David did a new Frost that got over 12,000 views good evening welcome to the meeting of the armor select Board of July 23rd 2024 this is a hybrid meeting and therefore the following notice will be read to the record this is the formally advised that required by general laws chapter 38 sections 18- 25 in pursuance to chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 and act relative to extending certain covid-19 measures adopted during the state of emergency signed into law on June 16th 2021 is extended by chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 the armor select board will hold a public meeting on Tuesday July 23rd 2024 6 p.m. in the hearing room y with Town Hall 1146 through 28 sou South with mass the public is welcome to attend either in person or via the alternative public access information provided below and that public access information is on the town website um and it followed can uh allow someone to join by computer or by telephone please rise for the pl of Allegiance can't get up the flag of United States of America the Republic for which you stands one nation under God indiv liberty and justice for all what the first first item is announcements do we have any public announcements the town clerk Mary mazowski good evening thank you uh it's that time of the year to start with some election announcements um first things first the state has sent out a new round of vote by mail application cards uh those have hit the mailboxes I would just like to let uh the public know to please ignore the precinct that is listed on those cards the state made a mistake in in printing them so they all say Precinct one so the cards still work for their purpose just uh please ignore the the precinct number on them um the September primary will be SE Tuesday September 3rd so that is the Tuesday after the uh Labor Day weekend holiday um iners early voting will start on Saturday August 24th we will be open here in town hall that day from 9: to 3: we will also be open regular business hours uh the following week Monday through Friday 8:30 to 4:30 for inperson early voting uh the last day of register to vote for the September primary is also Saturday August 24th uh again we will be open in the office from 9: to 5: to take voter registrations uh there are again this is a state primary so there are democratic ballots Republican ballots and libertarian ballots um and just as a friendly reminder because of the um news that happened in the past week and a half uh there is no presidential race on the state primary ballot because the presidential primary in March so the ballot is set there are no changes there's no reason for um for a presidential race to be on that ballot so uh we won't see presidential races until November but just for the general public to um make them aware so that they're not looking for something that is not going to be there uh we should have sample ballots up in the next week or so we expect uh to start mailing vote by mail ballots in the next week or so um as we we get ready we're probably going to see an excess of 5,000 if not uh more vote by mail ballots for this election so there any questions I will be back before you at one of your next meetings to deal with the warrant and the other ministerial uh duties prior to the election but if you have any questions or if the public has any questions they can call our office and we're happy to answer them I have one question Mike I'm just curious I know that um the way that the process is now is very cumbersome um for your office is there has there been any reimbursement from the from the state so there has been so we get two separate reimbursements we get uh both an extended polling hours reimbursement that is a longstanding one that goes back to 1983 um and then we do get a vote by mail uh reimbursement I don't have the numbers off the top of my head in 2022 we received $40,000 back for vote by mail reimbursements and I want to say we are um probably slightly less than that for for the March primary but um but we still got a you know a decent Siz reimbursement they are reimbursing us for um workers doing for the state election for workers doing vote by mail um items and uh some um Advanced processing items and some supplies so we send that in I can get you the numbers happy to send you an email usually it the it's real money and it's real numbers so those vote by mail reimbursements come in through the Cherry sheets and then uh get deposit in the general fund so else all right next item is public comment anyone wish to be heard hands up on the big board who do we have up there we have Joe gin grin Joe can you hear me okay are you a little broken up Mr chairman can you hear me yes okay well that's all that matters then no um uh first uh Jo precin six um I first haven't had the opportunity to publicly congratulate Joyce Lenn and Tracy post on their election so I wanted to do that um and secondly um I updated the uh select board on the organizational changes with the Dy school committee um and I am previous in previous couple years um the school committee has done a rotating LA on and basically I was one of the few people that was uh showing up or at least coming on remotely um to try to update you guys but in the spirit of uh in the future um uh I think we've already started that communication I think that uh we can set unprecedented communication levels um that have never happened before so I look forward to that so I am the uh Yarmouth liazon to the school committee now appointed by the um the new school committee chair and we did our organization of all our committees so I just wanted to reach out um and let you know that I'm here and I will try to be here remotely uh if not in person um every week um Tracy uh is a li on from the selectman to the school committee she was at our school committee um and pretty much said the same thing um so I and the Town Administrator and the superintendent um every body is kind of working towards uh greater communication so I hope that happens but uh in the case that I'm here and you ever have any questions um of course I always have to put the disclaimer that I'm not speaking for the school committee um and I mainly just want to update you on public record things um the good part is that whenever we have our meetings on a Monday um and you uh the select board has a meeting on Tuesdays um it's it could be transparent uh to just be passing on the information that happened from the last evening in case you folks didn't get to look at the school committee meeting or Tracy might not have been able to update you yet so um thank you very much um have a great evening and um I'm look forward to uh helping out and communicating in any which way we can thank you Jo Christopher Deen hello CHR can you hear me okay yes I can okay you're on thank you okay well I'd also like to welcome the two newly elected board members and congratulations uh and I'd like to thank the board members and Town Administrator rittenau for your efforts of protecting yist water and its environments during the last year you have faced numerous challenges including the past drinking water contamination as well as the funding and installation of the new sewer system Mr rittenau noted two meetings ago that great strides have been made mitigating the past levels in addition as sewer construction is moving forward now however yarma faces a new water and environmental challenge an environmental crisis hit net last week that is still unresolved the federal government ordered Vineyard wind to shut down operation due to a failed fiberglass turbine blade that is shattered broken off into the ocean and washed ashore on nantucket's beaches for context each turbine blade is reported to be longer than a football field so it's enormous Manet has wisely closed its beaches due to public safety concerns and since then the same fiberglass remnants have landed on the shores of marth's Vineyard as well as chadam according to the cas Cod Times the town of Truro has issued a public alert that over the weekend that Vineyard wind has notified Town officials that the fiberglass pollution will soon hit Truro beaches within Gates The 4our Nantucket select board meeting held last week revealed a number of concerning things Vineyard winds ocean turbines rely on a constant supply of fossil fuels to operate turbines generate tremendous heat so the turbines require oil and grease to lubricate the spinning gears within the turbines the turbines also rely on poisonous chemical coolants and refrigerants to control the excessive heat produced by the spinning turbines so these poisonous chemicals are apparently stored in enormous storage tanks that have been built adjacent to the turbines out in the ocean when the wind doesn't blow or the federal government shuts down operation Vineyard wind relies on coal fired and natural gas electric power plants to make up for the electricity so this natural disaster has raised numerous questions concerning yarm given the spread of this pollution what will happen to Yarmouth Southshore beaches from Lewis Bay to Bass River should this fiberglass debris wash a Shore did any oil or poisonous chemicals leak as a result of the failed turbine blade what will happen to the red jacket resorts for properties for example that extend from Parker's River to Bass River should Yar Shoreline be closed and will this environmental disaster happen again a quick search of the internet reveals that these turbines uh blades fail frequently around the world so in light of these questions Senator sear posted on his social media that he would like to answer his constituent's questions about this environmental disaster and select chair member Stone I would ask please accept Senator Sear's offer and invite him to your next selection board meeting so South Yarmouth residents may ask him reasonable relevant and respectful questions about this environmental disaster you may recall Senator Seer has appeared before this board several times during the last year however he was not permitted to respond to the Public's questions due to procedural rules in addition you kindly have indicated in the past that you would be happy to invite Senator seir to a meeting in order to respond to the Public's questions given the enormity of the current environmental disaster and Senator Sear's offer to meet with his constituents this is an appropriate time to invite him thank you for the opportunity to speak thank you anyone else for the big board anybody so okay we will move on to the next item which is a recognition of service citation from the Y select board to David hno can David come out he's already out no you still back there oh there he is okay Davy we uh after we hear a few words from Paul we'd like to um express to you our most sincere thanks and gratitude for all the great work you've done for the town of yth uh I can't think of anyone else that was recently most been most instrumental in our area of communications um but I'll let Paul speak first and then we have a citation for you thank you and thank you for the opportunity to uh thank David it was about two years ago that David came on board and started working with uh the town in our Communications Department at that time it was we were just beginning to really put together a plan of what that's going to look like and I wasn't too sure that Dave was going to cut it however um his reliability um especially when it came to taping Town Hall meetings and his dedication to making everybody look good um never went unnoticed um your creativity and problem problem solving uh attributes consistently brought fresh ideas and solutions to the projects we had here in town your expertise as a digital media producer and your savviness with social media have been uh truly invaluable to the town everything from recycling with Roby road work with rosala your animations backing anything from uh voting to Wastewater and many other areas but especially the notified me me that got 12,000 views on Facebook that's quite an outstanding feat down here um no matter what we threw at you you managed to get the job done you always did it in a very professional way and many many many times made a smile your skills as a videographer has not only captured moments within the town but you elevated the town's messages to new levels thank you for always uh showing up when we needed you even at the last minute always treating folks with kindness and respect and going above and beyond with every task that we threw at you as you move on to you next chapter I want to express my deepest thanks and gratitude for everything you've done during your time with us your presence will be greatly missed but I'm really excited to see what your next Advent is going to bring so we wish you the best and uh we'll truly miss you okay this is citation from the town of Yarmouth um the official certificate of appreciation it says the Yarmouth select board hereby recognizes David yel for outstanding service to the town of Yarmouth and let it be known that the town extends its sincerest thanks and appreciation for your dedicated service recording numerous committee and board meetings creating ENT aing videos and postings which significantly increase the number of views on each of the town's social media platforms and assisting our