awesome good evening everyone welcome to the April 9th 2024 Town council meeting I would ask if we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all at this time I would ask uh if we could take a brief moment of silence to reflect on all that's happening uh in the world and close by both uh good and bad thank you at this time I have to announce that our meeting is being audio and video recorded by elcat and I would ask if there's anyone in the audience who is recording and if so if you please state your name for the record seeing none we'll move right along um jeie is there anyone signed up for public comments no one has signed up okay uh Council comments counselors anything happening anything going on any comments Happy Spring Happy Spring what a beautiful day today okay we're going to move right into the town manager report sorry this came so early this month apologize I hope you could find it in time for the meeting uh good evening everyone um the uh fy2 draft budget was submitted electronically April 1st to Town Council and school committee as per the charter um I just want to thank everybody again for uh helping create the the budget literally everybody in town had a hand in putting this together um it truly was a team effort um now we'll look forward to the next phase uh reviewing uh the draft uh budget um for uh adoption by June 1st um DPW is beginning uh Construction contract with DMP morce construction for new sidewalk on Pleasant Street uh from Indian Springs Drive to Porter and pleasant and Maple Shade down the bottom of the hill there um that'll close uh that'll close a major sidewalk Loop in town that's sort of been earmarked for uh for construction since we pretty much since we put the master plan together um additionally uh there'll be a small section from uh on hamen Road from Parker Street to Angela Drive which is the last Street out of town to sort of get those uh kiddos out of the neighborhood and and to either Mountain View or metab Brook really now that we've finished uh the the run on on Parker Street as well um Center Town steering District committee uh has been been officially named uh its members Nicole poite Don Starks Jason Gumpert Carolyn feros Steve Graham uh ex official member of the council Ralph pagee ex official member of the planning board is Rob Terell um they're meeting Wednesday for the first time to kind of get their ducks in a row uh elect a chair and a vice chair um then they'll have their first public meeting April 22nd uh here at the COA um so that's sort of a review of the whole process uh and then we'll have a larger public engagement event May 20th um to kind of get some public participation going see uh what people want to see from this this new District in the center of town uh School building committee uh voted last month to submit the detailed design for the new high school to the msba um so we're kind of working through Logistics now uh with Fontaine and their construction plan uh which is really exciting uh subid are being prepared uh for notice intent notice of intent for Conservation Commission um and site plan review uh to application for the planning board uh that should all get done the applicant is yours truly uh and it's high up my list of priorities so um and we're we're still on schedule for uh site prep almost immediately when the the the school is dismissed uh there's also a public forum scheduled for this Thursday at 6 in the high school calf uh just to kind of bring everybody up to speed on where we are now uh there'll be a uh a celebration of Earth Day this weekend multiple uh departments uh as well as a volunteers from the community um the celebration kicks off Friday April 12th at 3 at the library uh there'll be a student art display with prizes I think um there's crafts demonstration and then the clean up e on meow I think you can also pick up supplies for the clean up the next day um and that starts at uh 9:00 am at the Town Hall so thanks to everybody that's going to participate to help uh do their part to uh clean up El um we're still uh in the interview process for the planning director um we actually had an interview today um hopefully uh we have a couple of applicants that uh look promising so hopefully uh we can get somebody in that office uh before before too long um and obviously our our other glaring opening is the Human Resources Director um we are in the process of going through all our policies and processes and procedures to make sure that that job description is exactly what we need and want um and in concert with everybody else that's in that department um I hope to get that on the street at the end of the week um and we are officially under contract with uh whip City fiber Westfield Gas and Electric uh to begin the fiber to the Home Project design process um IT director Ryan Quimby has sort of taken over the administration of that contract and the uh process um so we may start to see some uh trucks that we don't recognize in town uh from E Westfield Gas and Electric their whip City fiber or their subcontractor PVC who is handling the design uh for the system um we got some upcoming events uh high school public forum again Thursday night at 600 in the high school cafeteria earthday as I mentioned uh Friday at 3 at the library Saturday uh at 9: for the cleanup uh the fishing derby Lions Club fishing derby is uh April 13th at Heritage Park 6:00 a.m. uh get there early there's an early bird joke in there that I'm not going to make uh Centertown District uh is meeting April 22nd at 6 uh we have our benefits Fair uh open enrollment April 25th that's at buram Park uh from 1 to 4 um and then uh another coffee with the town manager May 1st 10:30 uh here at the Council on and I had one more thing that came up uh after I sent this to you last week um we have