Okay, we're recording. Please go ahead. >> So, good morning. Uh, it is Thursday, uh, February 19th. Um, it is 10:01 a.m. and I'm calling this regular meeting of the town services and outreach committee to order. Um, we have a quorum. And in a
moment, I'm going to check and make sure that everybody can be heard. Um, according to chapter 2 of the acts of 2025 extended through June 30, 2027, it gives uh public bodies the ability to hold meetings remotely, this meeting is accessible in real time via Zoom and by
phone and it is being recorded. Just to check and make sure everybody can be heard. Uh, I'm just going to look at my screen here. Andy, >> yes. >> Uh, Pam, >> yes. >> Jennifer, >> yes. I'm sorry.
>> That's all right. You're good. We can hear you. And I don't see Holla yet. >> I'm here. >> Oh, you're here. Holla. Thank you. So, Council Lord is here. >> Yes. >> And of course, I'm here. Um, we also have two attendees, two guests. Um, Jim
Pistrang, if Jim, if you just uh let us know that you can be heard and hear. >> Yep, I can hear you. >> Okay. And Angela, >> hello. Thanks for the invite. >> You're welcome. Um, first practical question is Paul joining us this morning because we have some town manager
appointments which is actually Oh, Paul, good morning. So, Paul is also with us. Thank you. >> Um, all right. Um, let's take a look and see if we have any public present because the first item on the agenda is public comment
and we do have one attendee. So, >> I'm sorry. >> Can we bring Sam in? >> Ah, Samantha Griffin. Ah, surprise guest. This is great. Yes. Could we bring Sam in? >> I tried. Okay, here we go. >> All right, so Sam is attending. Great.
So, we also have Samantha Gon who is our communications person and uh a key part of our strategy to communicate with the public. I see no attendees. So, for the moment uh we'll pass over public comment. If
attendees have come later, u we may return to that item on the agenda. Um just a quick note about the agenda. Um I'd like to start with town manager appointments if we could. That'll take a few minutes. So if our guests can be patient with us, we will work through
that. Um first, uh item number four is the discussion for which we have a number of guests present this morning. I'd like to give that about an hour to about 11:15 if we can. We'll see how it goes. And then the final major item is to review the charge and that should
take about 30 to 40 minutes I hope. Um so that's sort of the general sketch and um so if it's okay with the committee um just a quick housekeeping question were people able to access the materials for this meeting both either I put them on
SharePoint. Did anyone besides me go to SharePoint? We have at least one. Okay. All right. So it was there and you could access it. Okay, good. And I assume there is >> I'm I'm still unable to access SharePoint, so I need to I had I had to
go through the website. >> Okay, so we um >> Andy, let's let's chat offline and um I can show you how to get in. You should have permission. >> Okay, thanks. >> So I guess it's just a curiosity question. Did anyone else access SharePoint and were they able to get the
materials? Because I put them there and I accessed them, but Okay, good. All right. So, it does work. All right. >> Pam is saying Pam is saying no. >> Pam is saying no. And I'm not I think you've had some communication with her and again I think maybe offline if the two of you can communicate because um
Jennifer and and I have no problem it seems getting in there. Um also they are available as we know on uh on uh the uh the town website for the meeting and you can also access them that way. But I have made a solemn prog promise to make
sure that they are always available on SharePoint um as soon as I can get them up there and I will communicate with you uh when they get put up. Um you can always reach out to me if you're looking for materials. You shouldn't be shy about that. Um so that's that's where
we're at. Okay. I don't see any other questions related to that sort of housekeeping. Um so Paul if you if you if you would uh we will go to uh town manager appointments and the first set of appointments uh cable television advisory committee.
>> Great. Go ahead. >> So the the cable television advisory committee is not a permanent committee. It's a temporary committee that works on a specific process of renewing our license with Comcast which happens once every 10 years. So, the people who will
be uh I'm appointing and ask for your support is Peter Bareric of 87 Woodlock Road, uh Fred Civian of High Point Drive, John Milis of Northampton Road, and Brianna Sunred of Flat Hills Road. And then um this the fifth person is
Rachel Figuresmith who is not a town resident would require the council to approve, but she is the uh executive director of Ammeris Media. So they have a and they she has a lot of subject area expertise and also she happens to serve on the Pelum school committee which you
know school committees are also a vital um part of of what what we negotiate with the um with Comcast for because it's we really negotiate around PEG which is public education and government usage and then a non-vetting member is
Sean Hannon who's our director of IT so I can go through each one of Um, so Mr. Bareric is is um he's he said he is a longtime customer of Comcast which is harder to find these days because people a lot of people cut the cord. um he was
the former dean of faculty and provost at Mount Holio College and she he had it under him and he really is concerned about Comcast's uh response of and response and his their ability to deliver good customer service and that's an ideal thing for us to talk about uh
with Comcast in this process. Uh Mr. Civian um was interested in being involved in in town. He's relatively new to town, but he lived in Denim, I think it was, uh, previously, and was highly involved in all kinds of different committees from finance committee to
school committee to conservation. He also worked for DP, so he's very comfortable working in a regulatory environment um, and understood understands how those types of things work. Um, John Milis is a student at
Ammerst College. He's in pre-law. Um, and he's his interest is in, you know, how private interests and public good sort intersect. And he's said he could bring a lot of sort of reviewing information, you know, studying things and like and things like that. And this
fits in with his since it's a short-term committee, it fits in with what his interests are and could help the town. Uh, Brianna Sudrid, you all know, she was our communications person pri previously. She now works for uh the Collins Center at the University of
Massachusetts Boston. Um she she was eager to stay involved with the town and this is one of the ways that she can be involved. She previously served on the Ammeris media board as the town's representative and she has a lot of experience both in the city of Worcester and in uh Ammerst with it things. And
Rachel Figer Smith I mentioned earlier is the executive director of Ammeris Media. So those are the appointments for the cable television advisory committee. Great, Paul. Thank you. Um, questions for the manager on these appointments.
I see no hands. Am I missing anybody? Um, I have a question, Paul, which is really broader and maybe not appropriate for here, but for the council, but I'm wondering whether this committee will also discuss the future of cable. And as you mentioned, I think in your remarks
earlier, um we're seeing um that it's becoming less and less used. Is it does that something that will be discussed or is it pretty much >> Yeah. be Yeah, because it is a 10-year contract that we usually typically go for a 10-year contract because it's that's what the state law uh provides
and Comcast always wants to do a 10-year contract. You have to look out 10 years. When we negotiated this 10 years ago, the world was way different than it is today. And in fact, um, I think one of the challenges we have in looking at other communities is that Comcast is saying it's not much it's not very
valuable to us as much anymore. So we don't want to give you the amount of capital that we gave you last time. And that's where their starting point is going to be and we're going to say we have greater needs and things like that. Um, so I think it's also it's determining the needs and and the important thing for us is really it's
about cable television. It's not about internet access. And so it's really internet is a separate product. It's a separate delivery system. And so um we won't be talking about internet access which I think is is a high that's what most people are concerned about now.
It's really about cable television. >> Andy. >> Yeah. Um I know I noticed that the the school committee meetings are on cable and the council meetings are on zoom and is that also cable I guess that's ammer
media also right >> so for live coverage people are watching that either um is it through cable always or is it through um you know >> so for town council meetings you can watch on zoom you can watch um on
YouTube or you can watch on cable television >> and then and school committee is is different. >> They use Google meets so I'm not sure how I don't know what they Ammeris Media does um broadcast them they take the
feed that comes out of the meetings um you know it used to be they would come you know Ammeris Media would come into town hall they had a little closet with all their equipment on it they would head or if they if you were meeting on the first floor >> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. um where they would um you know set up their equipment in
the first floor meeting room when the finance committee was meeting. Now they simply take the feed that Athena puts together and they they rebroadcast that and you know you'll hear at the beginning of every council meeting you know the president asks is Ammeris Media ready and Athena confirms that they are
receiving the feed and they're able to broad rebroadcast it. Yeah, just it seems like the future is not so much with, you know, cable broadcasting as it is with the internet. >> Yeah. >> And I think that's my question, Paul, and again, it's maybe not fair at this
point, but is cutting the cord even a possibility? Is that's I mean, um, have other towns and cities quote unquote cut the cord? Um, is that something that's even conceivable? Um, Athena has her hand up, so go ahead, Athena. >> I think she's going to reprimand us. >> Reprimand me, Paul. You're not going to
be reprimanded. You're >> you're all in you're all in trouble. You're looking at the appointments, not the purpose of the committee. Sorry. >> H All right. Um, so unless there further questions for the manager, um, once my knuckles uh recover, I am going to make
a motion uh that TSO recommend to the town council that it approve uh the following appointments to the cable television advisory committee for terms to expire December 31st, 2026. Peter Bareric, Frederick Civian, John
Milos, Briana Sunridge, Rachel Figura Smith, and as a non- voting member, Sean Hannon. Is there a second? >> Second. >> And so Jennifer has seconded. Thank you, Jennifer. Um, unless there's further discussion, I'm going to move
immediately to a vote. And, uh, Jennifer, you're on my screen first. I'll begin with you. >> Yes. and uh uh Andy. >> Yes. >> And Pam, >> yes. >> And Holla, Councelor L.
>> Hi. >> Hi. >> And the chair is an I. And so it's unanimous. 50 uh for this set of appointments. >> Thank you. So the next one is the transportation parking commission. This is not the full committee. These are the
pre-desated slots and um so for each one it is the actual uh department head who's representing the town. That would be chief the police chief Gabe Ting, superintendent public works Guilford Moing, economic uh planning economic development director Jeff Bag, um
councilors uh Sam Mloud but and councelor George Ryan that were both appointed by the council. And then the commission for persons with disabilities um recommended Ian Rodel to to serve on behalf of them. So these are their appointments and I put in you know when
under the charter when you create a new committee you're supposed to have staggered terms um for members. So I tried to stagger the terms a little bit to account for so we so I could comply with the charter and I and I put the counselor's terms as ending at the end
of the next counselor council term. It's a little bit off because it's not June 30th, but I thought it didn't it didn't make sense to go to June 30th and then have to replace some >> questions for the manager on these appointments. >> Uh I see no hands. Um
>> Pam has her hand. >> Pam has her hand. >> Oh, Pam, I'm sorry. >> Yeah. The question, excuse me. The question I have is why do you feel you have to stagger these since these are staff? Why are you feeling a need to stagger these?
