##VIDEO ID:jHIiaG1oqFQ## [Music] all right uh I would like to call the uh meeting of the board of Selectmen um to order it is Tuesday October it's not Tuesday October 30th it is Tuesday October 22nd 2024 uh at 545 at the Great Hall um unfortunately our chairman John Bruno is under the weather he's going to be joining us via Zoom a little bit later um but we are going to start by going into a quick uh uh open meeting here hold on open open the meeting and motion s all right here we go sorry we're going to V to open meeting and go into executive session pursuant to Mass General Law chapter 30A section 21A Board of selectman will enter into executive session in the town administrator's office to discuss the following Mass General Law chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining if any open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the public body and the chair so declares Teamsters jc10 of New England also the approval of board of selectman meeting minutes from executive session October 8th 2024 and I will make that motion as there a second second all those in favor I we're going to have to do a roll call just because uh executive session you have to enter roll call so you're and I I am an i as well we hope it'll take about 15 minutes guys and it'll come back uh as soon as we can thank all right it is uh 6:10 we are going to reopen the board of Select meeting for October 22nd uh we are going to start with the Pledge of Allegiance if you guys don't mind standing SC your FL I pledge Al to the flag 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 thank you all right see things are a little different this evening um unfortunately Mr Bruno is a little under the weather but he is joining us via Zoom so thank you to the chair for um coming to the meeting but keeping his coties at home so I appreciate that uh so I'm going to sit in the chair today uh we also have as you'll see a member of the finance committee here uh so this is a joint meeting with the finance committee uh we're going to be kind of kicking off our budgeting season for the 26th calendar year um and that's kind of where we're starting off here um the kind of headlines I guess you could say is we're going to review and discuss the challenges and priorities for fiscal year 26 uh as you guys are aware and a lot of us are uh we are in for some challenges next year uh and also the Town Administrator has put together a budget memo uh that uh we will be uh reading or at least kind of getting our take on if we think that's an accurate depiction of what challenges we're going to be facing uh in the coming years uh Jim do you want to open since it's a joint would you like to open your meeting thank you sir um so uh at this time at 6:11 we will uh open the finance committee meeting as far as the joint meeting of the board select all members of the committee are present uh physically for this discussion thank sir all right Cody how did you envision this going here you want us to to start you want them to start what do you want to do uh well I can start and go through some of the items here so this is something um you know that particularly I started when I got here I think it's it's good to get the um both groups together at the start of the budget season a few things that we've done differently and last year we started this um we start earlier in the budget season process so we're we're one of we start one of the earliest in state actually um Al that is now in the budget process and I think it's because he really added um a level of thoroughness to our budget reviews that doesn't exist in a lot of places really just is a kudos to the finance committee to our departments um so it's good to have a kickoff meeting um particularly set set expectations um any challenges priorities that the board would like to select would like to relate to the finance committee um you know things that they want to see in the represented in the next budget for fisal 26 um different things to that nature and then we'll go through review the budget nowel this is a document that's drafted annually uh you'll notice it looks similar in last year although there's a few differences um I tried to give a little bit more of a realistic Financial Outlook um to everybody you know our departments have they know you know we have monthly department head meetings um none of this is surprised to them I'm continuously updating them on these things so um but again I think it's it's good to have this kickoff meeting meet a couple times throughout the budget process keep each other updated both committees and obviously the culmination is the presentation of the finance committee's final budget uh and then selectman have on Warren and then it goes to meeting um so I thought it's good to kick off I don't know if there's any comments questions on just the process in general before we dig into the actual demo that might be a good place to start anybody so um as I mentioned last year we did change the process particularly with the finance committee um where we so the finance committee has the aons as you all know to departments um and historically Leon we meet with the Departments look at the budget requests okay looks good and then we go to the whole finance committee for review and at that point that's really when the um the work started like reviewing it and maybe making changes edits what I noticed um is there wasn't really anyone with a big picture of the town going into that so you know let's say Jim has uh five four or five departments when he's looking at those budgets they look good right okay these requests make sense they look good but how do they look at the brand scheme of what else is being requested with the priorities of the selectman uh and the priorities of the community as well so what we started doing last year was liaison still meet with the Departments and uh myself and the town of count were included and we really worked and started refining those budgets right there at those meetings so when it got the full finance committee it was really a polished budget request and I mean the finance committee speak to think uh last year in discussions with the committee were going to follow that same process but this is kind of the idea of this meeting is set out the process for the here and there's things that you want to change that you didn't like and then same with the select as far as how you saw the process so from the outside per se if you'd like to see things done differently uh or specific I'll get into the actual Financial picture momentarily but that's just summary of the process as a whole questions well last year um one meeting two meetings and then with departments batt things down made some adjustments and then brought it into the full um committee and I thought it went really well I really did had a better understanding of the overall budget as we're moving along department at one at a time I also feel like I feel like we on the town side had a lot of stuff buttoned up pretty early um February maybe is that right yeah I think on the town side we we pretty much had a full budget that we could have presented in February yeah it's impressive and I know the thing that threw us for a loop last year was the school budget um and it does appear that you guys are taking steps to try to get at least an early jump I know you know the school has to wait on their State numbers but it looks like you guys are at least kind of tackling that as much as you can given where we are in the process I think so I think so and I also love that you're asking um departments to take a 10% reduction looking in what their uh what their feasibility is for a 10% uh reduction in each department just to brace folks for possibilities down the road okay so I guess with that we can jump right into the memo so provid with a draft uh memo I apologize I did not update the year so obviously it'll be October 2024 um again like I said it's similar to last year with a few differences and just to give you guys an Outlook of the uh you know the financial picture of the town if you've spoken with me regarding the financial picture of the town since I've been here um you know that I've been saying that fisal 26 is going to be the start of a challenging couple of years for the town when you look at new growth uh projects that we have coming down the line it's it's limited uh to give you somewhat an idea New Growth 3 4 years ago was around the $300,000 