Communications team with the town's branding of various projects this citation was approved by the yarma select board on this 23rd day of July 2024 and it's sign signed by me on behalf of each member of the board board theor select board you come up and take this congratulations thank you back to work I I quite fell fell into this job by accident actually uh as the old saying goes It's not what you know but who you know and I just happened to know the right person when this position came available uh video has always been a hobby of mine and to make well a career out of it is is quite a blessing um and to do that in government for the town of Yarmouth it's been very special uh we we've worked together to pass the sewer infrastructure Bill we've helped change the the town seal we've worked hard at informing residents um through creative means whether that's uh memes or Graphics or what have you um to to work for this town has been wonderful Bob thank you so much uh Lori as well thank you too you and Paul even I even Paul he left when when I said to them hey let's let's let's kind of get with the times here with our social media let's let's start you know incorporating memes and and popular culture into our government Publications I said yeah let's let's do that go for it and they they really they trusted me and that's that's a big thing and this town has some wonderful people working in it absolutely wonderful people uh from all the Committees I think I've covered close to 500 meetings in my time here um all the volunteers all the admins of those committees oh my gosh the work that those people put in is incredible um and it has been a joy to to cover everything for this town to get to know all of these people and to have an impact in a role that I find very fulfilling so for all of that thank you very much thank you David he's done a terrific job um okay now we go from um Communications to oysters and cogs and clams and blue muscles I miss anything I think you got it all you can come up front if you like sure so you're um as I understand this you want to um do an agriculture Farm up at U Grace Beach area in the north side corre and if I read the paperwork correctly the process is you come here and get an endorsement and then you got to go before the state and the federal officials and then you come back here well it's it's a it's a pretty drun out process it is a process for sure um I put all the paperwork together I want to say about 5 years ago and it's been on hold for a little while and then the a new shellfish conable came in and it's finally getting underway so um I'm just looking forward to it and it's like another step in my life that uh hopefully I can um relax a little bit more enjoy the environment which I absolutely love because that's who I am I I have a 100 ton Master's captain's license in the Coast Guard I I uh commercial fish um actually that's where I was all day today um but on on another note on the offseason I am a general contractor by trade so um but I I have a passion for the outoors and I'm looking forward to taking the next step and starting on oyster gr okay great I'm going to let you give us um an overview of your plan and your background which we have writing but we this is a public hearing so I have to read this notice into the record first okay says public notice all residents and stakeholders of the town of armouth are invited to attend the public hearing to discuss the application of an agricultural lease to cultivate and grow shellfish proposed by Christian Hayes of yport the proposed lease location will be in yport cap cot Bay the hearing will be held on Tuesday July 23rd 2024 beginning at 600 p.m. at yam town hall heing room 11:46 through 28 South yam mass and that is the notice um so why don't you tell us a little bit about the farm the agricultural Farm you have in mind and the period of the lease and the incremental buildout so to speak of of the farm and what your background is and what got you into this um well as I said I love the outdoors um my father was a a natural resource officer growing up as a kid so I've been around it a while um I have family who have 9 acre Grant uh in Barnstable Harbor and I've helped um a friend of mine Bob catrell out in Dennis um out on Crow's pasture with his grants so I have some experience with that and as far as the process goes I want to start out um potentially putting $10,000 a year into the grant um of course I've got to get materials in seed so um every year potentially for the next five years I'm going to build up cages get cages um and then get the seed and then um you know uh let them grow for a few years and hopefully in 3 years I can basically uh start selling them so it's going to be a process and a little bit of a learning curve of course um but I feel confident and I have several people that I can ask questions as needed and um and then continue to grow the farm so um my access I do have one of those little slips down there in bass hole I can take uh my little skiff down into that area down in front of uh mil Creek and um basically cultivate the farm and and get it going now these um cages that you mentioned MH when it's low tide are they like visible yes yep they are visible yeah they sit about 4 in off the Sand 4 Ines yeah about 4 in what holds them they have anchors you'll put anchors down and keep it keeps them in place actually I'm good friends with the Georgia is uh Chris George is a good friend of mine and I grew up with the family um um my good friend who's passed away Tom George Jor sure um he he and I have done a lot of tuna fishing together and Commercial Fishing together what protects your farm from let's say people that are less than respectful of of uh aquaculture well I mean that one that's one of the reason I asked you they were exposed yeah they are Expos OS and yes there have been problems in the past with that and um I actually was talking to Chris about that I want to say a few months ago and we're considering uh maybe putting up some kind of I guess I call them Critter cams or some kind of video video type thing and the access point would be I believe down on Warf Lane there in yarmouthport so people can that's the closest point to get to those grants and they could walk out there and hopefully the video camera can can pick up them walking and potentially their automobile and things like that yeah um is the $10,000 per year basically a solely a financial decision or is it to get your crops at certain that's the right word at certain levels before you go on and do the next phase basically my my decision that's what I'm estimating okay so um I'm hoping to invest over the next 5 years 10,000 into it and then you know keep growing and growing with year three hopefully you be a profitable year correct and they do make oysters now you can buy them at 3/4 of an inch size so it could be even sooner than that so I'm I'm considering that option as well I'm going to go to the board minute but is it in their natural habit that only oysters like cling onto stuff like PE and things like that I no they do they like the rocks and they gather together they Clump up together um but they're in cages and they'll be in bags so they will be there'll probably be two or 3 thousand seed in one of those little bags and they all get to grow together and and then once they get to a certain size then you spread them out into more cages and and it just gets bigger and bigger and this is just going to be a wholesale market right correct um let me ask you this question because I was curious when I read it there's two months of the year that they come out right correct it's January and February why is that why you would you just well even been there all year round well you never know you might get some ice one of these years I know we haven't seen it but I can remember days in Barnesville Harbor them that it'll crush the cages and it'll destroy your your um see which you do not want to have and it'll crush the oysters so you mention you stored them in temperature controlled where do you put them in actually you just store them in the bags and you put them on shelves Stacks in a in a shed or in a in your garage really MH that's all you have to do that's really all you have to do is put them back y couple months later yeah early March okay well at this point I'm going to go to the audience and then I'm going to come back to the board does anybody in the audience have anything to say either in favor of this project or against it see a gentleman in the back here you tell us your name and where you reside my name is Al Keller and they live in yport and I've been shellfishing this town for 40 years and I'm against this because it's going to open up indor box and we're we're going to have the shelfish grants all over their Flats there and uh I don't think it's a good idea I've been shellfishing here for 40 years and I've seen the shellfish go down I think the town should be doing it I don't know if you're familiar with Brewster Brewster puts their own shelfish out and every Sunday for a few months they let the residents go and harvest those shellfish we should think about that out Flats out there instead of privately owned shellfish grants because you go B haror you go in Dennis the acres and Acres they take over the land I don't think it's a good idea I ask question I just I'm just curious what else would that be used for I mean it's it's used for recreation H how though boats go back and forth there and I do a lot and I don't think should be harvested like that we we we already have grants on the North side have two yeah we started already so it's open Pand box is not be I just want to make sure you knew there were already grants out there okay for what it's worth I think the good materials we got it said that the um surface was something like 6 in of of uh like pebbles gravel and then mud underneath that and it did indicate that it really wasn't suitable in its present state for any um aquacultural use we used to have a lot of surf clams there until the boats come in there and cleaned it all out the the surf Clan boats they come in at high tide and and decimated the the surf clams there used to be a lot of surf clams there in that in that area and uh I'm just I'm on a shelter Advisory Board also and I haven't seen this gentleman come before sh he's not Advisory board with his proposal yet you know then you got to go to the con there all L things you got to do anyway thank you um sure you can speak anytime you wish you don't have to wait for any particular order I'm sure you have a response yeah um so the grants on the North side we issued one a number of years ago as an experimental Grant we have no the town is not going to designate any more Grant locations in Lewis Bay there's a waiting list and so when someone vacates a grant then we'll go to the waiting list we started as a pilot program a few years back the grants in Cape Cod Bay it worked out well there's been now two issued under the past shellfish Constable uh Mr Hay's proposed location is in between those two grants um so we're not expanding the footprint of the grant lease area don't have any intention to uh but basically this is unused space and our shelfish consal has gone out and surveyed the area um and found zero shellfish the the bottom is as you said it's um 6 Ines of Like Sugar Sand and then your your mud or your Pete your hard Pete underneath uh basically at this point in time baring of of anything else and in between two existing grants that's that's the proposal as is not not to the town can limit the amount of lease space that we issue and and so we don't ex you know intend to expand this footprint um necessarily much larger than it is hopefully now that answers your question uh to a degree uh but this process would entail uh the application if the board gives preliminary approval then the application will be forwarded to DMF they would come out and Survey it themselves and then issue state licenses then at that point yes it would come back to the board for final approval yeah so this really if I'm not mistaken just allows this project to go to the next level right to to be considered by the state and in the feds right correct comes back I just have one question so um Mr Keller spoke about other committees is is that is that factual that the I've never heard that before I thought it was this board's um we have a that Mr Keller sits on is uh and I actually staffed it it's the waterways and shellfish advisory committee so it's an advisory committee so uh proposals for docks um and other water related issues would come to us like Doc proposals and awise would come to us uh so we could comment on it before it would go to concom who's the regulatory committee so conom would you know consider our input as an advisory committee um things like this I I'm pretty sure this did go to um in front of the board I don't know if it was a meeting that you were there or not in front of the advisory committee but or it was mentioned in our comments I I don't Mr Hayes had no obligation to have a hearing in in front of our committee um but I mean we can do that we can we can schedule that and and have that on one of our agendas I think probably before it goes to the final approval to the board if if um if that would make everybody feel better