we are recording thank you uh good evening it is April 29th 20224 this is a special meeting of the Town Council though to clarify it's actually a regular meeting but the only reason we called it as a special is it's the third meeting this week this month the open meeting a law allows us to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the council physically present at a meeting location while providing the public with adequate alternative access to the meeting this meeting is accessible in real time by Zoom by phone and ammer media uh live stream on YouTube channel it is not however being broadcast by am media because they are broadcasting the school uh committee meeting where they're selecting a superintendent given that we have a quorum of the council present I'm calling the April 20 9 2024 regular or town special Town council meeting to order at 6:31 I'll call upon each councelor by name to make sure that they can hear us and we can hear them uh Patti Angeles presid H Devin Gotham present councelor ET present Lynn grimer is present councelor hanii present uh Bob hegner is absent councelor Lord present Cameron here councelor Ryan present Kathy Shane I'm here Andy Steinberg present Jennifer to present Alicia Walker is not here yet please keep an eye out for Alicia I'm checking okay got it all right um very briefly uh we have two regular Council meetings scheduled in May May 6th and May 20th um although the budget will re be released on May 1st uh the for first formal presentation of that budget will not be until May 6th there will also be a public hearing on the fy2 budget at a time yet to be determined um please note that the um fin committee will begin starting on May 3rd I'm sorry starting on yes on May 3rd will begin meeting at 2 o'clock on Tuesdays and 1:00 on Fridays during the month of May um and I also want to mention that town services and Outreach uh committee will be doing a special meeting uh for a listening session with regard to Heatherstone Road on Monday May 13th at 6:30 it will be virtual uh there's two events coming up in the immediate near future and many more in the month of May and June uh we are doing a ribbon cutting at the North amris library on May 2nd and at at 3:30 and we are doing the Jewish American Heritage Proclamation reading on May 7th at uh 4:30 at sweetzer Park uh we have no hearing tonight with that we're going to move to General Public comment pardon me Lynn we're just having a problem with the YouTube stream can we pause for just a moment please thank you this should just take a minute do you want me to start the meeting over again no if we could just pause for a moment while they sort that out so that we're Live on YouTube okay e e for those of you on zoom we're paused because we're waiting for the ammer media live stream to kick in e just testing for ammer media can you hear us e audio check for amoris media can you hear us all right thank you for your patient everyone patience everyone we're good to go thank you um I just okay we've already called the meeting to order uh I do want to mention that there is one change in the original agenda as posted although it has been corrected and that is uh we will not be hearing uh or having a discussion tonight about the acceptance of roads in ammer Hills as a public way we hope to postpone we are postponing that we hope to bring it back by May 6th uh with that we're moving to public comment if you're in the town room and you wish to speak please make sure you have signed up with Athena if you are in the audience and wish to speak please raise your hand at this time for the zoom audience Athena how many people have signed up we have four in the room okay and at this point we have three online let's begin within the room am let me just start by saying a few things okay um public comments are a matter within the jurisdiction of the Town Council residents are welcome to express their views for up to three minutes uh the council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during general public comment public comments are not reflective of the opinions of the Town Council the First Amendment broadly protects individuals rights to address the government to speak and to express themselves including their right to say hateful and offensive things I am generally unable to shut those commenters down under the First Amendment to the US Constitution unless their level of speech Falls within an ex exception articulated by the courts such as fighting words true threats to a particular individual harassment of a particular individual or incitement of imminent Lawless activities if a question exists as to whether a particular speaker is engaging in unprotected speech I must refer to the principles of the freedom of speech we'll recognize spe speakers in the order in which they signed up rotating between inperson and zoom so the first person Athena Amy zerman please come up you'll have three minutes to make your comment please state your name and where you live first and um we'll make an announcement that you're recording right me only hi Amy zerman 50 years ago I came to this town to cover the news the MS record as a 20-year-old I have something to tell you that's of utmost importance involves the US to massachus PR suprem Court excuse me ruling Comm versus AZ this going to be the law of the state right now I have very important and Urgent news for any criminal defendants a lawyers criminal defendants relative or friends of any defendant awaiting trial was on personal recognizance on January 25 the Massachusetts Supreme Court Judicial Court ruled that under commonweal versus AZ no judge can ever toss a criminal defendant into a Massachusetts site board for evaluation to stand trial this is unconstitutional as of that date outpatient evaluation is a new default position that all Massachusetts judges must obey only if all if all avenues for our patient excuse me if all avenues for patient evaluations are exhausted can a judge toss him into a cyboard involuntarily and I can said those places worse in prisons because patients are forced to take psych meds no matter how talks to get released who in this town gets arrested and may have to be evaluate to stand trial I know a few people there are 30,000 students St at faculty you mass ammer m College about 30,000 of them may get arrested and have to stand trial who else can be arrested and be forced into hospitalization every one of you who's no longer a minor everyone who's no longer a minor many of you know me and thought that I was put in prison on a trump terrorism charge that I flipped my lid that was 2018 it was the North County DA and prosecutors and the get at newspapers who cooked up this case and covered up who flipped their lid these are not newspapers in this town and area as you likely suspect I'm the real AZ I'm the woman who came here 50 years ago in September to learn to be a journalist I'm the SEC I'm also the second Bell of am the bell of ERS more that another time email me at Valleywood 200 2 if you want to help me Valleywood 2012 at gmail bless main this town and the ammer police for keep me going through six horrible years and thank you to the SJC redeeming my good name they the police and Amber had to arrest me did not want to arrest me they kept me going people held me but the Amis Library had was forced to give me no press test Jones they were sended it Amis Cinema was forced to give me no press P but people gave them money has not recited it I will not be free until the truth is known I can use my name from C to shining sea starting right here in this town and I'm sorry I'm horse thank you for your comments yeah Amy z uh Tony Cunningham please enter the room state your name and generally where you live hi uh Tony Cunningham District 1 in September 2022 the Town Council voted 8 to5 to allow the Jones Library project to continue until construction bids were received I understood the urge to give the project every chance and see it through to this point that was a $2 million bet that construction costs would stabilize and donations to the project would flood in we now know that bet has not paid off on Friday only one bid was received and it's more than $7 million above the most recent estimate this brings the total project cost for the Jones library now to a whopping $54.5 million when the council approved additional borrowing for the project last December it was with the commitment that the library would repay the town according to a prescribed schedule one would expect the first installment to be the easiest but even at this point three months after it was due we are still waiting for the library to pay the town $850,000 the library project has received the benefit of the doubt at every hurdle it has been allowed to go on even when all signs indicated it was no longer viable as councelor Steinberg said back in 2022 if the project doesn't succeed it won't be for lack of trying you now have two key points to guide decision- making the construction bid is many millions above even the stretch budget and the library was unable to make even its first schedule payment to the town I trust that this body will accept reality at this point as difficult as it may be it is time to let the ambitious expansion plan go and pivot to plan B thank you thank you for your comments back to the room Maria Kiki thank you Maria kapiki South ammer before this body voted to authorized $46 million of borrowing for the library project last fall you held a lot of meetings and said a lot of things you drew up a cash flow analysis assumed the best case scenario provided almost no protection for the town if that failed to materialize and then simply waited for 6 months but a lot has been going on since then none of it good the construction bid deadline set originally for February 28th has been delayed three times to April 16 then April 23 and then April 26 effectively pushing any potential construction start date out by at least two months there have been two dozen addenda made to construction documents several after the subcontractor bids were received and including multiple sections that were replaced in their entirety potential biders have thus far submitted 100 requests for information about these documents the Jones Library building committee has not met once during all of this but the lack of public meetings and committee votes to approve invoices didn't stop the town from paying over $300,000 of services during this time including what appears to be amounts and excessive contracts meanwhile the library has failed to meet its first promised payment to the town less than $250,000 of the 2 million it said it would by January 31st was received on time and nearly $1 million remains in AAR 