Today is uh I'm going to uh walk through uh the point the finance committee point of view which has not been approved by the finance committee yet with hopes that they approve it um after uh the presentation. So I'm going to walk
through it uh the way I would present to anybody. I apologize for the finance committee that you're going to have to print your necks, but this was set up for our audience and not for you. Um, so I don't need these. So, uh, so point
of view, uh, I did the point of view this year as a SWAT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, threats, uh, rather than just bucketing a bunch of items, uh, together and then trying to highlight things that made sense. I
think a SWAT analysis makes sense for the town because, uh, there are strengths to the town, there are weaknesses, and there are opportunities, and there are threats. Um so that's the point of the SWAT analysis. Um so starting off with the strengths um the
town uh does a lot of grant funding and I just wanted to highlight uh that the grant funding is uh money that the town brings in that it uses for projects and it is money that is not obviously
contributed well indirectly contributed by taxpayer because we it goes to the state and then state gives us the money but the the grant funding um is uh is helpful for the town. And so the town brought in
about 12% in grants in the time frame I'm showing. Uh I haven't updated this in months. So there I'm sure there's more items that should be included here that are not reflected. uh school does not get as much grant funding as the town pulls in, but I just wanted to
highlight just to be apples to apples that uh the school has about 3% of their expenditures were funded through grants. Um another strength of the town has been historically the school rating. Um I just took a snapshot. This is uh from
about four months ago of school ratings. Um, so we all understand that school ratings have historically been high. Um, another strength of the town is that the town has been funding their OPED liability. Um, they're over 50% funded,
which uh would put us in a high percentage uh in the state for a funding percentage for this. I don't have the exact numbers, but it is something that we should highlight as a uh the town made a plan years ago on how to fund this and they've been very successful
with that plan. Uh weaknesses uh one of the weaknesses is that Actton is a great place to be. It's not a destination. Uh there's a heavy reliance on residential property taxes, uh limited commercial tax base, um lacks of
downtown identity when compared to nearby places like conquered and Lexington. And it's primarily a commuter town, which leaves the town exposed to remote workshops and market downturns. and uh sorry, >> you know, possible solutions to this is
to attract more commercial businesses to the town and uh look at spots in the town that could be um raised to be um destinations. Uh so, uh zoning bylaws, I have this as a
weakness. Uh a lot of times we pass bylaws, but we lack the financial modeling of the impact of the bylaws. Um, so that I think is a weakness because we don't know what we don't know with them. Uh, opportunities. Uh,
I did some analysis on the town census and I found that, uh, 15% of the senior population actually lives with families and I didn't know if that was common knowledge. Um, since my mother-in-law is now living with us, I thought uh, just
having attention to that part of the population. Um, I know the senior center does a great job and the town does a great job with the seniors, but I didn't know if it was common knowledge that that population um was that significant
in the town. Um, capital planning uh best practices for that uh really here just looking for um the finance committee to have the the necessary details to project this out a long term.
and uh maintaining maintenance of buildings needs to pass the best practice test. I think that's been uh the maintenance of buildings has has been coming up as uh a need for the town and questioning whether or not better
maintenance plans would have prevented that threats. Um I think the uh development MCI conquered is one threat. Uh, conquered is going to have in 2028 um projected to break ground on uh
development of a mixeduse neighborhood, commercial center, civic campus, open space. There's 54 acres of develop space that can be developed. Uh they have their own sewer capacity. Um on the on their planning is uh something to deal
with Route 2 uh concrete rotary. It's unknown what that plan is. Uh, one of our interns last summer, Stephen Scar, did a full long presentation on this. Uh, I believe it was, I want to say it was the August 24thish meeting. I did a
15-minute presentation on this. But, uh, the reason why I have this as a threat is why why do we care? Um, as if you don't know that Actton has limited sewer capacity, which has hindered development on the Great Road corridor and this
being very close with massive with their own sewer capacity. It could draw businesses um a couple feet away. Uh the other thing is is that uh it could potentially be a destination for people looking to downsize um in 2020 if
there's brand new condos that are not that far from Actton. um in a nice development like I'm taking like the Maynard Crossing development that's got condos and um retail in the same spot. Uh another another threat um is uh costs are outpacing
revenue. Um as I town warrant um we have deficits uh projected out going to 2031 in the $2 to3 million range uh which is uh that's not sustainable. Um, I put this slide in. Uh, in addition, I saw a
post on uh Facebook where someone was uh saying we should repurpose some of the shopping malls of the things. I just wanted to highlight that uh 20 26% of the commercial industrial properties contribute to 54% of that commercial tax
base. And as you can see, the the shopping plazas um are a big percentage of that. uh and so I thought it would be good to see that uh commercial tax base which is
only 8% of our total taxes this is based on 2025 data we do not have 20206 data but as we talk about increasing this um this is what it looks like today uh vast majority of our costs are people
costs uh approximately 80% of the budget spending the town is you know with the town in school district's compensation uh benefits including health insurance pensions have been increasing at rates faster than revenue allowed by prop 2 and a half to significantly reduce cost
positions would need to be eliminated that could leave the reduction reductions in level of services costs are increasing at an unsustainable rate and actton is in the upper tier towns with high tax burdens solution to this uh will not be simple so moving on to
another threat which is affordability uh Actton is the 30th out of 351 towns. I have an edit which I didn't make on this. Um I have 350 towns here because it thinks the town of where or W didn't have any data. So my data didn't pull
the number in but there's 351 towns but 30 out of 350 towns here uh act in ranks. So that's upper tier. And then sorting this um by annual tax bill uh we are the 21st in the state and seeing
here in the the grid above uh you know there's towns above us that are you know like Brooklyn and and others that um have I think deeper pockets than we do. Uh so breaking this
affordability from the kind of a surface level down to the people in the town. So I connected the tax data with the census data and then I did some categorizations here. So I have I broke the senior
population into kind of three buckets. Um if I saw what would be technically seniors, but then I saw what looked like children living with them. I just called them a family. I didn't call them seniors even though they're technically seniors. Um I called seniors living with
family. I looked at family units and if I saw what looked like parents, it would look like children living at the house and then I saw someone like in my family. So, it's like my wife and I, I want to tell you my wife's age, but you know, I'm in my my 50s. Um, and then my
kids are in their their daughter's 17, 16, my son's 21, and then my mother-in-law, she's 84. So, you know, so that that description would fall into the seniors living with family. And then the seniors with the asterisk is