a uh appointment and swearing in of a member of the board of assessors uh Hayden Smith um and uh the that's that section of the charter 5.4 that the you have basically have the right to refuse up to 45 days um and I apologize for not and sort of putting you on the spot right now but if you had any appetite they do have a meeting before your next meeting um and I'd like to get him in there to give Marilyn and Marty some some help and get his feet wet before he before their schedule starts kicking off and obviously you know they have a really busy fall with uh well and summer with valuations and then setting the tax rate so um if that's all right with you I would appreciate uh a little latitude from that section 5.4 of the charter um and that's all I got tonight okay thank you um so what is uh the council's wish as far as uh waving the 45 day uh period for Hayden Smith and the board of assessors um I have no issue with I I know the board of assessors has always been phenomenal in uh Fielding applicants and finding the right fit and I have total faith in them I'm good does anyone have any thoughts someone like to make a motion I will attempt yes all right I move to wave the council's remaining veto period for the appointment of Hayden Smith to the board of assessors second have a motion made in seconded any discussion uh hearing none all those in favor please say I I I any opposed great thank you so used to calling roll call that thank you very much um I did want to mention that um whip City fiber is already driving around they have been for weeks yeah I've seen their vehicles all over the place guys running up and down checking poles and taking notes and all so um it's nice to see hopefully the engineering will go together pretty quickly and we'll keep it moving right along um anyone have any questions for Town manager okay seeing none we're going to go right into uh Communications correspondence and announcements now I have one um we were sent a uh a petition uh by a resident um the petition was requesting a sidewalk be installed on Chestnut Street between Summers Road and Prospect Street and um having looked at the petition I think this is something that should go on to our sidewalk plan um there's a lot of traffic on that portion of Chestnut Street and uh I think it made sense so I in turn uh approached Tom and I asked him if we could get it put onto our Master sidewalk plan so that as soon as funding comes up we can have it installed uh he was agreeable to it and I think we should uh send a letter to the petitioner just letting her know that we're adding that to our uh to our sidewalk plan and hopefully when funding is available sooner rather than later it would be great but um again we all know that cost of walks is not cheap and um and it keeps going up so but does anyone have any thoughts or comments on adding that do we have a substantial number of projects sort of in the plan still yes sorry that was a short answer we still have three minutes to 615 if yeah no it's a pretty comprehensive plan it it obviously has our existing sidewalk Network and then like I mentioned about Pleasant Street we're we're trying to connect these these gaps I was wondering if there like a priority like this street maybe might be more of a strategic priority is that within the plan or is it just kind of it's it's of uh yeah it it doesn't it's not listed one one through 10 or anything or one through 50 was more probably apt but um we sort of set it up on uh the Bruce has a whole bunch of criteria in terms of safety and U are we going to put in a crosswalk do we need a crosswalk well then let's you know do the sidewalk and if we have issue with people crossing the street or what you know so there there's a there's a list of things I'm sure this probably wasn't our first petition for the sidewalk either so it's been a while since I've been in the DPW folder but um I'm sure there's there's backup information for why all these streets or all these sidewalks ended up on the list in the first and the reasons why so and I know Bruce always talks with the the police chief um and so that's sort of a collaborative effort to find out if um you know there's been any accidents or calls or what's safe isn't so yeah a lot goes into it but I do I don't think they've been prioritized um and that's probably having to do with how much it costs and how much we think we're actually going to get done um yeah I mean the the Pleasant Street although is only 2 200 feet uh you can imagine that's probably a there's a lot of retaining walls and because that's sort of a a tough terrain so that sort of eats away at the budget a lot faster than we could have wanted it to as well but um saw the play goes well it was last summer that we did uh Parker Street wasn't it section yeah um phenomenal job in out did a great job on it um residents were extremely happy that you know what nothing was tied up and uh yeah I said very very well done any other um with the sidewalk plan for Pleasant Street up to Porter Road are we going to be dealing with any retaining walls in that area know going up Pleasant on the right there are a few retaining walls I didn't know beyond Indian Spring yes there will be yeah Pro probably coming back down there's really no way to sort of make it safe and keep the grades right gotcha without cutting back into somebody's yard which uh is kind of hard to do from a grading standpoint and sort of a nightmare from a legal standpoint in which we temporary easements and things of that nature oh I know some folks have logs in the front of their property in that area with spoke sticking out of them in case a car goes Rogue it's going to take the tires out before it hits the house I don't know if this will alleviate that we do have a a well it's all over town it's all over town