I just I know I've been I've here been here before we looked at other ones and I hadn't heard that process before and I don't want to make it I want to make sure that we're following the same process for everybody so right that's my question question questions course no um do you have anything jge thank you I don't have any questions just a just a clarification is this is this application can should I assume has the endorsement of the shelfish warden um I've been talking to bill so I would say I know you've been talking I just want to get that on the record yeah there's a memo in the packet for cons H the shelfish ward thank you yes yes I'll make a motion to close the public portion of here second okay I have a motion to close the public portion of the hearing and second does anybody have anything to say before we go on that okay all those in favor of the motion signify by saying I I I anyone opposed all so the public hearing has been closed I move that we approve the um application second my understanding is that we're giving a preliminary approval that is where we stand in this process so the approval is to approving the application that's right bill right it's a preliminary approval correct is what we be voting on tonight right it need to come back in front of you again is to move it to the you're right Mar suppos approval so that's the motion yes have a second I second okay all those in favor I I anyone opposed that passes unanimously we wish you the best of luck thank you and um hopefully you'll have a very successful operation thank you very much nitrogen water to yes okay next item is the um paint stewardship program legislation endorsement it says Thomas iring via Zoom is he coming in so Mr Irwin has been elevated he's here and if I could invite um Roy White House and Jay Gardner up I know the um the board has correspondence from the yth recycling and solid waste advisory committee that we had invited here this evening and also from the Board of Health regarding the proposal so who's going to speak on this J so just come on up and um the they could talk about the the the Committees the Board of Health um was Jay will explain and and is here to represent the recycling and solid waste advisory committee but Tom Irwin's not coming right Tom Irwin's here oh he is here well if we could Elevate Tom to a status I see him on board okay okay Tom's elevated good evening Mr Irwin welcome mute go good evening Tom good evening you hear us okay good right so who wants to begin you want me to start sure my name is Roby White House I'm the assistant Public Works director for the town of Yarmouth and the liaison for the Yarmouth Recycling and solid ADV solid and solid waste and recycling advisory committee man that's a mouthful that's why we call them razak that committee is down to three members and they heard from Mr Erwin uh just a a little over a week ago at their most recent meeting and they were very very excited about this adventure that's going forward and they were actually pleasantly surprised to find that one of their members a former resident of the state of Connecticut actually had firsthand experience with care and he expressed his vehement support for that um program and he was very grateful to have to hear that it's something that's coming here to Massachusetts so in your packet you have a letter from the chair representing those committee members um giving you their support okay J uh Mr chairman to the board the uh the Board of Health heard this on July 15th the presentation was was given and unanimous support um you should have that in your packet additionally uh a good number of municipalities across the Commonwealth have signed on to this the board UND uh I think they saw very quickly the wisdom in being able to take this toxin out out of the uh out of the the waist stream and be able to manage it properly protecting the environment and the health concerns as as Roby mentioned mentioned certainly States Connecticut Rhode Island Maine Vermont and New York have all have signed on and demonstrated success with this and now it's it's coming to you to be able to uh then add your support okay great Tom yes sir um good evening and thank you for this opportunity to again discuss the pain stship with you um this evening as we further consider the Arma select board supportive paint stewardship I would like to begin by highlighting a few key points for my June 25th presentation before entering into a discussion with questions and answers uh this evening uh uh uh first of all you will recall that paint stewardship is a program where unwanted paint and return to any participating paint retail store any day the store is open without a disposal cost and without regard for the where the paint was purchased and that this is a totally voluntary program for retailers and transfer stations and the consumer part will be paying 75 cent to a dollar fee at the time of purchase and as already noted this program is already operating in 10 states and five of our surrounding states and uh the key benefits that yth is going to see is the it's going to be a service your residents will value and as we previously discussed 91% of the Yarmouth residents with one wand and paint in their basements of which they're likely many we deeply appreciate this law second it's going to represent no cost to armor or any municipality and will decrease household hazardous waste stay costs freeing RDP money for Yarmouth to address other important Solid Waste issues and third paint stewardship having the support of Manufacturers paint retailers consumers and the state sets an important standard for future product stewardship legislation and as a model will help guide us as we consider future product stewardship legislation that will address larger items like mattresses and solar panels and so forth and the support for this leg legislation is Broad as we've noted uh the MMA calls out pain stewardship and their testimony to the environment and na resources committee the mass DP calls off product stewardship in general and paint stewardship in particular in their 2030 Solid Waste PL master plan and there is support from paint manufacturers and paint retailers that 3200 Mass residents that have signed petitions the embarrassingly large number of mass residents bring their unwanted paint to our neighboring states the 28 reps and 12 centers from both parties who sponsor or co-sponsor this bill and the current 82 municipalities that have passed similar resolutions and endorsements and the goal of pain stewardship resolutions is to clearly demonstrate to an overloaded legislature that addressing the state Solid Waste problem that pain stor helps begin relieving is a priority for enough municipalities that it deserves not only the legislator serious consideration but also their support in making this a law in the Commonwealth therefore with this in mind I respectfully request the armouth select board add their valued endorsement of paint stewardship by passing the supportive resolution being considered the even thank you okay does anybody um have any questions on any from to any of the speakers no I think we got so much information last time that that may be ready think we're ready to vote make a motion we support the resolution I'll second that okay we have a motion in a second um all those in favor of the motion say I anyone oppos so that passes unanimously thank you for coming in and thank you Tom for bringing this to our attention much appreciated take care thanks thank real thanks Jay very much great follow up okay the next item goinging with J Public Health Excellence Grant from bable County okay good evening everyone good evening uh again Jay Gardner director of Health I'm joined by uh Barry Lewis assistant director of health and Katie O'Neal from bville County historically public health is is widely misunderstood right and and historically underfunded tragically quite brly not just here on the cape but across the Commonwealth the uh many communities struggle to to meet even mandated Services right the core Services as public health responsibilities exponentially grow we saw that with covid and Beyond certainly healthy people 2030 let us know that it's health is determined far beyond just our access to health care right we have to be able to track and monitor uh social determinants are a key component of that and uh I I do want the board to understand and the community to understand that Yarmouth doeses meet its responsibilities in mandated services but there is a significant amount more that we could do with additional resources gra that I think somebody has not unmuted themselves I think it looks like it's been fixed yes so Y withth is meeting it's it's mandated services however there's more there's more work to do the discipline of Public Health uh the umbrella that the responsibilities that we have exponentially grow There's an opportunity through the barnow county and I'm going to turn this over to Katie O'Neal to talk to the the mechanics of what this would look like uh would them be opening for questions but it's important that the board and the community understands this is budget neutral there's there's no there's no charge to the there a grant there's no charge for the to the the resident or to this community additionally it doesn't suplantar that are we taking any of our services and bringing them to maybe less resourced communities that's not the case at all this is about credentialing and training Data Tracking um if if your approval and the Board of Health has approved this you'll have that in your pack um this puts us with a collaboration of 12 other communities on of the 15 on the cape that are already participating with barnable County so it's a great opportunity I'll ask Katie O'Neal if she would to step you through the process and then we'll be open to some questions great thank you so much for that great introduction uh for the record I'm Katie O'Neal shared services program manager for barnville County um if you have time this evening I'd love to run you through a quick PowerPoint I know you have a busy evening so I'll be cautious of your time a little background on the pH or the public health excellence grant program um as Jay mentioned this is really meant to bolster Public Health Services it's meant to increase uh staff sharing as well as really expanding opportunities um so as Jay mentioned this is not supplanting any existing services that you already have and the sharing of staff is not meant to share your existing staff but to add additional staff that we have either hired or contracted at the county level a little history of how the Grant came about in 2016 there was a special Commission on local and Regional Public Health that really Dove deep into the 351 autonomous Boards of health and health departments um they looked at all of the health departments across the entire Commonwealth for a few years and in 2019 came out with their final report and their findings and the recommendations and what they came up with is like Jay said there's not enough staff there's not enough money there's not enough time for health departments to really go above and beyond their statutory requirements and shockingly the state actually produced some money to support this finding which is um rare especially in public health um some of the other recommendations that came out of that final report were to really Elevate the standards um to strengthen the service delivery to improve data reporting and set Education and Training standards as Jay already mentioned the benefits um that the county has received through this grant process is a little over 480 um $480,000 towards the public health Excellence Grant and we also have a training Hub which has a little over $500,000 for um credentialing and training of individuals that take part in this program so it's a little over a million dollars total um if you do decide to come on board with the program the governance board is actually the board that votes on where the funding goes for the ph and that comprises of the health agents or the health directors and all the towns that take part each Town gets one vote um any financial decision goes to the board and they make the ultimate decisions on how the money is dispersed there's no financial obligation to the town this is uh funded through state and federal tax dollars so you don't have to put any money in it's already completely funded um if you decide you're not happy with the program you don't have to pay anything back um there's really no financial obligation you can pull out at any time past fundings uh we've had some really great things that we've done so far the the program hasn't been in existence for very long but we've actually done a lot um we've had quite a few training education credentialing that are actually really expensive that um towns take a few years to to be able to save up to to to send their staff members to and we've been able to get quite a few individuals trained in credentials we've done uh quite a few public health screening and wellness clinics so we've been able to bolster and increase the amount of blood pressure and glucose screening clinics that we've done we've been able to bolster bone density screenings um we've done cardiac tests um we can offer firefighter monitoring