for living with someone over the age of 65. I just put them in that bucket. So that's kind of how I define the buckets. I went through the census manually and just looked at every every address. Um but looking at this then I had to frame
this within uh try to find a framework for describing affordability and this Lincoln Institute framework bucketed uh the tanches and uh so I have 8 well 8%
over 8% is considered unaffordable so 37% of the addresses that I could match This is not all the addresses in town. So I was able to match about 5,400 addresses of residential properties. So
that's probably like 80 or 90% of all of them. So a high percentage of them I matched and 37 fell into this unaffordable range. Uh looking at affordability a little bit differently. Uh who in this group is feeling the
brunt of it? Um uh 20% of this group that I analyzed is uh families of three to four people are falling in an unaffordable range and 37% of these addresses that I found fall
into a range 8% or greater. And then looking at this, so looking at just the the this is just people over the age of 65 uh in town. Um and then comparing it to
the the median household income of 158 was from data from 2024 because I don't have any data from 25 or 26, but there was some full data showing income information for the town. So using that as the median, that's a premise for this
slide and looking at that uh 10% of the senior population would fall into an unaffordable range. So this is looking at the income over the tax bill. So you take the tax bill over the income and that's how you get this affordability
calculation. So in summary, um the town has some good strengths, has some weaknesses, and uh the opportunities and threats that I covered above. And then I'm going to
pause here for point of view comments from my committee if there's any thoughts or I went through that kind of fast intentionally. Um uh and I so I'm going
to do full question. I'm going to deal with where committee is going to discuss and then I'm going to open this up for everybody's questions um as soon as we're done discussing. So we can just go back and forth. It was just my committee first. >> Alison. >> Um so I sent you a couple questions on
sources. To the extent that there aren't specific sources quoted on slides, it would be really great to have those. >> Okay. All right. So, >> even if you like did some magic with the numbers, like your source data, would it be really great to have that? >> Yeah, the source data is um the town
census and then the tax data from 2025. >> Okay, >> that's all the data. >> That's it. Okay, >> that's it. >> Is there a like a a bibliography resource slide at the end where you can just kind of click to find the the sources? >> I will have to um do that if like for anyone that wants to look into the
numbers more closely, especially where the census data and the tax data are different. >> Yeah. Right. >> I can put the data in the shared folders on the act and finance committee drive and have a link to go to that. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Any other count questions, Christie? >> We also need the sources though. >> Well, that would be the same thing. >> Uh, we need a reference to where you got the data, not just the data. >> But reference where I got the data. >> Yep. >> Okay. Well, I'll put that in there when I put the link. We've had to refer to it
back um in future versions many times in the past to see to try to line up across versions. So we we really need it written down. Um you have OPED and you talk about OPED without defining what it is. >> Okay. Um,
>> sorry. I uh this is the uh the uh the money that the town puts aside to cover the insurance liability. >> I would call it retirey benefits. >> Retirey benefits. >> Okay.
>> It's other post-employment benefits. >> Okay. >> Is that what you said? >> Retirey benefits. >> Retirey benefits. >> Okay. >> Um and I had one more Where do you have capital planning on this? I I felt like you had it in the
strength area and but that >> I think >> I think maybe I was just confused about which area we're in. >> It's I I have it in as an opportunity >> to just do that to uh kind of dig into that better.
>> I want to think about that a little more. That doesn't feel like quite the right placement. I mean, but what I didn't hear you say is the town is working on and has been over the years building and updating a a maintenance and development plan.
>> I can say that now. >> Yeah. Um which is a strength on the capital planning side. But what we have said in many discussions is that um it's not clear when those are updated how the rest of the plan adjusts. I think it
it's kind of unclear. It is an opportunity for things to go better. It It's not a clear message to me here. >> Okay. Do you have a suggested change or edit or do you want >> I think with my rambling I just made it clear that I don't.
>> Well, I'm looking for definitive changes. >> I understand that. >> So, all right. So, we'll hold maybe the public hear has opinions. Um, any other comments on this, Steve? >> Yeah, Scott. I mean, as far as the
target audience for today and talking about seniors having an affordability problem, it's a good thing. But I think more people in act have an affordability problem than just the seniors. I think um I don't know people who have kids
going to college maybe um and uh just other people have it's it's I think it's a problem maybe not for everybody in the town but certainly more than half >> people paying for daycare for more than
one child >> I'm retired my kids are grown this >> I'll have this I'll I'll have this saved on the uh the actton finance committee share drive on the town site. I'll put a link out. >> Okay. >> For for people. Um I'll put it I'll post
that on I've been posting things on Facebook, but um I I can um you know what I I will I'll send it to uh Wendy who works at the front desk out here and I'll leave it so she'll have a link in
addition to me posting it everywhere. I'll make sure she has the link >> and she's always at she works a couple days a week here so I'll make sure she has it. >> Yes. >> Under MCI conquered you mentioned downsizing people moving there to
downsize as a potential threat. Um, >> it also seems like a potential benefit in that it opens up housing for families coming in, which I know is a different financial threat, but it's something that we have been as a community pushing um zoning bylaws that
allow there to be more building done. And that's partially driven by the fact that people aren't downsizing because it's not cost-effective to downsize. >> Okay, that's a good point. >> So, it it's not that it's not a clear threat in that regard. I mean, the idea
that it could empty out Great Road because um restaurants can go there rather than here because there isn't the septic capacity. >> Yeah, I think that's the main main point with it. So, I didn't prepare my dialogue. I just was
speaking off my cuff here. Um any other thoughts before I go out the war articles? All right. So then, um, I highlighted, uh, three warrant articles that appear to be the ones that would need the most discussion. Um,
um, I'm going to hold on that. Oh, I'm fin. So, uh, the Warrant articles, um, I have Taylor Road, uh, Town HVAC, and then DPW. Um, so Taylor Road, this is the uh the
town has uh committed to purchasing this property and they're looking to go to town meeting to get approval for how it's being financed and or how get um get approval for the funding of it. Um, it is this T-shaped
uh portion of uh Taylor Road and uh this upper corner of it, upper right hand corner I believe is the cut through of the existing cut through from the arboritum that I haven't physically been there so I'm not positive but my
understanding is there cut there's a cut through from one side of the arborum to the other side on that upper leftand corner of the property And that is so that is that I don't know if we have
comments discussion about Christie. >> Um that is actually conservation land. It is not not buildable land. Just so people >> just that >> understand that. No that whole that this lot the reason we can buy this lot is because it has had a tax rate as conservation land.
