[Music] have we do have a forum so I guess we can resume or continue the annual town meeting Jour on Tuesday night and I therefore call the continuation of the town meeting uh I do want to make a couple announcements um I don't think i' have to go over all the rules of procedure again but I I didn't uh I think uh neglect to talk about the fact that we have some different seating arrangements now and that if if you are if you want to film or record the meeting I'm asking people to sit over in that section where Miss King is um and uh visitors would sit in that section closer I don't think we have any visitors right now but if we do I'd ask anyone who's a visitor out the town a resident voter in the town if they could have a seat up here in the front um so I think we're ready to start and we uh think we should start the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance I'd like to unfortunately I didn't get the names of the scouts that were with us last Tuesday night I would like for a round of applause for the scouts and there um there Condon is the SC master um I'll get their names and report back the next meeting uh so uh I guess I'll do it um everyone please rise I PL to the of the United States of America and to the Republic stands one nation under God indivisible withy andice for all thank you all thank you all for coming up tonight um so we left off on article 10 after article 10 to see if the town will vote to appropriate from the peg access receipts reserve the count a sum of$ 13,140 funds equal to 5% of pcast gross annual revenues in town for the first and second quarters of fiscal year 24 subject to receipt and availability an authorized board selectman and Town Administrator to expend and distribute set funds to towns and Community Access media aim on a quarterly basis the purpose of annual funding of the production and broadcast of public educational government of EEG access television on terms contained in a certain Grant agreement between the town of towns and the towns and Community Access media Inc effective September 15 2020 or take any other action relation there to Is there a motion Mr moderator Mr CH I make a motion move the town vot to appropriate from the Peg access receipt Reserve account a sum of $1 13,140 equal to 5% of Comcast grow annual revenues in town for the 1 second and third quarters of fiscal year 24 subject to receipt and availability and authorization the board of selectman and the Town Administrator to expend and distribute set funds to towns and Community Access media a on a quarterly basis for the purpose of annual funding of the production broadcast of public education government pay access television on terms contained in a certain Grant agreement between the town of towns in mass and towns and Community Access media a effective September 15 2020 okay motion to meeting seconded and if I could raise my own own point of privilege here I think someone's left the telephone over here or something that's dingling all right thanks um okay is there anything to be said okay uh all right look like we're ready to vote all those in favor motion on article 10 please say I those of all say no guys have it uh article 11 see if the town will vote to raise appropriate borrower transfer from free cash Lo available funds in the treasury the sum of $5,000 or any other sum to defay the charges and expenses for the planning and execution of the town's 300th anniversary celebration to be held in the year 2032 or take any other action relation there to motion Mr moderator I move the town vote to transfer from free cash the sum of $5,000 to defray the charges and expenses for the planning and ex execution of the town's 300th 300th anniversary celebration to be held in the year 2032 motion been made and seconded anything to be said looks like it's all right um in the third row fourth row uh Victoria ji 140 battery Road just curious how we're going to use the money you know few years before we're actually have a celebration understanding usage okay question comes on a motion Mr [Music] SL thank you Mr moderator um the town has for the last several years been putting aside $5,000 in free cash each year to um create a fund for the 300th anniversary uh celebration at this point in time because we've got another eight years I don't think we have any specific plans um but uh there is going to be my understanding and 3 anniversary committee uh that will be working on the plans for that anniversary as time gets closer okay all right uh I would like to make an announcement connected with this meeia will indulge me uh everyone I think knows next year we'll be celebrating the 250th anniversary of Lexington and Conquer uh and this is kind of a Prelude to the celebration of 250 years of our American independence so uh I think the town is foregoing any official uh celebrations of the those events but the town of historical society is going to be conducting events uh throughout next year and in 2026 hopefully pting in a parade so I just want to make sure everyone's aware of that and also as some of you may know uh I'm captain of the towns of minan company and if anybody is interested in becoming a minute man and marching with us and Memorial Day or other activities please uh get in touch with me all right okay thank you for that Indulgence um I expect to see at least uh five or six of you after the meeting ready to sign up um about two or three maybe uh all right anything else that he said all right all those in favor of the motion on article 11 please say I I those oppos say no the guys have hands article 12 to see if the town will vote to raise appropriate borrow or transfer from available funds in the treasury the sum of $88,000 or any other sum for the purpose of funding the assessor fiscal year 25 periodic inspections and Property Data verification program as mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Bureau of local assessments or take any other action relation there too Mr moderator I move that the town vote to transfer from free cash the sum of $88,000 for the purpose of funding the assesses fiscal year 25 periodic inspection and Property Data verification programs as mandated by the Massachusetts batment and revenue Bureau of Land assessment thank you that motion they made and seconded any questions anything to be said no gu we're good all no all right back there um we probably don't have anyone with oh Tom got slide slide oh thank you um we have someone run out the slides for this good got how' you do that magic all right high technology so um okay I guess that was a point of order uh any questions all those in favor please say I I those opposed the eyes have unan uh all right Article 13 terms of office Council and aging to see if the town will vote to amend chapter 22 of General bylaws entitled Council on Aging section one entitled membership terms of office by deleting there the word four and substituting the word three therefore thus changing the term of office from 4 years to 3 years or taking the other action in relation there too is there a motion Mr MO I move the to vote to amend its General bylaw chapter 22 entitled Council on Aging as printed in the warrant okay there's a motion made and seconded um everyone has a copy of the warrant right so you see what the motion is basically what I read any questions comments M Cal Veronica Road um I'm on the bylaw committee and all this bylaw do all this change in the bylaw does is make the bylaw match what's actually in practice the terms have always been 3 years for the coun 3 years for the council aging office um not office commission but the um B says four so this just um makes the Bible match the practice that's all okay thank you m k um is anything else to be said