##VIDEO ID:ngdfweUuUV4## e e here two it being 6:00 I'll call to order this January 6 2025 meeting of the chancel select board uh if you would join me in a pledge of allegiance to the flag United States of America indivisible andice and I want to remind everybody that Chan tele media is broadcasting this meeting live and also recording it for later um viewing by the public and also to note that select board member uh Pat Maloney is joining us by Zoom tonight so with that we'll start with public service announcements good evening members of the board happy New Year um I'm here uh for three public service announcements tonight first uh regarding dog licensing dog licensing is open for the 2025 licensing year over 1,800 dogs have been licensed so far but that leaves about 2500 left to license for the year it's important that if you have not licensed your dog that you do so by February 28th 2025 to avoid late fees the fee is $15 if the dog is spayed or neutered and $20 if unaltered you can license online in person or by mail proof of current rabies vaccination is required at the time of lure next regarding the census um the annual Town census is going out this week responding to the town census maintains your voter status helps the town maintain accurate voter roles provides proof of residency and helps us better provide services to you included in the census envelope this year is a vote by mail application form you can return that application form to apply for vote by mail for the local election this year when you receive the census form if everything does look accurate you can respond at the link provided on the form if you need to make any changes you can return it by mail by dropbox at the front of town offices or in our office last regarding running for office nomination papers are available as of today for all local offices the last day to obtain nomination papers will be February 6th 2025 the last day to file completed nomination papers with the board of registrars is February 11th 2025 there will be 15 townwide office seats on the ballot and 68 Town Meeting representative seats on the 2025 ballot as of today thank you and have a great rest of your night thank you [Applause] uh we have an announcement here from the Department of Environmental Protection regarding their um comment period which is open for Newport agregates LLC for their draft air quality permit uh comments on the proposed decision must be submitted in writing by January 10th 2025 and comments may be submitted via the public access portal or electronic mail to edward. B zy K mass.gov or VIA mail to um their address at the northeast regional office 150 presidential way wuber Mass 01801 um we have an announcement regarding a declutter your life info session um join us at our information session about our 15we inperson and treasures Workshop it is being held on January 7th from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the chumford Town Hall registration is not required if you have any questions you can contact Taran Angel at 978 [Applause] January 7th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the chelsford Town Hall in the fire training room um it's for parents Educators or any interested community members to register for questions you can contact Taran Angel again at 978 250 5241 the open space and Recreation plan invites the public to join the public forum um for chumford chelmsford's open space and Recreation plan on Thursday January 9th 2025 from 400 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. via Zoom um to register you can click on the QR link that's included in the packet for tonight's meeting and from the Board of Health we have uh CPR training that's being held January 13th on Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. at chumford Town Hall the cost of the training is $20 per person it's for chumford residents only and participants who complete the 4-Hour training will obtain an American Heart Association Hearts saer CPR AED first aid certificate that is valid for 2 years for questions you can call the Chumps health department at 978 25052 41 and lastly we have another announcement from the chumford health department regarding their depression and anxiety support group if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or anxiety um You can call for more information at 978 25052 41 or email M Cameron at chelsford ma.gov and this is held every 4th Tuesday of the month from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the chelsford Center for the Arts in the Cabaret room okay thank you okay okay now we're at the public input part of our our meeting is there anyone here who would like to address the board on any any topic this evening okay anybody on Zoom all right very good we'll go right to committee vacancies then the following committees have vacancies as of January 6 2025 the CCA Town Hall advisory committee the clean energy and sustainability committee the commission on disabilities the Council on Aging board the Conservation Commission the cultural Council the historic district commission the holiday decorating committee the parade committee the public records advisory committee and the recycling committee if you are interested in serving on a Town border committee please complete an online application available on the town website or you can call the town manager's office for more information at 978 25052 to okay thank you okay we have a couple public hearings uh this evening first one is is uh for Tequila Restaurant is there anybody here for Tequilas I'm here but my attorney's in Zoom oh okay he not yet no not yet he hasn't arrived okay the phone real quick yeah yeah yeah okay but we can we'll we'll move along with other things and come back to it okay all right we also have an all alcoholic beverage license for uh Prime 41 at 41 Central Square anybody here for that good evening um ladies and gentlemen of the board my name is Ali otin from Prime Central LLC DBA Prime 41 we've waited a long time to see you we have to thank you um I'm the owner operator of FishBones restaurant located at 34 Central Square since its U Inception 19 years ago and back in 2006 I'm here to discuss our application for new liquor license for New Concept restaurant Prime 41 located next to Fishman's restaurant at 41 Central Square in the ows Hall uh Prime 41 is a new steakhouse in the historic outfalls building offering a unique uh dining experience focused on high quality meals and exceptional service our um target market Market includes our local residents and visitors um seeking a premium dining experience our menu will feature variety of prime beef uh poultry and other expertly um prepared dishes we also offer a vast curated wine list along with craft cocktails to complement our meals um Prime uh 41 will create a job opportunities for local residents contribute to the economic growth of chamford and support current businesses including Fishbones in the downtown area as we have in the past 19 years at Fishbones we plan to participate in community events and fundraises reinforcing a commitment to being a positive force in the community we strictly adhere to local laws and regulation concerning about alcohol Service as we have at Fishbones our staff will undergo training for intervention procedures a certification program known as tips to ensure responsible alcohol service and comprehensive and compliance with ID checking practices we have received numerous supports from local residents businesses and Community organizations demonstrating that Prime 41 has a backing of the community and in the closing Prime 41 is committed to being a responsible and positive uh contributor to the chord community un thank you for your consideration and for this application okay thank you does anybody on the board have any questions about this when when are you opening um third we are in process of getting our uh contractors in order we are hoping for end of summer of 2025 MH and Paul did you receive the receipts for the better notices any other questions from the board can I ask a question question on the um the state um abcc thing the occupancy number is 147 is it is it is that supposed to be different than the capacity like does that account for yes the occupancy is included the um staff and the people standing so it it is calculated on the um permit set yeah yeah there was one form where the uh the capacity was uh it was at 135 yeah that was my mistake actually okay but it is 130 that I tried to get that through Evan but it didn't work we blame Evan for that okay um any other questions from the board okay this being a public hearing is there anybody here that would um like to make any comments for or against this application apparently not nobody on Zoom okay nobody on Zoom okay can we have a motion then I'll make a motion to approve close the public hearing I'll make a motion to close the public hearing thank you I'll second second sorry okay we have a motion and a second so we have to do a roll call vote Pat hi George hi Aron I Virginia I I so now we'll have your other motion we good y I'll make a motion to approve the all alcoholic beverages restaurant license for Prime Central LLC Prime 41 at 41 Central Square as presented I uh second have a motion and a second do a roll call vote Pat hi George hi Aaron hi Virginia I and I'm an i unanimous congratulations and we'll be looking forward for the opening looking forward to thank you thank you okay the other we'll have to come back he's still still nobody on Zoom yet all right we have a uh one day um beer and wine license for the chancel of public library is Jeff Jeff's on the zoom yep good evening hi there everyone okay you want to tell us a little bit about your your event uh sure yeah this is the CH art Society who's here with us again they are actually doing a closing reception for their show so I was just here last month for their opening but uh