Welcome to 2026. It is 6:00 p.m. Um, this is a hybrid meeting being conducted in person at the police station conference room and over teams. This meeting is being recorded for future viewing on cable channel and the town's YouTube page. uh go through the list of active members
tonight. Mr. Bush, >> yes. >> Mr. Gamba, >> present. >> I am present. Mr. Deinion, Mr. Benoy, Mr. Rosendis >> here. >> Mr. St. Jes, Mr. Sullivan
>> here, and Mr. Cadero. >> Yes, here. >> We did just have um Jacob join on Zoom. Jacob Bellerino is on the team's meeting. So, welcome everyone. Um, we got a set
of minutes that we're looking to get approved of December 11, 2025. Everybody's okay with the minutes. >> Yep. Motion to accept the minutes as presented. >> Second. >> All those in favor?
>> Motion passes. Anderson call. >> He's a voting member. >> Okay, we're good. All right, so I'm just going to uh you need discussion. First order of business is full master plan draft layout and we'll turn it over to Liz F
from Serpent to go through uh draft a cushion master plan. >> Great. Sounds good. Good to see everyone again. It's been it's been a second. Um and we've done uh a lot of work laying this master plan out. A lot of it should be familiar to you guys because we've really gone through all the chapters,
the recommendations, although I will say there are some new sections largely focused on the process, introduction, and all that. So, is there are are there any sections that you guys want to go through? Otherwise, my plan is to kind of show you the new stuff in the introduction and then run through each
chapter, kind of just really briefly highlight anything that may have changed and go from there. Does that sound like? All right, sounds great. Um, so I'll start here. Um, you know, we have a very brief introduction that, like I said, really goes through what
our approach is for the master plan. And because the master plan, um, kind of falls off from the traditional process that the state usually requires. We pursued an OSRP. We developed a WMP at the same time. So, we want to highlight that and really emphasize that this was
a multid-disciplinary process and there was a lot of um planning that went into this beyond just the master plan. This highlights the required elements. So, when the state reviews this and takes a look, they're like, "Okay, yes, they covered all their bases. Um, they talked about all the things that we should have
been talking about." Um this goes over what is our community engagement and that really covers the role that the MPC has in this process. Um it details the role of the deep dives which were those
very topic based discussions that we had. Um really data heavy. Can you guys see all of that blur? >> No the letter is not that great. >> Okay. I can try
That's better. >> Yeah, maybe. Okay. All right. Well, while they figure that out, um, I did want to, you know, we we're going through the deep dive. So the deep dives are detailed here. Everything that we talked about, including land use, housing and economic development, which we actually did a couple times, services
and facilities and transportation, water resource management, open space and recreation, as well as historic and cultural resources. So again, those are linked on the website, kind of an overview of what we talked about. And then we also highlighted all the
individual discussions we had with either uh conservation commission, the bike and uh pedestrian uh safety committee uh parent teacher organization. So any kind of public interface that we had with either a board, a committee, um an expert on
anything in Kushnet, then we tried to make sure that was tracked and recorded. We also highlighted the traveling workshops that we did. And if you recall, these were kinds of events we where we popped in. We were just kind of like showing up. There was no set
agenda. It was um either, you know, we showed up at Dunkin Donuts, the storytelling event at the library. So people coming in who were already planning on going to an event would see us and maybe hopefully get an idea that the master plan is going on, take a flyer to take the survey in their free
time. Um those kinds of activities. And then of course the online survey which we tracked you know um how long it was out, the number of responses that we received um and the number of questions that you know were were included in that.