but that that portion of Pleasant Street sees high speed often yeah and a lot of accidents uh up and down the hill so uh safety will sort of be Paramount and I don't I haven't seen the final design but I'm guessing uh we got to get the sidewalk across the street somewhere down there so they'll probably be another uh rapid flash Beacon you know the the light like at the rail trail um to sort of maybe flow people down and let people indicate or let them know that CU that that guard rail in particular at the bottom of the hill at Maple Shade has been replaced stimes like at least four times since since I started in 17 so um at least yeah thanks Tom y any other questions okay we're goingon to move on to um number seven public hearings um uh this is a public hearing for required second reading for the proposed bylaw amendment of chapter 180 Comm Commission on disability um this bylaw Amendment will replace the words Commission on disability with commission for people with disabilities Throughout the chapter council members present are Anna Jones Matt Boucher Kathy Hill Ralph page Marilyn Richards Connor OA and John torsa I would ask the clerk to read in the legal notice East Long Meadow Town Council will hold a public hearing on April 9 2024 at 6:15 p.m. in the room on the council on located at 328 North Main Street for the purpose of addressing a proposed bylaw amendment of chapter 180 Commission on disability this bylaw Amendment will replace the words Commission on disability with commission for people with disabilities Throughout the chapter public hearing may also be attended via Zoom webinar information relating to this bylaw is available for public inspection at the town clerk's office 60 Center Square to you an electronic version of the proposed amendments please visit ww. eastl Meadow etc for the council G qu to CL clck of the council thank you so at this time I'm going to do a second reading for this because it's short and easy so under the title uh it's chapter 180 originally it is a commission on disability we are changing the on disability to commission for people with disabilities uh then under Section uh subsection 18-2 vacancies uh we are once again replacing the two words on disability with four people with disabilities under subsection 18-3 purpose uh the first line uh we'll read the purpose of the commission for people with disabilities and we're removing Commission on disability and then under subsection 180-4 powers and duties under uh number a again we are replacing uh the words Commission on disability with title commission for people with disabilities so typically at this time we ask the applicant to speak a little bit um Tom would you like to just give a quick rendering of the reason yep um so this is sort of uh this was a request from the commission um this is more in line and appropriate for what a body that does what they do is called um it's it's a little more uh human if you will um and so that they proposed the the the change we had Jesse check with the state to make sure there was no foul UPS and it seems like uh a lot of municipalities across the Commonwealth are are making this change so y a good change um so this is a public hearing so at this time I am going open it up to the public if anyone would like to talk for or against uh the bylaw change Don is there anyone online with their hands up that would like to speak there's not okay I will bring it back to the board then um so I would ask the board uh what their thoughts are on it if there's any issues no one has any then I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing move to close the public hearing second motion made and seconded any discussion on closing the public hearing all those in favor please say I I I any opposed okay I would uh entertain a motion for approval then I make a motion to approve the proposed bylaw amendment of chapter 180 Commission on disability as presented second motion made in seconded any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say a roll call is it a roll why is it a roll call okay this is a roll call vote so with no further discussion roll call vote Anna yes Matt yes Kathy yes I am a yes Marilyn yes Conor yes and John thank you thank you okay we're moving on to orders of the day licensing matters we have a one-day liquor license for the Masonic temple is there a motion I make a motion to approve a one-day liquor license for the Masonic temple of East Long Meadow 43 Chestnut Street for a graduation party May 17 2024 from 5:00 pm to 12 to midnight to 12 second have a motion made in second in any discussion on it hearing none not a roll call vote all in favor please say I I I any opposed that passes our next uh item is approval of a one-day liquor license jeie did we want to do this or are we going to wait for East Village Tavern they want to wait until May for this they they're not ready for what they need okay so we are going to skip over uh 882 and we are going to move to uh the change of hours on the liquor license application for Shaker Bowl good evening good evening how are you good how are you wonderful thank you um I'm Josh Goldstein uh attorney for from bacon Wilson um here on behalf of Shaker Adam oliv representing the ownership group of Sher  okay what would you like to to do so we are seeking to change uh our hours of when we can sell alcoholic beverages um the current time would only permits us to sell alcohol starting at 100 pm. um and due to many requests for special events certain tournaments and the like um we desire to be able to serve alcohol earlier um and along with that we have a full breakfast menu so it makes sense to allow it kind of to go hand inand there um also for now we're still only serving single serving beverages the full full bar has not is not in in progress yet so we're