and I seriously doubt any restaurants going to leave town if if we raise the the license fee $500 or whatever it would be no we we we we we can we see from our own revenue on meals tax revenue that their revenue is increasing because we see it in our in our proportionate share so and we've seen that increas significantly uh in in the last several years so Paul if I can just go back to what you were saying in addition to looking at the restaurant beer and wine and restaurant all alcohol you were suggesting um proportional or increases to REM to keep the proportions also on the package store beer and wine and all alcohol we don't have any yeah you don't have any beer and wine so it's not but you can raise it to well I know but yeah but you can I get what you're saying is if it's if it's twoth thirds yeah but it's increased by a third both parameters just in case you get an application but right so if you went to 2000 you know you you could make it um 1500 1500 or so yeah okay how does how do how does everyone feel about those those numbers that we're proposing here I think we're we're kind of looking at $2,000 for a package store all alcohol 1,500 for a package store beer and wine 3,000 for restaurant all alcohol and 1,500 for restaurant beer and wine yeah I'm sorry can you say those again how much 2,000 for the package store all alcohol 1,500 for the package store beer and wine we don't have one of those which we don't have but we might at some point yeah I mean it's good to have a we have need to have a rate on it coactive um 3,000 for the restaurant all alcohol and 1,500 for the restaurant beer and one and then where do we with that I would just ask do do we have any insight Paul in terms of where like the inh holders might be going because we might have we might have another one of those coming up too right yeah um again we we're we're we're uh at the point now we're 3500 which is we're we're at the high higher end of the extreme um I think West over's getting I mean westford's getting 5,000 and over 4500 I I just don't know that our quality but can't careful the scale of our facility I'm not sure p is equivalent to what you see in Westford or Andover Westford you dealing with the Regency and and over deal with what you know used to be the Rolling Green and so forth it was like similar to what we used to have at the Rison but I don't think the element has the occupancy or um stay or visits that that those have so that's why I'm a little more hesitant to to and and even what we're hearing with the Rison being converted to the Hilton brand they still have no plans to open at function hall um and so therefore I I tend to think again it's not going to be the scale that you you know because what you often see at the Regency and and Handover weddings and those type of facilities that we're just not having which also means you have a lesser Demand on some of the public safety components as well because you don't have that kind of response or concerns of activity so that's why I'm a little hesitant Virginia there to sort of draw the same parallel thank you I mean quite frankly I don't see um those increases as that significant that we couldn't do them for this license year I mean how does everybody feel about that I mean is that a waiting the year you mean yes I mean that's a 25% um increase for for an all alcohol license for a restaurant which is pretty significant when you look at it like that well we've given year before so but it's only $500 it's 20% 20% yeah sorry thank you um but that's still yeah from a a business cost perspective 20% is a lot I mean yeah I don't know or you could step it cut it and say you're going to go you know if it's 500 you go by 250 and then another 250 that to me is almost more painful just I'm just throwing an option um well I mean by the same token po Pat like so the $500 increase for restaurant and all alcohol if we get 26 licenses is an additional $113,000 is that going to make or break the town in this year or do we just want to give them the courtesy of having a year notice like we usually do what do you think George I'm okay either way I'm okay either way yeah well you you mentioned you gave a year we gave a year last time so we give him another year I mean you know sure their revenues have increased but so have their cost I think you know I mean that's true yeah yeah I think restaurants between Co and since then even I mean they're they're getting better you know whatever else restaurants took a big hit like a few years ago so some of them are still kind of recovering a little bit I don't know are you hungry for this increase this year no no no we're fine this year's budget's fine 26 any thoughts P um no I tend to agree with uh Virginia's sentiments on this um in where in the past we've set precedents by um uh notifying uh the uh the folks a year in advance I think we should um stay Ong those lines here and uh where this year isn't really the problem I think um you know it's important to be setting ourselves up for future years but um uh I'd be okay with um um putting it out there but waiting a year to increase it okay it's a nice courtesy yeah it is so should we vote on it now anyway Paul so that you can submit it you can vote you could vote the fees as of January 1 because this way if we get a new one that comes in after the you know because the renewals are going to be this fall in October November December but if let's say a new restaurant comes in you could do that saying effective January 1st 2025 that would be the fee and that's fair because that a person's cominging in new you know they not they don't they don't need to get a 9month discount before the new rate for the renewal so I think that that's a nice way of doing it then we can just notify people that when when Christina and James sent out the renewals that we're keeping the fees the same this year but as of January 1 for your planning purposes next year the rates will be this and it's that way it deals with somebody who comes in with a the new application uh you know in that time because we as you know we do sometimes get turnover on the particularly the restaurant licenses so we would say current licenses are grandfathered in at 2024 rate right and then the new rates will be effect of January 1 so if somebody goes into the spot that's been vacated at let's say Andi in March or April let's say that restaurant opens in the uh Oddfellows building sometime next year we get get the fee I don't think that's unreasonable because they are that's going to be part of their planning costs and I don't think it I don't think it's unfair to them so that's another way of doing it okay you ready to make Mo so when I make the motion it has to be on these four specifically because can say you to approve the license schedule uh as presented with the increases uh the following increases on January 1st 2025 okay um I will make a motion to approve the proposed select board licensing fees as presented with the following updates uh the package store all alcohol license will be increased from $1,800 to $2,000 the package store beer and wine license fee will be increased from 15 from $1,200 