This really details just like the general existing conditions about aushnet and was probably covered in a variety of the deep dive. So a lot of this should be familiar as well. We talk about the history. Uh we go over a lot
of the previous plans that Kusha has already completed. So you know it's actually quite a few things including the 2001 open space and recreation plan. Refer to that one as we develop the new one. the 2008 master plan. We definitely looked at that one as we were developing
uh this update here. Um you know to MVP plans to the Department of Public Works review that was completed um as well as the New Bedford Water Agreement. So this again is information that we received during the deep dives. It's
just a way to catalog it and make sure that anyone who starts reading the master plan gets this information up front of like what what is a cushion its people by the numbers uh in comparison to Bristol County and the state as a whole. So establishing a little bit of context before we get deeper into some
of the some of the uh conversations. This here really looks at our vision and um summarizes it. Right? So when it comes to land use, our vision was really focused on maintaining a small town identity. I apologize you can't read
these. Let me see if I can make it bigger. Now we're talking. >> Yeah. Okay. >> If there's anything really important, I'll make sure to >> um we also wanted to focus on commercial
development um in very specific areas. So, Town Center and South Main Street, really thinking about small businesses, that small town feel. Um when it came to housing, we really wanted to consider the environmental impacts that are um you know go handinhand with any type of
development but spec specifically housing and then this idea that in a cushion it as we are looking at an aging population more and more seniors we really want to think about how we can support more senior housing uh for economic development. The vision here
was to really think about how to attract small businesses and improve infrastructure in town to be able to accommodate new businesses. Um service services and facilities kind of self-explanatory. Improve accessibility
to all our town facilities. We know you know some of them may be aging could use some updates. Um we detail all of that. And then expanding town infrastructure again where needed. um kind of on a same vein but separate idea for for economic development. Uh transportation, we
really focused on improving roadway and pedestrian safety. Uh also thinking about how to expand bike lanes and sidewalks for historical and cultural resources. This really considered how we can preserve those historic structures
that are so emblematic of of town. And then really thinking creatively about how to use any um underutilized town land or buildings. Um and also maybe thinking about some partnerships that we can establish. And then water resource management. We talked about flooding
concerns and the water quality um in town. The OSRP vision. Um I you'll notice that there are references to the OSRP throughout the plan, but all of that is saved for the OSRP and that's simply because um the state agency that
reviews the OSRP and approves them requires very specific information in them. So we didn't want to be redundant, but we do reference quite a bit to the OSRP. All right, going broad. Um let me go up here. when we finalize
this plan um and based on the discussions that we had about how important this is, is it a medium, is it a high, we're going to have a matrix at the end that summarizes all the goals and strategies in a big table. It's probably going to be a little bit overwhelming, but at least searchable in
one place and we'll lay it all out in this format here. So that way you can kind of see how many of your strategies in a Kushnet are um a really high priority and require your immediate attention. Um and then others which
might be uh low priority and have a more flexible timeline. So um the final final product which will be presented at the open house will have that as well. And then we start getting into those uh deep dive topics that we've already
talked about. So, I can go in as detailed as you guys want or we can kind of review quickly and see if anything pops up. I don't think there were any additions to the land use section um especially when it came to
recommendations. There are some figure placeholders that you'll notice throughout, but those will be finalized. It's just a matter of getting staff to to pull together the final figures. this strategy in particular. Um, we kind of have one section that really goes deep into those topics that we discussed
earlier, senior housing, environmental concerns. This topic here really was so close to the OSRP that we left a lot of the discussion to be had in the OSRP because it really deals with that rural character. um and it would be getting
into you know creating an extra 50 pages in the master plan that you'll just read in the OSRP. So here you'll see also the complimentary strategies um with each recommendation that we had. I'm going
zoom in a lot. um we decided to highlight where the connections were across within each chapter and then across other chapters. So for example, when it comes to conducting the zoning reotification
um we highlighted um obviously the following strategies in the land use chapter, some housing strategies as well as economic development and OSRP strategies. So those will be linked. So when you're reading the plan digitally, you can click on those and go to that
one and say, "Oh, okay. That's the connection." Whiplash. Okay. Housing chapter. Again, not much changed from the last time that we discussed um
housing in in a Kushnet. This is kind of like the summary of the goals and strategies that we that we proposed for this plan. Um again, they really focus on affordability, senior housing, um and and maintaining
that rural character. So, economic development. This one was one that as we started writing and as we started analyzing some of the specifics, we had some greater questions. Um, and that was I can go over
to some of these here. If you recall, um we talked about expanding the industrial zoning district in the southeast section of town. Um what we found was that there were some pretty significant challenges associated
with that. Let me see where that is. down here. Here it is. So, I know there was interest in expanding the industrial district in this area. However, we took a look at the wetlands and accessibility
to that to that parcel and there's a there's a lot of challenges associated with not only reszoning because it's currently chapter 97 which means you have to get a twothirds legislature vote to take it out of that type of protection. Um, significant wetlands and
I'm not sure why it doesn't appear there. That should be a layer on there. Um, but aside from that, the access to it would have to go through there were a couple different iterations. We talked about route 240
connecting it from there. Um, we also looked at the alternative going through like what was the connecting road? >> Morton. >> Morton. Yes, that was the other one. So, I guess if there is a section that you read, a recommendation that you review
after tonight's meeting, I would ask you to read this one. And I want to make sure that what we put in here is representative of what you would like to see be the next steps for um expanding the industrial zone in town. Um, I didn't I wanted to lay out the facts for
this parcel and make sure that that is still something that the town is interested in pursuing knowing that it is pretty big uphill battle. >> That's understood. >> Okay. >> There's other poss laid out on maps. Okay. >> Because I worked with the attorneys when
I was dealing with PJ Keing developing the host community agreement. >> So punching through the 240 is absolutely something that the town is pursuing along with PJ Keating. Okay. Um, and there's other parcels of land that we're looking at as well, including some owned by PJ Kenny.
