Are you recording? We are recording. Thank you. Uh it's June 30th, 2025. This is the regular town council meeting. Uh chapter 2 of the acts of 2025 extended through June 30th, 2027. The ability of
public bodies to meet in a fully remote or hybrid manner. This law allows us to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the council physically present at the meeting location. This meeting is accessible in real time by Zoom, by phone, and as a
live broadcast on Ammeris Media Channel 9 and live stream. There are in fact seven counselors in the town room and others will be on Zoom. Please be advised that this meeting is being held in person and that the remote
access option is provided as a courtesy only in the event of technology issues with the remote connection. The meeting will continue in person as scheduled such that members of the public will are encouraged to attend in the physical
location. Given that we have a quorum of the council present, I'm calling the June 30th regular town council meeting to order at 6:31. I'll call on each counselor by the name they have indicated they would like to be addressed. At that time, please
unmute your mic and say present. This will indicate that you can hear us and we can hear you. Pat D'Angelus, present. Anna Delin Gothier present. Councelor Ete is absent.
Lyn Griemer's present. Councelor Hanaki present. Bob Hegner present. Councelor Lord is presently not here supposedly will join us. Pam Rooney here. Councelor Ryan
present. Kathy Shane is not here yet. Andy Steinberg present. Jennifer Tob is not here yet. Councelor Walker is not here yet. There is no chat room for this meeting. Uh we will take and and the
only change in the order of the agenda is we will take up presentations and discussion item after we complete the action item. There is one general public comment period during this meeting. The announcements include when our next
meeting is, which is July 21st, 2025. It also includes the various committee meetings that will be held. And just one other note, and that is that on July 3rd in the evening will be the town's fireworks at Mccerk Stadium. Um, we have
no hearings tonight, so we're going to move to general public comment. If there's anybody in the room who wants to make general public comment, please make sure you've signed up. If there's anybody on Zoom who would like to make general public comment, please raise
your hand at this time. Lynn, um, Point Jennifer has joined us. Ah, thank you, Jennifer. Can you hear us? Yes, thank you. Thank you, Jennifer. Okay. Um,
okay. How many people in the town room? one and there are two in the audience. Um we will give you up to three minutes. Public comments on matters within are on matters within the jurisdiction of the town council. Residents are welcome to express their
views for up to three minutes. The council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during general public comment. Public comments are not reflective of the opinions of the town council. We'll recognize speakers in the order in
which they've raised their hand. We'll start with Zoom and that is Matau Kramer. Please enter. Oh, excuse me. We have one. Nope, I think we're right. Mau, please go ahead. I And excuse me for
mispronouncing your name. Please state your name and where you live. Hello, this is Matia Kramer. Can you hear me? Yes, Matia. Uh I live on East Pleasant Street in District 1. Uh and counselors, I want to thank you for your service. Um
we are in a moment when hard one gains for civil rights are being rolled back nationally and it is also the case that state and local governments have always been the laboratory for our democracy and Ammerst can provide a beacon of hope. On today's
council agenda is the Amoris reparations committee charge in which you're carrying forward and building on thousands of hours of work by citizens, your predecessors, members of the African Heritage Reparation Assembly. And that's work
that has been nationally recognized and reported on in the Associated Press as well as other outlets. And I want to convey my profound gratitude to all of you for carrying this work forward. And may we all look back on this era in our
nation's history with the knowledge that Ammerst moved forward with reparatory justice. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. In the room, please come forward. Benson Okconor, please state your name and where you
live. 175. Point of order. I I don't know that your microphone is on. Sorry, we can't hear Vince. Oh, okay. Just press the button and make sure the green light comes on. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so
Vincent Okconor, 175 Summer Street, apartment 12. Um, I'm here to follow up on a letter that I wrote to the council and um point out um I have not received any official information regarding where
the stop I referred to in my letter took place. Um I have received informal phone call from not from the town government but elsewhere to the effect that it may have actually happened in Springfield. But I want to point out how dangerous
um such an activity was and that the stop occurred on uh May 27th which was prior to the very sad and tragic events of in Minneapolis where um a
member of the state legislature and her husband were assassinated and another member was and his wife uh were um were were seriously wounded. Um, and there is a connection between that and those
issues and the rest of my comment which has to do with um the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution. I have the B people the bicesentennial commission uh version
of the of the constitution and it reads all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the
state wherein they resign reside. Now why how is this connected to the activities of ICE? Because legally ICE is not empowered to arrest US citizens and
the the matter in this amendment, the first sentence of this amendment which was um produced by the activity of a US senator from Massachusetts um Charles Sumner.
Um is this uh subject to what does mean subject to the jurisdiction? Um it means that the laws of the United States applied to the person. Who who would that not refer to in the
in the use in which this thing was created? The persons not subject would be diplomats. anyone assigned here by a foreign country who's and our only recourse if
they committed violations of the law would be to expel them uh as persona non grata. So everyone else, including undocumented immigrants, are subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States. Or else people would come here and commit crimes and the only recourse the United States and the several states would have would be to expel the individual. And that's absurd. And in fact, that's not what happens because plenty plenty of people who come
here both legally and illegally are are arrested, tried and convicted in the courts of the United States and the several states. So I would just urge people before you read the commentaries to read the
Constitution. Every member of the council should have a copy. Every member of the public should have a copy. And I think what you will find when you actually read the words is that they are quite
clear, unmistakable, and the the Supreme Court notwithstanding that they are accessible to every person who can read. Thank you. Thank you for joining us. We'll move to
Michelle Miller. Please enter the room. State your name and where you live. Hi everyone. and this is Michelle Miller. I want to begin by thanking the town council and the governance organization and legislation committee for your continued work on the charge for the successor body to the African
Heritage Reparation Assembly. It's been almost 2 years since the AHA submitted its final report. And while it's taken time to get to this point, I know that every question, every edit, every round of deliberation has come from a place of deep care and
responsibility. I'm very grateful for that. This is not easy work, but Ammerst has never chosen the easy path over the right one. In the time since the AH submitted its final report, our town has continued to grow
in this work. A new cultural center, Ancestral Bridges, has opened its doors, giving us a place to gather, to learn together, and to confront the erasers of black presence in our shared history. The Black Business Association of
Ammerst area has expanded in both size and impact, creating space for economic empowerment and visibility. The town's DEI department in partnership with Dr. Barbara Love hosted liberatory visioning sessions to help residents
imagine and articulate a future grounded in equity. And just recently, they convened a community session to better understand the needs and experiences of BIPAC residents here in Ammerst. All of these efforts, these organizations and initiatives that are
moving us forward are doing so with limited funding, especially now. And yet they are creating real tangible progress. Can you imagine what they could do with the intentional support and aligned partnership of the reparations fund?
That's the opportunity before us to match moral commitment with material backing guided by shared values and clear purpose. I want to briefly name just a few national data points to remind us why this work is urgent. The medium black
household income remains nearly 30,000 less than white households. Black families still hold only 24 to 27 cents for every dollar of white wealth. Black women are more than three times as likely to die from pregnancy related
causes. One in three black renter households lives below the poverty line. And even with equal education, black workers still earn just 80 cents on the dollar. This is why reparations matter, not as a
symbolic gesture, but as a necessary and grounded response to real, measurable harm. Ammerst has already shown what it means to align our values with our budget. The formation of this successor body is the next step, not a conclusion, but a continuation of the promise we
made to our community. Let's move forward with clarity, courage, and care and show what's possible when justice becomes not just a value but a practice. Thank you. Thank you for joining us. There are no other public comments. We
are going to move on to the consent agenda. The items were selected. They were considered to be routine. If you want to remove an item, please raise your hand and I will call on you after I read the motion to move the following
items and the printed motions thereafter and approve those items as a single unit. 6A, adoption of the 2025 disability pride month proclamation as amended. 9A, approval of the following town
manager appointments. Energy and Climate Action Committee. Emily Door for a term to expire June 30th, 2028. Tetsu Tanaki for a term to expire June 30th, 2027.