>> The charter says when you create a new committee you have to have staggered terms. >> But wouldn't the I mean we could stagger the terms of the public that end up getting on the committee. >> I will staggering. >> I will stagger those as well because there'll be three people coming into the
public. They'll each get one will get one year term, one will get two year terms, one will get three year terms. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I mean, we could I mean we Yeah, I think Yeah. >> Any other questions or um comments?
>> I see Andy is at hand. Andy, please. >> Yeah. Um, this is a lot of uh heavy duty staff members on this committee. Is is there I'm concerned a little bit about
their time. I understand I designate >> I guess that works. So maybe you instead of Jeff Bag, you have a plan, you have another planner or staffer or something, right? >> No. Well, when when I talked with them, I I asked the department heads to participate at the beginning at least for the committee to help set up the
standards and protocols and and understand what the flavor of the committee. And I think for the first 6 months to a year, I would really like the department heads to be there so they really understand what they're if they're going to if they would like someone else to serve, they would they could do that. But I want them to be
there at the beginning to help form it. Okay? and and most likely they will at some point ask to have someone designated in their in theirstead. Uh I see no other comments. I was particularly impressed by the counselor
appointments. I thought those were excellent. Um I think you did a good job there, Paul. Um we'll see what the council thinks about that. But um so unless I see any other uh I'm going to make a motion that TSO um recommend that
the town council approve the following appointments to the transportation and parking commission. Um Gabriel Ting, police chief for a term to expire June 30, 2027. Jeff Bag, director of planning and economic development for a term to
expire June 30, 2028. Ian Rodalt, member of the Commission for Excuse me, Ian Rodivald, um, member of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities for a term to expire June 30, 2027. And councelor Sam Mloud and Councelor George Ryan for
terms to expire January 3rd, 2028. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Uh, Mr. Churchill seconds. Thank you. Um, so we have a motion that's been made and seconded. If there's no further comment, I'm going to move directly to a
vote. And so Andy Churchill, >> I. >> Jennifer Tob, >> yes. >> Pam, >> yes. >> And Holla, >> hi. >> And the chair is an I as well. So again, it's unanimous. 50 to recommend these
appointments to the council. So Paul, thank you very much. And thank you. Uh >> so the next item on our agenda is review and discussion of the town board and committee process. And this is in light of the 2026 manager goals. Um which has
tasked us with working with the manager to quote develop ways to streamline and improve the recruiting, vetting, selection, and onboarding of community volunteers who serve on the town's boards and committees. The process should include exploring ways the town
might shrink the number of boards and committees. So I'd like to give this about an hour um and uh we'll see how the discussion goes. And my thought was to actually I had recommended to committee members that they focus we got a large number of
materials uh courtesy of Angela. Thank you very much. and I recommended that um we start that committee members start their reading with her memo to uh the GSO committee and um I think there were
two other items that I'd asked you to look at and I was going to kind of use those as a way to frame the discussion. Um so um the first item deals with um the matter of uh basically uh the whole
process. It's really a process question. Um, and so I don't know if you have her memo close by, but I'm going to have it close by for myself. And I want to just begin by noting something. I took some time to try and get a sense of where um
we stand with these bodies. And I came up with 32 separate bodies that the town manager makes appointments to. Um, and that's 185 appointments. Uh and currently according to the numbers that Angela shared with us um
there are 30 vacancies and a potential 20 impending vacancies. So uh just to give you a sense of the scale um but I thought we'd start first. I don't think we need to go through the memo, but I I wonder if Angela and uh
could begin to just if you have questions for her in terms of the uh the whole interview and appointment process. Um in the first part of her memo, she gives us some data herself in terms of committee appointments that are actual
um over the last couple of years. Um and then she describes in some great detail um the process, how interviews are done. uh CAFs etc. So I wanted to uh start with that on the process the interviews the CAFs communicating with applicants
and the follow-up process. Um so uh Angela I don't know if there's any remarks either you or Jim would like to make to start but um I'm also Yeah. >> Sure. So thanks for the invitation and I think one of the things I forgot to
mention in my sharing of information with all of you is that um in the past kind of 18 months I've had meetings with staff leaison and I've opened it up to all staff leaison and it's kind of an overview of
expect expectations and a sharing on the staff side of best practices and what's working and what's not working and um a reminder that at the beginning of Zoom meetings we need to read aloud the suspension of open meeting law and sharing the script for that with all of
those staff leaison. And then it kind of evolved into a discussion of um comportment during meetings and how to best follow best practices and encourage
good behavior or better behavior. And then it really drilled down on the specifics of public comment and what should and can't be done during public comment. And then in addition to that, I hosted
uh an online version and an in-person version for new members and chairs. I think it was August or September of last fall. And it was more of a government 101 kind of this is the town you live in. This is where your new responsibilities fit into our town
government. And these are the expectations when you show up for a meeting. Show up early or show up on time. Be prepared. Read the materials. It's kind of a nuts andbolts overview of what it means to be a special municipal employee. So, questions for Angela or for Jim
about the memo and about this process. And uh I see I think at least one hand up at the moment, Andy Churchill. >> Yeah, I I found the um the memo was useful for for the process. And then I also thought that the
um reappointment season 2026 gave a you know more of a level of detail of you know really what the expectation the number of vacancies and the um and then some suggestions about you know ideas that maybe this committee could be you know merged with that one
or whatever. So, I'm I'm I'm wondering what the relation, you know, if you want to talk at all about the relationship between the reappoint season list and and the and the, you know, the memo on on appointments. Um, can you be a little bit more
specific? What are you What are you looking for? Like the time commitment piece or the how the two intersect? Yeah, I guess I guess I mean we wanted to know what the process was, I think. But we also I think the deeper question was do we have too many
committees and and how do we you know what kind of burden does this put on on you guys to to to staff these and you know how do we know that they're being effective or that they're connected to the the system in the right
way? So I don't I don't know how there's sort of the there's the process and are people you know, appropriately being notified of if they're on or off a committee or whatever. And then there's sort of the the framework of committees. And as George mentioned, part of the charge on
the discussion was think about whether we can have less committees. So, um, you know, part of that is are we having trouble getting people? Um, is that a process problem or is that a, you know, a structure problem? I I I I don't know how to have the the whole discussion,
but I don't know if you want to segment it with what is the process and then is it working? But >> Sure. So, I think one of the things we hear most often, and I hear it all the time when I'm tableabling or if I'm out at a public event is, I put in a calf like 3 months ago. Why haven't you
called me? Right. People want immediate action when they're stepping up to volunteer. And so the reality is I went in and changed the reply the auto reply in our system so that when people send in a calf it's like when we are experiencing um a lack of quorum or when
there's uh a noticeable vacancy or when it's reappoint season we will reach out to you and we will notify you of upcoming interviews. I mean the conversation about whether or not it's difficult to find volunteers. For example, um John Milis, who's just been appointed to the cable advisory
committee. He is a a firstgen Ammeris College kid who just transferred in, I think, from um a Mid-Atlantic uh community college. He's new to town. He's looking for ways to um
integrate himself into the community. He's looking for ways to volunteer. He's always volunteered through high school. He was really active in his community's uh senior center. he wanted to try something new. I met him for coffee. We had a long conversation and then after sitting with him for a bit, it was like,
you know what, like this actually might really appeal to him. It's not what he signed up for. He really wanted to be on affordable housing trust as do most college kids. And um and when the cable thing came up, I called him and I said, "John, I know you're really wanting to get off campus. I know you're really want wanting to connect with community.
Would you be interested in this?" And he jumped for it. Like he was like, "Absolutely." like put my name on the list, I want to be interviewed. So, it was kind of fortuitous. It doesn't always work that way, but when we have people who put general interest and were
struggling for numbers on, I don't know, Council on Aging or Human Rights Commission, I call the general interest people and I say, "This isn't what you signed up for, but might you be interested in an interview?" So, sometimes it kind of works back door that way.
Um, is it a lot of time? I don't have a handle on that because it's part of the job that I inherited. So, it seems like part of my job. >> Uh Pam and then Paul. Pam, you're muted. >> Sorry, I'm not used to having my self
muted. Um Paul had his hand up first. >> And Paul, if you wish to make a comment, go ahead. >> Sure. Thank you. Um, yeah, I mean I I will attest that it's a lot of work. Angela puts a lot of work into sort of talking to people, making sure they're knowing what they're getting into and
sort of um helping them to um get to the right committee. The other thing that takes an enormous amount of work and why sometimes it takes longer is that we try to be efficient with especially with our staff and with the residents advisory committee because organizing these things, finding a time when everybody
can participate. If you're asking someone to donate their time like like Jim, you say, "Well, we don't want to have three different times during the week for you to interview someone's. We're trying to bunch them together. So, can you give us an hour today to interview folks?" So, that's usually how, you know, and and we try not if
there's just one vacancy, if you know, if the committee's not experiencing a real need, we probably hold on that until we get to a point where it's really needed. So, we try to prioritize our time. Uh it it just takes time. You know, all these interviews, there's dozens and dozens of interviews. It takes time from especially for Angela
but for everybody it takes time. Why do we have so many committees? I think um so I think this is a vestage of being in the town form of government. You know in a town form of government there were always committee set up for everything. In a city form of government you won't see as many committees. It really sort
of um is more staff centric and town council or city council centric. It it works more formally that way. Um, and so I think that it's I think we the this town has a it's a a nice way for people to be involved in government. So I it's
a you know people feel more connected to their government if they can serve on a committee. So it's it's a positive thing. Um are there comm are there too many committees? There's a lot of committees. Are there some that we can get rid of? Um it's hard to get rid of committees. You know once they're set up
there there's people who like it. It's sometimes their their lifeblood. Um, but there that being said, there are some there's but it's very few and sometimes we talk about merging committees and you know Angela's put a lot of work into trying to merge a couple of them and there's usually barriers to that. People
it's either turf or it's um I don't want to do what that committee does. I signed up for this committee. Um but I think we could be more aggressive about pushing some of these things. Um like we have two different historical committees. We have two different arts committees. uh
you know there's some committees that exist because of um the way like the Mson building committee um when the when the um I think under the terms of the will or something like that it's it's in there saying there shall be a committee that oversees the building even though
they don't they seldom meet it really is staff that manages that that building. So, um there's some committees that have to exist. Um there's some committees that stop existing like the agricultural commission that we couldn't find people to serve on it because it didn't really have a mission anymore and people didn't
want to just show up and talk. Um so I think it's a we can trim it down a little bit, but I think there's a lot of interest in lots of different things, you know. Um so I think you won't knock it down a whole lot in terms of committees. Pam, go ahead.
