##VIDEO ID:dqW9xRb61wI## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e hello and um welcome to the select board meeting December 18 2024 before we start we've had several meetings that have gone very late and I haven't had the opportunity to thank some very important people so before we start in case we get too late I want to thank Nate Bim Nathan Kent and Joe duette for providing us the U Services to get us on TV and for public media so thank you gentlemen okay next if you please uh join me in the Pledge of Allegiance meeting being recorded and this meeting is being recorded pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the republ for it stands one nation God indivisible and justice for [Music] all right so we have a full agenda tonight um we're going to begin with public comments um we're going to have public comments for every item except for the open meeting section that has to do with the addition to the G bar so if you have a comment about the remodeling of the G bar if you want to hold that until we get to that we we'll take care of that but anybody that wants to have a comment about anything you would like please remember the select board will not be responding to your public comment and you're welcome to get up there and spend three minutes public commenting is there anybody for public comment yeah I'm a  thank you hi um Mara Dalton at 37 Pin Street I just want to comment just a little bit about the veterans housing um I as I stated before we're not against the veterans housing but I would just like the board to keep in mind the neighbors not just just the veterans the veterans are very important and I'm not saying that but the neighbors are also impacted by this and if there's a five story building it's going to cause a lot of Heartache in the neighborhood so that's really all I had to say and and thank you for listening thank you thank you Mara Dalton hi my name is Mary kff and I live at 4 eie Street uh my sister Christine Johnson has lived at 12 eie Street since 1996 and has been the homeowner since our sister Betty passed away a few months ago Christine is unable to attend tonight and asked me to read the statement in herstead this group here has been discussing proposed projects on the Pine Street site for a couple of years now started with the brothers who proposed a four-story Condo building and were disappointed when they were told they could only go up to three stories and one of them needed to be parking at on street parking in the neighborhood is already difficult now we are listening to plans for a five-story building for veterans while am while I am wholeheartedly in favor of veterans housing I am concerned about the size of the proposed project a building that large will block any sun from reaching our property in addition a facility that will accommodate as many residents as proposed as well as any visitors or caretakers they may have will require more access to parking than this neighborhood already that already includes many multif family homes can accommodate my only additional comment is a really quick question again it was raised at the last meeting how can we be informed about these meeting schedules recently we have only heard learned of all these meetings from our neighbors we're not getting any mailings or attention and I wanted to add that I fully appreciate and understand the need for the dire need for the veterans housing however the current proposal does not suit the site or the neighborhood and I thank you for listening thank you Mary you're welcome is there anyone else for a public comment sir give us your name and address please yes Steve gadman 11 Pine Street um I have a couple of uh a few bullet points uh that I'm just going to Rattle off some of the stuff may have been discussed already and I just have a statement to read um so I was wondering if there's any plans on working on the sewer on the sewer pipes in the on that street we've had many problems um has the master plan for 2035 for our area be considered in any of this uh where is everybody going to park um if the BFW post is in the building along with caretakers and stuff like that uh Lighting on the building and Park parking is that going to be um is the area going to be affected uh that has to be taken into consideration uh the ma the mass noise laws um being being that that building being that close to all the residential H houses uh the Mass state law is 50db and with the all the equipment going on the roof the houses are too close to put everything on one lot that has to be spread out uh throughout two lots so that the neighbors aren't affected by it um and then the the right to light we have we do have the right to light there is a law out there to protect that from us that you can't take our light away from us um and I understand it's for the veteran housing I'm not opposed to the housing but to go up five buil stories to take everybody's light it has to be spread out throughout the um the two lots um and the town by the town bylaw um it can't go that high and there's they I've been in meetings before and they said that the by law to have a building that high there's no special permit that you can get to have to put in something like that so that has to be taken into consider consideration too now the statement I have is we have heard from the town what their wants and needs uh for the project we have heard from the VFW their wants needs and demands who asked the residents we have heard all of heard of closed meetings with the select board meetings held with the VFW and members of the select board where is our meeting we have heard from the board that uh they do not want the burden on Burl Street residents moving the VFW Post there what about Pin Street residents who will now have the burden of the local of VFW Post and a 42 unit veteran housing on the street how is this Fair it's it's very upsetting that the people this project will affect most impact on have not been considered the neighbors will have the noise the parking the traffic issues has anyone done any research on any veteran housing have um do they have a canteen serving alcohol in them it seems concerning to me knowing many veterans Cho choose not to be around alcohol that this this housing unit will will not be something they would consider Mr grishman when you post it on social media this is a win-win I guess you were not thinking about the burden it would cause the taxpayer residents and the voters that live on Pine Street where is our win thank you thank you Mr Gman is there okay okay sir sir sir do you want to do you want to go to public do you want to speak okay okay all right is there anybody else that would like to go to public comment oh okay Mr Demento you should be able to speak have to un I am unmuted I'm now unmuted by you thank you I want to thank all the members of the board of the s Bo for all the work they've done for the last two years in spending at least 1.7 million dollars of towns funds being one of the 290,000 veterans in Massachusetts this has been a crime need for a long long time many of our Vietnam veterans which I am not I'm a preetam person and the Army but they are coming of the age where they need this facility and they need them I am very proud of swamp for being a leader in doing all they have done to achieve this goal and I hope tonight a decision is made to move forward to provide veterans housing on Pine Street thank you for the time is there thank you Mr Demento is there anyone else for public comment not seeing anyone for public comment I do I have a couple of emails okay into the record Mr grishman great uh Katy Arrington 40 Roy Street um while 89 Burl street is not a viable permanent location the veterans are trying to work with the town by agreeing to move during the construction of the affordable housing project on Pine Street they are asking for simple requests one that the Town cover the cost of moving and build out of the basement at 89 burrow Street as previously promised two that the town will cover gas electricity water sewer snow landscaping and rodent control for at least the first year of temporary relocation three the VFW liquor and entertainment licenses remain and are assigned to the temporary location four that the town ensures in addition to the proposed 1500t buildout in the new development allotted to the VFW portions of one or two of the units in the first floor be repurposed for additional VF W use and five that the town grants the BFW maximum lease allowable by law the RFP should be edited tonight to include these minimal asks this isn't a perfect project but giving even slightly shows appreciation and good faith let's all work together thank you thank you Miss Arrington via Mr y Richman and then I and then I did want to read uh Eric Schneider's um can you use the mic there they can't hear oh sorry perfect I did want to Eric Schneider he sent an email to us uh this afternoon uh dear select board members oh sorry Eric Schneider 480 Pur in Road swampit uh dear select board members I'm unable to attend tonight's meeting so I'm sending an email I am writing to express my concerns that the select board will exceed The Authority granted to it by town meeting if the board votes to convey the site to a developer that will construct a building without a new VFW post as you know the powers of the select board are limited and its power to enter into as a member of those other groups uh but they may be veterans we have 488 I think veterans in the town um and everybody it should be an inclusive body not just for those other those those groups so uh he is right only veterans particularly combat veterans know what combat is about we shouldn't presume that we do thank you thank you Mrs Dillo um okay so does anybody else have public comment with that said we're going now move to the uh Town administrator's report Mr acting Town Administrator thank you very much may I respectfully ask to be moved to after the new and old business just to give some people an opportunity to speak you may and we can do that thank you thank you um so now we are going to move to acknowledge um our new DPW hire Mr Mark Nunan um it m Mr Mr Cresta would you like Mar before you speak Mark can we um talk about you I'd like to introduce Mr Mark Nan as many of you know I've had a vacant position in the DPW office for close to a year now Mark has stepped up he's been with me for a week and a half now and all indications are that he is going to be an asset to the department Mark uh comes with years of experience in the private sector and uh has his Professional Engineers license and looking forward to it yeah than thank you very much and um yeah I have uh 16 years of engineering Consulting experience and um I'm a licensed uh civil engineer in Massachusetts in Rhode Island and I'm looking forward to applying my skills to uh the maintenance and Improvement of the town's infrastructure thank you does anybody have any questions for Mark welcome welcome this welcome thanks um I I have a couple questions for you yeah sure have you so have you been here here for for a couple days or are you coming here what last week was my first week okay and did you enjoy it I did uh uh the the employees in the town have been um uh super helpful with my onboarding and uh Gino's been showing me the ropes and I've gotten to know some of the guys on the on the cruise uh the skills that they have and um how the the maintenance of the Town occurs every day so um still a lot to learn but um first week or two I've just been getting organized familiarizing myself with the Vault um that that houses all the town's records um for water and sewer and um asil projects and uh Gino even gave me a uh a tour of the the Wastewater lift station and a few other things around town so well you come highly recommended um you were the Talk of the Town before you got here so really I can say for me as a resident I I'm really happy that you uh you're here I appreciate it and um I live in head with my wife Kate all right we will hold that against you we'll be we'll be checking for a new realtor for you thank you thank you you byebye all right that is great news so next we're going to um our Municipal decarbonization plan with wherever you would like thank you hi I'm Martha Schmidt I'm the um chair of the renewable energy committee and I uh was working on the decarbonization plan with uh our facilities director uh Max um anyhow the municipal decarbonization plan is being done to fulfill a requirement to be designated as a climate leader which is a new Department of energy resources program uh called Green communities 2.0 um we have been a member of Green community since 2010 and under that program we received a number of uh grants over the last number of years for Energy Efficiency projects the new program is directed at reducing emissions in Municipal operations and that's in alignment with the Commonwealth skull of Net Zero Min emissions by 2050 and the plan only targets Municipal operations it's not like townwide or it isn't directed at commercial or residential um buildings also it's non-binding so it's just a plan so in order to uh become designated as a climate leader there were five criteria that we needed to meet so um those included having a climate or energy committee to advise and coordinate with the town on green energy and climate activities another criteria was to have a municipal decarbonization commitment which we achieved by um approving a climate action plan at town meeting in May of 2023 um another criteria was that the town needed a zero emissions vehicle policy and we did that energy code um which we adopted at last March's 2024 town meeting um so the final criteria was to have a municipal decarbonization plan um submitted to do um and that is what we're uh looking for approval for so what is the plan it basically documents our emissions U for each facility um structions to 2027 2030 2040 and 2050 and there goals set for each of those years for example uh we would need to reduce emissions by 15% by 2027 35% by 2030 65% by 2040 and 95% by 2050 so how did we get there so we basically looked at our Capital plan first of all to understand when Renovations were going to be planned at each of the facilities and then kind of working together together with the facilities director refining that plan so just to make sure it made sense right um so do the time frames make sense when are Renovations planned you know when are we expecting to uh update the HVAC systems and so we came up with a plan and the good news is that we got a big jump start because we already removed the older elementary schools from our inventory so those basically got us to zero missions for those buildings and um we replaced you know the elementary school with a brand new school which is great it's emissions free um so that's the overview I'm not sure how much uh more detail you want to hear about um a few examples are like we assume that the fire station will have Renovations done by 2030 so that'll zero out emiss for the fire station um for the middle school we have um something in the capital plan already but we didn't want to be too aggressive by saying well we're going to reduce emissions for the Middle School by 2030 we said we could probably take 15% credit by 2030 and then the rest by 2040 um we assumed that we would do the DPW by 2040 and the high school you know that's longer term and that's not really in the capital plan so we had to make some assumptions as we went along so are there any questions on the det there's a lot of detail in the report many tables and um but again a lot of it is assumptions on what we could do when just make quick comment um so first of all everyone uh that feels supportive of this should feel extremely grateful to Martha Schmidt uh because Martha did incredible amount of work to put this plan together and she was not alone um Max Casper as well as Gino um and please if there are others that kind of had a big hand in pulling this together I want to make sure that the acknowledgement is made because there was a lot of very detailed work to get to very specific buildings by very specific time frames specific Vehicles etc etc I mean it's just a plan but it is very detailed now it's only a small part of our missions unfortunately or fortunately in town overall um but we have now an incredibly detailed plan going forward for Capital planning Etc and Ryan H Ryan Hil also Ryan thank you um I did have a couple questions for for you Martha I think maybe Mary you can you can help with this um I'm just wondering as far as grants are involved like what what does it look look like opportunity wise for us if we were to turn around and say sell a number of our vehicles that we use and just go right to electric vehicles um you know we have we have vehicles that are relatively uh new they're young and yet there's still gas and I'm just wondering if if there's been consideration into selling them and possibly getting grants or subsidize getting electric and other other options like heating pumps and some of the different build buildings well I think that's something that we should work collectively with all of the department heads especially the ones that are utilizing the vehicles to assure that an electric vehicle could meet the demands and the the needs of each of the Departments we're always on the lookout for any funding that we can bring in into the town and really offset or really maximize and um um you know use um any of of the funds as a match towards the grants um you know we have a great relationship with our committees work really closely with Martha Max and obviously um the Chiefs as well as Gino and and um any other department that you know would utilize electric vehicles so we'll continue to be on the lookout for that okay for funding grant funding Martha I I um I did read this fairly quickly and it is really detailed and I think it's a great plan I just also want to hear I'd like to hear what the finance committee has to say about what it would take to make sure we expedite and get ahead of ahead of the curent on all this so Doug were you looking for a vote here tonight yes we do need to take a vote um to support this and uh do we actually have the language in here well do we do we need to take a vote tonight or is there a timing on it we'd like to submit it by the end of the year in order to qualify for you know this program what is it we we qualifying for to become uh a climate leader uh which basically makes this eligible for large grants it's not I don't