Public Arts Commission. The Rosenberg and Matthew Watkins for a term to expire June 30th, 2028. Lorie Freriedman, a reappoint for a term to expire June 30th, 2026. Recreation Commission appointments Jo
Jonas Cox and Andrew McDougall for terms to expire June 30th, 2028. 11 A to C approval of the following meeting minutes. April 14, 2025 special meeting minutes. April 28, 2025 regular
meeting minutes. May 5th, 2025 regular meeting minutes. Seeing no hands, is there a second? Second. Thank you. Uh we'll move immediately to a vote. Anna Delin Gothier I.
Lynn Griemer is an I. Councelor Hanaki. Hi. Bob Hegner. I. Councelor I'm sorry. Pam Rooney. Yes. Uh Councelor Ryan. I. Kathy Shane is I'm sorry.
Andy Steinberg. Hi. Jennifer Tob. Yes. It's unanimous. Um, we're going to move then to resolutions. Pat, please introduce and read the paragraph from the 2025 Disability Pride Month proclamation.
Um I'm very excited that we're uh we have this uh proclamation and the and the stance that uh the month of July will be s celebrating disability pride. Disability pride month was or originated
in the United States to commemorate the passing of the landmark Americans with disabilities act in July 1990. Disability Pride Month celebrates people with disabilities, their identities, their culture, and their contributions
to society. It also seeks to change the way people think about and define disability to end the stigma of disability and to promote the belief that disability is a natural part of human diversity in which people with living with disabilities can celebrate
and take pride. We will have a flag raising on the 16th, but also there is a tri town, East Hampton, Northampton, and Ammerst um celebration of uh disability
pride. Uh in July 5th, there will be a movie called Patrice shown at the Maragold Theater in East Hampton for free. Um on July 16th here in Ammerst, the ride ahead will be shown at the Bank Center. And in July 29th in no
Northampton at their senior center, Tallywhacker will be shown. Um, this is all part of a tri town celebration. And I'm going to read the final paragraph of our acclamation.
Now therefore, we the Ammerst Town Council do hereby proclaim July 2025 as Disability Pride Month and will raise the disability pride flag at a ceremony outside of the Ammerst Town Hall on July
16, 2025 at 400 PM for the and it will fly for the remainder of July to encourage all residents to celebrate the countless talents, experiences, and contributions of individuals with disabil ities and reaffirm our
commitment to take meaningful action to build a city that is inclusive to all. Thank you. Thank you. We are taking up item seven after we finish the action items and so we're going to move on to the action items. The first is the Emeris Black
reparations committee charge and also special municipal employee status. Um, I'm going to read the motion, seek a second, and then call on Anna Devlin Gothier, who is chair of GO, to talk about the committee's um, recommendation
to adopt the Amoris Black Reparations Committee ABRC charge as presented. Is there a second? Second, thank you. Anna, please go ahead. So, I first want to thank a couple folks
uh who who put a lot of time and effort into this this process. As you know, this is the several times around to to G. I would like to first thank the folks counselors who sent specific comments for GL to discuss. Um and I'm going to do my best to explain how we work
through those. Um but I wanted to appreciate all of you for um helping us out by submitting them in proposal form. um that was really helpful for G as we were going through because we were able to discuss not conceptual ideas but actual proposals. So thank you for that.
I also want to thank the members of G who very thoughtfully approached this topic over the course of several meetings uh and and we really worked through each I mean we went line by line right like we discussed this in totality but also each individual part of it and
I want to thank Dr. Shabbaz and Michelle Miller who attended most of those meetings alongside us. uh answered questions and gave really important perspective as we went along. So what you are seeing uh I want to I want to be very clear is the result of go
discussing pieces every piece of input that we received and coming to the conclusion that we came to the committee that is before you will have a lot of work to do. um they will begin by they're they're beginning by continuing
right they are beginning by continuing the work of the AHA in creating a process and a system for distribution of funds and then after that they will continue on into the allocation of those funds. So the charge is arranged in in that order, right? We begin with the
priority areas um talking through the scope determine um identifying the scope of reparations and by reviewing the report from the original AH report and um excuse me and making recommendations to the town
council on where to begin. One thing that was really important was that we made sure that the council was uh as the ultimate kind of approver of distribution of funds whether it be CPA whether it be um ABRC we wanted to make sure that the council agreed with the
direction that uh the group was going. So those proposal, those recommendations for priority areas would come to the town council um and they would come to the town council with a consideration for feasibility, connection to harms being repaired as well as uh working in
consultation with the town attorney to determine legality for each of those priority areas. Those areas would also take into account the final report funding priorities. So that includes youth programming, affordable housing, business grants, and entrepreneurial training.
So after that point, we would that that group would begin to look into how to um how to best distribute funds. So they would review and consider uh what CPA does, what the community preservation act committee does, as well as the
community development block grant. We're not saying they need to follow exactly either of those processes, but we'd like them to make sure that they've seen how other processes work within the community. They would review the funding plans recommended in that AHA final report and ultimately create a set
create and adopt a clear set of guidelines regarding eligibility for receiving report uh support yes support from the reparations stabilization fund. um considering those priority areas, they'd also determine the funding schedule for allocations and establish a
process for how they're going to receive proposals, evaluate those proposals, and determine an annual budget as well as make recommendations. Some uh some of the pieces of input we got were should this be a bianual distribution versus an annual distribution. Ultimately, the
group felt that for simplicity and mimicking other processes that this should be an annual budget process. Um it's this group may decide to have multi-year funding plans like CPA does, but at this point we wanted to not set off an every other year cycle. Um
especially with threeear three-year terms, we wanted to make sure that folks had time to learn it and and apply it um right away. Um and then we also uh beefed up the um reporting uh reporting requirements
here. So we wanted to make sure that this group came back to the council once they had finished those first pieces, right? Not just once things are flowing. So we uh we said that within one year of their initial convening, the ABRC will provide a written report including
proposed recommendations for those priority areas as well as the the priority level. Sorry, my headphone just yelled at me saying it's dying. Um say there we go. the priority level and the feasibility. Uh a proposed process for
distribution of funds as outlined in that charge above their outreach efforts and any recommend recommended revisions because we know that this charge was um intended to kind of kick them off and keep them going, but they may want to revise the charge at some point. And
then every year we said that they would provide a written report much like CPA does including the recommendations for funding and the status of the fund itself. I'd like to pause here to open this up to other members of go to uh see if you have anything to add. I know Pat
and Lynn are here. We are missing it looks like councelor Ete and Hala but um Pat or Lynn do you have anything to add that I did not cover? Not right now. I just want to recognize that both Michelle Miller is on Zoom and Dr. Almakar Shabbaz has joined us in the
town room. Great. Thanks. I'm happy to answer any questions that folks have and I will also uh look to my my colleagues on go to help me to respond to those uh as they come in. Okay. Are there questions from the council?