>> Um which gives us the right of first refusal. Most of that is wetlands and is not buildable. >> I don't think all they think like capital is notable. >> Okay. Uh the reason someone would want to buy it is because
um our new subdivision laws allow that to count as land on the lot, but you can cluster all the houses to the front. So it counts as buildable land even though you couldn't um in terms of the number of houses you've built on the lot. That's something for the city to do
rather than a developer, >> the town rather. >> These are bylaws we've set as the town at town meeting. >> So I know I missed a couple meetings. Didn't we already vote on this in the committee? >> We have voted on all of these >> and we voted to recommend this. Correct.
>> Yes, we did vote to recommend this. I just brought them up here just >> just I believe it was unanimous. >> Pretty close. >> Pretty close to unanimous. Yeah, I think we >> I just brought it up uh because I >> just to highlight. So, I'm just going to highlight the three and then I'm just
going to open the floor for questions. You can ask questions on whatever you want. So, I have a little people heads here just for discussion purposes. >> Sounds good. >> All right. Uh town HVAC. Um I was intending to do a better slide on this. Yeah, this is my draft slide. Um I
I was um I did not get this one um tightened up. So I just have represented here what has been put in the town warrant a snippet of the beginning of it which is the town is uh looking to bring back to town meeting what was
voted down last year which is to um improve the uh town halls um HVAC and last year I think it was shown at uh
3 point over $3 million of a cost that uh town town has managed to allocate a grant that's a million dollars to this which is bringing the overall cost down to 2.75 million
>> as an estimate and this is uh changing out the how the heating is being used not changing out the entire heating system >> from um believe it's either gas or oil today to electric. So, I'm going to
pause there and that's Yeah, go ahead. >> I do have two comments for for to see if the wish committee will agree on a point of view on this as well. Uh our point of view on this is it got voted down last year correctly. Uh the grant, the million-doll grant does change the the finances of it and therefore makes it
more attractive. Our point of view on this is that it's not attractive without the grant. And um the other uh my other point of view on this is just being grumpy. Can't believe it's going to take almost a year to do this work that they're saying 79 months, but they want
to protect they want to reserve up to a year. So I find that shocking. >> Um financially, this allows us to access money that we've put aside, excuse me, from the um solar fields >> to pay for the electricity used for heating, okay?
>> Which you cannot use otherwise. So it it it makes the savings system better. The other part of this that can take up to a year is this is not just installing a new boiler, >> right? >> Air heat pumping everything out. I know >> which they need to do. >> I understand. >> And there's some mold remediation.
>> Oh yeah. No, this when they showed us the pictures this >> concept of taking seven to nine months drives crazy. So and uh and part of this project the plan is to do uh my understanding is to
do temporary staffing move to the uh soon to be vacated corner building uh while this project is being done. That's my understanding which that actually makes sense to me to get activate that building as much as possible so that you can have the workmen in to get it done
as fast as possible. Don't try and do partial partial bits at a time. Evacuate the place, rip it up, fix it, get them back in, >> be quick about it. >> So, >> were there were there any other hazardous materials identified? >> Um, I Let's hold that question and maybe
one of our audience members that is very knowledgeable on this subject could actually give us feedback on that >> because I know there's at least one in the audience. >> All right. So I my goal was to wrap up us talking in the next four minutes. >> Okay.
>> Um so I'm just going to go to my last slide. Uh DPW building um as proposed last year was a combination of we've always at least I've always referenced this as two problems that had to be solved. There was an equipment storage
problem and a staffing problem from the way I've always spoke to it. We had a meeting on December 8th. the finance committee with the select board where we talked about pros and cons of all scenarios. Um if you want to hear just back and forth between the two
committees uh the committee and the select board, it's a good meeting to watch to hear different points of view on on uh different angles. But since that meeting uh there was a lot of work done and they uh the the select board
and the what and I was it the >> building committee >> the building committee I'm not sure I the right term came to a decision to just propose what I technically call a staffing solution and delay the
equipment storage solution to a later date. Um, so what this is is a I would view this as a compromise to what was presented last year and um so this would
create a brand new building and to move the staff to that building. Um when and I think the one of the pros to this approach is uh the prior proposal that was turned
down at town meeting um was planning to build and work in the same space. Um which I'm just imagining would have been problematic. >> I'm sorry. You mean store and work? >> Store and work. But they have staff and
that >> Oh, you said build and work. Well, they were going to build a new building and then in pieces there was a plan to kind of partially build this and work in the same space. I think the benefit um a pro
of this approach is that um work should not be interrupted until and then when the building is finally finished, they can just move in to the new building. So, I see that as a pro. Um con is obviously still um It's still a
cost. >> Yeah. >> And so that's placeholder. I want to go through people for products. >> Uh you're going to be the one speaking to this article at at time meeting. Correct. >> That's correct. >> Okay. My advice to you on this when you go to speak to it is we recommended
money to keep moving things forward to come up with the next the next schematic. Uh what I don't want to suggest is that we and maybe maybe we as a committee have but I certainly have not I'm not fully recommending the $23 million solution at this time. I don't
believe they've gotten to the minimum viable product yet. I believe we have come to a compromise, but I don't believe we've gotten to the minimum viable product yet. And I would very much like them to go back with this new $900,000 as they go through this schematic and continue to figure out how
to get that number significantly below 20 million. There's this is a building for a relatively small number of employees, the the per employee millions of dollars is very high on this project still. So while we've given them money to move forward or while we're
recommending that we give them money to move forward on this project, they still need to be figuring out how to how to ring cost out of this because 23 is still too high. >> Christ, go ahead. >> Uh yeah, just reiterating we have been
quoted in the past, held in the past to having recommended design funds and then saying, "Oh, well, how could you turn around and not recommend the project when the final number comes in?" So, it needs to be really clear that this does not mean we recommend the final project
until we see the details and the cost. >> One of the things about I did confirm that this whatever plan design, it's not I I did ask if this was a time-sensitive plan design. like if they design this, do they have
do they have to act on it immediately? So, uh the answer to that was no. They it's a plan design that can sit there and just be the solution for you know when it's fully vetted. So, from that
perspective, that's the main reason why I supported this is that it was a good compromise plan design, but it didn't have to be we didn't have to race out and do this immediately. But it's not we're not automatically going to turn around and approve whatever.