um so the County's already done a lot of these programs but with this funding we're able to increase the amount of services that were offered in we've been able to purchase two Community refrigerators um and those Health departments are managing those programs which is really a wonderful um opportunity for their residents who are having food and security issues to be able to utilize that program through having a shared Community refrigerator we have a shared health inspector that we can deploy at the town's request so um if someone needed to go on vacation or if you had a large food truck fair or um any kind of um you know large event that required additional Services we could deploy our shared health inspector to that um we've been able to increase our shared summer inspector time um as well as provide inspectional supplies and a really incredible inspectional software which has um data reporting directly to the state which cuts out a lot of Staff time in terms of reporting future fundings we will absolutely continue to do the training and credentialing um we really hope to increase the amount of screening and wellness clinics that we offer the plan for this year is to hire a community health educator hopefully who can really be out in in the community running Wellness programs and really bolstering some of those Public Health Services that we haven't been able to offer in the past as well as continue with the shared health inspector and other Wellness programs that we already have excuse me so the state really based a lot of the funding on uh what they call Performance standards or capacity the assessment of performance standards the average across the entire Commonwealth was about 78% so that means um if you I know the pictures are tough to see but that orange color were communities that were not able to reach the performance standards Cape cot is well above that we're we're close to 90% which is really impressive we had one of the highest performance standards in the Commonwealth um for the cape as a whole so we should all be proud of what we're offering on Cape Cod like Jay said we are meeting our our minimum criteria but um we're at have an opportunity to do more than the minimum if the town would like to participate the first step is to sign a letter of commitment which is what we're here for this evening it doesn't lock you into anything it's just a nice way for you to to trial the grant program to dip your toes in the water see if you're happy with the services um you would have to do a capacity assessment which is just providing some inspectional data the state um requests specific spe ific reports depending on what they're looking for and then they base any additional funding on those reports so um if you know J says we're having a hard time I don't know I don't want to put words in your mouth but if you you say that we're having a hard time the state might provide extra funding as part of this grant program to help bolster that um which is a really nice nice um nice thing to have um if you are happy with with the program then we would ask you to sign an IMA or an intermunicipal agreement um and we would come back back to the board that would be a formal vote that would be um a step down the road um and another part of the participation is to to convene in those government spor meetings which are right now monthly um they might be pushed off to quarterly but at the the current their their monthly meetings um and then the other last requirement is to eventually meet all their performance standards which I believe you guys are already meeting anyway and I will open it up to any questions to the board at this point thanks Mr chairman um as some of you know I'm a county commissioner and this is an initiative that at the county level we're we're very proud of and I think it builds on the sort of the relationships that have existed for years here in bonable County um and here in Yarmouth we've been I think well served by our health agents uh currently and uh in the past um and the collaboration between our health board and our health officials in the county has been nothing but superb um I think that's one of the things that I think made it easier for us maybe than others to secure this kind of funding it's become that because of that collaboration between the county health department and our individual Boards of health and our individual health agents uh the cape has a very strong group of Health agents um I've been in and out of municipal government now for 45 years and um this partnership has been nothing but strong uh you know for at least that length of time and I'm sure longer and uh so I think it's a it the fact that we're getting this funding I think is a tribute to you folks at the county and County Health Department as well as the folks here in your position Jay and uh you know with Bruce and his work here um the this relationship is strong and I think the fact that the state is interested in helping support capacity building and feels comfortable giving the county this kind of funding to work with our towns and make sure that that money gets to the towns um I can't think of a time where we haven't needed here in Yarmouth County help on something sure so uh the fact that these resources are here and they're being made available to the towns I think is terrific there's some towns that need more than others but you know everyone's being given an opportunity to participate and that's one of the things I think is great about this initiative is um everyone's been invited to sort of join in and uh it's it's an Excellence Grant the whole goal is to improve and and create a culture of excellence in terms of delivering Health Services uh it's been going on for a while and I'm glad that we're a part of this so thank you for the work that you're doing at the county and and Jay thank you for the work that you're doing here for the T of Yarmouth it's a it's a great partnership so I'm I'm fully supportive thank you this is great I love collaboration and I love money especially when we don't have to spend it but um you know over time there's been a lot of instances I know our nurses that we've had with flu clinics and so on so forth have all always uh been on the brink because of budgetary issues so things like this is great I just have a couple of questions um surprised to hear that we're 12th was there hesitation to get into this program previously or I I wasn't here I I I will tell you this you know across Health agents when they hear shared resources they're thinking that perhaps you're extracting what maybe some of the bigger communities and think we're going to help out some of the smaller municipalities so I think there might have been some hesitation in the past on that I wasn't here at the time but uh my guess is that some of the larger communities thought that well I'm going to be sending an inspector or potentially a a half a 0.5 FTE nurse to some of the smaller communities when I need them here now um I think that was the hesitation really this is not yet this is supplementing and not R st this isn't regionalization where an inspector is in one Community two days a week and another three we we're going to have all the capacity that we have and in addition we're going to have the resource of uh of Bible County so Tracy you bring up a good point we could have been we're I think it's 12 we y will be lucky number 13 but I think that's what it was was that in in fact say we don't want to lose any of this that we have in place now and that's just not the case okay how long do you anticipate this to last so it's it's renewable every three years so we've already received guaranteed funding through um the end of 2027 fiscal year 2027 um and then we have an opportunity to renew it three more times so nine more years all right um and so you said in the process is to come back at some point after you collect the data and you do the data assessment is that data assessment a cumbersome process for our staff is there assistance in that so I I actually was a health director for a different town I've been through this process I can speak firsthand it it can be a bit cumbersome but we are happy to send our staff here to come and do any scanning that is required and so the IMA is a basically a check-in after all this is done what's the estimated time for us I mean I'm just what I'm curious is is is our health department going to have enough time to assess the value of what we're getting into prior to sending signing an IMA we won't come to you unless you're comfortable you have you have plenty of time to wait if if you want to to I don't want wait I just want so we don't get the services until the IMA sign is that you can start receiving some of the services absolutely okay so my my my last question is how do you uh well two questions where can I find what's allowed in the grant um you know what's in the scope of services and number two how do you promate your list of what we're going to bring to barnow County because some of the things that I think of right off the bat um aren't things that are on here so I'm not sure if they're allowed but I'll just tell you where I'm going with this um I feel that the county needs a um when someone wants to go into treatment for um a drug situation it's a very small window of which they're sometimes um willing to do that and if you've ever tried to assist somebody in that process it takes a long time and I know I've talked about it at this board several times before it's call back in an hour call back in two hours what insurance do you have um and if we had a central place that was able to help somebody in that situation for it's not enough for us to do alone but it would be something that I would think that the county might be able to um look at providing because it's um it would be a resource um that I think would be very well received and I know I talked to the people from Duffy about it um they they sometimes have it but it's not a 24-hour thing you really need to strike while that that is um an opportunity and it is an overwhelming task for somebody in that situation so um I'd just be interested in if that's something that you guys have ever considered as part of this program that that's fantastic input um the state has um started discussions um on something similar um but it's formulated more around um the opened settlement funding um so we can absolutely come back and have a larger conversation but that would also involve um our our human um a few other Departments of the county but that's that's a great idea wonder if other communities have asked for this or how you promate your list of what you're going to work on for the year is that come from the health directors okay so it it gets a little iffy um the opioid settlement funding is available to a lot of the community so um in these one-off instances the allowable funding goes through a special request process well you know we're how many years into this situation now we're still talking about it and it's always some you know it's just to me it's it's there's no time like the present AB we' got to get we got to find treatment for people um it's very very difficult we don't have treatment here on the cape we don't have very very many beds and um you know we could talk about all the other funding sources but it seems to me that this is a nice um Source that's available so that's why I have to put my plug in I appreciate that it likely wouldn't be covered um sorry jay no no no goad um it likely wouldn't be covered because the opioid funding is available um but it is always something that you can petition the state for approval for well see that's where I would love the county to help because like I said it's not really a full-time thing for one town but it would be something that maybe the county would petition the state to provide that for all the towns that absolutely a discuss for the government board I appreciate it thank you yeah know you're bring up a very good point and and I think and Mark talked about collaboration and relationships this is so much about data right we're going to be Have A needs assessment it just inherently whether it's anecdotal or data driven we're going to know exactly what are those what are the items that we need to be putting our scarce resources that they never have enough right the margins are pretty wide on public but you're right weac we talk about this uh significantly but I think in those discussions that collaboration their strength with barnable County and now all these 13 if I don't want to presuppose a vote here but 13 communities there strength in that the voice is stronger but but you're absolutely right whether it's mental health or substance abuse that's a significant challenge it's a deep and complex societal issue that has significant consequences that would be certainly one that we be want to be discussing but there's many more and I I really think Data Tracking because right you can tell the story now you know where you need to put those resources right you know what's in your top drawer what are those top things that these other communities are are also dealing with and how do we measure it how do we make a difference how do we communicate to the community right many of this is immunizing the community with good