they've got a local artist Michael asier who's going to do a workshop talking about his painting talking about his relationship with chuman L he does painting of like local buildings and Landscapes and stuff like that and they're expecting maybe another like 20 or 30 people to this and just like to have a couple bottles of wine to welcome the guests okay are there any questions for this one this applicant no okay we'll take a motion I'll make a motion to approve the one-day beer and wine license for the chelsford public library at 25 Boston Road for January 11th 2025 as presented second okay a motion in a second we'll do a roll call vote Pat I George I I and I'm an i okay Jeff you're all set thanks thank you very much I really appreciate it have a good night okay still not there still not there all right so we'll go to reports and presentations in forup is northern middle sex Council of governments Jenny Jenny and Kelly all right good evening great to see all of you um members of the board and manager Cohen and those participating in the public I'm Jenny raid I'm the executive director at Nim Cog and I'm Kelly Lena deputy director at Nim Cog nice to see you and uh this is sort of our annual presentation to you and also just update and see if there's any questions that you have about Nim's work um I submitted to you our 2024 annual report which actually looks kind of far backwards so it's uh it's actually uh it might feel a little bit out of date but that is what I put to you because um I wanted to kind of review where we've been and then also uh Kelly will talk about sort of some of our upcoming work and some of our highlights and then we can talk about what's on the horizon sort of our next steps and also if we have some time maybe get a sense of any of your priorities that nimc should know about that we might not already know about um so just for those participating northern middle sex Council of governments or Nim Cog as I keep on referring to it um we are the regional planning agency we're one of 13 Regional planning agencies in Massachusetts we're based in L we serve greater L and that obviously includes chemsford um we have been an agency in existence since 1963 and uh have been uh successfully working towards local planning initiatives as well as many different Regional planning initiatives in that time and for regional plans we work on everything from housing Economic Development a lot of Transportation Planning initiatives as you likely know um environmental planning climate resiliency J and data services um as well as Regional coordination and collaboration so over many years have served uh the town of chelsford and the region uh to that effect um we have a staff of about 15 people some vacancies right now we're hiring in fact for two Regional planner type positions one uh person who will be a Regional Housing coordinator who will uh including uh chelsford will serve uh our towns and our city of LOL to help to make sure that we maintain our affordable housing um and that we're also working to together in coordination on our affordable housing inventories um and we're also in the midst of hiring a regional energy manager that individual will be working for two of nim CG's communities and two communities outside of nim Cog um we're also uh planning to hire a couple of new Transportation planners for a number of different initiatives but even with that said we have uh actively been doing a number of different projects over the past couple of years for the town um and we are well very well represented by your chair pat Wes on the council as the select board representative Anita tanini from the planning board and Douglas Bruce who serves as your alternate um in this past year uh the year that I reported on in here um the assessment has gone up since that time every single one of our member communities pays an assessment as part of your participation in the Nim kog uh region and so your current assessment for the next fiscal year 2026 is to be 14,00 68126 um this is based on a per capita number of individuals in the community based on the last decennial census um and uh as I mentioned we devote a large share of our staff time towards Transportation Planning mostly do in part because we are the lead uh staff and coordinators of the northern middle sex Metropolitan planning organization or the mo uh Pat Wes is the representative from Nim cogs Council who serves on M as well as other members and representatives from the state um as well as across the region and as part of our 1.1 million dooll grant that we receive through the uh Massachusetts Department of Transportation we do a number of different Transportation traffic studies um and analyses as well as housing Economic Development land use and other types of initiatives um these are all some of them benefit the town perhaps indirectly um but then there's a lot of things that actually are direct benefit to the town including doing Transportation traffic counts so that we better understand uh traffic situations or uh congestion areas and then find ways to proactively address that through our our transportation Improvement program um chelsford has uh pretty actively been engaged in putting forward tip projects over many years and also working with ncog to monitor specific areas uh across town including ledge Road as you're familiar with um and other locations as well uh including 16 other locations um we've also in the past assisted with vinyl square Safety project and uh intend to continue to help the town move that forward as well as potentially uh assist with the center Village uh Master planning project that you've done in the past and that you're going to be continuing to carry forward in the future um additionally we helped the town over the past couple of years with the compliance with the MBT communities law um and we'll continue to assist the town should you request it for any implementation around the law moving forward um as you uh mentioned in your announcements you're having a a wonderful meeting on Thursday evening for the open space and Recreation plan uh Nim Cog staff have been actively helping to work with the town and some excellent uh staff and volunteer participation throughout that planning process and so we're excited to be able to uh work through the public hearing but also um a couple of different meetings that are coming up including coming to your board eventually at the end of this month um for hopeful endorsement and adoption so that we will then be able to give you a a fully adopted open space and Recreation plan um we've also been working on uh assisting you with energy planning assistance through the green communities program that includes everything from looking at various capital projects in town where you might benefit from energy efficiencies to helping you remain compliant with your uh Municipal energy Insight reporting to the state on compliance with Energy Efficiency initi initiatives um and then uh two more things uh we uh with uh members from uh staff primarily participate in the Northern middlex Storm weather collaborative this is a collaborative of communities across our region as well as about four other communities uh from the surrounding area who participate on a monthly basis to learn more about how to be and remain compliant with the ms4 permit process um and moving forward we were just awarded a watershed study Grant which will also be a benefit to uh the storm water collaborative and the last item is that we are in the midst of updating our comprehensive Economic Development strategy and for that it is aimed to be beneficial to Local Economic Development efforts everything from businesses that are looking to expand um or that you're looking to retain or attract new businesses into the community as well as ways to leverage uh your proximity to uh transportation resources and leverage mixed use or housing and economic development opportunities in the future so there's a lot to come with that process which Kelly is going to talk a little bit about and um I'll be back after Kelly tells you about some of our upcoming work and highlights to kind of wrap it up and see if there's any other priorities that I might have missed thank you so Jenny mentioned that a lot of our work regard is regarding Transportation um so I'll start with that we are very excited to be beginning a regional bicycle and pedestrian plan and so this is this is a plan across the region not just for um Trails but to look at how we can expand our Trail networks and connect them with um fill in gaps in our sidewalk networks look at ways that we can expand our bicycle Network so that we can encourage other forms of transportation um and Recreation across the region so this is going to be starting out soon um also from a transportation standpoint we have recently completed the first comprehensive inventory of LRTA bus stops and the work will be presented to our Mo or to the Metropolitan planning organization in January at which point we'll be transitioning to a job's accessibility analysis and this work will help us understand where the LRTA is appropriately serving and connecting residents with um employment opportunities and where maybe frequency or routes need to be changed or updated and we can inform those recommendations by looking at how well people are connected to Transit across the region um the tra the 2025 traffic Counting season we have um had multiple conversations with manager Cohen and your DPW staff and engineering staff to M ensure that we're we're continuing to collect counts at ledge Road um so that we can continue to monitor the the uh truck counts there and then also conduct conducting counts across the region from another standpoint um this sets Jenny mentioned the update to the comprehensive Economic Development strategy we'll be holding a regional Summit probably sometime in March and so this will be an excellent