Okay, we're recording. Thank you. I'm gonna try not to get any closer to this mic because it's like insanely sensitive. Yeah. No, but I'm so used to having to be so close and I don't or else I'll blow everyone's ears out. Um,
good evening. Seeing a presence of a quorum, I am calling the May 4th, 2026 regular meeting of the town council to order at 6:31 p.m. Please be advised that this meeting is being held in person and that the remote access option for members of the public is provided as a courtesy
only. In the event of technology issues with the remote connection, the meeting will continue in person as scheduled as long as there is a quorum of the council present in the town room or through technological means. Chapter 2 of the acts of 2025 extended through June 30, 2027 the ability of public bodies to
meet without a quorum of the council present physically present at the meeting location. Although a quorum of the council is present in the town room. This meeting is being recorded and is accessible in real time via Zoom, by phone, and as a live broadcast on Ammeris Media Channel 9 and at ammerismedia.org.
I will I will call upon each counselor by the name they have indicated that they would like to be addressed. This will indicate that we can hear you and you can hear us. Councelor Brevik, >> present. >> Councelor Kenno Martin, >> present. >> Andy Churchill, >> yes. >> Anna Deong Gothier, >> present.
>> You You've You've got a very loud one, too. Lyn Gremer, >> present. >> Mandy Joe Hanicki is present. Councelor Lord, >> Sam Mloud, >> present. >> Pam Rooney >> here. >> Councelor Ryan, >> I'm here. >> Kathy Shane >> here. >> Jennifer Tob >> here. >> And councelor Walker
>> here. If counselors have techn technical issues, please let the council clerk know or call a point of personal privilege. There will be one public comment period during the general public comment. If you are in the town room, please sign up with the town council clerk to make public comment. If you are attending remotely, I will ask for you
to raise your hand in the Zoom application when we reach the time period for public comment. Um, just a few notes on the agenda as we move to announcements. Um we are going to take items 7A, 8A and 8B up together. So they
will be sort of taken as one big presentation that is the budget and the water and sewer rates and theformational requests related to water and sewer charges. Um and we are adding a an extra counselor comments right after
the hearings and there are no hearings so it will be right after announcements. Um, in announcements, the May 11th, the finance committee is holding a public hearing on the budget. Uh, I have not noticed this as a joint council meeting because I've not heard of counselors
that are not on finance that wish to go. If there are, please email me and I will ask the clerk if if I think there will be a quorum of the council present to notice it as a council meeting. also um their budget review on May 7th is
noticed as a joint council meeting. Um but that one and the May 21st meetings are the only ones that are noticed as joint council meetings for the budget review at this point in time. There are no hearings. Um and so we are going to add go to the additional counselor
comment period and I'm going to uh recognize councelor Walker at this time. Um, thank you Mandy Joe. I also would like to um recognize councelor Lord, counselor Conno Martin, and counselor
Breivik um to just read a joint statement that we have. >> Great. >> Good evening. We want to take a moment to speak directly to the racist letter that was circulated in our community last week. First, we must be clear that harm was
done. And not just abstract harm, but real fear, real pain, and real traum retraumatization for members of our community, particularly black and brown residents and those of African descent.
To those residents, we see you, we hear you, and we acknowledge that this moment is not new. It is part of a pattern, one that shows up not just in moments like this, but in everyday experiences, in microaggressions, in exclusions, and in the way systems do
or do not show up for you. The town has already issued a statement condemning this letter and affirming that Amoris is a community built on inclusion, respect, and the belief that every resident deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and valued. We stand firmly in those values.
But tonight, we also need to be honest. Values alone are not enough. Because the question before us is not just whether people should feel safe in Amoris. It is whether they actually do feel safe and whether they are safe. And for many black and brown residents, the
answer is complicated. >> I'll continue. We often speak in the town room about equity initiatives, about investments like a BIPAC youth center, a multicultural center, or the continued
development and expansion of Crest and we hear questions including why is this needed? Who benefits? Is this the right investment? Tonight, we can add this to part of our answer. This is why. Because safety is not just the absence of
violence. It is the presence of support, resources, and systems that people trust. If a resident feels targeted, unsafe, or threatened, who do they call? If we ask them to call Crest, are we ensuring that Crest is fully resourced,
fully staffed, and available when they need it? If not, what are we asking people to rely on? If we say we value belonging, where are the spaces that actively build it? Where are the investments that ensure young
people of color in this town feel seen, supported, and protected, not just in theory, but in practice? We cannot continue to celebrate ourselves as a progressive community without confronting the gaps between our intentions and our actual impact.
Because the truth is experiences like receiving this letter do not happen in isolation. They exist alongside the everyday realities that many residents navigate quietly. So tonight we are calling on ourselves as a council to move beyond statements of recommmitment
and toward meaningful action. That means investing in the systems that actually produce safety, resourcing the programs we ask people to depend on, prioritizing spaces and initiatives that support black and brown residents, and being willing to ask harder questions about
where we have fallen short. This is about the responsibility we hold to the people living in this community. We have an opportunity in this moment to respond with more than just words. This moment should not end with a statement. It must lead to action. We are calling
on this council to engage fully and honestly in the conversations that too often get delayed, softened, or avoided. We must be willing to confront the gap between how we see ourselves as a town and the reality that many of our residents are living every day. We are
calling on this body to invest in real tangible ways in the spaces, programs, and systems that our residents can actually use. not symbolic commitments, but resources that are accessible, reliable, and designed to keep people safe. We also call on the town manager
to share more information with residents about this incident and any ongoing efforts, including the investigation, so that our community is informed, prepared, and able to support one another. Because right now, we are asking people to navigate fear without a clear understanding of what systems are
in place to protect them. how we can expect residents. How can we expect residents to feel safe when the support we point to are underresourced, incomplete, and unavailable when they are needed the most? This is about more than just this letter. This is about our
response and what comes next. We we see this moment as a preface to the actions that the council must take. And so we urge our fellow counselors in the days ahead to sit with this, to reflect honestly, to listen more closely to the lived experiences of people in this
community, especially those who have been telling us consistently that something is missing. Let us move forward with more aligned with our community's actual reality and their actual needs. Because our responsibility is not just to respond, but it is to lead. And finally, to our black and
brown residents, we want to say this clearly that you are valued here. You matter here. Our community is richer, stronger, and more whole because of you. You deserve to feel safe. You deserve to be protected. You deserve to live in a town that does everything in its power
to ensure your safety, your dignity, and your well-being. And we recognize that this is not enough. And our responsibility to make it true in practice and in policy, and how we show up for you every single day still stands.
Thank you. Thank you counselors. Um are there any other counselor comments at this time? There will be another period at the typical part of our meeting too. Seeing none, we will move to general public comment.
Anyone wishing to make general public comment who is attending remotely, please raise your hand in the Zoom application. If you are present in the town room and have not signed up with the council clerk, please do so now. Residents are welcome to make public comments on matters within the jurisdiction of the town council. 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 [clears throat] their level of speech falls within an 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 activity. If a question exists as to whether a particular speaker is engaging in unprotected speech, I must defer to the principle of freedom of speech.
There are three hands raised in on Zoom of people who wish to make public comments. How many people in the town room have signed up for public comment? Five. Each commenter will have three minutes to make their comment. Um we will start with the town room.
Andrew Brace. Andrew, please come on up, state your name and where you live and make your comment. >> Hello. Uh my name is Andrew Brace. uh DPW Association president. I'm also the chief operator of the wastewater treatment plant. Um I'm just I wanted to
come back and just give a quick update. Um we're still working towards a finalized contract. Um it's May now, so uh DPW employees have now been without a contract and cost of living raises for almost one year. Um it's especially
concerning given the current economic climate. Um throughout this process, timely communication and access to information from the town has presented a challenge, but is an important key to moving this process forward efficiently. Um we received a response from the town
manager yesterday following our last response sent to the town on April 16th. Um we were able to review that uh response today and we'll be providing a response to the town as soon as possible and our goal remains to reach a timely resolution. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Andrew, for coming tonight. Maria Copiki, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live, and make your comment. >> Thank you, Maria Copiki, South Ammerst. Uh, I was going to uh make a comment, and I well, I still am about the
horrible letter that was inflicted on some of our fellow residents here. Um, and I was going to call on the council to do something and I'm really grateful to councilors Walker, Lord Breivik, and Connor Martin
for taking that first step already. Thank you very much. The response of the town that was posted on the website was tepid at best. Um, it's
also you you spoke to what has to be done much better than I ever could. So, I'll I'll um I won't step on your toes on that, but I do want to point out that we have a serious this also illustrates
a serious communication problem in the town. I only knew about this because I get the notifications. A lot of people in town probably have no idea what's going on. And
we have to figure out a way to actually communicate directly and with with all of our communities so that people can know when something like this happens because this is a safety issue really.
Um so please, you know, we got to figure this out. the the website is just not an effective means of communication. Um so anyway, thank you counselors and yes, please town council, we're looking to you as our elected officials to take
a much more robust stance in action uh about this. Thank you. >> Thank you for coming tonight, Maria Athena Sarah Johnson. Sarah, please come on up, say your name and where you live and make your comment.
Hi, my name is Sarah Johnson. I live in District 3. I am coming here to speak as a mom of two kids that attend Crocker Farm Elementary. I am deeply concerned that the proposed town budget gives the elementary schools less funding than the school committee determined was necessary. Cuts to interventionists and
special education teachers will have bigger impacts on the school community and Ammerst as a whole. I have heard special education teachers giving public comment on how they won't be able to meet the needs of students on IEPs. These cuts do not eliminate costs. They simply shift them. If families feel
their children's needs are not being met, they will choose to leave the district taking funding with them. My older child received reading intervention support in first grade and really benefited from it as many kids do. Without enough early literacy support, more students will get referred to special education later, which is
significantly more expensive per student. Cuts to special education teachers and interventionists will impact the entire school community because general education teachers will need to absorb the unmet needs. This will affect the education of all students in the elementary schools. The town council needs to put the investment
into our schools now to avoid even higher costs in the future through increased special education referrals and through families leaving the district. Investing our schools now is both the responsible and cost-effective choice. Failing to do so risks higher long-term costs. Ammeris values equity
and inclusion, but the students who struggle the most will lose the most from these cuts. With this lesser budget, the town council is effectively deciding who gets supported in the schools. I urge the town council to reconsider and fully fund the schools at the level recommended by the school committee. Thanks for your time.
>> Thank you for coming tonight, Sarah. Uh, Lauren Michael, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live and make your comment. >> Yes. Hi. Can you hear me? >> Yes, we can. >> Okay. Hi, it's Lauren Mills. Sorry, the
last name is incorrect. I live in South Amherst and I am speaking to support the CSSJC. Um, my comment is um, you know, a lot by the way someone knocks on your door. In
Moroccan culture, there may be several door knockers that alert those inside who is at the door and to move with care and awareness, embracing modesty and humility, respect and courtesy to all
who enter. The CSSJC and and the Human Rights Commission have been knocking on the door of this town council, sometimes softly and sometimes loudly, loudly and urgently because in the town of Amherst, there is a serious issue of respect for
the black and brown residents, our immigrant population and social activists and rising youth are treated um and how they are treated. Um, it is not the harmed residents who should take
on the town's responsibility to work to mandate that the town is a welcoming, safe place for all. Does the town want to be a safe and welcoming place for black and brown residents or not? Do you have safety and accountability as the
top priority for your town governance or not? that is free from harassment, harmful tactics to get information about residents who live, work, and go to school in this town. Just as a zip code can be an indicator of determinance of
health, so can local town policy. It can determine whether I can walk to a grocery store or a health clinic, whether there is enough affordable housing. um our Amherst families and residents dealing with substance abuse, mental
health, homelessness, access to health care, and healthy food. These things can also impact our communities if not addressed and seen as a priority. I want to see the town take responsibility through its policies and address the
issues that are affecting residents in school in their communities concerning surveillance over policing and targeting vulnerable populations. I support the motion for CSSJC and the human rights commission to have a joint
meeting with the town council to discuss how the town entities such as APD are informed to respond assist with ICE related in investigations and activities. [clears throat] Unfortunately, hate speech is directed
at immigrants and black citizen groups in difficult political times. According to mass, state and local laws restricting speech and political conduct municipalities have the ability to say that speech, inciting hate and hurt,
divisiveness, and those groups participating in such actions are not permitted on town or private land and property. Black residents such as myself. >> Okay. Black residents such as myself would feel that town leadership were
taking the disturbing letter written that was brought to your attention by the CFSJC more seriously if it included in its response. This this statement written by the town. You said I have
how many more? >> You are over time actually. That's why I asked you to >> Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Okay. Um, I just want to say we should remind ourselves of the public violence and lynching of the of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020
and the time during >> Florida. >> Okay. Sorry. Civil rights movements when um, blacks had to be careful of where they traveled. Thank you very much. >> Thank you for your comments tonight, Lauren. Athena >> Laura Ivon Steinman.