>> All right. Any other thoughts on this? >> All right. I am going to now stop talking. I'm Is this one minute past? >> Got one second. You didn't have our conclusion slide. >> Uh uh I'm sorry. I I I blew by it. Sorry. Uh point of view. Uh
>> which is we need to discuss it. >> Um conclusion. Uh I had our recommendations for 27 through 31 which is uh no adds to staff or new positions without offset. Um all
debt projects must be approved on a per project basis. Uh expense growth has to be in line with historical percentage of revenue. Opportunities of cost share regional lines and partner with private businesses should be exhausted. Best practices for capital planning capital and long-term financial planning should be followed. I have not changed the
slide since September. Um, we had a slide discussing the possibility of overrides. >> Override. I I I did make an edit to that. Um, I based on our last conversation, I changed it to one sentence. If savings cannot be found to reduce cost outpacing revenue growth,
enacting will need to reduce service levels or seek an overhead. That was my sense. Um, so my my sentiment, especially looking at the growth percentages in the ALG model, is that we're talking about this soon.
Is that not something we want to include in here? >> I want to stick to >> Do we want Do we want to make a suggestion that, you know, we're looking at this in two or three years, or do we want to say that it's greater than three years? Do we think that an
override is going to have to happen in the next, you know, three or less is my question to the committee. >> There was a slide that showed what the shortfall >> is likely to be, right? >> That's part of the ALG spreadsheet, >> right? >> Yeah. Is this the >> So, it demonstrated that already.
>> We're always able to come up with about $2 million for for the ALG sheet. The question is if we go out three years, what's the the out number three years out? Is it still 10 million? >> It's 11. >> It's 11. Okay. No, that's four years out. So
>> 3 years out is >> 8 and a half. >> Okay, that's getting tight. You know, even if we can do it. >> Wait, now is that year over year or is that compared to >> the number deficits? >> It's cumulative though.
>> Yeah. Okay. All right. >> So >> I'd say within three years for sure. >> So do we want to put that in the slash? We want to say >> look I I don't know that the school can be part of making up 3 million next year.
>> Okay. >> I mean I think that's a real question. >> Well, we're not saying how it's supposed to be made up. We're just saying we're going to have to find something. >> Okay. >> Well, the sentence didn't say we were going to necessarily cut our way there. We said
we'd have to do one or the other. We have to cut or or or have an override. >> I just like to prepare people ahead of time for it. And I think there's a chance we're looking at it within a year. >> Okay. Do so. As a committee, we want to see that we believe that it's likely to happen within the next 3 years and we
need to we need to start having the conversation about what the uh what the balance between cuts and uh next override size should be. or we want a punt on it for I don't think
>> this is the softest message we've had about an override since I've been on the committee >> and I think this is the most likely time that we actually have one in two to three years >> I wouldn't be surprised >> I don't think any of us would be surprised
>> so we could conclude from looking at this that given that that's a lot more than just the 2 million will find it. >> It is likely that we would need one if these numbers are correct next year. >> My question would be is if we are if we advocate that we're going to have an
override, what is the incentive for the everybody to try to cut expenses if we're going to say that we're going to have we're not advocating for an override. We're saying if if something doesn't happen, we're going to find ourselves needing a Prop 2 and a half override to occur
>> or or we have or we have uncontrolled cuts. >> Yeah. How about we say without without cuts >> an override? Well, >> all right. Cuz I just I want to do this edit and then I want to go to the audience and >> it puts us in the mindset of on July 1st, what can we start doing? What
decisions can we make over the next year to avoid that, right? rather than waiting until December or >> Well, the school the school saw an 11% insurance increase. >> All right, someone give me another sentence. Uh
uh new line in the in the next 2 or 3 years. An override will become likely if it fails. Um cuts are
done dramatically rather than prescriptively. Anything that can be done now to avoid to minimize the override. Anything that can be done now to minimize the override should be done.
Minimize >> reduce the need for >> minimize. >> It's a lot of words. I always use a lot of words. I've never been accused of being >> my first thought. Too many words. >> Can we just do this instead of words smmithing this for 20 minutes? Uh, do we agree on the concept? >> Yes.
>> All right. So, let me go to the audience. >> Cool. That's the fastest ever. >> All right. Uh so um how should we do this? I think yes. Uh why don't we just uh do the raise hands and uh uh the lay
behind you beat you to for two seconds. Uh why don't you just just say your name and then uh just talk loudly because JNS on the camera over there is going to try to pick up what you said. >> Hi Sharon Sean Brule. Uh the
I'm usually with you. Um, unfortunately I co Conan is closing and I have not seen from either your committee or from the schools an assessment by realators
or you uh selling that land in part um subdividing etc. So let's say hypothetically $25 million comes in for that land. It's a big deal. So, I'm not with your scare tactics on the override. Um, I
don't think it's appropriate. I think everyone knows. Everyone knows when they saw the ridiculous numbers for healthcare what the problem is. Um, if I shift gears from that, so today you still can't tell me in part or in full,
all everyone can tell us is that we want to rehouse town hall in Conan, which is already failing in safety and we're going to put them there. There are other options, but let's be it that they're there for one
year. So, we sell it. What are your numbers? What have they told you? You're not giving us those. and those may be viable. Secondly, I am part of the EDC and I will tell you that having both worked on Great Road for many, many
years, the septic is an issue and there are $5 million grants again which expire in June which everyone fails to apply for to remedy that septic from Don's to the um Trader Joe's area. That's the
most critical area. The smell is horrid. The smell in Donins is horrid and the smell in the parking lot of Trader Joe's is bad. So again, whoever you can tell apply for the grant, you get it. It's great. But
we are always you have shifted in my mind um where I always felt you've done the complete analysis to running after the train instead of being at the station and telling the train where to go. And what's happened with that is again you're saying we're going to make
deep cuts. We're not looking at any revenues. There are revenue opportunities in act many many. But we give right away off the bat any new corporation that wants to come in that's going to make handover fist. We said them, you know, we're going to be really
nice to you. Most businesses pay the same tax rate as us as residents. And being a senior, I find that crazy that they're a revenue producer. A revenue producer should not be paying the same tax on their land that we pay as residents. So, I'm saying there are many
options to look at. Part-time residents, Airbnb, those are the small ones, but Conan is your big nut on the highway. It's right there could be $25 million, but and then an investable asset or in part, but we're not looking at it. So,
that's my thing. >> Um, anybody want to feedback? Go ahead, Chris. We do not own Conan. The town own the school system owns it. I'm aware >> they have plans to reuse it. They want to keep it in their back pocket. We
cannot force them to sell it to us so that we can get the big hands on it. So that is not on our plates as a viable option right now, which is why it would not hurt us discuss that. I would love for the EDC to come forward both to us and the select board with more
information about how to uh pursue more revenue, including if you attend the tax rate setting meetings every year, they show and make a conscious the select board makes a conscious decision every year to keep the commercial tax rate the same as it is for the residents. Mhm.