think there's like a uh uh Cinderella moment at December 31st is that true um Martha or is uh actually the um information that we've got from do is that in order to be uh classified as a climate leader in this cycle uh this plan would need to be approved by the okay end of this year and and the grants that are opened up um by become by becoming a client leader are significant for just to put it in perspective each year we're eligible for up to $100,000 in green communities grants already this will be orders of magnitude bigger than that so I agre so we just need to um approve the plan um and then send a letter uh that's stating that the executive body of the town has approved the plan right right we need um two letters of support one is from the superintendent which we received already um and then the other is from the Town Administrator saying that the select board meant and approved so I I make a motion uh for the select board to wholeheartedly uh support this Municipal decarbonization plan I will second that any more discussion okay all in favor I I motion carries okay so thank you Martha you thanks for all your hard work thank you m um now we'll move to the uh what do we have here we'll move to our liquor licenses and we have do you know who do we have here for our liquor licenses we have Angelica Noble you mean off officer Noble either one's okay I'm sorry I watched the meeting from a couple weeks ago just to see where you left off is there are there any questions first or do you want me just to go through each business and kind of give an update of where we were and where we are now I why don't you give the update of where we are okay so sure so I won't go through every single business but um there were two businesses Pomona and the um Italian Club that both had had outstanding inspections with the fire department those both are all set um the fire department did sign off on on them so the only thing that is currently outstanding is a balance OE to the town by Hawthorne other than that everything else is totally up to date on our end and where are we on in this presentation can we uh for tracking are we just in license hold on Diane you're gonna bring that back up I'm just looking at the the list of I believe if you this is the first rubric the second rubric is the one that has well they're all checked off now they're all checked off yes yeah as Angelica just said okay so as far as as far as uh what things pertain to the liquor license accept no hawthor is on here so they're all checked off except for Haw is what I saying make it larer so and outstand today but should let you know all right so Hawthorne is back in yeah has paid yeah they paid in a lot of bill today no there aren't but it's this okay right here yeah so I I would move approval of did we do any of these last time we did some of them last time there's a couple that hadn't finished paying that we we had out and we also pulled out doc side because we had a we had question can we just redo all of it basically just wholeheartedly as opposed to like figuring out what was there and what's not from last time we can iterating what we did last time yeah plus that way we're covering we we can do that so i' like a motion I make a motion on the liquor license on the liquor license I make a motion to approve all of them on this list uh you know with the exception of berui which is closed um and little G Provisions which didn't um submit because of the other conversation we're going to have correct second all in favor I I motion carries now we go to the common vicer license hello um did we so were any approved last time or all the ones that did not have outstanding items to submit were approved last time and so now we're just looking at the ones all of the common Vic licenses that did that had no outstanding issues okay so currently the only one that remains outstanding is oo frozen yogurt um I have tried multiple times to get in touch with the business owner um Mr Saleem and have not had any luck um I did have luck with Starbucks and with Renzo's pizza so they are all set they have submitted their materials but oo remains outstanding are they still in business yes they're still in business they have the right to be in business through the end of the year under the current common vict license and then um know January 1 they I guess we have to go full Hulk vote on them and take out all their tables and chairs so um because really that's what a common victual license is in its Essence is just the um ability to have seating at your establishment it's the food permit that allows you to to serve your food so this is a food permit and is it is possible to approve this pending they have their we're waiting on a payment we're waiting on payment and a full applic and a application for Renewal okay so pending payment and full application of the renewal if they can get that into by the 31st um like let's have a motion to accept that as well does anybody would anybody have a problem with that no approve them all and with subject to subject to Y so moved second okay all in favor I I so now we move to the entertainment license um I don't have any outstanding issues on my end everybody that is subject to an entertainment license per mgl chapter 40 um is has submitted the necessary paperwork and payment so unless there are any questions from you um happy to answer anything but I have no outstanding issues on my end s so I am going to bring up one issue on on the doc side because we have had um complaints on the dock side and I know for myself personally I had a chance to to speak to the Proprietors of the doc side and they have expressed that they are working very hard to make sure that there are minimal complaints and that they will continue to do so um I also looked into some of the complaints that could have possibly gone to the police department and actually those complaints were minimal too what I did learn was if you look up complaints surrounding the dock side if there is a traffic violation or somebody is pulled over the Dockside address is used as a location so the police department went through every single call that came about the dock side and identified every single one of them and they were minimal okay um the dock side the police department the chief of police has promised today that if there are any calls involving the doc side that he would personally make sure he called the owners of the dock side to make sure that there was no issues or if there is an issue we would resolve it right away okay so that's where we are so if we can have a motion to approve all the entertainment license motion second all in favor motion carries and thank you for for the detailed uh investigation Madam chair you're welcome okay so now moving to the class two license renewal procedures for the vehicles did we not do that did we do that one we did that we did that all right so where are these so are we all set with everything then little G now little G so now we will continue we are we actually carried over our um public hearing we're still in a public hearing for little G so Marissa are you going to do little G yes yeah happy to introduce uh summarize what's going on and then Greg bman owner of G and little G is also here too um if you have any questions for him as well um but I believe there was some confusion at the last meeting over what the status of little G is um for anybody that hasn't been in there um it is you have big G and you have little G if you are standing from the outside the two businesses are not connected um public cannot pass from Big G to little G little G however is a Provisions Market as well as a casual eery you can pass between both of those Greg right now is looking to just close down the market section of little G it hasn't been profitable so he's looking to get rid of it and or you know um close down the market and with that get rid of his package store liquor license that's associated with it and just expand the dining that currently exists at little G eery so add about 20 to 25 new seats and and there you have it and uh and then alter the premises for his current liquor license as well to allow for serving and conception where the additional seating will be located and that's that's pretty much the gist of it um but Greg is here if you guys have any additional questions for him as well Greg do you want to say anything no like like she said has not been uh profitable so we just decided to take that small 4 to 500 square feet and put 20 seats in it that's all we're doing and we've obviously forfeited our uh Package Store license so that small 4 to 500t feet 20 seats and we just want to be able to be able to serve alcohol in that area which is connected to the whole restaurant there's really not much of a change at all now does little G and Big G have two separate liquor licenses or is it one big liquor license they have one um because the business is all under Associated under one tax ID and all all deliveries are received through the same rear um egress or entrance to the business so everything is combined under one liquor license okay and the building department does one annual inspection for both establishments okay great so does anybody have any questions we we appreciate your restaurant too thank you so much um so uh can I have a motion to approve so moved all in favor I so moved um the one thing I do want to say Gino we brought up in the fall the issues that the neighbors have on the other side uh of the restaurants and all through the area and it has to do with rodent management and so could you please work with the Board of Health and get come back to us and let us know what what management is really happening and what the tasks are with the town and so that we really see a clear plan and we can get back to the neighbors on that and we'll do that thank you I think we need a motion to close the public hearing yes can I have a motion to close the public hearing all in favor I I motion carries we didn't second it for I thought Doug did sure hearing second all right speed facilitating yes closed okay so next we have public hearing is closed now we go to update on our T Financial forecast can we have a motion to put our signatures on electronic second do we have a all in favor I motion carries okay all set over there I think so I just want to clarify one thing the change of so on the consent agenda there's three change of managers just so that you know um I confirmed those do not affect the annuals so I don't think I'm going to stay for the change of managers um but there shouldn't be any questions everything's there and they just they don't affect the annual renewals they're totally separate thank you officer Noble you're welcome your all right so last year Angelica was reporting on liquor licenses this year Angelica is Officer Noble enforcing the liquor licenses it's called moving up the chain okay so next on our agenda is our updated Town financial report and we have our town Financial director Amy Saro hi everyone hello so this can you hear me okay yes um so this is the FY 26 preliminary revenue forecast um myself the treasurer and the acting Town Administrator uh gin Cresta have gone through this so um this was supposed to have been shared in November but unfortunately the Town Administrator and myself were both out at the same that time so this is just an overview of FY 26 I do want to emphasize that it's preliminary things can still change um so I want to start off by just reviewing the adopted Financial policy of the town which is that our property taxes will be budgeted based off 2% of the tax levy plus 42 ,000 of New Growth the average of Our Last 5 Years of new growth is still above 425,000 so it's the lesser of the two we do obviously check that every year to make sure that we're using the right number um in the event that the Town Administrator determines that that policy is insufficient to meet the budgetary needs of the town they can come before the select board and request to you know go above our policy but stay within the constraints of the law our estimated local receipts are not to exceed 90% of the prior actual collections so you'd be looking at the FY 24 actual receipt and then there adjustments made for known items we'll get into that more um we review Grant revenues annually to determine if they're sustainable we currently don't have any grants impacting our general fund and then the town will build a maintain its reserves and compliance with these policies um just because a lot of you were not here when we adopted these policies does anyone have questions before I move on okay just wanted to make sure so I want to start this with I understand that the tax levy calculation is confusing for everyone so there are two slides that you're going to see the first one is the prop two and a half so the Massachusetts it's maximum that we are allowed to levy on the residents and the businesses in town we have to calculate this every year even though it's not part of our policy because it's a do requirement and we have to calculate the maximum allowable Levy to ensure we're never going over that this slide is showing that calculation I'm not unless you want me to I'm not going to go over it in detail because then it potentially gets a little more confusing yep but if marielen would like I will gladly go through no I'm I'm good with that but I would like you to make a YouTube video so that we could put that up on our I can I cannot even express to you how many times I have drawn this out on the whiteboard in my office even just explaining it to my colleagues out of their curiosity I think we should have a video an educational video on that maybe a Tik Tok that's that's going to be banned a month every day Tik Tok okay Tik tok's being banned in the US I think January 19 so that Tik Tok video wouldn't live on too long okay let's do this um so the next slide is the slide showing our policy and our calculation so if you would like to follow along the green column is the current year that we're in fy2 the tax rates were certified by the Department of Revenue those are locked in the blue is a future for next year so if you look in green on tax levy limit per policy the underlined 8 million that was the limit per policy last year the actual Levy the second to last line the 58 mil 385 you see that carried up to the top in the blue we have 2% which is the increase allowed so that 1.16 plus the 425 of New Growth so the tax levy limit for our policy is that $59.9 78 this is just one piece of the revenue but obviously the largest piece that we have okay the next part of our revenue is the state aid so or cherry sheet as we call it per policy we at this stage assume it's flat to the current year so fy2 it's exactly mered to that as we go through the process and get the governor's budget house ways and means we can make adjustments to this um we usually try not to assume too much of an increase without any support for it and obviously if we get any notification from you know the governor or the commonweal that they're going to be reducing Aid then we would have to adjust at that point these are our estimated local receipts so I colorcoded this just to make it easier so we don't have to go through each line so for future 26 every line that is still in that light blue is 90% of the actual collected in fy4 the lines that are in green we have substantial information to be able to say that we are going to reasonably collect more than that 90% and we've made those adjustments there so based off the Cannabis excise tax history which is 3% of the gross sales of the Cannabis business in Town based off the trend of that and the sales that we've been getting we felt comfortable increasing that the meals excise has been increasing and we felt comfortable with that 400,000 estimate at this stage and our motor vehicle excise tax has been pretty consistently meeting that 2.4 million and we felt more comfortable with that than the 2.3 which was the 90% the two in yellow the payment in Le of taxes is an actual agreement that we have as is the rentals so we put those to actual instead of the 90% the two in it should have been read but that was very not readable so this kind of pinkish shade um we had to lower these below the 90% based off information so you know to No Surprise of anyone we have spent down the bond proceeds of the new school so we do not have that sitting in a bank collecting interest interest rates have also come down we could not keep the estimate of 90% of what we collected in 24 uh FY 24 425 was back to a reasonable estimate of where we feel the bank balance and the interest that we have um I do want to also highlight that pre pandemic levels and pre- bond proceeds level we were getting about maximum 200,000 in investment income so this is still a good estim it's just how you know we all got very comfy watching that you know $2 million number sitting there um likewise we don't have any known building projects that are going to be pulling permits in FY 26 at this time so that 700 number is kind of swamps get business as normal in that department um per do regulations We cannot put anything in the miscellaneous recurring or non-recurring until it's actually collected that was a lot does anyone have any questions okay so I have a question yeah yes what are the fines and forfeits comprised of fines and forfeits are fines that are levied by our collector's office so if you are not paying your taxes it's the additional fines the forfeitures are actually we go and Levy against you and you have to for forfeit additional fines those also go in there so that's all through the collector's office gotta and the Medicaid reimbursement um there's zero here because that really just flows through the school directly yes so when the special education Reserve fund was established it was established that those funds would be appropriate directly in there when they come in they come in to the town and then we have to appropriate they directly go directly goes into this that account yeah we designated that account right okay so those do not touch the general fund at all okay good I do have one question payment in Le of taxes do we have a mechanism on how we adjust those up or down that so that is part of the uh lease agreement that is with the property so through the lease would be how you would do that thank you so there is also a fourth bucket that I didn't feel like needed its own slide which is the indirect cost in the Enterprise fund so in order to keep all of the costs associated