just simply trying to starting to amend the hour so we can easily serve our customers better and you did say that you have a breakfast menu so food food is required to be served whenever alcohol is yeah I did notice that under your proposed changed hours you have Sunday to Saturday 8: am to 1: am right Sunday should be 10: am okay so is there any issue in amending the application to make Sunday 10:00 a.m. well the only time the hours really show up is when I do the cover form that is approved and signed by the local licensing Authority and that's where I put the hours okay wherever your motion reflects I will put those hours on that form that you approved that goes with the application and do you need any um email or mail or anything from them requesting the 10:00 a.m. instead of the 8: a.m. I no I don't I know okay the you'd want that on record or I don't think it'll hurt to have it on record it's a simple email yeah because you could you could revise this cover letter and redate it or something yeah that's perfect good to First tomorrow so with that I'm going to open it up to the council are there any questions with regards to change hours of operation Marilyn you probably think like I do so I don't know um this is tough for me because it's 8:00 in the morning and you adverti parties family fun and more and when you came in initially for your when you got started and how excited we were that you all folks were all from easto Meadow and and very supportive and we still feel that way um I'm just it's the it's the atmosphere it's um 8:00 in in the morning kids I mean do you really feel you're going to have that kind of an interest for breakfast in the bowling alley yeah we picked uh Adam olivary again for the record we picked 8 o'clock just to be consistent kind of with what the other liquor license were in town too I know that we had spoke uh to a couple other folks in town it seemed like um you know the the likelihood that somebody's coming right at 8:00 is probably unlikely but just to give our guest as many options as possible but there are a lot of special events again these are just single serve uh we've only since we were in front of you the last time I think we've added seven or eight additional skews it to just to refresh your memory we we didn't want to just offer malt based based beverages in the past so now they're vodka based and those um manufacturers offer bloody Maries and Mimosa type drinks so if there were a shower or an event in the morning again with breakfast um we just wanted to give our guests as many options as possible but these aren't big you know 100 300 people events these are small gatherings in our party room and just to go off that I mean you know it it saves us from having to get a one-day liquor license every time they need an event also there's a limit on how many one-day liquor licenses I think you can get and also I mean it's also spending that money every time you need a one- day liquor license um so I you know I I think it kind of avoids that and you know they've already spent a lot of money and getting this place up to par so actually I was going to suggest that that you go to the single liquor license event um for years we've done that and with other Comm other restaurants in the community there were certain times where they wanted to extend their hours beyond what was on their license and so they came in for a special event um I don't I mean is it 25 30 applicant you're going to have more than 30 parties a year $100 times 30 30 events that was also $33,000 yeah we have parties pretty much every day um one of the things we keep running into is just with our regular birthday parties as fathers or mothers would like to have a cocktail 11 is you know 11 11:30 even uh if they want to have a beer we still can't do it because it's one o' right now so just to give ourselves as many op as possible for these special events um and again keeping it consistent with the other Town licenses here in town I think many of them start at 8: a.m. Genie are they open I'm trying to think of the licenses we do have that um I don't think so there may be five or six others that I think there were six um as far as uh that started it I don't know and I think that's like Bentley's well before it switched over I know they had come in because they wanted to start serving breakfast and offer mimosas and stuff like that and that's why that was one of my first questions are you gonna have food right I don't mean to be difficult no that's okay I just how you dubbed yourself when you first came to us and you know we had one situation which was unfortunate and um still haven't seen a report on that but that doesn't matter um you know I'm just concerned about how this is going to take place is the alcohol going to be served with with people seated in the cafe area or are they going to be drinking at the where you're bow yeah we we're not going to change anything with our operations so it's been the same for 50 years the um service window everything is served out of a service window and everything is single serve and then you take it to your lane or if we having a special event I don't know if any of you have been down to see it but we updated the the party rooms we have a small room probably from here to the back wall where you can have a get together and we rent the room out for special occasions um but nothing's changing operationally we have had no events since um we added the liquor um everything's been going smooth and and again our attention is not to be pouring Spirits out of a bottle these are just single serve mimosas Bloody Marys things of that nature so that's going to be your policy single surf that's our current policy only for for a number of reasons one because of what you're saying we're we're trying to keep a familyfriendly