opportunity to think about what is our vision for the region as far as economic development is concerned we will also be starting off phase two of at home and greater L which is our Regional Housing strategy and this is looking at how we can allocate housing and different types of housing equitably across the region to ensure that people have access to both rental and Home Ownership opportunities um and that we are serving our UNH housee residents by providing them with Supportive Services um not just in LEL but across the region and then um finally uh as Jenny mentioned we have funding to conduct a watershed study as part of the Northern middlex Storm water collaborative we'll be doing energy planning as far as as part of our green community's work and then sorry one thing I missed on the transportation projects is that we will be starting our transportation Improvement program doing the work to inform what projects are funded and on our tip for the next 5 years and so that process will be starting very soon in February we have tip Readiness days where we'll be looking at projects that are currently on the tip including projects in chelsford to make sure that those projects are set to be funded at the appropriate time so that you can get those construction projects completed and that we're also looking at Future projects to make sure that the mo is funding them and we can make those important infrastructure improvements using federal and state funding um just to make our roadways better um not just for drivers but for um pedestrian cyclists and and people riding public transit and so with that I'll P that pass it back to Jenny for conclusion thanks Kelly um and uh one thing that Kelly noted was the at home greater L project we had a a couple of summits in the past year some of you participated in those and we really appreciate that um I believe we have a Time coming up on your agenda perhaps in February I believe um so where we will be specifically discussing that project and more deeply and getting your feedback on some of the things that we're considering as part of the Regional Housing strategy just wanted to make sure I mentioned that so um we're really glad to see you tonight I'm always glad to make this annual update and also happy to answer your questions and and also get a sense of if there was something I missed because we do a lot of things that ncog um to mention any of those things or if there's something that we're missing in general and we need to add to our um things that we're working on either now or in the future I would love to hear any feedback like that as well so thank you very much for the time okay anybody on the board have questions for Jenny O Kelly I I had a question about um a movie okay you had mentioned that you're hiring an environmental person who energy energy who's going to be working within the Nim Cog communities and outside is that because of the need spread or like why aren't they dedicated to the Nim Cog communities yeah for now that came from a project from the town of peil and um was led by the town of peril and in working with three other commun ities that they typically work with they also then pursued a state uh Grant and received it and chose to hire Nim Cog to provide those Regional Energy Management Services so it's kind of a unique situation uh would ideally I would love to have a regional energy manager for the entire region and perhaps that's what it will segue into um after we're done or completing that work uh but that'll be a conversation with you know the area communities and uh figure out whether or not that you know is the right recipe for you know serving our communities or perhaps uh some handful of them and not just uh dunable and peil are the two communities just to be clear thank you you're welcome anyone else P do you have a question no good okay okay PA anything you wanted to add no the date for the at home presentation is Monday February 10th February 10th um so they they'll be in and then I guess we'll schedule the open space plan presentation somewhere around that time I think it's yeah the open space is on 27 set right but I think isn't there a final presentation of that plan for the open space when it's Don Evan or is it just the hearing I think that is this Thursday is the final okay and then they'll come to the board right that's what I'm saying for them to come back to the board we'll have to schedule that for around that same time okay all right well thank you for coming you're very welcome all good stuff thank you I appreciate it all right we're all set for the Tequila's public hearing the the council's on on online and app here in the room that was just a mix up on the zoom connection okay all right so if you want to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about it how we doing my name is Eric brila and I have my attorney Nicholas fing good evening Nick you you can turn your mic on you be all set to hear you unmute excuse me uh members of the board good even evening this is attorney Nicholas felichi representing the applicant L Union Incorporated and with me tonight is the president and owner of the corporation and restaurant Eric brila I apologize I'm not with you in person uh only because I'm rehabilitating from some foot surgery that's kept me uh confined to the house for the last month so with that I apologize for not being with you I'm always eager to be at these meetings live uh when when light Union issues uh are are before the board okay so um do you want to tell us a little bit about um what it is you're coming before us for this evening sure um Mr BM has owned the Tequila's Restaurant on one vinyl square for many years now I'm I'm sure members of the board are familiar with it uh it's a Mexican family restaurant uh that he has owned for the last several years along with two other restaurants in the area um the chain the manager of record has been uh his partner LS Aro and simply the reason for the change of manager petition is that Lise is relocating he has family in meico and he's been uh basically spending a good amount of his time in Mexico and not being able to uh devote his full time to managing the restaurant as of the beginning of the year so we didn't want to go uh into the new year with any kind of an absentee manager uh scenario so Eric is going to uh take over full-time managerial duties he's been basically uh a manager ad hoc manager for for several months and for the last several years he's been daily activity at the restaurant in Chelmsford um so at this point in time it just simply makes sense to have a formal change of manager so that uh we have a a nice continuity uh now that Louise uh is no longer in the area uh so that's basically all we're looking at Eric has many years of restaurant managing experience as I said he owns uh two sister restaurants in gron and in Wakefield and he has managers that are managing those restaurants so he'll have all the the time that he needs to devote to managing the Chelmsford restaurant rather than simply uh you know be there as technically an assistant man manager as he has been for the last couple of years so that's really all the petition is about is simply to to to to get the managerial change properly uh instituted now that um Mr Aro is no longer um at the premises regularly okay thank you um does any any board member have any questions for this this applicant no um I just have have one uh note on the the current license uh it shows occupancy of 98 but on the uh application for the for the change it shows um 100 um I know it's only only two but uh I'm not even sure which one is it it could be the 98 okay yeah there's no there's no change this the the the license is um the existing license Pat says seating SL occupancy excuse me and where you're seeing the 100 says capacity is that right is that why it's different well um I would think the seating capacity would be more than the capacity should be more than seating occupancy but that's correct usually on these applications a lot of times the the capacity is a few numbers more than um seating capacity is a few numbers less than occup because the the way that the board works um there might be a few extra um occupancy numbers but not seating numbers technically but I think all we're doing is keeping the status quo there's no change at all in what the occupancy or seating capacity would be like if there was an alteration of the premises okay because on on a department review sheet under under existing use of premises where it says capacity 100 it notes seating capacity it of the restaurant so um so it's going to stay the way that it is everything's staying the same okay everything staying the same yes all right so we'll figure that out at some point but okay any other questions from the board okay this is a public hearing is there anybody here that has any um would like to make any comments for or against this anybody on Zoom Paul okay apparently not so take a motion make a motion to close the public hearing second okay we have a motion and a second to close public hearing we'll take a roll call vote Pat I thank you very much we're not I Virginia I and I'm an i 5 okay now we'll take another motion I will make a motion to approve the amendment on the all alcoholic beverages restaurant license for Le Union Incorporated DBA Tequilas at one vinyl square unit 6 as presented second okay we have a motion and a second the roll call vote Pat I George I Aaron I Virginia I and I'm I 5 Z okay all right you're all set thank you so much thank you thank you very much members of the board okay thank you good luck good evening okay we'll now we'll go back to reports and presentations and Chris L valy from the planning board is going to tell us about about the zoning update good evening so tonight I'm going to be presenting the draft of the um proposed zoning bylaw change for adus um my understanding is that you'll