with those Enterprise funds our water our sewer and our public educational governmental Channel um they are charged indirect cost so it's basically costs that are carried in the general fund such as health insurance um workers comp insurance the salary from the treasurer's office for processing the payroll for those employees things like that it is all build directly to the general fund and then kind of charged off to the Enterprise funds we have an entire calculation that reviewed annually for that for each of those funds those are the four main buckets that make up our general fund with all of that said at this stage the preliminary total funding sources for the general fund for FY 26 is 73.5 million which is almost half a million down from fy2 so right but it's $500,000 less than what the final number was for fy2 not you're not comparing Apples to Apples terms of this stage of the process right yeah I mean it's 90% in a lot of ways so obviously it's going to be less we being conservative right yes okay so as we you know get more information and go further in this process that number can change this is what we start building that preliminary Town administrator's budget based off of um and start taking looks at where how the expenditures now match that so it looks like our biggest hit here that we are going to have no control over is our interest off of yes off of the money that we were investment income the our investment money and that's that's nothing we can that is now standing as a beautiful Elementary School okay um so just next steps in our budget um the department heads have submitted their expense budget requests and we'll begin reviewing the lines of their personnel this week in early January um all the department heads will meet with myself and the rest of the budget team to review those requests um and understand them better and then I will be sitting down with the Town Administrator to develop the preliminary Town administrator's budget which gets presented to the select board by the end of January the school committee will vote their final budget no later than February 15th at which time the Town Administrator and myself will sit there and go through with any feedback from the board at the January meeting to make that budget work to get to March 1st for the town administrator's recommended budget okay and we're going to start um Tri chair meetings on Monday Friday is it Friday or Monday Monday the 20th Oh I thought it was the 23rd we'll double check soon okay soon very soon okay um do we have questions so is that is that your way of saying like this whole idea of the budget Summit um I I'm not even happy about bringing this up but um how are we going to ensure that we do not have a repeat of Prior years we promised that we were going to have a way to make sure that didn't happen well um as you know we have an acting Town Administrator here and we haven't had our regular Town Administrator in place for a little while so that's really something that's out of our hands as a select board and what we're going to have to do is we're just going to have to work the best we can with the school committee and try to work around these issues and we're we're having these conversations now now and we're going to do the best we can Amy does have spent Amy spent an enormous amount of time Gathering all details and information and what is your opinion on being able to put something together I mean we have an seen amount of historical data on comparable communities as well as our own um what was what we were waiting on from the Town Administrator was the Direction on how this was going to be presented and what information we should be fine-tuning to present um the previous Financial Summit that was done in 2020 also involved a lot of outside people that were cograph together um Tim dorsy gave a presentation on cost of contracts we had an outside consultant from I believe the UMass Callin Center come in to review a lot of our thing so a lot of that coordination I'm not aware of where that was standing so at what point would we have it seems like maybe by the end of January is that what you just said like both from the the school side and the town side when would we have our kind of first blush of Oh by January total is what the options are whether or not we're going to be able to stick with policy Etc so so by January 31st you'll have the general fund budget less the school to review from the town administ standpoint and then by March by February 15th we'll have the school number I will say last year um with the new superintendent of Finance at the school the school committee did vote prior to that so we did have that number before the end of January last year um but I also know that this year is a big contingency here where we have very big collective bargaining coming up so figuring out what that unknown is going to be is an added hurdle on both sides I think the the issue last year and David correct me if I'm wrong but the way it looked to me last year was that you as the chair worked very hard with the chair of the school committee and you were all in agreement with what was going to work and then we ended up town meeting because there was a difference of opinion on the school committee so I think the best thing we can do is just try to work through any possible issues with their entire committee and just hope that there's better communication from the school committee with the school committee I don't know how I should really phrase that but I think that's what it came from yeah you know we were I mean does is it possible or does it make sense instead of like we had talked about this Grand Financial Summit where we were all coming together and there was an orchestration as you say does it make sense to have a mini version of that if we can't sort of orchestrate all the pieces that we just sort of bear it down a little so that we're at least opening the lines of communication between this board and the school committee so that we could at least stifle the argument of we weren't able to all get on the same page um so in my opinion because obviously you guys will but I think at this stage since both the school and the town are already developing their budgets this Summit when it was originally discussed was going to happen well before right you know well before budget guidance memos went out well before all of that I think at this stage we're going to have to be working with actual numbers yeah at which point it probably makes sense either late February early March to have that discussion most likely in February that way there's time to Pivot for the town administrator's recommended budget but even still we know that we still have that Runway with the finance committee's recommended budget but I think we're going to have to work with actual numbers instead of you know forecasted numbers and see what's happening so we'll have to the problem with that right though Amy I'm sorry that then everyone's starting to get baked right um starting to take positions they've thought through things now it's too late um you know we've said we've you know made arrangements negotiated blah um you said budget guidance documents yes so is like for the town for the moment as far as I'm aware we haven't seen that um so there's a assumptions MH baked into that already um is there a reason why we can't be seeing that and uh and ideally the school one too at this point yeah so The Bu that's some high level numbers you start to be able to do the math of like are we starting to like Veer off course here already yeah so there's I have not seen the school's guidance so I don't want to speak for what their memo say that was our memo doesn't have numbers it just gives scenario iios for how they are supposed to develop their budgets so last year's was level funded or a 10% decrease y um this year it's level funded and then it's just what is it going to take to run your department um because we've had some department head saying that these flat numbers was making it hard for them to be able to within the budget framework propose you know hey if I had an extra $5,000 I could do more Community programming so that way we're actually thoughtfully allocating the money okay but that sounds like we have a uh level funded one that might be higher than level funded I've actually had some department heads submit lower in their Optimum budget saying I don't need this so okay well make sure you give them a gold star I know um some of them are my favorites okay so getting back to the issues with the school why don't um why don't we see where we're at with this Tri chair meeting and see where that's going to lead us and if there is a a appetite for having a bigger meeting or something more a mini Summit then let me have a conversation with them and see what we can facilitate or even at least a sharing of like what is their guidance you know yeah even just a joint meeting where we just discuss together even it just feels like it feels a little disjointed even it's like a Us and Them situation instead of an us situation a collaboration right so maybe even just a meeting where we all just come together and have a conversation where we're discussing also so we're all getting all the same information yeah um equally and you know we can understand each person you know because no disrespect to the tri chair meetings but it just really puts the burden on three people when you're doing it that way as opposed to what we saw last year which was you know at town meeting we we had the you know someone that wasn't the chair of the school committee you know have maybe a difference of opinion well what I saw last year was I saw a Town Administrator and a superintendent work very hard to come and two chairs come to a very good budget and then you know know you you had you had an issue at town meeting so the fact is we we do have Financial constraints and we do have to work within a budget and you know to Mr Fitzgerald's credit he worked very very hard to make sure that we controlled our spending and we spend large amount of money in our in our school budget and we have to we do have to work together and we just have to have better communication for what I heard from the school committee it was it really came down to communication and I really understood what they were saying later so I I think we can then that's all the more reason to make sure that we have a joint meeting that we're all hear concern because um because we did have a very diligent superintendent Town Administrator and chairs working for that budget and we still ended up in that position at town meeting so ex this just goes to show that we can get there even with the best intentions and people feeling like we've Comm unated the utmost yep we still get there and misinformation gets out and people thought a lot of different things at town meeting so and and it wasn't just last year where we've been there I think it's been I think that was the third year that that's that that's occurred so let's let's talk about this let's have a one agenda meeting right let's spend the 90 minutes hour think that be good idea hours whatever we need and let's yeah let's communicate overc communicate y all right so awesome Amy um so are you all set so can I just pull a Doug and ask us to be very specific about when we hope that meeting might um January January okay so we'll confirm with the school committee that there have a couple of dates available in January yes great and it will sit outside of our regular meeting and outside of their regular meeting amazing okay all right okay so moving ahead thank you Amy it's okay I'm the next one too sorry you had to stuck with me a little longer I just want can I mention one thing yeah I just wanted to thank Amy and Patrick for their patience yesterday as all the questions they threw at them during our meeting for the revenue estimates so thanks for your patience I would also like to say that g being an engineer and understanding numbers at that level is also extremely helpful oh good okay so now let's move to the arpa updates oh hi that's me again Amy um so do we have anything El two dat so for do you have that up on a screen is there I don't I'm just reading from my notes at this point do we have it in our packet we don't no we don't you have no packet no screen I think I think it's pretty important that we're looking at this we need something Amy can you put do you have anything you could put up on that screen y I am doing that right now sorry I'm just trying to make it fit on the screen before I okay good thank you thank you okay so here are the votes that were taken um I scrolled down a little bit just because all the stuff in green at the top was voted long ago and the money is long spent so if it's okay with the board I'm just going to go straight down starting with the first class we got one coming too okay so the 30,000 for the Glover Diane could you make that larger that's me oh sorry Amy thank you please can people at home see this yeah oh that may have been too large actually that works okay thank you okay so the 30,000 for the Glover there is an agreement with structures North that the Town Administrator was supposed to sign we are still trying to locate that signed copy but for the Glover yes the 30,000 of the Glover I I may even have a copy I'm not sure double check but yeah Nancy was able to get me they've begun that work so I know I have a couple invoices from them yeah so does structure North not have a copy they n Nancy was able to forward it to me within the last week but hers is the unsigned oh oh so I assume structured North would not do the work unless it had a signed executed contract so maybe we could just reach out to them so for my purposes I am considering this obligated because I'm confident that a signed one exists and what are they doing exactly just refresh our memory they are doing the detailed analysis of um the outside and inside structure uh they got inside I don't know a bunch of months ago um and did all the They generated a initial report I don't know 20 Pages or whatever of every beam every wall what's you know keepable what's not in case they want to take it down exactly what what no matter whether or not you kind of reinforce it and you're building from there or you're taking it down this is be the road map basically to what you need to do okay and hold on and what's their ETA of finishing that well that's all depends on access uh so um based on some recent discussions hopefully that will be in the next couple months okay and if they can't finish it what happens with that money then some of it would go unspent I have a reasonable level of confidence that they will be able to complete that work is do we have is there any possibility that we can reclassify this calling it Glover historic and get some other backup in there under historic is there anything we can do here that that we have some type of backup and we have a little bit more flexibility in the title the title doesn't matter okay it's a signed contract the ual contract we just need to sign contract but can you have a backup contract no no you have to have all your yeah so if we have a contract signed for approximately 30,000 if they only spend 29,000 you don't get to have a backup $1,000 contract so we can spend it all no and there is I did speak with um the state on this and there is the tiniest bit of flexibility that if you you know have a contract for3 ,000 and say your total invoice is coming at 29,500 and you shift that 500 onto something else that you already obligated they're not going to the ARA police aren't coming right no okay right to small okay but they did emphasize like very small amounts that like if it's like a thousand or under we don't care but yeah if you're shifting like $50,000 we're we're going to they're going to know okay they're going to Care um fisherman Beech that is all obligated uh the Glover for 64555 I have 24,500 in quotes Grant matching um and signed agreements right now so I four five you said yes so I have 10 thou I have 10 10,000 in a quote for a tarp to go over the building um I have 5,000 in a match a grant match for um National Historic trust and then I have uh 10,000 in Alpine residential uh abatement and structural conditions with asbest so that's 25 yes so structures nor you know comes Doug I think I think what I'm so I just I'm a little concerned that we don't have this money we don't have this money locked up we don't know really I don't know we really don't know where we're going with this I'm concerned about losing money that's all yep well so I guess if there are signed contracts for 25,000 and to Doug's point from the other Glover I assume that holds water for this Glover that you have reasonable expectation to believe that 25 is going to be spent and we already have signed contracts we're really just talking about like 409 39 just under 30 or just under 40,000 that we well but do we also have a real I mean like what what are our chances of of something happening here I mean I think all those things that you just mentioned that she's you know Nancy's been working on with Mary as well uh feel free to comment whatever you want to say Mary obviously um so all those things still fit in the same category that I said before that additional 29 or 25 fits in that same 30 that's a very reasonable you know Gina was there in a recent conversation as well no guarantee there's not a guarantee um but I think a reasonable expectation that we're going to have cooperation to be able to do these early steps I will say that I think um the property owner now sees that some of these steps that we take the sooner we take them the more we find out the better prepared we will be to move if needed um sooner which is helpful to the owner and potential developers so there's kind of a different thinking now about these initial steps um you know the the next chunk of that 64 is the one that's uh there's I think you could cast it in I'm trying to be leaz on at the historic commission right now um you could cast it as there's a similar reasonableness that you will spend those funds but we do not have a specific contract that they will be spent for at this point so that's really more the issue um you know uh that I don't think I think given the time it would take some uh focus and creativity to find a way to kind of lock that money up um and it would have to be kind of a general contract uh to say we know there's going to we're going to need someone either was a structures North or someone