information that's one of the things but you bring up a very good point we're not there yet but there's urgency to that thank you uh thank you I I'm happy to hear that it's talking about at least nine years out so this is something that would be um available I also like the portion on the training and development um I think that that becomes a very key piece um having been in healthc care myself in the past uh I know how important that is uh not only getting that experience at those meetings but also in the uh meeting of other people who know exactly what you're going through who you can rely on for assistance there's nothing like that um and I know that that would be beneficial the other is that we never know when another potential Health crisis could come knocking on our door um and there's strengthen numbers of having um people ready and prepared for this kind of thing so um and I want to also say that I very pleased with the health department uh with the staff with uh the work that's been going on uh you've had kind of a challenging year in some respects and I think that you've uh handled it brilliantly so thank you very much I I very much appreciate you saying that um but I do have to also commit you're a Town Administrator here who is very supportive of our department and anytime we go whether it's an issue we have many conversations that happen and to prioritize that many town that and that's That's Unique that's many times Town administrators see the health department as that office down the hall that they don't want to hear from and I can tell you Bob is not that Bob wants to hear to know what that is because every successful entity the community is built on a foundation of good health and he understands that and we have many times daily conversations to supportting in that so there is there's no issue that I come to he may not be able to solve it right away so I appreciate what you're saying but it's a team effort internally as well so thank you for that thank you oh um I think this sounds like a wonderful addition of human and Technical Resources that you can draw on as needed uh clearly the public health director and assistant director from the town are very much in favor of this and that seems to me like you know a a vote that we should listen to um it sounds wonderful and I appreciate as D has said the ability to plan some what long term with a br that will probably be renewed for threeyear increments and I I almost wish that we could have done this last year because I so appreciate the idea of um the offer of just rarely uh subbing in when um a health department is overwhelmed or someone is out because uh the last 10 months with our health department I think it was all hands on board and some sometimes it almost seemed like 247 um I I totally suggest that we uh that we uh sign on to this it sounds like a really good plan okay thank you appreciate those comments um I make a motion that we uh uh accept um the proposal and um realizing that it's preliminary um give it our support and look forward to more in the future have a second second you have any comments my only comment is I I'm in general consensus with everything everyone said I want to thank you for your hard work your creativity your resourcefulness and uh your vision for making Health Services better and yarm and throughout bville County um you're right that the foundation have every good thing it's requires good health and there's nothing that I can think of that's more important so um my commendations for each of you and my thanks and gratitude as well Mr chair thank you I'd also like to recognize in addition to the admin Town Administrator is our Board of Health we have a retired physician a retired nurse and a veterinarian and they come together here twice a month and uh there's five members on that board and they've heard this presentation they gave some very introspective uh questions to Katie to be able to say what is it that we're getting into Tracy like yourself what are the things that possibly can build upon let's think down the road right what are the things that really unique to Yarmouth but you know it doesn't stop at a there's a the geofence is really wide here down the cape if we're if we're struggling with it Hart and Dennis and others are as well and we want to be part of that collaboration we want to have those relationships so the the Board of Health has been a significant partner and they they certainly support both Barry and I and the the entire staff so they've been like I appreciate all your kind words but uh there's a team that does this internally I can tell you that I don't I don't do this alone but the migrant issue was a was was a difficult one but we weathered it and I think we did it with dignity and this board support I was here when those when those meetings happened and and this board stood strong and they did the right thing and they protected individuals while they were living here uh in a responsible way while they were living here they're not here now but you met your responsibility and I think the arm of Health Department also played R in that thank you again so we have a motion in a second any further discussion go to the motion all those in favor say I I anyone oppos it passes unanimously and again I thanks to each of you ka can I just ask I believe this is a letter that the board has signed it's also going to require a signature if you have you you have that letter thank you Mr chairman thank you so much we really look forward to having you on board thank you for you okay so on the next item I was just board committee actions um I was just after to call on Dorcas not anymore suddenly realized it's always the far end down here you know remember was Peter and then rcus but it's always going to be to your right but as far away as as it goes when I do even caught myself and said no I have to call in joy for this one um I'd like to suggest that we uh uh accept with thanks the resignation of Carol Ying from the recycling and solid waste advisory committee um she's been a member for a number of years and a very valuable member and has been particularly good at uh susing out um the P risk and uh public policy ways to try to address it um I'm sorry to see her go but I guess we can't keep her captive second okay do you have a motion in a second on that all those in favor I I anyone oppose passes unanimously okay I'd like to U propose um an appointment for Jim Sabin as the planning board's representative to the design Review Committee um the planning board is strongly in favor of this and needs someone to be their representative on that committee because of uh a resignation make a motion we appoint him for one year which will run through July 2025 second okay we have a motion in a second for oneye appointment um through July of 2025 for Jim sa as PL board we to the design Review Committee and um we have a second on that right yes okay all in favor I I anyone opposed so that passes unanimously next are the minutes of September 19th and then there's the minutes of July 9 23 of I should say because of can we take them separate yeah I should say because of past confusion September 19th 2023 is the first one and go July 9 2024 is a second set of minutes Mr chairman I move that we approve the minutes for the September 19th 2023 meeting okay I have a second second those in favor anyone oppos one exstension so 401 um that passes and Mr chairman I move on that we approve the minutes for uh the meeting of July 9th 202 4 second I have a motion on second for the minutes is July 9th 2024 all those in favor say hi anyone opposed any extensions passes unanimously upcoming agenda review is next um August 6 looks very full m yeah now I I think it's it's we're going to spread some of these items out a little they're tentative we listed them because we wanted to keep strong Focus um on them um and U like for instance the Housing Authority we we weren't able to confirm them we got a package store hearing review of priorities for Coastal resilience we might put the road construction update on the next one as well construction up Housing Authority update if we can get them in here 6A update tentative order of takings for the cape C rail trail phase three and a possible vote on the park that's another one that we just kind well the survey still out on that oh wait there's more yeah let's continue on driving sight utilization committee that's that's accept special town meeting calendar and the set a special time meeting date of November 19th is that November 19th date kind of uh a walk that is the date that um was recommended by the um town clerk is okay with it and I think moderator is okay with it and what about the facility um you know I I want to double check that I I'm I'm pretty sure we have the request in but but that's a good I mean that's critical yeah okay well we should know that soon yes all can I just make a suggestion I don't know how quickly we need to do the park name but I think it would be nice to hear the presentation and let the public have a little bit of time to you know maybe we have a presentation on what the results of the survey were and then come back the next one for a vote I don't think doing all at would be a good idea I I check they had over 100 requests time to narrow that down pushing it for the for the six that's what I think but either way even if they narrow it down to make the presentation in public I think it would be great for the general public to hear take it under advisement that's a couple of readings and then just do the next well even if it's the next meeting but are we gonna have that idea I was think we gonna have two two names for that is it gonna be like such and such a park and then maybe the Riverwalk I was a little confused about how that was going to be is it going to be just like one name for the whole area no I I think that they were going to change the Riverwalk name potentially with something else entirely and just have one name for the park and right now it's been tentatively Riverwalk Park but um for everything yeah for everything just want to know what we're getting into in terms of how much work we were going to be doing but as Tracy says you know I'd like to get as much info out there and as much public input um as we can before we um drop the hammer drop the hammer okay I'm the Housing Authority I know that we've received a letter back from the Housing Authority but um and I'm not saying that it should be on August 6 but somehow I'd still like to have a Mee should we be discussing then that we need to have a meeting to discuss it without the presence of the Housing Authority if they are refusing to join us at the meeting so that we can give the public an opportunity once more to uh um I think the public needs to go to their meeting I think the problem is that I think if I'm reading between the lines that there's a legal issue that they are trying to sort through right now so they're have it's difficult for them to talk in public Am I Wrong did you I I don't have their innermost thinking we tried to get them here was a letter I saw their letter but it's you know it wasn't enough information for me to oh okay I was trying to read between the lines I I was assuming that it was they have a bunch of legal issues that they're trying to sort through and they're having a difficult time to be able to speak in public so that's why they were asking for putting it off so Tracy did you want to move some of those August six item I mean I think what he's saying is we're the Housing Authority hasn't accepted so that that is tentatively already off the off thetive yeah6 is ative too I mean the vote for a special town meeting calendar that's not going to take too long and if he said we're going to get a construction update a different time maybe then that solves that yeah I think we should um work a little more on the road constru uction update there's been a lot of communication on that topic and you know um meeting with the chamber and things like that is important too so we want to when we have that have a nice meeting and have a lot of information so are you saying then that that should be moved from our meeting move that one maybe to the 20th road construction road construction update move that to the 20 yeah you know in um August 20th I see on here a draft charge for public art committee we had a public art policy I don't know if you know that but we we actually had a a policy on public art that this board already approved because um when they did the paintings on the road um some of that we we had already done that just for point of reference oh yeah it's we that we have a a policy but we don't seem to have much public art I'm not saying we don't have a committee but I'm just saying that there is already a policy in place so if the committee's purpose is to create a policy so maybe that's an agenda on as a to to review the policy I don't know where that came from so so we should review the policy yeah and I I know that have a discussion that and and also the um chamber has approached you know the planning department and Community Development to talk about having more public art and there's you know a proposal to potentially create a committee to oversee public art let's pull the policy see what that says mix them all together and then