range this year for fisal 26 we're anticipating about $80,000 something grow so that's that's a huge reduction when you're already talking a small relatively small number for New Growth so where else does our Revenue come from uh New Growth is basically uh additions to the tax levy so Renovations on homes uh new homes anything that wasn't taxable the year before consider New Growth you have your 2 1/2% increase so you take last last year's uh tax levy add 2 1/2% plus New Growth that's what you can that's what you can tax for the next year um and you see in here you know we're estimating about $495,000 in new Revenue with that 25% I already said we're bringing anticipating about $80,000 in New Growth uh and then local receipts are things like M vehicle excise tax marijuana Revenue meals tax um the the permits that we get for building permits you know things coming through zoning planning those are all loo receipts and we're anticipating about $100,000 of new Revenue there so you add all that together it's $675,000 of new Revenue um that's 2.3% of last year's operating budget that's that's that's not a lot right but we're talking small small amount when you look at um you know we got our Plymouth County Retirement assessment uh for fiscal 26 the other day it's an 8% increase right from 1.9 million to over 2 million that's something we can't change that we we have to fund that uh health insurance we don't have actual numbers yet but projections are somewhere in the 8 to 10% range of the increase can't change that you we have to provide health insurance so when you take into account a lot of these what we consider fixed cost it's going to leave uh very little Revenue to increase uh our operated budgets you know outside the fixed cost so with that you know like we did last year we're going to ask all departments to provide a level service budget which is basically um submit to us what is going to cost you to provide the same level of service that you are right now to the town so um you know contractual increases other items that you have to increase in order to keep service levels the same and then like we did last year we're going to ask everyone to present a 10% cut in their budget the difference this year is you know I think last year was solely an exercise luckily we didn't have to use too many of them we implemented a few but really not us um not high level service cuts and departments did a nice job but this year we're really going to be U focusing on those uh more throughout the budget process through the meetings with the finance committee leaon and myself making sure that um a or these 10 cuts be least impactful right to the town and to Services because that's what you want right if you have cut you want to cut it in a place that provides the least impact to two service levels and also are they feasible so what what we saw sometimes last year or what we don't want to see is a department says I'm going to cut my expense budget by 10% which means I can't um fulfill my contractual uh landfill monitoring which is required by mass D but you can't cut that right we have to have that so making sure that the the scenarios that departments are presenting are realistic um I think you know with that you can see fiscal 26 is going to be a challenge um you based on projections we we're we're facing a deficit significant deficit which means we will likely have to implement several of these cuts a big question mark is the school department you know we project what we think that'll come in at but uh they know it best and that's why hopefully they can get us projections early on um to help us you know school is 55% take of our budget so a big question mark there certainly slows down our process on our side um one of the reasons for the project such a projected deficit this year is you may recall um during last year's budget season Silver Lake used one time Monies to fund their budget they use about 7 $50,000 of they call it excess and efficiency it's basically free what the town's free cash is their their money that it's put aside excess UL um they did that because they are going to with the with the um amended Regional agreement they're going to get more what's called circuit breaker funds which is a reimbursement from special education from the three school districts from the three schools Halifax Hunton and Kingston what that means is they'll be okay because that Revenue can made up there what but that revenue is coming from the towns so we're going to lose that Revenue which is going to create somewhat of a fiscal cliff for the towns because we are not going to see it balance out on the Silver Lake Side because they already accounted for it if they weren't accounting for it we hopefully would see it balance out well let's say we lose I'm throwing out just $100,000 not that's just not a majority number um if we were going to lose $100,000 in that circuit breaker funds that would then be rerouted to Silver Lake and hopefully we would see an offset of some sorts might be a little bit different because now it's percentage base but it would be an offset we won't see that because they are making up for those onetime funds that they used last year which means it's going to hit us solely at the local level so if the school were to come in with uh on across the board 3% increase it's actually going to be 3% plus whatever that loss revenue is which is several $1,000 we're talking about uh I don't have an actual I'm working with the school business manager to get that but that's really um partially the or i' say one of the significant drivers of the budget this year is that is a a number that we we can't do anything about right we couldn't have we can't reduce the um percentage increase that's just a number that they're losing in that Revenue going to still relate to fund the one time monies that they used last year on top of that alifax elementary school last year also used 50,000 approximately $50,000 of school use um building utilization funds so basically you rent out the gym you pay a fee there was $50,000 built up they sented their budget with those onetime funds so between those two areas you're we need to make up those onetime fund increases this year on top of whatever increase they Comm make with um so that's that's really driving the budget this year and that's really where um we're going to have to make bate cost paed with just slow rep growth um it's it's you know it's a serious issue we're not in it alone um I'm in a chain with several of my counterparts in other communities and almost all of them are looking at um the same situation we're in with presenting a potential operational override either this year or F 27 so um it's certainly not something that's unique to HX it's just something that we are having to deal with partially because of the St of New Growth uh in state a we don't we don't anticipate St increase significantly either you're seeing the the revenue at the state level isn't great either and that typically will correspond with the St that they give us so that's kind of the the all look uh for the budget season but I'm more than happy to kind of answer questions or when do we uh do we the bottom but got it yep um when do we expect to know that the last number do we have any idea when that's going to come into us I do not have a a date this morning I'm working with the schools to try to get that number it's it's hard because it's a reimbursement which is why we benefited ultimately this year because we don't have the expense of that this year because that went Silver Lake through the uh amend region but you get reimbursed the year before so we don't have the cost this year but we're getting that Revenue this year and um again I'm not a I'm out of school Finance wiiz so I'm really relying on the the administrative team over there they're aware that this is a big uh issue for us it could be a big issue for us and and they know as soon as they have any data available that they yeah so I guess what I'm what I'm curious about is so last year we saw where we were kind of scaming to get numbers on school overall we already talked about that here um I guess my my real question is do we expect that circuit breaker number to come in at that same time so if we have issues getting real numbers from school committee on overall budget is this a part of that or is sear and distinct this on it it it should really be a part of their overall budget because they they