>> Okay. >> So, it's kind of like one of those, if you want to call it, kind of like that public private partnership going on. >> So, there's some wheeling and dealing that I'm still involved in with that whole property and
laying in the back with attorneys and things of the like. So, >> okay. It does. It It has been and it does seem like it's a real uphill battle, but anything's possible. >> Okay. Okay. So, we've changed the language a tiny bit, but um to make it
more general like explore, that type of thing. >> Yeah. Maybe not use if if it's if there's any other verbiage of just specifically talking about town own land, maybe strike that like land use in the general area. maybe instead of using the verbiage of town only land because I
think most of us are aware that a lot of that is um conservation restricted and things of the like. >> Okay. >> Um and it's a huge uphill battle to try to pull that out as you mentioned. >> But I think it would be, you know, a good idea to leave it and and have that discussion that's out there. So if we do
end up at the state and federal level, we can identify that it's something that is in our master plan. I think that would go a long way in help helping the town pursue it. Fantastic. That's that's really good insight. I'll make that change to the town own land. We did have like a a map
here kind of showcasing what the change would be. Is it is it getting too far ahead of the process to do that >> to do >> to like highlight the parcels that would >> that the town owns? >> No, no, no. That are in discussions to be >> Yeah. No, I think that would be
premature and um you know, we wouldn't want to be triggering anybody's mindset early. Um, that's kind of like going to the Super Bowl and giving you your playbook 3 hours before the game. >> So, I wouldn't want to, you know, that's not the way I like to negotiate. So, >> okay. So, just the general area around
PJ King. Okay, perfect. We won't include maps or anything then. I mean that development too on the town side. I mean even if it was a 10 acre swath of land, 15 acres, which is not a lot considering I think PJ Keing owns
380 >> Mhm. >> acres of land and they're developing some in the back. That's where they're moving their asphalt plant >> and crushing operations towards the backside. >> Okay. Um, so again, anything's possible and it
doesn't take a lot of land to spur either economic development or housing of some sort. Right. >> Right. Okay. Perfect. Um, so why don't I after this meeting revisit this one? I will send out a new copy for review and
then I'll I'll get everyone's blessing. Sounds good. Okay, perfect. Um, all right. Moving forward, uh, cultural resources, again, emphasizing Longplay Museum, what
we need to do to support those, uh, structures, um, events in town, what we can do to continue to support those services and facilities really focused on highlighting
where all the facilities are in town. Um we're looking at age of of facilities but also their role. Um and then these here again enhancing services
replacing and uh modernizing moderating temples. Yes, that does make sense. Um but we did have actually a conversation with the school regarding um improvements to their facilities and that gave us some insight as to what
their plans were. So we were able to provide some recommendations for different grant programs um and incorporate that into into this plan. I can highlight that one too. Yes. Okay. So this um strategy highlights a lot of
the work that the school has already done surrounding the improvements because a cushion is a green community. They have been able to get funds for projects. Um however there are some some projects still outstanding uh largely
related to HVAC that um has so far been difficult to find and that's what this this is kind of focused on. Any questions on this particular new recommendation? This also brings us to transportation.