be voting on it on the 27th meeting um what I'm presenting tonight is a draft uh based on discussions we've had in our meetings and work session with the Town Council our public hearing and our voting um well the public hearing is going to be Wednesday night um hopefully voting on it on Wednesday if not at our next meeting um given our strategy and approach to this zoning at this time we're not expecting any major changes uh coming out of that hearing um however that being said if there are any changes um we can certainly uh reach out to you um with the final voting and any of the changes that we happen to uh have from that hearing uh before your final vote um next meeting so first wanted to start off with some um highlights and uh high level view of what the Massachusetts Adu law is um it was signed into law August 6th and it does take effect February 2nd so it doesn't give us a whole lot of time um for an act ing any of our own bylaws uh the state still has not released um final guidance um from the uh Housing Office uh for how to implement this uh so we're going based on their draft um regulations and uh some of the presentations that they've given uh communities um we're expecting that there won't be any uh major changes to that uh but if there are we do anticipate uh needing to update our bylaws potentially um after those are released uh but we wanted to move forward with some basic changes to get us into compliance before the February 2nd deadline so that state law um as of February 2nd will apply to any municipalities um in in the State uh either with Adu zoning or without Adu zoning already in place our current uh limited accessory uh apartment bylaw will be essentially ineffective as of that date which is why we want to keep moving forward with this so the theory behind the state law is um essentially the same as the MBTA law uh to increase housing stock and hopefully bring uh housing prices down so their hope with this law is that the housing stock growth will be between 8 to $10,000 or 8 to 10,000 new ad units in the next five years and the key um part of the state law is that it becomes the adus become a protected use under the do Amendment uh similar to the um the uh educational and um religious institutions so that means that it must be allowed by right in any zones where single family dwellings are allowed and in shellford they're allowed in any of the residential zones we have so the next slide shows some of the key points um so as I mentioned this definition of an Adu is added to the do Amendment protected uses which essentially limit special permit uh discretion of our of our boards it allows attached and detached uh adus by right in any zoning District where family single family dwelling units are allowed they can be accessory to any single family or multif family dwelling so a a two family a three family a multif family can have a a one of these protected adus on it it limits the restrictions and the process uh that we have over um the adus and it essentially restricts any restrictions that we can place on it to ones that we would normally place on single family dwellings or other accessory buildings in single family areas we cannot create limits on owner occupancy age restriction or affordability um and it limits parking restrictions uh we can not require any more than one on street or off street parking space um for any Adu and for any adus within5 miles of a transit station which I'll get to in a minute uh we cannot require any off- street parking um based on the definition of a transit station that they have in the state it's any MBTA Regional or local Ferry subway train bus station stop and or route and on the route um if it's if flagging is allowed anywhere along the route that whole route is considered um a bus St a transit station so what that means in terms of chelsford is because the LRTA comes through chelsford and it does allow flagging along its its routes um it's about 55% of chelsford is within the 0.5 miles of the uh Transit stations um it does allow us to restrict short-term rentals um which is less than 31 days per state definition and it only allows one protected Adu uh per lot by right a second protected Adu may be allowed by special permit um but we are not implementing that at this time so our planning board uh strategy and approach for this has been to ensure that the chumford bylaw is compliant and enforcable um that we're providing clear standards and process for residents and St Town staff um but we're only doing it to the minimum at this point what we want to do is make sure that we're in compliance first see how things play out see how the the final guidelines come out and then if the town wants to take further steps we can uh maybe come up with a a townwide committee to study it further to see what the impacts might be with different uh different um approaches and then take it a step further and be a little bit less restrictive um in the in the future if we want to but essentially we're we are doing the minimum at this point to comply um because we don't want that February 2nd deadline to come um unexpectedly so the final draft um of the regulations is expected early February um likely after that February 2nd deadline um so this initial bylaw is really to comply with those regulations and then down the road if we can if we want to change it we can so to highlight key provisions of the proposed bylaw um only protected adus as the state has defined them will be allowed we're not allowing a second prot protected Adu the maximum size is what we're going with the state definition which is 900 square ft gross floor area or 50% of the principal dwelling whichever is smaller um we are requiring one off street parking space uh for those that we can but no parking requirement for adus within that half mile we are prohibiting short-term rentals we are prohibiting um new curb cuts and the uh adus that are built must use existing driveway and walkway um that are there now we're implementing the same design standards as the prior uh limited accessory um bylaw for entryways and stairs for attached adus and for detached adus we're following the um bylaws that we have in place now for um for accessory um or for uh accessory uh buildings on the property where you cannot locate them within the front yard area and they cannot be in excess of 20 ft or two stories so it's the same as we have for detach structures so for the review and approval process for adus on single and two family it will be a plan review by The Building Commissioner for uh adus on multif family with three or more units it'll be a minor site plan review by the planning board all setback and other dimensional requirements that we have currently will still apply and it mirrors our process that we have now for zoning relief um for any pre-existing non-conforming situations um they go go through through the uh zba the difference is that for this no special permits or variances may be required um by the boards even though it does go through that same process so it'll be a very similar process is what we ended up doing for uh 150 uh North Road um for the daycare there where we still had the hearing we still had the process but we were limited in what we could and could not um approve um and then if non-conforming we still have the um provision in there to have the Adu uh not be substantially more detrimental than the existing non-conforming structure other issues and concerns that um are being uh brought up that we wanted to make sure that we addressed sewer and septic um we aren't putting those into the uh bylaw but we have spoken to DPW and the current regulations um that they have in place will mostly remain unchanged uh but they will be revised to allow detached adus connections to sewer the current regulations currently allow an increase in uh up to 500 uh gallons per day for residential um and based on Title 5 calculations the sewer increases for adus will be under that amount so that shouldn't be a problem and then need design uh connection um issues will be essentially best standard practice so this is a quick uh comparison table of how our current uh bylaw matches up with the Adu bylaw um there is a difference in the maxim maximum square footage uh occupied by relative and principal dwelling owner occupied are no longer applicable for the adus um in place so proposed timeline of next steps uh so as I mentioned we have our public hearing on Wednesday uh fincom presentation um will be on January 9th uh the select board um vote I believe is going to be on the 27th um if we have to have a second night of public hearing it'll be on the 22nd uh prior to your next meeting uh so we'll definitely have a uh some information to share before that and then our special town meeting will be on the 27th and as I mentioned if there are any revisions that need to happen we'll we'll manage those after the uh February date so that's the presentation any questions any questions for Chris can I say question hi so so the zba process it's just a simple majority vote they don't issue a permit they they don't need a special permit they don't need a variance no simple majority and they'll be pretty restricted as to what they'll be um deciding upon okay that's in keeping with a lot of the state initiatives on housing go down to a majority vote no no more Super majorities it's not even a or other issues that's exactly what happened with the North Road project that we had before us at the planning board normally it would have been a special permit but because it's protected under the do use it's just a simple majority just a vote it just goes they don't need a piece of paper Okay um and what's the so what's the what's the plan with the sewer are they are they supposed to tie into the sewer themselves or are they supposed to tie into the main property what's the is are there my understanding and Evan can um clarify but my