3 months later on Friday the bid deadline finally arrived and only a single company responded with a construction bid that is more than $7 million higher than what was sought in the bidding documents this is no longer the $35 million project you authorized borrowing for in 2021 it's not the value engineered $46 million project you authorized borrowing for in December it is now an approximately $55 million project if it stays within contingencies with no evidence that the promised payments will materialize it's time to read the writing on the wall thank you thank you for your comments Ken Rosenthal please enter the room state your name and where you live thank you I'm Ken Rosenthal I live at 53 Sunset Avenue I want to Echo and but not repeat the comments you've just heard and give you a little bit of reassurance you have been told in the past that if you do not continue with the plans for a major renovation of the library the one that we know now know the town cannot afford that the donors who have pledged their contributions to the library will not support anything else I have had many years of experience in nonprofit management including the chief executive of an organization that had many buildings and was involved in many construction project projects they often came in at prices that initially we could not afford we would have to make changes and some of them were Radical changes but I can tell you this about donors donors give to an entity that they believe in the library not the project specifically but the library and when you decide that you're going to make the changes that are necessary to have a renovated rather than reconstructed Library I assure you that you will find those donors willing to contribute to and when this is a realistic project one that the town can afford and moves forward on there will be additional donors also you've been told by the fundraising arm of the library that donors will not support anything but what they have already seen that's not so and I just want to give you that kind of reassurance I also want to ask again uh the council and leadership in town hall to please make the these meetings available please make it possible for us to see who else are attending these meetings on Zoom I attend many meetings on Zoom with pre-registration that protects them because they know who is being uh present and who might might want to speak Zoom uh interference does not usually happen we can do this in town I attended a meeting just before this one of the local his uh historic district commission and did not realize when I made my first comment that there were 19 other people who were present and willing to speak I would have altered what I said then just as I would alter what I say now if I knew that there were others who were going to speak after me who might cover the same business so please take another look at how you can make these meetings that are on Zoom accessible to the public so that we can all see who is in attendance I assure you you will not find that inconvenience to yourselves if you do it right and thank you for listening to me thank you for your comments back to the room Vin o Conor Vince o Conor 175 Summer Street it time to pull the plug on the library project most importantly because the project that was bid on on by one bidder last Friday is not the project that was submitted to the voters two three years ago additionally it is also time to put the the public works and fire EMT needs where they should have been in the first place please do not drag out and put this put the community through an extended investigation of just how uh decisions were made and money was spent while the building committee registered no meetings since January this is the time to put this thing to rest to make sure and and and I'll say I worked in the South for two years um 1965 to 67 one of the things I learned from both being there and reading about what went on is that when you make difficult decisions after due consideration you must do them completely in other words pay through 12 desegregation not year by year do not drag this out this is not a time for desperate measures but a time for Town sound decision-making complete send it back those who don't want to stay on to do um a a different project Plan B I welcome their service and go forward additionally I have read in the papers about the fact that somehow the regional school budget will end up in the town manager's budget I have a copy of the fy22 proposed budget I look through it very thoroughly there is one reference to the ammer uh pum Regional School District parenthesize afterwards assessment and that reference is one of four under operating budget Town Elementary Schools am and then Jones Library I I I hope that the manager budget that's submitted on May 1st will contain a similarly um simple reference to the amoris pelum Regional Schools the the amount of the assessment you need to wrap up thank you robertt Pam please enter the room state your name and where you live you need to unmute thank you okay I'm Robert Pam 229 EMD Street um I'm speaking for myself and only myself the contractor bid for the library is over $6 million higher than the estimates I believe the town manager will now reject the bid and end this project I thought that raising the funds for a $46 million project was very challenging but worth proceeding based upon the results through mid 2023 the cost now from my perspective end this project so I now focus on where this leaves Library when the town agreed to proceed up to bidding the project we signed an agree an amendment to the memorandum of of agreement which provides that in the event that the project ends here the town and Library will address the Urgent repairs to the building uh including but not limited to its roof and HVAC system the town will proceed with the design construction plan and bidding and the library will contribute $1.8 million toward the building repairs within three years of the town's decision to stop the larger project so we must now proceed down a path B we will have a number of advantages years of working out how a better HVAC system can function and preliminary work by Town facility staff months of Library work on clearing out unneeded materials work should be possible on a comparatively expeditious and smooth basis I am speaking with a particular Focus as Treasurer I have always concerned myself with Library finances I have just two requests not to the council but to those who are listening and those to whom you speak first I hope that those who have supported the project will consider allowing the funds to remain with the library to help us cover the upcoming repair costs second those who appreciate the library whether they have supported the pro project or not support our annual fund which finances all of our programs operations and materials each year with or without the Expansion Project the library offers critical services to anyone who wants them please continue to support our ongoing functions thank you thank you for your comments is there anybody else in the room that concludes public comment we're going to move on to the consent agenda and I just want to remind people that while we may include an item and vote on it on the consent agenda if you would like to have further discussion about that item you can do so at the time it appears on the agenda however you can also remove an item from the agenda the following items were selected because they were considered to be routine and it was reasonable to expect they would pass with no controversy to remove an item from the consent agenda for a discussion later in the meeting ask that it be removed when the when I list the consent agenda items the request to remove an item from the consent agenda does not require a second so the motion is as follows to move the following items in the printed motions there under and approve those items as a single unit 6A adoption of the Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Proclamation 8A referral withdrawal of the regional school budget uh from finance committee 8D approval of proposed changes to the public way on belter toown road 8e adoption of surplus Property Disposition policy 8f referral of supplemental appropriation requests for fire engine shortfall to finance committee are there any requests for people to have things removed from the consent agenda Kathy I'd like to remove the belter Town Road thank you are there any other requests okay then I'm seeking a second to the motion as amended by the removal of the public way on belur Town Road second doublin goth here thank you any further discussion or questions seeing none we'll move to a vote Anna Devin gothier I councelor ET I Lyn grimer is and I councelor hanii hi Bob hegner is absent I'm sorry uh councelor Lord I Pam roone yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jennifer to yes Alicia Walker is absent Pat I'm sorry Patti Angelus hi councelor Lord um I noticed that um councelor Walker is in the attendees is she's in the attendees thank you for pointing that out she's asked to she's asked to remain there thank you um so the uh motion passes 11 in favor and two absent uh with that I'm going to ask Pam Rooney this one of the sponsors of the Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month proclamation to read the last part thank you the proclamation reads now therefore we the Amis toown council do hereby proclaim the month of May as Asian-American and Pacific Islander heritage month we urge all residents of ammer to learn more about the history of asian-americans and Pacific Islanders in our community and nation and to commit to working toward a more Equitable and inclusive amorist for all we encourage we further encourage aapi organizations and all community members to celebrate with us for the fourth annual Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration on May 19 2024 starting at 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the ammer town common with a rain location of the amris Middle School 170 Chestnut Street thank you uh with that we're moving to agenda agenda item under actions 8 C the motion is to approve the amoris college request to place wayfinding signage on the town common at the corner of College Street and second and South Pleasant Street is there a second second Rooney thank you uh with that I'm going to ask um Andy Steinberg from the town service and Outreach committee to speak to this motion yes the uh service committee um approached this and it's reported in your April 8th meeting TSO committee report and the recommendation that was made after um substantial discussion that included uh part public work members was to make the recommendation I think the