What questions? Uh, councelor Hani. Yes, thank you. I have two questions. Um, the first one with is which is for the reporting requirements. The recommendations for revisions to the charge just seems to be in the first year initial reporting. Is there a
reason why G didn't also put it every year? Because I can imagine as things get moving there might be recommendations for revisions to the charge. Is it something we should add to the every year reporting too? So that's question number one. Um and question
number two is with regard to the fourth bullet point under funding that reads determine funding schedule for allocations. Um, I just want clarification on that because when I first initially read
that, I interpreted it as the funding schedule for funding the reparations stabilization fund, not for payouts from the fund. So, can you please please clarify what that means because I didn't
think this committee was dealing with the money that goes into the stabilization fund. Okay, yeah, thank you. Um, I am taking notes, but if I could try to respond to each person, otherwise I'll lose track. Um, so Mandy, I think that's a great idea. One of the things that go talked
about was how we need more of our committees to be reviewing their charges and making recommendations to change them more often. So, I think it was initially put in solely because the multi-year one we were modeling after um C uh community CPA, but there's no
reason why we shouldn't add that in every year as well. Uh and I would I would support that um personally. So, I would I'd support that as a I don't know if it's acceptable as like an amendment to the um to the document if we're allowed to do that. Now,
let me just in the sec Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Lyn. Yeah, as an as I comment to that, in order for them to come to the council for approval of distribution of funds, they have to give us some kind of report anyway. So I I think we could add
that with it's just the it's the request for funding every year. Thank you. Go ahead. Um and then the second question, Lynn, I'm not sure I followed your answer. Anna was talking about the recommendation revisions to the ABRC
charge going into the second set of bullet points and reports and your comment just didn't seem to go with that. So I'm confused. Okay. This the second point um you said with regard to determining the funding schedule. Yes,
you are correct that that is the funding schedule of the payouts of the of the support offered from the fund. And if there's language that you you can think of that would clarify that further. But what we meant by that was, you know, there's discussion as to whether payouts
could be like CPA does multi-year or not. It really depends on the status of the fund, but that the the funding schedule piece of this go talked a lot about whether it would be every other year, every year, multi-year. And so that was um hoping to clarify once the
group gets their feet under them a little bit to think about would it make the most sense. We think annual would make the most sense, but we also want them to be the ultimate deciders of that. So that was the intention of that and I would be happy for language to clarify if you can think of it and I can
also put some put some brain cells on it right now too. Councelor Heni, did you have suggested language that you'd like to add that we amend? Not for that funding bullet. I just needed clarification because the initial reading just struck me as
strange. But a second reading then was like maybe I read it wrong the first time. So I thought I'd ask that one. Um I have obviously easy language for a motion to amend if a motion to amend is required for the report section versus a friendly amendment. I think a friendly amendment would be appropriate here. But
I I turn to Athena to tell me if I'm right or wrong there. And I think that's fine. It it would be that fourth bullet point under the first set. Any recommended revisions to the ABRC charge being copied? Yeah. not deleted but copied and put also down as a third
bullet point below. I see. Okay, that makes sense. Got it. Um Pam, thank you. U my question has to do with the length of terms. I know there was some discussion previously about wanting
shorter terms. Um I'm comfortable with three years. the the actual question I have is there doesn't seem to be any uh tool to allow for turnover. So in this case it looks like everyone goes for
three years and then the entire committee has to get reeleed. Um I'm I'm seeing heads shake. Um if it's a three-year appointment it's it's a little bit like council. everyone in three years gets re um has the charter
requires that terms over one year be staggered so it would be but I don't see it staggered here it's good idea the charter requires the staggering of it you don't have to stay it say it here it just automatically does it okay okay and who sets that would that be this
committee okay or would it be the the first set of appointments would be two or a certain number for one year a certain number for two years a certain number as a town manager who Thank you. Thanks for that clarification. Yeah, thank you for asking that question. That was helpful.
Are there any other questions? I'm sorry, Anna. Go ahead. I wanted to just speak to Pam's point because it was a it was a change go made that I hadn't spoken to and so I appreciate uh Pam raising that. the length was decide. This was one of the things that we spent
the longest discussing. Um because you know all the reasons you said ultimately we decided that the consistency between committees was really important and we felt that three years being consistent with um CPA as well as given the nature of the work making sure folks have time
to learn it um and apply it uh was was important. So that was the decider getting us to the three-year point. And I I think to Mandy's point, yes, the first appointments will be a couple for one, couple for two, couple for three. Thank you. Okay. Are there any other questions from
the council? Before we move to a vote, I want to check and make sure that councelor Walker can hear us. Um hello. Yes, I can. Thank you, Lynn. Thank you. Uh so we are going to move to a vote. Um
the uh we begin with Lyn Griezmers. I councelor Hannaki. I Bob Hegner. I Pam Rooney. Yes. Uh George Councelor Ryan. Hi. Andy Steinberger. Hi. Jennifer Tob.
Yes. Councelor Walker. Yes. Patanggeles. Hi. Anna Delin Gothier. I. It's unanimous. Thank you so much for all the work that's been done on this. Um,
we also have one other vote we need to take with regard to this and to designate special municipal employee status for the ammeris black reparations committee. Is there a second? Second angels. Um, we'll move I assume there's
no questions. Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Councelor Hanniki. Hi. Bob Hegner. Hi. Pam Rooney. Yes. George Ryan. Hi. Uh, Andy Steinberg. Hi. Jennifer Tob.
Yes. Councelor Walker. Yes. Pat D'Angelus. Hi. Anna Delin Gothier. I. And Lynn Griezmer is an I. Uh, I need to go back and check one thing. Pat, when we were doing the consensus, the consent
agenda, did I ever call on you? I did. Okay. I didn't have it checked off. Thank you. Um, so the next item is to authorize the town council president to sign the letter to the Ammeris School Committee as presented in the June 16th,
2025 finance committee report. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Are there questions and comments? Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Um, Bob Hegner. Hi. Pam Rooney. No.
Councelor Ryan. Hi. Uh, Andy Steinberg. Hi. Jennifer Tob. Yes. Councelor Walker. Yes. Patanggeles. Hi. Anna Delon Gothier. No.
Councelor Ete. Oh, I'm sorry. Lynn Griezmer is an I. Councelor Hani. I. Motion passes. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Eight in favor. Two opposed. um the summer town meeting schedule to amend the 2025 town council meeting schedule by removing the regular meeting on August 4, 2025. Is there a second? Ryan second.
Are there questions or comments? Councelor Hanaki. I always have questions about cancelling meetings well in advance of the meetings. Um why my big one is why can't we wait until July 21 to decide whether to
cancel the August 4th one because we don't know what might come up in the next three weeks that might necessitate a meeting on August 4th. So I I don't understand why it's on this one versus
the next meeting. Um only for purposes of planning. Uh did you want to speak to that Athena? This was the same timing that we had last year. The council vote was in June for the or the uh it was the beginning of July or the end of June for the August meeting.
So, we just did it the same way we had done it last year. Pam Rooney, uh it occurs to me that if if we do vote on it tonight, um town staff could actually plan vacations a little differently if they knew in advance.
Yeah. Uh other questions or comments? Anna, if something did come up that was really urgent, is there a reason why we couldn't uh schedule a special town meeting? There is no reason at all. Of
course, we can with proper notice except in the case of emergency and then you don't even need that. Hopefully that's not right. Seeing no other questions, we're going
to move to a vote vote. Pam Rooney. Yes. Kathy, I'm sorry. Andy Steinberg. Hi. Point of order. Point of order. You skipped councelor Ryan. The esteemed council. I'm sorry. Thank you. And I checked you off. Councelor Ryan. I.
Thank you. Okay. So, we're starting over. Pam Rooney voted. Councelor Ryan voted. Andy Steinberg. I. Jennifer Tob. Yes. Councelor Walker, yes. Pat D'Angelus, hi. Anna Delin Gothier,
I. Lynn Griemer's I. Councelor Hanaki, no. Bob Hegner, I. And it's the motion passes. Nine in favor, one opposed. Um, that concludes the action items. in your
folder or in your packet for tonight was the draft memo that was uh developed by myself, Kathy Shane, and members from Ammer from the other four towns
regarding our desire to have a conversation about what we can afford for our schools and also what is needed. Are there questions or comments? And I also want to point out that there is an amendment to that memo. It's the last
page and the purpose of the amendment is to um just add additional times when this discussion has come up. Councelor Hanaki. Yeah, I have a couple of comments. Um, it sounds like this is a draft, so there
might be able to be some changes made. I can send you some comments that I have that are not necessarily need to be brought up now because they're more, you know, absolutely typo type things and wording, but um I'm concerned about having this meeting by
Zoom. I would like to see it in person. by Zoom um does not allow the town's representatives as a group to even converse during the meeting. Um
but it also doesn't really allow the whole group to collaborate in any way because everyone is siloed in their own area. So I would like to see this as an in-person meeting, not a Zoom meeting. Um
the paragraph on page two that talks about roles. Um I have a request to add something regarding the roles of the funding bodies which would be us and the town
meeting members or you know through their served by their select boards and finance committees as it's worded here about our role as a funding body is potentially to make suggestions to other elected bodies on needs for
operational changes to stay within fiscal capabilities. that it's not just about here's the capability, but it's within potentially our role to say and here's
we we recommend operational changes to help you meet those capabilities. That doesn't mean they have to follow them, but I think we have a responsibility to and and a role that does that. Um,
on I think it's page three, the what do we have to spend in local taxing capacity? That first one that says Prop 2 and a half limits. I would like to see an addition of and use of excess levy capacity because we know other towns
have that. So, we should talk about that. That should be part of the what do we have to spend the use of excess levy capacity and I'll send you all my track changes. Um and
I think that might be my last big comment. Um the oh there was one more under exploring spending on K12 education the increasing number one A5 the overhead is where I put it. Um but maintaining and
operating buildings well below capacity. Um just being a little more clear about how many that the overhead includes fixtures that might not be operating at full capacity um
or at very low. you know, in other words, buildings that have capacity of thousands of people and don't have thousands of people in them, for example. Um, but other ways other things about operating below capacity.