to $1,500 the restaurant all alcohol licensing fee will be increased from $2500 to $3,000 and the restaurant beer and wine licensing fee will be increased from $1,200 to $1,500 and these changes will be effective January 1st 2025 second okay we a motion in a second we'll take a roll call vote Pat I George hi Aaron I I'm sorry and and I 5 Z thank you all right very good thank you okay um next up is D DPW director Christine Clancy um and I noticed that we have somebody that just came in in the back and I'm assuming that maybe you want to talk about the thing we talked about the first very first thing at our meeting this evening no you can go sorry I miss okay if you want to come up first then you just pop up very Qui sure thank you we'll put that under reports and presentations than thanks very much for having me I'm Debbie serani you all know me but on TV um so I'm here um promoting the age friendly effort called know your neighbor and uh it started on the 3rd of July we had uh at the Country Fair we had know your neighbor pins we were giving out and um we have little chat cards and so anybody who's wearing a pen can introduce themselves to somebody else with a pin and have little chat cards fun little I breaker questions it's in response to the I think epidemic of loneliness and isolation that we hear in the news um we we get lots of information about it through our networks with the mass Council on Aging also the age-friendly network uh and and we hear so much about it through even with with school AG kids with with younger people with people who are newly single we just see so much of it and we think we can make a difference about it so what this um announcement is about is about October and we'd like to make October know your neighbor month all around chelsford and what that means is we have these packets that are free to any um Town Department any business that wants to partner with us any group or club uh coffee shops restaurants uh Oran organizations like the Elks or the the Lions or the rotary anybody who wants to increase patronage in their group in their their business but also um encourage people to come to their venue and meet each other so we have a little packet um to give to anybody who wants to partner with us and it has Flyers it has pins it has chat cards we have name tags and then we also have um what we'll do is we'll help promote these these um events all around town now who C who also can do it some kids who want to run a lemonade stand and have a know your neighbor a lemonade stand give us a call get in touch with me and I'll give you a kit so it's an age-friendly initiative and it's for all ages and they're very um familyfriendly questions for for intergenerational conversations and it's just a way for people to get to know each other again and start talking so we think it would really um be a wonderful way to increase not only um sociability with people face to face like a live chat room right but also um civic participation in different groups so if you want to promote your committee or your group have a live event invite people to come and get to know each other and so we're trying to promote that so I thank you for your um support and the way that people can get to know um get to in touch with me is at the senior center by calling 97825111 [Music] at the Fall Fair so I'll have packets there as well and if people want to get in touch with me there then we'll be giving out um the pins as well so thanks so much thank you appreciate your time okay byee okay now Christine Clancy talk about arpa good evening just want to give another arpa update for the month of um September it was only a few weeks ago that I was here but we are closely tracking the um the progress and uh you know as you know December 26 December 2024 is a deadline where we have to all allocate all funds that have been allocated to date um and then we have two years to to finish those projects um so I do the update like we've been doing every month um and here before you so just a to a a summary of the 61 projects um and we do you know I have the detailed spreadsheet as well uh since just the last report so now we're looking at 96% of all the appropriated funds have been procured and then 71% of those procured funds have been invoiced spent um I also have before you tonight a list of recommendations I had given you a preliminary list a few weeks ago um we've gone through and develop another list to to appropriate the remaining funds so I can go over that before we go dump uh dive into that though I can also go over just a status of some of these projects um we are I guess and I the as far as the estimated amount to procure we're estimating about $780,000 left of unallocated um based on all the the projected forecasts um just to to jump into the before I jump to this page just to go over a summary of some of the updates um we did closely look at a lot of these items example is 1B I I did amend the projected forecast a little bit from the last months or previous months from 569 th000 to 525 that's is based on the burn rate that we're seeing um monthly um some of these projects are also nearing completion so you're starting to see a lot of these so right now anything green is still in process we're starting to see some of these projects turn over to be completed um on to the second page we still have the testing and balancing projects we are moving forward with a scope um and so closely tracking that that is one of our priority projects with 14 17 18 1920 working on that right now uh number 15 is a senior center that right now we are still showing $100,000 contingency for in the projected forecast um so we're tracking that closely in the next couple next month or so a lot of this so this work is just happening right now um with a lot of a lot of work that will be completed before town meeting in October um also moving on down the list we have some items here 21 22 24 we are looking at this a little more closely in the next for the next month's update to see if there's any unspent funds um so there might be a little bit more contingency that could come out of this um looking to see if we would close any of those or reduce those so that's something that we still will look at but I mean um we're still looking at those items uh just moving for so number 32 is the Kensington Road Pump Station we do have that on for tonight to uh procure we have um anything over the 265 is being procured through through the sewer Enterprise um number 34 is the Culvert structural assessments so uh that would we would retain that as just $100,000 for assessing so we have spent $56,000 to date the remaining will be spent spent on the Culvert structural assessments so we don't any overrun on that item and then I'm just going to move on down to number 4 the watersheds so those are going well um of course there'll be recommendations coming from that for future but not nothing as far as um arer allocations and a lot of these other projects on here these drainage projects they are nearing nearing completion close out remains so we as far as our projected forecast those have been updated and those are um we really