>> They're the ones who have power over it and they have a persuasive argument every year from the finance people in the town that it would be detrimental to change that. So, please again attend those meetings, discuss it with them. We have not seen any reason to counter um
the argument >> that we're hearing from the town. Part of the reason we don't want to counter the argument is we are already uh heavily residential and the commercial base is so low that if we get seen to be even more hostile to commercial then
then we're not going to then potentially lose even more of the commercial base that we have. We um you're a member of the EDC. You hear in every single meeting that Akran is a terrible place to do business. And we get we hear that every single meeting that that that this
town is hostile to EC. My uh neighbors who are small small franchises have said that they they put their franchises in um Marboro and Maynard and they would never even consider putting their franchise enacted. So we need to be careful not to be seen as being hostile
to commercial. >> Small versus large that can be delineated. Mega stock New York stock exchange companies versus mom and pop franchises. And children also say my parents terrible. They didn't want me to go out till 2:00 in the morning. People do
complain. So, you know, I've heard it. But the reality is is Trader Joe's is extremely successful and very valuable. you can get people like that in town um that don't complain. Sorry for taking a little longer. >> Sorry, Sharon. I think Ken was next.
>> Yeah, we have a we have a spending problem. Uh we it's not a revenue. I look at Actton. I have a lot of properties. I've been in business all my life and I see property that I own that basically had the same value as let's say my house in Actton on Fort Bond
Road, right? And I pay twice as much in taxes than I do in other towns. Let's say like Salem. I have water, I have sewage, I have trash pickup, I have everything, gas, and I pay half the taxes, right, of of enacted. We were
just spending spending spending. You can look at the the house behind town hall. They spent over a million dollars on that. $1.5 million. And yet I could have done the same thing for $100,000. I could have went down to country carpenter and got a better place for 100
grand. We we got the uh the transfer station. We have a new office there that's been there over a year and it's still empty. We got we got conquered where they made made it narrower. Then they put a bike path and then they say for safety. We got curbs being put in
the middle of the road on on Greg Road. What tax that? They say, "Oh, slow down traffic." I just went to the uh the uh the veterans in Bedford and I all go through Lincoln. I'd go through conquering. It was beautiful. I had
fields. They had farms. They in act it looks like a disaster. Look at Kelly's Corner over 5 years. They built the Mass Turnpike in two years and that's 126 miles and that's with bridges going through houses going
through uh uh going through mountains and everything else. What are we doing here? I could go on like the the refueling stations with the DPW. It looks like it belongs on a mass turnpike. We're just spending spending spending. And I feel sorry for the
people on fixed incomes. I mean, I don't have that problem, but there's other people that are on fixed income. And the largest population I think is growing is the elderly here. And I'm just worried about them. And I'm worried about my grandchildren. And it's not just acting.
It's a national debt. We're spending, spending, spending. There is no reason why we should be spending on this money. The DPW committee, I was on that and I made these suggestions about putting cameras in. We could save on on resources and everything else. Then what they did? They renamed the committee.
They vote me back. So, I was off the committee cuz I disagreed with them about the And I'm glad the finance committee said it's too much money. Can't do it. And I can't understand why the town manager didn't go to the finance committee for us and said how much they think we can spend on the D2B
DPW building. Instead, he hired the consultant because his management team can't figure out what they want to do with their own department. You know, it just doesn't make any sense as a businessman. It just doesn't make any sense. I see all this waste if waste and waste and waste. And we have to start
thinking about making acting more affordable, especially for our seniors and people on fixed income. You know, I'm lucky, but there's a lot of people that aren't as lucky as I am, you know. So, I'm just worried about them. And I I could say myself, I probably could have
saved $10 million just in the last two years on these projects that the town manager is putting together. And I'm I'm grateful for the finance committee to to stand up and say, "Wait a second here. We can't do this. We're going to need an override. We're already what you said the 30th highest in the whole state.
>> Yes. >> And with overrides we're going to be number one close to it and we're still broke. I mean every house here the roughly it's about $15,000 per house in taxes. The average, right? That's $300 a week and a town manager says we're going
broke. Think about $300 a week. You have to make 400 bucks to take home 300. So $400 of your pay is going just to taxes. I don't have water. I don't have sewage. I don't have trash pick up. I
don't care about that. But my my taxes are are high. I mean, I can pay them, but there's other people. The first house my student pays $36,000 in taxes with no services. I just don't understand being a business guy how you can be broke with making all that money.
It just doesn't make any sense for me. And our school system, I don't know what they're doing with that. I mean, I don't have kids in the schools anymore, but it's a that's the biggest asset we have is our schools. And I hear that we got declining population, but our bills are going up. I understand about all the uh
medical and whatever that expenses, but we have to find some way to cut. I mean, we got AI coming in. The town manager hasn't mentioned anything about AI. You know what the town manager would do with AI? He said, "I'll have to hire two more people." That's what he ended up doing
instead of, you know, finding out, you know, how we can cut back on resources. Uh my my wife's brother's uh wife worked at the uh the uh library and there was eight employees when she worked there. This is, you know, 20
years ago, but now there's what 22 23. We have to start thinking like our business people. we just have to start thinking and I appreciate all you guys working on in ladies working on this and uh it's great presentation and uh I want
to congratulate you. Thank you. >> Uh hi, my name is Gary Craraven. Uh yeah, my question is a little higher level. What what is the mechanism to fix this? How I agree 100% our spending is completely wasteful and inefficient. But what can a citizenry do to get people
that you know want to do things efficiently? >> Talk to the select board. >> We app uh recommend spending or not for town meeting. That is our biggest lever. That is really our only lever we have to pull. But the select board has people
coming forward asking for services and in support of services and support of buying land. They don't get to hear the other arguments as much. I have not been to a meeting. Scott's been to where I've heard someone stand up and say, "You're spending too much money and I'm willing
to give this up for it." Everyone has their things they want to keep. >> Well, does the select board look in how can we do things more efficiently? How can we use technology to reduce our employees and our pension costs which seem to be skyrocketing? >> You need to talk to the select board. I
I I wish we could solve it. >> Are you on the select board? No, >> I'm on the fin. We're all finance committees. >> Uh if just for his purpose, could the two spike board members raise your hand in the >> They're not allowed to talk to you right now. >> This is our time. I take took a day off
at work for this. So, any other recommendations? I don't >> Well, I mean, government is a people business and like Scott chart said, about 80% of what we spend is on people. Um and the services