understanding is that how it will happen um will be dependent on the um characteristics of the of the property and the design itself so if it's attached versus detached how far away the detached unit is from the attached from the single um main dwelling um it'll also vary depending on the elevations so it will be essentially an engineering decision but there's no State guidelines on that and there's no we don't have any as of now no purview or any guidelines around that no okay can I just ask one more question so the do Amendment what's the sorry George did you mind if I ask one more what's the I'm just curious what's because typically the do amendment is for um you know religious and educational institutions and natural resources I think I've heard what I'm curious what the terminology they're using or is it just a straight it's just they added this to one of the protected uses of the do Amendment so it's um Child Care nonprofit religious institutions and educational facilities and now adus okay as defined in the state definition okay thanks George that um 9900 ft I guess like say say there's a like a mill building on the road like right along the road which would um is still it's still limit to one unit or could you put you know like you know eight or 10 of them in in uh so under the state law only one um one of these protected adus is allowed by right right towns can allow more by special permit mhm um at this time we have deter we've decided not to take that route um that if the town wants to allow that in the future that's a future discussion but right now we're really limiting ourselves to only what we need to comply okay thank you m j anything yeah Chris you mentioned um the bus route is considered um an entire station so it's within half a mile has the plan board or town staff given any thought to how are you going to monitor the bus routes if the bus routes start to change and then we have to change the bylaw to catch up with that cu the bus routes are not under our control right um we haven't really thought of how that's going to happen yet we don't have the final determination as to how a lot of this will play out in the state regulations so that's something we're going to have to keep an eye on it's likely that we'll have to as the project comes forward there may be a case where last year there the that property was within was not within the half mile but the bus RADS changed and then that property would be within and so we would have to change our our guidelines for that spe or so the bylaw actually wouldn't have to change we would just have to track the bylaw to the bus routes and it would likely be something that we would be tracking within the project proposal right yeah thank you okay Pat any questions okay no okay thanks all right I don't have any either so um thanks very much for coming in and reviewing that and we be looking forward to it in thank you three weeks all right next up is uh related to that we have the warrant for the special town meeting on January 27th um yeah thank you madam chair um as was noted tonight and we discussed at your last meeting uh in before you this evening is a warrant for a special town meeting to be held on Monday January 27th at 7:30 at the senior center the warrant is a single article warrant uh addressing the amendments to the town zoning bylaws regarding uh accessory dwelling units uh the warrant has been reviewed by Town Council as to its legal form form uh and therefore um if you approve it this evening it'll be presented to the clerk's office to the town constable and posted in a timely manner and as was noted in uh the presentation this evening uh the finance committee scheduled to hold its uh public hearing and meeting on it this Thursday evening um and then the planning board will make its recommendation to town meeting and then prior to the town meeting the select board you'll make your recommendation and um so again it's a one article town meeting uh for the 27th of this month okay any questions no okay we'll take them take a motion um it's a motion to approve to sign I'll make a motion to sign the warrant for um the January 27th 2025 special town meeting as presented second give a motion in a second a roll call vote Pat hi George hi Aaron hi Virginia hi and I 5 Z thank you okay so um now we to the MMA uh proposed resolutions um as you know later this month the MMA is having their um annual meeting and they have brought forward these um resolutions that will be discussed during the annual meeting at um at that uh conference um so we can do them one at a time or we can take them all at once or we can talk about them a little bit I mean what are we doing we have to vote to approve somebody to vote in favor or against correct yeah okay that's what we're doing and there's no editing these right now they just they are what they are they are what they are y I mean you can suggest that the at the meeting you can suggest edits amendments y um the first one being having uh addressing P contamination remediation and to protect the public health um you know all they're all kind of lengthy I don't want to read all of each each of them um but um basically to do whatever we can to address the issue of P especially in the in the water supply U across the state so anybody have any comments about it no no all right do we want to do just do them all look at them all and then we can want to look at them all and then we can vote whether to approve them or all I don't think there's going to be much discussion on any of them uh the second resolution is a resolution supporting the modern modernization and efficiency of local government um has a lot of um items that might be of interest um possibly is the two communities um talks about um there's a couple of things that I noted the legislator should should support the reduction of unnecessary and costly publishing requirements I guess Paul that refer to like not yeah yeah Public Notices I mean we if you look at the the Lal Sun I mean that's probably where they make a lot of their money still right now there's so many of those um but nobody reads them on a in a son I don't think anymore it does also address uh establishing an OPB commission which we spoke about when our legislative delegation was here um so on the publishing requirements they could still have a notice requirement there will be a notice requ put it on your website instead of in the paper correct y i I have a question Paul on the second page MH um the first bullet under in the area of Municipal procurement and spending efficiencies what is the what I don't understand what the cap is that they're talking about right the cap for many years has been $50,000 we have to get three what is what is it a cap for oh procurement for for procurement of goods and services so for example if we wanted to go buy a computer system that was Valu you don't have to go through a formal procur right if it's under $50,000 you'd get three quotes um okay and what happened is noted in the bullet um the previous legislative session not the one that just ended but prior to that they amended it for schools to $100,000 um but they didn't do it for Min General government so no one quite understood why so the MMA is saying well why don't we just make it go back to it always being a traditional uniform requirement so therefore any good or service up to proposal would be up to $100,000 could be done without a formal RFP and advertising process it would just be done by soliciting and recording and maintaining records of three quotes thank you okay the third one has to do with supporting low local state federal partnership to a robust multimodal transportation system across the Commonwealth and supports thriving communities in the age of climate change um any questions concerns comments about this one no um one one thing I noticed on this one the MMA supports um where are you that I'm at the bottom of the second page the second to last uh bullet um um has nothing to do with congestion pricing but to have a more Equitable tax for the users of the um of the the roads and the highways right now you know it's just a gas tax but vehicles that don't use gas don't don't contribute to that so I think it would be good to come up with some way as noted in here at least that's how I read it um to I guess charge by miles driven rather than um gas used although maybe there should be some hybrid thing of that I think a vehicle that's much heavier than a than my car should pay more than than I have to particular an electric car that are heavier because of the batteries and they don't exctly right so anyway that was one of interest to me and then it also not notes um supports a local option from municipalities um to utilize automated enforcement technology to reduce traffic violations there's been talk about that for a long time they have cameras you know for and they just passed the law at the two weeks ago at the end of the session to allow it for school bus uh non you know flashing violations so what's happening when um is the governor signed it is the the town with the approval of the school committee so it's not going to come here could allow for the installation of cameras on school buses so when they when they issue they stop and the flashing lights and the sign goes out says stop camera would be activated and then it would photograph those vehicles that uh would violate the non-stop which is a safety concern for children and then those would be presented to the police chief who would then be the uh issuing authority for citations um and it would just be a penalty it would not it would not be anything beyond that because they don't know who the driver of the vehicle is or any of that other information um so this is the first time that the state has ever allowed um that type of video enforcement because although many other states allow red light cameras and and and and uh speed uh radar