major concerned in the last discussion was about the questions of whether the sign would um interfere with Sidelines or otherwise safety traffic um supported by all of the information received it's reported in that committee report that I referenced is that the answer is that will not on any of the sidelines that we're there um basically we concluded that U it given um the relationship the historic relationship between emmer college and the town this was the appropriate um step to recommend and so that recommendation was made by the committee thank you councelor hanii thank you um first I'm going to make a disclosure and then I have some questions so my husband is employed by ammer college but that is in no way affecting my ability to make a decision on this in a um neutral manner um so I have a couple of questions about the motion itself and the language of the motion concerns me um the first one is it appears that the language in the motion does not limit what the sign is what it looks like or the size is that the case it just says to place wayf finding signage on the town common at the corner but it doesn't say anything about meeting X plan or anything like that and that concerns me um the second question related to the motion is it has no time limit on it if we pass this motion as is does this mean that that sign is allowed in perpetuity without ever coming back to the council for any potential extension or anything like that would we be able to withdraw any sign placement at any point in time with another motion how legally does that work given the language of this motion um my other question doesn't really relate to the language of the motion but this is the town common and there are public speech and Free Speech things we've dealt with with regard to flags and stuff like that if we pass this motion to allow this sign for what could be considered private speech on the pound common does that affect any of our abilities in the future to say yes or no to other requests for permanent signs on the town common with respect to free speech grounds question uh thank you first of all um let me go back to I we we certainly can amend the motion um and we can do that tonight or we can bring it back uh are there uh either Paul or Andy or um Andy Paul or Athena do you want to speak to that any of those questions well the the council could certainly put time restrictions on it in terms of how long you want to have the authorization last it can be forever or you can say within a week a day a year a decade whatever you choose um it would be that's a dis it's a this a discretionary action by the Town Council um in terms of the Free Speech I don't know the answer to that question we um if that if this puts us in Peril for anything else but free speech is free speech on the town comment it doesn't but I think what your question is is would a another entity before would the council be discriminating of another entity said I'd like to put a permanent sign on the council um on the town common um I think you it's a purely discretionary action by the by the council but I do not know the legal analysis of that I this question came up and I spoke with Dave about it and I think what you're referring to is equal access um and my understanding from that conversation was that there's a precedent with our relationship with ammer college and so that that would have set this situation apart from anybody asking for a similar situation is there a way that you would like to amend the motion Mandy I I also had a question about the limits to the type of sign given the motion just says way finding signage we can I can I can add language that references the schematic that we received from mamers college so the the size I can put this up we can add the size of the sign listed here okay does that document have a title because I I can make the motion to amend I just need a title of the doc I totally hear you ammer way finding request for permanent use of public way dated January 5 20124 so if it's acceptable to you I would just add as shown in the am in the document titled amest way finding request for permanent use of public way dated January 5th 2024 is that acceptable I would like to make a motion okay um and I would like that motion to be up on the screen with what with the additions to it yes so I guess my motion would be to amend to add the phrase um in accordance with the schematic in the document titled ammer way finding and whatever Athena just said um and for 20 years okay um Athena do you want to put the Motions up and show the amendment and I'll seek a second a second that doublin goth here is there a second I I Anna seconded thank you so while we're doing that um unless you object me and uh councelor Hanah I'm going to go on to Anna Devin goth here anna uh quick one I also have a disclosure I am employed by armmer college but that does not cloud my judgment nor my ability to be impartial in this uh decision is there anything else nope okay thank you uh councelor Ryan so I don't know if anybody was downtown today but um The ammer College Bookstore always opened and uh I just would like you all to be aware of that I think it reflects the fact that uh the college is conscious of its relationship with the town um they didn't have to put the bookstore there um in time for graduation in time for reunions um everyone who wants any merch uh related to Amis College will need to come uh to that store and at the same time we'll be then hopefully drawn to our shops and restaurants and to hopefully soon our newly um recreated South Common um the college has a long and stored history and its relationship to this town is a very deep one I think it's very clear that they see it as an important relationship we're currently in negotiation with the college um for a more permanent lasting relationship with of substantial financial implications I think this has been going on long enough I think it's the time for us us to make a gesture to the college and this sign I think reflects the Deep connection between the college and the community um I don't have any particular objection to the amendment uh 20 years seems arbitrary to me but maybe somebody can explain to me why that's a magic number um I agree that we should reference the dimensions Etc of the sign though I have no doubt that the sign will be exactly as it was referenced earlier that seems like an appropriate thing to do but I hope we will take the high road and make a gesture to the college which has now been after our permission for a very very long time and I think it's time for us simply to act okay um so the motion that is on the floor or the amendment excuse me to the motion that is on the floor means that the uh Motion in total well the amendment is to amend the motion by adding at the end if you will in accordance with the schematic in the document titled ammer wayf finding requ request for permanent use of public way dated January 5th 2024 and by adding an expiration date uh of the authorization for 20 years from today's date which is 429 20244 the motion the Amendments been made and seconded are there any other questions about the amendment to the motion George so can someone explain to me what expiration date means does that mean the sign will be dismantled does that mean that the college has to come back to us and uh request that the sign continue to be there um does this amendment make that clear I just like somebody to explain what uh for for my sake let alone for the sake of the college what uh a 20-year expiration date actually means uh Mandy uh councelor hanii would you like to add your interpretation of that sure my intention is that they either come back to the council to seek an extension of that time period or it gets dismantled and at that time we have the opportunity to say gee the sign doesn't look very good can you please refresh it or something like that or they could change the style 20 years from now right okay uh Anna yeah I was just going to say I think this kind of is protecting both entities in a way um and I guess I see it that way I don't know if everyone else sees it that way but I do see this as something that's saying this is not a this sign for forever um it is saying in 20 years our needs might have changed um the town's use plan for that common might change and the college's needs for its signage might change I think this is just saying that we don't want something to be know pun intended but set in stone in perpetuity um and that we want to have the um sort of set requirement out there that it will be Revisited and easily reauthorized um that's kind of the base line forward if changes need to be made great but otherwise and 20 years is a long time okay um are there any other comments Kathy just a quick one um if you try to add all the words uh atha up there it doesn't quite read right so I'm assuming that the motion will you can't say End by adding you know so uh it the motion would say and this authorization shall ex be for 20 years is is that the words that would be added I just am looking for what what it is we're voting on the wording atha is working on that Y and then put it back up on the screen e so while we're waiting on that we'll vote first on the amendment and then on the motion itself okay so if you'll just highlight the amendment there's two parts to this amendment okay are there any further questions or comments on the amendment okay then we're going to move to approve or move to vote on the amendment as you see it up here in yellow I'm going to start with councelor ET yes Lyn grimer is an i councelor hanii i Bob hegner is absent councelor Lord hi Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg Jennifer to yes councelor Walker is in the audience uh Pat Angeles hi Anor Devin goth here hi the motion the amendment to the motion passes 11 in favor two absent we'll now move to the original motion which now includes the amendment and is on the screen any questions thank you then we'll move uh Lyn grimer is an i councelor hanck i Bob hegar's absent councelor Lord hi Pam Rooney yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jenifer to yes counc Walker in the audience Pat d'angelus pres I mean thank you Pat um pres and voting I thank you uh Anna delin goth you I and councelor ET I the motion is approved 11 in favor two absent thank you for joining us uh we're going to move on to Belchertown Road and uh it's to I'm going to make the motion to approve the permanent changes to the public way on belur toown road as shown on the construction plan titled belter toown Road in pen Route 9 rt9 improvements St 2 plus 72 to sta 11 +43 uh dated March 2024 is there a second to the motion Steinberg seconds okay uh this was also reviewed by TSO Andy