a few Folks up in the balcony want to speak and I don't see you just just ask Mr moderator and because sometimes all that light up there bling but um I think we're ready to vote all those in favor please say I I those who vote no eyes have it unanimous article 14 fees under the SC roads bylaw to see if the town will vote to amend General bylaws town of Townson chapter 106 entitled Scenic Road section 1065 entitled fees by striking out the first s thereof in it in its entirety which presently reads section 106 -5 fees the filing fee for an application requirement of this bylaw is $150 and by substituting for the following therefore section 1065 fees the application an application required under this byw shall be by a final fee as required by appendix e to the Consolidated rules of the towns and planning board entitled fee schedule or Tak a action relation there too is there a motion Mr moderator I move the town vote to amend its General bylaws chapter 106 entitled Scenic roades as printed in the warrant motions made and seconded uh to adopt the languages printed in the warrant to amend the SC Ro byw any questions there's not all those in favor say [Applause] I those opposing no guys have it you in all right Article 15 no noise control VI to see if the town will vote one to amend chapter one of the general bylaws of the town of Townsen entitled General Provisions article two entitled non-criminal disposition of violations section 1-1 entitled I think that should be fine scheduled and enforcing officers by adding a new subsection o thet as follows uh I am not going to read that entire bylaw unless someone objects all right and we'll have to take a vote on that see if the meeting wants me to read the whole thing uh all those uh in that want me to read the by in its entirety please say I I those supposed say no no okay the nose have it uh and the reason for that is it's a fairly common practice in most towns that the moderator will not read in the entire zoning bylaw that's being proposed uh and quite frankly it's up to the town meeting whether uh they want to hear the entire motion read adopting a new bylaw or amending a bylaw uh however um that is going to be up to the meeting vote whether anyone can hear the whole bylaw read the only caveat to that is that everybody what is printed in the warrant if the motion is made to to adopt what is printed in the warrant uh then we can do that but if there's any variation in the motion from the warrant article either there has to be a hand out that everyone has possession of or we will have to read the entire motion Mr CA thank you Mr moderator if I could i' just like to raise a a point of order so uh the article that you read uh in part which begins at the bottom of uh the page number but that page of the warrant uh you read Roman Roman numeral lowercase one um which amends uh section 1-1 of the existing bylaws by addressing enforcing officers in the fine schedule for noise control but if you turn to the second page there's lowercase Roman numeral 2 which is also part of the article um I would suggest that that that phrase at least be read because there's two parts to this to this amendment and that's the ensuing four pages five [Music] pages okay so this is a two-part article that's amending non-criminal disposition of violation and fines is that for the noise article particularly or that so Mr M the challenge here is that what the proposal is as a part of Article 15 is to create a new noise control bylaw but as part of that bylaw it would only make sense to identify the enforcing officer for the bylaw and to identify any Associated fine schedule but the the enforcing officer identification and the fine schedule is in in an entirely separate section of the existing bylaws so this article is doing two things it's amending that existing section to identify the enforcing officer and the fine and then it's creating a new section with the actual substance of the noise control B okay thank you Mr CA uh appreciate that I think does any anyone have any questions about that okay good um all right so on whether or not I be the entire motion rather the entire article uh all those in favor of my reading entire article please say I those opposed say no no okay um the eyes do not have it um I'm not going to read this article and uh I'm going to ask if there a motion yes Mr moderate I will the town vote to amend General bylaw chapter one entitled General Provisions in general by law by adding a new chapter 83 entitled no noise control as printed in the LA okay all right so same question um those of you who want to hear the motion read in its entirety and not as printed in the warrant please say I I okay those opposed say no no the no have it um it is before you um is everyone got a copy of the warrant with the bylaw in before them does anyone have any questions and perhaps someone oh I know we also need a report from the planning board is there a report from the plan [Music] oh oh it's gentle okay I'm sorry um okay anything to be said uh and either one of guys from 30 Road uh 31y Road um so I'm just asking if uh the subsection or section 83 3-5 covers something like um if we have a power outage and someone's running an open frame generator to say you run an oxygen machine or run the perose of their house is that covered there or could they get fine the next day question comes on motion about section 835 exemptions and know so if you look at um 835 subsection F so emergency work including not limited to the operation of any mechanical device R vehicle or equipment used in connection with that emergency would protect any kind of emergency situation so generators or any other emergency work that have to be done okay coms come on a motion uh sir did you want to speak they're all set all right Miss King Tom down here thank you um yes I was not noticing in the in the bylaw there's a section about uh dumpsters being picked up in residential areas must be done I can't remember if it says 6:00 or 7: a.m. um I'm concerned about that one because even though there's there's residential areas there are multif family homes or people that have dumpster and shs as far as I know they do their D dumpster run around 3:00 a.m. throughout the town regardless of where the dumpsters are located and I'm thinking that this having this will disrupt Shaws from being able to pick up the the dumpsters um and during the time period that they usually do and this will have to change their business practices as well as you know all it's diff I I can imagine that it's difficult to move a dumpster when people are try to go to work and school buses and things like that to be backing into um residences even the multif family residences that have dumpsters um so I'm thinking this is I'm really concerned about that section of the proposed by questions come on motion regarding commercial track collection hours is there anything anyone um oh all right you want ER verica I guess the question is hold on miss you hang on for a minute okay sure uh well section g actually in 83 D4 section B commercial TR trash collection vehicles used for the collection of trash rubish um refuse or debris such as but not limited to commercial compactors are permitted to operate on any point of public or common right of way for vehicular traffic between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. then it says exceptions commercial trash collection may take place at any time within any area of the town of town and zoned industrial Zone I or Comm commercial Zone C under the zoning B so I think that um addresses the concern okay Mr slel just just to follow off on that um while this while this might actually impact if there are multif family dwellings that have commercial trash