shouldn't see any surprises in those accounts as well um number 53 is the Culvert Bridge repairs along Stony Brook we are carrying a budget of $400,000 right now we're doing the cons we're doing the design documents and bid documents would go out uh this fall for procurement before December we will have an updated number to see if that 400,000 would come down at all so that's something we are closely tracking as well um for probably the next month's um the next month arpa update uh and then the pilot smoke testing program is on for tonight uh that came in um below what we anticipated and the Gap analysis has been procured so just executing that uh we are receiving a quote for the number 59 um I I anticipate that quote in the next two weeks um and then number 60 that project is underway right now no surprises as of right now um and then 61 that essentially has been procured uh just waiting on the final invoicing the past so as you see here these projects there's there's really not many surprises pop popping up so that number of the $780,000 of UNP of unallocated amount amounts um I feel pretty confident if we were to reallocate that to uh you know the pro additional projects um are there any questions on the current projects any questions so okay go ahead I have a question actually are there any on here so I I mean I imagine that out of your original list there are some that we did not fund but which are there any on here that you originally had on here that were not funded because it looks like they're all procured or partially procured or is it just maybe like 21 22 like they not applicable um well nothing went on here unless it it was yeah so so this this list is what was allocated um and then I think what you're referencing is the separate spreadsheet is of projects that we just we have been running a total of potentially allocated I know going back six months ago partial some were put on uh moved to this list of procurement some were held um but yeah everything on this list was procured we didn't take anything off we didn't take anything really so we've managed to to procure all of your well we're I mean I mean anything in red is still being proc cured but I guess it's been allocated and it's on this list yeah okay I think does that answer your what what particular project I'm just surprised I was curious if when you started when we received the ARA funding and when you kind of came up with this list initially but I guess it's been growing over time right your initial list was slower so that makes sense if there was anything that had kind of continued to get bumped off not over we did our initial allocation under the 10 million or whatever that we had so yeah and then we and then we we've been Christine has been managing it hasn't changed much and as we know where we stand then we add more things on yeah so we never we never allocated right up to the Limit such that we would have to take things off y That's good uh so I can next go over the list of proposed projects um that we would reallocate the remaining so like I said about $780,000 the list that I have of 12 projects are am come to an estimated total of $774,000 um and then one other plan that I have in place is that so we're trying to balance out all these funds right now we want obviously every single scent to be allocated so after this one thing I'm working on is some type of like on call um maybe design contract that we could potentially alloc uh procure at the end of this year because example is the HVAC HVAC Senior Center I'm holding $100,000 in contingency let's say we only need $40,000 of that I'm just making up that amount but that puts $60,000 back into the pot so I want to have something ready to go to put to towards a um to reallocate those those um remaining funds so it can be controlled a little better with design procurement so it could be on call Ser or some type of on call service contract so that's what we're working on right now to get that ready so we would procure any of those remaining dollars um the end of this you know this calendar year um so so the first project and some of these you have seen 3 weeks ago um and I've also expanded and updated some of the cost I'll just quickly go through each one of these projects the first one is a Hugo Lane in State Street drainage improvements um this is before permitting right now um we have a section and we did update the total from last time essentially we would begin an ifb process um and be able to procure it by December uh this is an area along go Lane State Street where drainage infrastructure is completely deteriorated um and we already have um a design in place going through the pering process we're just looking for a source of funding estimated $115,000 um second is the rain Garden at checkerberry Lane sorry not Lake Lane in Overlook Drive um and this was as we talked about this last time and the question was could you uh could you allocate this to arpa if it was already procured and I did uh uh confer with Darlene lucier Our Town accountant and Paul and manager Cohen and so anything that's really not complete we could we could reallocate so there's still um a lot of the there's some roadway elements or drainage structures that were installed but there's still remaining work to be completed working actually this week um and that's estimated $54,000 so by allocating that remaining balance to arpa we would free up some of the um roadway funds to be reallocated to you know continuation of roadway way projects so we prop we would be proposing just a partial ARA allocation for that project and as far as procurement that is essentially is procured just not invoiced yet uh number three is a GPS unit for engineering and I talked about this last time how we have many needs um for locating of drain manholes sewer manholes other roadway um infrastructure elements and um so really have the need for a second unit and that could be procured through State contract Senior Center vehicles um with two vehicles to replacing of two vehicles that are are um aging out um again we would go State contract so I'm actually receiving quotes right now we could procure that relatively quickly um the police station hvc assessment the buildings uh the system is approaching you know 20 years old so that's typically when you start to look at potential upgrades so doing an assessment for future Capital planning we would propose uh a consultant we just obtain a proposal from a consult for that um and again these are all um you know within the next few months ahead of December the McCarthy School switch gear assessment and repairs I did talk about this three weeks ago too this is uh really becoming a critical project our switch gear is critical electrical infrastructure in each of our buildings McCarthy being the oldest school we really have to do a it's not a it's basically an assessment and a um almost like a tuneup on your car you get a tuneup on the electrical system it is costly but it's NE necessary given the age of the system um so that's $175,000 Adams Dome repair assessment that um is potentially need some future repairs and just to understand the repairs needed