atmosphere and two for um you know to limit waste and other reasons you know the single serve is a nice model um at this time we don't have any intention of going another Direction but um you know that's really where this came up just single serve bloody marys mimosas and things of that nature I'm done any other other concerns comments Conor I personally don't see any issue with it especially since people can go down the street to the liquor store and purchase at 8 am. so I don't see the difference swimming in an establishment thank you John definitely don't mind it being moved up to one p but I sort of see where Maryland's come from I sort of struggle with 8 8 a.m. I know probably as possible in other areas but this is the first time I've seen this um just being on this body um maybe I don't know 10 I don't know 10 a.m. since more but again I I could be open day it just it's something I'm 1 am makes sense because there's a lot there's a couple places now that are at that time period um that are restaurants and other establishments but um I don't know that morning um are the majority of the events um predominantly birthday parties so the uh event room is new because the old ownership group was using it as sort of a catchall it had chairs and trash in it so we really cleaned it up so we just started renting that out for special events but we've seen showers and uh you know other type of events other than birthday parties where it's not all children um a lot of our league Bowlers like to have some of their events in our house so um so no it's not just birthday parties it's retirement parties and and things of other nature and and again I think we're being consistent in our requests uh similar to the other five or six liquor license here in town I think they're all 8 a.m. is that not correct well there's more than five or six that have liquor licenses but I think of the total amount there's five or six that or have the 8 AM have the 88 AM okay maybe just we can I mean that's allowed by the state so that's been they've been in place for a long time those licenses I believe of of those fiber six are they open at itm I don't know I can Google I could answer that um again and I think like Bentley's want it to open early and I don't know if they're now that it's CE Village if they're even serving a breakfast so I don't know I don't go there for breakfast so Matt question um so I think in you know favor of consistency if there are other liquor lies for ADM which I don't know off the top of my head I don't think we have that information in front of us I did ask Genie at one point to look it up I mean but again I there was there was more than I thought actually I yeah I believe there don't T to thinkink at 8 am so I don't know anything that St today um uses it but I think one of the things that um the council needs to keep in mind is if there is issues with it that we can always ask them to come back in and have a discussion and and make a modification to it um and I think that's where we where we should be looking that things can change based on how it works out and if there's no issues it's great I have those if you want me to would youare dinardo fos Aira Peppa Redstone f pizza shop their hours are 8 A.M Mondays through Saturdays many of those don't aren't even open then right but it's allowed and they maximum hour is allowed I think that's what it is so flip licenses for a long time so with that I know this isn't a public hearing um but I would ask if there's anyone in the public that wanted to weigh in on it I would be more than willing to hear from you Don is there anyone on line no okay so I would bring it back to the board um what's the wishes of the board would someone like to make a motion a second and just remember that the motion will be altered for Sunday it starts at 10: a.m. wait why don't we just do for Sunday just do like 8:00 a.m. right cuz if follow other restaurants for ADM not all right all right okay all right all right okay so John would you like to make a sure I will make them um I make a motion to approve a change of hours so the liquor license application for Shaker Road 16 168 Shaker Road to uh Sunday um 10: am. to 1: am and through through Monday through Saturday 8: am to 1 I'll second that FL yes I think that's correct okay um any any other discussion on hearing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed no okay you are all set thanks for your time thank you so much so I'll get a revised letter yep get for your thank you wait to see think positive absolutely right I can't imagine um under 8 A4 it's um approval of the 2024 common victur licenses is there a motion Matt would you like to make a motion a all right I make a motion to approve 2024 common B licenses as presented second tough okay motion made in seconded further discussion so um just to bring everyone up to speed these were uh the licenses that we looked at businesses that we thought required or should require account piit license um that hadn't in the past and you know whether it um someone with picnic tables outside for service or whatever and we're trying to bring it into a Conformity with what the Board of Health had for a list so these were ones that uh were sent back in so we took the food permit list and then went through it and actually two of them two of the uh managers came back and they said oh we're just grab and go we don't have seatings so I took those off the list so I think there's just one more I have to follow up but everybody else came back after two letters in an email oh that's good that's awesome any other discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed great okay um 8B financial matters ab1 uh Town manager presenting of FY 25 operational budget as required under article 6 section one of the town Charter hi