would you like to speak to the motion yes um I hope that everybody had a chance to look at our supplemental our our report that was submitted with today's date um to the committee from the committee to the council um we uh had dealt with us in two separate meetings because in the first meeting um after a presentation um from town manager and superintendent of Public Works we determined that it would be helpful to ask the transportation advisory committee and and the um disability access advisory committee to uh render opinions about um the proposal and U both reported back um as far with as the actual Proposal with um strong support um including making sure that the rectangular FL flashing beacons that were spe speci ified in The Proposal are included because of the safety um of using a crosswalk on that busier Road there there were other issues that came up um about beler Town Road that extended beyond the um area that was covered by the grant um we heard those um we did report on them but we recognized that they are not actually a part of The Proposal that was being made and is before the council tonight in in the motion that was just made and put on the floor so um with that I um we'll uh I think include the report if any other members of the committee have uh anything they would like to add they certainly can do so the very detailed and small print schematic is on the screen um Kathy you asked that this be removed from consent yes I I did for a couple reasons one I had a question on does the grant pay for what we're seeing I have absolutely no problem with crosswalks with flashing beacons I think speed in this area is a major concern and doing these small small segments where it's pointed out this kind of ends um you have a bike lane going along a very busy road and then it comes to an end this is right by where the school is and I have been hoping for a while that we would have a big plan like what are we going to do about the intersection we've got this cross where the bank sits that cars can scoot in there um they don't always stop they use it as a cut off um and in so I I felt like this was somewhat incomplete incomplete in dealing with a series of issues and if this is all grant money and this is all we could afford right now as La as I know it's part of a larger plan but it feels to me like it's um a small piece that's not necessarily connected to what happens a little bit to the left a little bit to the right I think this is you know when we um uh talked about building the new H housing there and bought the land we all remarked on how dangerous the intersection was and both for bikes for pedestrians for the way cars go through so um I have no doubt that we need to do work on it so that was my concern I mean and there was a mention in the TAC report on the speed I mean it's it bogles my mind that it could ever be 40 miles here but why not 25 I mean this this is such a congested area so I I'm not sure why we're not doing all the pieces together and that was why I pulled it because I wanted to render concerned about small pieces that aren't necessarily connected and I know this is costly so I'm not saying that we have the money to do a lot more I just like to have a bigger picture of what we're going to do um well B would you like to speak to this I also note that Guilford moring is with us tonight and Guilford may want to weigh in as well but first I want to commend our DPW and planning department for getting this grant in the first place it's $755,000 uh without that Grant we would been doing none of this work so when we look for Grants from the state which is what we need to do because it they always come with strings we have to identify locations that are are attractive to the funding uh decide decision makers this one was had a lot of assets for it uh because it was associated with our affordable housing project near a village Center High pedestrian area near a new school all these things helped us um achieve the grant for it we would love to do everything that you're asking for um Kathy uh but the money isn't there and so I think when DPW does the they create these plans it's not done in a vacuum they look at the larger project um and Guilford can talk about that as well Gilford did you want to speak to this uh yes so the the can you hear me yes we can sorry I froze on my screen I was um so the larger project actually went from Southeast Street to the Town Line on Belchertown road that project has been in the works for maybe 10 years and we've been slowly been working on that project um the school came up and when the school came up and people were concerned about the intersection on Southeast Street and on um Main Street those intersections were pulled out and that's now its own separate project and this project was actually shortened a little bit then the grant came up for the project that would support the housing we're putting in and we broke the project even smaller and we made the piece that goes from the split in the intersection or split in Belchertown road to just pass Colonial Village uh there is a third piece of the project a third split which is from Colonial Village out to Stanley Street and that will probably come forward as a community development block grant project next year or it's this year's for it's in this year's recommendations for next year so from the split by Cumberland Farms to Stanley Street that project is going to be a complete project within a year and a half to two years and then the intersection projects will be intersection projects on their own um and that work is proceeding it's uh it's taking a little more time and a little M more money than we thought because it's as you imagine it's a lot lot uh it's a lot more complicated that's the word I'm looking for I apologize Andy you have a question yeah it's not really a question um I was going to um supplement the TSO report in response to some of the very good questions that uh Kathy has raised um one is that um we did have um questions of uh superintendent moring regarding point where uh the lane uh the bike Lane section will end and what kind of signage will be there and there was uh um he can probably respond to it better than than I but uh he did report on signage sha plans for um safely marking according to U what he thought were reasonable standards and we accepted his um representation for those uh um critical points where the bike lanes and the other thing that I um thought mentioning is that um I really appreciate app the comments of the disability access advisory committee and um I encourage uh all counselors next time they drive that sector particularly to look at the sidewalk from Gate House Road going um back towards town to the uh main part of town to the west and uh look at how uh narrow the sidewalk is and um the how close it is to the that it is really immediately abing the road and in some sections not really with any significant Curbing and uh there was um concern expressed by daac regarding that safety and uh or our lack thereof and uh so we um we appreciated those comments but as I previously noted um we uh hope that uh they were heard by uh DPW but uh they were not part of the proposal uh because it was not the section that we were talking about thank you also note that the transportation advisory committee took a the opportunity to provide a lengthy analysis and suggestion for this area Kathy I I thank um Gilford and Paul for the responses that there is an emerging bigger picture um and I guess my request would be at some point over not any particular time trying to have that talked through with um whether it's the school I agree about the narrowness of the sidewalk we have a up in North ammer we have a dis appearing bike lane and what's interesting about it is no one even knows there is one and then it says it ends because there is so little room for the bikes and it's so dangerous that you go oh it just ended but I every so what everyone does is they ride on the sidewalk because it's it's it conflicts with it things so just some sense I and Gilford gave it in verbally and I was glad to hear that in east and west directions and north and south there's uh trying to Think Through the pieces so I didn't object to what I was seeing on the paper I just felt like it was missing pieces including the speed of the road and the width of the sidewalks the larger picture in this case is beler toown Road Northeast Southeast the intersection and the side streets that all of that is what you're talking about exactly exactly because that's the whole the whole piece of it is what makes it um scary right now and scary all the time not just and then if you put more appointments in there and you want people to be walking or riding their bikes um making it possible so Paul I absolutely think it's wonderful to get another 700,000 get another million you know we we clearly need financial help to do what we need to do here um thank you thank you councelor Ryan just pointing out that uh at least at the moment the current plan is to take $500,000 out of uh uh the fund for road work for the coming fiscal year okay is there anything else on this before we bring it to a vote motion's been made and seconded we'll begin the uh vote with councelor hanii I Bob hegner absent councelor Lord hi pamaron yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jennifer to yes councelor Walker's absent Patti Angelus hi Anna Devin gothier i councelor e i ly gmer is and I the it's it's unanimous with 11 and favor and two absent um and thank you uh Gilford thank you and again echoing Paul's thank you for um getting this Grant and continuing to look for opportunities for more appreciate that uh the next item is the proposed amendment to Town Council rules of procedure the am the motion is to refer the proposed the following proposed amendment to the Town Council rules of procedure to the governance organization and legislation committee for a report to the town Council by June 24 2024 and it is to amend the town Town Council rules of procedure rule 20 rule 2.2 powers of the president and vice president by adding uh Roman numeral I or I I'm sorry it's not Roman numeral the president shall be an ex official non- voting member of all committees after H and by adding this shall include participation ex officio as a non- voting member member a committee where the vice president is not appointed as a voting member after the sentence the vice president shall preside in the absent of President the motion this is a motion's been made is there a second Shane will second since I propose this okay Kathy would you like to speak to your motion uh yes um this uh the concept of EX officio came up actually way back in 2018 when we were writing