take that into account when they request the budget in the time they they say okay we need $7 million and we've already Offset you know our cost of 7.5 million with 500,000 in circuit breaker so they will need to know it when they start preparing their um their budget request to the town and they know that it's a it's a serious concern for us in particularly it's going to affect all three districts but Halifax at a little bit higher level because we have we had a higher percentage of special education um which means we will get getting more of those circuit breaker funds so it's going to hit us a little bit harder percentage wise than it will the other districts U they'll certainly see the same thing because again it's going to be an offset there too and then Sil they're going to lose that it's going to go to Silver Le and they've already accounted for it but it's really going to hit HX H other questions the budget memo anything like clarify change to well I I would I would like to know if we can get the budget from the town departments earlier then December I mean it's it's a matter of management and financial management that the department they should be keep an eye and if they're doing it appropriately by forecasting outp they're going to spend I I know the schools said they already encumbered all their salary so that's that's you know that's out of the budget so now we can see the actual spend moving forward I I'd like to get these these numbers earlier so that we can work with them because if there's an issue we send it back you know it's just going to take that much longer to get it back and then be that much closer to town meeting before we can really work on it and and C you and I both know we one Department we dealt with we had to go back and forth three times just to get an understanding of where the money's going um instead of just writing out I need this much money thank you very much so that's um you know that's going to be hopefully there was a learning curve last year that we don't have to go through this year um but uh I think in anticipation of human nature will probably still have to some extent anyway I think so um you know we can certainly try to make it sooner and just to be you know quite Frank um most of it will fall on me at this point we don't have a town accountant you we have an active Town accountant we're Consulting The Firm you know but they're really not involved to this level and and most of our departments don't individually project out you know their expenses that really is something that I do for the time as a whole okay um so you know we can request that it come in as soon as POS possible but I can tell you even with my uh early conversations with many of our department heads they have said that they're going to need to sit down and need significant assistance with developing their project that cuts this year and just where it's going to go out at the end of October I mean you know six seven weeks all but then that's where they should be leaning right from the finance which they will those meetings and getting together meeting on those things um the I think in order to hopefully get the best product that we can off the that it makes sense to provide a little bit more time um to get those in and I think we've we've shown on the town side that that can we can work through that once we get those in we can start working through those rather quickly the the big concern really is the school um and getting 51% of our bu so you know that's that's going to be the you know that's that's the so I will say you know we've had several meetings with them myself and the town administrators from clemon and Kingston we do have a um plan I mentioned earlier a joint meeting on December 12th with the finance committees and school committees they have vowed to get us preliminary budgets in January which you know again it's not as early as I would like but it's a step in the right direction um and we'll meet with them regularly throughout the process so at the very least they know where we are and and the idea is is is they can take that in consideration and school committees can take that in consideration and rather than maybe present a budget with a 6% increase off of that they'll know that's not something that we can afford so compare that initial request now don't don't B come to us with this request that we can't right right and I'd really like to avoid the little piece of paper the Daye set that's just that's just no way to run so I do I I agree with with Jim but I also understand what Cody's saying where it it may be hard for departments to come up with true numbers or true projections that we're not even right but I think as a committee What We should strive for is to find ways to get a lens into their actual spend year to date leading up to that point so um so if we're looking December at getting budget numbers we should be able to see at least q1 sometime either now or early November absolutely so if we can sit down and review q1 that will give us an idea of what the trend is looking like for each of the Departments including school right they should be bundled into this um but if they can't we have to our challenge is we have to find ways to see the numbers without forcing them to give us inaccurate numbers by giving them a short and deadine you know what I'm saying so that's that's my only recommendation if we find a way that we get exposed to the actual spend for at least q1 in advance of the budgets coming into us on the I will say too to to Jim's Point earlier one of the things that we've um changed this year through the process is you know historically town meeting approves an expense budget right and then there subcategories it doesn't get approved but our departments use new subcategories and historically it was just thrown in kind of into whatever subcategory because the money was there we've we've actually appropriated uh funds to each subcategory now so we should actually be able to get a better idea of what the money is actually being spent on without having to look these indes and see what is it where is it going so those I'm not going to say it's perfect because it's the first year that many people are doing it but it's certainly a step in the right direction and and a big Improvement where we can start to actually look at data and be reflective of what's actually going on with see what the money is actually being spent on and how it's being manage and things of that nature that's just Jim mentioned minut AG go good business tracking that cost right down to the subcategory to understand what it is and where it is and why we're doing it this way or do we need to do that do we need to have that kind of money available have to utilize in another f absolutely all right we know we're going to have to roll up the sleeves and get creative um but I I sing your Praises before and I'll do it again we have a great finance committee and whether the waters are calm or rough I'm going be with you guys tacking it so let's go let's do it anybody else M mik oh he took the bait I'm just trying to do pro proactively and if I'm sure we have you have um was there anything we could have done to look at the circuit breaker versus the the school thing and make sure that happen next year the after what was that potential um the problem is it's outside of our control right so it was it's a vote of the Silver Lake school committee that made that decision we have we have no authority over kind of how they so uh end their excess and deficiency is under their control um and they chose to appropriate it that way you know I can tell you at the time I I did let the administrative team over there know that I didn't think it was a great idea just like you know there was a suggestion brought up that we use AR funds last year something in our budget we never want to use onetime funds for an budget right creates this fiscal C so on the town side and school side I will always against that the tough decisions unfortunately sometimes have to be made but you're if not you're just creating a bigger issue for the next year so they know where the town stood on it um it's but from Silver point of view they had a fix right this next year because they had that additional Revenue coming in unfortunately it's just going to be at the expense of the talents um so anything it's on a great against but I guess anything that were presented um in that fashion that the town has