again helloing do up a budget hey we did a budget read it into the record I will so yeah everybody uh everybody got this April 1 Town Council school committee jeie uh as as is required I think everybody should have a hard copy at this point Point um this is our uh in in sort of simple terms the the level Services budget uh with the exception of um we added a position in the school department um out of the general fund and then we also added a sewer form in which we've never had um out of that's completely out of the sewer Enterprise fund um I just want to make sure everybody uh has everything we we sort of tried to keep some of the stuff the same so we didn't throw you too many curve balls but um obviously we have a lot of uh new faces and new ideas and so we we try to do a little reorganization to try to make things um like a little more user friendly uh I know some of the uh lettering is still pretty small on some of the printouts um I've only found three typos so far don't bring them up I was gonna mention one a governor H oh I spelled it wrong extra believable well so I found four typos John found one I found three oh um was so most of it's the same as last year the backup information you has is all of our uh the munist reports for every Department um and all of our um all of our other Enterprise funds we got water sewer um storm water elcat the ambulance fund as well as trash revolving Council on Aging revolving um and the I think there's some informational stuff in here about um wck uh which which is more informational than anything else we're we're as we went through the process we found there's a lot of uh there well this will be a understatement of the sensory a lot of accounting uh but we have a lot of different funds governed by a lot of different general laws um and so Kim is doing a nice job of correcting uh sort of uh maybe not mistakes of the past but handled yeah yeah um we've sort of we've sort of brought things into uh a better light in terms of explaining things and how we uh spend our money uh most of which so they'll obviously all these numbers are based on um Governor Healey's I didn't have to spell it Governor Healey's uh budget from January uh which is obviously going to change before we finish this review process um we also found out um from DLS uh that our ambulance fund uh we may have to move some things around because you're not allowed to vote to appropriate an amount over what's in the revenue account for the ambulance fund which last year we were close but uh the the Auditors I think picked it up and Kim got a a note from the state saying hey you know so we may have to uh either we have some stuff that we we we projected the revenue number for for the ambulance fund and are like paying half of a capital project out of the ambulance fund and half out of the general fund well if the revenues come back right before the vote we could actually pull that amount out of the general fund and and sort of bring that budget down even more uh but that all depends on sort of it's just a work in progress right so where that ends up um so I I don't know uh how much you want to get into or or if anybody has any thoughts on we really want to get this U as best as we can in terms of understanding what we're giving you I think I mentioned in the letter that this made a lot of sense to us but you know for the most part it it was just the group and if if the public thinks they want to see something different or you want to see something different uh by all means uh let us know uh this uh draft budget is on the Isam ma.gov web page on the town manager that's been uploaded so uh everybody can find all this information to see where we start and then uh sort of we'll make a comparison in June on where we end um so with that um I don't know if anybody had any questions on format uh any of the guts of it uh I'll sort of fiveyear capital plan yep did I miss it or is it in there somewhere nope it's not in there um and we get one we can we'll do that I think under I don't know whether or rule oh it's there yeah is required y certainly have to vote on it a projection y of where things are going over the next five years I'm sure that's only a small because things change on a yearly basis so Y and we will yeah I think we there's a couple iterations that kick it out farther than five um I know that was sort of something we had talked about in the past about uh some of these uh doesn't need necessarily need to be a debt exclusion vote but some of these larger ticket items um sort of need to be planned for outside of our operating Capital plan which we just haven't been funding um so this like I said the goal of this draft budget for me and Rebecca and Kim um was to sort of curtail our percentage that this this budget's been rising over the last couple years coming back from covid which we've done to the tune of a uh 2.95% increase across all departments uh compared to close to five and a half last year um and then to really bolster our Capital spending um so this draft plan has uh quite a bit of projects across uh you know obviously the general fund Capital outlay but um we've supplemented with some free cash uh you have a motion tonight that may look confusing but it'll make sense in a minute uh to uh to supplement that as well um and then uh bonding out of our Enterprise funds and and then some grant opportunities that put us close to about eight and a half million dollar if all the cards fall now I think we've all been doing this long enough to know that all the cards are not going to fall um but it's certainly more aggressive and more I think in line on what we should be doing as a town um in terms of trying to keep up with our Capital expenses and structure um so with that that's my that's my Spiel so page 8 n and 10 of 28 with a really