>> Laura, please come on up. State your name and where you live and make your comment. >> Good evening. I'm Lori Von Steinman. I'm a resident of Florence, Massachusetts. Um I am the art teacher at Wildwood. Um
am also the LGBTQIA art club facilitator. Um I have these little scrolls tonight with little like reminder twists on them. Um, in it is a link to an article
that came out on April 7th from the National Education Association. Um, and it's called what's causing teacher burnout. Um, and it specifically talks about how um, it has to do with the laws
and the officials um, that are making those laws and passing those budgets um, that are creating the burnout. Um, so I'd ask people to read it carefully. Um and to note that the school committee um
has presented scenario two which I've said before um which restores the interventionists and specialist teachers. Um the budget that's being presented tonight um does not does not show that. Um so again make sure that
you're looking at the exact like numbers not just the percentage because they're based on um different starting points. Um also in the presentation it talks about how Ammer schools are um
presented as like some of the finest and as we're going forward and going into what's happening with the elementary schools with Amethyst Brook this is the time to really invest and um create
sustainable programs. Um, it's really not going to look good at all if you have this new building and then all of a sudden there's not enough teachers and there's a ton of complaints and a lot of staff that leave after the first year um
because there is um a program that wasn't built to be sustainable. Um, I really encourage um, each and every one of you to come by the elementary schools and just get a feel for what it's like
even for 10 to 15 minutes. Um, all the work that we put into um, the families, the kids, and all the different programs. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Laura, for coming tonight. if you give them to our town clerk, our
council clerk, she will be able to distribute them to us um at a at our break. Thank you. Uh Bob Nukem, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live, and make your comment. >> Hi, my name is Bob Nukem. I'm from uh
district 4 here in town. Um I'm speaking um an opportunity. Um well, first off, counselors, your statement at the beginning of this um presentation was excellent. Thank you very much. Um the
um unfortunate closing of Hampshire College um gives a a potential community boost to be able to use the rec center. um find a way to be able to keep that with access for the recreation programs
in town. Um with the arms pool and gym uh being closed during the day since there's students in the building, um having a facility like this available all day would be nice for um general uh recreation and health and safety, lap,
swim, adult lessons, even preschool lessons. And the group that I represent um is a master swimming group um known as you mama. And we have been renting the pool down there. So we would be a revenue stream. We've been running it
down there for 5 years. Um and we would like nothing more than to be able to continue to use that facility. Um it is a a um I think it this facility is a jewel in town being able the recreation department to be able to use that um and
utilized by the town as a whole. Um this would also be an opportunity for um health and fitness for many who may not be able to afford um one of the health centers or anything like that in town. So, I think it's something to um
consider to be able to um have a facility like that at the use of the of the town. >> Thank you. >> Thank you for coming tonight, Bob. >> Thank you, >> Vincent O' Conor. >> Vincent, please come on up. State your name and where you live and make your
comment. Um, I'm Vincent Okconor. I live at 175 Summer Street, apartment 12. I'm here to deliver some straightforward comments about the manager's budget. Um, first I
want to ask the council to ignore anything about after FY27 because of the unstable nature of the federal government. Just ignore it. It's it's there on paper, but it's not worth a single comment of
yours. Second, ignore everything about the details of the FY27 budget because the council does not have committees of jurisdiction that could challenge any particular department's details, but instead focus on the fact that the
manager's budget proposes $483,69 less for the elementary schools than was voted by the elementary school committee. Focus also on the efforts of Senator Cmerford and Representative Dom who have
been making real efforts to get more money to Western Mass. In past years, I have done analyses of the state budget versus what was projected in the manager's budget. And literally the
state budget has exceeded the manager's budgets estimates for school uh uh um money by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Every year I've done the analysis, it exceeds the manager's pens.
So what I would like to recommend to the council is that the council summarily vote the school budgets for both the elementary and secondary school regional schools as proposed by the school
committees and as part of that motion return the manager's budget to him for adjustments to his proposed budget consistent with your approval of the the budgets recommended to you by both
school committees. Um, anything other than this will, I think, send a message to the parents and children of the elementary and secondary schools that you do not
care. >> Thank you for coming tonight, Vincent Aaron Evans James, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live, and make your comment. Yes. Hi. Hi. Um uh just want to um uh
like voice my um uh like um support and um uh like encouragement of um the town council and um and the um town as a whole um to um consider
um Hampshire [clears throat] Hampshire College like the property and and the institution um as a like um valuable resource and and to not um have it get sold off to
some developer or some um uh for-profit corporation that um uh might turn it into something that is not um beneficial to the amorous community. Um uh I mean I'm current I'm currently in the on the
group that that's trying to um uh save the Hampshire um uh like community as a as a community of ourselves, but I'm not sure whether that's going to um actually be something that that um pans out. However, I think
that the town as a whole um has a um an opportunity to um embrace the Hampshire um campus as a um resource. And I think that that is something that um uh um uh
the town council should um uh just discuss um at some point. So, >> thank you for coming tonight. Aaron Athena. >> Lucy Pac. >> Lucy, please come on up. State your name
and where you live. >> Hi, my name is Lucy Pac. I'm a student at UMass Ammerst, but I'm living off campus right now in North Ammerst. Um, I am here to read my proposed proclamation to make June chronic migraine awareness month. Um, so I will read it now. Um
whereas headache disorders affect more than 40 million Americans and over 1.1 billion people worldwide. Whereas headache diseases are among the leading causes of disability globally, disproportionately affecting women, veterans, and historically marginalized
communities. Whereas an estimated 4 million Americans live with chronic migraines experiencing reoccurring symptoms 15 or more days per month, yet access to specialized care remains limited. Whereas significant racial and
socioeconomic disparities persist with black, latinex, and native or indigenous populations facing higher rates of underdiagnosis and inadequate treatment. Whereas veterans and military personnel experience higher rates of post-traumatic headache and migraines
due to traumatic brain injuries sustained while in service. Whereas cluster headache is recognized as one of the most debilitating medical conditions affecting approximately 1 in 10,000 Americans. Whereas there is a severe shortage of headache specialists with
fewer than 800 certified headache medicine specialists nationwide creating sign significant barriers to care particularly in rural and underserved communities. Whereas headache diseases place a severe economic economic burden
costing US companies over 78 billion annually in loss productivity and healthcare expenses. Whereas the symptoms of headache disorders extend beyond head pain often impacting vision, cognitive function, balance, and daily
activities with attacks lasting hours to days. Whereas stigma and misinformation have historically stifled research, treatment, innovation, and public awareness, leaving many patients undiagnosed and untreated. Whereas
individuals with headache disorders are at an increased risk risk for developing depression and suicidal ideiation underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive care and mental health support. And whereas all individuals living with headache diseases deserve
equitable, timely and affordable access to effective treatments to improve their quality of life. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Lucy. Um Carrie Bernstein, please unmute yourself. State your name and where you live and make your comment.
[clears throat] >> Hi, thank you. My name is Carrie Bernstein. I uh a former Ammerst resident. I lived in Ammerst for almost for over 20 years. My parents still live in Ammerst. Um and I spoke to them about
their support of this issue. And I live in Northampton now. Um, I'm here because I want to uh help form a bridge between the um alumni,
Hampshire community members and residents who are working with uh within the umbrella of [snorts] an organization called Hampshire Next in order to try to um
find the next best use of Hampshire colleg's campus and to continue to forward its educational and community missions. And um just to extend the uh
awareness of this effort um and where we currently stand and that we look forward to working with the town of Ammerst to uh bring this place to its highest purposes and um to work collaboratively with the town. The group is trying to
raise uh at least $5 million by May 16th um in order to help the trustees of Hampshire College protect the uh parcels that are currently um the debt is
currently called on and um we will be continuing to uh work collaboratively with um internally and with community members to uh develop the vision um in a um
democratic and collaborative manner. So just to raise your awareness of this organization called Hampshire Next that is um alumni, community, faculty, staff, student and community members working
together to try to um bring the next stage of the Hampshire College uh with you know in the face of its uh ending as its current existence.
Thank you. >> Thank you, Carrie, for your comments tonight. Anyone else in the town room? No. Okay. Um, Ellen JG, please unmute yourself, state your name, and where you live, and make your comment. >> Hi, thank you. Um I am Ellen Jedri
Gadira and resident of South Ammerst and I'm speaking today on behalf of the steering committee of the ARP special education parents advisory council to express our opposition to the proposed cuts in special in impacting special education programs for the coming year.
These cuts will account for a 20% reduction in full-time special education teachers and paraprofessionals and current programs. And a cut of that proportion will have devastating results on our children, teachers, and staff. We ask you therefore to reverse this course
of action and to not make these cuts and to fund the budget as requested by the school committee. Every year our dedicated teachers are being asked to do more than with less. They are at their breaking point. And after a steady trend of cuts over the past number of years,
we are truly operating with the bare minimum. We're not keeping basic programs fully operational. Basic functions related to compliance with our children's IEPs have seriously faltered. And at CPAC, we hear report after report from families of unmet students needs,
of lack of sufficient staff support, and of institutional strains that send our students into crisis. We also hear from teachers and staff who tell us they do not feel sufficiently supported to meet our students needs. Their current case loads already exceed past years and
especially as more and more staff than ever have quit or resigned in our positions recently. We are often told it's a difficult year that custom cuts must be made that everything will be okay and students will get what they need and what they're entitled to. But
our own special education teachers are telling us otherwise. And in a recent letter to town council on April 16th, special education teachers from Wildwood and Fort River outlined in great detail the grave impacts of these cuts for Amethyst Brook Elementary, including dramatically increasing case loads to 14
to 20 students and reducing the delivery of needed services. This is in the context of more students in the new school. We need to listen to our own educators who are telling us that these cuts will be devastated for devastating for special education students at Amethyst Brook. And we at CPAC stand
with our teachers. If these cuts go through as currently outlied outlined, please be cleareyed in what to expect despite insuranceances assurances from administrators otherwise. Expect that fewer teachers will lead to a decline in our ability to meet our children's IEPs
and 504s. Expect more students sent into crisis as fewer teachers and paras are on hand to support them. Expect more and more teachers and paras resigning to find better positions elsewhere. and expect more and more families calling for out of district placements
or choicing out of our schools or leaving for charters. As always, we ask that in times of financial hardships, you do not sacrifice what is non-negotiable non-negotiable, but instead ensure that any and all cuts are made um that come from areas that do not harm our most vulnerable student
populations. Thank you all for your time. >> Thank you for coming tonight, Ellen. Evan Naymith, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live, and make your comment. And may I ask that those in the audience please speak quieter so it does not does not disrupt the meeting.