control over you would know about and I would always advise you against it because it's just not not a good financial decision thank you all right anything else guys speak down for r pece or at least until the next Meek at least we need John do you have anything joh do you need any any comments Mr chair you all set I'm good I any questions yet okay so I would ask that both groups uh vote to approve the budget MMO for fiscal year 26 to Wells all right uh I read it Tom you read it yes uh I will make a motion uh that the board selectman accept the memo to all department heads boards and committees for the official year 2026 operating budget guidelines that's sir all right we'll need a roll call vote U Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr cely is a yes passes unanimous you sir all right uh for the finance committee and I have a motion to approve the budget Nemo as written so move second you all in favor say I any oppos there you go set awesome all right then if you want you you can uh vote to adjourn your crew if you'd like s around so can I have a motion to adjourn the finance portion meeing portion of the select all in favor thank you guys com all right okay our next appointment is not until 6:45 so have a couple minutes here Tom if we want to get going on maybe some of our uh Awards commitment here I move to resend the vote taking on 108 2024 for the following and move M 930 2024 through 106 2024 143,000 $691 second uh we'll do a roll call vote U Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr s yes pass I move approval of the following award v34 for 273,000 $ 25558 that's a second uh roll call vote Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr C is a yes passes your hand I move to approve the following word and commitments payroll number 35 46 8, 57722 vendor War number 36 to 86,87 3 holding award number 37 for $165,700 and ambulance 930 2024 106 2024 for 5287 81755 second uh Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr s yes pass is unanimously all right we're going to move down uh I think we can do a here Cody in the time we have yes so integrated mixed unit contract you're not approving uh the contract per se the terms of the contract were ratified uh year and a half ago this is just the integrated contract so so when when we approve a new contract you have uh what's called we do a memorandum it outlines all the and then that's it and then we integrate the contract um it's taken some time because there were several moas prior to this T contract that need to be integrated so it's finally it's all set um all those M moas have been integrated and it really just needs the board signatures you can see the union already signed it um but again there's no changes that you're voting on you're just voting on the integrated voting on putting it all together exactly okay uh entertain a motion to approve uh the integrated mix unit contract I make that motion to approve the uh intergated Miss Union contract do I have a second yes second all right uh roll call vote Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr s yes passes unan all right do we have time to do government study okay uh we're going to go on to item number or letter B updated government study committee charge to six members yep so this is uh you we had the government study committee charge which initially called for uh five members at Large but this um I believe the board previously voted to have six members so this just uh updates the charge to six voting members so it's consistent with what you vote uh voted for membership yeah I I would agree I think we have six solid candidates so in my opinion it makes sense to uh change the charge to a six- member committee so I'll entertain a motion for that I would I would make that motion to update the government study survey to uh allow six members to get in charge uh for okay and do I have a second yes second all right roll call vote Mr Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr Cel yes passes unanimously all right uh alfe restoration committee update and name change request uh we have Mr glesby here uh Jeremy do you want to come to the mic and just speak to what you'd like to see yes uh want chance River instead of is turn the mic on on the back when it turns greeny it's on see the Bott there you go anyway so uh yeah first we had to change to the ring most people know river hering is uh a lot of people know but a lot of I agree I I thought LFE was like an MBTA Stu I'm pretty sure there old hethy I like that came from most of the fish hopefully will be a not but still I like the term River I agree so that's all I agree for the update like basically uh we've had two meetings um we're going to meet gra uh down Pur probably around the 15th or 16th of November during the day look at some things for some issues um there's a huge tree that just fell in front of the fish it's some Dam it's going to have to be removed and pretty good size d 100 y d that is going to either to be removed or uh I have to does that uh that's up to the state on how they want to do that but it is I was there this weekend elevation Dr above that and I think it's also a FL when the rain comes back actually I talk toon the land they have break up flow into cause some problems and literally 100 y up from it and it's got here so I think something happen there otherwise could be a hazard how when this committee was was hatched how do you think your progress has been you're happy with how things are going ahead of schedule behind schedule what how do you think it's not happy but not because of going on on the other side he's bridgew but um you know he they a lot of money and time putting that F lter there and the flow is just not I think something changed with the natural through Rob that first something different I mean last couple times I've been there it's been driv as well and there's no water in so I'm not sure but I know the dam runers got everything through to uh make improvements reild the dam [Applause] this is the way to see I appreciate the efforts one other thing to add um I was going to provide this in my announcements but this is fitting so in partnership with the Department of Marine Division of marine fisheries um the town was awarded a $25,000 Grant uh from the taunt rivershed the taunt River Watershed Alliance to fund um an investigation on the status of two stump Rook culverts at El and furnace streets and this the again the end goal is to restore efforts of the migratory fish Aquatic Life and healthy stream flows so um yeah that's good enough you will see more for that um we're actually from foring from n for that and if you ever been down to see that infrastructure it will not so it's also a risk to the town honestly the way it set up right now because uh it's collecting debris it's not getting clean and best thing you do is just open it up everything yeah so this grant will once completed uh will hopefully allow us to pursue further grant funding to actually take action on these some of these are excuse me areas I know it's a a passion project for you jemy and I appreciate what you're trying to do for everybody so I thank you for your time and efforts you're welcome um and do we want to I will entertain a motion to uh change the name uh from the alai restoration committee to the what's our new name the river Herring restoration committee the river Herring restoration committee I would make that motion to change I would make a motion to change from Hil wife restoration to River Herring restoration do I have a second yes second all right M Mr Bratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr Sing yes passes unanimously all right we're are a little bit late here uh we have a couple guests here that we'd like to uh introduce we are going to have a joint meeting with the zoning by Review Committee do they want to gentl want to come up to the table just so that it's easier for folks uh there's microphones here on the sides a lot of familiar faces and two uh agenda items for our meeting here okay is we're going to discuss the timeline for proposed zoning amendments and feedback from the MTA zoning public forum uh Mr chair if you don't mind opening your meeting you break it up a little bit I was just going to say could could you open your uh meeting of the zoning bylaw Review Committee yeah my still not here what you said U it's a the echo in that room so maybe if you get close to the light for me if you can uh open