enforcement by camera mass does not so this is sort of going to the broader issue and obviously this was prepared before they knew what the legis was going to do with the school bus safety concern so it came up at the state and they yeah for years they've been asking for red light cameras uh which I think it exists in a couple dozen other states um to avoid you know again a safety consideration and then the last resolution is one that um they propose every every year it's a resolution supporting and enduring fiscal partnership between cities and towns and the Commonwealth for fiscal 2026 and Beyond um does mention several times about the the restrictions of uh proposition two and a half so I don't know if anything will ever change with that but um it does mention that about the Reliance of the property tax by by communities which we we have mentioned many times recently in these meetings is there any other comments or anything on that no all right if not we we can take a motion um so the motion is to authorize someone your yourself yeah to vote in favor of these I think so resolutions okay I will make a motion uh to approve the chair of the select board to vote in favor of these proposed resolutions as presented second okay we have a motion in a second so we'll do a roll call vote Pat hi George Aon hi and Virginia I and I'm I okay thank you all right with two Town manager reports yeah yeah thank you madam chair uh members of the board a few items this evening the first one is an agenda item that'll appear your next agenda on the 27th this has to do with the T the fact that the town uh through the chair has received a an updated project site approval application for Crosby Village at 39 North Road in Crosby Lane um the um executive office of housing Lial communities has has allowed the town till the end of the month to to provide its comments on the latest revisions to the plan they are available for viewing on our website if obviously if somebody wants to go to the link for this meeting uh they'll see the the plan design changes um this has been circulated to department head so the proposal is that your next meeting on the 27 7th this will come before you there will be a period for um to receive the comments from the board as well as for public to have their input um to the board's comment process um on this project once again okay the next item I have is today was the deadline for citizen petition Warren articles uh as of the deadline today at 4M there were no citizen petition warrant article submitted for the spring annual town meeting so the only thing we really have is the carryover from Mary Donovan's one from the pet cemetery from the fall and you know I will place that on the warrant um you know I think that was the understanding and for the fall so beyond that there are the there are no citizen magician warrant articles for Springtown meeting and then just a few Grant Awards um since our last meeting um the first one is from the massachus Department of Environmental Protection under the recycling dividends program for the sustainable materials recovery program the town has received a grant Award of $18,000 to promote uh recycling in the Commonwealth again this is an annual Grant award the second one is a Maya Grant award uh for risk management this one sort of kind of timely this is a a grant award in the amount of $9,000 approximately and this is for the Department of Public Works to purchase and operate a thermal imaging camera uh to identify hidden and remote areas vulnerable to Arctic air intrusions um so basic basically um we'll have some of your Public Works uh be licensed because it is a drone to and skilled into operating this equipment but basically you could do in situations that we're in now in is they can go up and around the buildings and the roofs and the sides and with the thermal imaging see where their exposures to prevent freeze ups because that is a major uh loss control for for municipal buildings is obviously when the Freez is thaw and then the water spills and then flows in and whether it's on a holiday weekend um or other time um so again this will help us uh to avoid um because even in modern buildings in fact even more common in modern buildings despite the energy codes and all the efficiencies it's still subject to human you know error or or issues and so what this will do is it allow us to um monitor um the buildings to prevent any uh any losses because again it's not only the loss of damage of property it's also the tremendous inconvenience that it would place if you lost part of a school area or even another departmental work Area library or otherwise uh the next one is from the um no other middle sex Council government you heard it earlier this evening uh from the presentation from our Nim Cog leadership um Nim Cog has been awarded a $70,500 grant uh under the U he Driscoll administration's water quality protection Grant to conduct a watershed study to uh basically to perform a storm water asset inventory and collaborative mapping um to uh address address key infrastructure vulnerabilities um so and then the final next the final one is we did receive notice um through the clean energy and sustainability committee uh that the we the Mass Save is approving their Community First partnership Grant which will provide $85,000 per year for up to three years to support Energy Efficiency awareness programs uh including the funding for high an energy advocate kit that will service the communities of chped and Bara um so once that paperwork comes in we'll move with it uh and get that program underway again it's part of the ongoing efforts of the clean energy and sustainability committee to uh enhance uh energy efficiencies and uh protect the environment so that's the last Grant award and then the final thing I have under my agenda this evening is sort of a longstanding item and it's actually one of the select Board of manager goals for the current year um over the last several weeks I've been working with Town Council KP laws Rick Holland to advance efforts with Verizon to extend the underground utility project through Central Square um basically from the current area that was performed at the Town common over a decade ago to the Adam's Library um and what this basically means is you'd suppress the uh utility lines that are primarily Verizon and National Grid although you know Comcast has a cable line through there but in there are a few private lines but basically it's suppressing the utility lines underneath the center yeah have the challenge here has always been the brook that goes to the center as well as the Verizon trunk lines that uh go um through the center out towards Bedford um and then you also have to make the individual service connections once you suppress the lines to the individual business establishments on either side of the roadway um the project duration we uh basically for went out with met with our town engineer uh and examined the situation with today's technology and today's ability and they estimate it would probably take about 24 months to complete this project um what's been the holdup for this project since the first phase is the funding source um the project is funded or has been funded through utility sear charge so there was a 2% search charge on on utility electric bills throughout the community um which funded the first phase of the project and also adequately has funds for the second phase in fact that that search charge was suspended about a decade ago because of the amount of funding because even with today's technology everybody still receives you know electrical service from National Grid um The Challenge has been on the telephone and the Verizon side and and the reason for that is the statute pro has provided and continues to read that it should be funded from a search charge on land telephone lines uh you can imagine with the Advent of and popularity now of the Wireless Communications and cell phones there are fewer and fewer residents in the community who maintain landlines in fact the collections were were roughly going back a decade ago less than $75,000 per year um Verizon estimates a rough estimate again without getting into it about a million and a half dollars for them to suppress the lines and you've got to keep the projects are put in separate trenches and they're funded separately so there's a there's a trench down there uh through the center that would be installed um but you can't use Verizon's money for National Grids work and you can't use National Grids money for Verizon's work um and similarly Comcast will pay its share for its uh work uh and again this all happened we we lived it and saw it and and did it uh near the common area the issue has been for a decade is that Verizon refused to proceed without an a more immediate funding source and their preference would be to have the money up front and the the town's position is is that you know they did the first phase and actually were went a little bit in a re uh it took almost three years for them to collect additional search charge uh to pay off the cost of that first phase but what was upsetting to the town is they suspended the SE charge in and that's where things ground to a halt and yet our position particularly in the recent talks is well one we never got notice of that suspension although we realize it occurred but also if you if you ended the suspension how are you going to collect the money up front to have a do this and I think in their mind is back then the cost was even greater than the current estimate um and there was just no feasible way that they thought this could be collecting ample money um so basically we've got Verizon back to the table um National Grid will be easy to get back to the table but the issue Remains the funding source I was able to with with Evans assistance we were able to look at the community preservation fund and we found three