>> Thanks. Um, and I I just especially wanted to say thanks to Jim Pistrang for all the the time on the committees and I know Meg Gage has also um put in a lot of time. So, all of this obviously is going on behind the scenes and it just comes up
as the recommendations from TSO to the the council. Um, thank you. Uh I in going through the list there are several as you said the agriculture committee ammeris redevelopment authority which you know I was the last person appointed
to is completely defunct. Um I guess we could go through that list and and start to eliminate and officially uh pronounce them dead on arrival so that we can at least have an official list of
active uh committees. Um, let's see. What was I going to say? Um, okay, back now to the process. Uh, and you talked about trying to find time for the interviews.
It has actually been very interesting from a council perspective. Uh Jennifer and I are both on on CRC and we have had the pleasure and the burden of interviewing people for for well Andy is
too but hasn't gone through the process of of interviewing people for planning board and CBA. Those are joint interviews so that we get everybody in the room at the same time and the same set of questions is asked to each of
them. It seems that that this uh committee doesn't really have set questions. It just has um a set process. Having people in the room, if you will, in the Zoom room together
uh actually is interesting because it feeds people sort of feed off each other and and brings out information that they might not have thought to mention uh on their own. And so perhaps instead of I guess it would still take an hour or
maybe it would take less, but you could probably get through the process a little quicker if you did them all at once. That's just a thought. Um and and a thanks to Angela actually too
for compiling all this information. Um, one of the things that struck me is that there is a whole lot of feedback, which again I appreciate because Jennifer and I handled that for ZBA. All of the coordination with people who have who
have submitted a calf, who are scheduled for an interview and then have been responded to when they weren't selected. Um it looks like Paul's name is on a lot of those tasks and I just wonder if maybe
um you know reaching out to people who were interviewed but not selected or sometimes notifying those people they've been selected they'll be receiving their paperwork. Is that something that perhaps Angela could take on more of so that it's not Paul per se?
I'll stop there. Jennifer, >> so I don't know if if I should get to this later in the meeting if you were more looking at do, you know, do we need all these committees? How do we interview? But my concern has also been
that I I don't understand how the council appointed committees are so public and the town manager appointed committees are not public at all. So I I'm concerned that there are people that always apply for committees that are
never selected and it's kind of all happens under the radar. And this is not anything personal to the, you know, position to the person in the town manager's position. It's just the way it's structured. We're told that.
So I I I would like to explore that process. How one when town council appointed committees, everything is public. The interviews when we debrief that's also, you know, it all happens, you know, in his public zoom meeting. Um
and I'm concerned that in the town manager appointed committees if someone is not interviewed or not selected they don't even there's no explanation is even required. Um so I think there's something inherently flawed about that
process and that may be maybe we'll have a whole different separate meeting about that but I I I think that's something that TSO um should address. I'd like to see us have a conversation about that. Thanks. Let Paul respond to that. >> Yeah. So the difference is you are a
public body. I am not. Um when a public body is interviewing like this meeting it's a public because we're having a conversation. There's a public body and there's a quorum of you. The council can only act as in a quorum. I do not need a quorum to act and under the charter I am the the appointing authority. So there's
no requirement for me to make any of the any of the public other than the appointments. Um so and I don't for any appointments that I make um for a lot of very good reasons in including m ensuring that the applicant pool stays
um in stays uh robust and you know for whether it's a department head that you have the ability to appoint or if it's a member of a committee. Um so and you don't have a choice but to be public unless you delegate it to one person which you could do. um otherwise it
everything you do must be in public. Um whereas you know for efficiency but also just for um respect for the people who are involved. Um and so what the the council's role is to act on the appointments of the town
manager. It's not to make the selection, it's to say yes or no to the appointments that you have. >> Thank you, Paul. Um Andy, you're next. to that, Jim. >> Yeah, I was just going to say um that going back to when I was on the charter
commission, the the the council got the the the planning board and the ZBA because those were felt to be decision-m bodies that were particularly um people were particularly interested in having them accountable to the
representatives of the voters. Um, other committees are seen as more as as advisory to the town manager and uh helping the the staff get the work of the town done. And the um so they're
they're tasked with appointing, you know, committees with the expertise and functionality that will help them get the the the work of the town done. and then the council has the ability to um reject them if they don't like the ones
that are picked. But um it's a different it was seen as a different role that that we have staff and we have committees that are representing you know g giving advice to the staff from the public and then we have a couple of committees that were felt to be more of
a public um a public role and publicly interested and therefore those that's why the the ones that the council appoints were were given to the council otherwise they would have all been given to the manager in many cases. Jim.
>> Yeah. Hi. Um, first of all, um, thanks Pam for your nice little shout out, but really Angela is the one who puts in all the work and our committee doesn't do all that much. Um, we've had a number of conversations within our residence advisory committee over the years about
the public versus private aspect of candidates for these committees. And we also did a pretty significant survey back I don't know three or four even more years ago and a pretty strong ba strong um not consensus exactly but a
significant majority of candidates said they vastly preferred the anonymity of their applications and didn't want their candidacy to be public before they're put on a committee. And in fact, many said that they wouldn't have applied to
be on a committee if the application was public. They kind of wanted to keep it private until they were on the committee and then feel okay about being public once they're there. So, this is something we talked about a significant amount. Um, and our rack group brings it
up, you know, every year or so. Um, and you know, I know with the current group, we've discussed and all agree that we're happy with the way the process is in terms of the private nature of the candidates. Um, and this goes a little into it's interesting the concept of
having an hour-long session with all the candidates that we have grouped at once as opposed to the separate 15-minute interviews. And I can see some pros to that. Um, that also gets into a little bit of the preferred anonymous nature of
the candidates a little bit. And there's also a flaw in that it's never all the candidates for a board. It's just the two or three that we've sort of collected at that point in time. It's still something interesting to consider and probably I'll bring it up at the
next rack meeting just to talk about what we think the pros and cons of having grouped interviews like that would be. Um, I don't know if that would be more or less work for Angela that way. Probably different and hopefully not more, but that's something else to
consider there. That's all for now. >> Thank you, Jim. Angela, I'm going to go to you and then to Jennifer. Angela, >> so I wanted to go back to the outreach in terms of selections. Like ultimately, because of the way the home rule charter
is written, it is Paul's selection. It's not my selection. and I'm happy to reach out to candidates if that's something he wants to delegate to me. But um we always walk this fine line between being the town of Ammerst and the town of Ammerst that's also the city of Ammerst. And I think the outreach from the town
manager directly to the candidate walks that fine line. I will also say that many many times when people aren't selected, I make a follow-up phone call and say, "I noticed that you weren't selected. I think you might be a really strong candidate for this or I think you
might be a really great candidate for the next thing. Um, but then I also need to let you know that we have people apply for our boards and committees from all over the valley and all over the country. Like we when we put the shout out for reparations out there, we had
people from Washington DC apply. We had people from the state of Washington apply. And I have to go in and check the street address and make sure that it's Ammeris, Massachusetts. And I do that before I start putting together all of these interviews. So we also have people
who don't want to accept the charge of the group. So for example, not too long ago, we had a gentleman who wanted to join the board of assessors because he wanted to rewrite how we do property taxes in the town of Ammerst. And I had to explain to him that's really not what
the board of assessors does. And he didn't want to accept that. And we do interview everyone who applies. So, when it came down to the day of the interviews, the day before, I always send out a reminder. And he called me and he said, 'Well, how do you think it's going to
go? And I said, well, if you're really bent on changing our tax policies and our tax bylaws and the way that we tax properties, I'm going to tell you this will be a huge waste of your time. So, he ended up withdrawing from the invitation to interview. But we have
people who want to, you know, do your job as counselors and they think that they can do that through these volunteer boards and committees and I have to be the person to explain the charges and send the charges to everyone, >> Jennifer. Thank you.
>> I think Pam had her hand up first, so I'll come back. >> Uh, actually, no, but >> No. Okay. I mean, I've spoken. No, I just um I mean I've said this before. I think you know in response to Andy that the
the charter has TSO confirming the appointments. I mean that's that's very performative. You know I know when I've questioned it being on TSO before I've questioned an appointment and I'm told it's you know the town manager's decision and we don't
know who else has applied to know if we've gotten the best candidates. I mean, I I just I really do feel like um the role of TSO in effect is is a rubber stamp role. Um so, yeah, that's just and
I don't know what we do. I know people that have applied to multiple committees that are very active in town affairs that don't are never appointed and nobody knows that they've even applied. So, I just I think there's some flaws in the process and what I keep being told
is there's really nothing we can do about that, but I I feel like I need to keep raising um because I don't I I think in the you know, it's interesting to hear what Jim said that there was I hadn't realized that there was any
outreach to the community about making the calfs in any way public, but I there are is a definite concern in the community that the process is not very transparent and that some people feel
they will never be appointed to a committee because of the positions that they have or they're very outspoken. Um, so I think we should, you know, that's that and that's a p, you know, a perception that's very much I hear that
talked about a lot in the community and I'm not sure what you know I think well I shouldn't say what I think we can do something about it. I don't you know um know if there's the will to do that and I'm not trying to be critical of any individuals. I think it's just the pro I
think the process is um I I mean I know it it there will always be subjectivity but I my concern is the subjectivity makes it so it's not the government is not as open to you know all participants
all those in the community who would like to participate. >> Okay. Um councelor Lord has her hand up. She's not spoken yet. So, uh, Pam, if it's okay, I'd like to go to Councelor Lord and then to you,
Councelor Lord, please. >> Oh, thank you. Um, can you hear me? All right. >> It's a little We can hear you. It's a little loud, but go ahead and we'll >> Okay, I'm going to assume you can. Um, thank you, Jim, for mentioning that
part about some of the community wants it anonymous because I know there is a rejection sensitivity. So, if everybody knows you applied and they're excited for you and then you didn't get chosen, you know, just there's very a lot of reasons why people want it private. Um,
and so I I appreciate lifting that um part up and also to councelor Cobb's part. Jennifer, I do I um question why it's brought before TSO as well if it's just um why not just bring it all the
appointments to the whole council since that's where we make the official vote. Maybe this was to ask questions and vet confusion, but maybe it's better to do that in the whole council, not to add a whole bunch of work for us. But yeah, I just wanted to lift those two things up.