really small print print y I say thank you um we putting in the explanations because as you go through the munus budgets certain things pop out at you the percentages seem way often but then you go back to that section and the explanations are perfect and at least then you can understand why why that's happened such as legal coming out of each department and going into one separate um you know there's instances like that it with the software and all um you know once you explain that hey this the reasons why we're moving it it makes a lot of sense so but so that was that was one of the major uh was the that eight nine and 10 the numbers don't match on 11 and 12 so the percentages doesn't look right at the bottom of the page uh so 8 n and 10 is the actual numbers from the all the Departments and and how that breaks out so but yeah thanks we uh again we've been working hard on it yeah well and and so has like I said so has everybody else everybody's been very gracious I've had to meet with um I've had to meet with department heads some more than once um almost everybody uh has made con SS uh to try to meet some of these goals of our keeping our spending down and um so it truly was a team effort but um I think I just want to say again how great of a job Kim and Olga and the entire finance department does preparing this information um so that so we can all sort of understand it better now I'm sure everyone's already read through it twice have time ask questions at the next meeting a lot of us have so thank you very much does anyone have any questions for Tom on question just to reiterate that comment I do like this format that it was presented in a lot better it made it easier to digest and see what the changes actually were but I also like the fact that we have projections and forecasting probably for the first time in our Town's history which is important so thank you okay we are on to 8b2 the acceptance of chapter 90 uh funding is there a motion yes I make a motion to accept the FY 2025 chapter 90 abortion in the amount of 5733 7327 they expended under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works and said some to be reimbursed by the commonweal of Massachusetts second having a motion made and seconded any discussion um this is one of those major accounting things that we've been raising in appropriate chapter yes chapter 90 money so now we are not doing that anymore that's a good thing then it is a very good thing um but what I will say is um it's a little disappointing when you go back over the last decade or more and see that this sum of money is not really increased from the state at all um it's very similar to where it's been and you don't get anywhere near as much now as what we got 10 years ago for the same amount of money and um y it would be nice if the state was able to keep up on some of it and increase the amounts but it has nothing to do with our town government and we will take what we can get right any other comments hearing none all those in favor please say I I I opposed opposed to taking money I like it okay um 8b3 um release of 363,000 120 unused American Rescue plan act money is there a motion yes my motion to release $363,000 120 unused American Rescue plan act arpa funds from previously approved arpa projects to unassigned arpa balance account 585568 58558 it fuel system management $2,230 5855 9 it student information system $789 5855104861 3 p unmarked Cruiser $1,350 585 5514 DPW northmain tip Harkness Dearborn 3,691 total unused arpa funds $363,000 120 I'll second that first meeting back and they give you that motion and I did find didn't I have an aemotion made in second it is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed okay great thank you um B3 uh we have the release of nope it's the same agenda item but it's broken down into two motions oh so we're sharing it yeah I gu really okay so is there a motion for that one I move to appropriate $311,900 135-58 5514 is there a Jack made in second um Tom would you like to just give uh the public a quick overview of course so um the DPW tip project uh which is still ongoing still going to finish uh we don't expect those so there's a timeline on the arpa funds that has to be appropriated by uh 12 3124 which obviously we've appropriated so that we hit that but it needs to be spent by 12 3126 and we are current ly on the tip project for fiscal 27 and this money includes construction um oversight so we're we're worried that we're not going to spend the money in time to to hit the arpa reporting time so we've put the money back and then replace that account with free cash in the same amount so that we'll finish the project and we don't have to worry about the timeline we we will then use the arpa money that we have remaining to populate this year's Capital account Capital fund or capital projects so that hopefully with items that we're going to purchase and get right away so that we can appropriate and spend and won't have to worry about our got it little house housekeeping so we don't run into any deadlines and then lose the money which it's it's early but we don't want to lose anything yeah exactly nope that makes a lot of sense is there any other questions okay we had a motion made we had a motion seconded all those in favor please say I I I any opposed okay that passes okay next um B4 resending the following Bond authorizations is there a motion for resending Bond authorizations yes I make a motion that the town of East Long Meadow resends the following amounts that have been authorized to be borrowed but which are no longer needed for the purpose for which they were initially approved unissued amount 138,000 date of loan order approval 519 2008 for the purpose of landfill $500 date of loan order approval 521 2012 the Harkness Pump Station and 50 516 