Um again, you know, one of the things that we were talking about when we first looked at the draft together, um you know, sidewalks few fewer than than you might expect. Um but I think there's
plenty of opportunity. >> That means there's room for growth. >> Yeah. >> Yep. Working on those sidewalks, especially on Main Street. >> Yeah. Yeah. When we did the Veterans Day parade, we all walked back to town hall from Pac and I said, "See, this is this
is why we need to fix these sidewalks." >> Yeah, for sure. >> It's a disaster thought. >> So, major priority in the transportation chapter. I'm glad we're all on the same page. >> The one that um I did want to discuss
with you all again um was the construction of the bypass road. Is that preference still through 240 to the industrial end behind PJ heating whatever parcels they may end up being? >> What was that question? Cuz you when you
use that terminology, it it it struck a nerve on an old bypass room. They were talking about from Sloum Street to South Main Street. >> So I've heard many versions and I'm not sure which one is the one. Well, that one's a myth and and it was talked about
for at least a decade until I killed it. >> Okay. >> Because I got tired of people randomly speaking about a bypass road that the land owners outside of one gave the approval and then everyone else was
yelling and screaming at me and saying I said I don't know why everybody yelling at screaming at me. It wasn't my idea. This was brought up before my time. I said I I get it. That's dumb. Um, they're not giving up their land by the river. And that's the way that bypass was to follow a river up and then cut up to South Main Street.
>> Okay. >> And those land owners. Absolutely. >> Okay. That that was a description in there. Yes. Yes. Okay. >> Yeah. I think that was an old master plan idea. >> Yeah. I think we were getting confused with the mention of of that bypass road
and the bypass road for PG. So, I'm going to rename that bypass road that was spoken about in the old master plan as a BIKE PATH. >> OH, >> BECAUSE THAT MAY be something that's the the property owners have an appetite
for even that on a couple of them that I know that are larger land owners there >> who didn't like the idea of people going through. But I think there's ways of preventing people from, you know, accessing further than a a bike path. And maybe that's a 6ft chain link fence
all the way up. And who's really going to try to do something? If they want to get back there and do something, they would have already done it, right? >> So, it's kind of one of those things where again, it's just >> adult conversations, talk to people, explain what your general idea is, and and see if you can get some buy in from
the property owners. There's only say three or four of them that you really need to >> get to to get to where the coalition already owns land and then the town owns some land down by the river heading towards V Haven. >> Yep. >> Um so I think it might be feasible could
be feasible. >> Yeah. >> And then so separate from that that's the old bypass road that we're now calling bike path. future bike path, the new path towards that industrial land. What is what exactly is that
configuration? Is it just extending 240 north? >> Yes, >> it is. Okay. >> Yep. And I know that um you mentioned US Victoria um and it is Morton. There is a um on the maps that I got there is a
very narrow I think it's like a paper street. >> Yes. >> From like you know, God knows what date that was put on a map, but I do have it. And I'm like, "Wow, that goes pretty far in." >> Um, but again, there it's it's it's a lot of weather back here as well. So, who knows what we can and can't do even
with that. And I'm not so sure that everybody that lives out near Hathaway, Matapo, it um Wing >> Mendle, I'm sorry, that leads into that are going to have an appetite for that much traffic shuffling through that
little road. That's why we we reemerged on the idea of a 240 bypass because as I alluded to the map, if you look down, it looks like a little layman strip. It was put in when 240 was put in because that was the concept of getting back there. It was stopped by a farmer.
>> So, there is still a lot of loops that you would have to jump through to do it, but speaking with the attorney that's working with the town, um he seems to be pretty confident that there might be a way to punch through there. Okay, perfect. And then we did provide
some guidance for because 240 I believe is state or f or state road. Correct. >> It be so you would need you would need the town of a cushion. >> I've already been to the state level with that and I got rejected pretty quick. So we don't have town meeting
approval to do it. Then you would have to have a conversation with the town of Haven to do it. From there I go to the state >> and then from there I go to my fed congressman. Okay, which is Bill Keaton >> and that's where I went directly to >> and they told me I was a little ahead of
my skis. >> So through that learning curve on everybody's behalf um I got engaged doing the HCA um on behalf of the town of Mushna and with the lawyers help we we think it's feasible.