And um apologize that I'm going to be leaving early to perform at the Black History Celebration at the Ammer Survival Center. It's a great lunch. I invite people to come down and celebrate from 12 to 1. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you,
Pam. Please. Sure. Uh I wanted to hearken back to um it was one of the thing I think it was one of the things on uh it's a council topic but it was uh it was restructuring multi- multimember
body boards that are advisory to the town manager. And I wonder Paul if you can remind us it was and I I'm sorry I I was trying to look through the goals and and find it but um
what what is actually an advisory committee to you? It seems like almost almost everything is sort of an advisory to the town manager. Um can you differentiate between what is
actually advisory and what is not? Paul >> Paul, go ahead. >> Yeah. So, I think the so some committees have power that's given that that's given to it through a a bylaw or a state law. Um there are committees that um are
created by the council that advise the council that could advise the council I guess. Um and then the and it's bas our basic form of government. We have the legislature, which is what the town council has, and we have the executive, which is the town manager. In other
cities, it's the mayor. Um, so it's a similar kind of setup as most as all cities have. It's it's just some count some um cities have different size councils, things like that. Um, and in terms of it's it's just a matter of what their charge is, if they have actual
decision- making. So you just created a transportation and parking commission and you delegated some actual decision-m to that committee that you appointed that you're appointing and then there's some things that you didn't delegate. So they actually have some decision-m authority uh for certain things and you
prescribed what they can and you can take that away anytime you want. Um there are other things like planning board and zoning board that have law that have authority vested in it by state law. uh if it's committee doesn't have any actual decisionmaking authority then it's more advisory. So like the
recreation committee doesn't have a a it doesn't have authority to make decisions. It really works with the it's an advisory committee as much to the recreation director as more than me actually. I don't meet with them. They um so that's I think that's the differentiation between the two.
Actually, it occurred to me it was the charter. It was the charter review that Yes. suggest I I was trying to think where did that come from? But yeah, >> that and it talked about restructuring. I think it was restructuring advisory. Now I've got to go look that up. Um
maybe Andy, can you remind me what the the the suggestion was to review um maybe the structure of advisory committees. Sorry, I'm really sorry. I that was a really poorly formed
question. >> I think that um some of what we're doing today in a fits and starts is related to this. Um and we'll talk about it a little bit later. Um but um I have uh Andy, you've been asked a question. Uh
councelor Lord, I think your hand is a residual hand. Um but if it stays up, I will call on you in just a moment. Um Andy, please go ahead. >> Yeah. Uh in the in the charter review, we did hear a fair amount about just
people saying they didn't they didn't they felt like they were in limbo for a while for for kind of a long time. And so they didn't know whether they were or weren't appointed or they assumed they didn't they weren't appointed but they they hadn't heard and I don't know if that's been improved or
or if that's isolated experiences or what. Um and then as far as Pam's question there there was the there was um there were several suggestions around committees. One was that we that we look
at whether we have too many and uh another you know others were sort of around that things that we heard about um you know about that the kind of you know the the notification and the whether they should be public or you know or not
and so th those are in this the uh beyond the charter section of the of the review. um as as far as um you know people who apply multiple times and don't get appointed I you know I I I assume that when you're trying to staff
committees you're looking to make functional committees and I think there are there are roles for advocates in the community there are roles for committee members and there are roles for elected representatives and there are roles for staff and and there may be some some people who are better suited to be
advocates than than to be external advocates than to committee members in in some some cases that it that just may not be a functional committee with some people on it. I and I that if I were picking committees that's something that I would be considering. Um you know are you
going to have you know the chemistry that's going to make this thing functional or not. It's a tough it's a tough balance and you certainly don't want to shut out um you know uh viewpoints, but there
there's you know there there's different roles for advocates and committee members and elected representatives and and staff and sometimes people fit in better in one box than another. At least that's my personal opinion. >> Jennifer.
>> Yeah. Well, I would say one person's advocates, another person's expert. You know, that's very subjective. Um, but I also, uh, so I think Andy just I think that sort of captured that that
that's a real concern. Um, but I I also in terms of Pam's question about like I'm thinking of a a committee that has to exist because it's statemandated, it would be like the local historic district commission. Um, and Paul had mentioned like we have a historical commission and a local historic district
commission. They couldn't be merged. I mean, it seems the local historic district commission has to do what it has to do, which is different, right, from the historical commission. >> I think there's some questions uh if we get to it today, I don't know if we
will, that um I think we could get uh either we could do some work on or we get some clarity. Paul may have some clarity to offer in a second, but when we talk about the possibility of combining bodies, which I think is something we should look at. Um, you are right that there might be some that it can't be done, but we need to just get
some information. Um, but there's certainly I think some Angela has sketched out some possible places for coordination. Um, and I hope that that we will u take maybe not take it up fully today, but something I think we should talk about.
Paul, you have your hand up. Yes, thank you. So, so I think you're right about that. Maybe there are some merging of tasks. I mean, we do need a local historic district commission by bylaw. Uh, and that's a stat that's required by state law as well. But maybe
the functions of the historical commission can be allied. But then we would have to change the bylaw because the historical commission has a role for demolition. So, there are things that we could do. One of the one of the practical things we do is for a couple of the committees like cultural council and public art commission and local historic district and and historical
commission is Angelo sort of merges them together because some people don't know what they're applying for and they just like I'm I'm a history buff. I want to sign up for this and then we bring in both chairs of each committee and we all sit down, we all interview everybody and they sort of the chairs sort of divide up who they want on their committee. I
really we really trust the the chairs a lot in the process in terms of how they want to form their committee. We trust our chair chair process. Um and you know and I think that this goes for um what people you know I think Andy talked
about what kind of skill sets the chairs are looking for in their committees. So um but I think we try to interview them together and and they we sort of coach like do you like doing architecture? do you like doing you know this and and um you know some people do I give away
money like the cultural council or do you oversee art and people have come with different perspectives um but sometimes they can be persuaded oh we need more people on this committee than that so Angela does a good job at sort of merging everything together and organizing the chairs especially because they're usually busy people who are
chairing committees to be present as well >> so if I may I don't see hands up at the moment I'm sure that will change uh in any moment but that's quite all right. Um I would like us to come back to focus
for a few minutes more on the uh chance or opportunity we have to look at the sheer number of committees um the number of applicants required. So strategies that could be considered um would be
reducing the number of members uh in some of these bodies. Um, another is, as we've talked about a little bit already, consolidating committees where that might be feasible and maybe there may not be many options. Um, we certainly want to preserve bodies that that are
important to the community. Um, but there might be ways that we could do some consolidation. I think at the very least we should I would like us to consider reducing the number of members in certain bodies where you have nine or seven. Why couldn't that be five? Um, just I'm just thinking of the sheer
amount. I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm the only one at the beginning of the meeting who was just stunned by the sheer number of people that that Angel and Paul have to work with every single year. Um, and uh, you know, it's it's
basically falls, it seems to fall on their two shoulders. We used to have three CPOS, now we have one. Um, Angela's a trooper. She will take on any task you give her and she will she will carry it out. Um I think we'll never see the day where she will say to us this is
just too much. Um that can actually be a vice. Um I think um and so I don't know about anyone else. I may be alone in this, but I am uh concerned about this sheer demand and I think there's some practical things that could be done that
would not interfere um with uh the the service that these many bodies perform um but this committee could take on um over the next month or so uh just to have a robust discussion and maybe make some suggestions in the end. Um right and so some of it would involve charges.
We'd have to look at some charges etc. So any of the things we could do I think that would perhaps be helpful and the ultimate question to Paul and Angela is is this helpful? Because if it isn't we back away. Um the purpose here is I think uh in large part to try and and
assist them in in in getting some control over a process that seems at times just to be it takes away the time for them for job that they have to do as well. So they give great amount of time to it. They do it very well. Um I think the things we could do so reducing the number of members consolidating
committees if possible and then there are some bodies that should be sunsetted. Um and the question is at least four identified and how is that done and uh what's the process for that um are things that are on my mind right now um and I'd like us to talk about it
for a few minutes before we reach the one hour mark. Uh Andy and then Pam. Right. I think Angela had had her hand up too, but uh she might be pointing to the same thing that on her list of reappoint season 2026
at the bottom there's a se a bunch of bullet points under the heading possible combining of groups. So um she's she's giving us some suggestions there in that in that >> is correct. Yes. And that's where I would start. uh we won't do it today but
if the committee is open to this and if it seems appropriate that might be a place we could start in terms of focusing on consolidation. I think the other area where we could have a conversation uh and we could begin is looking at the number of committees in terms of membership what could be
reduced from 9 to 7 or from 7 to 5 um just to reduce the sheer amount of appointments and numbers of people involved. Pam You're muted, Pam. >> Since these are in fact um town manager
appointments, it makes sense in a way to have the town manager and staff make some recommendations on what they feel are um appropriate for consolidation.