um you know discussion on to go I just I just have to say like my feeling when I see these things I don't know where they come from so it would be help helpful for us to understand from background from the suggestions about agenda items yeah they usually come from us as board members and in this particular one this came from the Chamber of Commerce that approached the town um desperately looking for ways to stimulate more public art and then and so I know they had some meetings but uh nothing can be done without coming into the board of Selectmen and seeing you know what is supported what could potentially work so I I think that that that's kind of the way it is no one can respond to the requests from some of the out so they want to amend our policies okay so going back to our meeting for August 6th what what then will be staying for the meeting as opposed to some uh being pushed to a a different dat we got the liquor hearing liquor hearing the priorities for Coastal resilienc priorities for Coastal resilien we'll have a presentation by the driveing sight utilization committee and a you know a plan we just won't vote on it but that I'm sure will take some discussion order of takings will be there rout six update is still tentative it's it's still tentative I don't know if there's if that what's the order of takings no 6 68 up is there going to be much on that order of takings no I don't think so is there many takings involved six six and I think they're fairly small oh yeah I see it now trans six total to watch as Tracy said are we going to move out the um Park D maybe I think we should have the presentation just I think the presentation they're ready get rid of the vote part for until the 20th perhaps everybody yep do the presentation then yep I think it's important to break it up okay and just to be clear on this draft this public art thing um and if someone's going to be presenting to us a draft charge I think it it the whole discussion just deserves a broader I'm sort of agreeing with Tracy here we need to have a broader discussion of what's the current policy why are we changing it and if someone's promoting a change I think we shouldn't certainly clear them out but we're we're going to need a lot of information like Tracy said if we had a poliy um it would be nice to also have if there's anybody on Town staff that might even be able to tell us why I mean why the you know why the change no what have we been doing to even implement the policy I mean or at least maybe the the administrator can come to the meeting to sort of tell us okay we have a policy but you know some insight as to why very little if anything has happened you know but maybe the maybe the chamber knows I think the person who was on staff and most interested in um developing public art um is now the assistant Town Administrator in Born um so I think that was a bit of a a one woman cheerleading effort and then because she left one year into it it sort of fell apart well we did the when we did that we did the electric box wrapping we did a few other things at that time that it was her and Mona actually Mona and um Sean mcginness the three of them remember they had they had a um a small Committee of fund generating they sold the boardwalk pieces and they did a few other things but as part of that came the public art policy so in preparation for that meeting it might be a good idea maybe to check in with Liz Hearts Gro and she might have some insight right is that a faar suggestion yes and then also have in our packet the current um um policy so that we can review that's what I said earlier yeah we should have some background on what the current policy is um and Bob can speak to maybe what we've done and why very little has happened since we're going to have to have a longer meeting next time I can't believe how short this one is um that is be careful what you asked for there uh newbie yeah so the special town meeting in November what will be on that one in November because it looks like we only have one um excusion review of the articles on October 1st and then that's it other than the final review what what is what is we don't have any articles yet right but what we would do we would open and see what are we have for clean up items and um you don't like the Articles you don't you don't have to have a town meeting it's entirely up to the selectman we had a special town meeting every year didn't we propose changing the um Community preservation to the um fall meeting to take their articles and put them there instead of in April wasn't that a discussion previously well initially we were breaking it up and I can't remember was CPA or zoning it was it was to make it less but most of the time then we needed a special town meeting to settle the school budget or I think originally it was along the lines of talk mention with zoning and things like that but it's like anything else pressing issues would come up someone from that but I don't know for instance if Community preservations On Target now to be able to make a proposal for their warrants on for the special town meeting should we maybe check in with them well we need to check in with everyone what we do is is we announce that there's a potential count meeting and then they have a deadline to submit um articles I I could check with Community preservation I I don't think that they're coming in with any articles I know the capital Improvement program sometimes has items that um they put off till the fall fall um that you know can't wait for the for the spring um I know we had talked about a potential article for um some of the posos work there's there's nothing that is um I think a legal requirement that we have to do but the idea was to make a call and find out what we got and the board can decide whether I want to Mo or not might not right so one call but it's but we do need to kind of hear what's coming coming in on the over the trans okay are we done on upcoming agenda items yes thank you for um individual items Mark I don't have any Mr CH none I don't have anybody any as long as um Bob is going to update M on the where we left off with the gos yes all right also talked a little bit dur during the day okay I don't have anything Mr chairman um just one little update on the whole question of the um veterans license plate uh as a requirement for the veterans discounted uh Beach and trash stickers um it turns out that the heroes act has been passed by the state house but not by the Senate and they're up against a July 31st deadline so that in that includes the uh license plates being made free to Veterans so that would you know make the uh the problem go away but apparently this will all depend on whether the uh the Senate is willing to pass the hero act as it is or whether they'll want changes and then things have to go back to the house then they'll probably miss the deadline so I'm I'm keeping an eye on that and I'll let you know how that goes good thank you okay no more individual items Town administrative updates thank you Mr chairman I I'll start then with the the goal setting session and I I want to congratulate the board for a very successful session um giving up your entire Saturday morning in the middle of July um to sit and and develop goals for the upcoming year for the town um I I thought it was a very successful session I know um chairman Stone um was unable to to make it but I I felt that the progress um was was tremendous and right now I I've got the material that I'm pulling together that I'll have available for your next meeting uh to check things over and um you know the board reinstituted and rejuvenated all of the major goal areas and I thought the approach that the board took to um make changes to the areas of focus under some of the key headings such as you know the uh water quality maintaining the stewardship of that across the board in a very holistic way of um you know setting the direction in areas that focus on each one of those is going to be very helpful in terms of um working with all of the Departments to to make sure that they're energized to carry out these items and um the other part that I I thought was um really great really helpful that there's probably um eight or nine other areas that didn't make the top priority list for the key goals of the town but were identified as future agenda items that will have um by your next meeting we'll we'll have those listed out on your agenda and hopefully we can go over and select appropriate times to schedule those or um more review of the board um and so with those together I think that that's kind of an added bonus of of having um the goals that will be very clear and um also future agenda items and I've already begun meeting with staff members to prepare for um having our department head meetings and having our update for the town's website to get the goals out there and to work to identify uh key steps and be able to present those to the board so um we'll be able to see what people are working on track it on the website and so we're very committed to that and I I just want to say that that goal setting process by having the priorities and making it very clear the items that we need to make progress on um for me it's it's wor when I I meet and work with every single Department um the first thing we talk about every time are um the goals of the town and it's not the select board goals you're required to vote those but once those are voted those are the goals of all of us and and I think it's all 25,000 of us and especially the the staff that that works here and so that process is extraordinarily valuable and um so I was happy to see us be able to make so much progress with it and you'll have that material um in your boxes and had a couple of other items I wanted to make the board aware of that um two items are from the police department that I had a detailed meeting with them on some other things and we managed to cover that a couple of things that I thought were very important to bring to the board I wanted to um call to your attention and one of them is happening right now um as we speak probably just wrapping up but stop on my way here um and and what she's talking about is the police department organized a popup Community event at om Park uh in light of the um you know horrible attempted sexual assault that um happened on a child at that facility that we're very happy to see an arrest was very quickly made um a lot of the folks there involved you know communities that are newcomers to the town um that you know we we really work hard to make a part of our community and um they were gathering again for you know sporting events and you know Community fellowship at Homer Park this evening and so the police um organized to have an event um there that provided some direct interaction with this community to talk about issues concerns problems and to have faces you know with names and create some more Community Partnerships and um I was just very moved by um you know the leadership in the the department that started with um Erica lenberg another officer that everyone um knows and loves in town and uh the way that the Command Staff encourages that type of leadership by officers and um is all participating and had set that up and I'm sure it's going to be a a very meaningful event and I I just wanted to make sure the board was aware of it know if if they had anything that that you noticed there but um no the ice cream truck was there and the kids were getting ice cream and I just think it's great for that everyday normal interaction between our youth and police and they do it all the time they do it at the schools and so I just think that there's nothing better that um brings people together than them to feel safe children to feel safe so um I think that they said they was a soccer game that was going to get ready to start about 6:30 so I had to leave before the majority of the kids got there but it's was very well attended by um uh our police department and hopefully the kid the children came along and enjoyed the enjoyed the um ice cream well I think they'll be real happy to let the parents know that you know a member of the select board was also at that meeting I mean these are CommunityWide issues that are critical so I I um I I wanted to to mention that one and I have a second one you know on the police department that is um something I want to kind of attune you to because it relates to ISS issues you've discussed before and this will be a future um agenda item if anything moves forward on this it won't be without your Express approval but um it it deals with the recruitment in the police department and I think we all remember and it's not that long ago I mean I go back 10 years when a u an opening in the police department occurs you have a minimum of 100 applicants and it's one of the most sought after career opportunities um in the community and you know things have changed throughout our our society and and one of the things is that it's getting increasingly difficult to recruit for and attract new police officers and with the quality of the department that we have um it's really something that you need to protect and nurture and the Command Staff in in our town um really understands that and one of the things that we talked about um were the high cost now um that