>> Okay. Um you know again a lot of lot of hoops hoops to jump through but um that's what we do. >> Okay fantastic. Um we also provide kind of like an overview if you choose to go maybe to the metropolitan planning
organization which is servant and Victoria is on the JTPG so she's very well aware of of what that role is. Um, so that's another kind of process that you can follow to support that. >> When we when we get to that level of discussion, trust me, we'll go to you
folks. >> Okay. >> You'll know where we need all help we can get, right? I mean, and the more people cheering it on, the better off we have, right? >> Absolutely. >> Sir, I think better play a critical role in that. >> Mhm. >> And then that is the summary for the
master plan. all the other strategies um you have seen you've reviewed um >> no you do you want to just mention the capital that's just >> that was under services okay let me go back up real quick >> my bad I didn't realize what section that was >> same
>> okay >> this one this is actually another new recommendation that came from out of discussions uh with Victoria. So a capital improvement program um this is a kind of like official channel for
communities to plan for future investments. Um we looked at the state guidelines for creating this program. It begins with adopting a bylaw to create the committee and then every year there
is a standard process where they reach out to all the departments um in town and they're like all right what are your needs what do you anticipate your needs to be short-term long-term so that way when say you know there's a really big investment the fire department needs a
new building we know that's going to come in like 10 years or so and we can kind of start planning for that. So that's what this recommendation does. I encourage you again, similar to um the previous one that talks about um funding
for the school, the industrial chapter about um the expansion. I really recommend you read this uh this uh recommendation as well. And if it's helpful, I can provide those page numbers for which ones are the new new recommendations. That'd be great.
>> So that way you know where to look. I was going to ask who's that >> building that's a fire bomb. >> I was looking at the I look like a like a lean to >> solos and I'm like >> we already put that at the schools when you first put it up when I was looking
at it. I was like, I'll do a little little fire rescue truck in the back. Got it now. >> And of course, I remember in the 9/11 memorial was instrumental in building that with a lot of other people, great volunteers. So, >> does anyone have any questions on the
old recommendations that you've already seen, the new ones? Anything you want to revisit? I think you send over what you would like the committee members to look back over. Okay. >> And at the same time, I would make a recommendation that everybody should be
reading through the complete master plan. And if there's anything that anybody would like to touch base on, they can do so. And I think if it warrants through Victoria, um I think if it warrants, we can just hold a quick little meeting again and have those
discussions before it gets finalized. Yeah. >> But other than that, I mean, >> yeah, and over the next uh couple months, we'll get the OSRP and the water resource management plan. So, those will be full drafts because they are um
because it's a lot of content and some of it might be I think more of it is new than what you'll see in the master plan right now. We're going to have that sent out in Word so that way you can review it before we go in and we lay it out. So that way, you know, all the changes are made ahead of time.
>> Can can can we keep in mind that not everybody's using Microsoft? So if there's a way to to convert it for an Apple device, >> okay, a PDF should open across all
correct PDFs do, but the link >> that you sent for the master plan, this draft one, >> it's got it when you try to do it in Apple device, it says something about one drive and blah blah blah blah blah. It should give you an option to click download or to even just view it when
you click the link. >> Yeah, >> I can try. >> I wasn't very patient. >> So, I went to a Microsoft computer and I was like, well, I'll just do it this way. I guess everybody's doing it. But, >> it was a little bit aggra because I'm on an iPad, right? It's easy to just lay
around with an iPad and try to sit in front of a PC or have a big laptop. I love my little iPad. you know, you can lay in bed, do whatever you want, pass out, who cares, but I sometimes in the morning if I'm up early, sometimes I don't sleep. I don't know why. Um, but I
I grab my iPad and I'll go in and I'll read stuff like that that I need to get caught up on. >> Okay. >> And it's like you're sitting here doing it like I can reset it. I was going to say I could also probably set up a SharePoint link so that way all
the plans are in. >> Okay. Let me know if you need anything. >> I might just come visit you. Victoria like >> I don't have patience for that stuff. See? Yeah. You won't even download
>> things get locked up. I'm like, "Oh, don't go there. I got more than one of you. I'll use you as a Frisbee." >> Oh, yeah. >> You don't have feelings for that. >> Oh, yeah. >> Nope. >> Don't enough of technology. Sometimes
I'm like, "Oh my god, it's supposed to be enhancing our lives." And sometimes, oh, just trouble. >> I like paper. I can make my little notes on every page that I go through. Yeah, >> he's really Victoria's going to print me
one out. >> She is. >> She didn't know that until just now, but I'll print you one out. >> She'll she'll print one out for me. >> Um, so for next step, so next meeting we'll do a recap if anyone has any questions on the new stuff. Right.