It occurs to me that the number of people on the board I think that's I think that's a very good question. Um but is it the number of boards that actually drives the amount of work or is it the actual number you know is it two more people that you have
to call? Um I'm thinking in general of staff time that it takes to support all these committees and I see that there are a number of them that have multiple or dual um
um liaison. Dave Zomeck's name comes up in a bunch of bunch of places. Um I think that's reduction of staff support time and number of committees is
probably the driver and if and if staff and town manager want to make some recommendations perhaps on um those that those committees that should officially be listed as defunct. Um that would be
great. I don't know if that takes a vote of the the council to acknowledge that. Um, that's fine. And then it gets it off the books. Um, let's start to make that process clear. Thank you,
>> Jennifer. >> Um, yeah, I think if these are mostly committees that are to help the town manager and advisory to him that the town manager should be able to to sunset or recommend. And I guess that's my
question. Does it have to go before the council if you want to sunset them? Because they're really advisory to you. It seems like actually that wouldn't have to go to the council. >> Paul, >> it really depends how they were created. Um if they're created by bylaw, then definitely the council has to change the
bylaw. If they're created by um you know, it depends how they're c depends how they're created. You just have to look at it because then you have to rewind it however it was created. you have to go back the same path. >> Yeah. So are there >> I think I think >> pardon me I just and I think you know
yeah I think that that's enough for that. >> There are currently four inactive committees uh that I'm aware of. Um and the first is the agricultural commission. The second is the redevelopment authority. The third is the solar solar bylaw working group and
the fourth is the valley green energy working group. Now working groups are um have time limits and I assume both of the working groups have really exceeded that. So that may be a simple matter of simply removing it from the uh the list. Um I don't think that would be a diff
but at the moment they're on the list but they could easily be taken off. The redevelopment authority and agricultural commission would require some uh research. Um and that again is something that we could assist the manager in this. We certainly could ask uh him but again what does that mean? means
basically he or Angela is going to have to do this work. So now we get even more work to them. But um we do certainly need uh if we are going to be helpful, we're going to need uh their advice or their suggestions. Angela's given us actually if anyone read the materials. You'll see there's a list of suggested
consolidations and we could start with that. Um and if if we could be useful in this, we could begin to discuss whether we think these make sense, blah blah blah. Um so that already has been done uh uh from this the manager side of things. Um two solar two working groups
could easily I think without any problem be removed. Um and then it leaves the agricultural commission and the redevelopment authority and then it perhaps also then leaves any other suggestions that Paul or Angela might have for other committees they think we might consider sunsetting. I have a
feeling there probably won't be any or won't be many. Uh but at least two could be. uh we just have to figure out the process and two working groups could be eliminated. I think the larger question which I think we could be helpful with would be looking at I'm just looking at the list that I made up for myself about
the number of members on committees and the vast majority have nine or seven and that's I don't understand why uh unless it's required by by some kind of statute or or whatever um and that may be the case for one or two like transportation and parking does have a
large number of members but that's because of the charge fine but there are a whole host of of bodies here uh you know the council on aging um uh has nine uh the community safety uh social justice has seven the CPA committee has
nine again that may be a function of the charge um anyway I think there's a place where we could look to reduce the the number of uh members where it's appropriate where it makes sense and that's a discussion we could have if we're willing to put in the time and we certainly would look for recommendations from the manager on that all right so
that's I'm going to I was So, Jennifer, please your hand is up. >> Um, no, I was I don't want to take up time. I was actually just wondering if there were any committees that the town manager had just formed to help him that are totally within his
that was just curiosity. So, I don't want to take up any time with that. But no, I really I also just want to say to Angela that because Angela is such a wonderful person that you were really were wanted to maintain some of the committees and the size because it's
really fulfilling to the members that are on that. So, I just wanted to, you know, and so I >> well, I have to >> I would leave that up to Angela's judgment actually because that was, >> you know, if if that's something that
the town also provides to its residents to be involved and that they feel that they have purpose from that. Um, I thought that that was very sensitive to you to see that there was value in that alone to not make >> I think there is value in that. I don't
have a problem with that. But why why not seven instead of nine or why not f why not five? Um and the point is this is these numbers add up um in terms of just sheer amount of staff time and work. And I think one of the things that we should be considering in terms of we're the town services committee um
what is the burden we're putting on staff um for a basic service? It's an important service. I absolutely agree uh in terms of all the reasons you just gave. Um but but does that mean it has to be nine or seven? Um, I think we there's a a place here we could look carefully at some of these bodies and
perhaps have some some suggestions and thoughts and we certainly want to hear what the manager thinks and for many of them it would require rewriting the charge. It wouldn't be much but it would require that and that's again something that we could help with. So I I don't want to throw this all off onto the manager but obviously we do need his uh
you know input and advice. We've gotten as I said some from Angela already um which would allow us to proceed if we wish. So, I think one of the questions I'd like us to be thinking about in the final few minutes of this hour um is are there areas in the discussion we've had today where you feel that we could
continue to do some fruitful work on our end um while at the same time asking for um guidance or advice or suggestions um from the manager. Again, the the the goal here would be to try and I haven't heard a lot about process. We've had one issue uh again that you may want to make
some suggestions related to that but I my focus right now is just on the the the burden on staff um and the sheer amount of staff time and at least the the the chance we have to look at this holistically and see if there are things we could do uh to assist in that without
uh you know keeping people you know still preserving the idea of of of of lots of involvement and activity uh and fulfillment uh but something that would give our staff some chance to to attend to some of their other duties. Um, and
that's the thing I and as I said, we had three CPOs and now we have one. >> George, um, Angela's had her hand up for a few minutes. >> Okay, Angela, please go ahead. >> So, without any like honestly like I'm really lucky that I'm an extrovert and
that this job completely suits my ability to be out in the public and want to connect with people. I will say that we have two CPOS. I mean, I count Samantha as a really good partner in community outreach and she uh tables at events just alongside me and on her own
many many times and she's great at connecting with people as well. So, it's really enhanced my social life and it's a part of the job that I love. Um, and then the other thing I would say is and and take this with a grain of salt because I mean Council on Aging has nine people
because the demographic for Council on Aging is ages 55 to 105. So it's our second largest or third largest demographic in terms of population in Ammerst and the more voices we have at the table for that probably the better. Um, and I will also say when we when I
meet with residents advisory committee, Anastasia Ordonz, Jim Pistring, and Meg Gage, one of the things that always always always comes up for us is equity and inclusion. And it's also we look at these boards and committees as an entree to town government. So, we hope that
someday these people who serve on boards and committees are learning about process, are learning about Robert's rules of order. Not everybody has been part of student council, right? So, this is their way to kind of try it out, to not be in the public eye as much as the
town council is, to see if they like getting their feet wet. And then we hope that someday they'll run for council. Like, we hope that they'll say, "This is a town that's doing great things. This is a town that values my opinion. This is a town that is moving forward. And I
I have tried out the ropes and I feel comfortable now, and now I'll run for town council." So I think when we looked at changing the CIF, I think when we meet as the residents advisory committee, one of the thing we're always going back to is like, are we seeing new names? Are we seeing new people? Are we engaging with people who moved to town
recently? Are we um finding new voices to bring to the table? And are we providing opportunities for people to kind of without a super high stakes campaign with a campaign manager and a finance manager and lawn signs, are they are we getting people involved who will see value in becoming better residents
of the town of Ammerst. So that's kind of my spiel on I I see the need for reduction and I understand the need for reduction, but I think it needs to be carefully done. >> Well, I'm all for carefully doing it. Um, in fact, I try to do everything I do
very, very carefully. Um, and the question I think for you, Angela, and for Paul, and also, I know Sam has been here and she's been quiet, which is fine. I don't want to make anybody speak if they don't want to, but um, she's on the front lines, as you just mentioned as well. Um, but the question for staff
is whether um, some attempt uh, by this committee to take a holistic overall look. Um so you just given a good argument for instance where the council on aging perhaps should stay at 9. Um and but and should we do you think it
would be useful for us? Do you want us to take the time to do this? A secondly the committee needs to decide um to look at the at the various options for trying to uh reduce some of the burden on staff um and still maintain what I see is a
very robust and very positive process. The RAAC has been fantastic. Paul, Angela, Sam, you guys are doing a great job. Um, and maybe the answer is everything's hunky dory. You know, leave us alone. You know, we're fine. Um, and I look at the numbers. I think no, this
is not good. Um, and and so that's my initial response. I don't know what my committee thinks. Paul, would you go ahead, please? >> Yeah, I I think I think it's a good exercise no matter what. It's important for us to and it's part of the goals. So we will I mean we do have an advisory
committee for residents advisory committee who have highly experienced people who know the town well um who've been you know been involved in all aspects of the town who could give us really good insights into how these which committees can be larger smaller
no not larger smaller um or don't don't need to exist um so I think that that's we would probably draw on them if Jim's willing to sort of >> work through that and then come back to you with I mean I think I that counselors were asking for make some recommendations, give us something to respond to. And I think we can help do
that and give you a it's not a lot of work, but it's just some, you know, cleareyed thinking. And I think it it would benefit us, as you've all noted, that there is a it might it might make us more efficient. So, we're all open to all those things.
>> Okay. Um, so we've had a very uh I think robust and full discussion. We've been all over the place, which is fine. I wanted that to happen. I had uh just to hear what people are thinking. Um but we have, I think, heard three possible
strategies that um could be uh applied uh to just the the sheer number of of of people involved in this process. Reducing the number of members in uh boards and committees, consolidating some, and sunsetting some. And so what
I'm hearing from the committee and I'm open to hearing other thoughts is that we would like some guidance and suggestions from staff um we've already gotten some from Angela related to consolidation. Um certainly RAAC Jim they might have some thoughts about
where they think committees numbers could be reduced um if they think that's appropriate. Um and then we could take a look at that and discuss it and also maybe take a look at charges um where consolidation might be possible and then we've also raised the issue of sunsetting um and that too maybe some of
that could be done behind the scenes but there at least two bodies that um if we are interested in suns setting them would require some research. So, um, before we move on to the next item, I just want to sense from the committee that this is something that potentially
could be, uh, on the next or future agenda, um, depending on what we hear back from from town staff. Um, but I would, my focus would be on these three areas and what um, we could do in terms of assisting the manager um, and in
addressing this question of of just the sheer demand on staff time. Any other thoughts about that or anything else that you think from this discussion that you would like this committee to continue to focus on? >> Want to say thank you to Angela for her
impassioned speech because I think uh that the thought has occurred to me numerous times that in fact given that we no longer have 200 plus people participating in town meetings These
committees are really one of the few ways to get people involved in an official way in the town of Ammerst and its operations. So, um I'm not in a rush to cut the number of people. I am interested in in thinking about the
committees and the the functionality of some of the committees that could be that could relieve some pressure. Um but again, thank you Angela and Sam for
um really helping really helping encourage people to get involved and you know we all try to put it out there but you're the ones you know often talking to folks. So thanks >> Andy.