there there are new rules for when new officers attend the police academy they have to be paid high high rates of pay um you might not be aware that it's got up to $63,000 um for the cost of um sending a new recruit to the police academy and paying that recruit while they go to the police academy it's you know it's a lot of money we've got three um going through uh the next round which is coming up this fall and we've got a fourth that we're trying to squeeze in this year so there'll be extra funds we'll have to attribute to the police department for that but um between the high cost of sending people to the academy and the difficulty of even finding the candidates in the first place a lot of the towns in our area these are our neighboring communities places like chadam and Barnstable and other communities have adopted a um signing bonus type of thing that if if you can attract uh police officer recruit that is Academy trained that they're willing to put up um and I think like Barn pay 7500 and chadam is similar to that and so the police department is mulling over a potential policy that would enable them to try to offer the type of bonus that um would help attract trained officers that are high quality officers and um so that's something that they're researching they're looking at and and they'd like to develop their ideas just a little bit more and present some options for the border of selectman's consideration to potentially improve the recruitment for the police department for our next um you know round of people and you know it's worth saying that like I said there were four this year that were filling in primarily to retirements but also some um you know Mobility we had an officer go to the State Police things of that nature um but also over the next year there's probably another four retirements so um this is going to be something that eight over two years that's that's quite a lot and um so um and those are just retirements that are coming up um so I wanted to mention that I hate you know like you say you know I don't like to surprise you with the new agenda item but that's something that's been under consideration I just have one thing on that and I I I think we've all been on the record in the past um with both the police and the fire I think we do have to get creative um the one thing I think that we need to do in this process and I'm not opposed to something like that but I think it's important to protect the taxpayers because what happens oftentimes especially in our fire department we've been talking about this for 20 years we pay to train them and then they go to another town and I'm not opposed to a bonus but there should be some commitment to our to our taxpayers um if they accept that and it's the same thing with it's the same thing with the fire training and they we put them through the academy and then they leave and that's not fair to our taxpayers so there should be some type of um verbage in in any agreement and I've been saying this for years and it's never happened I don't understand why they wouldn't they they wouldn't support that change in their contract but it it's certainly it's certainly um you know and and you know we're looking at the classifications right now I think we're going to really see what's happening in some other communities and probably make some changes but as a short thing a bonus is is is a great idea but again the taxpayers have to be because they could come and maybe six months later to go down the road that would be problematic no I think I think it's an excellent point um and I know in other towns for example when they invest in a new hire they there is there are requirements for them staying for a period of time so um I know bable for example they have they provide tuition assistance for people that are already under the employe of the town but in order to get that you need to make a commitment to be with the town for a period of time so um I think as we look at how we can improve pay and incentives and find ways to retain and you know a well Tred Workforce I think I think traces on to a good point here and that is is if we're going to be making these up front Investments how can we um protect the town in terms of making sure that people stay for a period of time um and it's not nothing unusual other communities are doing it but we need to kind of get into that into that mindset as well so Point well made and just one final point I I would make on that is is that um the one area we have made a lot of progress on um especially with the public safety and um specifically with the the police is the the issue of the competitiveness of their wages um with respect to our labor market area that you we did quite a bit of study and and last year we put into place a new collective bargaining agreement with the police department that guaranteed for at least you know this period now that our our wages are competitive it's um you know we all know about some of the concerns and issues surrounding health insurance and those types of things but the um the wage rates we've studied we've made some pretty good adjustments we've uh you know provided that scope hope within the classifications that um that that's the one area I I feel we have made good progresses in public safety so but that discussion we'll have it continuing I just wanted to make sure that you're aware of some of the ongoing issues and concerns there and you know along those same lines I wanted to hand out and this is for awareness um at this point I came across this and and this is a copy of a a page in the Massachusetts Municipal association's Beacon from the summer um issue that just recently came out and it's about a coastal communities Alliance that was organized um initially by some of the um leaders up on the NorthShore I know the mayor of Salem was um very instrumental in put putting this together and it's and it's really to what he says in here is to provide a platform for information sharing peer learning among leaders of Coastal communities um so that we can identify funding technical assistance best practices Innovative policies types of successful projects and and I think to Advocate strongly for more funding um I was intrigued by this uh you know I I view Yarmouth as a a leader sort of you know if in nothing else in the problems that you have from some of the the coastal processes that enduring and and will endure and um I I I was intrigued and I would like to look into this more and um get some feedback from board members there's no charge to it and it may very well be that it would be beneficial to our community to join this Alliance and to participate strongly I think from our region currently um it looks like we have Plymouth is in it Province Town is in it and um um born and that's it a lot of them are the Northern Communities but um there's only so many communities that are on the coast and and I think by participating in a regional effort there may be a lot of benefits for the town but I wanted to make sure you are aware of the information that I saw and um you know maybe at a future agenda we can talk about if there's benefit to the town from this can we um I think it's a great idea yeah so the reality is is that state and federal funds have been increasing in addressing these kinds of initiatives and is a way to collaborate and learn from what other communities are doing and having sort of that sort of Hands-On interaction or relationship with other Municipal officials that can only really benefit us the real question is going to be um you know the time and the and the commitment of resources to even participate in some of these meetings because I know I mean it's not I I I have one question and I'm sure that several people here have the answer but remember I'm the Newbie um the uh Coastal mitigation as everyone talks about it um when the funds are available for that are they ever available for one private residences like say a whole area that has flooding um but private residences that are Inland and not exactly on the coast I'm thinking of an area we have that floods and floods and floods the nature of the Improvement that You' be that You' be looking to finance a drainage I would say drainage um it's a little crazy when people have to have a backup sump pump for their for their first sump pump because the floodings that bad whenever things rain well I would recom we're going to I mean I've been pushing the bring up the conversation of flooding and all these initiatives we have a lowline roads initiative that the kid cut commission did we've got our own MP which we need to get better vered on there a hazard mitigation plan there just half a dozen or so initiatives all designed in some way to deal with coastal flooding and then so my question is is you know how do those initiatives fit in helping provide real relief and help to Res in the armit that have been experiencing a lot of flooding because if there's money coming in then maybe there are opportunities again this was my question about the packets Landing what was driving my concerns there is is that it's great that there may be resources to address a public facility but what about some of the other things I know DPW worked on a drainage plan cul plans other a whole range of things so this whole topic of resiliency is huge and there are multiple initiatives multiple plans that relate to all this and I think it's time we get our sort of our our hands around talking about Captain's Village um you got it there's been a long history there um and the town did come up with plans there and and the town itself um did not support it they wouldn't fund it they didn't want it to be publicly funded and that was going back a few years now but um I I think yeah what's different now though try is that there are public dollars being made available now to deal with some of these problems so back then the town of yth was pretty much on its own and I don't think the residents wanted to pay a vment or any kind of cost sharing but it's a different time now so I think when we talk about coastal flooding and having public and public programs to address flooding you are automatically dealing with private property this is not exclusively a public property issue although there may be like MVP I think what we're getting about that program is that seems to be very focused on Municipal properties which is understandable but some of these other initiatives are much broader um so I think if government assistance is broadening then we probably need to be aware of that and understand the broader range of problems here in Yarmouth get a better handle on all these other plans and initiatives um because the reality is is coastal flooding is becoming more and more an issue for our departments right natural resources I mean this is the Departments are being forced through these for a variety of reasons not forced but incentivized to really look at where the flooding problems are so that's that's one of the reasons why um there's all this work being done in the town I think it makes sense for us to pay attention to what they're doing learn more about what's going on and find way through better more supportive and more engaged and the questions that are out there will and definitely come from residents like those who live in Captain's Village or like those who live in other parts of the town in West Jama right along Lewis Bay there numerous areas that are flooded uh we even have sections of 28 there high risk of serious flooding and in the past when we've had storms have been almost you know impassible so I think this this becomes probably a series of agenda items down the road but that's one of the reasons why I was interested in in getting our focus on it just because of precisely that I mean I have office people come in and they'll ask me when are we going to deal with Captain's Village I don't know what to tell them I don't know where they are on the priority list I don't know where it fits but I like to tell them something particularly if we're going out going after money um to fund flooding you know controls or flooding remediation flooding initiatives so but I I also think well I mean there's a critical issue here in that where you're going to find a lot of room for advocacy that you're going to have to get involved in because what we're faced with now is that there's a state resilient coasts initiative that they're pouring all the money into stuff like the low-lying roads um into infrastructure that's been inundated by ocean water we have those problems and and we're trying to maximize the funds that we get but the uh High groundwater level areas are are not covered by any of these grants so I don't want people to think why aren't you why are you applying for a grant for packet Landing when you should be applying for this for the high groundwater level and and the reason is that we need to advocate for storm water money and there is some storm waterer money out there but it's not like the pet of the current Administration that they're plowing all this money into the coastal but not giving us money to do um the the groundwater and so we've been putting maybe 200,000 a year into um storm water through the capital but we need more State money we need to break that wide open in in order to solve problems like Captain