the Mee John only comme oh I'm sorry yes yes yes so I'll move that we open comme meeting sorry all right do we have a second we have a motion the group there from there's a second those in favor say hi I think we got to do a roll call John because you're on Zoom sorry Mr gaski here Mr Walters yes Mr Johnson yes Mr Joy yes and I vote Yes also thank you and just a reminder guys just to BR be recorded if you don't mind I know it's kind of awkward but using the microphone we can hear you but the people at home won't be able to hear you okay all right so I can I can kind of kick things off and we also have attorney hom here with us uh who has served with the z b VI committee so this first item um timeline for proposed zoning amendments so initially the plan was was to present all the zoning amendments at the special town meeting in December that included the MBTA zoning changes as well as all the other work that the committee has worked on uh in speaking with Mr Bruno we think their um zoning is is diverse right there's a lot to it it's not simple to understand the goal of the committee was to simplify things but what we don't want to do is is bring all these things to town meeting and create um confusion with the regular zoning bylaw changes so what it's ultimately the board of selecting this decision but you know what John and I spoke about was just bringing the MTA zoning uh changes to this special town meeting and then bringing the other zoning changes to the annual town meeting in the spring so discussion here everything John feel free to jump in but I think that's really the idea of the first item you want I'm just making sure I heard you correctly Cody talking about just just uh what we talked about just put the mdta on the town meeting not the rest of the zoning right yes yeah so I I I agree 100% first of all um I don't think we have enough time to put the whole uh zoning thing out for the public enough so that they have a chance to review it and be ready to discuss it uh I also think that um most of the stuff in the uh zoning by law change uh is I don't think controversial I maybe it is but I don't get it is controversial and I and I wouldn't want to have uh a controversial issue like the NBTA issue uh kind of override uh careful consideration of the zoning bylaw changes we put a lot of time and effort into try to make the zoning the new zoning bylaw proposal uh something that is uh easier to read easier to work with and does address certain uh problem or certain holes that we had in our in our system so I I I I don't think it's a good idea to mix the two um and I think the NBTA um one as as we've seen uh it causes enough confusion and consternation uh that we may as well just deal with that if it passes uh that's good and then it just gets incorporated into the zoning bylaw when we do it next spring if it doesn't pass uh we don't have to worry about it um and the other thing is that's that U NBTA one uh is time sensitive we have to make a decision by the end of this year the other zoning uh changes we don't have any time limits on yeah that was my question and John just answered it seems like the obviously the MBTA we need to go one way or the other by the end of the year um I guess in your committee's estimate is it okay if we I don't want to say punt but if we push those off to Spring yeah I feel personally sorry I feel personally they should be separated uh based on most of what John said uh complications with understanding uh 3A versus the other articles of zoning that we made some minor changes to and some ma major changes to um and it's going to take time for people to understand all those changes because there are quite a few with within the base of the um zoning bylaws so I'm in agreement with John that we should separate the two out and just put the U m3a on the um special [Music] Town anybody else have any feedback no yeah like I said the only um the only thing that has a time frame on it is the NBTA one that's the only reason we're holding the town meeting is because of that MBTA time uh requirement the other one certainly really should be at an angle anyway not a special because it does uh you know it does it it does involve a relatively uh uh important policy change for the town which should be taken up at the annual not special tell me anyway in might do so yeah if I could just jump in to kind of echo a couple different thoughts here I mean if we didn't have the 3A zoning law this we wouldn't have a December special meeting anyway so this the the work that was done by this committee would have been voted on the annual meeting in May anyway and that work by the way was substantial and valuable um and I'd hate to see it get clouded uh with separate issues so I think I applaud the work by the committee and I think separating the two was a good idea um for a number of reasons mostly highlighted already all right so um I think hearing those comments I think uh the board Elman would be comfortable um making a taking a vote to um basically just discuss the zoning bylaw review for the MBTA at the special town meeting on December 16th correct I make that motion yes do I have a second second yes all right it's going to take a roll call vote Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr seelig yes passes unanimously uh the next item on the agenda here is feedback from the NBTA zoning public forum uh okay so I I've been thinking about this since that Thursday um I think it's unfortunate that we can't seem to get a u a a calm measured discussion going on this FTA because the emotions run so high on it um I also think though that uh we've done everything we can to be as transparent and uh open as far as what what the issue is and how we proposed to deal with it so I don't I don't think that I think we've got our job in terms of um getting the information out to the public so part of what we were doing at the public hearing uh well good part of it really uh was not only to put the information out but also to get the feedback so we got a lot of feedback on uh people that just don't like the idea I get that um but we also got some feedback on things that we can make some ad uh adjustments to the bylaw that I think will um that I think will uh at least uh acknowledge uh some of the uh some some of the complaints and those those two things um I'm I'm recommending and I think Cody has already set a draft around uh but I'm recommending that we take out uh the uh Provisions that put in uh um affordable housing be uh requirements for any new building um and also uh the uh mixed commercial use um uh part of it um I I think I think they were both really good ideas um you know we're going to have more building we should address our 40b problem we should take that out of this because it's already a hot enough topic uh and that just seem to really uh excite some of the uh concerns of uh State deciding to send uh too many people down here something like that whatever it is as far as the commercial uh Mix commercial development personally think it's not a bad idea I don't think it's it's a it's a I think it's a a thing that could be very nice very useful uh development tool but again uh given this given the context that we're working in uh I don't I don't think we need to I don't think we should rather uh add add anything more than trying to hit really the bare minimum of what we're being asked to do by the state so I would I would recommend that we take those two um Provisions out of B all together that leads us with um the uh the zone as proposed which is the Twin Lakes area and the garden property um and also um the uh requirements uh of the what what has to be built can be open that area rather uh which it pretty much matched to what's already there it's you know 2 and 1/2 stories a certain number of square footage all that kind of stuff so looks like we can build the same type of property assuming somebody wants to build there in the first place and that's that's a whole different issue but all all we're doing is try to put the Zone in place so those are the two recommendations I think we should I I would make on that and then the third thing I was thinking about is I I think as far as uh presentation at the um special town meeting um I I don't think it's necessary and I don't in fact I think it might even be a little too um the um I don't disruptive the right word uh here to go and have the ocpc do their presentation again um I I don't know that the