else that is going to be able to uh effectuate uh reinforcement of the building not just study but actual reinforcement of the building or disassembly of the building and that's the kind of contract that we do not have in place to do that work even though it's highly likely that that will be needed so what do we do to ensure that we can not lose that money or do we say in the do we have a a plan B in the event it doesn't look like we're going to have that money just move it into the sewer I I think for Plan B I know that everyone was probably hoping this was the last meeting of calendar 24 it is um it it is but if the board wants to do a virtual meeting for December 30th to revote just in case why can't the board vote right now put a condition yeah do a conditional to say if the if this doesn't happen by X we allocate that we go to whatever you can do that so that you are keeping the window open for historic but if it looks like we can't make it we can jump on Plan B I would just ask that the vote the vote be specific to say if contracts are not in my office signed by gotcha a date gotcha ideally not on the 31st I close a business on the 30th right for instance right yeah yeah yeah because especially if we're shifting it to sewer work I know Gino can easily get a contract for the additional sewer work well there might be other things that we might want to talk about that regards and maybe not okay what else is I've already made a propos clate action resilency oh I'm sorry I'm not sure if you already spoke talked about the uh item 22 align 22 resiliency project tomorrow oh um tomorrow is the bid opening so I know that we allocated $200,000 but we don't know what the final number would be so I would um encourage you maybe you know it could go over it could be under so we don't know that was the estimate but we're not quite sure we'll know tomorrow after 11 o'clock so we potentially have more money in flux is that what we're saying or less or less or less how the bid comes in need a meeting so are we are we saying that if the climate the resiliency cons so this is on the resiliency consultant no the last line the result project the project yeah and then ignore the grant match okay so are we going to need we could take a motion on that tonight as well to but now it's going to get real sticky right because like borrow bake from this borrow from that what happens here what happens there and if Amy doesn't have real dat balance or has too much right then what so right we need sadly we need a meeting on the 30th in real data I mean I I could think of a way you could assuming things are less we could take a vote right now to reallocate them to whatever we decide to reallocate them to and then if it's more if it's more then maybe maybe we have to come back or or we give some range right now to go ahead or whatever but so while we're pondering that uh on the climate action resiliency consultant much to my chagrin um looks like we're only going to spend $25,000 of that that's correct that's what I have committed for that right so we have 50 so we have 50 yeah yeah wow okay we're doing great stuff with $25,000 that's right I would also like to say that um the Pine Street due to the carrying costs did go 112,000 over so maybe that's where we put the yeah extra to net that one out see the 112 up there yeah um the Redevelopment of the housing feasibility study the Housing Authority did vote for that so I am in talks with their chair to get the signed agreement for that so that 50,000 is on its way to be committed so hold on that 50,000 so you have we will have a feasibility study for sure yes yep I have in my many pages um Massachusetts partnership for housing they were recommended by eohc please don't ask me what that stands for to do a study on the cherry sheet property so they're going to spend that the two issues that need to be addressed is a land infrastructure survey as well as an environmental history study so both of those will be done for the 50,000 and I will get the um paperwork drawn up with the housing authority and so what what does that actually mean like what is the what is the results of these studies what are we looking who's who's Le David you're the liais on right what does that mean what is it what is like what what are we what are we really getting from this how is this going to improve the well you basically have to do a feasibility study before you can look at at potential Redevelopment of our public housing stock so it was the decision of the um of the chair uh Mr Patos as well as the executive director Mr Johnson to uh to look at uh to focus on those on the Cherry Street uh family units first and foremost I think that's where the greatest need is and that's and that's where there there may be the greatest flexibility to potenti po um potentially add uh units and if you have these types of reports then you're you need these to kind of play in the next round basically right as much as you don't want to spend it you have to spend it to get to the next no I do want to spend it I just no want to know you don't like to spend it on studies that don't just sit on the shelf and nothing happens to them I like studies that work yeah okay good Amy could I ask you to maybe um just make notes where that 112 is next to each of these um categories that we're under so that we get kind of like a running tally yes well but we do we have this public health bucket of 122,000 that may be able to take care of that whole thing oh sure yeah but I just wanted to see it oh oh the other things I'm sorry okay lines where we plug it yeah no mean there should be 50 there it's we're spending an additional 25 on top of the 10 or we're only spending 25 for climate actional 25 just 25 total yes so we already so that should be 50 yeah 50 15 5 5 because we allocated 700 I mean 75 we're only spending 25 so nothing there sorry my little teams thing is actually blocking that column for me okay um perfect that one so the townwide economic development study we're basically using all that up Mar yes 5,000 left I have 10,000 left so I have a $5,000 um contract with Baker Tilly yes and that's all I have you have how much left with Baker Tilly I I have a $50,000 commitment with Baker Tilly of the 60 so I have 10,000 left the appraisal the what we paid for separate I think did that come from somewh else source of funding no the appraisal should have gone in there from from ARA funding okay so that has that has not been I have not paid process that payment yet okay we know how much it's four yep it's it's under 3,000 I think so let's say that's say that's 5,000 I mean you know there's seven is there okay okay okay so Public Health we on that what about the ms4 is that all committed ms4 is completely committed if it is a sewer project Gino committed it is soon as you guys voted it so it just says zero spent but that's because we just hav the invoice hasn't through yet okay okay Public Health projects the big bucket yeah big huge bucket so the public health bucket um they have committed all but $935 of their bucket so the majority of it for that um wow the majority of it um went through RFP um and a $90,000 contract was awarded for um mental health awesome for uh group therapy and online support groups um so they will be offering on-site group therapy on-site support groups for swamp Scot residents ages 18 and older in swamp Scot in order to address the ongoing mental health challenges faced due to the covid-19 pandemic including trauma loss grease caregiver stress social social isolation stress and burnout they will also provide uh mindfulness support group at swampa high school for interested high school students to be held weekly after school throughout the school year um and this will run from January 2025 through December 1st 2026 and that was 90,000 a $90,000 contract would you say yes and um for anything that references the school the health department had already spoken with the superintendent and gotten that coordinated so do we know what the other 32,000 yes so there will be um mental health um support groups um sorry mental health programs for f residents 18 and older so there will be Community meditation programs um triple P positive programming through Aspire uh mindful parenting and stress reduction series trauma informed trainings twice of which uh there'll be three series of that two will be for the faculty and staff at swamp Public Schools um and one will be available for community members um there will also be a uh a mental health and wellness speaker series that the health department will be putting on um and then a very small amount $489 of which will be spent on the composting initiatives so there's no issue with the some of the funds being spent at the school because the like I thought we couldn't spend it on the school because of Esser we can't give it to the school okay we're working together so similar with the opioid funds got it like okay great we can't give it to anyone but they can partner with whoever they need to so originally they did want to do a reading program with the school but after speaking with the superintendent um they realized that would not be a valuable impact to the school um in the way that it could be done and that was where these initiatives came from so that last uh list that you just read was the stuff of the additional $30,000 yeah so they have okay this all sounds kind of the same is but just two different contracts or something or yeah so I have um contracts and signed agreements for all but $9.3 of that $129 yeah our police are not coming after it um don't spend it all in one place okay um the yeah and then as Mar said the resiliency projects we have the bid opening um tomorrow and we what's the timeline on that um our plan is to award the bid by um next week review all the references for the Consultants um tomorrow afternoon hopefully and Monday and Tuesday check in and and definitely award the contract by by the last week of December and do you feel pretty confident we're going to have a a number of people looking at um yes we did have several Consultants who pull the the bid and we already received one proposal earlier we just don't know if it's going right to use the full funds right well so the bid opening will take place tomorrow so right now everything is that the one proposal that we received it's still sealed we can't open it up till tomorrow: but at least we have the one proposal so whatever it is right at least it'll be be able so we better hope that it's at least 60 ,000 under yeah and I I I will say with all the procurement that we've dealt with most of those bids walk in an hour or two before the opening yep okay so I will keep the board informed um I will email you as I have updates please please do not reply just to summarize so we're we're we're just short here 16238 so do we want to talk about that um sure I mean otherwise we have to have a meeting to talk about it right because we can't we either have to find $1 6,238 to meet the needs of this overage or we have to move it from another spot yeah I will say because we've already closed on Pine Street so we've already paid that there are um the two the tarp for the Glover and the asbest I I have seen the quotes I have not received signed ones so I don't know if those are moving forward or not okay so it looks like we might have to have a virtual meeting I'm Sorry by the end of that's not your fault like on the at the end of the month so all right so we'll just going to play up a year okay if we have to thanks Amy thank you thank you Amy thank you a lot of good stuff y great I just have one quick question on the Pine Street we um have we already absorbed in last year's last year's accounts any of the legal fees is there a chance that that's not even that wouldn't even hit arpa some of the legal costs in FY 24 hit the legal budget in fy2 24 general fund and did not hit the arpa what are we counting it towards arpa here this is only to actually charge to arpa okay okay I got it I I will do a full accounting and report to you your total cost okay okay thank you I just want to commend the um public he Public Health office for all the work to spend those funds in a very meaningful way working with the schools working with the schools to do that because the purpose of arpa was to sort of fill gaps that happened because of covid and this is exactly what does that uh in a true way for adults for teens for um school system so I just want to say thank you for for them for doing that and that shout out should go to our Public Health amican at illingworth she spent so much time and stressed so much trying to make sure that she was really stretching these dollars to give the most Community impact and really spread it over the full timeline that we can spend that money some of the best ARP money will spend yeah okay thank you Amy so next on our agenda is a discussion on St John's parking lot um we just have a little handout here just so people people can follow along and um I just want to start by saying following our meeting in May there was a a large meeting of this large open meeting for the town after the library proposal hit we promised Our Town Administrator promised that we would have more public meetings the reason why we didn't form a committee or have more public meetings was because we had the opportunity to start to talk to monor mcglaflin at St John's and we are in the process of negotiating uh an opportunity negotiating to buy that parking lot we have an opportunity and um that's why everything slowed down the reason being is if we have an opportunity to buy the parking lot and combine both of those lots it looks like we would be able to uh accomplish everything that had been discussed at all the open meetings so Mary's just going to walk us through what a timeline would look like this is just a discussion so we can um we can just get it out there we will be continuing to have executive sessions to discuss um discuss the deal with the mon Senor and the uh Arch dasis but I think this will this will be great for the town absolutely thank you marelen go ahead so just um just quickly I wanted to remind everybody of the process that we have sir please please sit down sir please sit down and leave please sit down and leave could you ask your friend to leave nobody's taking the parking lot sir please leave sir for it thank you please leave sir thank you sir please leave please leave thank you sir please leave please leave please leave so if we can advance to the next slide I just I I was to be brief just to go through the process today just to remind everybody um what has happened for over the the past couple of years and where we are in the Redevelopment of the hathon or at least having the Contin discussion for the Redevelopment of the hathon um so as you can see in in um April of 22 town meeting approved acquisition and funding for the haon uh December of that year the town meeting actually took a vote and acquired um the haon parcel and the town retained the services of a HDR AR Architects to assist us with the uh Redevelopment or the renderings of the parel in January we had an amazing idea exchange where we had over 400 individuals who attended and really shared their ideas um for the parcel and um to begin the um um the thought process in regards to the best and the highest use for the for the parcel and to hear what should be located on the site um in April our consultant presented us with three scenarios um all of them showed somewhat diverse concept but each of them included an open space concept uh some of them had architectural um p uh architectural features others did not and in Main and in May of this year uh we did sort of nail um scale SC down the three scenarios into a concept for a library um as you know the library concept was less than enthusiastic in regards to the feedback that we received from our residents um so therefore we wanted to go back as marielen had stated to really have a more aggressive public participatory process to really look at the Redevelopment of the site if we can go to the next slide um Diane um so now the next steps in regards to engage our community in the Redevelopment process um we had outlined a five phase approached the first one is to request a select board um to establish or create a nine member committee that would really assist with uh with the public process um and our recommendation or our request would be to have two members um from the committee committee B from the planning board uh two from finance committee one member from open space and or Conservation Commission and then four residents that would would have uh professional backgrounds either in architecture or engineering uh this group would really guide us into the next phase which be the second phase that would really look at the um Redevelopment process look what we have established so far where are we in regards to the plans really try to um digest them a little bit more and then go back and relook at the ideas find out what are the the critical um issues that we really wanted to take away from the process that has that has occurred to date we'll look at generating additional ideas combining some ideas maybe um really have a clear um outcome in regards to to what's the plan what is it that we want so really a a a place face to would be a place for us to um look where we have been and sort of like what is it that we want um we will also um task this advisory committee to develop a plan of action this way we will know sort of um into go into into phase two and uh three and four um to find out how do we narrow down the idea options because I think that that was one issue when we narrowed down from the three concepts to the one to library I think the community or the committee U Community I should say all our residents felt like something maybe might have been lost um and again each of the phases will have a um a really thoughtful public participatory process and a forum where people again can share ideas look what we have done done um and really Advanced a project um so again phase three would be just narrow down the ideas share um all of the findings through the public process phase four would be to secure this design team to really be able to have a um uh contract drawings and really a document where we are ready to bid find what is the the outcome of the process that we wanted to develop and uh stock construction and obviously face five would be the the completion of the project and a ribbon cutting and like Mariel like you stated um I