Yeah, I I appreciate the efforts of the um the RAAC as well. Um I've talked with Meg Gage some on um you know what that what that role is like and I think um it's a good it sounds like a a good group and um I'm sure their advice is
very helpful. Um and I um I guess I would just look at this as a a right sizing exercise given given the various uh you know interests of you know giving productive ways for residents to
be involved and um making sure that you know where residents and staff are being involved that it's actually serving a you know a useful and aligned purpose with the government. So um I think that's a good
I I support um that that task if the if the staff are willing to to take it on. I think it would be some clear thinking on this would be really helpful. Um, I see no other hands up. Is that Am I missing? Ah, Jennifer, please go ahead. >> Yeah. No, I just also wanted to um, you
know, again, thank Angela because I I've been copied on some correspondents that you're so responsive when residents when applicants to committees will call, you know, with follow-up questions or, you know, that you're
you you were very responsive and transparent. And that's I know that's really appreciated. And um yeah, I know setting up those committee the interviews is just hellacious for um for CRC. We just finally decided
and this is also for Andy when you're doing it this year um to just schedule the interviews during our regular regular meetings because it was impossible to schedule a find a different date for all the inter the applicants and the members of CRC. So, I
don't know how you do it, Angela, but thank you. >> Okay. Um, we are not too far off of my schedule for what it's worth. Um, so appreciate that. Um, I'm going to give Angela and uh Jim and Sam the
opportunity to uh quietly uh leave if they wish. They're certainly welcome to stay, but the next conversation is going to turn on our charge. um which is still waiting to be approved by the council. Um but I'd like the committee, we agreed last time that we would talk about it
and what uh role we see for TSO in the coming year. Um especially since transportation and parking have largely, if not exclusively, been taken off our plate. Um I wanted to have that discussion. I asked you all to take a look at the committee charge. Uh and I'm going to turn to that in just a moment.
But are we okay so far in terms of the uh uh the agenda? Um, I will be in contact. We'll talk about this at the end of the meeting as well, but I will be in further contact obviously with the manager and with staff to see what might be u appropriate for a future maybe even
a next meeting in terms of the issue we just been discussing because I do get a sense that there is interest in the committee in pursuing this but they are also looking for uh suggestions and guidance from from staff in order to proceed. Okay. All right, Angela, thank you very
much. Sam, thank you. Um Paul, if you want to stay, you're certainly welcome. Um but uh what we're going to do now is turn uh to the issue of our charge. Um and uh I'd like to talk a little like us
to talk a little bit about um what we see um as our role going forward. Uh Pam, you have your hand up. Yeah, I don't see the charge in our packet. >> Uh, it's in the previous packet, I think.
>> Well, >> sorry. You know, as you can see, there are a lot of things in the packet and uh but if you want, I can put it up uh on the screen uh if you'd like to read it. Um I have it pretty much memorized by now, but uh
let me see if I can >> Well, I'm actually going back to meeting packets 0205. Um, and this is via the document center, um, town of Ammerst, which is right now the only way I can get in. >> All right.
>> And there is nothing in the 2025 folder. >> Wow. Um, can anyone see the charge besides me on the screen? >> Yep. >> Is it taking up the whole screen or is your screen a big mess? >> That's okay.
>> Well, no, it's not. I mean, I've got some bunch of stuff there as you can imagine. Let me see if that does that make it any better. Is that visible to everybody in a clear way? >> If I squint. >> Uh, should you like it larger?
>> Okay, >> George, I just wanted to mention I'll be logging off. We have a budget hearing in a couple minutes. So, I'm going to get >> Okay, Paul, thank you. Thank you for letting us know. up. Sorry. I don't understand. In and out. Um,
all right. How's that? Is that any better? I'm not hearing anything. So, does that mean I I can't look and hear? >> That is better. Yeah. Appreciate. Human voice is helpful here. Waving hands. >> And are these um are the edits yours,
George? Ah, there's a problem with this. I'm sorry. Um, you know, this was done at go. It was it was approved by G. Um, I had originally presented to go a clean copy. I have no idea where that went. I'm not the chair of G. I'm not
responsible for what happens to stuff on G once we approve it. Um, so I just dug this out. So, the edits are what happened uh when TSO had the initial conversation uh before this body was uh inaugurated. Um, and essentially what it shows you is, and I will just take you
through it one more time. Um, what TSO uh recommended and what Joel approved is adding this phrase referred by the town council. The initial suggestion was to take this out completely because obviously TPC is now created and what job do we have to do here? The argument
was made and was accepted by the members of the committee at the time that we don't want to tie the hands of the council. it's possible that something could come along where they felt that this would be appropriate for TSO to take up even though it involves transportation and parking. Um, and so
we left it in with the with the proviso that referred by the town council. The assumption is that the vast majority if not all things related to to transportation and parking will be handled by uh T uh TS uh TPC but um so
that's the change here. We uh eventually decide to keep it in but add this phrase. Uh the other change was to remove advise and make recommendations to the town council regarding town council participation in community events. Um it was felt that we had never done that and
it was hard to see that we would be doing it and so that was removed but everything else was left the same. And of course the final uh bullet point here um recommendations to the town council and measures may include consultation with the town attorney was a change made to all uh of these charges not just the
TSO. So those are the changes. Um all I think I've described it accurately. I think you were there when we did it. Um and uh but I think no one else was. So it was the two of us uh who were involved. And then this went to go and go approved it and it will go before the
council on Monday and the assumption is that they will approve it. Um if they don't then I guess we'll go back to square one. But um based on this charge as it stands um the question is uh what are things? So let me just uh actually let me show you two things
under town services. It says review and make recommendations to the town council on measures that may affect the provision of services to the community by a town department. Okay. And the second thing I want to highlight is under outreach and
community relations. >> Um Jennifer raised your hand. >> I see your hand. Yes. Get to Jenn I'll get to Jennifer in just a moment. >> Um and the other item I'd like to highlight um is bullet point three under
outreach and community relations. review and make recommendations to the town council on issues and measures regarding the relationship between the town and Amoris institutions of higher education. So these are the two items that I
particularly stand out to me. Um I note that the first one under town services only says measures and that's concerning to me because of things I'd like to do. But anyway, Jennifer, go ahead. Um well first of all I say I agree with
you that the those stand out to me also as important for this committee. So I want to ask if we wanted to sort of I don't know if we want to walk through like how this plays out. So under town services the first one review and make recommendations on measures that may
affect the provision of services. So like the proposed waist hauler bylaw >> is in this committee. So as that moves along, so would we, this
committee would have um public forums or be involved in coordinating the outreach to the community to get feedback? And >> so how would you see that playing out? Uh I think that once the RFP is uh
issued, it would come back to this committee um uh for much further discussion and decision about what the actual um bylaw would look like. Someone has to create a bylaw or revise the bylaw and that would be this committee. Um and so it definitely would be coming
back to us um for discussion and we would have the first discussion would be based on what uh the uh consultants have given us. Does this seem like a viable? Is this something that we want to do? Does this make sense? Does it make sense from a whole host of reasons? I think there are a lot of questions that we had
that we need answered. Um, one of them is has to do with cost, a whole host of issues related to this this potential measure that we're looking for answers on. Um, we're also looking for uh, you know, a sense of how it would be structured. What are some of the, you know, what's what's going to be the best
practices? But it would come to us then to look at that and shape it into a bylaw that then would go back to the council for the council's review. >> Right. At what point would we do community outreach? >> I think that can happen um you know as soon as we have something actually concrete to share with the community.
Right now we have nothing to share with them. If they came to us, we wouldn't know what to say. Uh we don't know transfer station going to stay open. No idea how much it's going to first question people are going to ask is how much is it going to cost me? We have no idea. >> Right. Um right. But we but this committee would do the community outreach when it's appropriate.
>> It we certainly could do that. I think that would certainly be open to that. Um also we might do some uh councilwide public uh meetings. Um could given that this would be something that I think would be of general interest across the town. It might be somewhat controversial. In addition to our meetings through uh TSO uh there might
be a public meeting uh such as we had the one I think of is uh for East Gables, right? There was a huge public meeting that we had. Um so there are various various possible fora certainly this committee would be one of them for sure we would we'd sponsor them and we would
we would certainly be actively engaged in making sure they took place. >> Um if you could you scroll down to the outreach part of charge. >> Sure. Um so then just in terms of uh matters that broaden participation and ensure regular and transparent
communication outreach uh work with the communication participation officer. Um I'm wondering if I could share uh a section from the charter review report which talks about these issues and it might be a an area that we should be
addressing at some point. Please. >> Um, can I share what you're >> You want me to take this down? You want to put something up? Sure, I can stop sharing. I'll stop sharing, Andy. >> And why don't you You can share. I hope >> I just sent you a a request, I guess.
>> Ouch. Oh, for Oh, god. That means >> I need to be a co-host. Yeah. >> Okay. >> You should be able to share now. >> Thank you, Athena. So um are you seeing >> yes we are good >> beyond the charter improving emmeris government. Yep.