the rules of procedure and we discovered that several towns enabled their president and I now added or the vice president to be an ex official non- voting member and my understanding of why that was done and then I've seen over the last five or six years it avoids a situation where the president who appoints all of us to committees um and wants to serve on a committee appoints his or him herself the president in um preference over other council members because there are only five slots if you remove that conflict the president can if they have the time and they want to follow a particular committee um continue to participate in it so I thought it was um wouldn't be used very often but I thought it enables um the situation we had this year which was very different than year one uh our president had to beg people to go on the finance committee she had to twist arms to get up to five this last time we had well more than five people wanting to be on the finance committee and by the president pulling her herself off it it created space for others to come on but um I realize that everyone all of us have the right and we can and participate in the public um and we can give a three minute set of comments but it's not the same as sitting at the table so I thought it was a useful device and I was overruled way back when on including it and so I don't think it's critical you know in when we were first writing our rules we looked at several towns had it and I actually thought we had written it in at one point but we we never did so that that's why I'm am proposing this as a potential way for the president to participate Andor the vice president to participate without having to be one of the appointed people on the committee okay Jennifer does this mean that the president and or vice president would not serve on any committee it doesn't prude them serving on a committee um you know you if we wrote it stronger that said they wouldn't serve on the committee we would take away their they are counselors and they could always put in their name to be serving on a committee so I think what it does in other towns is the president has a lot of things to do they don't necessarily serve on a committee but if there's a committee and a set of discussions going on for those time periods they can be come in the way our non- voting residents do on the finance committee so it removes I think it makes the president's job somewhat easier because they don't have to be on committees we have a lot of members on all our committees if we had fewer we probably wouldn't even need this but but but that's right Jennifer it doesn't say that the president couldn't just appoint themselves to a committee so the initial rationale um you expressed was that it would preclude a situation where a president might appoint themselves in place of another counselor but you're saying that will still happen because they well you wouldn't need to because you could still be fully participating unlike um if I go to a CRC meeting as a non-member I have to sit in the audience and I get my I can talk for three minutes but I can't really sit at the table and talk back and forth the way you can if you're um so the the president could choose not to appoint themselves knowing that at the time periods they may not want to attend every meeting of a particular they don't have to say I'm going to be the ex official and be at every meeting but they might want to engage so it opens up another route for the president to participate without having to appoint themselves so yes it's it's for those conflicts we we haven't had that many times where there are more people who want want to be on a committee then um but there have been and the President also wants to be on that committee so we haven't had that many situations but this would attenuate that it would moderate it so it's really more so the president whoever that you know person is could sit at the table as a non-b voting member of any committee but it's really not because we want and I'm not saying I don't haven't observed it being a conflict of interest but that it's really not so much so the council so the president is not appointing themselves over someone else to serve on a committee that that's right but you know I I think you know one of the things we talked about if people don't like this idea at all I don't think we need to send it to go you know so it's doesn't have to be an automatic referral I thought um it was a tool that other towns have given themselves that helps the president not be in a conflict on a I would really like to be on this committee however there are six people who want to be on it already and I if they Point themselves then someone doesn't get the slot because you can serve in a non- voting way and participate I mean you always get a vote the committee our committees don't make the decision the decision comes back to the council so the actual vote that counts is when the council's voting I mean we we don't we could have four-person committees and have two two votes because we don't need to have a majority vote to get it out of committee I mean because it's the council so that's where this came from councelor hanii I don't now that councelor Shane Cathy has explained some of it to me the rationale seem conflicting I was not really in favor of this to begin with but it's always been talked about as well you don't have to to do it so that the president can always just show up and they won't appoint themselves but if you're not prohibiting them from appointing themselves they'll still appoint themselves to the committee they want and I actually do believe they have that right and that we cannot stop that right under the charter that says the president shall appoint members of all Committees of the Town Council I don't think we can abridge that right which means I don't believe we should be able to stop that right and so one of my concerns was does it the exact question that Jennifer asked could are you trying to prohibit the president from appointing themselves but if you're not prohibiting that I'm not sure I see the need for this thing at all um and I also I I not only don't see the need for it because you can always just watch a committee meeting I actually worry that it gives the president more rights than other counselors um because it would allow the president or if the president chooses not to go to a committee the vice president to come to any meeting and any committee meeting and put their say in when other counselor at any time because they're quote at the table when other counselors do not have that right um and the charter does say that the president has the same powers to vote upon measures coming before the council's any other member so I don't think we can take away the president's ability to vote in committee I think we have to allow them the opportunity to appoint themselves but I also don't think it's right to say the president can show up to any committee and sit at the table but hey you counselor from district one can't I don't I don't think that's right either uh the president under the charter has the right to oversee but oversee is different from putting their opinion in every committee because they want to so I'm I'm not seeing the need for this I'm not seeing the necessity of this and I actually see a lot of drawbacks for it so I'm not even sure I'll vote to refer it okay Pat thank you um Mandy has said some of the things I wanted to say I totally oppose this um it gives the president and the vice president power that none of the rest of us have and one of the things that is important to me is that there be an equality um of action um this is that why should the president or vice president be able to do something on a committee that I can't do I attend meetings that I'm interested in if there's a committee that I wanted to be on and I didn't make it I follow that committee I can use public comment but I don't think that I should or any counselor including the president or vice president be able to talk anytime they feel like it as a full member of the committee it is um it bends the power structure I think in a really negative way the other thing is and there might I'm not firing on all cylinders because I've been sick for a while but when I read this it's supposed to be saving the president time uh but it if you go into it it says it would also protect the president's time because participation in each committee would not be optional if it's not optional you have to attend isn't am I misinterpreting that and if we're trying to save the president time and make them special in a way that no one else on the council is why is it why isn't it optional that they can go or not go and shoving the vice president and I have respect for these two women so this is not about them shoving the Vice President in when the president doesn't want to go it's just it it's creating a problem that doesn't exist right now and we don't need and I spoke too long I'm sorry pamone thank you um my thoughts were that if the president doesn't sit on any committee um from the beginning of the term that's different I might I might be somewhat okay with an ex officio role for that person if they don't sit on any committee um I also thought that uh an opportunity if if they were to serve as ex officio that they only would do it when there was a lack of Quorum for any particular committee and that's that's pretty rare I mean we can function with three out of five so I don't know that to many meetings have actually been cancelled because of lack of Quorum but that was my other consideration um I would have to agree with the preceding um speakers that for someone who who manages the agenda participates in wording of motions and manages the discussion on the floor I would I really don't think that person ought to have additional power to participate as an ex official member in in all of the Committees um it is has been said I think it's it's a little too much and I wouldn't be able to support that Andy so I've actually um kind of a question concern and I just wanted to bring it forward to the council and if the vote tonight is to referred to um go to investigate that they um at least are cognizant of this particular question question is if you have five members of a committee and then um the president of the council is a sixth member ex ex this of um one more person um attending the meeting because of their um involvement in whatever um action is before the committee um almost assures that you have a majority of the council present and does that mean that we're going to end up with more committee meetings uh being uh posted as special Council meetings and u how is that process going to work so that's the issue