2016 for the water main replacement second thank you hi my name I'm nice it was nice of you to join us extending your car warrant okay we have a motion motion seconded uh further discussion so this was more um a house cleaning uh we went back through different approvals and all and saw that like say on the landfill was approved I think it was 175,000 only took a bond out for a portion of it because we didn't need the rest of it right so now we're just resending there okay more housekeeping more housekeeping uh motion's been made and seconded all those in favor please say I I any oppose okay we are going to jump to to uh 8 C1 which is approval of minutes for February 27 is there a motion I make a motion to approve the February 27th 2024 Open Session MERS second motion made and seconded any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed one abstention one abstention any abstentions yes one um okay 8C two uh minutes of March 12th 2024 is there a motion I make a motion to approve the March 12th 2024 Open Session minutes second okay motion made and seconded any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I I any opposed any extensions one one abstention thank you and then uh under C3 um March 12 20 24 executive session minutes I make a motion to approve the March 12th 2024 executive session minutes second motion made and seconded any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I I any oppose any extensions one exstension thank you moving on Old business we have no old business listed uh under new business we have a uh proposed zone change to the industrial district for 104 Shaker Road rear of Shaker Road and this is not a public hearing is there anyone present or online for 104 Shaker Road that's yes I don't know whoc hello good evening good evening even could you state your name uh for the record yes Philipe crao of Arc Associates 40 School Street Westfield um I'm really just here I believe the um this was just the first reading and um to be referred to the other you know planning board to the other boards and commissions and um you know go through that process work work out the Kinks and then come back to the council with hopefully some uh positive recommendations okay thank you for being here we greatly appreciate it would someone like to make a motion regarding this I'll do that I move that we refer the proposed zone change to Industrial zoning district for 104 Shaker Road rear Shaker Road Ray Street bond avenue and Lewis Lane to the planning board for review and recommendation to the Town Council I'll second out okay having a motion made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I I any oppos no okay it's headed off to the planning board for you great thank you thank you thanks um under new business E2 we have a proposed bylaw amendment to chapter 160 section four Board of assessors and Genie this isn't a first reading is it is it all just no okay it's referral so this is a referral so is there a motion to refer I move to refer the proposed bylaw amendment to chapter 1 section 4 and for of assessors oath of office certification to the bylaw Review Committee for review and recommendation to the Town Council second have a motion made in seconded is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed okay E3 we have a proposed bylaw Amendment for removal of subsection 450-1201 point2 C1 of article 10 ground mounted photovoltaic installations to the planning board for review and recommendation to the Town Council second having a motion made in seconded further discussion so this is an internal um from the planning board um requesting to look at this correct Tom this is yeah from yes just making sure everyone knows that it's not from the outside that this is something that uh we as a town have uh reached out today any other discussion okay hearing none all those in favor please say I I I me oppos okay action items does anyone have any action items for going ahead to the next meeting other than dig in and read your budgets there's a lot of items in it and a lot of good material be supplemented with a five can I tag on to that um if while you're reading your budgets you have a question would you email it to either John or myself because the financial oversight committee is meeting weekly through the end of May until we have a budget to uh recommend to the council uh and that way we can address any questions you may have in the course of our meetings Okay okay so at this time um I would make a motion to move into executive session to consider the purchase exchange taking lease or value of real property for 382 North Main Street if such discussion may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the governmental body then return to then return to open session umj or you gonna vote um purpose ofour we're not sure well I'll either leave the webinar I'll close it to the public but I'll either end it or leave it in limbo I I would leave it in limbo um because we're not quite sure we do have a full uh council tonight so that's fine have a i second yes I second it I made the motion Marilyn seconded this is a roll call vote Anna yes Matt yes Kathy yes I am yes Marilyn yes Conor yes and John yes thank you awesome welcome back everyone um we have just exited executive session and um I would ask uh if there's a motion to be made on the floor I move to direct the town manager to move forward with the taking of real property at 382 North Main Street for no more than $5.6 million second having a motion made in seconded is there any further discussion um hearing none I'd like to do a roll call vote uh John yes Connor yes Marilyn yes I am a yes Kathy yes Matt yes and Anna no okay and then would there be a motion to adjourn I move we adjourn I will second that all those in favor please say thank you everyone thank you