>> So this is the section after the 22 um specific things that we've been talking about in the council and there are two sections to it. One is structural changes which are sort of big things that you know could be talked about. But then there's public engagement issues and those include
making clear the various ways residents can participate in the town's governance and weigh in on government decisions. Um revisiting the practice of public comment and and you know how to make it less frustrating.
um clarifying the application process for boards and committees, education and information for the public on what it takes to run the town like the recent civic academy. Um greater level of detail and budget documents, improve the ability to find
information on the town website, uh notification of district meetings, and then you know uh robust comm community participation officer. So those all seem like things that um are relevant to
outreach and the kinds of discussions that we've started having here and I just want to uh you know at some point I guess we'll be discussing them with the full council but some of them might be things that we could uh that could be situated here and there was some those
came about through um you know public input that we got. So >> good. So what I'm hearing, Andy, is that this could be used to structure a future uh conversation discussion by this committee either with or without the
council's formal approval since it's something that um has already been is out in the public domain um in terms of concerns that residents have raised and certainly touch on what this committee deals with um in a very clear way. So we
could use some of this um to structure a conversation. Andy. >> Yeah. And as the as the council, you know, tries to figure out what to do with the rest of this report, some of this might be might be legitimately in in our in our bailick. So referred to
us. >> Okay. I'm looking at the second the second bullet which is work with community from the charge work with the community participation officers to engage the community. I you know having just heard
Angela's discussion about um the work that's involved in in committee organization. Um, I'm not sure, frankly, how much more this committee
can do or should do to somehow lean on the the community participation officer. This is this is kind of a a how to do it, not a what you want accomplished. It's it's almost a
directive rather than um it feels out of place. Let's just put it that way. In this in this lineup, >> it's like telling us how to how to do outreach rather than what we want accomplished.
>> Well, I guess the all I could say is the purpose or the goal here is engagement. Um it it that we're working with the CPOS. Um uh and here I would include Samantha Gifin. Um and one one thought I had was that um while today she was uh I
mean we could actually ask her to come formally and talk about I'd like to hear more about the civic academy. >> Um I just informational in terms of what the future for that is. Um what we as counselors or what we as a committee can do if anything the answer might be you know don't worry we got it covered but
is there a future for that? Um is it a matter of money time staff? Um but that is something and then we just want I think we did want to have a conversation about the website um and about how that functions and how you know issues people have with that and I thought that was
also an appropriate conversation that we could have. Um, so I was toying with the idea or I'm I'm I'm throwing out the idea of of inviting her at some point uh given Paul's permission to um have this discussion which would include um you
know the civic academy uh the town website and this whole idea of of what uh the town just forformational purp we learn more from this and then we also might have some suggestions. So, I would put that under that that bullet point, those kinds of conversations.
Um, but the key is engagement. Um, so we spent a few minutes already talking about outreach and community relations. Um well no one's talked about the university and and Emmeris College but according to this charge um it it is
very explicit uh that uh recommendations to town council on issues and measures. So there are a whole host of issues that we could all think of related to town gown and it would seem to me this is the town gown committee.
Uh but Paul may not like that or maybe the folks in the at Ammeris College or UMass but um according to the charge um if the committee is so inclined and it makes sense um this is a place where some of these conversations could be
had. Um the idea being it's an opportunity for us to hear from um uh the uh the gown side of town and for us to ask questions and etc. So, uh, I just throw that out there, um, as under outreach and community relations. And
that got a whole bunch of hands up. Interesting. Okay. It >> sure did. >> It sure did. >> So, so my response to that is it's great to see this charge. Um, this bullet under the charge. Um, I know that Paul
has been extremely explicit with me that I am not to go talk to people whom I know at the university about issues between Ammerst and UMass for instance. Um,
so to encourage this committee um to hold conversations I think would be great. It It goes without saying that it would certainly require Paul's buy in. I would
like to have the council hear from the chancellor of the university, hear from the president of the colleges annually. Here's what's happening. Here's how we're contributing to your community, etc., etc. Um, you know, is this the is
this the committee that makes a motion that we ask these people to attend a council meeting? I mean, we could certainly develop some motions. That would be great. >> Jennifer, >> um, yeah, I just want to echo Pam. I
totally agree with that. Um the president of Princeton meets with the Princeton City Council every year to discuss how they can work together. So um yeah whether we invite people to this committee or we but I that I would
say that is a priority that to address town how we can um we can make town gown and I would say council gown conversations
happen. I I would think if that's in our charge that would be a priority for this committee and you know I know we can't have subcommittees but um you know maybe we have a council meeting I mean an agenda for this committee that's
dedicated to that and we'd have to plan for it >> yeah I was on that topic I would assume assume maybe if as agreements are being negotiated we would get we would we would somehow be involved in
commenting on them. I I don't know how that how that would work. Um I assume they're confidential until they're finished. So >> yeah, they are they are they are. Yeah. >> Um but but then to review them when they're brought forward, maybe we have the first crack at it before it goes to
the council. I don't know. Um and then Um, yeah, I I think it would be great to hear from each of the each of the campuses. I think it'd be very interesting to hear from Hampshire what what they're looking at going forward.
Um, as well as obviously UMass and Ammerst. I think Amorest has I just, you know, some we might be the ones who organize and invite, but I would think the full council would want to hear from them. So, I would I wouldn't think we'd invite him to this
committee. So, >> yeah. >> All right. >> George, uh, >> yes, go ahead. >> You you um made a comment about the one, two, third bullet about issues and
measures. You know, maybe is the word issues and measures could also be applied to um the very first bullet which is review and make recommendations town council on issues and measures that may affect or issues and measures. I mean I
>> I agree with you and that's but and fortunately and Athena can weigh in here um if she wishes but it doesn't say that and um I was about to turn the conversation to some of the things that I've raised before on this body before the all of you were on it um and I'd
like to talk again but I do note that the charge uh as it relates to town services at the moment um it speaks only of measures um and um I could certainly use some in enment um from those who understand this sort of thing better
than I do. But that would seem to uh perhaps at least call into question some of the things that I have in mind. So, let me just throw out a few things. I've mentioned this before. Um you know, when we think about town services, um you know, think about senior services,
uh questions, you know, we might have about about what's being offered about uh you know, we have we have reports. We have the age and dementia friendly Amoris report. Um I have suggested that this might be the appropriate place again with Paul's permission to invite
the director of senior services for us to have a conversation about um the with the programs about the the report how that's being uh instituted um transportation silver shuttle um at blah blah blah. So that's one area recreation is a second. So there are these areas
that we have uh which are essential to our residents that involve basic services where it would seem this would be an appropriate place for this committee to um to talk to and learn from and to question uh department heads
about uh issues that we see and that was the other thing. So, we've talked about uh outreach and community relations. We talked about the university. Um this topic is one that I've also felt that we could be more proactive in. But the way
the charge is written gives me pause. But perhaps the first thing is whether anyone else on the committee besides me thinks that this is something that this committee should be uh at least exploring. Um services or recreation >> uh all all of the above Andy. So take
recreation. Um you know one of the issues that we've faced constantly is the maintenance and care of our fields. And so I have dreamed as others have in the past that there be a fieldar or there be some entity or some individual obviously some individual ideally who
would be responsible for overseeing the maintenance and care of all the fields. Um and that seems to just fall into a black hole. So what if this committee were to ask the wreck uh director to come and maybe other one or two other parties? Part of the problem is that there are multiple parties involved. You
have the schools, you have the recck department, you have DPW, uh right? And um so it seems to me this is really important issue. Um it's not a top button issue, but it's one that's persistent. So that's what I have
in mind with recreation inspection services, DPW. What do I hear from during after a storm constantly? Sidewalks, clearing sidewalks. Um, you know, enforcement of town bylaw 3.40. Um, that's just that's an item. Basic
service. You know, I can't I can't walk up Amity Street. Okay. Um, good. Athena, her hand is up. >> Hi. Thanks. I'm just curious um you know what type of recommendation the
committee would be making to the council in asking for this information and I mean the information would have to be requested through the town manager. The committee can't demand that uh town staff come and appear before it. So it would be a request through the town manager.
I'm I'm I'm curious what you're thinking the committee could recommend that the council could act on because a lot of what you're bringing up is the executive responsibility and this committee isn't tasked with overseeing the executive.
I think that that if I may respond first and then I hear from others um we're responding to um things we hear from our constituents about services
um and um we're the services committee and um so it seems there is a role for us however complicated it may be and it certainly has to be done with full respect for the manager's authority and prerogatives, but um we also have issues
that we uh our constituents raise with us that we would like to get clarity on and get and the council cannot handle that. >> Um Right. It's it's already got its hands full. >> So are you well that's subcommittees. Yeah. Right.
>> Are you suggesting that this committee be a venue for residents to come and raise concerns about town services? >> It certainly could be. I mean, given what's on the agenda, if people are free at 10:00 a.m. on a Thursday, um, and and sufficient notice is out there and it's
something they care about, um, and we, you know, they would certainly have the opportunity through public comment to come and speak. If we're talking about senior services, if we're talking about sidewalks, if we're talking about recreation fields, um, you know, we would certainly, uh, welcome their
input. We'd like to hear what they think. We'd like to hear uh maybe they would all come in and say the fields are doing great. There's no problem. Maybe they'd come in and say, "Look, we only get two snowstorms a year, so so you know, it's not a problem." Um that's not what I'm hearing, but um so yes, this
would be a venue for people to come and speak. Um and also an opportunity for us to get clarity. Uh we have an incredible town staff that does incredible work. Um, so it's not a place for us to to to put them under the microscope, but I
think it is, it seems to me this would be a committee where some of these conversations and uh could be could take place, including the ability immunity to to speak up if they wish, a chance for them to come and say, well, you know, we're going to be talking about this next uh next Thursday. And written comments are
perfectly welcome as well. people don't have to be here at 10:00 a.m. Um, we read those and treat them as seriously as as someone who comes at 10 a.m. So written comments gives us some sense of what people are thinking. Um, so yes, I think that's my sense. My belief would be or my thought would be that that the
chair would reach out to the manager and say this is a topic that the committee would like uh to explore further. It would involve the presence of a of a department head. Um, obviously you are in control of their schedule and you we're sensitive to the demands and their time, but this is something the
committee has agreed they'd like to learn more about and they have some questions about and um, you know, try to arrange something in that along that line like we're doing right now with uh um with boards and committees. Pam,
>> thank you. You that was such an extensive response. I'm I'm sure it covered my question. I was I was going to simply say to Athena that it feels that this committee
would be an appropriate sounding board for for issues with town services. Um we hear it in our districts as of course you do George. Um
but but knowing that there might be a committee that could call in a couple of groups if we raise if we raise a topic for a somewhat in-depth
conversation. I think that's certainly within the purview of this committee without without trying to overstep the the town manager's responsibilities
and um just thinking through I I hear and understand what you're saying about using the committee's time as a as a venue to get some feedback from residents about town services. What then could the committee do with it
with that feedback? So is the intent here to hear that feedback from committee member from community members and then make some recommendation for the council to act in a particular way. I I think that, you know, my
my um my thought here is that um it it can be frustrating for community members to come and speak on something to spend their valuable time coming to a meeting and speaking on an issue and then not having not being able to see that go
anywhere. And if community members come to the committee and speak on an issue that they're having a problem with in town and then the committee doesn't have any or the council doesn't have any authority to do anything about that, that can feel very frustrating to community members and we've heard that
in the past. So, for example, George, your idea of a a field maintenance zar, >> um the council can't establish that position. Um, of course. >> So, so would would something like that
be a recommendation to put it in the budget guidelines for the finance committee or the council to put it in the budget guidelines that you want to establish a committee or a a position like that? I mean, a lot of those, you know, that type of decision is is the
town manager. So, I'm just I'm trying to think through, you know, the next steps of creating a forum like this so that members of the community who have concerns not only feel heard, but feel that their concerns and and
their issues are being addressed. Um because if there's nothing the committee can or the council can do with it, then >> Yeah, Pam. Um well it feel that feels a little awkward to me that that of of course we could
make a recommendation that X and Y be considered uh in the development of you know staffing or X or Y be considered um given what we've heard from uh the
community as being an issue of of of note otherwise is people are are have are are forced to write a note to the town manager, write a note to their to their district um reps.