think that um you know the acquisition of the parking lot would really assist with the spatial needs of the area because I think that we've heard from a lot of residents in regards to um you know gez I I wish that we could have additional features or you know we want to see architectural features or other things and hopefully having a little bit more land could assist with with the process uh one thing I also did want to to mention is that there are grant fundings that are available for acquisition of Parkland um there is a a next round of funding is this coming up January January 9th is the uh deadline for submission uh we uh could could or communities are eligible to apply for up to a million dollars in funding for Acquisitions um unfortunately this year we're not able to apply for it because um we don't we will not be able to to um procure a um an appraisal for the site it has to be a certain appraisal called the yellow book appraisal which is a a federal appraisal because this will be Federal funding that will be coming out way um there will be next year in the earlier part of the year as well as later um during the year there'll be uh the same round of funding will be available in coming up so I have a quick question if we were able to get a yellow book appraisal um is the deadline if we were able to get one between now and January 7th would we still qualify unfortunately we will not because the the uh the state staff that reviews them they will not have enough time to review the uh the yellow book appraisal what's who's the state staff um exe um it's Melissa cryan from the executive office of um energy and environmental Affairs can I have Doug caller I mean I think they're very they're sort of very clear in regards to you know their their their okay timelines questions yeah I'm I'm kind of confused about this to be honest um because we don't know what's going to happen with the church parking lot um we don't really have a good idea whether or not that's a good idea or not um and yet we're going to seat a committee that won't know that information I mean even if we thought it was a good idea you need money from town meetings until May so I guess I just don't understand kind of like the the timing of this um and then I have other thoughts about this committee when it's seated but I guess that's the first thing that I don't understand how we can move this forward right now so go ahead marsy okay so I can answer that so we are finalizing our negotiations with the church and I think that we need to start discussing how to move forward and to have more Community involvement so what we could do is we could say let's seat a committee to get opinions and we could task the committee to looking at it if we were to buy if we were to purchase that what would the outcome be for two plots together or what would it be if we only had one plot just the Hawthorne but I I think that by putting a committee together we can start getting feedback information and start moving this ball ball forward and I think that you know if you know it's important just this this is just a recom this is just a recommendation so whatever your input is just yeah I I I can I think I can roll with that what you just said um so uh in terms of the people people on the committee is is your intention to like literally decide this tonight and you going to be soliciting people like right away or is this kind of like we're just putting us out there we're going to mull it over and we're going to come back next meeting or whatever and think about the really I think what we should do is put it out there and let people start sending in applications you know whatever anybody who's interested just start to build a database on who's interested in getting on to this committee and then bring it back and let's let's start talking in public last thing I'd say and then I'll shut up is um uh I I think there's a little bit of a imbalance here um like the planning board like the finance committee I I respect the concom kind of criticality in that particular Zone there I think that's a almost a requirement uh the resident experts um love open space but I think it needs to be balance with I mean if that you know the fundamental Crucible here right is like how much open space how much economic activity on that space right so I think either you don't have vested interest at all in those two camps or you have kind of like one of each so you're saying have two so what are you what are you saying here you either add someone that's kind of a you know people want to like maximize or like have it be a high Revenue producing area um or you don't have the open space person there because you just let all these kind of technical experts basically be kind of facilitators you just want to have so you want to have more balance I have um a couple of observations about the committee that's okay um Mary do you recall how many folks were on the Hadley reuse committee oh yeah that was a that was a really large committee yep like 20 over 20 but that they also don't remember how they broke down into the the the SE SE no totally understand but even if it was over say it was 24 that means if they broke down into even numbered groups that was eight people in each group so um I don't think the committee is big enough um and I think that to have only four resident experts and to sort of I think we should definitely have resident experts in architecture and engineering I think we should try to find a grant writer so Mar's not doing this all on her own so she has somebody to have a sounding board to bounce ideas off of and then I think I think sometimes the problem with seating committees is that we pull from other committees members right and that there's no new people involved and so we get into this cycle of the same folks making the same decisions and then the people who aren't involved say well we never got a chance to be involved because it just came from these other subsections so I do think that we need to have two two or more just open seats so regardless of their expertise if they have they live in town and they're interested in being on this committee they should be able to apply and get on the committee okay um I just think it's more fair sounds good so do you think a committee of 11 members is that what we number I would think yeah sounds good no you want an odd number why for case somebody has to vote for quum if he break got into groups it's not even so I'll work with Diana and jod to advertise it and put it in um in the newsletter as well there may M there may be multiple things yeah May yeah I'm fine with okay odd or even but I just think the more public involvement the better absolutely all right thank you and then I think the other issue with creating committees is they get created and then they don't have direction right so we should we should be clear we should think about and be very clear to them going forward from here what we hope they might accomplish not how or what but not what like in the end the solution but sort of like the parameters the guard rails to be like um you know we want them to engage the public at least three times we want them to you know some guard guidelines for them so that we can set them up to be successful thank you David yeah yeah so just a so a few things um first off I think this is a an interesting idea um it's a good idea uh I still you know we we did spend money on a consultant and had a had a report um one of the things that I was trying to get out of that report was you know what what do we have if if we are potentially to combine these Parcels that we do not already have uh with the Hawthorne I think that question remains unanswered I I I I don't think we need to see a committee uh to to learn that information but I would like to I would like to have you know some of that information uh available and If Baker Tilly um can help us get to that answer sooner rather than later I think that will only help give uh this committee Direction uh furthermore last month we passed the CPA in swamps um so I just want to go on record saying that I I believe that this would be a a great you we haven't even seated the CP the CPC um the community preservation uh committee as of as of yet um but I think that the CPA funds would be a great source uh of of fund of funding for the potential acquisition of this parking lot should the committee decide that this that they want to move forward in that form and fashion so I just want to go on record as uh as saying that I look forward to uh learning more from Baker Tilly and I'm glad to have this conversation is bigger Tilly still open I mean we yes so we have um I need to follow up with Doug because we do have a um a copy of a draft report that wanted to review and I'm happy to if you think we should if it's available I'll share it with the with the uh with the uh select board with all the everybody has it has so everybody's seen the report so if people have more questions or requests like David had all right yeah we seen it all right all right I just wasn't sure we'll have it um the other I just had another thought that's okay giving me eyes but I'm I still have it oh no yeah um so I I brought up grant writers because obviously one way we could subsidize some of the cost of this is through grants but we should also have somebody um I know finance committee is on here but if there's anybody else who wants to volunteer to be on this committee related to Municipal Finance like one of the reasons that the library was worth looking at was because there was a function to pay for it in a large scale to build it to there was a state aid to pay to get it done um and I'm not saying that should be the driver for this committee like only because somebody else is going to pay for it we should do it but it has to be a thought process because they can come up with a beautiful plan and if we can't execute it within our financial constraints then what's the point um so and whether that means we have a convers ation within the plan to say okay is this financially feasible and if it's not financially feasible it fulfills something the community needs so much so that we don't care that it's not financially feasible in the guard rails and we'll work that part out or we you know really try to say these are the boundaries that we know of right now exist and we're going to want to stay within those boundaries okay so I have a couple comments myself even though you're giving me the eyes too Fletcher I'm not giving anybody okay this is what I look like under fluorescent light so we had the um we had a community Forum about this in this room probably I think it was June the beginning of the summer and it was very well attended so I I think we're probably three months too late in getting this off the ground I think it's really incumbent upon us to get this moving because I think that the people that attended the residents that attended made it very clear that um they weren't happy with the library proposal they were they had opinions and they were very interested in what happens to this property and I think that it's just been languishing kind of sitting there and it's been on the back burner and I think it really um should be a focal point right now so I think it's however we decide to you know whatever this com this committee is comprised of ultimately we we can't keep kicking it down the road we need to really action it we need to get it moving I just want to be really clear we had um we have been negotiating with the with the church to get to the point we're at and we're we're pretty close right now so to have started committees and gone a different direction it would have been a little bit a little bit too quick but I think that point but my point is your point of we need to go right away I'm 100% on board with my point is not about the additional lot it's about that actual property the Hawthorn itself and while we have you know been in discussion you know about the the adjacent lot my point is that Hawthorne property has been sitting there and we need to really focus on whether it's by itself or with the lot we just need to get this get people seated figure out how we're going to do it and start getting the community input that we need because it's it was certainly a big concern when we had that first form it was okay all set 11 members and I'll work with um by and uh jod on um notification or or advertising the availability for members okay so moving along now we move to discussion and possible possible vote to approve the land uh disposition agreement ground lease for 10 new ocean Street and 1224 Pine Street and this is now Madam chair I'd like to make a motion so I move the Land Development agreement be adjusted uh to reflect the preference of VFW Post 1240 uh with the VFW Post 1240 remaining at 10 new ocean Street and approximately 40 units of uh affordable housing with Veterans Preference uh be constructed solely on the 12 to 24 Pine Street parcel a second sure okay for discuss obviously discussion so yeah so tonight once again we have the Land Development agreement on our agenda um you know we we did make a motion but signing the Land Development agreement as presented and relocating the post uh to recharts with no existing zoning no money no parking at recharts no discussion with the with recharts uh neighbors no support from the VFW and no plan highlights uh or low lights what the select board has uh in front of them hence my motion uh I cannot for the life of me figure out how this is a good idea um don't want to point fingers uh tonight but I want to work on Solutions uh to the problem last weekend I met with the veterans uh twice once on Saturday and again in a membership meeting uh with the VFW on Sunday uh with my colleague Doug Thompson uh no time did anyone in the VFW leadership Express excitement or support to move Mo to recharts on anything other than a temporary basis hard stop it is and continues to be the preference of the BFW to remain in their post the post they built themselves with their money the post they were able to secure by transferring five buildable Lots in The Fosters Dam Area of swamps get to the town the same town which is now considering removing the veterans from their post as a board we should do everything we can do to accommodate what I consider to be a very reasonable request from BFW leadership s that the original RFP response from the developer included a 1500 squ foot plus or minus uh new post as well as meeting spaces and offices and upon careful consideration from the VFW membership they believe the original response to the RFP uh may be workable and viable for them uh Additionally the select board had previously approved this plan which then started the negotiation of the Land Development agreement with the developer Benet brith in the first place it should be noted the VFW is giving considerably as as you know in in the in the other scenario the new space would be smaller than what they currently have but they do want to work collaboratively with the town the opinion of the VFW and the veterans was solicited by the select board and they've spoken and provided us with a letter in writing stating that they are adamant that a permanent move to 89 Burl street is not a viable option we should listen the VFW wants to make the veterans housing project work however it seems that that some members of this board are characterizing the choice as Pro veterans affordable housing versus the VFW Post and attempting to drive a wedge between housing Advocates and Veterans which is completely unacceptable relocating the post against the will of the veterans away from the veterans housing project does more far more harm than good and is counterintuitive to having the post housing and services all in one location that's the option that was originally presented to the select board in Benet br's original RFP response the move to recharts is fraught with issues last Saturday we toured the building with Gino Cresta marzy gaska members of BFW leadership as well as Doug Dubin and architect uh Ryan Connor looking at only the addition of an elevator a full update of electrical and added sprinklers the cost to bring the building into compliance would be a minimum of a half a million bucks if not more likely more and while the building is kind of sort of handicap accessible in the basement it's not fully ada8 compliant making it fully fully ada8 compliant would again cost additional time and additional money this is not without any other additions accommodations or improvements on site to make the structure remotely viable also the 800lb gorilla is the utter lack of parking on site or on the street which will be an enormous problem certainly a bigger issue if this Arrangement is made permanent all of which Furthermore with the construction all of which would have to occur with a partner the town of swampit who has not lived up to any of its past promises concerning the veterans why would this time be any different from my first row seat honestly I don't believe it would be and is this even possible from a zoning perspective the building's located in a planned development District at PDD which allows by R one to three units of housing the adjacent zoning of parcels around the recharts building is A2 and A4 which does not allow for Club lodges or fraternal organizations in A2 or A4 even by special permit essentially a vote tonight in favor of the LDA as presented in our in our packets could make these veterans and VFW Post 1240 homeless veterans the irony of all ironies as we're attempting to construct veteran senior housing without a coherent plan to relocate the existing post my position is not not changed I'm completely against moving the veterans from their existing post against their will both both the post and the veterans housing can coexist on Pine Street per the developer it is feasible and viable we Doug Thompson and myself spoke to the developer and this can happen however it should be noted that developer has extreme pressure applied by the chair to move forward with the plan as presented in our packet this evening which in my view is not in the best interest of the veterans uh or the town as a whole whole with a cost of Redevelopment and and repositioning and Construction in recharts that to date is unquantifiable I would welcome the opportunity of my colleague Doug Thompson to walk us through the options that I believe are also uh still available hold on a minute while we're having a conversation you just made a comment you