and the timeline for that proposing um to have an assessment done as part of just the arpa for again the actual repairs would be a future Capital request or some other sorts of request the CCA exterior improvements um this is you know painting but also just the exterior of the CCA there's some um trim that needs to be replaced and uh siding that needs repair estimated and also scraping of the paint um so that's estimated $100,000 we would have to prepare that as an ifb um more immediately but get that out by December so likely the work would take place in the spring um town office bathroom renovation design this has been on our list I think for Capital list for many years or at least since past two years I've been here um and also there's potentially you know upgrading of um to have more water efficient uh um Plumbing or infrastructure but first we need to know what that cost is and then do the design so arper would propose this to do the design of these six buildings and the uh construction would be you know funded elsewhere through capital or some other Pro uh funding source and then number 11 we had previously allocated um I think it was $35,000 to upgradeing some of the flow metering at the pump stations and is really um great software we're implementing it right now this is the mission controls where it's more realtime data reporting you can also tie it to rainfall so as we look at our sewer capacity constraints I think this will be this will is important to understanding um any potentially spikes in infl infiltration by having this real more realtime monitoring data our goal is to have this installed in all 41 of 41 of our pump stations so we've done five we're doing it in any of the new stations in Kensington mylands under construction right now this would be proposed for five additional stations for the amount of $30,000 just to expand upon that program uh and that is State contract and lastly uh the police station sprinkler repairs we did recently receive a report and uh just given the age of this the infrastructure we are coming upon repairs that are more costly than typ you know annual costs about just over $30,000 um given the amount we would have to do a either a state contract or three quotes but um that is somewhat timely too so looking to uh move forward on that project as well um in total so this amount to $774,000 and these are all needs but also I think there's there's a ease of procurement for some for many of these where things are either ready to go or ready to quickly uh push through a you know a um procurement process and to um design or develop the documents um do you have any any any other questions on these projects any questions on these new projects I mean I looks to me like good use of the money and I I like how it comes so close to to what the what we have available and these are estimates so as we as you can see at the estate contract some of these things are going to flush out I think pretty quickly and then we'll we're going to be continue looking at this balance monthly um and like I said I think there might be some other where we might have some savings but um there's nothing that's really seems to be really of an outlier uh we had such a large contingency just in case you had that unknown and so I think we've gotten through a lot of that um so yeah I think this is a great time to reallocate the remaining gives us time to plan for December so that every dollar is allocated okay can we have a motion then I will is it to authorize I'm authorizing yeah that's fine yeah um I'll make a motion to authorize the town manager to fund the recommended priority aror projects as presented that's not right I know you they right you're on mute Pat Pat is he trying to say something sorry there's a second here okay okay U so Paul and Christine is that motion acceptable yeah for us we'll proceed with the projects as presented yes okay all right so we have a motion in a second roll call vote Pat hi George hi Aaron hi J Hi 5 Z thank you thank you very much for all your hard work on that excellently done all right next up is Town accountant darling lucier good evening Madam chair and board of selectboard um here to present the final numbers for fiscal 24 budget report um happy to report that um 24 was another successful year U financially um so I'm going to just run through start off with the fiscal 24 revenues um in where our local receipts came in those um are all basically local receipts are other than the property tax um motor vehicle is one of the highest Ren um generator of Revenue during the local receipts so when we did really well with motor vehicle excise this year uh there was a budget of um of $5.6 million and we brought in 6.1 so it was like $553,000 more than the expected budget this was actually um 7.6 prior um higher than the prior year also I think what we're seeing is people when they're buying Vehicles the price of the vehicles are more [Music] expensive so I think that's why we're seeing because you always when you buy a new vehicle that's where your front your first year is the highest um so these vehicles are buying a lot of people are buying electric vehicles they're much more expensive I think this is where we're seeing our increase coming in for on the motor vehicle uh permit fees uh we do great on permit fees we actually exceeded um that budget by a almost a million eight the reason why that was from the prior Year and that was because we got did get a million dollars from the 20 the 255 Princeton Street so we did get their um their permit fee so again that's kind of a one-time uh fee that we're not going to be seeing in the next fiscal year um but that did help our bottom line and helped with the free cash number as you'll see uh mail tax came over budget by about $128,000 uh that was also a 15% increase from the prior year uh in the rooms tax that came in just about $85,000 over budget and we did have an increase from there from 16% from the prior year and most of that is is we do have people um the state is housing people here in the in our hotel hotels and we're getting the income from those uh fines and revenues they both exceeded uh the current Year's budget amount just by a small amount of 6% um the fines fees were 6% and fines exceeded 12% as we spoke as I heard you guys speak earlier the town is looking at bumping up their fees this is not this does not include licensing um that's a separate uh line item but these are just kind of the Town departments fees and fines uh that are collected and the the Departments are all the individual departments are looking at their their fee structures to see if we can increase those fees really most of the fees haven't been updated since 2018 the departmental fees uh alcohol licenses uh again we did exceed our budget um about just under $20,000 uh we was an increase of 8% from the prior year I think this is coming off of Co really on this the people that we're seeing the increase um during covid um we weren't getting those fees we were some fees were reduced down and this is just kind of seeing um an increase from the prior fees just because everybody's now back the uh everybody's