um there needs to be um I I think a lot of advocacy for them to put money in Grants that we can apply for the problem the problem though is that if we're getting money to address coastal flooding for flooding problems folks that have been historically flooded are going to want to know why aren't they included now I understand some of the outside funding may be more targeted to coastal flooding as opposed to Inland flooding or groundwater related to flooding but for most residents flooding is flooding yeah you know and we would have to go to Captain's Village and put salt in the water and then it would qualify I'm I'm curious Tracy you you were on the board then do you do you think public awareness of flooding as a big Regional issue has expanded enough that that PE the public would be more receptive to helping I don't really know now what the sentiment would be um they I think there's a lot of people that it's hard because there's a groundwater issue there right most people who buy they know this and so a lot of our residents at the time were like okay you buy in this situation you have to get special insurance that a lot of insurance companies won't even cover you there because this is a very known thing and I'm not I'm I mean to solve that issue there I mean we're talking big money I mean it's it's almost impossible I I'm not saying impossible the town did spend money to study the problem and it came up with Solutions proposed Solutions with price tags and uh I I I know this because George used to call me all the time when I was in the Congressional office on it he he would call me on a regular basis for funding for all sorts of things but he honestly believed at the time when he was banging on my door that if he could find some state and federal money uh he thought he could leverage private support from the homeowners as well as maybe some Municipal dollars he thought there might be a way to put a package together where everybody ponied up a little bit of money and then ultimately that would be the package that might get support at a town meeting or from the select board um and that's where he was going and then obviously um you know he passed and wasn't able to you know pursue it but I can recall for my discussions with him that's what he wanted to do the problem that we have as a board is that with all these other alphabet super programs out there with their own priorities it puts these issues of flooding regardless of the causes of it it puts all of these issues back on the municipal agenda so we need to be really well vered on the kinds of things that there going to be some programs that will just Target this some programs that Target that so we're going to have to be prly open and transparent if we're going to be prioritizing these some of these projects because we we have to be able to explain why are we prioritizing some and not prioritizing another I'm not even sure that the road there are public roads where in Captain's Village are they public or they private roads public I'm not sure on paper these are things that would have to be looked at the plan would need to be redone I don't I don't know whether or not I think if they put together a good package I'm sure most reasonable people would want to solve a problem if you know if they could so I I don't I don't know what would happen now but I'm just saying and that's one of the issues that a lot of those people in that area have a problem with the development for the Housing Authority because they're definitely afraid that that type of development is going to um moreing in their area so I I remember a retention Pond there was I mean yeah it was a real the ter had a project at the time it's worth I would love to just for from from an informational point of view I would love to have a better handle on just what it was we were thinking at the time what the cost estimate was maybe get a sense of what the latest cost estimates are into at least did some due diligence to determine whether or not any of these other initiatives that have been P you know that are being floated might be um you know potentially helpful um who knows there may be even you know every few years Grant programs change you know it's always worth taking another look at it without necessarily get people's hopes High unnecessarily but I do think there's some value this is a part of the community that's been impacted and um and there will be other parts of the community that might be impacted but not but their the impact may not necessarily fit a category where there's some state and federal aid right so I think to some degree this is as we go down this road and dealing with resiliency I mean it's a nice term a nice word but by and large what you're doing is you're developing solutions that will not almost exclusively but in large measure deal with flooding once we go down that what are we going to do to mitigate flooding Road it invites a whole set of other questions as well that we need to be at least COG cant of at least cognizant of and we need to be able to have some uh straight answers for people in terms of why we're dealing with this Coastal this flooding problem but not that flooding problem right so you said you wanted to stay here for a while Joyce um we can keep going on this if you'd like my husband doesn't expect me home yet no but I honestly believe that this issue is going to continue to dominate more and more staff time department head time and uh resident time and and our time I think it's just it's a just a matter of time I had one little thought when we were listening to the uh Public Health people tonight you know that kind of assistance with uh Human Resources Technical Resources you know when you think about it mold and M do and this endless flooding in people's basement that's a public health problem too I mean I wonder if we could come at it from a different angle like I said we're gonna it's a future this is this is future agenda item stuff I know where there's a million dollars exactly no listen i' I've gone to many of these homes myself sat in living rooms and listen to people talk about when the water elevation is high the stuff that comes in to their basements it's not clean water and it's not clean water correct so and then they hear that there may be another large development now again I don't want to go back and point fingers at who allowed what to happen and so forth but the reality is they have a real problem right now yeah so if we're gonna again if we as a municipality are going to take a leadership role in doing resiliency and deal with flooding we're going to have to make decisions about what we're prioritizing and why and it just invites this question you know because I think once we start talking about it there probably several neighborhoods of resid they going to want to come in here and say why not my storm drains I mean I I I hear this all the time from people my storm drains plus I don't know if anyone's noticed this but some of these flooding events that we're getting these storm events these rain events the amount of water that's getting dumped in people's sometimes in their front yards or on the streets in some cases it's these are volumes of water that we're just not used to seeing with the kind of frequency and our and our drain system is not designed to deal with a lot of this so there's that problem as well you know you're so used to sandy soil just making it go away well we're not used to seeing like four inches of rain in one hour I mean that's that's kind of to be like a one 100 Year event now it's a one one in a twoyear event or one you know two you know they're just happening with more frequency you know I've been in this building where we've been just dumped huge amounts of rain and there are a lot of places that are just not immune you know you can only do so much but some places there just there's just no way to get around it you're going to get flooded so where do you draw the line so I'm also concerned because some of those houses when they were built they have the um the block Foundation rather than the poured concrete foundation so that makes it easier for the water to come in to the to their sellers there's no I mean we we I'm not in Captain's Village but we actually lifted our house you don't want to do that it's so expensive it's so crazy and had a um a concrete foundation poured under a little bitty Ranch um and now it's absolutely waterproof and our house sits up a little higher um but there's it just seems there must be some more systemic way to help than having everybody do that it's tough and there's no inexpensive answer unfortunately for those people and that's that's the tough part but to Mark's point it's there's a lot of neighborhoods like that and so again with the plan we there's so many things we have to prioritize and we and we need to prioritize we need to see all of the issues and be able to make some um some decisions but we we get pieces unfortunately and it's like everything that's in front of us at that moment is important those people in Captain's Village they're important you know but people can't you know if the roads are blocked to the hospital that's also important so I need to look at all of it you know what I mean I can't I can't right do it like this right now I I've spent a lot of time talking to Bill benetti since you know that that application came in and and I can see I can see even more Merit for that proposal because that facility is used for emergency response it's kind of part of our emergency response network if we need to get a boat out you know storm condition um you know you better be able to get under way um from that facility because if you can't that's that's going to be a problem um and we don't have a coast guard presence in the mid Cape we have Coast Guard in chadam Coast Guard in Falmouth and so if we have a boat just immediately on Shore in distress and a storm and let's say this then you know we may have trouble getting underway to get out there to help somebody who might be in trouble um I mean I've seen situations where there have been storms in places like chadam and even the Coast Guard has trouble getting to the chadam fisherman or the chadam fishing boat true you know so um we are Yarmouth Dennis bable we're more or less on our own in the mid Cape here the Coast Guard can come but sometimes it could take several hours you know and even helicopter might not be there right away so I if there's an emergency I would bet you nine times out of 10 um and maybe 10 out of 10 Yarmouth or hyanis are going to be the first ones on the scene and it's just a matter of and that will determine whether or not someone lives or dies so yeah I mean I've had a much better appreciation for the value of that project but as I'm re hearing the presentation I'm in the back of my mind I'm saying you know as we've been talking about how do you make how making priorities why are we doing a flooding mitigation for this one but I got lbo or you know somebody a resident in the captain's villain saying well you know where where does my project fit in you know Town's had this problem for years where do we fit in are we on the list on anybody's list on anybody's radar screen and it's not just them but it's folks throughout the town of yarma there are folks in West yarma that have the same concern you know like me or any one of us so I think once we go down this road it's it's I'm just saying it's a big topic so when we get into it we're goingon to have to get into it P that's what I was curious because I keep hearing you know Coastal and um flooding as if as if like we're Coastal Community but really the flooding is around the edges and that's why I was just wondering so does the ues does the funding take that as we address the periphery like where Bass River may come up or where the salt water may come up but it it seems like it often will be headed that way the funding the criteria is different and we if we're part of a group as which Bob has said it gives us more knowledge of what's out there and I'm sure there's some something that fits into that and we just need to find it yeah I mean in Provincetown for example um one of the challenges they have is is that they're building houses along the water on Stokes you know being elevated um but what's happening now is is as the houses are elevated when there's a big storm guess what homes the homes on the back on the other side of the street and the water comes through all right starts to hit the other street so what did they do right it's like channeling it toward the other houses right in some respects that's what's happening yeah so people have been told that uh you know if they if they're remodeling or some level of Redevelopment of their proper uh in many cases they have to elevate their home and in doing that um they're creating risks to others so this whole concept of resiliency and flooding um only merits us to be engaged in partnering with other towns because there's so many different dimensions to it how we doing Joyce we you could stand having me home now no I just while we while we had a couple minutes I just wanted to ask about that and thank you that it's been very helpful Mr chairman I'd make a motion that we um dismiss the meeting in the meeting move the question all in favor J thank you