Evan, you may go on. >> Hi guys, Evan Nay Smith, uh, District 5. Um, I support absolutely everything that Ellen just said very much so. Um, she's just one of many people who every single week call up this very board and singing
the same song. Ammerst has great ideas, but too little revenue to fund them. Allowing taxable home building at Hampshire College would significantly increase revenues. That makes your jobs easier. Recent development has netted residents an additional 1.9 million a
year in property tax revenues. Imagine how much worse all of these phone calls would be if you didn't have that revenue right now. Building out the tax base won't happen overnight, but I think most of you know it's the right thing to do. Property taxes aren't the only reason to permit partial development of the HC
property. 68% of Ammerst renters are costburdened compared to only 21% of homeowners. Meaning by definition, most a super majority of Ammerst renters struggle to afford basic human needs. The survival center has had to open a
satellite location to address the literal hunger our housing policies have wrought. The burden of Amoris's anti-renter policies falls disproportionately on minority populations who only own homes at half the rate of white residents. The AH has
documented this thoroughly. We must do better. There is a very clear blueprint for helping renter affordability and increasing the supply of homes and rentals is a primary tool. Allowing home building at Ammerst College would help renters afford to thrive in Ammerst. It
is progressive. To your credit, most of Ammerst's regressive policies are remnants of the archaic town meeting government, but we need to change those policies now. While the Hampshire College situation is a tragedy in its own right, it's also a massive
opportunity for Ammerst. So, I ask this board, please assert local control now through zoning and purchase options. ensure that all development is taxable. Our teachers, our DPW workers, our infrastructure, they require more funding. This is an incredible
opportunity to avoid a future override and painful cuts. Also, please permit development at a very ambitious scale. Affordable housing, senior housing, student housing. It's not an Nimby problem cuz it's nobody's backyard. There is enough room
for everything. Ammerst has a once- in a generation opportunity to underwrite its own progressive future. Please don't let this opportunity pass. Thank you. >> Thank you for coming tonight, Evan. John, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live, and make your
comment. >> I'm John Nutaly. I'm a resident in South Ammerst and uh I think my issue seems rather trivial in light of all the social justice and uh educational budgetary problems, but I would like to
reinforce the message raised by Bob Nukem earlier about the swimming community and uh the prior speakers recognition that the Hampshire College closing is a once in a-lifetime opportunity for the town to uh to take
control of very valuable resources which could put be put to use. I'm a member of the swimming community. Um I have uh been a swimmer here in Ammeris now for 25 years and when we arrived here there was a a plethora of pools at the
university and the colleges and and the town. Um but over time these the infrastructure has uh aged and uh these pools are slowly coming offline and uh we have a crisis today. Uh there are several organizations that use the
Hampshire facility for swimming uh including the LSSC program as well as masters groups uh and uh recreational uh age group swimming programs. So I would just encourage the counselors to uh to take special attention to the
opportunities this Hampshire College closure uh creates for us. Obviously both in terms of housing but certainly in terms of recreation. So, I urge you all to see what you can do to help uh support the the the swimming pool and the programs that uh come from that.
Thank you. >> Thank you, John, for coming tonight. Elizabeth, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live and make your comment. >> Hi. Uh good evening. I My name is Elizabeth Patell. I'm a District 2 resident and taxpayer. I'm also an
Amoris public school staff and a proud parent of two successful uh graduates from our public schools. Um I want to echo what what uh previous parents and educators have stated here tonight. Um, I'm concerned about the cuts to our
elementary schools and want to emphasize the importance of having live trusting community of educators to embrace the needs of all our children. Um, a student's education might be supported by some artificial
intelligence as is seen in the uh uh education trend of our whole nation. Uh, but it's all the humans in a in a child's life that make a difference. Whether uh the support's coming from arts integration specialists or from any
academic or individualized u intervention, these are people in our education community that weave together learning with our students. Um and I've seen it in action. I've seen it with my own children. Um one who is a graduate
from college and the other one who chose not to go to college and who is who are both successful. So that is real to me testament to uh what we have done in the past. Uh and I really feel that we have been dwindling and shaving and shaving
and shaving off funding for our schools and it's uh only going to make matters worse instead of um better. So uh please provide more funding for our schools. Thank you. >> Thank you for coming tonight, Elizabeth. Seeing no other hands, the public
comment period is closed and we will be moving on to the consent agenda. The consent agenda. Um, 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 discussion later in the meeting, ask that it be removed when the president lists the consent agenda items. The request to remove an item from the consent agenda does not require a second. I just want to note that um the items 8A and B are referrals only. We will have a budget
presentation and a water and sewer presentation and opportunity to ask questions even if we refer the motions um and adopt the motions on consent agenda. Um so the items as are as follows. I will read it and then if there are any removals I will ask for
that and if not I'll make the motion. So, it's to move the following items in the printed motions there and approve those items as a single unit. 6 A, adoption of the ALS Awareness Month proclamation. 6B, adoption of Jewish American Heritage Month proclamation. 6
C, adoption of migraine and headache awareness month proclamation. 8A, referral of FY27 budget, capital inventory, and capital improvement program. 8B, referral of proposed FY27 water and sewer rates amendments to
regulations. 8F, action on charter review committee beyond the charter recommendations and 11A, approval of minutes the April 27th, 2026 regular meeting. Are there any requests to remove items?
Councelor Kennel Martin. >> Yes. Could we remove 8F, please? >> Yes. 8 to F has been removed. Are there any other requests? >> Seeing none, is there a second on the consent motion? >> Wait for a second.
>> Thank you. Um, okay. No discussion. We will move to a vote. We start with Sam Mloud. >> I. >> Pam. Yes. >> Councelor Ryan. >> Hi, >> Kathy Shane. >> Yes. >> Jennifer Todd.
>> Yes. >> Councelor Walker. >> Yes. >> Councelor Bravik. >> Yes. >> Councelor Hannah Martin. >> Yes. >> Andy Churchill. >> Yes. >> Anna Delgen Gothier. >> Hi. >> Lyn Greimemer. >> Hi. >> Mandy Johanni is an I. Councelor Lord.
>> I. The motion passes 13 to zero. Um we will now move on to the um proclamation readings. Um I was the sponsor of the ALS um awareness month proclamation. Um, so I will read
the last now therefore and it's now therefore we the Ammerst Town Council do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as ALS awareness month to increase public awareness of the dire circumstances of people living with ALS. Acknowledge the terrible impact this disease has on
those individuals and their families and support research to eradicate this disease. and we call upon residents to support ALS research, advocate for increased funding, and stand in solidarity with those affected by this relentless disease. Um 6B is Jewish American Heritage Month
Proclamation. Uh Jennifer, would you like to read this? >> Um I'll just read the first and last. Whereas Nope. >> Uh whereas on April 20th, 2006, after resolutions passed unanimously in both houses of Congress, President George W.
Bush proclaimed that May would be Jewish American Heritage Month to recognize the more than 350 year history of Jewish contributions to the United States of America and American culture. Whereas according to August 2025 Federal
Bureau of Investigation reporting of hate crime statistics, a total of 3,96 incidents related to religion were reported. The largest of reported religious hate crimes were 1,938 anti-Jewish incidents, accounting for
69% of the religion related incidents. Jewish Americans account for roughly 2% of the US proclamation of the US population, excuse me. Now therefore, we the Amoris Town Council do hereby
proclaim the month of May 2026 to be Jewish American Heritage Month in the town of Amoris and encourage all to celebrate the history and contributions of Jewish Americans to our culture and society. >> Thank you, Jennifer. Um our next uh proclamation is the Migraine and
Headache Awareness Month Proclamation. Community sponsor Lucy Pac read nearly all of that proclamation during um public comment. But councelor Brevik or Lucy, would you like to read the now therefore clauses? >> If Lucy would like to come back up to read the now, therefore, she can go
ahead. Otherwise, I'm happy to read it. >> Lucy, would you like to read those clauses, too? Okay, come on up, Lucy. I'll just say too, thank you so much to Lucy for your work on this and Lucy partnered with our uh staff at the
Department of Public Health to develop this resolution and I'm really grateful for your efforts. >> Thank you so much. Um I will read the now therefore part. Um, now therefore, the town of Ammeris proclaims June 2026
as migraine headache awareness month in Amoris, Massachusetts, and encourages all citizens, health care professionals, and policymakers to support awareness, research, and improved access to care for headache diseases. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much for sponsoring this,
Lucy. >> Presentations and discussions is our next item. And as announced earlier today, tonight we are taking item 7A, water and sewer revenues and expenditures charter section 2.8 C request for information together with
item 8A action items on fiscal year 2027 budget capital inventory and capital improvement plan and item 8B proposed fiscal year 2027 water and sewer rates and amendments to water and sewer rates. They're all going to be done together
and questions can be together. They the staff wanted one presentation so that is why we are doing this. So um we are moving on to those items. Paul, >> thank you. Finance [snorts] director Sean Mangano is going to join us. Um and you have a memo in your packet for
the counselor request for information, but we will also cover that information in this presentation. And if you have additional questions, we can certainly follow up on those. So thank you for your time. Um so tonight I'm proud to present you with the town manager's budget for FY27. It's a budget that is
balanced but has required the town library and schools to work with its staff to bring the budget in within the budget guidelines established by the town council. The town remains on sound financial footing because we're careful in our budgeting and emphasized disciplined fiscal management. We face
growing inflationary pressures not seen in years, including increasing wages in a competitive job market, rising health care costs, and higher energy costs. The budget is built on the solid fin foundation of fiscal integrity that has been the the hallmark of the town's
finances for decades. This budget adheres to th those values. values of prudent planning, conservative estimating, although less conservative this year at the direction of the council, meeting financial obligations first, and making decisions with an eye towards the future. Next slide.
So these these values are concept concepts, but they're placed into action by people. First and foremost, I want to thank and recognize the hard work of finance director Sean Mangano. He makes all of our lives much easier. um his incredible grasp of every aspect of the
budget along with his creative problemolving and welcoming disposition has set the stage for the town council's work on the budget and open conversation. Many other staff have contributed including Dave Zomac the assistant town manager, Athena O'Keefe, clerk of the council and Samantha Gifin
our communications manager especially in producing this budget in this presentation. what we present tonight was months in the making and I want to thank them all for leading the town's budget development process. I also want to thank our colleagues at the
library um in the schools. Director Sharon Sherry is a non no non nonsense leader who has shouldered an inordinate amount of work leading the library over the years especially in a remote location. Superintendent schools Dr. Z Herman and district finance director
Shannon Bernakia worked with their principles and other school leaders to present a budget that meets the town council's guidelines. This work was not easy, but they worked at it collaboratively with the professional educators in the school district.