back open from the covid closure uh income Investments we did great we had actually very significant increase from prior year we actually had a gain of $568,000 uh and this is really just due to a really good strong Market I think if everybody probably knows that in their own personal income Market um that just had a really great year for the investment market and as usual our real estate and property tax uh collection always remains solid at about 98 to 99% collected so we do great there um so the local receipts in in total actually we came in just about just about $3 million over budget so you'll see when I talk about free cash that this is really the main contributor to our free cash number for this year and I just put gave you the um individual line items for all of the local receipts and real estate and State uh reimbursement revenues on the expenditure side departmental budgets um you know we have a we had a basic $160 million budget um we had a turn back of about $1.2 million of turn Backs from departmental those are just we can't really do anything on the salary line items they are what they are expenditures um in departmental expenditures everybody pretty much did well spending down their budget on that that but again it sounds like a lot of money when a $1.2 million gets turned back but when you have $160 million budget that's less than a half a percent of your your term Brack so uh the town the town Department's heads do a very good job managing their budget so for the free cash uh calculation it has not been certified I haven't heard from the department of revenue revenue yet on a certified number but this is kind of what I'm predicting I'm predicting around $4.7 million of free cash um the the pieces that kind of make is going to be making up that is we had the departmental turn backs I had some prior year encumbrance turn backs and then we had our local receipts um come over the amount coming in over budget by the 3 million um we did have a small uh free uh net free cash in the general frund which was voted at a town meeting for about 160,000 so that's really where you come down to that $4.7 million that I'm hoping will be don't me hold me to the number until I see that certification come across with the Department of Revenue but I'm usually not too far off on the number from when what they certify so usually within a couple maybe a$ thousand dollars off sometimes they might find something to hit me with um I just wanted to just talk a little bit um take outside the general fund and go into the Enterprise funds and how the Enterprise funds um fared the first one is the sewer Enterprise fund um the Enterprise fund did well they actually had a net profit of 321,000 that goes um that what ends up mov there between their revenue and their expenses is that it goes to their un they have their own free cash number their undesignated from balance adds to that number um so they should be certified by the department of revenue for about 1.2 million will be certified as their free cash or undesignated fund balance um I did give you a list of what their budget ver budget versus actual rules are for revenues and expenditures um and you'll can see that that is the difference um of the 321 that gets added to their balance from last year that's how the sewer Enterprise funds they all they they their own basically their own department and have their own free cash certification uh stormwater they had um a net profit about $110,000 again that just gets added to their so they should have a certification of 47,5 75 on the Department of Revenue if anybody has any questions along the way please free just uh stop me uh the golf course Enterprise um we really didn't have any activity um with the golf course this year other than taking in Revenue we didn't do any expenditures so it's just the revenue coming in so they actually we had a profit of $ 93,587 4,789 there are some years that we actually do we'll have DPW do some work over there but the year that we didn't there was um no no projects over at the golf course uh the peg access or tele media um they actually had the opposite um they actually had kind of what we call a negative free cash um this was and he was expecting this he had some projects he did do he took some money from his um undesignated some bance or free cash at town meeting and that was voted on so he knew that there was going to he was going to be drawing down on his amount which he's is fine with so he actually had what we call a negative free negative free cash but he'll have a positive free cash um certified with the do but we he actually is taking $84,000 from his undesignated fund balance from the prior year but he'll be certified as having a um so his new fund balance will be certified as 42,3 A6 so instead of adding to the amount from last year he actually had a decrease uh just want to just talk a little bit about stabilization fund and where we're at again because the uh investment Market was so good uh we had a net gain um of 72247 for earnings at town meeting we did um vote to move some money into stabilization fund so the current balance now in for of the School 24 final balance in stabilization was 15, 338 8113 and OPB um again because the earning and investment this um this this fund is with Prim um they do a great job with investing um our funds so we did transfer in from um from general fund and from this the um Enterprise funds but we had an earning investment of $2.1 million uh gain on this so the current balance in our opab fund is 2,686 175 so it's a very healthy um opab and our Actuarial um and Auditors really start homing in on these accounts making sure that they're that we're adding to these accounts uh and lastly I just want to talk a little bit about where we are with um with our community preservation I actually I'm going to have to look at the screen because I lost my last page I forgot to didn't print it all out um but we did well with um again on the revenues uh total revenue collection was um was $1.7 million in um our commitments were about a million4 we collect we got a state match of 295,000 we had investment income of 24, uh 260 um so we're doing well that we have a strong um about a $4 million undesignated or unreserved fund balance in the stable in the um Community preservation U that's good to have um for if another big project comes in you will have enough borrowing capacity um and the I did print I did show you the um what our debt service looks like going out uh to 2039 basically everything drops off except for the coolers Farm in 31 so um we you know we really do have enough um in the in their undesignated of uh $4.3 million if we did want to take on a project the debt is actually declining and we would be able to have enough capacity to take on another big project if they were going to do new a land purchase or something like that any questions on how the year I'm sorry I'm very pleased um with with the free cash number of coming in around $4 million doll and when when do you expect to have that certified so the way that it works is with the Department of Revenue actually was out of she was um our deal uh rep