just made a comment that is that there's pressure from the chair I I'm sorry David but you need to stop attacking my character and making things up you've got to stop lying out there Mar on that Mar I wish I was I wish I were I wish I were telling I I wish this was a lie I had a call with with Yara and with with Holly Grace and with Doug on the on the call and they told us in no uncertain terms that you you you had called and you had said that if you did if if the developer did not go down the path that you were recommending that your that your support was going to be pulled from this project as well as the support of the former chair of the planning board that was said by the that was said by B bre I'm Sor dou was on the call I don't believe that for a minute but okay was that said Doug yes so that's then they said something that wasn't that was completely false well so go ahead Doug can I just get clarity before Doug starts what is your motion my motion is that the LDA be reflected to adjust the preference of the VFW Post 1240 with the post remaining at 10 new ocean street with approximately 40 units of housing Veterans Preference to be constructed solely at 12 to 24 Pine Street so is your motion to I mean the veterans came forward or the post I'm sorry issued a letter right which said that they were looking for more space and more units less units and more space so is that your motion or is back to the original viable option Benet presented to keep the post inside at 15 no is no it's it's even another situation it's the one the Vets came up with basically keep the post as is yep literally and The Bu The the option of just build it on one lot yes yes that's the motion yes yep keep the post in a spot put it on one line Y so I I'll say that um you it's understandable why you have the question um because you know we've had various discussions about trying to figure out the path here and so um I I think that just shows that at least for me like this is still kind of a little bit of a developing story um but I understand you know can't go on forever um so my little way of doing things here I don't I don't know if anyone's noticed but I brought my markers I saw but um you know if anyone wants me to get up I I'll actually get up and write them down but I'll just share them verbally to start with so the way I had to just kind of process this there's just so many different moving pieces um for me pros and cons of all these different options um so veterans obviously this is you know a project for the veterans but it can't come at you know uh disproportionate negative impact for uh the neighbors so obviously that's kind of the Crux of the matter I assume for all of us um so in all the options and certain you know there's three options as far as I'm concerned one that David just mentioned again post stays exactly where it is no cost to do basically anything there that's that's that and benth is 100% focused on building housing on the other site no posts within it just veterans housing and service component that's one the second one is that tear on the post vets move temporarily and rebuild a brand new housing and post all integrated and then the third option is where tear on the post just build housing on both those sites and the post moves permanently right so those are my three options and what I'm contrasting so in terms of like keeping the post as is and building housing next door clearly this is the vet's First Choice um for me the fact that they Ed their own money to build that post um is is important um and with this option there's no disruption for their membership it doesn't cost anybody any money to move the vets and make temporary or permanent improvements at reach Arts it does achieve this kind of keeping the post and the housing kind of separate not co-mingled in the same building but still kind of creates this initial vision of the veterans Crossing having all these things kind of integrated that was where this all started it doesn't require any change to the liquor license or entertainment license or any zoning issues that might come up by moving the Vets to reach Arts the thing that maybe I was last to the party to understand this but like this is not only really what the Vets want but this is like the least expensive option to the town we still get the maximum rent payment from Ben Bri and we're not expending anything for a temporary or permanent move to recharts it's also clearly consistent with the town meeting vote so there's a thing kind of hanging out there about what the implications are about town meeting and what the vote was and the intention clearly doing this option takes that off the table well I don't I don't think it does about the post yeah because if you're going to use the argument to say you can't move the post to reach because the town meeting vote doesn't support it then the town meeting vote says that the post will be inside the new building and it'll use both Parcels so you're getting getting into the same issue that the town meeting vote doesn't reflect exactly what you're wanting to do and I'm not taking a position on whether or not I agree with your motion I'm just saying logically if you're going to use the argument of the words of the town meeting vote against moving them to reach then you also would have that same argument against leaving them where they are and not using both Parcels to build the building with the post inside because I believe that is what the town meeting vote the argument against moving the town meeting moving them to reach would say that the post has to be inside is why we can't doesn't say inside well what does it say a new post a new post it says inclusion of a new Post in these two partials okay um the last thing is that what I think is even clearer is that this approach is uh uh consistent with the RFP I think there's been discussion concern about whether or not um what the requirement was of the RFP and whether or not if you have it completely offsite that's consistent with the RFP again I have to make the same argument that if if the RFP required the post to be inside in order to get to argument as to why you can't move them to reach then logically how could you say that not having the post inside even though you're not touching the post I I I get your what you're trying to say but it can't be against one and for the other if you're actually ending up with the same scenario which is the post is not inside I hear what you're saying Okay um the cons to this from my you know hearing what people are saying the number one although I haven't actually heard it tonight per se um but I think is kind of well what I have heard tonight is people saying that it would be five floors can we please at least stick with the facts that the four floors um this scenario um and and so we're really comparing three floors to four floors with the mechanics on top of either of those scenarios of course so and both elevated so we're really absolutely looking at four and five stores but Mary alen that that confuses the issue because when people when you go and think about the reference point that people have is like the westcot right now and in that building is truly five stories like the stuff about Mechanicals you don't you're not even going to see the Mechanicals okay so you don't you don't count that in like people's perception or what the you actually do see the Mechanicals you can see the mechanical we're but we are talking about one size versus another size yeah one FL absolutely no doubt about that we're talking about size 12 feet absolutely no doubt about it and so if you look at the the sun angles of what that 12 feet impact they are literally I can count on one hand the number of houses that will have about an hour of sun impact because of that 12 feet okay just to be like you know we can all kind of sit here and feel like you know one story is going to just like Tower over this isn't Wescott it's not Pitman Road it's not the same thing it is going to impact some people that's I'm putting in a con no doubt about it but also trying to kind of like be factual about literally who will be impacted and how they will be impacted cuz you know there's a lot of concern about uh number of units or number of people or number of cars you know that's going to be the same no matter what right like do you know more busyness more traffic whatever it is like none of these options are any different in that regard okay so um I think the I don't think I need to kind of do the moving to recharge permanently version because it's all basically just the flip of everything I just said right um the one in the middle is the new post inside uh the new building and a temporary move to recharge so this is the vet's second choice um you know if we're going to be able if we're going to take it down the post does seem reasonable that we need to make sure that there is a real post to replace it but Doug are you talk are you talking towards the motion because isn't don't we have a motion here for don't we have one motion for we do yeah that's fine I can pause on this if you know are you looking to make an amendment to the motion no okay no so we have a motion on the floor can I just ask how's that's not pertinent to the motion well because it's it's making the motion different isn't it no it's contextualizing the I think the conversation's going to happen regardless okay so we might as well just have it and it's only a couple more minutes um so this one here maybe even more even more so to your points Katie is consistent with the town meeting vote and is very consistent with the RFP the cons of this is that probably this option is the most expensive to the town because we are um having to do move the Vets temporarily make uh investments in recharts for two years or whatever it's going to take at the same time we're building a brand new post that costs money from the developer perspective um that they're going to pass along to us so the rent payment that we're going to get is going to be much less and then we're going to have to build out the new post um I was you know I was a bigger fan of that until I actually kind of went through this exercise and really thought about the ramifications there um could I also just add that the building is going to be exactly the same size so the all the cons for the Neighbors fall in this category absolutely so there's no I'm getting there okay sorry y first con um well that was the first one most expensive the town second one is still four floors um and um you do have like for the temporary move you do have the parking and Zoning issues that David alluded to and you get into with kind of a permanent move of the post to the rears building um so I mean I guess one virtue I didn't say here is that would be a brand new post um State the obvious in this scenario so that is kind of one virtue of the pain or the additional cost you go through is you actually have a brand new post but I don't hear like that that's really fundamentally the issue that like we really need a brand new Post in fact clearly vets are happy with what they have right now um so could I add another con to your virtual whiteboard sure um well maybe I'll wait to hear what it's before I say oh okay uh I I I know that I have mentioned this in the past I believe that we had some representatives from Salem post marel and you can maybe expand more on this but the detriment of potentially having the post in the same building as 42 units of veterans housing and how that may preclude veterans who need housing from living in that building because the post would be attached to it literally attached in their building in their in their living space um whether it's you know for substance abuse reasons or other reasons um that that actually might deter folks from being able to live in that building I appreciate appreciate your support for option one that's just a non support for option I mean really I think having gone through the exercise there are really two options here the post doesn't go anywhere it stays exactly the way it is and you build it all in one lot next door or you take the post down move them to reach and build three stories on two lots I think I understand the second option is deemed viable by the developer and it's important that we go through the pros and cons but considering what we've just discussed if we really are narrowing down options all of the pros for that live with the pros for the first option and there are more cons than there are cons in the SEC in the first option so to me it makes sense to just take that option off the table also I don't believe the veterans they' called it a I'm asking now they called it like the second best option but the developer has stated that they could not add any additional space they they would not be willing to remove a unit two units May that yeah right Susan said that wasn't one unit no Susan came back and said it was not an option to have the flex space go just to the veterans okay well I have to state that this is frustrating that that piece of information was not shared until right now putting that aside um I think what so and for more news flash what about the one unit Mary do you want to speak to that to um eliminating the one unit is that you asking um the same thing in terms of the the developer stated that the cost um of losing the unit would be close to $2 million and they were not that was something that that's not going to make the project viable was to million okay a million or $2 million I can double check but I it was definitely in the millions in terms of one unit one unit yes okay that's sorry do we have any more discussion on David's motion I I just got to say it out loud I'm really concerned about the approach let me pause for a second I know that benth has processed several different options and yet as we heard here tonight it's bewildering to me that we are this far along this project and that a developer has not engaged directly with the neighbors and the Vets to do the design and I I just know I I've consulted with other people who do low-income housing development this this answer is just not believable um I I feel like it feels as though they have a point of view which py they're the developer they can have that but it does not feel like this is a logical engagement on being creative and finding a solution they're supposed to be building veterans housing and it feels as though they're coming up with ways to kind of push a certain solution we sat there on the phone with one of the members of Ben Bri who started to give us an estimate which was or's a magnitude less than that if you take the post and the option is they originally proposed it500 square fet and what it cost us in order to pull that out it was $900,000 so if you're going to take another 500 square feet 300 Grand it's 300 Grand maybe there's something else funky but how do you get to $2 million I I just if I can CL clarify I'm sorry so I was incorrect in terms of the number of units I'm sorry because what I had from um we received communication from bne bre that um if we were to reduce the unit count to 30 units then that would leave I'm sorry so not 40 30 30 units then the Gap would be $2.1 billion yeah okay that's totally different scenario Marcy that's the okay so okay so I think what was discussed in our call Doug was that the build out would be what you and David just discussed the 300,000 additional dollars for us to fund in order to build out the additional space yes the loss of the unit would be a loss of some tax credits that they would not they would not be able to have so there would be an additional cost correct I don't know what that dollar amount ever came back at I don't know if it did ever come back because Susan then reached out and said what is the point of going down that option if we could go down this other option where either this is my interpretation I didn't speak to Susan but I think the conclusion is what I just came to the conclusion of is there's really two options why are we trying to make this middle option happen if it doesn't satisfy the developer or the neighbors or the veterans that the two options are the veterans stay exactly as they are and you build the same building you were going to build if the veterans post was inside four stories with mechanical on top or you take it down you move them and you build like we don't have to go through all these iterations we don't have to have them spend money when they're not contractually obligated to do so we don't have to have them speak to neighbors and Veterans and anybody because it's our job to make that decision of what we're doing with that piece of land not theirs and then we come to that conclusion and we set them on their way that is why they said when we last had this conversation we asked to maybe have this idea of optionality in the contract where we said hey we have these two ideas floating around can we make this sort of Kick the Can and they said it doesn't do us the developer any service to do that it really doesn't do you guys any service to do that either you're just delaying the decision and then weren they were not interested in an LDA that contained that so regardless of how you feel about that middle option I just for the sake of moving this conversation along to make a decision I feel like that middle option is moot anyways the the cons outweigh the cons list for option A the the pros are not enough to usurp the the option A of the veterans stay or the veterans go so to me it just makes more sense instead of trying to make it work in all of its Nuance that it just comes off because in the end the result is that we are left with a scenario which has more cons than pros of the first available scenario which still is the Veteran's quote First Choice anyways yeah well not to labor I I understand the logic of what you're saying but I would say by that same logic then you know from my accounting uh the option of moving the Vets permanently to reach Arts has even more cons and so then you're really down to one option um but you know that's uh you know obviously there's value judgments in in this um but you know the list of cons for moving them permanently beyond the fact that they're just opposed to it um is we've got a real potential issue you know kind of filed issue with town meeting um got an issue with the RFP um people are already stirring about a legal response to that um we have we don't know actually how much it's going to cost us to do the repairs at reach Arts um we know the parking