Um, otherwise, I thought it was a very good letter. Thank you. Thank you, uh, Andy Steinberg. Well, first of all, I want to thank you, uh, President Griezner, for your leadership in working with the other
towns to get a draft together of this document that we're looking at today. Uh and uh I understand that it was something that involved consultation
with elected leadership in other towns and some appointed leadership in other towns probably finance committees. um which means that it's a joint document and it's awkward for us to be put in the
position of making suggestions for change because of that and that therefore I don't want to do that. There were three things that I thought about uh that I wanted to bring to the attention not just of you but the entire
council. Um but I thought about because um this process as we go forward is not just uh in my mind about what we're going to be doing in developing a budget for FY27.
I think that this is really talking about some long range understandings and um trying to build a body of knowledge for multi-year and um in that regard I think that
there's a couple of things that I would suggest. One is that uh when you do meet uh that you expand make sure that you cover the full gamut of what it means about demographics
and there two things uh one thing in particular um that I want to bring to your attention and that is um that there is information available um that's collected by the census bureau
and available Massachusetts specific by town for um what the projections are for the uh population by age going forward and it's pretty clear
when you look at that information that we are continuing in Ammerst and I did not look at the other three towns but I did look at Ammerst pretty closely um we are in progression of becoming um
an aging community and uh the number of the population that is going to be 65 and above is going to continue to grow gradually over time. I think that there are consequences to that. Um, one of
which is, uh, what the burden of property tax falls on and, uh, that we need to be very cognizant of what it is that we're expecting about future growth in property tax when we know that in
Ammerst it is paid for by homeowners. Uh the second is and this gets into my second point entirely which is to make sure that we're looking very closely at enrollment projections
and um that uh that not be a lost part of the discussion. And the third thing that I wanted to add was that uh and this was my uh from my own experience. We have talked over the
years off and on about whether Ammerst and the three other towns would be better off financially with a full K to2 regional district as opposed to this
combined approach that we have now. And um I was chair of the last effort to um develop a plan which did not go forward because one town uh the representative
withdrew support. And uh it but the um investigation we did was pretty thorough with a lot of consultant time going into it. And the conclusion was that both financially and educationally
that there's a lot of sound reasons to move towards uh and develop a full K12 region and uh I it is probably worth bringing that back up to this group and
uh so I wanted to point that out um to the council and to our representatives. Um because I think that we would be making a mistake looking at a long range solution for what is becoming a bigger
and bigger dilemma that I don't have to spell out u because the finance committee's already done that. But um I think that we really should be talking about a full range of solutions. So those are my additional comments. And
Andy, is there a report from that group? I believe there was a report and of course all of the consultant reports um too. I I think I uh have a pretty complete library of the material. Um so
yes, thank you. I look forward to seeing those as well. Are there any other questions or comments? And let me just say this is a draft uh and I really welcome additional comments. I would like to receive them as soon as possible. Uh since the group continues
to meet. Uh councelor Hannaki, I I agree with you about it being in person. Um one option might be that there be a uh option for Zoom for those that might be on vacation.
Um okay. We're also trying to find a neutral venue since this is really the best room and yet it's not considered neutral. So, we're working uh the idea is to work with UMass to see if we could do that. Okay. Are there any other
questions or comments? Seeing none, we're going to move on then to uh the appointments. We've already done the town manager's appointments. I'm sorry. Uh, do we want to take a break? It's
only 20 after 7. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, no, or maybe you want a break. Okay. Um, all right.
Um, we are going to proceed. So, uh, we are at the planning board appointments and I'm going to call on community resources committee chair Pam Rooney. Thank you. We have two appointments coming to you
tonight. The first being, sorry for the scratchy voice. Um, the first being planning board. Um, as you read in the packet, all of the statements of interest from the candidates are in there. And if you have had a chance to look at that, that would be wonderful.
Um, but basically the CRC is looking for is making recommendations and looking for your um input on filling three planning board vacancies. There are two impending vacancies
um due to the ends of of a three-year term, two three-year terms, and there is one vacancy due to a resignation during that person's first year of appointment. So, the remaining time on that um in
that term is for two years. So, we're looking for two three-year terms and one two-year term to be filled. Um there was as you can guess a healthy conversation and discussion about the
attributes and capabilities of the um the candidates and I can summarize but it was also in the report that um we were fairly well um settled on the
appointment um for of Bruce Colum for a second three-year term. Uh we were almost as settled on the appointment of Mr. Jerus for a three-year term and then we had two split votes um that were for
either recommending Karen Winter for a a renewal of a second three-year term and Angus Angus Mloud for the start of a brand new term. Um, so the CRC,
as I as as in this paper, the CRC voted um five to zero, five yes, zero no for Bruce Colum, four yes, one no for um Jerus
and a split vote of three yes and two no for both Karen Winter, Karen Winter, and Angus Mloud. Um the motions should we go to that step
are to appoint Bruce to appoint Bruce Colum to the planning board for a term beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2028. So I don't know, Lynn, how you want to break this out and proceed with
the actual vote because you have our recommendation. uh it's now in the hands of the the town council. I'm I'm wondering given the um vote or the discussion whether we should split the motion and go by individual. Okay. Uh
George, you had your hand up. That is not a bad suggestion. I'm prepared to make a motion um based on what's in the motion sheet. The motion sheet actually uh at least as I read it offers two names for a three-year term and one name for a two-year term. So, um
I'm prepared to move ahead based on the motion sheet um and proposing names for each of the slots. Who made the motion sheet? I I don't think I know the motion sheet. There's no names on the motion sheet. They're blocked. We can show the motion up on the screen. Thank you.
I didn't craft it. right there. Okay. Uh Lynn the audience. Okay. I'm sorry. I was just going to ask if the audience remotely could see, but it's now up.
Yes, that's why I asked that it be up there. Okay, Jennifer. Yes, it's Yes, we can see it. Thank you. All right. Um, so you would like to make a motion, George. Well, I think it might be simpler to do it um by splitting the
motion. I have no problem with that. I was just making my motion based on what's written down in black and white. Um, but I'd be prepared to u endorse your suggestion of just dividing and taking it one at a time. Please go ahead and make a motion. So, um, I'm going to
move to appoint Bruce Colum to the planning board for a term beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2028. Second. Okay. Are there any questions or comments? Then we're going to vote on Bruce
Coldum's candidacy for a three-year term. We begin the process with councelor Ryan. I. Andy Steinberg. I. Jennifer Tob. Yes. Councelor Walker. Yes.
Patanggeles. Hi. Anna Delin Gothier. I Lynn Griezmer is an I. Councelor Han. Hi. Bob Hegner. I and Pam. Yes, it's unanimous. Next motion. I move to appoint Jared Smith to the
planning board for a term beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2028. Second. Okay. And are there any other questions or comments? Then in that case, we'll
move in this case. We'll start with um I'm just going to stay with the same order for all this. Uh councelor Ryan I. Andy Steinberg. Hi. Jennifer Tob. No.
Councelor Walker. Abstain. Patanggeles. Hi. Anna Delin Gothier. I Lyn Griezmer is an I. Councelor Hanaki.