They are the ones who are closest to the school department's operations and I trust their work. We also appreciate the communication and cooperation they have shown throughout this process. Next, the development of of the budget began with the presentation of financial
indicators in November of 2025. The town council from that with that information established budget policy guidelines in December and subsequently voted additional recommendations. This budget responds to all of those council actions, including the performance goals
voted by the town council for the town manager earlier this year. Tonight, we'll provide an overview of the budget um with review the budget calendar including how members of the Oh, you can go to the next slide, I think. Yes. So tonight we'll provide an
overview of the budget, um summarize the capital improvement program, talk a little bit about the next few years, and then with the president's permission, we'll conclude with a presentation on water and sewer rates. It's a lot of material that we have to present to you tonight. So I appreciate your patience, but there will
be ample time over the next four to six weeks to learn more and ask us questions and ask department heads questions and understand the budget in more in more detail before you have to make your decision. Okay, so the total budget for the FY27 is just
over $17 million. This budget is balanced and I just should note that it's a budget that's balanced without an the need of an override unless unlike what you're seeing in many other communities around near us. The budget reflects and supports important community values like
education, equity, and sustainability. It is in step with the goals and guidelines established by the town council. It prioritizes investments in public schools, public works, and public safety. And we would always welcome additional funds if they were available
to meet all the needs and all the requests from every one of our departments. That doesn't need to be said, but we really do welcome additional funds, especially from new growth, which one of the public commenters me mentioned earlier today. The budget aligns, as I said many times,
with the town council budget policy guidelines and to the extent feasible given the town's financial constraints, supports the council's policy goals. The town's responsibility is to be the fiscal stewards for the town. Taxpayers trust that you'll make wise, responsible
decisions uh not just in this budget, but in future years to ensure the town can continue to make the investments that it needs to remain a first class community. I'm going to turn it over to Sean to continue the next slide. >> Thank you. So, this uh slide shows how
the budget is allocated on the expenditure side. Uh the pie chart on the left breaks it down into the major categories. Uh the largest category 47% for education. The next largest category uh 12% for public safety. This chart compared to last year looks pretty
similar in terms of how the the budget pie is divied up. Um the small change between now and last year or between FY 27 and 26 is that the capital piece went up a percent and the state assessment piece went down a percent. Otherwise,
the rest of the kind of the slices are about the same. On the right, we have the sort of more detailed breakdown of the expenditure budget. So for the operating budgets, the municipal budget, the elementary schools, regional schools, and the library, the overall
increase is 4.1%. Um, as the town manager mentioned, we started with a 3.5% increase in the budget guidelines. When state aid came in and state assessments came in a little more favorably for us, uh, we came back and requested to raise
it up to 3.85%. Ironically, not many of those budgets are at 3.85%, 85% which is not usually the case but um I'll explain why they're a little bit different. So 3.85% was the guidance to all four of these departments. On the municipal side the
reason why it's higher is because uh additional guidance from the council asked us to look at fire and EMS staffing and to come up with a plan over multiple years to improve staffing levels. So, there's an additional $200,000 that comes from the ambulance fund, which is specifically to support
fire and EM EMT services or primarily EMT services. Uh, that is added on top of the 3.85%. So, that's the difference for the municipal budget at the top. The next one is the elementary schools, which has the double asterisk. Uh, so again, 3.85%
that was applied to the base appropriation for FY26. You may remember there was a one-time additional appropriation from free cash. Uh but what's being proposed is that one time this is consistent with the council's budget guidelines is that that one-time funding has been rolled into the base
and then we also took excess funding from the regional assessment as the regional school committee voted a number that came in below the town's guidelines. We took that excess funding and put that into the elementary schools as well. So there's about an extra $339,000 on top of the 3.85% 85% uh that has been
factored into the base for FY27. The regional schools are at a 3.5% increase and that's because that's what the the regional school committee voted. And then the library, they're the only one that came in right on guidance. Um outside of the operating budgets,
capital is going up uh 6.84% and that's because in FY26 the council voted I think it's 10 and a quarter% for capital. for FY27. We've raised that back to 10 and a half% of the tax levy for capital, and that's consistent with our long-term planning around the four building projects and
other capital needs. The retirement assessment came in about flat, although I wanted to stress that that's not expected to continue year after year. When we look at the retirement system and what they project uh our assessments to grow each year, it's closer to 4%. Uh
but it changes year-toear based on how big we are compared to other members of the system. Uh so this year and last year were good years. We can't always count on that being a this low every year. And then assessments the final category we saw a reduction and this was a really unusual I I haven't seen this
before. Our transit assessment for PBTA dropped by about 25% pretty significant reduction. Uh we inquired with them why that is and we were told that AM similar to the retirement system other members of PBTA have added routes and Ammeris
has become a smaller piece of the of the pie for them and as a result our assessment has gone down. Um most of this assessment gets reimbursed by five colleges and by UMass. Some there's a lag to it and I'll point that out later
on in the presentation. Um so it's sort of a positive event for this year but most of that savings will eventually go back to UMass because they their reimbursement is based on our assessment. Um but that'll happen in FY28. Next slide.
Some of the highlights of our budget. So um we have proposed to add two fire EMT positions. is comprised of unfreezing one from last year or restoring a frozen position from last year and proposing one new position. So increase of two
total. And we have also put together a multi-year plan to improve staffing that we'll talk about in um like 24 slides. Sorry. Um on the public works side, the general fund budget cont uh that's concentrated on public works is growing
7.9%. Relative to the the 4.5 overall that the town operating budgets going up. So we've def definitely prioritized funding into public works um funds to support the most recent collective bargain agreement proposal um and additional
funds to supplement operating budgets. You may recall we talked about operating budgets have been flat throughout this period of inflation. it's affected uh the ability of workers to do their jobs. Um we can't fix that for all departments in one year, but we can start to fix it
over time. And this year we prioritize public works as being one of the departments uh most impacted by inflation. The elementary schools base appropriation is going up 5.1%. This includes the extra 339,000 uh that I described before and it does
reflect the cons consolidation savings from the superintendent's budget proposal. So, um, when the new school was approved and we were going from three buildings down to two, there were savings, um, efficiency savings, utility, staffing from going down, uh, a building and those are reflected in this
proposal. And then road sidewalk improvements, uh, a total of 2.38 million. This includes chapter 90 funds. Uh, there's also a multi-year plan to improve road conditions that we presented to the council. We're we're going to give you an update uh later on
uh because there's already been some changes to the first year based on what the council approved, what's in JCPC. So, we'll give you an update on that. But the good news is the first year of this 5-year plan is funded. We're going to have a $5 million bid going out for road improvements in the next few weeks.
Um and then we just have to stick to that plan for the next four years. And then we also have a second asphalt hotbox, which seems like a a small thing, but it essentially doubles our capacity to fill potholes. Right now we have one that goes out with the crew when they fill potholes. This will give
us two. Next slide. Uh in recreation we are solidifying some programs that were really created last year but they weren't the funding wasn't sort of solidified in the operating budget. Um the first one is the aquatics program director which has helped
develop some of our swim programs. We're finalizing basically a third of that position's budget is funded out of the general fund. The other twothirds is coming out of the swim revolving fund. And then the other one is the morning movement program was kind of relying upon savings or unspent funds in other
areas of recreation. Now it has its own line item dedicated to morning movement so that it can continue uh into the future. Capital allocation is set at 10 and a half% which includes $200,000 for sustainability initiatives. It does reflect the Ford building project plan.
Um and joint capital planning committee was uh as usual did a really great job this year. One of the things they emphasized was limiting new debt. And so this plan proposes no new debt as we prepare for the DPW and other capital needs in the future. There's no new debt requests as part of this plan this year.
In planning, uh this is a capital item planning support. We've uh added $200,000 for economic development zoning and also support of um site planning for Wildwood Hampshire College. This is the one deviation from the plan that the joint capital planning committee
approved. When they saw this, it was actually two separate projects, 100,000 for one, 100,000 for the other. Um, but at that time, the Hampshire College News hadn't come out yet. Um, so to maximize flexibility and to use these funds where they're needed, the town managers basically combined the two and broadened
what it can be used for used for. U, but this is capital and it's a one-time capital request. And then lastly, in the enterprise fund, we're proposing one new operator position in the water enterprise fund and one new operator position in the sewer fund. On the water side, we've got the Centennial Water
Treatment Plant opening back up. We've heard about um quality of life issues and staffing. And same thing on the sewer side, we've worked with the superintendent around uh you know, best practices and guidance. And so this may not be the end of staffing additions for those two funds, but um we wanted to
start it this year and then see uh have a a further discussion about what next year looks like in the year after that. And then this the enterprise fund proposal also includes $400,000 to replace the Atkins water treatment facility roof.
FY27's a really exciting year. A lot of these things were started decades ago or decade ago. um didn't know we'd see these all come to fruition, but many of them are. First is the Centennial Water Treatment Plant that it's done now. It's just basically needs to be hooked up and
and turned on fully. Uh so that should be coming up in FY27 or sooner. The new track and field, it's done. Just need to make sure the grass is strong before people start running on it. Um the track is done. So again, summer fall 2026, we hope that's fully operational. The
Amethyst Brook Elementary School will open for next school year. Uh the downtown bathroom at Kendrick Park, that's like parking signage. Like who never thought that get done, but that's going to open up in June of 2026, maybe early July. Um Jones Library is on track
to reopen in the spring of 2027. Um so by the end of FY27, we could have two of the four capital projects that we've been talking about for so long complete. Uh we are moving full speed ahead on the public works facility. We're have an RFP out there right now. Um, in the next
month or so, we'll be interviewing designers and once we get a designer on board, that process will really take off. Uh, the Wildwood repurposing effort and then, uh, with the council's, uh, action to approve the CPA funding for War Memorial. We, you know, we're in the ballpark of the funding we need to then
move that project um, get that project started. So, a lot of work that has led to this and a lot that's going to uh, be completed next year. On the challenges side, I'm going to really just focus on the top one because it sort of influences all the other ones. And this is what the town managers
just said and what you heard during public comment. And our biggest struggle is that our uh expenses are outpacing our revenues. Um I think it's accelerated. It's always been the case for a while, but it's accelerated with the inflation we've seen the last few years. Um but every year we look at how
much our revenues grow, how much our expenditures grow, and if there's a difference, it means we're going to have a gap. and it the gap is not closing year after year. So we need to work come together. I know there is a fiscal stability group I think that's working on the schools. Um I think for FY27 we
really need to prioritize that and work together schools and town and library really all of us on this issue. It's going to probably not be solved just with revenue. It's going to probably require a revenue and an expense solution. the more we can do on the revenue growth side, the easier it'll be
having this budget discussion next year. Um, so I think you'll hear that that theme recur throughout this budget presentation that revenue growth is really critical to do all the things that that we've heard tonight. Next slide.
On the revenue side, uh this breaks down where the revenues come for our budget. So the four uh major categories that are in the pie chart are property taxes, local receipts, state aid, and other financing sources. Similar to expenses, there's been one little tweak this chart
compared to last year because we've been less conservative on local receipts. That's grown from 7% of our budget to 8% of our budget and property taxes dropped from 70 to 69. Uh but the other two categories stayed the same. Property taxes and state aid in terms of growth
are pretty stable. Um local receipts as we mentioned we uh projected an increase of 9.4%. Last year was a another increase near 9%. Um so we have continued to trend of being less conservative in that particular area. Uh
one caution I want to h uh state here is that our state aid and you'll see it on the next slide is based on the governor's budget proposal which called for a 2.5% increase in unrestricted general government aid which is the the major state aid to the town. The House
budget only called for about a.7% or 0.9% increase. Um, so we are continuing to build our budget off the governor's budget as we have in the past, but there is a risk that something lower gets approved and that would put more stress on our revenue budget. I'm hearing the Senate wants to do more and sometimes
that's just how it goes, right? One goes low, one goes high in the end in the middle. Um, but just know that this is the state aid projections. It's it's not a final budget, so they could change. Next slide. So this slide breaks down our our revenues for what we're projecting for
FY27. Uh again at the top I will emphasize the new growth line. So if you some of it's being cut off, but if you look at the new growth for FY24 it was about a million dollars. Uh for FY25 it was 1.2. Um and then in FY26 it
dropped down to under 400,000. It's the first time I can remember that we missed our new growth budget. We usually budget about 650,000. Um so one year on its own is a blip. If it happens again, I think that's a really concerning trend. Um
because we've had a decade or more of really substantial strong new growth. We need more obvious, you know, based on what we've heard, but we have had a really strong run of new growth. If we keep seeing numbers that low, that's going to really impact what the town can afford to do. um it directly impacts how
much new revenue we get each year and the base for our property taxes. So, we have reduced the estimate for new growth for FY27 based on what we've seen in FY26 and what we know about the projects that are out there um in the pipeline and uh we just need to see what we can
do to encourage more growth. >> Sean, do you want to talk about the Olympia Drive fire and the impact on those two buildings? Yeah. So, um the building that was being built, if it stayed on track, would have contributed to new growth uh for FY27.
Now, the timing is unclear. So, if that building is ultimately built, that will eventually hit our new growth. Um but that definitely also led us to reconsider our estimates, the timing around not the building that already existed, but the building under construction and when that will come on
to the taxuals. And and just to give a context a a range of what does that number look like? So we're look you're going to be looking very closely at the increases and we're talking you know the requests hundreds of thousands of dollars. What does one building look like?