was out on vacation during um during labor the Labor Day weekend she's back but they put us in a queue they ask you when is your town meeting and you are basically put in a queue based on when your town meeting is so hopefully it's I mean everything I've sent everything in and my my balance sheets with her and everything but um if somebody somebody's having like an early September town meeting or early October they kind of get pushed before me but I'm hoping I'd like to hear I would love to hear this week or next week um because it doesn't really shouldn't really take that much to certify it but okay but we yeah obviously we'll definitely never oh we'll definitely be it always is yeah no she they know they they ask the question like when is your town meeting and are you planning to use your free and are you planning to use your free cash and I always say yes we're going to be allocating free cash so they do put you in a higher queue and you to get that so within the I would say within the next week and a half we I'll have a certified number for you okay so with what you showed the stabilization our stabilization fund now is like between 9 and 10% yes y we're at like the 9 9 and a half% and they they suggest you be at a minimum of seven is that seven and eight PA what do they say we usually it's spe like 8% yeah so we when we when we when we go to the bond rate yeah they're usually like they like to see that at like an 8% thank you and they do like to see our undesignated fund balance um it's actually it's it's in our general fund it's actually raised up this it's it's actually bumped up about a $2 million that's another thing they like to see too so it's actually your fund balance in your general fund not just your state not just what you have in your um what they call free cash or are your um your stabilization fund but actually your fund balance and how you end the year in your fund balance if you start drawing down on your fund balances in your general fund that's usually a sign that you're having some budget issues and you're actually using your general fund to cover your budget but this year we've actually did we increased it by $2 million so they'll like to see that okay any other questions for Darlene okay thank you thank you very much good news yep okay next is the uh we're going to sign a warrant for the October 21st fall town meeting Paul do you want to talk about that a little bit thank you madam chair members of the board I have before you this evening uh a 21 article warrant for the October 21st fall annual town meeting um there are no new additions from the previous uh list that I provided for you at your last meeting they've taken some items off uh obviously coordinated with Christine Clancy as we were reviewing the financial picture and uh in terms of what would be funded from arpa so we've actually removed articles so that that we're not passing over with them at town meeting um with with that you approve this evening um so again upon your signature this evening we'll deliver it to the clerk's office in the morning it'll be posted and then finance committee will be in this room on schedule be in this room on Thursday evening to begin the review over the next three Thursdays um as we're you know nearing October 21st you since we're already um tomorrow will be September 10th so we're we're we're getting there um again most of the warrant in terms of format is financial we anticipate it'll be a two night town meeting um beginning of the warrant is traditional again reports of town offices and committees and then I and then as I've explained to you last meeting I placed Mary daman's citizen petition regarding a pet cemetery uh after that uh as a courtesy to her um uh and it more is more of a resolution than it is sort of an appropriation of funds uh at town meeting since she has not identified a location for the pet cemetery and then again we go through customary what you would see uh the finance director John suer has calculated the amount that we perform every year to transfer from the undesignated fund balance that D just described into the cemetery Improvement and Development Fund which is that mechanical exercise we have to do every fall to maintain the financial Integrity because the sewer construction plan was built on the interest earnings that go to the general fund to go into that uh project fund and then that fund is voted when we fund The Debt Service annually for the sewer project uh next we comes this um the uh we I pass sorry passed over the cemeter Improvement fund is the request again annually um by annually now at this point from the cemetery commission for ongoing improvements at the Pine Ridge Cemetery and some minor work at the west chelsford and uh hard pond cemetery $660,000 is their request but again that comes from their funding um and then I I have a placeholder to amend the current Year's budget at this point I don't think there's a need for that so that would be passed over and then we have the citizen petition article from Paul vazio to appropriate free cash to offset the cost that was was authorized at previous town meeting to borrow for the Parker School feasibility study um and then there's a funding request for roadway and sidewalk construction uh funding requests to construct the recreational area at the McCarthy Middle School adjacent to the police station um that plan is in its final stages from Dr Lang then it'll go through his advisory committee and then the school committee and then two town meeting um and then there's again into public works projects replacement of the sewer Force main uh pipe on Progress Avenue uh sewer infiltration and inflow um request for dig document digitalization uh a request for a tree and invasive species inventory and management plan uh request for use for the golf course Enterprise that we heard about earlier to install higher netting at the first uh t uh because balls are still going over the netting and pole extensions that are there um there's a request to fund the schematic design for the part roof replacement at the South roow Elementary School we're awaiting uh and we should have by town meeting the formal msba award to invite us into the accelerated repair program and we anticipate a reimbursement rate of over 50% for that project um and then I have the placeholder of transferring any balance um of free cash into the general stabilization fund um as we've sort of noted on the arpa thing this is sort of the catchall so if the free cash amount differs or projects Above This get defeated we just sort of sweep it out and put it into the stabilization fund uh the difference between free cash and general stabilization fund as we've explained in the past is they can both be used for any lawful purpose under state law the difference is the general stabilization fund requires a two-thirds vote to appropriate monies out as opposed to a majority vote from free cash um so that sort of completes the whole general fund activities we then have the major Capital article which would be a borrowing uh article 16 which is the west chumford and south chumford fire station project that we that that