slides would help us in this I I think I can I think we can present to town meeting really the concept in in about two paragraphs you say look at this is this is this is the wealthy situation that we have uh the state requires this state requires that we make a vote by the end of the year this is the proposal that uh the committee has come up with the the committee has come up with uh and that is to Zone this one particular piece of property and here are the bylaw pieces I don't think anybody that hasn't already made up their mind uh is going to be looking for too much more information than that anyway and if they are we can have the ocpc there people if necessary uh with with the slides if you want to show them but I don't I don't think it's I don't think it's helpful at this point so those are my recommendations I don't know what the group thinks about it does the B committee have any feedback or uh want to talk about what John brought up uh just a a quick comment so I I agree that the um the 40b aspect should be removed as these issues that seem to be continually conflated whenever you talk to somebody I absolutely agree with that however I would I would I don't necessarily believe that the mix the option for mixed use uh should be taken out as we just talked in the budget piece that we had like no new growth here or very little we are now going to take that out and remove that giving someone or anybody an opportunity to create a new business business or bring your business into the town so uh 3A absolutely agree uh the mixed use I think should remain as an option uh it doesn't mean it's going to happen but I think it should be there for someone to if they want to open a coffee shop or if they want to open you know a secondhand store or whatever on the first floor that's your me to give us to give the town a better um chance at opening new business that's my opinion anyone else anybody else again I agree with the the 4y to take that out that seem to be very confusing uh on the uh I still get to the point where I don't think there's going to be a lot of devel I just don't see what's going to happen so even by having uh a spot to maybe a coffee shop that's that's probably all it's going to be is the cloud sh I don't see any big development down for the mix uh whether it stays in or comes out uh I don't think it's a big deal CU I don't think there's going to be that much of a an opportunity for I mean leaving it in it leaves it open that something could be built there but taking it out doesn't I don't think it's going to mean anything for the amount of land that's there that someone could build and mean I know we talked about roughly 9 Acres but it's not a 9 acre plot it's only small Acres you know area that's going to be so either way I'm fine with it just one point clarification um the affordability requirement that's being spoken about to to remove is not 40b so just just to just just so it's clear 40b chapter 40b is a a different state law um that can that developers can utilize to build affordable housing but but 40 That's the affordability requirement is just an affordability requirement it's not 40b 40b is is separate it's a another form of affordable housing but it's not a 40b so if someone even if you left the affordability requirement in this and someone um built that it would not be a 40b it would just be one unit out of every 10 has to be affordable in perpetuity so I I just want to clarify cuz I think there's some confusion with that too you're you're correct all through of all of our last year's meetings there was no mention of putting 40b down no no so someone could hypothetically put a 40b there now if they wanted right chapter 40b allows you go to the zoning board of appeals and apply for a comprehensive permit understood so um that but this would allow multif family housing as of right market rate multif family housing and in the initial bylaw the state allows for up to 10% to be required to be affordable and initially the group had had recommended that but it's not 40b correct we we agreed on 10% affordability not a 40b project corre right just want to make sure everybody in town understands that 40b was never on the table down there no regarding the MBTA 3A no right it it it's just 40b is a um it's complex so a lot of times when you people hear affordable housing they associated with 4B but this is not 40b this is not ever proposed a 40b it was simply a affordability requirement correct to meet the requirement that the town doesn't currently meet yeah it it was viewed as a a beneficial aspect to it because the town is is supposed to have 10% of all year round housing units be affordable uh and we're at like 2% right now so and that's why you're susceptible to a 40b development is if you're not at that 10% threshold correct but just so everybody understands there's no 40b down at the train station corre just to dovetail what Jim said um I do think that I'm okay with mixed use down there uh again whether or not something gets developed or not is still in The Ether we have no idea but our our growth is tough here in Halifax very tough um so the location you're right next to a a train station perfect spot for a coffee shop for somebody grabbing something before they get on a train I would hate to limit us again if anything's built at all right but if something if something did manage to get built I would hate to short sight that by eliminating that mixed use potential um because if we do have a business in town we want them to be successful right a successful business is a good thing for the town so um I would be totally fine with leaving the mixed juuse there uh and if we were looking at uh taking out the affordability aspect I'd be fine removing that as well just a yeah so I started all this I I'm just thinking of ways that um address the comments that that I heard I he a lot of them um and um I I I think I think this this commercial thing is is really a great tool I really is like you say it give us opportunities to do things that would really look nice in certain areas so I I personally don't care if the group thinks we should keep it in I'm happy to keep it in uh I do think the 40 B1 should probably go out cu I think that just uh um inflam it's not 40b John if I could just jump in I mean unless I'm reading this wrong this all has to do with the December 16th vote none of this matters all this is all Superfluous if this is not voted in a town correct correct so I mean I would be in favor um of removing the affordability aspect of things and I'm with actually Mr Joy over here I don't care one way or the other uh about mix I can see the benefits that Jonathan is highlighting uh I don't think it makes a heck of a lot of difference either way um I think you know neither here nor there I think December 16th will stand on its own um so I think that it's you know important get this right so it's on the ballot correctly on the warrant correctly um and I think mixed use if agreeable by the Committees is or the committee is is better is one thing um but I don't think it's a deal breaker I don't think this is going to sell sell the project uh that's that's that's where I am all right would uh John is it protocol for your committee to to take a vote first or jump right to the select man uh I guess we are the ones making the advice so although ultimately we don't really have any Authority here it's up to the board select them to uh decide what goes so uh this committee is an advisory committee so that's why you know so we can U if uh unless the group wants to take a vote on it could or could just leave it up to the board so I think we need to just like in our normal zoning byog meeting is if we're going to take something out or add something we discuss it and we say yay or nay in this particular instance we're talking about two things so we need to say yay or nay before it goes to a vote by the select me okay and and if if if it gets that far in presented to the board of Select what exactly are we voting on to remove the affordability and or removing the next concept of this particular War December 16 correct and you you all need to make a decision tonight as the board of Select because the planning board is is planning to have the public hearing on November 7th that that Thursday November so their recommendation could be leave as is take out affordability and or mixed use or present as is to the board corre thank you thank all right so um so what's the