pickup during the middle in the residential neighborhoods in the middle of the night this is typical and common practice across the Commonwealth with the towns that employ bylaws is to prohibit the commercial dumpsters and residential areas during sleeping hours so uh any I think any business that's been operating with commercial dumpsters understands that this is something we have to do as part of the business practices comments come on motion um Mr the hold on get a microphone uh Robert thean 181 fishburg Road I'd like to draw people's attention to the beginning of this article item one and four enforcements and item two the fine schedule um regarding What's Happening Here of this article is to the current article doesn't have an identifying enforcement agent so the bylaw Review Committee um decided to address that issue I'm concerned that they decided that it should go under the Board of Health when in reality um it's really enforcing the first level and enforcement I would assume would be through the police department if there were a complaint to probably go to the complete uh police department first which just having a cre are arve will probably resolve the problem right there um secondly um the health department is not available 24/7 much as the police department would be um and thirdly the further in the article the reason it is so lengthly is because of all the scientific languages there and the definitions of them and that's all taken I assume has been adapted from some other communities viable um if you consider that in a real application uh it doesn't seem like it will be efficient in doing anything uh about a problem so for example if there's a complaint on the 4th of July about too many fireworks um the health department would not be available um and then it would be the police that would have to respond to it and if you read the whole language in the bwar refers to decibel ratings and which requires a decibel reader which we don't have one but we could purchase one uh but currently uh through discussions with the bylaw Review Committee they anticipated that this would be uh taken from the health department and given to the noov Board of Health to enforce uh because they have a decibel reader um so when you think about it in real terms of any type of complaint um it's not going to resolve a problem quickly um and it would be in my perspective very difficult to enforce um and even reading the article it is very difficult and to understand so in that regard I had recommended to the bylaw Review Committee to withdraw the article from further review um however but that's I wanted the public to understand um and put this in a real everyday perspective and um so I do think we need a Sound Ordinance um however this one as written does not seem in my opinion to be able to deliver with the intentes thank you all right comments come on the motion I think Mr sler may have some answers for you Mr there sure so um uh in conversations with uh the Board of Health agent who operates s the short Board of Health they regularly enforce nors ordinances and bylaws across their member communities um every community that I'm aware of including ones that ially worked at uh had the health agents be the enforcement of the noise bylaw um while it is best practice to have a deal meter which show the Board of Health has I have a free one on my phone they're easy to get um uh you you can do a rough deal readings um on your own with the the microphone of a of an iPhone and so any number of uh of members of the of the show Board of Health could handle it um also unfortunately in order to make noise bylaws like this enforcable you have to have objective measurements and not solely subjective so the reason why there are specific decimal limits are because they're easy to measure and it's not subject to um someone's feeling or or kind of whim about whether a noise is um too loud or too annoying um uh the the bylaw as written I think um does a good job in in giving the forcing agent specific guidelines as opposed to something a little more wishy-washy when you want the the Board of Health agent to go out knowing exactly what he has to measure and to be able to make a ruling on the spot as to whether something is in violation or not and not be subject to to different interpretations by different people so those are the reasons why the bylaws are the way it is and I think that the thing through the Board of Health is not only H practice across the common of wealth but also one of the best best and most well equipped and most trained folks in the Commonwealth to do this sort of enforcement thank you Mr slel uh Mr sedan moderator S 5 Street uh my concern is that the new biom change could adversely affect the sporting club to come and U wanting to address that part of it we place why we change okay question comes on motion I L effective sporting clubs this [Music] K the mic I'm Veronica count if you look at section 83 D2 um and you go down it says therefore number four no person shall discharge any gun pistol or other firearm in front 500 ft with provided that this um section shall not apply to the use of such weapons in the lawful defense of the person family or property or in the performance of any Duty required by law nor to the firing of a salute or Cannon or artillery by commissioner the Town Administrator nor to public or private shooting galleries which would be sporting clubs um which have been inspected and approved by the chief of police so if you have a um like the regular sporting clubs around here that are approved and inspected and permitted it's not an issue you can't have a private one that hasn't been um inspected by the police or uh permitted by the town so it would affect that thank you for that explanation uh concerning the fines for the excessive sound that can travel I've been in TIY Park and heard this shooting fire rounds on the far reaches of Ash Street somebody could easily complain and uh take out a complaint against the SW with new sound new feature U This concerns going maybe go to follow and we thought us all through comments come on the motion and do have a few other hands up uh I this G in the back do you have your [Music] question okay all right Mr Mueller and then over there Mr hold on Mike get the the mic Mike Tyler Road uh years ago I was on the planning board and I have either authored or co-authored three of our current bylaws I know the difficulty of writing bylaws I prefer this is very obtuse I have tried reading this three times it's very difficult to follow I would prefer it being in plain English uh another comment as the lady had 8 832 there's three lowercase eyes three lowercase tubes uh these all should be numbered so you don't have to guess at which one we're talking about but uh and in general I would support a noise bi we all know there's there are situations where there is really unwarranted noise um however it's difficult to quantify this for example and here it says a noise it's 10 DB above uh background well by the road we have no noise at times unless there's a car going on it's basically the noise of nature I've got a rooster standard size rooster and his Crow is earpiercing and it's well above 10 DB of ambient but that's not go not my main opions this business of the um gun issue this is the public safety issue 500 ft of equality this is already prescribed these unconstitutional state laws that we have oppressive regulation of our constitutional right to own and bear arms and I don't know of any uh YY that's inspected by the chief how Rod Gun I'm a former officer of the club we have very rigorous interview process for new members they go through interview by the board they go through interview by uh membership uh