>> Yeah. One one new building can add three to $500,000 to the tax holes depending on the size. Right. So one development can on its own can make a really substantial impact to our tax. Next is our local receipt section. So just again pointing out the 9.4%
increase there in state aid. Overall we're projecting a 2.7% increase. And then the other financing sources. Um the ambulance fund number reflects the multi-year plan to improve fire and EMT staffing. And we'll show you what that
looks like going out more years. Um it so in that number we're actually increasing the draw from the ambulance fund by $200,000 to support the operating budget. It's a decrease though compared to FY26 because in FY26 we purchase an ambulance. We're not
proposing to purchase an ambulance in FY27 based on our schedule. So we're increasing the operating but the overall is going down because there's no ambulance purchase for FY27. And that's just according to our our vehicle replacement schedule. And then there are some miscellaneous funds and
I'll just quickly explain what's included there. So the 450,000 of miscellaneous, there's 275,000 of capital that was closed out from old projects and JCPC helped with that process and that was that money is going directly into roads. There's another
100,000 of transportation network company funds that have been built up over a few years. It's related to Uber andyft and the tax they essentially pay that comes back to us. Um, it can only be used on work near where Uber and Lift activity happens, but it can be used to support infrastructure improvements in
those areas. Um, and that's 100,000 of that amount. And then the other 75,000 is from Comcast, and that helps pay for the municipal fiber debt that we're still paying up. Next slide. On the expense side, again, you'll see the overall operating budget increase is
4.1% and the different um amounts for each of the four operating budgets. In capital, uh you'll you can see the breakdown of what is our debt exclusion, what is CPA funded debt, um what the assessment is from the region. Again, we we get a bill
from the region every year for their debt. Um and then what's left over for our debt service and what we project going forward. And the key number here, I I'll point it out actually on the next slide is the cash capital number and what that looks like going forward. U
the retirement section again below you'll see we have a very modest increase in our retirement assessment which was helpful to this year's budget process. And then down in unappropriated uses the state assessment, you'll see that dropping 100,000. That's where that transit assessment is and where that's
going down quite a bit. That's offset partially by increases in charter tuition and school choice tuition. So it's not a complete drop. Next slide. So when we do the outlook on revenues and I agree with a public commenter that
outlooks are, you know, they're based on projections and assumptions and right now things are changing very rapidly. So uh when you go into the out years, you know, there's less and less confidence and that those numbers are going to be realized and there could be legislative changes that impact them. Um, but I
still think it's a worthwhile process to go through to see what does it look like and where are we at and can we make any decisions now to help um lessen the the impact of the future if there's there's going to be a structural deficit. So here on the on the property tax side,
you can see we are increasing our new growth estimate back to 650. Um, but if we want to take care of the deficits that you'll see on the next slide, that number has to grow quite a bit. in local receipts. Uh we have a range of different assumptions for each of these categories around how much we anticipate
they'll increase. The one I want to point out is in special assessments. You'll see the drop from FY27 to FY28 of 273,000 next to special assessments. That's that reimbursement from UMass that I mentioned. The the transit
assessment goes down in FY27 and then we realize the reduction in the reimbursement from UMass the following year. So, I just want to highlight that that so it's not a surprise to folks when we do the FY28 budget. Um, in state aid, we use this a pretty
conservative estimate of what it's going to grow. And then again, in other financing sources, the ambulance fund, we've matched that up with our multi-year staffing plan. So, some years um it fluctuates more wildly than others because there might be an ambulance that's being proposed as um being
replaced that year and then the next year we don't have a replacement. It's basically every other year we replace an ambulance. Um but you can see the overall increases in the budget uh at the bottom for the revenue side. If you go to the next slide.
So more importantly is this this chart. Uh what we've modeled here in the operating budgets are 2.75% increases in operating budgets. And then in capital we've kept it at 10 and a half%. Retirement again I use a 4%
estimate for increases. Um, but the important piece is that even at a 2.75% increase in operating, we still see gaps of about 383,000 growing year-over-year. Um, and I think what we've learned this year is we have a 3.85% operating budget
increase and it's still not enough to do everything that uh the town wants to do. So, at a 2.75% increase, it's going to be even worse, right? So if we want to do more than 2.75% we need to figure out where the revenues are going to come from to support that
um or we need to make other adjustments on the expenditure side. So that's really again I I agree you these projections you know they're they're only worth so much but I think the key here is that a 2.75% increase is going to turn into a very difficult budget
year for FY28 if that's where we land. Next slide. So on the calendar uh we start tomorrow with finance committee and uh at 1 pm with the review of the budget. On May 11th is the public hearing at 6:30. 6:30
is that right? Um on the budget and that's a finance committee meeting but it's at this one's in the evening. Uh and again the finance committee will meet every Tuesday and Thursday pretty much for the entire month of May. On Tuesdays, they're meeting at 1:00 p.m. and on Thursdays, they're meeting at 300
PM, except they might move it to 3:30 after the first week. Um, but it'll be on the calendar. And on June 1st, we have the town council public forum on the capital improvement program. And if we stay on track, the council would vote sometime around June 15th. And you can see how to
review the budget and contact uh the town council and the town manager. Next slide. I will quickly go through the capital improvement program. Uh so this chart and the table on the left shows the total outflows of expenses for from our capital improvement program. It includes
chapter 90 funding. Uh it also includes debt payments. So all of that is kind of rolled into um into this pie chart and that was based on feedback from the joint capital planning committee this year to to structure it that way. And what you'll see is the schools are the largest slice and that's because of the
Amethyst Brook Elementary School debt is we're starting to pay that through the debt exclusion. The next largest slice is public works and that's because the road all the road funding is there and that's the largest sort of individual project uh we have each year. And then library is third largest and that's
because the Jones library debt is starting to be repaid. So those that's where most of our capital money goes to building projects and roads. Next slide. Uh so these are some of the highlights of the capital plan. I won't go through
um each of them individually, but this gives you a just some of the highlights. And then the plan itself, you can see all the specific projects with a write up of each project uh to learn more about each one. Next slide.
So we use that plan uh to guide our our decisions. uh when we each year we start by looking at the the following year and what projects were proposed and rolling those forward and then we add new projects to the outy years and department heads know we don't like to see new projects go on unless they're an
emergency because it really kind of messes up what we've been trying to balance over the over the years. Um another guiding principle is to limit our debt as I mentioned. So we're going to have some debt when you look at our five-year plan. There's some projects um particularly at Crocker Farm Elementary
School, the roof, HVAC, uh windows and doors that likely the cost will necessitate necessitate de uh debt. Um but we're also looking to partner with MSBA on some of those projects and reduce the cost. Um but outside of that, we're really trying to limit any new debt uh in this plan. We want to stick
to the 10.5% for capital because when uh you'll see in a second um or actually in a few slides you'll see that even at 10.5% and the projects that are on the plan we still have deficits in terms of what we can afford. The resources are not enough to cover all the needs when
we factor in the debt for their our building projects. And so um going any lower than 10.5% will only make that issue worse. Next slide. So, the next section is really around a variety of plans that are hopefully responsive to what we've heard from the
council. It's been helpful that the council's been so direct in terms of what it uh would like to see and so we want to just kind of review these plans and how they align with the budget. Next slide. So, the first one is road improvements. Uh the council asked for a multi-year plan to invest in our roads
and to try to improve their quality. This plan is consistent with what you saw several weeks ago. The only uh change is in the FY27 column. You'll see the free cash appropriation we dropped down to 2.7 because that's ultimately what the council appropriated for roads.
And the 5-year plan number, which is from the uh the capital improvement program, has been increased to a million89,000. So again, the good news with this plan is our first year is funded um and we're getting ready to go out to bid. And you can see we do have work to do in the out
years. And some of this planning is to help provide a framing for when we do have free cash every year, what do we do with that free cash? Um, this plan assumes at least $2 million of free cash is going to help supplement this plan and do more roads um than than what we
otherwise could do. Um, but even with that $2 million each year going from free cash into roads, we still have more work to do over the four the the four out years. Next slide. This slide shows you the four building
projects. Uh it's the summary from the capital improvement program and it's blocked by the by the caption, but you'd see some a balanced FY27. There you go. Perfect. Um and then some years that are not balanced. And that's what I mean when I say if we go any lower than 10
10.5% for capital, those deficit years only get worse. Um and another piece to really be mindful here is the where it says new projects. So the amount the what's in there for new projects is what's on our plan in terms of what's
been requested from department heads. Um but we're not going to be able to do all that because you can see we have deficits in those years. So we'll have to reduce those project requests by whatever that amount is in the on the bottom row. Um so we're when we planned for these four building projects, we knew there would be years where capital
would start to get tight and there would start to be less funding for for other things. and we're starting to get up to that point um now that we have two of the projects funded with debt coming online and one hopefully in the next few years. Um that's where we're at. And then the other thing on this is so again
we have two projects that we anticipate will be completed within the next year or so. Public works as we talked about earlier is uh kicking off. We project if that goes smoothly and there's no hiccups, it could open sometime around 2029 2030 um if we move expeditiously
forward. And then the last one, the fire station is the one where there's uh we don't have the ability to finance as you can see right now. So the the there's no financing in this plan for the fire station. The plan for the fire station is to build up our reserve enough so that we can fund it without taking on
new debt or get pretty close to funding it without taking on new debt. be get it. So, it's a a immaterial amount. Um, right now we have $13 million in a capital stabilization fund that we created specifically for that purpose. Uh, there's another $4 to5 million that we anticipate coming back from the
Amethyst Brook Elementary School project from the investment tax credit. Um, assuming again nothing in Washington changes that. Um, and and rebates that could also go into that capital stabilization fund and that gets us to 18 or 19 million. Um, and then we still
have about 10 or 12 million to go. So, we're we're not there yet, but we're um we're also not that far away. So, I think again the framing for when we have free cash and we think about the plans that we have in place, it's roads and it's the fire station based on, you
know, what we've heard from the council. Next slide. Swear this is the last chart. Um, now there's one more. I'm sorry. Uh so this is our this is a new one. You haven't seen this before. This is a plan to
improve staffing for fire and EMT services. And what you see here is the funding coming in from our ambulance revenues. What we took out in those years to support the operating budget. What we took out in those years are what we're projecting to take out for capital and
then what's remaining. And so from FY23 we were bringing in more than we were using. that's uh dwindled through FY26 where we're basically using roughly what we're bringing in. And what we're proposing is to add two uh the two positions for FY27,
three positions for FY28 and two positions for FY29. And what that would do would be to an increase of seven positions, but one of those was a frozen position, so it's really an increase of six in terms of new positions. And what that would do is
allow the fire department to fully staff three ambulances and one firet truck at all times, which was um in consultation with the fire chief, one of the goals um in terms of our staffing was to have three ambulances and one firetruck fully
staffed. Now, in FY29, we would reassess what call volumes look like, what staffing has been like, and then determine is is that good or do we need to, you know, re again, maybe there's additional positions needed at that time. Um, but this would be a three-year
plan to get to that level um of staffing that I just mentioned. And the way we would pay for it would be to use the ambulance fund. So, this would not create additional pressure on the other operating budgets. The goal would be to fund this through existing ambulance
funds and through rate increases. We use a company um named ComstStar to do our billing for ambulances and they have a lot of clients throughout the state. So they look at our rates, they look at other communities rates. Um our fire department looks at local rates all the time. And so we did a relatively large
increase this year. We would increase rates five to 10% each of the next couple years or billing rates for um ambulance runs uh to help fund this. And this would not um box out capital. We would still we still need to make
sure that we have enough funding each year to replace an ambulance every other year and then some of the other smaller capital items that uh the fire department needs. And then the last one in this section, uh we're we are looking for new ways to
grow revenue. We do every year. Um one suggestion or proposal this year is around building permits for new construction of commercial, multifamily, and mixeduse developments. Um this table gives you a hypothetical scenario for a building that's 100,000 square feet and
costs $26.9 million. And in Ammerst, based on our current uh fee structure for that type of building, we would have a building permit fee of 35,609. In these other communities, you can see the methods they use and what that same
building would generate in revenue for those other communities. So the proposal that we're going to explore and we wanted your feedback um not necessarily tonight but throughout the process is to move to the model that South Hadley and Hadley uses which is
$10 uh per um $10 per thousand of estimated construction cost. And we think the method we have right now it's disconnected from cost. So the amount that we're bringing in now would have been the amount we brought in 25 years ago if there was no changes in this
structure. um where we know buildings are cost more, they're more complicated, they're more technical in some ways. Um and so we think tying it to cost like these other communities makes sense. So it could generate significant new revenues and um you know we welcome your
feedback as we go through the budget process. Next slide. All right, the final phase of this presentation, water and sewer rates. Uh so this is the water chart that you're used to seeing. The proposed rate
increase for FY27 is to go from $645 per 100 cubic feet foot to $6.75 per 100 cubic foot, which is a 4.65% increase. Uh this reflects a reduction in usage from Hampshire College closing.