we deliver are by and large delivered by people. Could we improve on tech use of technology? Sure. Are there things that we could do more efficiently? Absolutely. Um it's also governed by a lot of regulation. We talked about the town regulating us,
but the town is also regulated by the state and they have some of the um least um forward-looking policies. Um and the county is a bit squirrely as far as the private sector would go. We
we would never do a forecast the way they do forecasts. Um so the environment is difficult. Somebody once characterized it as the town's planning is like driving the bus but only looking
in the rearview mirror uh to see what happened. Um on the other hand, you know, taxes are high. Um and the cost of having employees is getting higher every
for years. We've been our compensation costs have been outrunning proposition 2 and a half by at least a percent or two. It's a it's an unsustainable financial model. Um but the comment about people going to
the board selectment to advocate for spending is absolutely true. Um you don't hear many people go in there saying cut your spending. Uh squeaky will sometimes get their own. So if there's a um
a a group of people that want to see spending cut then they have to voice it there. I mean we do it too. >> Um I mean every year we come out a point of view and say no more than 3% increase and and this year actually that was
achieved. It's the first year in my memory of 27 years that it's been achieved. >> So one of the things that we've done for example is we with the DVW building one of the things that we said was don't build a new building. Go look at some of the other buildings in town that are
that are vacant. Let's see what we can do about that. That's the type of thing that we say. But if if it's just us that says it and meanwhile every time a major a major project comes to town meeting and it gets approved, then where's the incentive for the select board to
actually make make changes, look at different things. So, uh, what's what's going to have to happen at some point is we're either just going to keep paying more in taxes or at some point an override is going to fail. The last
override passed by 51 votes between 43 and 51 thing. I wish you way you look at it. We got lucky on that one or some we got unlucky on that one cuz we cuz it passed. So until there is pain
there's not going to be change. All right, Ken, before I go back to you, I would like to give someone question. >> You haven't asked a question yet. So >> Alyssa or we >> you We're not taking it
>> here. Um, there's a seems to be we're really focusing on making cuts. Why aren't we recommending and focusing on generating more revenue? You brought up businesses. I'm a I I have lived in town since 1999 and so many business
buildings have been empty since I moved in in 1999 and they're still empty. Why don't we put forward suggestions and plans to bring I bring more businesses in? I understand the septic issue on Great Road. I love the idea of getting a
grant. We talked about the difficulty of raising taxes on businesses, but I I don't understand why you, the finance committee, are also looking and encouraging the town to look at generating more revenue because I, as a
resident, I we talk about services. I get no services. Why don't I have trash pickup? Why don't I have these services? So, I see it as rather than making cuts, let's look at generating revenue. We have a department of we have a person
has a full-time job to do just that correct in the town. I don't know how long that position has been in place because I I've only been paying attention to government politics and all this stuff for 3 years. So, but I've been in town since 93. >> It's been it's been around for a while,
but we've had a couple people transition. what what happens, you know, and it just happened again. You know, Crossroads Cafe after more than 30 years in business, uh, is closing down. Um, so,
are we going to get another restaurant? No, we're going to get another car dealer. Um I think the McGovern um group will probably move the Chrysler Plymouth um dealership that they have now on
Great Road up next to the new Subaru deal. So at one time in that plaza we had five operating restaurants. Um now we have one. Um,
and part of that is just I think we didn't plan our zone accordingly, but at the time who saw that uh going to happen,
but I understand the uh TJ Maxx is leaving town. Um, so I hear what you're saying, but what what we see is that the the tide is going out, not coming in. Uh, there's something about either the
demographics or the the regulation or the zoning that um keeps businesses from wanting to come here. >> And I know there are amendments on the warrant to help the encourage, but they're not very dramatic. They're not
big changes. I I went to one of those meetings and I asked, "What do you antic how much business do you anticipate to bring in with these changes?" No one could answer. I mean, do we I I mean, what do we really expect from those small changes? I mean, I think it need I
mean, you're all talking how businesses view active as hostile, don't want to move into town. I think that's outrageous. And I welcome MCI Concrete's redevelopment because maybe it'll maybe it'll bring people to this area. You know, that's why you have 45 coffee
shops. You go to one. Oh, there's another one over there. I'll go to that one. >> So, it's just I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm also venting a bit to you guys, but I really think >> focus. Believe it or not, we we >> and I appreciate you all listening.
>> Scott, I actually sent you a note on this earlier, like an hour before the meeting. So, you probably >> I did not see it, but >> I was here. I brought equipment in because I thought we were going to be in the cafeteria and I had all the stuff. I had a screen. I had had I had all this stuff and then they jeans the room. So
then I had to put everything back in my car. >> But so on this point I would really like for us to understand what is the marginal increase in revenue to the town every time you have a new business come in like how much do they have to make? Because we talk about bringing in new business but what is actually impactful
compared to what are the costs on the town of having the new business? This came up when we talked about >> zoning changes. Um would would it put an additional strain certain types of businesses on the police or the fire um safety support you needed for and then what is the marginal benefit that we see
as a town? Are there some businesses that provide more benefit? Just it's theoretical almost we how much business do we need to encourage in our town? How much growth in order to see a measurable increase in the actual revenue that the town realizes from that business?
Obviously if you give a tax break then zero >> right or it's delayed it's delayed >> but otherwise all of this is just aspirational or theoretical right >> oh of course yeah all right um
looking at all the tax I did looked at all the commercial tax rates in industrial from last year and there's a lot that are like under six figures um and the majority and then there just the ones I've highlighted here are the ones
that like were actually material for the town. So, and I understand that you know what I'm seeing here and then property that's currently being taxed and then if it's turned into a business in tax like I understand your question. I'm just
saying that um yes it's a very good question. I don't have anything to answer. Uh what I'm hearing is that we need to have more discussions with the business development person from town hall and the economic development committee in part to plan. What I had heard was that
that septics were actually just limited in size and that we needed the sewer so that more restaurants could go in that restaurants and gyms were not going in because there wasn't enough capacity for them. And that's why we have so many empty places because services are what's
big right now. you can't AIOA services. Um, and you have a lot of people who want to eat out. We get that extra tax. We get a receipts. We have a search charge. Yeah. >> Um, on restaurants specifically, so that's a good business for us.