is at best a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle um and what about the zoning H how do we Mary can you com do you have any information on the zoning so earlier today I had reached out to Max as you know um Max Casper is the building commission as a zoning enforcement officer and he said that there could be a viable option um uh a path in order to meet the zoning requirements so I also spoke with Angela AO to question zoning and angeloo from the planning board said that there is no issues with zoning and that that uh that is not that I'm giving you a quote there is no issues with zoning in that area for jurisdiction and how can she say that with the zoning it's not Z she's on the planning board so I've asked the planning board you can ask Mary I'm not I'm not um but are those the two relevant parties I mean and I mean it's not zoned for that right now so this we're going to put a liquor license and something that's residential there is language that building already uses liquor licenses it's has in there liquor licenses issued to that building there there have and you know that people haven't uh have haven't been bothered by it but as part of the liquor license doesn't mean it's Building Commissioner and other people support right and they come forward and they say we've checked all the boxes so that might yes this board does control liquor license but doesn't control zoning I mean I'm looking at I'm looking at our zoning bylaws institutional uses in A2 and A4 club Lodge fraternal organization profit or not for profit A2 no A4 no not even with a special permit so what we' have to go back to town meeting and get the zoning changed for then you're in spot zoning or you going to Zone the whole thing for you know like again it's it could potentially be a non-conforming use there's a pre-existing use as you recall that used to be an an um um a American Legion Hall then um you know that was the the form I use um earlier today I think that Max provided an email to Dave David to your response um and I can read to you in terms of what Max um Max's responses was he just stated that would need details to eventually um on the eventual use to make the final determination but in my opinion there are some some potential paths just hold on a second um Angela can you comment on this D iing [Music] Angela you can unmute yourself Angela you can unmute yourself there all right I mean as we're waiting for okay I think I I think I finally did it U can you hear me now yes can you hear me yes the um it's not Z to okay 89 Burl street is a planned development District it is neither A2 or A4 I'm very familiar with the zoning I did the research on this project over with the zoning on it with our Consultants um in a plan development District it is not an overlay it's a complete Zone in of itself uh the recommendation was for residential use up to three units by right however there that was not the exclusive use and it could also be used for any purpose um that the that the town deemed was in the best interest of its use and under that um under that understanding the you know it was an American Legion obiously years and years ago that's not just the precedent here that matters but that's the way the that's the way the law is written there is no zoning relief you can get on this particular project the only um approvals it needs is an administrative site plan and if you wanted to change the Zone you'd have to go to town meeting and change it like we did at Atlanta Crossing Atlanta Crossing where the temple used to be was also um a plan development district and when the uh developer came in and wanted to do subdivision we had to go back me a change the zoning so I'm really certain about zoning is there Ang that's helpful Angela can you point us to where it is in in the existing zoning because I I see 4.5.2 point0 permitted go to page 50 and yeah are you looking at the plan development District I'm looking 50 okay it's on page it's on page 50 I can you have 67 under the purposes David you have 4. 5.1.0 you can see under the purposes is talks about promote the efficiently use use of the land in the districts provide the opportunity to redevelop the land in the district to the benefit um the town and the public including facilitating as appropriate the removal and significant Rehabilitation of building and others so I'm sure that's so I guess while David's looking that up I'll just uh finish my little piece to say that I know there's a um7 the real kind of tension or balance um I I I imagine for all of us um and to the purpose kind of take the lead of what the Vets want for this vets project um and have it be kind of the most economical for the town which would allow us if we so chose to go down that path to make some really significant um investments in that neighborhood not just on that property but by Saving basically a million million and a half dollars by not moving we have resources to address these other issues that the neighbors have brought up terms of you know uh it means police or roading control or lighting or sidewalks or you know traffic traffic or um Landscaping between this development or you know kind of there's there's a significant pool of funds there to like really make that neighborhood feel like a neighborhood not just this spot but the whole area um that feels as though it's not completely kind of choosing one group or the other um but it is finding a balance and really the the primary thing is this this height and there no way to kind of create more sunlight for that hour that's going to be impacted by that extra floor um but hopefully by using these funds and being in Cooper a there would be a way in which we could um make this a smoother I mean you'd have be less construction because you wouldn't be tearing down the post um you know there are kind of ways in which this could get balanced out um I just feel like for people who literally have like literally gone to war um that you know taxpayers and people that own homes here are important too um but at that final kind of final analysis like can we just find a way to stick with the post there and build the housing right next to it and build a great Community um and really engage with people about what they need with the funding that we would save I think that's that's my ask can I just ask uh couple clarifying things because I admire the ask that we are being very careful with our words and truthful in the words that we use so I just want to clarify that you the conversations we have had thus far with the Vets have been related to the post and that the veterans project that we are hoping to build with Benet as a partner would be a veterans project which would exceed the include the the vets of the post would obviously be more than okay to participate but the pool of veterans there's over 400 veterans in Swampscott and it would be a senior Veterans Preference swamp Scot preference so then the pool would be even greater than that and and nobody's taken a poll of 400 veterans we have spoken to a and this is not to downplay what you and David have done you've spoken diligently to a group of folks who will absolutely be affected but are not the only veterans who can or might be affected by to 42 units of housing right but every scenario you're going to get 42 units of housing that's no difference right I mean all the the greater good of the 400 veterans here all these all these options have are going to serve that group equally well I think there are cons there there are not there are options that if you I guess if you take option two off the table that include the post but I'm just saying like we don't we're not like when I say I spoke to the neighbors I didn't knock on every door and speak to every neighbor in the area of Pine Street but I spoke to neighbors right and when you say you spoke to vets you didn't speak to every vet so I just want to be clear because I don't then want to say what I want to say and then have it come back that I am making broad Strokes or being dramatic or saying things more greatly than what is actually done because I'm taking you at your word you spoke to the post at nauseum for a long period of time multiple times but we had one meeting with the community which included the post which included neighbors one meeting exactly so when you say things like well there's maybe things we could do to mitigate the traffic and the this and the that like we don't have a plan to to mitigate any of that we've not had any conversation publicly other than that one time and there are no promises being made to the neighbors there's just all of these wants and wishes for the vets that we would like to uphold or you would like you and David would like to uphold in they bringing forward to us well and I'm also bringing forward hearing the neighbors and in option one you now have a pool of funds that you don't have with option quote three or the right but I think a lot of the things that the neighbors are saying you can't fix with money not everything but a lot of things you can clearly you can't solve the one floor that you can't solve y yes can't solve the parking you can't solve but there's no parking that's not an issue in option one there's no parking different than there is in option three there's parking off Street and and so that's that's another virtue of option one is that all the parking for the housing and for the Vets is off Street whereas in option three moving into recharts all the stuff for the post is going to clearly be on the vast majority of it is going to be on the street parking is an issue in I think we agreed two meetings ago parking is a serious issue no matter an issue no matter which option like parking really is a mood point but it not now that's you know what we got back from Benet about what's viable and what's not viable there was nothing in this option of building all in one site that they I identify that there was any parking issue one of the other options they said there were parking issues but in this one there was no there was no commentary about a parking issue so I'm just kind of that's not what I remember I remember we have the parking issue yeah there was a parking issue when you tried to build it all on three floors and have a post there and everything that pushed a buch of parking spots out in the street in our conversations though there's a parking issue with the one building on the one site and then having the VFW there there was still there was still a parking issue not according to what they wrote to us I according to our meeting that we sat in there was a parking issue they clearly stated what's viable what's wasn't viable and in certain situations they pointed out parking issues and this one they did not point out parking so okay I'm only going to recall the meeting that we sat in amongst ourselves so do we have any more discussion on this motion David's motion yeah I mean I'm just looking at the zoning I I just I I it it just to me appears that it's a bunch of it's a variety of housing types and again I don't think I per my read of this I I don't I don't see that there's that there's allowable Zone right now there may be a path forward but I think that involves changing zoning not using the existing zoning that that is that is in the zoning bylaws as per my read so there's no sentence that says or any user right under the what as Miss SEO stated purposes of the section are to provide opportunities for a variety of housing types at a certain locations of the town at greater densities and with reduced dimensional requirements than would otherwise be allow expand possible uses on the land in the districts promote the efficient use of land in the districts provide the opportunity to redevelop the land in the districts to benefit the town in public including facilitating as appropriate the removal or significant Rehabilitation of abandoned and dilapidated buildings pose a hazard to Public Safety and Welfare provide diversity and variety and housing types promote design and land planning to achieve aesthetic qualities of the town and encourage development of new housing that is Affordable to low and moderate income households and then it goes on to describe permitted principal and accessory uses uses permitted in the plan development districts 4.5.2 point2 in the Burl in the Burl Senior Center PDD a single two family or three family dwelling is allowed as a right do we have any more questions or comments so can we have a vote on David's motion no Doug yes David I marelen no Katie no okay so that motion has failed um now I'd like to see if we can have a motion for the the option and disposition and the ground ground lease that's presented that is that you all have copies of right here I'll make that motion second um we have a discussion discussion from the start of this project and in response to allegations on of a lack of transparency this board has committed to realign our approach to meet Community expectations whether or not these claims are Justified we have made every effort to bring these discussions into public public session as demanded we listened we course corrected we held open meetings where facts and open issues were discussed transparently we've had conversations with veterans Representatives but to respect the law no promises were made because discussions of two or more members of the select board would violate open meeting law despite claims that board members have disclosed private information the majority of the board has adhered strictly to ethical and legal obligations we've worked diligently to strike a balance between supporting the veterans preserving the post listening to neighbors concerns and ensuring that arpa funds approved by town meeting are preserved and utilized effectively for this project yet with every step forward we Face continued push back first allegations on a lack of transparency which we work to address then concerns of insufficient information which we sought to alleviate by bringing in Our Town Council our special Town counsel Town staff and experts from the affordable housing field folks were very concerned that the project would not be for veterans we made this very clear repeatedly that this is affordable housing designed for Citizens with a Veterans Preference and a swamp Scot preference we remain I remain committed to collaborating with veterans organizations to ensure that swamps Scot veterans from the estimated 400 plus in town have access to this housing once completed educating veterans about the process and conditions to enter this housing will be critical at our most recent meeting veterans expressed concerns about the inconvenience of moving we tried to reassure them that the town could work to cover costs of moving there were also discussions about cash flow issues tied to parking revenue from a nearby cannabis shop we tried to address the cash flow issue by explaining the parking income will be lost regardless of whether the VFW moves or not we are working to mitigate parking issues in the surrounding areas additional the town proposed assuming ownership the town has proposed assuming ownership in all of the capital costs at the Richards Building allowing the VFW Post to redirect its resources to its core mission of providing veteran services the town suggest covering the town suggested covering one year worth of vets bills um sorry one year's worth of utility bills for the VFW Post if moved to recharts to help stabilize its finan finances and enable them to focus on Outreach and long-term sustainability in our community the town proposed leasing the entire rears building with an option for subleasing so that the VFW Post could offset its costs by renting space to either veterans or Community programs or any other program thereby closing potential Financial gaps well some have said that the recharge building is not ADA Compliant we've had Town staff clarify I believe the square footage of accessible SP at reach is approximately equal to what is available at the current VW post for Ada accessible space the board has listened adapted and pivoted in response to concerns some feel it's too little too late but I urge you not to let personal feelings about individual board members Cloud your judgment about what will ultimately support our veterans and the post for years to come I understand your frustration I share it I would have changed many aspects of how this project had been communicated particularly surrounding the lack of communication to the neighbors and the communications with the veterans but it seems like every time we resolve one issue another arises and the go go the goal post continues to shift while I firmly believe that our veterans are vital to our community they are part of a larger fabric that includes all residents of swampa and surrounding neighbors we must consider multiple Stak holders some with competing interests the most significant challenge is the use of the 1.8 million in arpa funds which must be allocated to affordable housing by December 31st if this deadline isn't met it is my understanding directed by Town staff that we would have no choice but to find alternative funding sources either through Revenue increase borrowing or tax increases this would go against what town meeting originally approved additionally the concerns of the neighbors around the VFW Post regarding the light blockage parking congestion are valid while we can't solve every problem we can ensure that the design of the veteran housing aligns with the size and characteristic of the neighborhood listen no solution is perfect I've said that in these meetings before but we've tried to consider every possibility during our last meeting we explored six different configurations for the project Ben our developers have been extremely patient and responsive to E suggestion But ultimately the decision rests with us not them after much discussion having weighed the balance of the various issues I do support a motion to approve the the LDA and proceed with issuing an RFP for leasing the reach Arts Building immediately and continue to work with the VFW Post and neighbors to assure to ensure that we accomplish something truly meaningful for our veterans and our town I also want to reiterate that the timely allocation of arpa funds is crucial for the project and if we don't move forward with a plan we risk losing those funds and undermining the goals we've set to support both affordable housing and our veterans David I just think it's incredibly disingenuous we don't have the zoning uh