they have go through the orientation process they get a game card and if their membership lapses or they're terminated the gate card is is disabled so they can't access the ground we are very conscious of the neighbors we have a self-regulating noise all of our own there's no shooting before 9:00 a.m. and no shooting after sunset it's very simple uh and I I just this business of 500 ft this is Public Safety this is not moist and I'll tell you here is my fear what I'm coming down to this is a back door approach by the Board of Health to start regulating guns in our town through the noise issue that's why I am opposed to this this is not a health issue this is a public safety issue and I I one less thing that we need to have our liberties taken from uh which is intentional or unintentional or potential intrusion into more of our constitutional rights ether reliable you ask the police they're not afraid of legal gun owners they're afraid of illegal gun owners and I would ask that this be voted down have this section be moved had a put written in plain English so that an average person can read it it's like gentl over there his hand earlier hi my name is Chuck Warren R um I have many the same concerns that Mike has um I've never had I've never had to look into the uh classification of a club like the th Rod Gun Club as a gallery um is there some place where that's defined where a club falls under the name of gallery that wording scares me and as well um as Michael said um we need to make sure that this is not an Avenue to sneak in and find a way to close down our recreational sporting clubs and I believe this I believe this v as it written should be voted down not recognized be recognized Mr SL so I I I do want to respond to to one of the issues that was raised earlier which is uh the section that specifically States no discharge of weapons within 500 ft of a dwelling is taken directly from an existing state law so that that law is already on the books of Massachusetts so this is not something that if adopted by town would in any way restrict the firing weapons that isn't already restricted by the St Mr M hello Nathan Mata Brooklyn Street everybody we are here to do the business of the town and today I ask you to vote no on this article because I want to Echo Mr buer there are a lot of inconsistencies in the way the way this is format I really would have liked to see the changes rather than just the whole new proposed uh bylaw so it's kind of non-transparent and I can't good conscience vote Yes for something unless I know exactly what's changed so Mr Ten Minister Mr SL we do have a current bylaw on the books correct know noise bylaw there is no noise bylaw the books that's is a completely new bylaw to be passed so okay okay so then I would say that this be done gone through a little bit more meticulously and U and come back bring it back to the floor thank [Music] you [Music] church thank you Mary Jan Church from 29 Main Street how bad is the noise I mean do we need this how bad has the noise can you answer that um so guess I can say in my time A Town Administrator I've had multiple people ask me why the town does not have a no okay but is [Music] noise I mean is it are people upet about the noise and and what kind is it like I think they in the about the firecrackers at the 4th of July yes we're in town we're rural we're not in class a city I can get it if we had highrises and people were you know farming their music and but how is this going to affect the change off how is this going to affect the D CL how is this going to affect the party at graduation that's going to have a lot of music and are people going to is this going to affect those kids that are graduating at col AG just questions come on the motion and Mr Smith I couldn't tell if your hand is up or you're just resting it on the support there your hand is up all right Mr Smith all right motion's been made to move the question uh this if it passes will cut off debate all those in favor of moving the question please say I I those of those say no no the eyes have all right the article is before you and I think we're probably going to need the counters but um let's try it first time around there a this is a general bylaw requires only a majority vote all those in favor of the motion article 16 please say I I those opposed say no no no thaten all right article was 6 okay article 16 new general bylaw for outdoor lighting uh to see if the town will vote one to amend chapter one of General bylaws of town of Townson entitled General provision article two entitled noncriminal disposition of violations section 1-1 entitled I think find find enforcing officers by adding a new subsection n there to uh and uh amending the general b by deleting its entirety chapter 95 entitled public lighting and substituting therefore a new chapter 95 entitled outdoor lighting as follows and I'm not going to read the article in its entirety and is there a motion Mr Mar I move move the town vote to amend the general bylaw chapter one en titled General provisions and amended General bylaw chapter 95 now entitled public lighting but to be entitled outdoor lighting as printed in the warrant but as further modified excuse me by the town meeting handout from article 16 okay motion been made seconded to adopt the article as printed in the warrant except as Modified by the handout does everybody have the handout on article 16 Mr moderator the warrant that was is was prepared for everyone to print out has the amended version in it oh the hand up has the amended version yes all right thank you all right uh yep um m m brown hi I'm Michael Brown of Bill Chris Road um I am also a member of the B Review Committee um this proposal for outro lighting is a modification of existing bylaw so it's not a new bylaw it's um it it basically incorporates most of the existing uh requirements that we've had so Townson has um regulated after lighting going back at least in 1978 and the most recent version of uh our policies out there lighting was enacted in 1997 I believe Mr Mueller was on the planning board at the time among others um and uh basically uh let me just very briefly explain what the current bylaw is and then I'll explain what's being changed um so the current bylaw um has four goals um and by the way none of this is going to change the the new the revised version would have all of this so there's four goals one is to reduce glare and that really translates into improved safety so um red reduction of flare minimization of light trespass which is the phenomenon of light going from one property to a neighboring property or you know basically the concept is direct light where it's need needed and try to avoid you know throwing light where it isn't desired um the third goal is to reduce Sky low so people always talk about the you know the rural character of towns and one aspect of that is is our relatively dark skies something not experienced by most people who live you know bigger communities or closer to cities and so on finally um the goal is to save energy by having light that's directly directly where it's needed you're not wasting energy um so how does the bylaw meet these goals there's basically one major requirement in the current bylaw and this would remain in the updated version and that is that lights should be fully shielded so the technical term is full cut off um but it it just means that light does not go above the horizontal it goes down but it doesn't go up it doesn't go sideways um that's essentially it there's a second requirement um that limits the height of light so the maximum height is 25 ft and uh there are lower limits if you're right near a property line and that way even a shielded light if it was right on