instances in Massachusetts to the community preservation fund which has only been around since the 90s where communities have used Community preservation funds to suppress utility lines and the key here as was the case of hangam that was most recent is it's in a historic district so that's the that's the connect and that's that's the Gateway that if the town wishes to do it you could fund this Verizon's cost through the community preservation fund and that basically requires a vote of the community preservation committee and the vote of town meeting um both of those have to ur if the community preservation committee doesn't want to do it they can't get the town meeting and if town meeting doesn't want to do it then it doesn't happen what I would ask and suggest in in my discussions with Council in Verizon is is we we should utilize both funding sources meaning put back the 2% SE charge the little money that it collects because the in the master plan there there are issues beyond the center that go to this the original envisionment of this underground utility project went down chood street um you know towards um uh it basically towards the town office building towards um you know Academy not not academy uh Fletcher Street um and then there was also a portion went down Bara Road slightly um almost basically to the intersection of Summer Street again not get ahead of ourselves the the immediate issue would be the through the center because that's really what everyone talks about and and we've been struggling with for a decade uh and we've looked at various options well could you move it above ground by by way of Summer Street that's prohibitively expensive could you even put it like behind the buildings you'd have to get private property permission that's still expensive from Verizon's perspective this does nothing for Verizon other words it doesn't bring in any revenue for Verizon doesn't bring in any customers to Verizon doesn't bring in anything so they kind of look at this as a requirement not not not a opportunity or an eagerness to fulfill it so basically what I'm reporting to you and basically looking for your guidance is it's time to either do it or drop it forever in other words if the community wishes to do it which this seems Seems to been strong support and favorable response from the common project and we keep hearing about this when are they going to do the center did you know um then the way to go would be Community preservation then town meeting then once that vote occurs we would then sit with them uh proceed with the design work as you can imagine it'll probably take probably about year for design coordination and then the construction thereafter and yes like we saw at the common and like anything else it will be disruptive during construction because you're burying lines in the street and even this past year we saw National Grid doing gas work in the center and that was disruptive so we're mindful of that but this is it I I don't know of any other means of wish to do this and I guess what I'm looking for you is is guidance to me be do you would do you suggest that I bring this forward um I'll put my name on the warrant article in the warrant um but I don't want to do this and then say well the select Bo I don't think that's a good idea yeah know I mean fincom has their right to their recommendation but I know this is a shared goal and a long-standing goal that goes back literally decades this project was envisioned in the 90s um and again we in the late 2000s we were able to get the first phase by the common again we've been forestalled Now by over a decade um and this is the best and I think the only route that Town Council and I have come up with um if the community wants to advance this project because we just don't see a viable way of saying to Verizon well hey you you're on the hook and if it takes you 48 years to get your money it's just not going to happen so I guess I welcome your thoughts the only time sensitivity to this is is obviously we'd have to have this on the warrant uh that you'll signed next month um so I I guess I just welcome your thoughts on on whether this is um and again the community ultimately decide if that's what they want to use the beauty of this one um is it wouldn't increase the tax levy because Community preservation there are funds already available uh that are available that are undesignated and also if there were a borrowing it would be paid off a future Community preservation funds but it would not increase the tax levy had the town just sought the fund this from the from the tax levy as part of capital then it would have supplanted other capital projects uh and I don't think would be welcome particularly in today's difficult Financial climate I guess I don't see a downside to asking CPC how they feel about it and bringing it to town meeting I I don't know how any anybody else feels about it oh question questions I have questions yeah yes um so before going to CPC I assume we'd have to put some budgets together and things like along that nature well again Verizon did a rough estimate of 1.5 million I'm suggesting we asked for 2 million just because we know that you'll hit conditions that you don't see and then anything that doesn't get expended can't be expended for anything else so if need be we'd come back later and resend the unexpended money like we do with other projects um but they're they're just what there just isn't the ability because here's the problem to get Verizon to come up with a more detailed cost estimate is going to inv require a use of their resources and time and I just don't see them willing to undertake a significant use of either if the town isn't doesn't have a demonstrated funding source going forward so we we can commit it but but we won't we won't actually you know do that but I in other words if we come in and say town meeting votes $2 million and then Verizon spends X number of dollars to do the design and they come back and say no this is really going to be $3.4 million then obviously we stop but Verizon's going to be compensated for their design work for this project even if the cost their cost estimate is inaccurate I just don't see any other viable means to proceed with it at this time okay um so what about uh National Grid um are they funded do they have a bucket of money yes but yeah National Grid I think we have about $3.5 million of National Grid monies which will more than offset their cost of the project which is why they believe in their C they believe in their current estimation that 3.5 million will cover their costs yes okay so so the utility companies do all the work here so they would do all of the excavation the laying of the cables um they would remove cabling remove telephone poles repair sidewalks um uh where they enter into um uh commercial entities and such um I assume that the uh utilities would cover all of that what the utilities will most likely contract for the work Pat they they'll do some of the engineering work in house but they'll they'll we saw in the first project they'll contract with the third party vendor to do the excavation but then they'll weay the cables and work what the private property owner owns is anything that's it's just like what you get with an electric meter anything that goes on their property and inside the private property owner owns so they'll bring it to the edge of the their RightWay into the property but then a property owner would inail some cost if if know words if they've got to put a conduit or a connection in their private business so let's say the hotel in the center had a connection that was going from above the street they would be responsible for any work that goes on on their build buing in their property and that would go through the entire Center so whether it's you know any property within the within the center is responsible for anything that's on their side of the meter sure so um so in this instance then our contractors are are contract the town contracts with contractors would be with National Grid and Verizon right and potentially Comcast or anybody else that needs um access to um yeah so what we would do is we would have our probably Our Town engineer attend the coordination meetings but basically we're not running the operation because we don't have the expertise or the ability to direct anybody right I mean it's it's it's in the it's in the town right away but they're the ones who are going to layer the cable and and so forth um so we'll be part of that coordination project in terms of you know logistically details and so forth but they are going to control the installation of of the underground utilities so in your um estimation that um at this point um would we go to CPC without a budget and then come back and fill in the blanks along the way or or is that how we have to get it off the ground because it sounds like we can't necessarily put a complete budget together until the design work is done but the design work doesn't happen until we fund it exactly um and so that's why I think we go in and just like like I report this evening I report to the community preservation committee that Verizon's rough you know approximation is 1.5 million we ask for $2 million appropriation obviously anything that's unused would go back anything that exceeds the 1.5 we' regularly report to the community preservation committee what's taking place up there what the overruns or issues or adjustments are um otherwise it's going to be a multi- layer step where we could come in and ask for you know a smaller amount to do the design work but then the problem with that is you know it would take longer and then you would you you don't want to run the risk of doing the design and then not getting the approval for the full project because then you're never going to do it now having heard you said that um I would um think it's in the town's best interest to place