we're going to bank on town meeting screwing over the veterans and the VFW um by changing by changing the zoning this situation can be completely avoided tonight uh by the select board but uh you know go ahead and do what you will the town has a 30-year history of uh of of taking and taking and taking from the veterans and not and not giving uh and not and and not meeting them uh even halfway so you got your votes make your motion and let's get on with our meeting tog well I think uh kind of to David's point we have an LDA in front of us where where's the where's the promised document of everything you're going to do for the vets yep want us to write a document right now no I'm I'm saying that's evidence of the fact that it's easy to talk it's easy to say this is what we're going to do can write a document right now but that's just the point marielen why isn't it here now if you're so committed to this because it needs to be a proposal maybe you want to add something to it take it away is there any discuss is there any reason that you would think that we would not issue the longest possible leas available is there any reason you think that we would not do 12 months of utilities is there I have no idea because maybe now you're going to go and like find out that if you can even do this in this Zone that it's going to cost you a lot more money than you thought yep and so then you're going to be back here saying well you know maybe you know we can't do that or oh it's going to cost us too much and so you've got a Half Baked proposal here that that you know you're you're talking Katie about talking to the neighbors how many neighbors have you talked to in this in the Burl Street neighborhood uh probably five yeah they loving this yeah I mean I've had both support and opposition MH yeah how many have you spoke to do you want to compare notes no I'm just saying that you're the one that's saying that it's such a big deal to like having go and talk to the neighbors and as if that's like kind of the end of the story that uh clearly you know every single email we've gotten hasn't no one in that neighborhood has been saying Rah R Rah so I don't know where you found people that were Rah R Rah in that neighborhood um so um but what about the Pine Street neighborhood because I talked to three today three people today who have problems with a four story building I'm sure they do and they have problems with the development in general so if there's anything we can do to mitigate the concerns of the people that already live there why wouldn't we do that if we could put a building that's slightly smaller to actually help our residents who stood here tonight Mrs Dalton I think told us um why wouldn't we do that because the Project's for the Vets but but but the project but wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute so have you talked no no no I haven't I I gave you your time you had a lot of time ask me a question you had a lot of time Doug you had a lot of time um Doug let her speak please the Vets I don't I don't think my mic's working too the Vets have you talked to all 400 50 that live in swamp Scot but it is relevant because you just said it's for the vets use the vets use Doug's microphone oh sorry I don't know think it's working okay so what are we talking about we're talking about the vets of post 1240 we're talking about a very small subsection of vets that you and David are focused on we're not talking about every vet that lives in Swampscott right but that all the other stuff is equal we're building 42 units of affordable housing no matter what and the the T the article the RFP and everything were about not just the housing it was also the post and so you have to talk about both right uh you certainly do Doug but we're not taking anything from the Vets that's not the that's not their opinion that's their opinion that's not my opinion we're not saying you get nothing you're done we're relocating them right and we're trying to better that situation right we're trying to make it as comfortable for them there as possible so that we can also alleviate the issues of the residents of pin street because they count too they do matter absolutely and you guys aren't addressing that at all you're focused on the the veterans of post 1240 to do what do you can you make a Jetson car that will alleviate traffic because that's one of their concerns exactly so what is your money going to do what are you going to do with your money the road and control the road and control we've been talking about rodents in this whole town M to do we've been talking about rodents for the whole year in this whole town pool of $1.5 million okay but just to be to be clear if we're going to use logic and Truth in this conversation what you just called our half-baked plan to support the veterans is the same argument that I can say to say you have a half-baked plan to support the neighbors no it's not the same Katie because I have a pool of money to actually do it so we have there is a pool of money to support the veterans there's $750,000 in the budget we saw yeah that's being used up now how do you know by this you just said 50 five $500,000 it's at I'm saying it's at least $500,000 just to cover the elevator the sprinkler system and to bring the electrical up the code that doesn't count and that's a minimum that's a minimum number I mean we I walked we walked the building with with Doug on Saturday um I I yeah I I did that's Doug's quote no no he he's just saying he's just he's just have to go through an RFP it would have to go through an RFP process in order to be we none of these numbers are actual all of this is philosophical you're going to make philosophical arguments on your side the other side is going to make philosophical arguments all of this stuff is Pie in the Sky ideas none of it is concrete in front of us with Guaranteed quotes Doug Dubin do you have a guaranteed quote no absolutely no thank you so your 500,000 estimate David no offense you're not a builder you're not a developer I don't know that I can please please right but what is a fact is that if you built the housing on the one site and left the post there that we would get a $1.5 million rent payment and you'd need to spend no other money for the post and you would have that money to deploy in other ways do I have literally this is $50,000 for this tree no but the fact is you have that pool of money whereas with what you all are proposing you do you do not have a quote you do not have a guarantee of how much it's going to cost and you've so you're gonna you're going to be you're not going to be able to do anything else for the neighborhood the pin Street neighborhood and you're going to have an unknown amount of money you're gonna have to put into recharts okay so I think it's just easy to sit here and say oh hey you know we just put the post over there we'll move them even though they don't want to move and and we're going to figure it out and the zoning will be fine and we have plenty of money and we don't have a plan so Doug we keep saying the same things over and over and over we do have the commander who has his hand raised maybe we could recognize him I think the commander could have been here earlier but me you're about to V you're about to vote to take away his let's have the commander if you could unmute the commander and then Danielle you will finish and then can move on no he's on the thing here thanks Joe I already allow it to do yeah yeah yes you can speak Nelson he's still showing muted on this side does that mean it's we've already allowed the okay we're going to move on Danielle so there are a couple of things that I know I know that we need this affordable housing we need housing for our seniors with Veterans Preference is a a fabulous fabulous idea and it is something we are trying to do right those are the things I do know I do know that people have reached out to me from the Pine Street neighborhood with their concerns and they do not fall on deaf ears for me so when I talk to people and they have concerns about the height of this building those are real concerns to me I have done a lot of Outreach on my own I've spoken to two members of the planning board I've spoken to members of the affordable housing trust I've done as much due diligence as I can and that is why I feel confident in in the decision tonight yes it is not a perfect scenario no it is not going to check all the boxes primarily the Pine Street neighborhood doesn't want any development right they are not comfortable with anything going up there and I respect that and I understand it I get the traffic concerns I get the the sewage backup concerns like I spoke to a woman today about it um I understand that so if I can do anything to make life more livable and comfortable for the residents of that neighborhood that's what I'm going to do I I feel like we're put here to advocate for residents of swamp Scott right so we're trying to do that by making affordable housing for our seniors for our veterans and we have to focus on the people that live here that that's what it comes down to for me and that's not to say that the the people that are members of of post 1240 are not valid humans and that they don't deserve a comfortable place to be I completely agree with that and I think it's incumbent upon this board to make Burl Street as comfortable as it can possibly be no matter what it costs us because that is what the right thing to do is that we definitely do owe them something I agree with that but I think that we they're not the only stakeholder here there's a lot of stakeholders and we're trying to make a lot of people happy and it's not for bad intent there's no you know U nefarious intent here at all and I think that the infighting that's going on within our board is is totally counterproductive right we're all trying to do similar things we're trying to do the best we can right so that's that's how I feel that's just that's my opinion so for me as I close as far as making sure that there is a long-term lease prepared actually KP law is is working on a lease right now as far as paying the capital expenses that would be in the lease the lease can go out an RFP can go out immediately we do not have to wait on a delay as far as writing up and making sure that we can absorb the utilities bills we can take care of that as well that can all be taken care of for me when I sit down and I look at this I've said it before that this has not not been a pleasant experience whatsoever however when I think about what is a post is a post a building or is it the post the organization for me the post is a building and we are we can relocate the building and we can give more support to the people that are involved in this post so that's what really makes my decision here the neighborhood is very important to me and the ramifications of the extra height and the congestion down there really has played a played a role so veterans housing is a necessity it's a home in Swampscott it's security it's stability I don't want to take any chances on losing any of this I don't want to delay it and for that reason I want to call a vote on these options in front of us we attempt Nelson to speak one more time yeah we could try that again he's able that way is he able now Nelson can you un yourself there's no way for us to unmute that him is there we already did all right so with that I would like to call a vote Katie yes David no Doug heck no Danielle yes Mary Ellen yes motion carries next on our agenda is he said he can Town administrator's report okay try to keep this as brief as possible finance department and thank you to Amy and Patrick working with me Amy the department heads are working with the finance team and are busy working on the F why 26 budget Amy will start meeting with the department heads on the week of January 6 thank you Patrick is generating real estate tax bills which will be sent out on January 2nd he's also preparing the W2s for Town employees thank you Patrick facilities ax thanks for showing up tonight appreciate your support as always RSVPs are being issued for the library entrance redesign the senior Senate HVAC and for the new high school lightting both of those Capital articles were approved at the special town meeting the library of redesign is a capital Improvement project as I just said and also thank you to Max he's been filling in as the building commissioner and to Roger Enis who has been doing inspections until such time that we can find a full-time building inspector Police Department we seem to resolve the issue up around rington Street there was some issues with two travel Lanes heading Southbound on readingon street we put the messes board up by King Street that seems to alleviate the problem met with Max today may still be an issue with the center line up there we're going to have to shift the center line in the top of the street may be a problem we have to wait for the weather to cooperate can't paint the lines unless it's at least 45 50° um officer Cassidy John Cassidy is being deployed to Japan for four months beginning January and i' like to thank John for his continued service to our country the holiday parade was held this past Saturday and was a huge success a special thanks to the off-duty police officers who donate their time to assist with this event which I think is very admirable Public Works we talked about Mark Nan thank you Mark and then finally the annual care Dimensions tree liting Katie thank you for showing up you're very welcome personally that was my 22nd annual tree light that I've attended and I always get choked up it's part of the ceremony but I'd like to acknowledge nanti Justin Mitchell and Derek Pitman for their work in decorating the spruce tree this year we changed up the design a little bit put more put some more lights on it and I think the residents were happy to see that we also changed up the lighting on the street lights as opposed to doing the trees which is a little awkward going down Monument a because none of the trees are the same size we put the holiday lights on the street lights and looks good for a change thank you okay yes oh anybody have any questions um gin could you let remind us who worked on all of the decorations around the municipal buildings um John mlin and on your team y John I want to acknowledge them too Y and johnon and I thank you to two newest employees yep Joe rusa and cabat and Justin M Jill and Derek also participated so thank you DPW workers and John especially to John yeah especially John you know I just have a quick question on the police so is it it's my understanding I just I just learned this is that the only police officers that are are working are the ones on the detail and all those other police officers you see are all just volunteering their time you do yep I just found that out as well I think that's I'd like to commend them that's kept secret yeah that's I think that's the greatest parade right okay any other questions all right moving to the consent agenda um do we did we need to have somebody here from National Grid or the petition is just enough okay so can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda wait the uh the minutes yeah they're at the very back they're at the back so that's November 20 so these don't include 116 okay no I just just have 116 112 I just had an addition to the select to my select board time from 11:20 I just had requested a meeting and so it it says notice we had an all female Patrol staff which shows how far we've come since we've have civil service and I just requested a meeting update from the Chiefs regarding hiring practices because I think we had our last update in June and I just wanted to add that so with that friendly Amendment I'm happy to approve okay Diane have that yeah okay I'll have that thank you so can I have a motion to uh approve approve the agenda ktie second thank you all in favor I I I and with that we have select board time Danielle I'm good Doug nothing David yeah I just want to wish everybody uh who celebrates a happy Hanukkah um Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and um just last thing is uh assessors um so as we as we get into budget season and we talked about this um you know I've certainly talked to members of the board of assessors I've talked to the current assessor former assessors I really think uh as we're putting our budget together that we need a full-time assessor so I am going to beat that drum uh so uh you know hopefully as we're as we're putting that together we're adding that uh part we're making that part-time FTE a full-time FTE that's my uh that's my Christmas wish or at least getting additional labor in there correct yes and that that comes actually from the do the do the yeah Department of Rue Department of Revenue actually has made that recommendation yep okay yep okay can work that um yeah so um I would like to use my select board time uh thought we were going to have a a break from uh select board meetings but it sounds like we might have one more for this year um but I would like to say this and I was going to say this regardless of how the votes stand uh it has been difficult to navigate uh some of the tensions on the board that we've been discussing through the meeting [Music] um I try and continue to try to be respectful in my detention and uh I try and will continue to try to encourage a sense that uh sort of to reiterate what Danielle was saying I don't I don't feel that there was what David and Doug pursued had any wrong malice or wrongdoing to the neighbors I don't think that what we were doing by pursuing neighbor priorities had any m intent to the veterans I understand the neighbors might feel otherwise and I understand the the post might feel otherwise but I do want to say that um it was not an easy decision it was not made flippantly and um there was a lot of work put in this and will continue to be a lot of work to be done in on this project um by all of us so I just want to say that so as far as my select board time I think people really don't understand or get the full picture of how much work this board has had to put in over the last six months we've had multiple items on our agendas um with that said we all signed up for it and um I hope the new year brings us a little bit of peace and um wish like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas Happy New Year happy Hanukkah happy K Quanza happy whatever you might celebrate and um this meeting is now adjourned thank you so moved second all in favor