that I would like to make sure the go considers if it gets the referral tonight of this particular request uh councelor so there's what is conceived in theory and what works in practice and I'm wondering even though we have what is written in the text from some of these towns has it solved the problem that we imagine that it's solving so um besides the fact that it's in the text what do these towns say about this particular part as solving the problem of time for the president okay um I would like to say that I personally feel no need for this um I have not been on the finance committee this year those of you that are on the finance committee note that I often attend I sit in the audience every once in a while I get you know I'd like to say something but I haven't felt like I had to say it uh and um I I think that the concern conerns that people have expressed and I really appreciate this conversation because I think it's important for people to State their concerns uh I think that PE that you know giving the president and the vice president this additional um right to go to a committee and express their opinion actually creates an unequal balance in the council and so I don't think we want to do that for this president or any other president uh so I understand the rationale I appreciate councelor Kathy Shane bringing this forward um but I personally don't see the need for it Kathy hearing what I think are terrific reasons why this isn't a good idea I can just withdraw it okay and I would be happy with it I mean I what what frea counselor ET rais I don't know the answer to that how is how it has worked in other towns I just saw several had included it and I think it was um and my experience in the first few years of I will say that not getting on committees or trying to get on committees and seeing that the president could appoint themselves um this looked like a way out but I'm fine withdrawing this and I think it's been great Lynn that you've actually sat in the audience on the finance committee you know I mean in terms of I it it's helpful to have people be following the discussions so I will just I don't think this needs to go to go given the general s sentiment that is not a good idea uh the person that has proposed this has withdrawn the motion I made the original motion Kathy you seconded it I'm fine with withdrawing it are there any further discussions fine then we will move on to appointments we're going to begin I'm going to call on the town manager this is the appointment with regard to Gabe Ting as police chief Paul would you like to speak to this do you want to begin with a motion thank you uh to approve the town manager's appointment of Gabriel Ting as chief of police is there a second second delin gothier thank you Paul thank you um I'm super proud to um appoint Gabe Ting and ask for your confirmation of this appointment tonight um Gabe Ting is is police chief uh Gabe Ting has been with the force for 27 years um and as I uh discussed at the TSO committee meeting he has the education training work experience um that is required to be the chief of police and be a very successful one his life story really reflects many experiences that we have in our town he is an immigrant he is a with his parents are Chinese and he's a Chinese descent he went through the town's K to 12 schools he attended UMass and went to graduate school at Western New England University and he's been on the police depart police force and has raised uh come up through the ranks um he he was a union president for a time which helps us when we're on the other side of the table um and has been very instrumental in supporting the implementation of the crest department and supporting the the dispatchers as well um he has done every job in the police department so and when it comes to day-to-day management he brings the uh he's a known entity and he knows how all those jobs are are um uh need to be done he's ready willing and able to step up to become the police chief and then I just want to recognize that um we've had a history of really strong Chiefs of police in this town um most recently Scott Livingstone um it's not an easy job it and Gabe will learn a lot as he does the job you don't walk into that job any no one can walk into that job knowing everything that needs to be known but what I liked about gab I was able to work with him on a temporary basis for for quite some time during the last year is that he is not just a good listener he's eager to listen and to learn um he he really his big emphasis has it will be to work with youth and to be better having better connections with the youth in our community and um even this morning we were talking about different ways that the police department can be better at engaging with the community um you know we've had a lot of discussions about police work in our town and we're taking um positive Mo uh ways of addressing it from everything from the crest Department to have unarmed response to certain types of calls uh to a resident oversight board which um Gabe fully supports um and I think that um that his leadership and his ability to listen are two of the Hallmarks for um what will make him a terrific police chief so I asked for your support on him becoming the next chief of police for the town of amst we have our HR director who was very involved in this search Melissa do you have any comments you'd like to make at this time I would just say that it was a very involved um and thorough search uh we posted this in November and the search committee was um comprised of nine community members very strong they uh took their time and deliberated and uh I think we came out with a very strong finalist and I Echo uh Paul's confidence in um in uh Gabe Ting's ability to to do excuse me to do the job thank you if I could just add I do want to specifically we call out the um police chief search Community um it was really terrific group they really liked each other enjoyed being together um and they each of them told me that and includes uh the chair was eal Henry who is a member of the community safety and social justice committee uh Len bz Ben Ezra who's executive dor director of the ammer survival center Tony Butterfield he's the chair of the ammer Personnel Board and professor emeritus at the Eisenberg School of of management at the University Liz Hagood who is the co-chair of the Human Rights Commission uh Jen Wason the assistant director for diversity equity and inclusion Tim Nelson the fire chief tyone Parham a police chief at the University of Massachusetts and many people found his professional expertise and insights were very important uh Derek Shay principal of Crocker Farm Elementary School David Williams who was a member of the ammer housing authority and also a member of the ammer League of Women Voters racial Justice committee and then and then Melissa really did a lot of the work in bringing this to conclusion so thank you Melissa thank you Andy this came to TSO did you want to speak to that please very briefly report that we submitted to the Council of last Thursday's meeting uh uh speaks for itself uh we uh came to the conclusion after discussion and the vote that was reported that uh um this was an appropriate um and thoughtful appointment and we were um also very impressed by the process that led to the identification of two people um that were then thoroughly U interviewed and had um substantial exposure in many places within town in very public way and invited comment so um both as a matter uh of the process and the conclusion that was uh the basis and as I note though it was a vote of yes um one abstention and one member absent thank you are there any comments or questions see none I'm going to move to the vote we begin with councel Lord nay pamon yes councelor Ryan hi Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jennifer Todd yes uh Pat d'angeles Hi H Devin gothier hi councelor ET I ly grimer is an i councelor hanii hi that's uh 10 in favor one opposed and two absent uh we are going to uh move on to committee and Le on reports we're going to start with the Community Resources committee uh Pam roon thank you uh and this report should have gotten into the packet but I don't think it did um we have been working with uh planning director Christine brrp as we start to parse apart the solar bylaw she came with some uh suggestions from a meeting that she held with Mandy johanik to to discuss how the draft in fact might be handled and the suggestion at this point is to perhaps um break it into some pieces that might uh not all look like bylaw some might be rules and regulations anyway we'll be back to you with that as we start to pull it apart um we also were very pleased is that last meeting or last council meeting we had the zba members approved we are now currently um starting the process for planning board uh vacancies thank you okay um paty Angelus you've uh indicated you would like to leave and I just make note of that in the minutes okay thank you thank you everyone thank you um are there any questions or comments with regard to CRC or any other members of the committee okay go on to the elementary school building committee Kathy Shane uh we met last Friday and what the we're we're at a point where they fairly detailed designs in terms of including color and some of the you who saw the early presentations they're in video form as you walk around the hallways and you walk up and down the stairs so I'm trying to figure out how to the files are too big for us to post them to create them into snapshots but the 90% um estimates all the details have been sent on to the cost estimators and at this point we're very close to the equivalent of blueprints for the school and so they're voluminous drawings as well as specifications that will be r viwed by the msba there's a commissioning agent that'll be reviewing them ropm and unassociated architect will be reviewing them and town staff is reviewing them so they're multiple eyes it's not just a cost estimate and we'll have those revisions by the May meeting um so that's where we are there um if you haven't been over to Fort River they're starting to move and level the dirt so it's it's it's starting to look like a real beginning rather than just us with our little hats and shovels on digging a little dirt so it's it's quite exciting are there any questions uh Kathy I'm going to ask you to step in on the finance committee since Bob is not here yes and UHA I just need to double check the Friday meeting is not posted yet but we're finances meeting just say the time that we're meeting Friday at 10 I believe and Tuesdays at two right and because I think when Lynn first said it she said one o'clock I might have misheard you