the property line could throw light on the neighboring property and that would be undesirable so there is this height limit um I just want to point out that neither the current quoa or the proposed updated version has any limits whatsoever on how many lights you can have how bright they can be or where you can put them basically the requirement is to Shield the light so it just you know goes where where it's needed um also there are a number of exemptions which are going to remain um this file only applies to relatively bright light so the typical light that you would be putting um on your porch or you know a security light on the side of your house um typically would not be bright enough to be regulated by this file there there's a a limit um expressed in Blom and only if you're above that limit it doesn't even apply um so so that's basically what we have now and I'll just quickly go through what we're proposing to revise the revision is the purpose of doing this um when we reviewed this in the B Review Committee we found that there was some room for you know making it clearer and making it more flexible so it'll actually be easier to implement easier to comply with um if these changes are approved so first of all currently there are two separate bys one applies to private lighting and one applies to public lighting and there've been situations where that's caused some confusion you know question what exactly is private lighting me what's public um you know which one is going to apply to a particular situation if this is adopted we're going to have one by one applies to all LS you know it does not exist uh public private doesn't matter so would apply to you know industrial commercial sites residential if they were to happen to have it light bright enough would it be typically true residence um you know Town building schools all of it would be covered by the same requirements um the new version would be more flexible in particular draw your attention to the height limits the um that has been found to be sometimes impractical so you know if you're close to the property line there's a formula that would limit the maximum height of a light to a fairly low level and often that's not really practical so now under the new version what we came up with was you can either meet the height limit or you can alternatively um meet limits on you know light intensity that would be measured at the property line it's easy to measure and um that could be you know if if if a light were out of compliance it could easily be corrected by redirecting the light away from the property line or installing a shield um you know there are various ways it could be this this is a lot easier to comply with than the current strict limit on height of a light um and that's really in a nutshell there's a couple of things in here that are uh issues that were not contemplated in the last verd of Iola 27 years ago um in particular for example example um now that led lights are so prevalent there been an issue of of the color of the lights so as you may noticed when LED lights are very much on the blue end of the spectrum you can be quite severe glare um and as a matter of fact the American Medical Association has actually come out with a recommendation to municipalities not to use very blue lights so we have a requirement in here that future lighting installations um would have a limit on color temperature which is really a mechanism to specify to try to avoid that very harsh blue light uh and that's to avoid the potential health effects of light ad add into the Spectrum as well as the potential uh glare um also one other requirement would be that um future building projects where a building permit is being applied for um the the proponent of the project would sub information on any outdoor lighting that would be included in the project that's sort of a common sense thing that would help the building inspector to determine if that if it's going to be in compliance uh it's better to do it in advance with hermit application than you know after the lights are installed um so that's basically it um in a nutshell it's it's all of the provisions of the current BW would remain the definition conditions the regulations the exemptions all the same with the changes that I mentioned we're consolidating two Vos into one uh adding some stuff to make it more flexible and easier to um comply with and making it clearer I'll add one more thing um and I think this may be the most important part if you look at the uh article at the end there are series of diagrams and um to me that's a really great Improvement because it would help everybody here and um as well as a future building inspector to really understand the type of lighting that is consistent with this policy is or is not consistent with the policy so I think that U that's it thank you Mr Brown uh presentation and questions on the motion the front yoski 16 I tried to read this proposal and I think I was having hard time it's extremely and it's very restrictive uh the light color that was just mentioned a moment ago it's limiting our choices to 2700 K if you go to a store that go people that the lowest end of the SP there are specialized sources which are lower than 2700 but in general 2700 is pretty much what you can get in the aage store so let first the limitation the other limitation is what we already actually have in the existing Bible which says that light fixtion should be so placed on the hood since the light source itself shall not be directly visible at any point beyond the low lines of suemac is illuminated I think may maybe I'm wrong but from my observations majority of properties in town and already violate this statement I can see light sources of other properties when I walk around and I shouldn't be able to do so so unless we intend to apply for the dark sky Community certification and that's a real thing and it's International movement or unless we intend to move or create some kind of astronomical observatory in tent which would be an astronomical mistake in my opinion uh I don't really see the reason to go into such a detail bio um so maybe I can actually stop at this point thank you very much for that reason I answer and questions come on motion or com on the motion uh Mr [Applause] Brown hi I can respond to the issues that were just raised um first of all the regarding the color issue um the limit is 3,000 it's not 2700 um many lights you know it's it's very easy to get a light that's at 3,000 that basically just excludes you know blue light it includes you know goes from white to kind of everything from White Light to the warmer part of the spectrum um and also I'll remind you that this only applies to very bright lights so the typical you know residential um property would not have the light that would be limited by this because it's not going to be bright enough to be subject so it would be it would apply for example uh to a parking lot where you know LED lights are being put in and yes we are seeing we prefer that it would be not more blue lights prefer 3,000 now the town has been following this policy for many years all of the the projects the the street lights that were installed about 5 years ago um the uh all of the projects for energy conservation that have been implemented with green Community grants uh which is which involved exterior lighting and fire stations uh all of the schools and so on has been uh free 000k or or less and it was no problem getting those lights and um in fact I think they're they look really good um now as far as the um the the thing about not seeing light off the property it's true that practically no light meets that standard that is not the current bylaw the current bylaw is is included