z black committee uh reviews um view on this and again I apologize a little bit because there's a lot of Echo so it's a little hard for me to hear some of this but if I heard everybody correctly you want to leave the mixed juice in and take the 40b out is that correct let's start with the 10% affordability it's not 40b it's 10% affordability I'll make a motion to remove the 10% affordable housing component of the MBTA 3A second do we have a second second we all right we have a motion in the second so um Mr gesy um no okay oops I'm sorry say it again I believe we had a good reason to put that requirement in there because we've had a lot of other high density housing with in which that requirement was not in there and it it only not that I think IND is going to get built there back kind ofos anything being built in the the watered um any new any new buildings but the reason we put that in there because we have no safe Har Harbor with foral housing and if you're going to have somebody build hide and City housing why not have enough you know 10% requirement that way it at least goes towards our percentage because we made mistakes in the past um that will come back to to to Har eventually cuz there's stopping anybody from coming in and buying property and making for you right now and they can bypass all of our fund so I like to 10% affordability affordability requirement that's all okay so your your vote is no right okay Mr Walter uh I vote to remove the affordable housing Clause well I'm sorry that yes or no yes yes yes okay Mr Mr Johnson yes Mr Joy yes and I vote Yes also so passes by majority okay um now is it is that all we want to do we don't want we don't want to address the uh um the mixed juice part is that that the consensus from this group here well does somebody want to make a motion to take that out I won't but if somebody wants to we could I don't think so does anybody on your committee want to remove the mixed use uh aspect of your of your plan I'm I'm seeing no here John yeah all right so it sounds like that's all we're going to do we're just going to take the uh affordability part off of it and leave the mix you in okay so that would be our recommendation to the board okay um and while and while I do hear Mr Gillespie's concerns uh about that and and agree to a lot of it um I will kind of go to the folks that spent the year doing this in in looking at the the majority vote uh so I will entertain a motion to remove the affordability component to the MBTA zoning plan for the special election for special election uh sorry special town meeting December 16th on a motion I vote Yes discuss sure discussion yeah I would just I would just Echo this you know I think that I've made my thoughts on the topic not tonight but separately pretty clear and I'm not going to rehash any of those I I applaud the work that was done for a great amount of time by a hold the committee and I know Jeremy who I respect has voted differently um I would support the majority and removing the 10% uh housing uh on that they've done great work um it's valuable work and it's something that we'll come to vote on December 16th and I would just keep in mind other of their work will come to pass in May which I think is also critical um so just because you're against or for against one thing doesn't mean unilaterally you're against or for the other thing which I think is a separate thing um so I would vote with the committee applauding their work uh while recognizing jy's difference to it so I I would give that a second okay I believe uh Mr Bruno uh made the motion Mr Pratt made the second um I will do a roll call vote uh Mr Pratt this is just 10% how correct yes Mr Bruno that's to take it out right take theal housing correct yes if I vote Yes Y and I will vote Yes as well uh the motion passes unanimously and then I would just ask that you vote to uh send the revised bylaw as voted to the planning board I would make that motion to send the Rev uh revised bylaw to and Mr second Mr Bruno seconds we need a roll call vote Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr C a yes that passes unanimously all right I believe we are done with our zoning byw review committee meeting if you want to vote to uh adjourn Mr Bruno that me uh we have nothing more to talk about and I would have I will make a motion to adjourn the zone and bylaw Review Committee second all right Mr gesi yes Mr Walters yes Mr Johnson yes to adjourn yes and Mr Joy yes thank you so that's unanimous thank you gentlemen again and I appreciate all the work you guys put into this thank you thanks rich thank you guys all right we are running late I apologize to our next uh guests here um but this is a fun one this is when you look at the agenda you always have items that you get excited to see and this is by far the highlight of this one tonight U no offense anybody um but we have Mr Aiden Mary and Mr Shane deaney here uh to talk about their Eagle Scout project proposals um Mr Mullen I know is here as well do you want to take the mic Rob or let the fellas do it themselves whatever whatever you guys want to do who's up first who's up first so for those that don't know the eagle scout uh projects are all over town right to the mic right there oh do you have stuff for us sure come on up so there are countless Eagle Scout projects all throughout Halifax it's a fantastic program um um it's added to the beauty of our town it's added to the uniqueness of our town uh and these folks here are going to be doing their project as part of their Eagle Scout um I guess Ascension so uh Aiden I've had the pleasure of knowing since he was 5 years old outstanding young man uh you'd be proud to have him as your own uh Aiden break it down for us what are we looking at here I'd like to have my project right up to the mic real close it's the mic on yeah it's on you just got to put your mouth right next to it um I'd like to replace the police station sign with a new updated version um I believe that an updated sign will um make the police station look better and also support our Town's law enforcement uh my plan is to use donations from local companies and fundraisers to pay for the new sign the sign will be made for varable materials that can withstand the elements it will be held up by two Granite pillers that will longer and look better than c um it also be doing the flower bed and replacing the legs all times excellent do you have any sort of timeline Aiden when you think you're going to start how long you think it's going to take um once I get um what I have until February 21st okay my birthday okay I should be starting as soon as I can where are you now are you in the fundraising part of it now yes okay so this is your chance for a nice plug here so if anyone would like to help Aiden uh with his Halifax Police Eagle Scout project feel free to reach out and help Aiden for the fundraising right it's your chance to sell it to the community there you go awesome all right I I don't have any questions does any of the board have any questions for Aiden's proposal no I I would just applaud your work and wish you well in your future uh Ascension to the eagle scope it's valuable work and well done all right Mr Bruno anything for aen no questions no no awesome okay uh can I we need to entertain a motion sure I'll entertain a motion to approve the uh Eagle Scout project by Aiden stman for uh troop 39 I second all right we need to do a roll call vote Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr seelig yes uh it is unanimous good luck Aiden I appreciate thank you thanks for your help all right Mr Dean you are up again I've known this guy since he was a a young Ty great kid proud of the work he's doing what do we got here you got this you're good I would like to replace the existing HW playground Community VES that are in the shade behind the playground right now they wooden VES are are falling into the ground falling apart but I'd like to replace them with plastic tracks boards along 6x6 posts just where they already are where are okay and I guess the same question I had for Aiden how are you uh planning on you planning on fundraising you have any sort of timeline are you the same deadline I'm much sooner but I'm also okay so if anybody would like to help Shane out um you know by all means help them out I will argue that these three benches might be the the most Prime spot in town they really are beautiful they're they're under the trees you have