You know, they there there is no point of of contact really if I'm sort of making this as a parallel with the transportation committee. That was a huge thing to actually have a point of contact for raising
traffic and sidewalk and traffic safety issues and give and give folks a a place to come with their concerns. What action this committee might take could be in in various forms. It could
it could be a it could be something that finally gets incorporated into a a town manager goal. It could be uh a recommendation to create a bylaw. I mean, I'm going far field here, but um
>> yeah, why why would we not take on that responsibility if if this is the venue for town services, right, >> Randy? Yeah, I I I kind of feel like um you
know a legislative body has an oversight responsibility in some ways even if we can't I mean we can certainly set you know establish bylaws but we can also provide a a place for people to be heard and for people and for um you know
periodic not exhaustive not intrusive but but periodic um you know, checking in on what are we hearing from the public and and even if it's just that here's what we're hearing from the public and giving people a venue for for
submitting to that that to us about whether it's senior citizens or whether it's you know recreation or whatever. um you know it might not rise to a level of um
you know of a particular legislation but it it gives people a vehicle for feeling like they're being heard and and if there's enough people you know make saying the same things and that that identifies an issue that that either
staff or the legislative body needs to address. So, um, you know, I I I understand there would might be some concerns about staff time being, you know, we're going to have the DPW guy in here again talking about stuff and then you don't have anything to do about it. So, don't waste their
time. But I, you know, giving people a chance to be heard about the services they're receiving, I think is, you know, in a targeted way, I think it's a useful role. Jennifer Yeah, just to, you know, add um I I
agree with everything that Pam uh Pam and Andy have said, but we've um you know, I think in the last council session, we did discuss, you know, what is this? We have outreach in our in the title of this committee and what are we really doing for outreach? We wait for people
to come to us. you know, I'm trying thinking of uh like the roundabouts on Heatherstone, but what are we doing to actually reach out and in invite input? So, I think that's what we're, you know, this is what this conversation's about. We don't want to we don't want to
overstep, you know, go out of our lane, but we are the town services and outreach. So, and we have not really, I don't think, proactively done the outreach part of this that in this committee.
>> So, we're getting near uh the uh 12:00 magic time and um we've had I think uh beginnings of a good conversation. Um what I'm hearing from my colleagues, if I may summarize, um is that um there's
an importance in terms of the the citizens being heard. I think there's also a place for us and for the citizens and for the town staff to be educated. We can learn a lot from hearing staff about what they're doing and also the challenges they face and they can learn
a fair amount from hearing from us uh from terms of our constituents and their concerns. And then we I think we do have a place where we could then make recommendations or at least report back to the council and the other um what is it eight can't do math with 13 the other
eight counselors um would be educated a little bit about some of the issues we're hearing and some of the challenges. So I think there's a lot that can be done here. Um I need some guidance in the last few minutes as to where you want to go as a
committee. Um, I'm hearing some interest in pursuing the communication side of things. Um, in more detail, um, I'm also interested in whether you want um, so uh, I've mentioned senior services, I've
mentioned recreation, I've mentioned sidewalks. Um, there are other issues that could be raised. Um, are there areas there that you think we should we should be looking at? So, u quickly, but, uh, let's try to go through this. Start with Pam, then Andy,
then Jennifer. >> I think the three that you just mentioned are good starting points. I was going to talk about future agenda items and and just general comments. So, >> let's go to that. Let's go to that actually. Yeah. And then people can
they'll say what they want to say >> both ways. So uh a suggestion in the agenda is that for number three in instead of jumping right into you know the the the meat of of the meeting is that maybe uh item three become sort of
a standing slot for any appointment discussions because that was not on the agenda and yet we talked about it in the meeting. So theoretically we shouldn't have talked about it. Um, >> just a correction, Pam. Um, I'm afraid you probably saw a draft of the agenda.
>> Whatever. I'm just making a comment. >> No, no, it's Yeah, but in fact, it was on the official agenda, but yeah. >> Okay. The second the second item is just to make sure that our meeting calendar says that all meetings begin at 10:00 a.m. And I I'm sure that was corrected, but I haven't seen the corrected version
yet instead of 100 p.m. So those are just >> Yeah, that raises a very very good point if you don't mind. Um I don't know where the revive I thought we made changes to the calendar last time. >> I'll send out the final calendar that you voted.
>> Okay, thank you. But I did I do believe we did make some changes and um uh so we'll get a a revised calendar and that will be sent to everybody and also will be on the website. Thank you Athena. Um Andy >> um I'm wondering if sidewalks would be
more more in the bailick of the the new committee that was just created. So, I'm not sure we need to take that up, but um >> you know, I think it would be worthwhile identifying, you know, a set of services that we'd like that we would invite public input on via written or
participation and we could sort of um think about how to schedule those. Um, and then the other piece again I think is the the sort of communication outreach pieces of
the charter um review report. Some of those are are pretty u meaty I think and and some of them are are already happening. I know there's work being done on the website, so it'd be good to, you know, I don't know that we need to get deeply involved into into it, but it'd be good to hear,
you know, what what's happening and and and you know, anyway, so we may just need to wait for the council to delegate some of those to us, but I think some of them would rightly come to us. So, >> okay,
Jennifer. >> Yeah. I um don't want to lose the town gown uh conversation that we started to have. >> Important. As far as future agenda items, that's something that definitely um I'm
intrigued by taking what Andy has given to us and shown pointed to us to and maybe shaping that into a item for the next agenda broadly speaking and inviting Sam to come and speak about uh the website. again assuming that that Paul is willing and that it fits her
schedule that we could talk about communications website um and fold that into the larger discussion of what's in the charter uh as part of our conversation about outreach um and I would like us to um again come back to
the question of uh trying to address the large number of appointments um and I would reach out to the manager and to Angela and see if I can get some recommendations. And I would put that as an agenda item as well, assuming that I get uh input from them. That's
sufficient. Um, and anything else that people have? Pam, you have your hand up, please. >> As far as future agenda, >> no. Did you have something for other you want? Go ahead, please speak to that. >> Um, yeah, I just was trying to double
check. Um, if Athena is our is our um, what do you call it? Our liaison. Are you the staff liaison for this committee since I'm new to this committee? >> No, Paul is. >> Oh, okay. Okay. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> I'm going to skip the minutes because
they they were only presented at the last minute and I think we'll leave them for the next meeting. Um, the one issue that I did have concern about has already been raised related to the uh the calendar. Um, >> and but I think I'm going to wait on
that. It's uh 12:01 and so I'm going to hold that off to the next meeting if that's all right. I don't know if anyone had a chance to look at them. I glanced at them briefly, but I haven't really looked at them. So um so I will reach out to uh Councelor Lord and uh work
with her to shape shape an agenda for next time. I'll send you all a draft. Um but what I'm hearing at the moment is continuing to pursue the conversation we had earlier related to um boards and committees um shaping something related
to the charter recommendations for outreach and seeing if we could get uh Sam Samantha Gifin to come and talk about the website and uh those are the two that are standing out in my mind. Pam,
>> one one last item. Um, in terms of the meeting minutes, it's wonderful that we have them. Uh, Athena, is there some way that we could have uh like we do with CRC, just a a space on here somewhere that says that they were approved on a particular date? It's about the only way
that it can be tracked. >> Sure. >> Thank you. Just sort of standard operating procedure. Thank you. >> All right. I have no items not anticipated. Um, and uh, I have at least some sense of where you'd like to go
next time. Um, feel free to reach out if you have further thoughts about what should be on the agenda, but I will be getting you a draft of that soon. I'm going to be writing a report for this meeting uh, as soon as we get off the uh, the meeting. U,
>> George, George, your extensive um, report for town council was more like meeting minutes. It's like we should just adopt your your >> uh, I Yeah, I don't know how to find the balance. I know. I don't know how to find the balance. Maybe Athena and I will have a conversation. We're going to have a meeting of boards and and excuse
me, of chairs and vice chairs. Yeah. >> Coming up soon, and that conversation will certainly um >> because I certainly am not going to put that kind of a memo together for town council every time we have a CRC meeting. >> No, that's just not not going to happen. >> That's all right. It's not >> You set a high bar.
>> I can't help myself. And if nobody reads it, then that's the other problem. So that's, you know, um okay. So that's where we're at. I'm going to um seek a motion to adjurnn. >> I move we adjourn the meeting at >> Is there a second? >> 12:03.
>> Second. >> All right. So we have a motion to adjourn. It's been seconded. Um Pam, >> yes. >> Jennifer, >> yes. >> Andy, >> yes. >> Uh the chair is an I and Councelor Lord,
as she said, has uh is no longer with us. So, the vote is 40 with one absent. Um, thank you all very much and uh I'll see you all on Monday. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Bye. >> Bye. >> Bye.