I Bob Hegner. I Pam Rooney. No. Wait a minute. 72. Okay. Uh 7 to one. It's uh that it's 7 to two with one abstension and I'm sorry. It is actually one, two, three,
four, six. Seven to two with one abstension. Got a majority of those present. Seven to two with one extension. Thank you. Um, all right. Next motion. Point of order. Yes,
we're doing it in in alphabetical order or something. We um I would like to I would like to make a motion to appoint Karen Winter. Point of order. You can't make a motion during a point of order. That's right. I can't. Thank you. Point
of order. Um, it it basically boils down to who is next for the motion. And so I would like to speak to that issue if I could. Please go ahead. Point of order. George Ryan. I can't do it during a point of order. I'm sorry. George Ryan
has his hand up and councelor Rooney does not. And I can't see George Ryan's hand. Sorry. Councelor Ryan, do you have your hand? Well, my hand was up because I was prepared to make a third motion. All right. Please make your motion.
Thank you. I move to appoint Agnes Mloud to the planning board effective immediately for a term to expire June 30, 2027. Second. Pam Rooney. I'd like to speak to my motion. Please go please speak your
motion and then I'll go to Pam. As we've heard, the CRC had a split vote on the third candidate. They had clear recommendation for the two candidates that we've just voted to appoint to the planning board, but for the third candidate, um, they were split 32. Um,
they had no recommendation. That's the first point I would like to make. It really falls to us to decide. Um, it falls to us no matter what the planning, excuse me, what CRC recommends, but we take the recommendation seriously. So that's the first point I'd like to make.
Um the second has to do with um the actual interviews and um I found them quite informative. Um I hope that you had a chance to listen to them. I particularly was struck by the question that involved the housing production plan. thought that was an excellent
question because it asked each of the candidates to look at um what the draft housing production plan proposes to actually increase housing in our community at a time in which we I think most of us would acknowledge there's a genuine housing crisis. Um there were
nine proposals in that document and the candidates were asked to select two or three and to discuss them. I thought both Mloud and Jar Smith offered very thoughtful and insightful comments. They had clearly read the document and they picked out very specific items and they
offered very specific comments as to what they thought might be uh possible ways not uh fixed but possible ways to actually increase housing production. Um I have to say I was disappointed particularly in the response of winter
um who simply said that she agreed or she liked Jer Jara's response. um it wasn't made clear what it was about Jerry's response that she liked. Um apparently it was all of it. Um but it's hard to tell. Um so instead of any kind
of specific response to nine proposals about how to increase housing production, what we got instead was well I liked what he said. Um so that was disappointing. I felt it was an opportunity for the members who've now served three years on the um on on on on
this board to actually address um some very specific ideas and give us some sense of what their thinking was. And in that case, I was disappointed in the response that Wter gave. The third thing I'd like to point out to my colleagues is that currently four of the six
members who reside on the planning board reside in one zoning district, namely the RG. The RG represents less than 4% of the residential land area in the town of Ammerst. Um perhaps it's just an accident, but at our last meeting, we
had what I thought was a very illconceived proposal from the planning board involving what zoning district? The RT. And what was the proposal? Contrary to what housing advocates have been saying, contrary to what the state, the governor has been saying, contrary
to many what we've been saying, contrary to what our master plan encourages, the mo the uh proposal was to decrease density in the RG. So, um perhaps that was just a coincidence. I don't think so. But again, I would like my colleagues to consider the fact that
four of the six members currently on the board reside in less than 4% of the actual residential land area in the town of Ammeris, one of whom includes Ms. Winter. But I think the real reason I would like us to consider um uh Agnes
Mloud is that while he does not have the experience that Winter has, um I thought that his answers were quite thoughtful and informed. He clearly is serious, but most important, I think he represents a new and younger voice which this body clearly needs. Um, these this body is
making decisions about the future of our community that the people like Agnes and Jara and others will have to live with and I would really like to see more of those voices on this body. Um, so my fourth reason has really to do with the the idea of putting new and fresh
voices, voices that represent the future on a body that's going to make decisions that's going to profoundly influence the future of our town. So that's my thoughts about why I hope you'll support Agnes Mloud for the planning board. Okay, Pam Rooney.
Thank you. It was quite a it was a it was a very good discussion. There were some very thoughtful answers in from everyone. Um I think the order of the order of motion makes it very difficult to actually uh
say no to someone and and move the the dial to a different person. So, I am I am going to be um advocating that Karen Winter be the person that gets the the two-year term um since we've already
excuse me this the three-year term because because yes, she has served um for three years on the planning board and I respect very much her interest level, her um her very active advocacy
uh within the housing subcommittee discussions. This person is very active, brings a lot to the table, not necessarily a a specific planning background, um but very much a a person of the world. I don't think we need to
go into age discrimination because we um don't have to do that. I I am going to be supporting the reappoint of Karen Winter for a second term. I think she uh has worked hard and deserves to be reappointed. So the motion that's on the
table is in fact for a two-year term for Agnes Mloud. And so that's the motion we need to now vote on. Correct. The previous two votes were for three-year terms. So this last
one is the two-year term. Right. We've already done you've already done two of the two threeear terms. So, the only remaining vacancy right now is for a term to expire in 2027, right? Correct. And I would and I would be advocating for Karen. Okay. If she's not being
given a three-year renewal, I would like to see her put on for a two-year term. Thank you. Um, Jennifer Tob. Uh, yes. I would like to respond to Councelor Ryan. Um, I Well, starting
with the response to the housing production plan question first. the housing production plan hasn't even come before the council for discussion uh yet alone adoption. um Agnes Leoid who you know I seems like a um you know a very
uh well-meaning thoughtful person who's lived in Ammerst for less than a year and I his response to um what he thought he said that he would like to see the housing production plan begin to implement what's easiest to implement
and that would be the plan recommends that we build more student housing which hasn't been a problem in Amherst and we will definitely do that. I don't know that we need a recommendation to make sure that that's done, but that is the most easy to implement. So that didn't
strike me frankly as the most thoughtful answer for where you know Amoris needs to be focusing its housing production. Um in terms of um Karen Winter has well I'll just respond to what George said because Karen would be um I guess for
the next motion but she has been a steadfast member of the planning board. She was an early and strong supporter for the university district university drive overlay district. She for developing East Hammerst for a strong um
vital downtown. She is very supportive of development um in Ammerst. She was um appointed, she's the planning board's appointee to the design review board. um uh district four in Amherst where only
three of the members, not four, three, three of uh the members of the planning board do live in district 4, but district 4 extends from university from Amity Place at University Drive and Amity Street all the way to Northeast
Street and and Strong. Um I would also point out that if um Mr. Mcloid is appointed to the board. He and Jerus both live in Ammerst Woods, which is a, you know, one subdivision in the town of
Ammerst. I don't know that we need two representatives on the planning board from what's probably the most exclusively zoned subdivision in town. It's zoned for single family houses on large lots. It is a aquifer, recharge,
overlay protection district. So really none of the development in town happens in that area. It's just I I we have one representative there now in Jerus. I don't know that we need two representatives on the planning board. I mean if we're looking at geographical
distribution from that one subdivision and um I would also um if Karen is not on the board, the planning board is one woman and six white men. That's our planning board. So, I feel like Karen Karen
Winters is kind of being railroaded off the board because there's members of um the council that don't agree with her vote on a single issue which was um returning footnote M to its original dimensional size since now in the
district Kin lives in the district that is zoned for the greatest density in town. It's a district that's zoned for all different kinds of housings, not exclusively single housing like the subdivision in which two members you would like to have on the board. Um,
it's zoned for the smallest lots in town, the greatest density, and it's the most walkable. So, it lives out the goals of the master plan. And um I don't know why we would not extend the courtesy of a second term and now we're
only talking about a second two-year term as has been our tradition on other boards and committees. Thank you. Thank you, Pat D'Angelus. Uh thank you. Um I am um supportive of Mr. Mloud's
um appointment to the planning board. And I do that because of several well for several reasons, but I'm going to read the reasons basically from his statement of interest. In the report that came out from CRC, it says he's had
no uh specific planning board experience and um doesn't he has uh let me see he has stated he has no previous board experience. Oh, I'm in the wrong person. There we go. No wonder it didn't make sense. I'm so sorry. Um, the report says
he has no previous board experiences but has worked in school financing and he does not necessarily have qualifications specific to planning. Now, I'm going to go into his quote from his statement of interest. Uh I study the history of
school finance which necessarily implicates questions of state policy, local governance, zoning decisions, real estate development and planning. And he goes on um he says
um that he has he's very familiar with the language of civil planning and he believes he could contribute other forms of knowledge that would enhance discussions around planning. He also said very specifically he has experience
serving on committees ta t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t tasked with receiving and processing input, drafting planning documents, and sharing out ideas with the broader community. Now, Ms. Winner has no
specific planning background when she came on to the committee, and she's done some good work. Some I agree with and some I don't. But what I feel like we have here is a person who's really coming from a different place from
really understanding uh the history of zoning and he has direct experience drafting planning documents. Um so to me it is a wiser
choice to take on Mr. McCloud. Councelor Hanaki you have your hand up again. Yeah. Thank you. I'd like to clear up some some statements that were made by fellow counselors. Um Mr. Mloud in his interview talked about the housing production plan of doing the
lightest lifts for the highest yield. That's what he said. And then he specifically mentioned the strategies 2, three, and eight. I'm going to read to you what they are because um fellow counselors seem to misapply misimply what those are. Strategy number two,
upzone residential districts for highdensity residential use and redefine apartment uses. Strategy three, facilitate infill development and adaptive reuse where appropriate. And strategy 8, apply density bonus provisions to more development types.