a beautiful view down uh the soccer field you have fames sitting there I've seen countless people sitting there having their lunches they're right next to the Hops playground and I know at least one of them is is pretty rough I think it's you know borderline unusable so I commend you for this um and again I think TRX is the way to go I think that's smart so it'll last we don't have to come back in 5 years and do it again so uh any questions on the board for um Shane's project no I would just add that I I am down there every Saturday coaching soccer watching my kids going back to the playground these are well used well worn and this is a project well worth doing so I applaud you for the idea uh it will be well received and good work best of luck awesome all right I will entertain a motion to approve uh Shane de's Eagle Scout project for new uh playground shade Adventures I suck at that all right I need a roll call vote um let's go Mr Bratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr cing is a yes passes unanimously Shane good luck to you thank you for your work thanks thanks C see you see you thank you thanks for being patient tonight all right next up we'll go to uh item D which is to accept a $10,000 donation from McDonald Industries Incorporated for holidays in Halifax need to move to accept the donation okay uh this uh they made a similar donation last year uh this will be used to help fund fireworks once again for our annual holidays and Halifax celebration uh it's always the hit of the year and uh we'd like to thank McDonald Industries for their generous donation and officially um recognize them for their efforts yes I would for those sentiments thank you to the to uh mcon Industries and I would second that motion to accept the donation on our behalf okay um so we'll do a roll call vote to accept Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes and Mr seing yes and just so that everyone can set their calendars holidays and Halifax this year as it always is the second Saturday in December this year it's very late it is December 14th so mark your calendar is always one of the highlights um in tax every year all right moving on to E we have the November meeting schedule uh yes so um we are scheduled to meet on Election Day as of right now um it's never a great idea to meet on Election Day it's not against the law per se but the state grounds against it uh but I do think it's pertinent that we we try to have a meeting that week um so if possible I don't know if everyone's available that Wednesday the 6th the 7th is the public hearing for the NBTA zoning changes um you could do the fourth the finance committee meeting is uh that night but so it's up to you guys i' say either the fourth or the sixth whatever works what was the S the planning board yes for the NBTA only for the planning board correct I'm okay with the six um chairman Bruno are you available the six excuse me I didn't quite hear everything he said too far from M just so so we're scheduled to meet on Election Day which is November 5th probably not a good idea so we're we're looking we're looking to swap dates uh instead of meeting Tuesday November 5th we would meet Wednesday November 6th probably around the same time wanted to know of your availability oh sure just switch it Wednesday that's fine yes okay all right um I guess I'll ENT we need to make a motion or as okay we're good all right so let it be known we will be meeting on the 6th instead of the fifth uh in in conjunction with election 6 600 p.m. start time be there or B Square all right uh we're moving on to letter F which is the signature Authority form and this essentially uh gives alternate authority to a member uh for for payroll purposes in case a department head uh is not available so I've believe we've received two Cody yep we have one from library um it would be Maria Bumpus who's the assistant director and then the other one is um sorry uh for the historical district commission and would be the um and theirs is I don't I don't know why they have this they don't have payroll we don't need this do we want to hold off what did they have one for the next page is it one for the vendor no this is just a payroll one uh so if they have a vendor one we'll have resit that but I just realized it's for payroll so theong the wrong form maybe so we can disregard this all right we just the library so we'll just do the library all right so I will entertain a motion um to make Maria Bumpus the um signature Authority form alternate for the homes Public Library second all right all those in favor Mr PR yes Mr Bruno yes Mr silly is a yes passes unanimously we are going to skip over the historical district commission all right moving on to G approval of board of Select meeting minutes um I'll entertain a motion to approve the regular session for September 10th 2024 regular session September 24th 2024 and regular session October 8th 2024 I second all right roll call vote Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr Cel a yes passes unanimously all right on to Old business uh updates on NBTA zoning uh no further updates other than what was discussed tonight like I said the public hearing for the planning board is November 7th uh that'll start getting advertised this week that'll be in the newspaper in the next few weeks we'll have it online so on and so forth um and again this is this is a legal requirement any zoning changes the planning board needs to hold a public hearing and then they um are asked to make recommendation on it um they don't have to but they are asked to make recommendation on it and then that recommendation will be included in the warrant um the warrant closes on November 4th so any petitioned articles would have to be in by November 4th but all that information is posted online and you guys actually already voted to close the warrant when you voted to open it um so that it automatically close November 4th as a reminder if anyone's looking for petitioned articles a special town meeting requires 100 signatures not 10 like an annual town meeting um so that's the MBTA stuff as far as Staffing and operations I was going to mention that grant that I mentioned earlier but I already mentioned that uh the other Grant notification I have is we received a $50,000 Grant from the Department of energy resources to fund um uh engineer feasibility and engineering design for the electrification of halapa elementary school so you may recall there's been ongoing conversations about adding air conditioning at the elementary school School uh due to you know not great ventilation it gets very warm particular in part of some of the buildings so heat pumps is something that we're looking at um in order to be eligible for further grant funding and incentives from our utility provider you need to complete this basically engineering design so it evaluates loads make sure that the the building can handle it what upgrades would be needed um investigate what the best option is so youve you've been seeing a lot of this air source heat pumps which is the air but you're actually seeing a lot more um water uh it's it's uh water heat pumps basically which would allow you to keep some of your existing infrastructure so they'll evaluate all of this and again this is a $50,000 Grant so it will not cost a to anything but will open us up once complete to um potentially millions of dollars in grant funding to actually do the project when the time comes was this through Kathy or is this through you or uh is a team approach Kathy and I worked with National Grid um on this and the team over there and Kathy has some great contacts so um yeah it was a team approach but Kathy's um was kind of the one that pushed over the Finish Line fantastic and just to Circle back Cody really quick on the um on the public hearing on NBTA going to be well attended are we thinking here it will be here corre so it be in a great hall okay uh that that is pretty much it we are hiring an assistant collector uh that job hosting is out we're still looking for a town accountant anyone knows anyone interested submit a resume excellent all right anything else for the board before we uh move to adjourn all right seeing nothing I'll entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting I second that motion okay we'll do a roll call vote Mr Pratt yes Mr Bruno yes Mr C yes it is unanimous thank you very much everybody thanks John thanks for coming John feel better [Music]