in this so most of what you're seeing here is the current B um it's just we consolidating the public and private bylaws into one um and again the requirement is to Shield the light doesn't say it can't be usable at all at the property line just has to be shielded that's the requirement so if anything adopting this proposal would take the current B to make it more flexible and easier to comply with comments come on the motion I think some Mr shepher you want just a question Mr rder can you hear me now a a question relating to Historic Lighting in historic districts um like the lights on our Bridge um over the uh on the South Road or the light shines all the way up things like that is there any carve outs for historic districts historic buildings that might uh um want to have you know things as they were as opposed to Modern lighting question comes on the motion to the around try to respond to that in answer to that question there's not a specific exemption for historic type lighting however um there are many many um types of historic lighting that would meet this these standards um for example now the lights that are on the South Street Bridge does not comply um although they're not bright at all so it's quite possible that they're below the threshold for even being regulated but if they're very bright yes they the intent is they should be shielded and there are all kinds of star lighting that meet that reement so there would be no reason to say oh we have to pick you know the type that is not shielded we could easily pick the type that is shielded and achieve that historic you know atmosphere so kerosene lamps are safe okay Mr [Music] shepher thank you Gary shepher my question and maybe it's tucked in here somewhere but for the existing businesses the existing homes the existing lighting that's in town does that now have to comply or is it pre-existing non-conforming or if they lose a light or they lose a ballast does then that have to comply creating some disparity in the lighting program whether it being in a packing lot or on a building question comes on the motion regarding his grandfathering lights Mr Brown um any light that is lawfully installed before we adopt this um would not have to mean any newer requirement so in terms of shielding I mean theoretically anything installed you know since probably 1978 should have been shielded um so we don't have a specific grandfathering of that requirement but anything that wasn't you know that that's new here in this proposal such as the color temperature um would only be be um effective upon replacement of a light or it's installation of a new light come on the motion Mr shepher wasn't as clear as I'd hoped it to be but it sounds as though that provided it meets the current lighting bylaw well this proposed lighting bylaw that will be uh sustainable as it is but I know we've got metal Halli lights in town and a variety of sodium lights in town those probably will not meet this criteria so under this amendment will they have to be changed question and comes on motion Mr Brown uh if it current if it complies with the current bylaw it would not have to be changed um as far as metal Alli or you know I don't know what the color temperature of metal Alli is but in any case only when it's replaced or or would be newly installed would have to be uh theer apps comments come on the motion uh Mr Mary bar for Highland Street I just want to specifically ask will this affect the school and its parking lot in its current situation um there're already scrap for cash so I didn't know if this would affect them question comes on the motion Mr BR uh I'm assuming you actually it doesn't matter which school you're referring to if you're referring to high school um the school parking lots actually comply with the current B so um let's focus on the high school um those are actually excellent lights very well shielded um they are full cut off lights um so they meet byla and there wouldn't be any need for the school to uh to change them comments ansers come on the questions Z in the little back there Bill goodu uh 227 South Road Lane uh 900 LOM is a 60 W light bulb and I'm an old guy I need light flood lights I'm going to have to replace them all with 60 watts I mean 100 wat flood light isn't that deal that sorry question comes on Mr Brown again um so yeah there not you're not prohibited from installing a flood light I mean that is right but you know yes some flood lights would would be subject to regulation so if you would install a new flood light for example and it was above 900 lumens and you're correct I don't know how many watts but 60 watt you know equiv in candescent um all you'd be asked to do is to pick one that's Shield you know other words not an uncontrol because an uncontrolled flood light at that level of brightness you know could adversely affect neighboring properties and so yes the and that's current requirement um so that's nothing new uh that just carries over from the current BYO into this new version which is simply a consolidation of both public and private liting requirements comment come on the motion uh hi Carol H 14 drve I have a question since I'm technically challenged and I don't know one L from another but on your picture list here it looks like my lights are unacceptable like that looks like a picture of the flood light on my garage in my little light on my lamp CL so this being if I my light bulb goes out I have to replace the the Williams I I don't understand to understand this whole thing Mr Brown I suppose you didn't expect a Spanish Inquisition um changing white is not subject to the bylaw um it applies when you replace a lighting or it's all a new light so um you know it uh that's when you would have to meet the requirements and again if it's if it's a new light and you're putting it a flood light um it can be as bright as you want it can go anywhere you want but it should be shielded uh at least for the future installations gentlemen the back right there back Mike Kelly tus Lane um two questions one if you drive around town there some blue light bulbs and some of these fixtures that are outside using the word blue if we supposed to replace those and the second question would be I do a lot of design for security systems for businesses and white lighting outdoor is very important and I know there's been some struggles of getting business in the town by I think this bylaw would kind back some of the firmers SEC some of these business you're supposed to put in some of them have corporate standards my concern is that light light which is incourage because obviously it's a lower energy consumption but we encourage the light pass the property perimeter itself to detect people coming across so I'm a little concerned that that may affect some businesses trying to move in on motion state4 South Road move the question Mo question that's we cut off the DAT uh if it is approved so all those in favor of moving the question please say I those those say no no the eyes have all right it is for you um this is a town bylaw requiring a majority vote all those in favor please say I I those oppos say no no all the C up yeah I don't know say the last Tuesday night I think maybe ask the Congress to come forward [Music] and uh if I could John and Brian if you could count just that's I'm going to switch this up a little bit and ask if you guys could count this section and the B all right and you guys count this side of the hall and the state you can count count together if you guys could and uh okay all those in favor of the motion please stand [Music] somebody else do we you guys you guys just count this side of the stage okay okay all those uh that want to vote in opposition to the motion please stand [Music] SP