They were a relatively large consumer of water. So we factored in lower consumption which has a upward pressure on rates. This also factors in the addition of one new operator position and the uh debt related to the Centennial Water Treatment Facility and the replacement of the Atkins water
treatment um water treatment facility roof. So a lot of capital is factored into this number. Next slide. There was a request for um a more detailed breakdown of revenues and some history and and outward look uh forward looking. So this is some of the detail
behind that slide that you that you usually get. This is our revenues for the water fund. And the top section are the non rate revenue. So these are other types of revenues that the town receives. Um new connections, there's a fee, there's a lean component. Uh we get interest on the money that's held by the
enterprise funds and so on. Um so this gives you a breakdown of what we've received in the past and what we're projecting going forward. And then the rate revenue is at the bottom and the total revenue is at the very bottom. Next slide. Same thing on the expense side. This is a little bit more detail in terms of the
expense projection. So personnel and operating we model using a 5% increase in the out years. Um that's been increased in recent recently it used to be lower but with inflation and where things are going we've increased that to 5%. Capital and debt is modeled based on
our our capital plan for the enterprise fund and our debt schedule. So that's those are actual numbers that we expect. And then the last line down there, general fund, those are indirect costs that the enterprise fund reimbures. Um it's a revenue to the general fund. And
that's usually a 3% increase. So this is the detail behind the expenses in the in the enterprise projection. Next slide. Similar similarly on the sewer side, we're proposing increasing the rate from $6.95 per 100 cubic foot to $7.30 30
cents per 100 cubic foot which is a 5.04% increase. This also reflects the consump uh usage reduction at Hampshire College. It also reflects a new operator position and the gravity belt thickener debt is fully factored in. We do anticipate an
uptick in capital requests and possibly debt in the sewer fund once we get the results of the wastewater study. So the study will give us what repairs need to be made, when they need to be made, how they need to be made, and uh costs associated with those. So um that is not
reflected in this plan yet because we don't have those results. Same thing on the sewer side. This is a breakdown of the revenues that support the sewer fund. Next slide. And then the expenses as well.
and the last slide. >> So, thank you. That's a lot of information. So, I appreciate your patience and like going through the 1,000 slides that uh we put together. Um, again, these are the basic I'm not going to reiterate everything that we said, but I think the thing that's
really current now is the we're paying close attention to the budget process at the state. The sen the state budget with support of our state senator Joe Commer came in better than what the house had proposed. So, we we really need to be advocating at the state level for additional funds based on the senate
budget numbers which is better than both the governor and the house numbers. And there was an um announcement today or a press release today by the MMA to try to mobilize support for this the Senate side of the ledger. I think our state rep is in in line with that, but the much many of the other House of
Representatives members are not. Um also just like it's a time to celebrate what we're doing. I mean we hear a lot about the needs and things like that, but just think about it that you know we we really have a new school that we're about to open. We have a new track and field that we're ready to open. You
know, we have the um Jones Library that's just we're months away from that opening. Uh the downtown restroom which is we've been talked about forever, the Portland Lou will be coming in. Um so just we're doing a lot in the town and it's it's a very few if you look around
there's only a handful of people who are making all this happen. So I just give a credit give credit to our town employees for pulling all these things together. Um, and our focus really is to be able to provide the services that the town's people want that the council has
established within the budget framework that we have. And I think, you know, we're been, you know, really fortunate that we've been able to do this without operating budget overrides. Most communities around us have been doing operating budget overrides. We've been able to do
it successfully without that. It doesn't mean we'll always be able to do it without it, but at this point that's our mission. I think the my approach is that we will try to live within the operating the limits of Proposition two and a half um for the operating budgets, but then for the major capital projects, we may
have to go to the voters for a debt exclusion, which is what voters have approved. So, I think if you if we come with a coherent plan along those lines, the voters will understand and will support it. But we also are hyper sensitive to the tax pressures that employ people are feeling. The taxes on
their homes are very high and a lot of that is something we can't control because a third of our land is not paying taxes and so we may have more conversation about that later on tonight as well. So thank you Sean for all the work. >> Thank you Sean and Paul. We have a lot
on our agenda tonight but we have time for a few questions. What I really urge the council is we've already referred all of the water, sewer rates, budget, capital inventory, capital improvement plan to finance committee for consideration. I encourage all counselors to read the budget, send
their questions to the finance chair um to Kathy over here um and she can incorporate them into the budget review processes going. But we do have a little bit of time for a few questions. So, councelor Ryan,
>> thank you. Um, thank you again, Sean. Two quick questions and then a brief comment. Use of the ambulance funds to fund uh the positions in fire. Correct me if I'm wrong and I may very well be, but ambulance fund is traditionally used to fund equipment needs in the fire
department. Is that right? Or how's it usually used? So, it's always funded both. Um, it's always provided some amount of operating budget support which is essentially earmarked for the EMT portion of the fire budget and it's been used for capital. Uh, but it has been
used for both. >> So when is now going to be used to fund primarily positions? >> It's going to continue to fund both. We're just increasing the amount that will support the operating budget specifically by the amount that these two new positions will cost. Um so it's
essentially a funding source for these two new positions. >> Second, just briefly if I may. >> Yes. >> Um excited to hear that you funding two positions, one in water, one in sewer. Um maybe not so much for you, but for
the manager, but whomever. Um I think it's going to matter at what level, what grade those people are uh higher. If they're at the lowest grade, it's not maybe going to solve some of the issues that have been rising. So I hope that there's consideration given uh it probably obviously would cost more but
it would help I think great deal with some of the issues that have been there if it's not a newbie but it's someone who has some experience just a thought and finally um I'm really excited about the Portland loo I can hardly wait June is that you're you're swearing June now >> who gets to use it first that's the
question [laughter] >> thank you councelor Ryan councelor I just had some follow-up questions about um the sewer and water rates portion. So, my first question was um how do our water rates compare to surrounding communities? Like I really appreciated the comparison that you
showed with the permitting and I was pretty shocked at how low our permitting costs were. Um so, how do our water rates compare and how do our sewer rates compare? And then we had also I think been asking the question, could there be different rates depending on the volume of usage? Is that something that you have looked at that could provide more
revenue? >> Yeah, know those are great questions. Um the first one in your packet there should be a memo that has the comparison um I think it was sent out late Friday. Um but there's a comparison to the water and sewer based on different volumes of
usage. So we're we're higher than we used to be. We used to be very low on this list in terms of we were below the our comparison communities. Um now we're closer to the middle, but we're still below sort of the average. It it's a
little difficult to compare exactly to other communities if you're if you provide different types of services, right? So some of these communities are heavy septic uh well communities. Some of them are big systems like Springfield, right? And the bigger you are, sometimes you can have more economies of scale, sometimes you can't.
Um so this you know this is sort of like a guide for us but it's um I think that's how we use it. And then the second question which I should have mentioned during the presentation is so um the public works superintendent has a consultant who's working with us to develop some different options on rate
structures for water and sewer and one of the ones is uh based on different volume and size of user. I know the council wanted that maybe for this year um and apologize sort of with the transition but our goal would be to have uh we have this consultant working on it
now and the goal would be to have those options for the next round of rate discussion so for FY28 >> um Pam thanks um there was a number as part of our income which is $845,000
as pilot um can somebody describe what that pilot covers, >> right? So that pilot, >> what are they paying us for? What what are we getting? >> Yeah. So it's it's kind it's not a pilot in the way you might think of a pilot.
It's our enterprise fund. So and this is a long practice. um the value and the property that our enterprise funds was costed out at one point. And ever since that time, the enterprise funds, water,
sewer, even um parking, there's a pilot payment that comes back to the general fund as a revenue for the property they own. >> So, we're essentially paying ourselves. >> Essentially paying ourselves >> from those enterprise funds. >> From the enterprise funds, Yeah. for the property because that property would
otherwise theoretically be taxable. Any other questions? Councelor Ken Martin, is your hand still up? >> Okay. >> And we'll get >> We will get the slideshow. Yes. >> Now, >> thank you. Thank you, Athena. Um, seeing
no other questions, we are going to take our break. It is 8:12. We will come back at 8:17. >> Sean, thank you. >> No, thank you. That was the most I've ever understood a budget. >> Really? I don't know. I like >> Thank you.
I got it. That's And unfortunately nothing. I'm sure >> [laughter] >> We need to start reathering so we can continue with our meeting. >> Counselors
[laughter] Councelor Churchill. I don't think he's hearing us. >> Kathy and Andy, we need to get started. Do we have councelor Walker and councelor Breivik back? Excellent. Thank you. Okay, we are moving on to item 8 C.
8 C is the proposed Ammerst Pelum Regional School agreement amendment. I want to welcome uh the Ammerst Pelum Regional School Committee chair Sarah Fes Kenny up to give us a little information on this amendment and then
there will be a motion made to refer. >> Hi, welcome. >> Okay. Uh so there is a motion that is before you. Um, >> oh, >> can you just speak closer to that mic?
That might might need you closer. >> How's that? Good. >> I think that's better. Yeah. >> Okay. Um, which is I sure you all have it to see whether the town will vote to amend the agreement establishing a regional school committee district comprising the towns
of Ammerst, Pel, Lebert, and Shootsberry to revise paragraph G, section six, aortionment and payment of costs incurred to the district as follows. The regional school committee is authorized if so if it so votes to execute lease or leases consistent with the powers and
duties of the regional school committee as specified in MGL chapter 71 section 16 or otherwise act thereon which brings which will bring the regional agreement more uh in line with
the law. >> Thank you. Um, I'm going to ask my questions because I have two, but u and then other counselors that might have some. Actually, let me make the motion first. Um, the motion is to refer the proposed amendment to the Amoris Palum Regional School agreement to the finance
committee with a recommendation and report to the council by June 1, 2026. Is there a second? >> Shane second. >> Thank you. Um, my my qu I actually have two questions. Um you sort of answered the first one which
is this this motion is actually changing a clause that has uh two things that might interest Ammeris that the period of the lease cannot exceed $100 per room and that it um has to contain other
provisions that the town of Ammerst may agree upon. Um, so was there discussion in the school committee about that particular parts of removing that? Um, and there's is there any particular reason for removing that? And then the vote of the school committee, this is
the one I'm more interested in, the vote of the school committee was actually different language. So, could you speak to why the school committee when it was in front of the school committee had a more generic language and now it's got references? Um the vote of the school committee was at least in front of the school
committee. It was um the regional school committee is authorized if it so votes to execute a lease or leases consistent with the general laws. Period. Um and so and then what what's in front of us is slightly different. Do you know the reasons why
it's slightly different? >> This is the law that specifically talks to committees. >> Okay. kind of ability to do those things. >> Okay. And then your >> my next question was about the specifics as to why this one is particularly
targeted and not any other section of the regional agreement. Um why is this is the only section that is being targeted for this? >> Yep. So, um, as you probably remember from previous iterations of having conversations with Desi regarding our
regional agreement and amending things for one year and then one year and then them telling us last year that they will never do that for us ever again, which I am taking a little bit of liberty with what they said. Um they
are were willing to agree to have this very small portion um updated with the intent that we will have a broader more in-depth look at the entire regional agreement. um
our school committee at our next school committee meeting which is the 12th I believe it will be on the agenda to start having that conversation to have a deeper conversation about the entire regional agreement. There are several things in there that need to be updated to bring it in line with current MGL.
>> Thank you. Are there other questions at this time? Lynn. >> Um, I'm assuming that this reason that we're going after this particular piece is because of the rental by the middle for the middle school for the new sixth
grade. Is that what's brought this on? >> Okay. So, and what you're telling us is that you've had a pre-approval by Desi for this change only.
Desi won't give you a pre-approval, >> right? Exactly. >> They will give you some suggestions that they could possibly support what you are trying to do. >> And uh was the language changed based on legal review? >> Yes.