>> Back to unless there's someone else. We'll go back to Sharon. >> I wanted to address this gentleman in front of me. Um, just so you're aware, um, there's an expression, loose lipless thing shifts. And the expression around town that was brought to me as a senior, an acting senior is that there is
definitely a move that they don't want acting seniors in their home. We do want you to downsize because we want these homes to turn over and be higher price. Um because again to your point, residential tax is the way they're
focusing. I was appalled because I have family of course that lives in California that base But like Zippo on million-dollar homes because they're Prop 13 and there are 16 states of which the rest of my family
lives in. There's no taxes on seniors. No property tax. Once you reach 65, it's done. There's a I mean I think there might be in a few of those an income thing, but it's it's lovely. um to your
statement about the revenue. The portion you're missing and it's not a negative to you is that the eyesore concept is not something that we that that business cares about. So the McDonald's
dilapidating that multi-billion dollar company could care less. >> We're focusing on it like oh it might be costly to them. We need to give them revenue breaks to repair it. They're a multi-billion dollar company. So, this
is our problem with some of these vacant places. They're getting huge tax breaks by keeping them empty. But a lot of towns and states impose fines after a certain period of time because what they say from a finance committee
perspective is, "We got your drift now. you've been you're using it as a tax loss, but actin shouldn't be party to your scheme. And that's that's why that's great. >> That's what's happened. So don't look at
the business individually. Look at the owner of that business of the property, not the business, the property, and he's taking a right off. >> Thank you. >> So I tried to address both of them. >> Uh is there any other questions from the audience?
We're back to the cost of doing business in active. >> That's the problem. It's not taxing people more or not moving taxes over here. 5 years ago, the town manager said we had to have another fire station on Harris Avenue. Two years later, let's
close a couple fire stations. You know, this is what drives me literally crazy is the spending and the nonsense in our in our thoughts. I met with the town manager regarding uh giving breaks to seniors, right? And I said, "If I sell
my house, uh, and I said, "At least two kids, it's a four-bedroom house. At least two kids are going to move in it and it's going to cost what?" He said, "$19,000 per child." I said, "So that's uh $38,000." And I said, "Wait a second here." I said, " $38,000? You're losing
money right away." He says, "But I can't give 5% discount to seniors for every year." until it's 20 and I'm going like where is your business mind? It it's completely gone. I mean it's just spending spending and the select board
just rubber stamps everything. If it wasn't for the finance committee would really be in trouble. We'd be working on the DPW right now right and looking for overrides and overrides and being number one in taxes. We have to do something about the spending. It's not who's who
pays for it. is why it costs so much to live in active. Do we need these things? Do we need islands on the in the main roads? Do we need another fire station? Do we need, you know, uh electric heat in in the uh in the town hall? We're the
second highest in utility rates for electricity. And we want, hey, let's put electricity in. That's a good idea. You know, why don't we revamp the the gas system, oil system, what we have. I just as a businessman I've been living in Lac
for 53 years and I've seen it change and it's not good. And uh I paid uh $800 and something dollars when my first move and now it's tens of thousands. You know, I I just I just feel sorry for the younger people that are trying to find a way to
buy a house. Everything's getting so expensive. Uh I go to the store with my wife, which I usually never do, but I couldn't believe how much food costs. you know, it's staggering. We have to do something. We can't keep spending money. And as far as the DPW, I'd say put that
on hold for 3 or 4 years until we get everything straightened out until we make this town more affordable. We need to be more affordable. We have to worry about the elderly, the people on fixed incomes. And that's what I got to say. Our town, our management here, that is
when I saw $1.6 million for that house behind town hall, I couldn't believe it. >> We voted it down the first time. It's a town. I'm right. I'm just saying it's it's crazy. I would have made the parking lot bigger cuz the parking lot's too small. Or so let us revamp this
whole building. There's nothing left to it, you know. And uh I just don't get it. I'm just as a businessman, I'll never do business in acting. Uh in fact, uh if my kids didn't live next town over, I'd be gone out of acting in a
heartbeat. you know, and it has nothing to do and he can't afford $40,000 for a fire and works for celebrating this year this birthday and the town voted for it and he said, "No, I don't want it." So that's it. Uh I had uh when they did the monument over
I said put the American flag up. I had a meeting with the town manager. He refused to put that flag up. I finally had a meeting with the fire chief. It was up within hours. She put it up within hours. I don't get it. I'm just disgusted with time and I feel sorry for
the people that I'm 82 years old. Oh, sorry, 81. 81 years old. >> I mean, I don't have that many mornings. So, I'm not fighting for myself. I'm fighting for the people enacted and I appreciate the work you guys are doing. >> All right. Thank you. Um,
uh, this young lady over here, >> I'd like to reinforce some of the comments this gentleman has made, but maybe not in such a loud voice. my eyes. >> Uh if you look at the numbers for the out years, there's a deficit that and and if
I just did a quick math, if you add it up, it comes out between 25 and 30 million that needs to be found. And with regard to spending, um
it it seems like there's The select board responds positively to proposals to spend money uh based on the wants of people. So
the DPW building was designed around the wants of the people who work in that area. And you made the point about why didn't somebody look at how much we can afford to spend And that could be applied to a lot of
things. Uh what do what is the town doing that is not a need but is a want? And an example would be that the town has been spending something like a million dollars a year plus or minus on
complete streets. And a lot of that it I think is that that is some of it may have to do with safety but not all of it. Uh so I think a lot of that is a
want and not a need. And so whenever there's a proposal for spending more money uh I think the question's got to be is this a need? Is this a need? Do we need to buy 46
Taylor at $1.4 million? Is that a need? And I know the select board has had it on their list for years and but that's not a reason to buy it today.
The land is appraised at $430,000 and the asking price is 1.4 million. Would you do that with your own money? Would you write a check for $1.4 million for a land that's appraised for
$430,000? I think the answer is no. You wouldn't do it. Doesn't make sense. Why? So they might be able to build a parking lot in the front. $1.4 million for a parking lot. And then the argument
is, well, the money is going to come from, you know, the CPA money, and so it's not going to cost anything, but the CPA money is tax money. >> Okay. >> And if that money wasn't spent, CPA could help pay for the HVAC system
in the town hall. >> Okay. >> And I talked to the town manager about that. He says, "Well, we never thought of that and uh we've never done anything like that." But other towns have Town of Hamilton borrowed $4 million.
This the the CPC borrowed $4 million to to renovate and put an HBA system in their historic. So if you didn't do 46 Taylor get that would free up money
to pay for the HBA system. So my point is that someone's got to put this all together in a better way. Do we really need to spend that money? Is it a want? Is it a need? Do we have the money to do
it? And if the answer is you don't have the money to do it, you shouldn't do it. >> Can I clarify something? >> Go ahead, Chris. Um, the CPA, the money that is buying the Taylor Road that's proposed to pay for it is in its own special bucket that can only be used for
open space. So, it could not be used for the HAC, >> but they're borrowing the money. So, they don't really have the money. So, it's not >> I I'm I'm just telling you he you were misled if the town manager said implied that that money could just be used for the HBC. It it is not the case. Just
wanted to make that clear. To the point to your point though, CPC money from a different bucket theoretically could be used for something like the HBAC system, but this money here is specifically set aside for >> pretend I didn't say it.