because in my calendar it's 10: so we will be it's Friday at 10 yeah we're we're as of Friday we will be talking there will be a schedule on which departments we're meeting with and at that point we will also have the town managers proposed budget so we will beginning we start to begin the of the budget with a schedule we don't have the schedule yet but we will have it very soon and those are the choice a week meetings thank you uh any questions Pam yes I have a question um will the discussion with the town manager as you start with the with the proposed budget have several options of 4% 6% uh as requested by the school committee um um I I wonder I'm just asking if there's I'm going to let Paul answer it because right now um the the rest of the budget is dealing with the guidelines so the regional school is going to come in in a different way and I as of the last meeting we didn't have a concrete proposal from them so I'm assuming we're going to have a proposal yeah so I would just want to make sure that we understand what the ramifications are for choices Paul so so the school committee did vote a budget on W last Wednesday we have that vote that they took um that will their action will be incorporated into the budget in terms of information for the council this has happened in Prior years where a school committee had voted a different number than was um presented by the town manager so you'll see both of those numbers uh in the budget and so it's part of your deliberation process um Paul do you know whether we're going to get a detailed budget at some point um there is the original budget that was the January budget with line items do you have an idea of whether I have I what we're going to be able to see yeah I have their action we certainly you certainly should have the actual budget itself I mean ultimately the council only votes the bottom line of their budget they get to allocate the funds as they see fit um but yes we will certainly request that for you before you start your deliberations because that was some of the questions that Finance had proposed is if it's something less than the original what is it buying you know if we go up beyond the 4% that was in the original godland what do we get it's not that's a little crude way to to state it but you know what what what changes do not have to happen and what's the Glide path going forward so so Pim that's the best I can do to answer it because we're we're we're waiting for some of the documents um I I just I do want to mention to everyone it's not a we not for discussion but in your packet tonight jcpc did finish its work and sent the report to Paul we we are a referral to Paul and I did a very short summary of some of the main things so to the extent people want to see the capital budget deliberation but he as the manager still has to put together the capital budget so we had recommendations in it um but it's a tougher each year is going to be tougher as we go forward because we're starting to see big buildings come online thank you uh go Anna and uh councelor FR I mean ET so I we've had one go meeting uh since our last Town council meeting was not there my re uh do you want me to go for it or do you want to take it all right okay so my understanding is that at that meeting the go committee uh approved the aapi Heritage Month Proclamation and engaged in discussion regarding the two committee appointment recommendations that go has to make um I do not believe that votes were taken on those items however to this point we have determined the pool for the charter review uh commission to be sufficient and I want to extra appreciate folks who have continued to submit calfs after the fact um they're not in this room obviously but thank you um councilor did I miss anything that you all discussed we've also previously had done Finance now we'd also declared Finance sufficient did we no unless you did at the last meeting I'm looking to Athena I appreciate your confidence that I remember all these things off the top of my head all right we'll figure it out counc did I miss anything I think at the last meeting okay excellent thank you I mean you know my memory isn't always correct but thank you um okay um so Kathy you've already done jcpc Jones Library uh pamon and fall thank you um we have I've asked for a report on May 6 so that's coming next meeting um and obviously as everyone is now aware uh um there's a big question mark so that's going to be a very um important conversation to have Paul yes so I'll I'll address this since it came up during public comment as well I I was going to talk about it at Town manag report but this is more appropriate time I think so the bid we received one bid on Friday it came in at 2 o'clock um it's 18% higher than the last um um estimate by two different estimating firms um there aren't a lot of options we can reduce the budget we can increase Revenue um and um and those are there aren't many options beyond that um we you know the the um owner project manager and the architect uh have been reviewing the budget along with uh Bob parent from our staff and evaluating what was the difference and why things are are um were so different than what our last estimate was um but the bid is the bid the numbers are on you know are are what they are there's a limit to what we can do U and and so um the next step is to get as much information as possible we have 30 days uh to accept or reject the bids um to meet with this the uh Jones Library building committee have that conversation that conversation will then extend to the Town Council and I think that meeting will be probably not this week but next week for sure once they get all their um analysis done of the bid um look and look at different options available if um then it would the Town Council will have clearly have a discussion about it as well the Jones Library trustees um I want to emphasize that um the needs of that building have not disappeared uh the HVAC the roof um uh other things with that building are very present and a concern um I think that uh we you know this is going to be one of those things where there are some things that we really want some many people really want to see happen but we may have to have the fiscal discipline to say to say we can't do it unless we find another alternative and that's what our mission is is to see what are the Alternatives available that for consideration by the council uh and the building committee but it's it's relatively new we had people have had basically the weekend and a day to really get dig into it there's a lot people we want to talk to in terms of um um doing the you know look as we look at bids and things like that and look at the the sort of Market um that generated this outcome there any questions or comments okay we're going to move on then to TSO Andy yes uh I think that what we've did in the past is in add L reported and acted upon already at this meeting um I just want to U get there to the next steps you heard from uh when at the beginning of the meeting that uh we're going to follow up as um on the Heatherstone Road um and uh there was a lot of public comment when it was before the committee and uh Not only was there were a lot of public comment from very involved and interested residents but um it was uh remarkable in that there was not consistency in the comments we received and there were several that um people uh because of the time we were meeting that anybody who is working in a normal job work hours or otherwise unavailable at that time um was not able to make public comment so we had decided to hold a listening session which will be on May 13th and we have settled I think at 6:30 and it will be by Zoom um and available um it is going to be just a listening session so we will not need to post it as um a council meeting so anybody can attend the reason for doing doing it and not having any deliberation that night is that we don't have to post it as a council meeting because uh it it sort of solves that problem um so we have it on the agenda for then the next uh several meetings the two meetings that follow um are May 16 and May 30 and I just uh will um mostly say that uh the um aside from starting the Heatherstone Road discussion um if there's a proposal that comes in regarding um establishment of the Transportation Commission which is something that we don't know I know that has been previously talked about um we would uh want to take that up in one of the next two meetings and uh we want to get into the wayist Haller bylaw discussion um the other thing that we're very interested in doing because uh you know that we were referred um Henry Street and U Henry Street was an engineering report as far as what options um would be recommended for um safety is for that section that in particular that involves the kushman Scott children's uh dayare Center and uh that um we were told is going to be available to us and uh so we want to U get back to Henry Street and then the other thing we want to talk about is um having a general discussion and uh um sort of begin to understand in relation to that and generally what are the options available to the council regarding um establishing speed limits and traffic calming and other uh kinds of things of that nature and U that the scheduling depends upon availability of the people that we would like to see um there we would like to see superintendent moring and um engineer skills uh from DPW if they are available uh we would like to have and I Cann now Callum this Chief Ting or his design U represent the police department and uh the chair of trans uh Transportation advisory committee all participating in that U presentation and discussion with the committee so that we can begin to understand more fully what the options are that are available to the council and uh we're hoping that that will be May 30th but I'm not going to say it with certainty because we have to make sure that the people who where I just mentioned uh or their designes are available so thank you Pam roone you have your hand up will this result in a an overall plan for Traffic Safety around town this came up at jcpc um last year and it came up again with kushman Scott traffic issues um the idea is to get a plan for all the hot spots in town and get them addressed sort of as a comprehensive group and start hacking away at them thank you Andy that don't really know also the question something that we've been alerted to I think it's Council which is General lawter 97c in what options are available to the Council on that so that specific in of topics that we like have I think we need to start a process and so our prior things that need to be done in the first months of the session start it's a May discussion to