>> Thank you, >> Kathy. >> Uh since this is being referred to finance, so we'll be discussing it again on Thursday. um the language of consistent with
the law or MGL, what does that exactly mean in terms of what a rental agreement can have in it or and can we talk about that more on on Thursday? So, I'm just curious, you know, like clearly $100 per
room per year was an amazingly cheap rate, [laughter] but >> but what does it mean in terms of consistent with I mean, is there a practice of of pricing out um leases
>> in that in MGL >> Destiny world or the MGL world? Yeah. >> Um not I don't know. So being consistent with something means there's something that out there that we could be consistent with. >> I mean this language is consistent with
the law which says that regional school committees can are responsible for the leases in their regional building. >> Okay. >> Not a specific dollar amount. >> Okay. Um I have another question which kind of
goes to what you just said about re looking at the rest of the agreement later. Um as you are aware we changed our form of government in 2018 and we have been requesting that change for now
eight years um multiple times. Um, and in fact, our manager sent the superintendent an email back in October of last year specifying what sections of the regional agreement would need modified. Um, is there a
reason that this section came before updating the regional agreement to reference the town council and town manager? My understanding is that that is part of the larger review that will happen
because it's not just a small language tweak that. So that is part of what will happen with the larger review that will happen. >> Do you have an estimate on how long the larger review might take and when we might see
>> I do. Okay. Thanks, Andy. Do you have a do you have a sense of what the likely rental cost will be for for the sixth grade academy? >> I have not been part of those conversations. >> And what happens if it doesn't get approved? Do we just pay $100 per
classroom? >> I'm that's that may be a question for finance committee. >> I think that is that is not a question I am prepared to answer. I have not been part of the discussions about the actual
lease agreement. >> Uh Paul, >> I can address that. So there have been many negotiations with a representative from the regional school district committee um from the superintendent, the finance director, our finance director, me and now more recently Ammer
school committee represent. So a lot of discussions about the how much this would actually cost. So we're digging into the numbers. There's um and I think one of the ways is to look at the actual um cost of operating the number of square feet that we're that the sixth
grade will be occupying and tying the pricing to that. And so the the school department has generated some numbers for us. We we're looking at those numbers now. We hope to conclude that pretty quickly though. >> Thank you, Kathy.
So this again we can come back to it on Thursday and you don't have to be on the hot seat here but if you come up with a number it has to go in the elementary school budget but it also becomes a revenue to the regional school and are
people thinking of that two-way flow you know just in terms of it it in it enhances the regional budget is what the purpose of it would be. Um, so just trying to think that through so that we can have a uh discussion about it on
Thursday would be useful because right now in the elementary school budget if people go through the line item it says rent and there's nothing there. You know, it's it's just there's an absence rather than a number um in the budget in
whichever budget we look at that that one doesn't exist. It would just be useful, Paul, because it it it it interplays with the two budgets. >> Um, Lynn, >> as you put together the larger look,
will you be bringing in representatives from each of the four towns beyond the school committee? >> I would think so, but we have not had the conversation. We will have the conversation on the 12th >> because it does have to go back to each
of the four towns, right? >> Each of the town. Yes. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Yep. Um >> I I believe that it's the regional school committee's responsibility to start the conversation and then bring it back to the board town. Um so that conversation or start on the 12th.
>> Thank you for that. Um this question is actually not for you Sarah Beth. It's it's to head to finance. Um, could finance determine whether this lease provision has ever been used, particularly the the current part of the
lease provision that is referencing the any such other provisions that the district and the town of Ammerst acting board of selectmen may agree upon. So that's one question I would have is have we actually used the current provision
and do we know why or how or for what purposes? Um and then um I had another one which was if oh it's a two-part sort of if the current provision stays in place is that
going to affect the the leasing of the current lease negotiations of Ammerst Brook for the middle school. Um as Paul just described sort of those negotiations ongoing. does the does this change need adopted in order for that to
be successful or not? Um and um as part of that is there any time limit for voting on the change? You know a lot of times we have time limits for debt and stuff. Is there an actual time limit for within
which all four towns must adopt it before it maybe becomes not adoptable or not changeable? like does it die at some point if we don't don't vote? Um I don't know whether that is but that's a question for the finance committee. >> So um the first one you'll have to do it
again but I'll I'll put it down. I know we are paying rent uh for the recreation department that's sitting there. So and it's not $100 per room per year. So at some point those provisions have been
used but Sean will be able to answer. So, for those that might not have been able to hear online, uh, our finance director responded that the that provision was interpreted differently for the recreation leases because it was not classroom space. Um, but yeah, so I
just had for finance. I know Sarah Best cannot answer those. [laughter] Um, Lynn, >> so is this is this question on the warrants for each of the other towns? Yes, it's already passed deliberate. >> Okay, thank you.
>> Any other questions on this one? Seeing none, we are going to move to a vote then to refer this proposed amendment to the finance committee. We start with Pam Rooney. >> Yes. >> Councelor Ryan, >> hi. >> Kathy Shane, >> yes. >> Jennifer Tub, >> yes.
>> Councelor Walker, >> yes. >> Councelor Bravik, >> yes. >> Councelor Kel Martin, >> yes. Andy Churchill, >> yes. >> Anna Devon Goofier, >> hi. >> Ling Greamer, >> hi. >> Mandy Johannick is an I. Councelor Lord. >> Hi. >> And Sam Mloud. >> Hi.
>> That is unanimous. Uh, it is referred to finance. It will be taken up at finance this coming Thursday. Thank you so much for coming, Sarah Beth. No problem. >> Bye. >> Have a nice evening. Okay, we are moving on to the 8D community safety and social justice
committee charter 2.8B request for information. Um I do councelor Lord, would you like to make the motion that's in the motion sheet or would you rather me make it and you second it? Do you have it up? In other words, >> a second. >> Do you have it ready to read?
>> Oh yeah. >> Okay. Why don't you make the motion? Please use your mic in accordance. [snorts] Oh, I move to shiake mushrooms. How do I make a motion? >> You just say in accordance. You started it correctly. >> I started it correctly. Don't doubt
yourself, girl. In accordance with section 2.8B 8B of the Ammersttown Charter. A representative of the CSSJC will appear before the town council in June 2026, preferably June 1st, to give
information regarding progress on the CSWG recommendations and immigrant protection efforts. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Rooney, >> would you like to speak to the motion, Councelor Lord? >> Yes, please. I'm not 100% sure that it
fits exactly in this spot, but when I reached out to the president and vice president requesting that CSSJC be seen before the council, this is um the method that we're following. So, I'm not sure that we're requesting information
from the town manager as much as um yeah. So, I just want to start by saying I affirm the work of CSSJC. Their efforts around Crest and the Community Safety Working Group recommendations and and protecting our residents reflect deep care and
commitment to our community. Um, I support hearing an update from them. The committee serves in an advisory role and it could be an opportunity. It is an opportunity for us to listen and engage and this work is deeply important for those most impacted
for all of us but especially those most impacted by inequities in our community. As we spoke today about the racist letter, we're celebrating Jewish heritage through the resolution proclamation. We look to pride next month and we will talk have a conversation about ICE tonight. CSSJC is
here for all of that and more. So I just um hope you will vote to approve this. there might be an amendment to the next thing about a special meeting. So, I'm just saying anytime in June and it doesn't have to extend one of our already existing meetings. It could be
on a special meeting if that is voted upon. Thank you. And if you have any questions, I'm here. >> Um, and I I just wanted to clarify the section that is mentioned in this motion is 2.8B.
2.8 C re references information from the town manager. 2.8B 8B is our I I just wanted to clarify for everyone is our authority under the charter to request a representative of any multiple member body to appear in front of us to get information from them or have a
conversation from them. So that is the section of the charter that that this references. Are there any questions? Um yeah, Councelor Walker. >> Um yes, I just have a quick question because I didn't review this specific provision of the charter. Um we are
requesting that a representative from the CSSJC be available. Does that mean that other members of the CSSJC cannot be available or cannot attend that meeting? Is it just one person from the committee? >> So the charter references a representative. Um I don't think a
decision if this motion passes a decision hasn't been made whether um I would enforce the specific motion of and the charter of a representative or not. That is the motion in front of us. Um I think some of it might depend on uh
councelor Lord referenced an upcoming amendment to a motion previously adopted. Um depending on how we do all that, it might look slightly different. Um depending on what a meeting might look like and all um but the charter itself
um is is specific to a representative of a committee. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Cathy, >> is there specific information you're hoping to get, >> counselor Lord?
>> Um, they will be bringing us information. >> Oh, did I answer? >> Um, we're not requesting information. They are bringing information to the council that we could use for decisions and
the like. Do you have anything further? >> So, so the motion reads to give information regarding progress on the community safety working group recommendations and immigrant protection efforts. So that would be the scope of the
conversation. >> Okay. So they have information they can bring to us. Okay. Lynn, >> um, in the past when CSSJC has come
before the council, there's usually been a request for information from the town manager on the, um, oh god, November 14th, I can't come up with the year, um, motion that included
seven different items that came out of the report from the community safety working group. Is that what you're referring to here? >> Yes. >> Okay. And but you're not asking for the town manager to provide information.
You're only asking you're only they're they're only going to present information. >> Correct. >> Um I'd like to speak a little further to that. I I think it makes for a fuller conversation if both sides are
presenting information. Uh it allows the town manager to provide the council and the community with an update on the seven items in that area and it allows the uh CSSJC to um provide their
perspective on that as well. This does not include the issue of immigration. I'm very well aware of that. It it just is pertaining to those original seven items. Um, so I don't um I'm not in a position to try to amend
the motion. I do know that the manager does try to provide a periodic update in the town manager report on those seven items as well. Um, but I think for the purposes of the council, uh, it would be
useful if we get both information from the manager and from CSSJC. >> May I comment, councelor Lord? Um absolutely but we are also being um completely understanding and considerate of budget season not a lot of time and
that the manager has been asked for a lot of information. So he is absolutely welcome to bring information but we do not want to put any undue burden on him at this time to produce that for June. Um, so he's more than welcome and then of course his reports are very thorough
but we don't want to put that we're not asking for that additional burden on budget season. >> Thank you Cathy. >> I think when I read it you had a specific date in a June 1st date and
it's just we have a a reasonably full agenda. I mean you would know more Mandy. So I don't know whether that date is firm or we could whether we could have it in the next council meeting if it's two weeks later. >> So the motion itself says preferably
June 1st. I have informed councelor Lord that June 1st may not be available. Um >> okay so that was my question. It just okay. So, councelor Lord has has been told it may or may not be. And then given precaging a motion that is under our
amend something previously adopted under the 48 hour rule, um there is a possibility that it might this might end up combined if that passes with a special meeting that is being requested to be that motion to be amended too. So that it is more efficient to have
everyone there for the same things. So, it it is possibly going to be June 1st, but it is probably more than likely not going to be June 1st. Um, depending on other things that happen. Councelor Bravik,
>> is there anything that we need to do now to keep that option open? So with this, is there anything we need to do with this motion to to keep the option of a joint meeting serving both this purpose and the purpose we'll discuss with the motion
I'll introduce later to address both of those items in the same I know that there's decisions to be made about dates, but is there anything we need to do now to make sure that's an option? >> I don't think so because this motion itself just says preferably June 1st. So
that is not a binding date. If it were a binding date, I would be recommending removal of the date and just mentioning a month. But since it's just a preference, not a binding, I don't think anything has to be changed in this motion to allow the flexibility for what
was just discussed. Any other questions or comments before we move to a vote? Seeing none, we start with councelor Ryan. >> I. >> Kathy Shane,
>> I'm gonna abstain. >> Jennifer Todd, >> yes. >> Councelor Walker, >> yes. >> Uh, councelor Breick, >> yes. >> Councelor Kennel Martin, >> yes. >> Andy Churchill, >> yes. >> Anna Delgier,
>> I. >> Lyn Greimemer, >> I. >> Mandy Johanni is an I. Uh, councelor Lord >> I. >> Sam Mloud >> abstain >> and Pam >> yes. >> That is 11 in favor, zero opposed and
two abstensions. The motion passes. Um, we are moving on uh to I'm going to keep it on here, but if the discussion goes long, I'm going to move to postpone the discussion to a later
meeting. But we're moving on to item 8E. Um, if we can keep this short, proposed acceptance of MGL chapter 40, section 71, school bus violation detection monitoring system. I'm going to make the motion and the motion I am making is to refer. Um, so the motion is to refer the
proposed adoption of acceptance of MGL chapter 40 section 71 school bus violation detection monitoring system to the town services and outreach committee for a report and recommendation to the town council by June 15, 2026. Is there a second?