They don't specifically speak to student housing, although that was implied. Um, I find it highly interesting that someone says that two reps from one neighborhood is unacceptable for South
Ammerst, but is completely acceptable for the downtown RG. I don't quite understand the opposition for one neighborhood, but the acceptance, in fact, it's more than two for another neighborhood, but the acceptance of two
or more in another neighborhood. Um, Miss Winter in her responses talked about needing to focus on development that will address the needs
of yearround residents and families in particular, families of an age that Mr. Mloud is we struggle to attract families that
have kids in schools. Families like my family, family like Jerus's family, families like Angus Mloud's families. Why don't we put the people who were struggling to attract on the board that
plans for attracting those families? I'm going to go back to George Ryan. Councelor Ryan again. My point about um residency has to do with the zoning district. The um
the RG represents less than 4% of the residential land area in our town. And yet four members currently of this body, including Miss Winter, reside in the RG. I don't really care about neighborhoods.
what I care about are zoning districts and uh that there be some sense of representation across the board. And so that is the response to that. It's not about what neighborhood you live in, it's what zoning district um you represent and the Archie um is one that
is wildly over represented currently. But I think again my excuse me, I'm sorry. bring your mic closer to and so uh but again back to my point sort of echoing what Mandy has just said that um we have an opportunity to place on the
board u the future and I would like us to consider that as perhaps the most important point. Um the decisions made by this body are going to profoundly influence the people who are coming here now and I would like to see more people on that board um who have shall we say
real skin in the game. Jennifer Top. Okay. I would like to see more people on the board that have real skin in the game, too. The RG districts may represent a smaller percentage of land mass, but they have a lot of people living there because they are very
densely populated. There is, if you go down Cosby Street, which is the street that I'm on I'm on, that's where my driveway is. The houses are cheek to jowlel. So it may be smaller land mass but I'd say you have more people living
there than the parts of town again which have large houses or even small houses on large lots. So the land mass doesn't speak to the density of the residents living there. Um I would I mean Karen Winter's daughter and son-in-law moved
around the corner from her. They have a young child that they're raising in in Ammerst. I I don't think we have frankly difficulty attracting families to Ammerst that can afford to live in Ammerst Woods. So I don't know that that's really the future of Ammerst are
two people who were in the last year able to move into the Ammerst Woods development. So um I I think that if you're supporting density as Mr. Mlead said he did. He wants density. He
wants more apartments. All that is happening in the area where Karen Winters lives. It is not and will not happen in the recharge overlay production district where we may have two planning board members um where we may have two members of the board
residing. Uh, and I would also say for the RG district, you know, again, it's it's dense, so a lot of residents live there, even if it's only 4% of the land mass. And as the chair of the planning board, Doug Marshall, has said, although he lives in the RG, as does Karen
Winter, he has said during meetings that he feels that they live in very different areas. Thank you, Anna. Um, this is unrelated to the discussion at hand, which has been very interesting, and I appreciate being able
to read all of the opinions and watch the interviews back from the CRC meetings uh and and um all that has happened. My quick disclosure is that one of the applicants also works at uh under the same employer I work for. I do not know them. I have never met them.
And my vote will be not be influenced at all by the fact that we share an employer. I just needed to name that prior to the vote. Thank you for your disclosure. Are there any other questions or comments? Can you clarify? Excuse Oh, yes, Andy.
Sorry, I thought I had my hand up, but I guess it didn't. Um, I just did a simple question for the chair. Uh there were four the write up about uh Angus Mloud was essentially four sentences and I
found a little bit of uh difficulty putting two together because he said he one was he stated he has no previous board experience. And then the last sentence says he has served on numerous boards and committees
in other communities. that struck me as needing a little explanation. Thank you. Um I think I meant to say he actually said I don't have any planning board experience. So when we asked you know have you attended ZBA meetings? Have you have you
listened into planning board meetings? and he basically acknowledged that he did not have planning board experience. But yes, he's had plenty of board and you know board member experience in other arenas.
Okay, thanks for the clarification. Uh are there any other questions or comments? Then we're going to move to the vote. The motion at this point is to appoint Angus Mloud to a 2-year term that would
begin immediately and expire on June 30th, 2027. Okay, we'll begin with George Ryan. Councelor Ryan, I. Andy Steinberg, I. Jennifer Tob,
no. Councelor Walker abstain. Patanggeles I. Anna Develin Gothier I. Lyn Griemer is an I. Councelor Hanaki. I
Bob Hegner I. Councelor I Pam Rooney. No. It is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven in favor, two opposed, and one
abstension. And I believe that fills the seats for the planning board. It fills the seats available for the planning board. Okay. Um Lynn, may I ask a question of
the town manager? Yes. Given that the council just appointed Mr. Jarus Smith to the planning board and the he has made an affirmative statement that he does not wish to be appointed to two different boards. Can you tell us whether you will be formally withdrawing
his your nomination an appointment of him to the AMAHT before July 3rd? Yes. So, Mr. Smith has expressed a preference to serve on the planning board and didn't want to serve on two boards. So, with that, with the council's vote tonight, I'll withdraw his appointment
to the um affordable housing trust. Thank you. Thank you. Um All right. Then uh we are moving on to ZBA. Uh the motion is to appoint David Alfeld
and David Slloer to the zone. Excuse me. Can I give my re report? Uh yes, please do. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um we had a very good conversation. We have um we had four strong candidates for serving on the zoning board of appeals
and um we are filling two full member vacancies for three-year terms and up to four associate member vacancies which which uh recycle essentially every year for
one-year appointments. Um, the recommendation that came out of the CRC is to recommend that the town council appoint David Slovder and David Alfeld for the two full member three-year terms beginning on July 1,
2025 and ending June 30, 2028. And we also recommended to that the council appoint Hilda Greenbellum and Steven Casey for associate member terms. They are one-year terms beginning on July 1,
2025 and ending June 30, 2026. And the vote for that package was a five five yes and zero no. So it was unanimous for this package. I would like to have it treated as such and voted on as a package.
Okay. So the motion as I have it on the motion sheet is to appoint David Alfeld and David Slovder to the zoning board of appeals for terms beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2028 and Steven
Casey and Hilda Greenbomb as associate members of the zoning board of appeals for terms beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026. Is there a second? Second. Is there any question or comment?