>> No, I just still hear it, >> right? Just as an example on this HVAC project, uh did we calculate a return on investment while we put in on what it saves in energy over the time
investment? >> The fact that the fact that it wasn't part of last year's presentation is why why the vote went down. Uh and I know that the person doing the presentation this year has already been out to the finance committee and I guarantee you he's going to make sure that well I can't guarantee anything he does but I I
expect Since he's sitting in the room, he's going to make sure to have a a good ROI number because he came to us with one. I'm sure he's going to have it in front of town town meeting as well. >> Well, how good is it? >> It's not It's not fantastic, but it's positive at least. >> It's significant. Um, in part because
they can use the money from the solar that they cannot use otherwise. Plus, they have a much lower electric rate than we do. Whereas, I would not want to run my house off electricity right now. the town's rate is significantly better and it is more cost effective.
>> But to the point of making sure you have a solid ROI before you go for the taxpayers, thank you for mentioning it because we've been saying that for years and that's absolutely something that the select board needs to remember. >> I think it's understandable if you just put the payback performance even.
>> Fair enough. Fair enough. We when we when we built the new twin school uh the boardwalk campus uh we absolutely had the payback years for each of the quadruple net zero whatever whatever paybacks the worst one was 10 years the best one was seven you know when you're building a 75 year 50 to 75 year
building a 10ear payback it's acceptable fantastic but it's totally acceptable seven years is great let's do it um when when this when this HBC uh first came out it wasn't clear that there was a payback and so we said and they went back got a grant found
other monies and had now have an online item that I'm sure we'll see you right >> all right uh we'll go to you and then >> one last quick comment this gentleman mentioned that you would never do business in actton I'm not going to ask
why but he's the type of person that we all need to listen to the t as a town and figure out why and correct it that's all I wanted to Thank you. >> Um to address your comment about the school um deciding that they're going to
keep the abandoned property, when does a board such as yours step in and say a fiscally irresponsible decision is being made? So, are they going to build in $1 million per year to the taxpayer to maintain that building? Because water
can leak, pipes can burst, a lot of things can happen. So, are they going to come to you to approve a budget that includes a maintenance decision versus coming to you and saying, "We think that's more responsible than $25 million
to sell it in an investable asset. We're buying swamp land." >> Honestly, the school has been so focused on building a sustainable structure going forward. This has not come up. The cost they cost in their budget for maintenance of that building empty is
60,000 a year. That is >> I heard it was much higher. That that was miss a misnomer. >> Oh, okay. I have not seen that. >> Okay. I heard Imagine 60,000. The other buildings are all crumbling. Your new boardwalk is crumbling inside. I work it. Things are falling off the wall. I
mean, it's dirty. There's the schools have rats and rodents in them. I mean, so 60,000 is not possible in an abandoned building plus all that land. What do we need the land for then? So, I'm just saying to you, someone has to say, "Hey, let's give me the
numbers." If you were chairman of the board or president and you brought me this thing and I somebody said, "I want to keep it." It's not a bank on on your shelf. It's not a book that you like to look at. Show me what it costs. I can I'm giving up
25 million versus Oh, I'm going to spend 60,000. You're not going to spend 60,000, I would tell you. So, that's my last comment. I'm so sorry I took so much of your time. >> That's okay. Uh I had said we were stopped 15 minutes ago, but uh we run over, which is fine. I thought we're
going to be in the cafeteria and right now we would have people running by us with food and everything. So, uh is there any other thoughts or questions from the audience? Just one question for me again. >> I don't understand again why the town
manager said you can't build that daycare center but I'm going to put a dog park in the busy street in the town. Right. I know a lot of people that walk put their dogs on my street and not one of them ever said they go there. Why would you bring a dog to a busy street?
You know when you get all these trails and all these things you can walk a dog and that's just money for wasted again. and he's losing all the tax revenue on that dayare and he's talking about oh we need more businesses and he threw them out. It's like what one lady said about how how difficult it is to come have a
business in here like because it gets so such a hard time. It doesn't make any sense. It it just my mind just goes crazy being a businessman. If I if I open another bar I would never have it in action
or my other businesses. No way. But it the dog park. Holy Christ, you know. And then he says it's only going to cost $4,000 to maintain the dog. He could have put it down narrow park. We already have parking and people go there.
>> I don't know. I quit. >> If my recction recollection is correct, that was on the committee at the time. We did recommend they just sell that land once we bought it, >> but it went nowhere. >> Yeah. >> We did the town manager. I I'm not
>> just that that predates that, doesn't it? >> Yeah. >> The purchase predates our current town manager. >> The purchase predates our current town manager. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> The decision to buy that land and to reject the childare center.
>> Right. But then there was a study committee to see what we want to do with the land. Now that we acquired it and then >> I agree with your sentiments. I just want to make sure the the facts are >> like I tried I was on the committee but they threw me up because I had too good ideas couldn't cut the cost. So you're out of here. Okay.
>> Um I >> I just can I just ask one quick question then? What was it? $900,000 that was spent to to develop a plan for the the DPW building. >> That's that's the gross price. I think that nets in the 700 range.
>> Okay. And currently you would not approve the plan. Now, we approved as a committee, we approved the plan to do that design. Oh, >> okay. >> We're not signing on for the final plan until we've seen this. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I just wondering is if you want
changes to the plan, is it going to be done under that same amount or what would you have to pay more? Uh I think the collective thought is is that and I might be speaking out line here but the fact that it's a staffing solution um which is what we've agreed to from
the beginning uh that we are happy to support a um this compromised plan but we do hold our final decisions until seeing what comes out of it. >> Okay. Thank you very much.
>> Does that make sense? >> Who would recommend right necessarily have the authority to anything? >> All right. Um, so I'm going to stop public comment. My suggestion for the finance committee is that instead of it's I don't have a lot of time today
myself is that we do keep our meeting that as next scheduled and then we'll do a debrief on this meeting. um try to do a final final on the point of view and then I can look for some guidance for the speech I have to present at meeting
and I'm sensing some thoughts that I need to cover from the audience. Um and I'll hold any uh additional like voting on meetings and everything to our next meeting if that's okay with everybody. >> And that's next Tuesday. >> That's next. Yeah, that's Yeah, that's
you got the agenda. >> Yes. Voting day. >> Okay. Well, thank you for having this meeting. >> Thank you very much. You're >> welcome.