Correct. >> Um, and then are we doing OSRP the next meeting? >> It is going to be the OSRP. Okay. Yes. >> Just send over what you would like us to review again. you know, the new the newest stuff that you might have changed some things on. So, we we don't go through the 90 pages and scratching our head like
>> that. Sure. Yeah. >> Oh, I was supposed to look at that cuz I didn't look at that. I looked at this. So, at least if you emphasize what was done differently from what we're already familiar with and it'll make our jobs a lot easier. And again, we can just breeze through the whole thing over again. And if anything catches our eye,
if there's a discrepancy on what we actually talked about versus what's in print, that's the kind of thing I would like everybody to bring to the attention before you folks actually start going to print. >> Yeah. Right. >> So, for a preview of like the next couple months, we know OSRP is in March.
I anticipate the water resource management plan will come in April and then um we'll have some time to lay it out. So, it looks like this plan that we just saw today. pictures, graphs, pretty, you know. Um,
and then sometime in um probably June, I anticipate we'll have an open house and that's where like we'll invite the public. We'll host a little something, have all three plans, printed copies of those, let people kind of review them and see if they, you know, what they
have to say about it. Um, if we can accept minor changes, but I think it it's pretty representative of what what we're >> if we're going to do something in June. just for communication purposes. I mean, a lot of people have very busy lives and I've noticed that
>> when you try to announce something for an upcoming event, >> you know, the 15 21 day notice is just like >> too much. >> No, it's not enough. I would rather give people like a heads up like if you're say in June say
>> late April we start telling people that hopefully in June we don't have a concrete date yet but in June we will be doing something at the council on aging facility with the master plan something you know maybe that's a good place to do it because there's a lot of open space there for us to do it um if we need to use the schools after the school closing
we can use a gymnasium I mean we we have a school committee member down at the end of the table right there she can >> sure She's got a little She's got a little claw in town. >> Anyways, >> okay. I will work with Victoria on kind
of like working backwards from a date in June and maybe think about when we want to start announcing that. Um, we're more flexible. My calendar's open in June. So, >> does that mean we aren't just so I I'm able to plan. Are we meeting in May or do you think we'd be skipping that? I think we
>> April will be the final >> be skipping that unless um let me touch base because I think based on the changes that we see that you guys have if any for the OSRP and the WMP we might use that meeting to review them. >> Okay. >> Unless you guys think, you know, we're
good to go make those changes and we're happy. >> Okay, sounds good. >> One month at a time. >> Yes. >> I don't see a lot you know. >> Yeah, >> but you never know. Somebody might get it in their hands and spend a little more time reading it and more in depth
instead of just breezing through quick. Yep. >> And go whoa whoa whoa whoa. This is you know way off topic and >> but I don't you know foresee it happening but it's possible. >> Yeah. >> And then whatever the OSRP plan is and the water management I think you talk about.
>> Yes. So those will be the difference between those and the master plan is that the goals and recommendations in those plans aren't the bulk of the plan. It's more like the existing conditions, where the habitats are, what the species are, and kind of really going into
detail about that. It's more technical than I tend to get, but that's why they're the specialists in in those projects. So, those might be a little bit more dense, a little bit more detailed on the front end, and the recommendations, which you guys have seen, will probably be like maybe a 10%
15%. So, there's there's a bit of new content to come for those two plans. >> Okay. You're going to probably have another 70 acres of habitat for you to add to that now. >> It's coming. >> Oh, >> that close. >> Yeah.
>> Just saying. >> Great. Does anyone have anything else? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I. >> Very good. We're on our journey.