a firm commitment to proceed and complete this project uh um as we've uh wanted to do for several decades thank youin so what's the um so Verizon is saying 1.5 milli has National Grid told you what their estimated cost is I mean we have 3.5 so it's more than enough but I'm curious what their I don't have their their revised number but the constraint has always been Verizon because the the nature of the trunk lines that go through the center if you if you go out there it's the bulk of the lines out there are telephone lines because it was trunk lines that go from through the center towards bka the electrical line is just your typical phase service are national GRS yeah but they're going to take the polls down and just bury them yeah they can use them again actually Verizon actually owns the polls it's it's National Verizon actually owns the polls in in chelsford yeah Oh I thought National Grid own the polls you Verizon owns the polls oh yeah National Grid is always the lead because because they're always first on the because they're just first on the polls but they don't own the polls oh I have always thought they own the polls so like I said I I don't foresee any issue with National Grid um but I also feel like they're kind of doing the same like I feel like this is something where National Grid is going to tell you it's like $2 million them fr's going to or a million doc Verizon's going to say it's a million and a half for us and they're going to go down there and they're literally going to dig trenches right next to each other and do the same job it just seems like a but that's why it's done through coordination but it's bid they it's bid and they have to you know because it involves public monies there will be formal bid documents there'll be formal requisitions and pay so is Verizon's $1.5 million estimation they of their contribution to the project together or what it would be to just do it themselves do it themselves you can't co-mingle I'm not saying there isn't coordination but you can't co-mingle um so that's for their cost of the project that they they estimate Mo like I said it's upfront design work for for Verizon and then it's for their physical lines to be buried you know and and move through the center now obviously there's going to be some shared cost right if you got an excavator out there and you're digging up the road and those were we we experienced this in the first phase well even the design cost I mean you're essentially well it's but you but you're design you're designing different utilities so it's it is going to be different for what Verizon needs to do and what National Grid needs to do but we did see in the initial phase of the project around the common is that you know there was a commonality and they shared those costs equally so there isn't there isn't gamesmanship there and in fact it's just not allowed um and they have people who audit their books because their utilities as well mhm on that so that's that's but in phase one they did kind of do some some there were some shared costs so that might that figure might actually be lower no this is their estimate based on the fact that it's a joint project it's a joint project with National Grid so it's not just oh this is our total cost we're out there with nothing else existing this is the estimate based on the fact that they know that National Grid is also share some of those cost out there in the center yeah okay would you anything um no I I agree this has been around for a long time and we should um with the community preservation committee concurrence I think we should take it to town meeting my only other thought Paul would be to maybe just um give a courtesy heads up or communication to the historic district Comm commission okay since um I think they would be supportive well I think it would benefit them and they would be supportive and it might also help with CPC and Town Meeting thank you good suggestion thank you George no I I agree with I agree with that and and I think that that would be good because they'd be you know trying to get it pasted as well yeah okay okay you got to who's going to pay all the detail work yeah that's all paid through these c those numbers are baked into these estimates and so they'll get paid through the utilities and then you know they'll pay the town for the work you know like I said the beauty of this at this time is we we did do a phase a decade ago around the common and and it worked everybody got paid everything was done cleanly you know in fact we were fortunate it it came through a winter almost like we had right now where there wasn't heavy snowfall so they pretty much worked the entire winter that time so that's the only thing that can slog up the um process is you you your winter time conditions and everybody liked the way it turned out yeah so okay all right so we'll give it a shot so thank you so that's okay that concludes my report this evening okay we're to uh the aan reports uh Pat do you have anything I do um first of all um happy New Year um to everybody secondly um just want to say that Noire is proceeding uh along and uh the siding uh redo should be complete in the next few weeks um of course of no cost uh cost to the town and and uh one other item I wanted to express that um the first school build building committee meeting will be held Wednesday evening at 6:00 at the um Chelsea Public School Central admin building um public is welcome to come this is our first um meeting in regards to the colonel Moses Parker uh Middle School uh project that uh we're about to uh embark on so um this will be dealing with the feasibility study and um Paul is that live or just recorded uh that meeting will be I believe it'll be live yeah all right so um you can tune in to Chums tele media see that and uh kind of start to um uh gauge what we're going to be talking about and some of the various options that we need to look at um so uh it all begins um Wednesday evening at 6 o'cl um and uh it'll be broadcast on CH tele media and held at help public to Central admin and that's all I have thank you okay thanks George Aon junor uh yeah so in addition to the um open space Recreation plan efforts that were mentioned during the public service announcements in Nim CG's presentation uh the Conservation Commission was represented today at a meeting of the Metro West Conservation Alliance um which is hosted by by the Sudbury Valley trustees and the group is working to develop a regional action plan for land conservation and Land Management so just want they just wanted the public to be aware that they're involved with that Alliance and from the North chumford Water District um they are continuing to do the service line inventory inspections so that they can get compliance from the mass d as being um having no le status and so with that they're going to be collecting Water Service box GPS data to um gather evidence that the district has no lead service lines um their operators will be driving in red trucks they'll be wearing high visibility vests and uh the district will notify affected customers in advance once the list has been finalized uh so that they'll know what's going on and the customers will not be charged for the service and then my last last um Lea's own comment is whether or not we need to put something on the another agenda regard to the Public Service public comment policy so we approved that and the EV and they need to get put into our policy document um since we did that at the end of last year but the policy that's there now had previously been sent out to all the board's committees commissions with a request that they take formal votes to adopt it and I think we tweaked it a little to take out the select board specific language so my comment is it would probably be appropriate to um take the policy we just reviewed take out the select board specific language and things like complaints being directed to the chair for the town manager and stuff like that and then reissue it to the boards and committees and commissions one so that they're aware because I think it's a stronger policy now but also if we want them to reopt that instead of the old one that we just um took took out okay so Paul you haven't sent that to the other committees yet okay yeah we can we it probably be in in February because our next well I that's fine I just don't want to forget that everybody else is operating off the old policy yeah well I thought Paul said he was going to send it at some point so it would require I don't know if it requires us to vote on modifying it again or just if we just do it take out I don't think it's that much in it we can just do that okay we can do that that's the only reason I brought it up as an agenda okay thanks um I just have a couple things um it being the new year uh library has the new one book for this year it's going to be Master Slave husband wife by Ilan woo um about a a couple um that escapes slavery or tries to escape slavery for Freedom during the time of the Civil War um copies of the book should be available soon at the library um and also I I uh found out this this afternoon that nishoba will be having the budget breakfast for local officials on Friday January 31st at 9:30 a.m. so if anybody can make that that would be good and that is all I have so we'll take a a motion I will make a motion to adjourn to Executive session for the purpose of reviewing executive session minutes from October 7th 2024 Segment 1 October 7th 2024 segment 2 November 4th 2024 and December 9th 202 2024 and for the review of previously held executive session minutes for potential release from June 6 2022 Segment 1 July 11th 2022 Segment 1 and September 9th 2024 segment one not to return second okay we have a motion and a second we'll do a roll call vote Pat I George I Ain I Virginia I I'm I okay we are adjourned Pat I'll email you the link thank you Paul e e e e e e e e e e e e e e