Virginia announced earlier this evening all the upcoming website information information hearings and so forth we anticipate that will be the first article for consideration the second session of town meeting on Thursday the 24th much like we took the MBTA zoning is the first item on the second thing last town meeting because it will be a longer presentation we anticipate you know significant questions and so forth um and then there's an article uh of resending an unexpended Community president ation fund appropriation for facade program that's U was allocated years ago and is not being utilized so that would just transfer it into the community preservation fund back to their undesignated reserve and then the Chumps at Housing Authority Choice nonprofit um will be coming in to for a funding authorization to contribute towards the construction of community housing at once Smith Street that's where the units are right now at Smith Street and stemman that unit is at the end of a useful life and so the 64 units the are proposed to be raised and then they'll be reconstructing a third story uh three-story addition in replace of a two-story structure that's there to increase the number of units from 64 to 96 uh and as we've seen in the past David hson would leverage this money for significant amount of state and federal grant funding through his nonprofit uh the next item is the Grant and easement from the water chord water district is requesting an easement from the public schools to install a water main uh across portions of the Parker School McCarthy middle school and the high school this is to run the um the the water between their plants for as you know they're doing treatment for past and other chemicals so it goes to Crooked spring from that road from Smith Street Wells so that's what's taking place there um and then article 20 is is transferring care custody and control and management of of parcels to from the select board to the Conservation Commission to put them under conservation designation the most notable one there is the Warren pole property and then there's a half dozen of wet properties that have come into the town treasurers possession again mostly wet and of you know no significant value or usage uh and those are all mapped out um and presented and then the last article is the street acceptance for a portion of parkur Road believe it or not um Parkers Road as you know has been in existence and well traveled and it's now under reconstruction and while they were doing the construction and sidewalk work uh the engineering crew at public work uh made a determination that a portion of the road had never been formally accepted by the town and why we want to do that is is that would then add to our chapter 90 Road inventory which is the basis on how the state allocates the gas tax monies it's based on your road miles and your uh population and your employment so those are the three factors so again we we've done this in past Town meetings when we come across roads that need to be accepted uh most recent ones were Charles way and and um the na house a drive with the most recent ones by the town so that's the warrant um for your approval this evening and as you said from from your signatures this evening it will go to the clerk's office to the Constable for posting and then fincom will be beginning this Thursday and then two weeks from tonight the Articles be scheduled to be presented to you for your formal recommendations um at town meeting so we'll present in 2 weeks and then you'll have another meeting before town meeting if so if you don't want to take your vote recommendations in two weeks you'll have another meeting and then we'll be a town meeting so basically um we only have two meetings between now two regular schedu meetings between now and fall town meeting uh basically of you know in the next two weeks um because what happens is um we run into Columbus Day and then it's the Monday which we would normally be meeting would be the town meeting so we expect we'll be back at the end of o October for regular meetings Paul yes I I noticed articles 20 and 21 says submitted by Board of Select I corrected that Pat yeah yeah that's been corrected in the in the what you signed today Pat caught that over the weekend I apologize councel and I missed that entirely that that's the um that's the the result of you take previous articles like the street acceptance and you you know you extract them and you plug them in and you change all the data inside them but don't change the sponsorship so thank you for noting that correction okay any other questions we'll take a [Music] motion are we approving it tonight we're signning making a motion to sign the warrant um I will make a motion to sign the warrant for 20124 fall annual town meeting as presented second okay we have a motion and a second uh roll call vote uh Pat hi George hi Aaron hi junor hi and I'm and I 5 okay thank you PA we have some bit Awards yes we have um two bid Awards and they pertain to Public Works which is why Christina is still here this evening and I want to thank her for her efforts to get these uh items the first one that she spoke of earlier we talking about the Opera is the pilot smoke test program this is for approximately 11 mies of sewer Mains uh near the Katrina Road Pump Station area of 110 and and north and south of 495 this is required by the M Department of Environmental Protection uh to identify sources of inflow into our sewer system um this was a request for proposals um so there were five proposals that were received by Public Works to perform this work they what an RFP is is separate than than a invitation for bid where it's low price row price based they valuate the proposals um blind to the price they rank them uh in terms of order of quality and preference once that's ranked you then open that bid and if that meets your budget then that's who you go with so in this case they ranked the five proposals um they received a proposal that was the highest rank from right Pierce uh and that amount uh when they open the bid met the project budget the um the bid amount was $54,500 right Pierce has done similar work recently in the city of L um so we and there other references checked out so we're seeking the uh approval to award the um pilot smoke testing to right Pierce in the amount of $54,500 I can stop there and then we can do the second one separately okay any questions on that uh that bid okay we'll take a motion then I'll make a motion to uh approve the town manager bid award awarding the pilot smoke test program of the Chelmsford SE system to write Pierce in the amount of $54,500 as presented second a motion and a second we'll take a roll call vote Pat I George I Aaron I Virginia I and I'm I great thank you the second bid award second your approval is for the Kensington Pump Station Improvement project the second phase of that work as Chris Public Works director Christine Clancy noted earlier portion of this was partially funded by arpa the balance is funded through the sewer Enterprise um fund there were three bids received on September 5th um the lowest responsible bid was by N&M