Anna, I just had a question. Um, it's not impacting my vote here, but I didn't have a chance to watch the um I focused my agenda planning board discussions because of the recommendation coming out of CRC. So, I'm curious how CRC handles
incidents where you have applicants for um ZBA or planning board who have a potential conflict of interest due to their own business being uh tied in with property management or or similar. I'm curious if that has come up at CRC and if so, how you handle that.
Pam, we do have people. Can you hear me? Uh, we do have people that serve on the planning board who are property managers or owners of a property that is rented. Um, I don't know that we have that same
situation on the the table or the the panel of people being recommended for Oh, yes, we do. One um Yeah. Yes. who is also a landlord and and has properties managed. um
the boards if if there is if there is something that deals with a property that that person owns then they need to recuse themselves and I don't believe that we've ever had a situation where um
where we have run into a problem where somebody was was representing um I I shouldn't say this I I can't say that forget that um it's not been it's not been a problem
and I think people are very careful when they uh take positions they're they're interpreting the uh the law they're interpreting the regulations and they need to be held to uh that interpretation.
Um Anna, did you have a further question on that? I I just wanted to clarify what I I appreciate that, Pam, and I think it's because, you know, at some point any decision by a planning board or zoning board that is impacting rental housing uh made by someone who has a
financial stake in the rental housing market could be considered a conflict of interest. And I I'm just curious how we've navigated that. I know we have a lot of folks in this town who are in that industry. Um, and so I I was more curious if CRC has had that discussion because I I would argue that there is a
considerable financial impact on folks in that industry on given any building decisions we make that are rental housing related. Councelor Hanaki,
you bring up a great point. Um, and in my time on CRC, that conversation has not happened. um in terms of either adding into questions potential conflicts and how they would deal with it. Obviously, they have to comply with
the ethics law. Um ZVA and planning when dealing on the quasi judicial side, I believe have extra requirements too. Um including if you're receive the abuter's notice, you cannot sit on the hearing. Um, so if you're in a butter at least, um, there are exceptions where the
council can actually vote to allow them to because early in our first term, we did do that for some of the ZBA. I think it was the ZBA when the Ammerst College was was permitting their track and field or something, one of the
fields, because enough of them quote abudded that property um that they wouldn't have even had a quorum to hold the hearing on. So, so there's there's there's ways you can you can overcome some of those issues, but it's a great question. We have not had that
conversation. And I would recommend the next time that CRC seeks questions to ask candidates that that a question regarding how conflicts would be handled if you are a property manager or in the field um be suggests adding it to the
list of interview questions. Part of me wonders if it's not even an interview question as much as it's an ethics commission question. Um, I think that for me it's more that kind of thing about where does it become an actual conflict of interest versus kind of just this is the the ecosystem we exist in.
Um, but sorry that's Pam. I see your hand, but I'm going to go to Jennifer. Yeah, I would say the same. You know, I know it's come up and some people were shocked that it came up, but I mean, we have a chair of the planning board who's
a senior planner at UMass who has said on many occasions that before we can really tackle the town's housing shortage or or challenges, we need to address the student housing problem. And one could say, is that a conflict of interest? Because that's in his No,
that's in his employers where he that's in his employer's interest. So there's there's many places I think if you're going to where there's conflicts of interest that we we haven't addressed it maybe perhaps should. Okay. Are there any other questions or
comments since actually what we're voting on is not this issue. Okay. Although I appreciate the suggestions and as and as I am sure the members of CRC do as well. Um so the motion's on the floor. Motion's been made and
seconded. Are there any other comments? Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Uh Andy Steinberg, I. Jennifer Tob, yes. Councelor Walker, yes. Patel, hi.
Anna Delin Gothier, I grie. Councelor Hani, I Bob Hegner, I Pam Rooney, yes. Councelor Ryan, I. It's unanimous. Amen. Um thank you. Uh we are now going to
move into committee and liaison reports. Uh there's nothing from BCG uh CRC. Uh Pam or Jennifer? Nothing. We've pretty much covered what you've been doing. Okay. Uh elementary
school building. Uh e Kathy is not here. Alicia or Paul, anything? Um, the committee met last week and approved some bills. Um, the project keeps uh moving forward on on track. Uh
there has been some discussion about what the federal budget um the big bill will do to potential funding for some of the um uh sustainability
initiatives which we are very concerned about. Um we will not be able to know what that looks like until we're eligible to apply which will be in 20 middle of 2026. And am I correct that that was the 5 million we voted for with the hope of
reimbursement? I think there was a there was the hope for having the IRA replace some of that money to support that so the taxpayers wouldn't have to pay for it. Yes. Okay. Can I ask one other question? I assume that the reason when you go by the building at night it's all
lit up is for safety reasons. Yes. Thank you. Mhm. Are there any other questions or comments on that besides the fact that it's exciting? Um, finance committee, uh, Bob Hegner. Yeah, we didn't real we haven't met I
think since our last uh, council meeting, but we are meeting tomorrow and we're going to review the third quarter report, which I suggest it's it's in the packet. I suggest everyone take a look at it because um you know we have some
weird things going on because of how we use DARPA money and we still have a very large um amount of money coming in from investment income. So uh it's we're going to begin a discussion tomorrow of
what to do with free cash um at the end when it's certified. So, but we're not going to take any vote on it. Thank you. Um, go Anna, we are working on the town
manager evaluation process right now. Um, we've got a couple bylaws and such expected to come our way at some point soon. uh a few are with KP Law, some are still in their other committees, but we are currently working on the um evaluation process and revamping that
from from from scratch. Um and similarly, if folks, just a reminder, if you have questions or sorry, not questions, um questions too, but if you have suggestions specifically for changes to the rules of procedure, please send those to me in track changes
form. Uh and then we finally voted the pool for finance committee sufficient last at our last meeting which is very exciting. So we will be moving forward with soliciting statements of interest and conducting interviews for that. Um we will I'll let the council know once
we have that confirmed. Um but we are working on those uh as we as we speak and thank you to Pat for helping take the lead on the coordination for the finance committee work. I appreciate it. Pat, did you have any comment?
Please use your mic. Yes, I'm sorry. Uh, we have lost one candidate uh because of the time commitment and that person has um gone joined the housing trust. Um, so they have resigned. Um, so we're down to two
applicants for one position for two positions. For two positions. Well, we got another one though recently. We just got another one today. Oh, okay. I haven't seen we're at three folks. We're going to be great. Okay. Okay. Thank you. I did. Keep our fingers crossed. Uh
thank you Jones Library Building Committee. Pam Rooney. Okay. Uh Paul, anything for town for Jones Library? Just like no. Okay. Uh TSO. Uh Andy.
Yeah. Again I uh submitted a written report and so principally that is the report. I do want to remind you that the next meeting um is July 17. the agenda
uh gives the next meeting is uh this week July 3rd, but we had decided that that was unnecessary since we just met last week uh to do two meetings in a row. And um I think it unless there
questions about what was submitted in writing, I have nothing further. Thank you and thank you for the written report. Um, I do understand that if there is a recommendation regarding Heatherstone,
it would not come until later until after your meeting on the 17th. Correct. That is correct. Okay. Um, I'm asking that as a district 2 counselor. Um, any lesson on reports?