BL am [Music] okay all right C she uh all right all those those in favor for the motion were 39 and those opposed were 61 so the motion does not [Music] carry to article 17 thanks everyone we're almost the near the end now this is a corre to the townt will Housing Trust bylaw see if the town V amend the general bylaws town of towns and chapter 140 entitled town housing trust and I'm not going to read the whole article but as written in the warrant is there a motion Mr moderator I move the town vote to amend its General bylaws chapter 140 entitled towns affordable housing trust as printed in the warrant all right uh is there anything to be there was a second time not okay all right and he said Miss Cal Veronica Ceta Road I'm on the bylaw committee um this article 17 merely corrects typographical errors that exist in the towns and affordable housing trust bylaw that was passed at town meeting last year it's chapter 140 um there was some typographical errors so it does not remove the bylaw from our Charter it merely corrects the typos so Mass General Law chapter 4 section 48 um should have been typed as chapter 4 section 4B um Master law chter 44 Section 5 C is referred to in bylaw and it should have been section 55 C and in another section section 15 of the bylaw it referenced article 7 Article 13 and article 12 and those should have been Section 8 section 14 and section 13 so the purpose of this is just to correct those typ of that's it thank you motion yesi arriv thank you for the explanation Mr moderator I have a simple question where can this viral be found I was really trying to locate this on the town and Massachusetts website and I failed so uh it's very difficult to provide any judgment on the proposed changes if the original text is not available thank you question comes on a motion um the second ring um thank you for the question I'm going to defer through you Mr moderator to miss hell afterwards but I do believe that it has not been published in Eco as of yet um it was um voted on last uh um the last meeting that we had and it never got into EOD however that happens am I correcting that Veronica C Road um yeah that's correct um uh there there are things that haven't been added to the town Z code um just backing up a little bit to special town meeting there was an article to um appropriate $14,500 to update our code and it was it failed so I'm not exactly sure how this gets into the e code but if you look in your um in the booklet the annual report it has last year's town meeting minutes in there and uh um if you want to see it you can just open that book and it's in there because last year's um town meeting warrant is in the so correct me if I'm I'm wrong the town this is a general by right it's not on the website um Mr moderator that's correct I have code up as we speak um ecode is careful in its publication in all municipalities where it publishes the code to state it's not an official version of the code in fact I think you can see in the town per desk there's a bound version of what is the official version of the code so town meeting or special town meeting adopts a change to a general bylaw or even to a a zoning bylaw um that is sent to the Attorney General's office when the Attorney General approves it it is then posted as the law requires and then it becomes effective um municipalities that use ecode will then send a copy of that to ecode presuming that they have the funding for ecode to Continue to update the code on an annual basis and the ecode Publishers will add it to the website but uh the previous speakers are correct that at present chapter 140 of the general bylaws which is the affordable housing trust bylaw that was adopted last fall is not yet published on the ecode website okay thank you for that clarification Mr Costa all right uh it is before you anything else to be said I think we're ready to vote all those in favor of a motion on article 17 please say up those oppose say no eyes have article 18 amendments to regulation of accessory [Music] ofs Mr Moder I to vote to amend the zoning BS chapter 145 section 145 through 36 entitled accessory po in residential districts as printed in the [Music] law anyone has a copy of the warrant are there any questions any explanation Mr slave I just need to read the report from planning board if that's okay to read the report to planning of planning board oh right right sorry write that uh on May 7 2024 uh from the planning board to annual town meeting uh subject report to annual town meeting for the 2024 town meeting record proposed zoning Amendment article 16 section 14536 entitled accessory apartments and residential district warrant article 18 submitted by the bylaw Review Committee in accordance with general laws chapter 40a Section 5 the planning board held a joint public hearing with members of the bylaw Review Committee on Monday April 1st 201 4 to review a propose a proposal submitted by the bylaw Review Committee to amend zoning bylaw article 16 section 14536 entitled accessory apartments and residential district the planning board voted unanimously to recommend adoption for the following reasons number one the bylaw Review Committee submitted the proposed amendments to section 14536 of the Town learning bylaw to the board of Selectmen for the 2024 ATM Warren as part of their charge of reviewing the codified bylaws of townsel the board received no verbal or written opposition to the proposed changes from the public at the public hearing number two the board found that the proposed changes to the accessory Department of bylaw and residential districts consist of administrative and clarification edits upon review of the merits of these proposed changes the board found the intent is to reduce redundancy in the application process and create a more efficient process for applicants number three under the district local technical assistance grant program the Town Council has executed a contract between the town and the Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission to survey the citizens and use that input with technical assistance to update the accessory department and residential district bylaw the goal is to provide further amendments at a future 2024 Town Meeting thank you Mr thank Mr all right uh is there any questions comments on the uh motion on article 18 is we're ready to vote oh question down here um treas um Edward Brook how does that affect already existing Apartments question comes on motion Mr swel thank you Mr moderator um because this is a zoning bylaw pre-existing apartments are grandfathered in under the the pre-existing bylaw questions and comments come on the motion think we're ready to vote all those in no Mr theion [Music] I am a member of the planning board and you will see that the board voted to recommend this the rision is being requested here uh it's not being discussed as other parts of that conversation that I think the public should be aware of um [Music] so as a member of the planning board we do agree with the changes being made and why they are being made but it's the article in itself and the reference to a pable that has created some difficulties um and I need to explain them to you the word affordable has a very legal definition so when applicants apply for necessory use of partment the once it's granted they are bound to mass fa housing requirements if the occupant of that apartment no longer remains a relative a relationship with the family so that means at that time when the application is applied for um and granted um there's a limit uh on the term of the permit which is I believe 5 years um which means it should be renewed in the event the apartment is vacated by the point of order uh Mr the point of order uh although