Excavating of Brewster Mass again here's another case where we've not worked with this contractor but again we have positive references on larger sewer projects in the Boston and anet area and therefore we're seeking the bid award for the Kensington Road pump state impr proven project Phase 2 in the amount of 49525 to N&M Excavating LLC um and as you can see the other two bids for this work uh were from uh amounted to 585,000 500 and then the high bid was uh 784 th000 so again we're taking this case the low bid which is also the lowest qualified bid okay any questions okay we'll take make a motion then I'll make a motion to approve the town manager bid award uh awarding the Kensington Pump Station improvements project phase two in the amount of $495,000 to NN N&M Excavating LLC as presented second okay we have a motion in a second roll call vote Pat I George I Aaron I Virginia I and I'm thank you okay thank you and you have a report this evening yeah real real brief on the report this evening and this this has to do with one of the goals for for the uh for the current fiscal year for the select board and town manager this has to do with the 250th uh celebration of the country's uh Independence um this grant came out of maybe recall a few weeks ago and they only gave you like a six week window to get the Grant in and I want to commend the efforts from uh all of our partners basically Library director Leslie Kimble CCA executive director Lauren Cochran and Senior Senate director Deb serani they pulled together and pulled a grand application together in the amount of $25,900 um because this money as I described to you before has to be expended by the end of fiscal year 25 uh so basically by the end of next June uh even though most of the events aren't going to happen till 2026 um so anyway what this is going to be is is it's going to be um a celebration at these different venues uh including the town common uh and the highlight of this is an original Town play with music that's going to celebrate ch's participation before during and after the American Revolution um and again so the the effort is is we'll be partnering with our you know the Garrison house and and others in order to make this a true Community event and we expect to hear from this within the next several weeks uh they really as I said ear was it was a a late budget funded project by the state and they want to get the funds out because it has to be expended by the end of the C fiscal year they want to get the awards out by the end of this month so I hope to be back to you next month with uh with good news on this project um and again remember it couldn't be used for you know Capital purposes they were real strict guidelines and they really wanted to make it tourism based or event based so I just wanted to let you know how that is and I'll keep you updated uh as the uh results come in okay thank you okay next up is our meeting minutes we have minutes from our August 19th 2024 U meeting anybody have any additional edits or comments about those minutes I just noticed a there's a typo at the top of page four it says attorney doues Houser howler it should say Douglas he'd probably appreciate it if we fix that yeah he they had his his last name was spelled WR yeah the in the first draft okay anything else if not do we have a motion I'll make a motion to approve the select board regular meeting minutes of August 19th 20124 as presented as amended as a as amended thank you second okay we have a motion and a second roll call vote Pat I George I Aaron I Virginia I and I'm i 4 Z okay we two select board member liazon reports and referrals um we'll start with you Pat I have nothing this evening Pat thank you okay George ton Aon um I don't have any liaison reports but I did want to I did want to mention um I wanted to give a little shout out to Sheila pette who everyone here I think knows and a lot of people in town know um Sheila and her husband are moving out of town um and she's my neighbor so on a personal level I'm very sad but as a town I think I think Sheila has contributed a lot over decades um long before I lived here from what I hear she has done um you know she spent time on the finance committee on the school committee most recently the Strategic plan committee she's been involved in uh the master plan implementations um just the list is really endless so I just wanted to thank her for uh her service to the town for the many years that she's lived here and um and to wish her and Gary good luck on their new adventure wherever they go all right so thank you and I will second that Virginia um the vinyl square strategic action plan committee is looking for volunteers to start planning the annual holiday Tree Lighting Event so if anyone's interested in that you can reach out to Brian creamer Laurel Lin Mor Joan Walters or Joe Tierney and also just a heads up they are um working with DPW and mass do to schedule a public input session later this fall for the vinyl square Improvement plan um and then from the Council on Aging board if uh users of the center are not already aware the main hall is under construction for the hfac upgrade so they just want people to know that uh and they have shuffled some events and things around um you can check directly with them okay that it yeah okay I have a a couple of things um last month uh Ain and I um um attended the 48 Opening Ceremonies remember being there yes um which is always a good time the the uh the youth they they're so enthusiastic and uh they they put on a nice uh opening ceremony and um I actually went back the next day and there's so much going on there it seems that more and more kids are getting involved as time goes on so that's a good thing to see um last Friday um Paul and I were out in the back parking lot when wholesome Corporation um presented a a donation to the food pantry and a table of Plenty in the amount of $86,500 um definitely well appreciated and something that will definitely be used uh you know with the number of people that are taking advantage of both those um opportunities the food pantry and a table of plenty the additional funds will definitely help with that and lastly thanks to everybody who came to the 911 remembrance ceremony Paul and Virginia on Saturday um it was a good event uh had some good speakers and performances of TAPS and um other speakers that that um sh that talked about their Reflections on 911 so thank you to those and with that Paul Pat we might also want to mention the the fire department is holding a 911 ceremony on 911 this Wednesday at 8:30 okay um okay we're ready for adjournment to Executive session I will make a motion to adjourn to Executive session um to consider the acquisition of real property strategy with respect to potential litigation ledge Road commercial truck traffic and to review executive session minutes for approval from July 22nd 2024 August 5th 2024 segments 1 and two and August 19th 2024 not to return second okay we have a motion in a second and roll call vote Pat I George I Aaron I Virginia I I'm I okay we are adjourned to Executive session thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e