Okay. Seeing none, we've approved minutes. Paul, you have no written report. Any comments you'd like to make? I do. I have a few things I wanted to mention. First, uh, today we saw the construction begin on the new track and field. We had done the ceremonial groundbreaking a couple weeks ago, so it was really good to see them starting to
rip up the old um track and get started on it. Um, likewise, we're the um Jones Library is in the process of relocating to 101 University Drive. Um there is, you know, we're hoping once they're out that the contractor will be able to move
in and begin construction on that. Um the heatwave last week was we had our team really responded well. But one thing I want to point out is that one of one of our strategies when there is a designated heat wave um is to open up
our pools for access to anybody for free. And um it's just so so our team had worked very hard to get the war memorial pool ready to be opened. So they as they over the course of the last few months were installing new safe pool
drains, a new liner, uh we're doing some plumbing update on the um facility and which so that was be able to pass inspection which it did. And then for that Sunday to Wednesday, a thousand over thousand people attended the u the war memorial pool and over 1300 people
attended the Mill River pool during that that heatwave that Sunday to Wednesday. So that's way above normal and it was just important I think for uh people to be able to have someplace to go to cool off. So just a lot of work went into that especially to from our recreation
department. So just credit them for that. Um the want to really mention about uh we have the summer meals program that's starting uh started today and so there are there's free food available to anybody
uh 18 and under at Olympia Oaks University Village, Mil River Village Park, Meadow View, which is 266 East Hadley Road, Butternut Farm, Colonial Village, and Rolling Green. And so these are um meals. It'll be it'll be a food truck that's at all these locations
every day between uh 12 and 3:35. They have a schedule that's that's published and is on our website as well. So anybody any child um 18 or under can go and get free food um every Monday through Friday during the summer. So that's a really important thing for I
want our make sure all of our residents know that that's available so that no no young person would go without food for at least lunch this summer. And lastly, just wanted to mention that we've been full steam ahead on getting our the fireworks at th which is Thursday night,
July 3rd. It looks like we will have good weather. Usually there's tens of thousands of people who go to um Mgherk Stadium adjacent to the field adjacent to MC Mgherk Stadium Stadium and um again a lot of cooperation between
especially led by Becky Demling at the recreation department. Uh but University of Massachusetts has been a tremendous partner providing lots of support includ including police and facilities and organization and u things like that.
Also, our fire department is very very present there as well as the Hadley fire department that inspects the um um the fireworks, which we're grateful the town of Hadley does that for us. And um to our DPW, which is helping to support the
um food trucks because we're moving them to a different location this year and I think that'll be better for all the people who are visiting. So, it's a lot happening this week. um just to and so I just especially for our recreation department, they've been really busy. So those are things I want to update you
on. Bob Hegner, you have a question. Yeah, Paul. Um I just got my new uh tax bill um for property taxes. Does it include the the um assessment for the new elementary school? Yes. Yeah, it has
a portion of it, not everything. Yes. Uh in a previous um meeting maybe a year ago or so I suggested that um we try to report that separately and that amount separately
and I'm wondering if that's possible but we can do education for people which I think that reminds me we should be doing more of that so we can do that. Okay. Yeah. I did notice the increase. Uh, George Ryan, I mean, sorry,
councelor Ryan. So, Paul, exciting news about the the food program that's through Mass. I believe the funding though. I probably should know this, but I don't. Project Bread was mentioned. Is the funding state funding? Is it Where's Do we know where the money? I don't know where the funding comes from. Georgia.
Okay. Thank you. Okay, Pam Rooney. Thank you. A question for Paul. um has to it goes back to what Vince O' Conor talked about this this evening and the subject has been brought up a couple times. Um
if we if we have uh ICE stops and kidnappings is there can we ask the APD to intervene in any shape or form? And I guess if not for public knowledge,
why not? So the police department or any town official can can't obstruct um a legal law enforcement activity. So this is you know defined as being legal. Um we may
think we may disagree with it but that's how it's being defined. The way we process this information is when we have verified information of ICE activity, if the police know about it or anybody knows about, they contact our office.
Our our office um connects with um the public health director, Kiko Mail, who's well connected into all the different sources of support that people may have. She also has access access to all the other um groups that are involved with
this and uses her discretion and what to who to notify when. She's also well connected to our school district and people who work with uh children in our school district. So in terms of um and the other thing that we do as our communications director, if we have something that's verified, we
immediately put out information on our website and share it with the media because that's what we've done the last two times where we've become aware of it. So those are and if I don't think that is necessarily um our responsibility to notify a um a private
non a private group in terms of what's going on, but we try to share it out broadly. So, anybody who would like to take advantage of that information can share it out. Okay. U Pat, thank you. Uh Paul, is that Can I get
copies of that flyer? Sure. Taped to the survival center if they haven't. I'll be there on Friday. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Very good idea. Uh in fact, can could you send it to us so that we can put it out through our newsletters? Okay. Uh, Jennifer.
Um, yes. Picking up on Pam's question because I've been asked this by several con uh residents. So, um, I understand that the Amoris Police Department can't intervene like literally get between an ICE agent and
and someone member of the public. But can they if the ICE agents are not identified as such, can the Ammeris police if they are on site request identification? I mean, if it looks like somebody's just
apprehending somebody and you don't know who that person is, wouldn't you intervene? I'd have to talk to the police chief about that. I think that their understanding is that once someone identifies themselves as a federal agent
and oftentimes they do have outfits on that say that, but I guess anybody could. Um um and I think they um trying to think I think they do identify themselves as being either ATF or ICE agents or
something like that, but they don't identify their names. Um can they the question is can the police sort of inter intervene? I think there's a really uh we've talked about this with our town attorney. There's a very serious um charge of obstruction of
justice that or interference with with uh police doing their um activities. So I think they we have a very we're very cautious about that. Residents are eligible to do what they want. But again those are very um
people need to understand what what steps they're taking when they when they are taking those steps. think I have my own opinion on how I think those are effective things but um in terms of what I can recommend that the town officials do as body as elements of our town
government it's a different different thing okay are there any other questions of the town manager okay um going on to councelor comments you have a written report I'm sorry Pat
oh you have a re written report from the on activities unless there's objection I would like permission to um do one report for the month of July and August together uh if that's okay um me uh with
a clear understanding that if anything important comes up I will send you an email anyway as I do as we go along. Um, any other So, no questions, Pat. Counselor comments. Moving on to
counselor comments. Oh, before I do that, I do want to mention um I didn't put this in my report because I didn't do this as a counselor, if you will. Uh but on um last week, just this past week, uh George Ryan joined me in uh
talking to a group of about 16 uh college professors from all over the world, 14 different countries represented. And um I just want to commend um Angela um Mills and also uh
Sam Gri Gifin for the outstanding PowerPoint that they have. That's an introduction to Ammersttown government and we used it that day and frankly I've encouraged and hope that uh we find other venues to use it in because it's
really beautifully done and also um very um um nicely um presented. Okay. Um Okay. All right. Is there anybody that has a question? Jennifer, did you have a question? Yeah.
Yeah. How can we see that PowerPoint or is it somewhere on the website? Yeah, you know, I uh I will make the PowerPoint available. In fact, I need to make it available to the people who came. They also wanted a copy of our um charter and we're very interested in
that. And would they like to serve on the charter review commission? Yeah. Right. Um and they had many questions. The the session went for the full two hours. It was very interesting. So, okay, Jennifer, anything else?
No, thank you. I would just love I'd like to see that. All right, we're up to councilor comments. Uh Pat D'Angelus, I I would like to let uh everyone on the council u know and but especially I want residents of district 2 to know that
I've decided not to run again for a council seat. It has been an exciting, taxing, and absolutely wonderful experience, and I will always be grateful for the chance I've had to learn and grow in this community, and I encourage people to soul search and run
for council, particularly from district 2. Thank you, Pat. Bob Hegner, I have a similar announcement that uh I do not intend to run again uh for the council. Um, I've been only on the council for
one term, but I have served on the finance committee for a long time and it's just uh to getting to a point now where I think it's time for somebody else to step up and um and work for the town. I it's been great working with all
of you. Uh I still have six months left. So I will continue to work as hard as I can for this council, this town and and district five. But um you know come November there will be an election and I won't be participating. Thank you Bob.
Thank you for that. And to both of you for your work. Are there any other questions or comments? Seeing none, I'm going to make make a motion to adjurnn and seek a second.
Okay. Um then we uh begin in this case with Jennifer Tob. Yes. Councelor Walker. Yes. Patanggeles. Hi. Anna Davin Gothier. I
uh Lynn Griezmann. I councelor Hani. Hi. Bob Hegner. I Pam Rooney. Yes, Councelor Ryan. Hi, Andy Steinberg. Hi, it's unanimous and we have beat our record. It's 8:18.
Thank you.