the um um the speaker is correct in regards to Affordable accessory Apartments this there is no changes that have anything to do with the affordable portion of this bylaw I recognize uh I I think his point of order is well made quite frankly I was hoping to see where you going with with this B I don't think it's gerine to have an entire discussion about the terms of the accessory apartment bylaw so if you can get to the point really quickly well so tonight you're being asked to approve the current by law to make it more efficient and workable and for clarity I was just trying to update the public on what what not VIs in the article regarding affordable housing and I conclude my statement thank you I I appreciate the the offer uh Mr the but I think we do want to keep to the matters before the before the town so um and that proba raise more questions so um in the third row fourth row hi uh Victoria ji old battery Road um just want to know is it still the maximum 900 square ft in the viw that hasn't changed 9 it's either 900t or 35% do we get rid of the 900 foot right question comes on the existing bylaw there's any change to that Mr Kell Veronica C Road I'm on the bylaw committee and um bill cigan was also the chair of the bio committee and he's on the CPA he wasn't able to be here tonight apparently um um but he did send me um uh something to read so this addresses the I believe it's three changes that are being made um I thought that perhaps the planning board article we cover but because there seems to be a question the gold CBA okay this article makes changes to the accessory apartment bylaw 14536 and it's fixing a few problems that the CBA has encountered in issuing special permits for this use some changes were made to the bylaw by the planning board Fe a few years ago that resulted in some confusion in the process the goal of the CBA in issuing these permits is usable permit at the end the Board of Health has been supplying reports to us regarding any changes to the existing septic systems they require but the bylaw appears to require that the septic system upgrades be complete before the permit can be issued this wording is being fixed so that they just need to know that the board of house says yeah it can be done but once they get the permit they do the changes not before in addition there's been some confusion about adequate means of INR and egress to the accessory apartment and the CBA is not experts on the building code so we are asking for a note from the building department that these proposed means of Ingress and ESS are compliant this will prevent us from issuing a permit that bounces at the building department wasting a lot of time finally the size of the apartment in the current bylaw is limited to a maximum of 800 square ft the old bylaw would permit a larger apartment and the P permit was only valid for 5 years thus it is possible that a permit could be renewed that has a larger apartment so we are adding phrase that the applicant would not have to reduce the size of their apartment to comply with the new thank you okay comments come on the motion anything further to be said Mr the um this bylaw has been reviewed by the bylaw Review Committee as well as the planning board and in the discussions uh from the planning board um there was uh consensus that the square footage um was being addressed and I believe they felt that it could be allowed up to 900 square ft um and no more than 50% of the existing footprint uh occupied space of the building um that's doesn't seem to appear in this foreign article um but based on the planning which review um we felt that with the current social situation with um elderly parents having children move in with them and a lot of situations where parents are giving their homes to the children and plan to move into an accessory unit um so the increase in square footage um we felt should be related to the size of the existing structure and the occupied space so the board felt that a 900 ft limit um was acceptable or some revisions that would base it on a percentage of the occupied space but those are just comments that came from the board I don't know if anybody wants to think about them address thank you any comments come on a motion Mr Paige move the question okay uh we can do that unless we can just vote on the article are we ready to vote okay I think we are ready to vote thanks John um all right all those in favor of a motion and this is a zoning bylaw requires a 2/3 vote all those in favor of the motion on article 18 please say I I I those opposed say no no the rule that that does carry by 2/3 vote Article 19 Fe of large scale mounted solar installations ground Mountain solar installation see if the town will vote to amend the zoning bylaw of the town of town being chapter 145 town code section 14586 entitled large scale ground Mountain solar installation subsection C titled General requirements for all large scale ground solar power generation installations by striking there from in its entirety added three which presently provides for $300 fee and substituting instead a reference to the Consolidated rules of the towns and towns and planning board for the fee schedule is there a motion Mr moderator and move the town vote to amend its Zing bylaw chapter 145 section [Applause] [Music] 145-8515 annual town meeting for the record subject report to annual town meeting proposed zoning Amendment article 16 section 14586 c entitled General requirements for all large scale ground mounted solar power installations warrant Article 19 submitted U by the planning board um in accordance with general laws chapter 4A section 5 the planning board held a public hearing in on Monday April 1st 2024 to review a propose a proposal submitted by the planning board to amend zoning bylaw article 16 section 14586 renewable Alternative Energy section c entitled General requirements for all large scale ground mounted solar power installations the planning board voted unanimously to recommend adoption for the following reasons number one the proposed amendment will remove the plan board application filing fee from the text of the bylaw and included and included in the appendix e planning board fee schedule table added to chapter 175 175 planing board regulations in the code of the to ton number two the proposed change will allow for application fees for ground mounted solar installations to be changed through the typical process of amending the fee schedule through a planning board public hearing and board vote thank you Mr M thank you Mr slel so the matter is before you uh any questions comments fairly self-explanatory I guess I think we're ready to vote uh all those in favor of the motion on which one are we Article 19 please say I I those oppos say no no the eyes is happen by 2/3 article 20 letion of the outdoor lighting divisions in the zoning B I was down we should remove agenda uh again the Sor um but in light of the fact that we voted down article 16 I believe article 20 should be removed from the agenda or we may up without any B wait quite correct and I I think there was anticipation you're anticipated I think a motion to take no action so I'm going to construe your motion as a motion to take no action which is when we say second that we're not going to do anything that's what you're going to do okay was there a second you you second okay all right so motion is to take no action on article 20 I think we're ready to vote right all those favor motion to take no action on article 20 please say I those OPP say no no the eyes now and that concludes the business of this meeting I thank you all for coming out tonight and uh appreciate your participation in our democracy really all P say I say no no oh eyes out all [Music]