begin the process and hopefully to move in the direction just talked about Anna I wanted to add to what Pam said the other part of the conversation included uh a process for uh how we respond to those requests equitably and based on a plan of understanding where the hotspots are in town um and realizing that there's only so far the safety zones legislation can take us and that we need something beyond that so um I'm looking forward to TSO tackling this I know it's been something jcpc but the council in general has wrestled with and us as individual counselors have had to navigate a lot is how to support people in our in our districts with areas of of their community that they don't feel are safe to exist on because of the roads so um I appreciate TSO tackling this look forward to seeing what comes out of it than I appreciate you bringing that up on it because um there's a uh additional piece that I should have mentioned and that is that we wanted to have a presentation in a meeting with u thep officers regarding the question of Outreach and um when um you get into questions of Outreach then you get in it sort of was raising a question that we've been talking about a little bit in the committee as to what we do as counselors when we receive um requests regarding conditions of Roads either because of um traffic caling or because of the condition of the road and how what is the appropriate those responses so that sort of is coming up as a part of discuss either with this or through um question of what is meant by Services out what does outage mean and um I guess the last thing I'll say we were very disappointed that uh Jennifer is leaving second of the three original cpos that is now leaving the town remaining person who will be there have meeting Ator offer to come back to our meeting even though she will not be a town employee when we take up that issue and share her thoughts and experience and recommendations regarding uh the whole range of Outreach roles uh that we need to talk about thank you uh there's no minutes we're going to move on to Paul it's not a written report this time but is there things you would like to highlight for us yeah just a couple things first I want to um recognize the terrific events that we've had recently the sustainability fair was a great success a couple weeks ago um this weekend many of you participated in the um townwide cleanup where we had um uh rally points at grath Park at mil River and at Kendrick Park we had a lot of people who showed up at various locations and just thank you all and the members of the community that uh filled up a dumpster uh with with trash and with recycling so thank thank you um and then we had yesterday um uh we had the literacy fair on on the common uh and that was a really nicely done event as well so those were good things and it's just the beginning of the spring so we have a lot more coming up um the other thing is just to recognize uh that you all are aware that uh fire chief Tim Nelson Has announced his retirement um they probably will be a party for him as he leaves um at some point we were looking in at the towards the end of June mid to late June for that you'll um and then we'll also be immediately in darking on that search now that we've got the police chief search completed and uh get that process going as well so those are my updates you'll have a a full written report next week are there questions of the Town manager Mandy Joe yes um I sent you an email um but I just wanted to bring it up here the Cannabis Control Commission has now put out a draft model bylaw for its um social host communities for I think the social Equity business side but you don't necessarily have to do the bylaw there's three options so I'm curious um when you and town staff has decided which option you'll take the bylaw um the a different B the model bylaw a different bylaw or a local approval process uh could you let the council know which that is so that we know whether by law is coming to us for a review I don't know whether there's a time limit on when we have to get in compliance with the social Equity business portion of the state law yeah so uh we've always been out front asking to be a leader in the social Equity piece of of the marijuana legislation we have a working group that includes planning Inspection Services uh police and health um I think that's it and they have not gathered together to to review this uh we have been in touch with at least one of the um operators in in in town uh they reached out at the end of last week so we'll be talking about what what how the laws imp the new regulations impact their um operations as well so yeah we're looking at it um pamon thank you I had a question about the municipal aggregation could you give us an update on its status and are we celebrating we should be celebrating I um I believe the municipal aggregation was approved um I'll get actually written uh document to you on that uh by the Department of Public Utilities um so I think that that that whole thing is moving forward which is really good news so will will there be a sort of an official response or acceptance of that do we yes we we need to do that absolutely the press release too because it's a pretty press release would be great and yeah so do we we're we're in this with other towns are we the lead or are we um are we expected to pass the word along or do they get notified as well oh we're in it with Northampton and pelum and they everybody everybody know is aware of where we are at this point I'll see if I can get it while you continue I'll see if I can get more information on it northampton's the lead isn't it it is yeah thank you uh councelor uh ete I usually prefer to know what I'm celebrating and I wanted to know what municipal aggregation is that so it's um let's see so it's the municipal aggregations where the where um instead of purchasing your electricity as the supplier from ever eversource um we will we will purchase it the town will purchase it and have our priorities met in terms of how much of it is coming from Green and things like that you can opt out but the aggregation means that we as a group as a community go in and buy our electricity together from and we bid it out and do it that way so okay Kathy Shane I I just wanted to uh Echo the praise of your staff all but on you talk about the cleanup Angela was out there with a truck and stayed to be picking up and I don't know how we did it but up at M River we had about 15 College students working with us and I asked one how did you know about he says I have no idea we just all said we're going to go and do this this morning like but it it was great because we actually had them crawling up and down these steep hills um and it it was a celebratory and I have three of the Pickers in my car that we people stayed too late the truck left so I'm going to deliver them to her in her office CU I don't know where else to bring them it it it was it was a great event I mean um she loved driving that truck she she she's named it she doesn't want to she has the name for it right um but um you know councilor Ryan retrieved an entire bicycle out of the river it looked like I don't know where you got that there's a car seat that another group found and um and she was able to drive that truck around and pick these things up no I got a bike wheel and a for sale sign for a house so it was small and large things it was amazing yeah and just that back to the Valley Green energy CCA uh it was approved by the dpu on April 9th um there are making some required Minor Adjustments to the contract for final submission so it's not quite there yet um but uh and it looks like the program will launch in the fall okay are there any other questions of the Town manager okay let me just begin my president's report which is written and in your packet and seeking questions but I also want to recognize that representative Mindy D has been in the audience listening and continuing to advocate for us in many many ways that we continue to seriously appreciate are there any questions from the president report Pam roone Kathy okay remainder Anna did you have anything from your S no I was waiting hopefully to get a little bit further into the state budget process and that uh update came a bit too late for me to finalize the report so hoping to have it for the next meeting okay um we do have two meetings in I'm just going on to Future agenda items we have two meetings in uh May and one of them will be on the 6th and that is when the town manager will formally present the budget we also have several things that we're going to have to try to juggle between the two I want to really thank the committee the council for adding this extra meeting in April it's allowed us to kind of mop up some things that got delayed uh but we still have a couple more and so uh we'll be balancing them back and forth between the two meetings that we have in uh May uh and also note that the finance committee has a really heavy burden in May for people who want to drop in and listen or whatever are there any other questions comments yes councelor hanii I just want to say I'm concerned at the lateness that some documents have been coming in for our Council meetings um we didn't have any documents for the fire Tru section until Mida well afternoon today about noon um a council committee report didn't come in till after 1:00 today day or so um and neither did some of the documents related to that agenda item and I believe our rules say we're supposed to have everything sometime last week for a meeting on Monday and I know how hard it can be for committee chairs to get reports in in a timely manner um especially when meetings are late in the week as I had to do for a number of years I know how hard it is but it's also extremely hard to be ready for a meeting when documents are coming in in the middle of the day of the meeting and I think in the past we had suggested that maybe those items get pulled from an agenda or be considered pulled from an agenda if they come in late but I would just more encourage everyone to make sure documents are in well before Friday of the meeting of the week before the meeting thank you I could not agree more are there any other comments seeing none then I'm going to uh make a motion and seek a second to adjourn the meeting I move to adjourn is there a second Shane seconds I'm going to um move to a roll call vote on that uh and I'm going to start with Pam Rooney I councelor Ryan I Kathy Shane yes Andy Steinberg hi Jennifer toab yes uh Anna Devin gothier hi councelor ET I ly Griers I councelor hanii I I did I get everybody councelor Lord I it's nine um I guess it's 10 in favor of adjourning the meeting is adjourned it is 8:29