>> Ryan second. >> George Ryan seconds it. Um, I was the proponent or the sponsor of this. Um, last year, as the memo said, the state adopted legislation that allows for
local acceptance of or requires local acceptance of a school bus monitoring law um, in order to give the option for towns or school districts to install um, monitoring systems to monitor vehicles
that violate the stop sign while students are boarding or deboarding buses um and then to give tickets related to that. This is the second time I've proposed this be potentially adopted by the council. It failed referral in the last council. I am
bringing it back. Um and I'm hoping that this council will consider and refer to TSO for consideration as to whether it is something the council may want to um accept as an MGL. That is not mandating use. And I want to be clear with that.
The only role we in essence have in this is to accept the statute. It then goes to the school committee to allow discussion if they want to discuss um and obviously there would be presumably costs involved and we might be involved in that if they want to um pursue this
option but they cannot pursue the option unless we've accepted the statute. So that's the first part of it. Um so that is why is there any other conversation? Uh, Council Ryan, >> I guess I would I mean, this is okay, but I would kind of prefer it came from
the school committee rather than from us. So, I guess the question that I have is whether you've heard anything from anyone on the school committee about this requesting that we take this action. We can still go ahead and and and approve this, I suppose, and we can
talk about it at TSO. Um you did point out that it will have some financial it could have some financial implications either well obviously would be on us ultimately um but it's not going to finance is going to TSO so um
has the school committee reached out to you and spoken to you at all about this >> um no I'll address the financing issues first it has no financial implications at this time accepting a statute has nothing to do with finance um because it does nothing other then allow things to
happen in the future. Multiple other votes would need to be taken. Um I have not actually reached out to the school committee per se. I've heard, as many of you have heard from many parents. Um I'm a parent myself who has heard from my own child who's ridden buses, but many parents have very many stories about
vehicles violating the stop on buses regularly and dangerously. Um, and so I see this more with the state allowing that as a item to potentially allow safer
bus boarding and deboarding. Um, we've heard from residents and all. Um, the other thing I see is this is and I said this last council term, we have a surveillance policy um, in town. I don't think this implement implicates the surveillance part policy directly but it
is a big step for the town to say yes we are willing to allow surve you know sort of surveillance or monitoring systems that will generate their own um tickets and that's a big step to take in a town that is a step I think should that
should be considered irrespective of whether it's on school buses or something else I've I've read recently that the state is considering allowing red light cameras on local acceptance completely as other states have. Um and this is sort of I think needs to be seen in that context.
Is this something a us as a town would want to potentially allow um be which to me to me personally is a separate necessarily decision than whether the school committee would implement it itself. Um, so, so that's
one of the reasons I haven't necessarily gone directly to them first because I think it's a separate sort of decision. Um, councilor Bravik. Um, so I can I can go back and look for minutes from the last time that this was
discussed, but I'm just wondering if and I know we don't have a lot of time, but if if there's like a short answer to what happened last time that this came before the council and why it was not moved [clears throat] forward. If that's too long of an answer, that's fine. But um was it the surve surveillance
concerns or was there something that really hung people up? >> My memory was there were a few counselors that didn't see the need um and that won the day in the motion to refer. That's my memory. It it was over
a year ago. So um I could be slightly mismembering the conversation. Um, Jennifer, >> I don't remember coming up, but um, I certainly support it and if it can be implemented, be effective.
So, I would support the referral. Um, I think we had a conversation. Um, the the problem is it's a moving violation. So, the ticket goes to the license plate and someone the the person
to whom the car is registered could say they weren't driving it. So that's the problem with the red light um uh monitoring as well, but I would we could take that that's probably a later concern. I would support this. >> Thank you, Sam.
>> Uh thank you, Mandy. Your comment about grander surveillance uh got me thinking. Uh, are you indicating that this motion or even if the school committee passes it that it opens up Ammeris to greater surveillance by virtue of us accepting
some form of state law? I thought I heard that inference from what you said. >> Let me correct that. And and Jennifer's comment made me remember that a lot of the conversation a year ago was about red light cameras and who gets the ticket if this happens. That that is
rejogging my memory. um and some concerns about sort of the logistics of it. Um no, so so what I would say is we have a surveillance technology policy that requires the council to approve any surveillance plan um if surveillance technology under
the definition of the bylaw is used. I do not believe this would fit that. I don't think this qualifies as surveillance technology under the definition of the bylaw. Um, so the bylaw I do not believe applies. Um, this
was the first time the state adopted the ability to potentially use cameras to ticket cars, I guess, would be the best way to say it. Um, to to give tickets for traffic violations to license plates. Um, they are currently
there's a bill in the state house currently to expand that allow probably with a different statute um, moving to red light cameras. That's not what this one is doing. This is solely focused and only allows for on buses outside looking
for cars that drive through those stop signs when the buses are stopped. So, it is not in and of itself acceptance of it is not accepting anything else. In fact, no other sort of monitoring system for moving violations is allowed in the
state at this point at all. U Thank you. Uh none of us obviously want drivers school buses. We've seen accidents that occur. Uh but my question relates to the
uh is this the state enforcing and all aspects of this are not in the control of the town just an automatic similar to getting a ticket on a toll road? >> No, it would be all through the town. it is a town. If the town adopts it,
accepts the statute and the school district and the police department implement it. Um the town would it would be a ticket issued by the town, not something like an easy pass. >> And I guess the last question affiliated
with that is are the tickets mandatory or is there discretion among >> that? I don't know the statute well enough. You'd have to read the statute. The motion says enforced. Uh, and so >> I think they are automatically generated
based on license plate, but again, this is allowing the town to consider the school district to consider installing them. >> Um, >> I understand those conversations on on physical operation would happen later. >> I'm looking at the endgame of it. Uh, it
it seems like a good idea. I just you know does it not enable any exceptions if there's something that you know gets generated that's what I'm getting at >> that is enforcement of some form of surveillance
I see it going forward uh but this is a unique area of course >> the Athena >> and just a point of information the town does have a surveillance use by law and so uh if the school committee were to pursue that they would have to propose
this for the council to approve in accordance with the surveillance use bylaw. Um there's a policy and they would have to explain what how the surveillance technology is used and what's stored and so on and that that would be subject to council approval. So
you would have another opportunity to look at this before it were implemented. >> Thank you >> councelor Kennel Martin. Yeah, I would just be curious about what type of technology um these bus cameras use. I know there's been a lot of
concern about um surveillance cameras that towns use, I think it's called a flock camera, that that data has been shared with um federal immigration enforcement. Um so I just want to make sure that whatever company operates this technology would not be sharing that
data with um you know the federal uh government. So I think I feel like we could refer that and that would give us the opportunity to find that out. So I wouldn't be against referring it. I don't know if I would be in favor of implementing it. >> Yeah. So the type of use of camera as
Athena said is if it's deemed surveillance under the definition of the bylaw would have to come back to us and we'd know the technology and all of that and how it would be used and stored and we'd be able to control that. Um this isn't authorizing any specific system. It's not even saying we're going to
install it. We're saying the school committee could consider it at this time and and the funding would have to come back to anyway if it needed funding. Uh, council Ryan. So, I think I'm going to recommend that
we not refer this um simply because I'm thinking as chair of TSO, um we can certainly take a look at the bylaw and see whether this is an issue with this idea of surveillance camera on a bus. I don't think it is, but it
sounds like really shouldn't be doing any of this unless the school committee comes to us and says, "We're getting a lot of complaints from parents and bus drivers." And it's not that we don't care, but um I think it should come from them, and then this is what we would do. We would take a look at surveillance by
law, make sure it fits that. We'd have to deal with the funding of that. None of this is relevant right now. The only relevance is us passing this saying it could be possibly done someday. So perhaps this is one of the reasons I voted against it the last time was and I
can't remember um was that let's have this come from the school committee and from the school community and from the bus drivers and d and then they say to us this is really big issue and we want you to do something about it. That's kind of my feeling. So, if it does come to TSO, I'm really asking my colleagues,
what do you want us to do? Um, we can't deal with funding. Um, there's no school committee input, and I'm not going to the school committee to ask. Um, and, uh, we could look into what other town's experience has been, I guess. Um, what
do you want us to do if you send it to us other than check the bylaw and make sure it doesn't conflict? That's what I need to know. I mean, so I can tell my colleagues what we're supposed to do with this. So my feeling is have the school committee send it to
us when they feel that there's an issue and then we can start this process. >> Anna, so this is enabling legislation there. I I don't actually see why. Sorry, I'm I'm as far from my microphone as I can get. It's so loud. Um I don't see why this would have to be a referral
because we're in live time. You mute. Okay. Uh sorry. Um, I don't see why this would be a referral because there's no bylaw that we would be reviewing. We are simply saying to the school committee, if you would like to pursue this, then you can
pursue this and have a bylaw that we then would review. Um, we don't have anything to dig into unless the school committee decided to act on this. And I don't think that we should take that option away from them. All that voting yes on this does is gives the school
committee the latitude to act on this should they choose to believe that or should they believe that this is something that's necessary for the community. I don't think that we should stand in the way of that especially because all of the surveillance aspects would come back to us for review. This isn't the last time that we would see
anything. So even though and I I don't know it it seems silly to me to have all this discussion and then say well they didn't specifically reach out and ask for this one particular thing. therefore we're not going to even give them the option to pursue it. That just feels ridiculous. I think we should move
forward with saying this is on the table should they choose to and not bind their hands from acting. Uh and add an extra step where they have to then come back to us with no bylaw proposed, but just say we'd like to do a bylaw. We don't know what's in it yet. We just need to
know if we can do it in the first place. Let's make the process less cumbersome for them. Kathy, >> what I think I'm hearing is TSO doesn't think they have anything to discuss, which I would partly agree with. One of uh the things that was pointed out last
time we discussed it by I think it was Bob Hegner is New Jersey has had active debates on this and several towns have tried out the cameras and ever we'd be able to find out exactly what they used
and one just on a pilot was finding thousands of buses were violating it in dangerous ways and so it starts it's moving to be a state legislator issue but I I think there's no reason in my mind that we just wouldn't ask the school committee whether they want to
consider this and if yes then we can move forward on it. >> Councelor Bravik, >> if I'm not misunderstanding, I think what Anna was saying and what I think the nuances is that I don't think we need to have the school committee come
back to us to say that we are enabling legislation here. And I don't think that I don't think we're saying there's not anything for TSO to discuss. It sounds like there's a lot that TSO could discuss, but [clears throat] not now and not until the school committee came back
around with it. So I I just saying I guess I agree with Anna that I think it makes sense and and I guess as the motion is actually worded is not a referral is to vote um tonight. And so I I don't see why we wouldn't do that.
Thank you, Anna. >> I just wanted to clarify one point um Kathy made. Kathy, that discussion was talking about red light cameras, not school bus cameras. And it's a really important distinction that we understand that we're talking about specifically a camera that turns on when the school bus
stop sign comes out, not a red light camera. And are we about ready to conclude the discussion on the motion to refer? We do have a lot more on this agenda tonight. Um Paul has not spoken yet. So, I don't think the surveillance bylaw
applies to the school committee. So, it if you approve it, they would just be able to do it. >> The question I had when I looked at it last year was it requires the school committee to work with the police department somehow. So, it was like so it it's a gray area um on to whether it
would apply depending because the whole thing was a gray area in how the statute is written. It's very confusing. Um, so it may apply, it may not apply. It depends on because it looked like the school committee had to work with the police department. >> We were just looking at the surveillance
use bylaw and it excludes the school committee and regional school, >> but it does not exclude the police department and since they're the ones issuing the tickets, that's where it becomes a gray area. >> Can I ask a point of clarification? >> Sure. You said motion to refer again. Am
I misunderstanding that this is a is this a motion to refer somewhere? >> I I had two motions on the agenda and as sponsor I chose to make a motion to refer. If that fails, anyone could make the other one which was a motion to adopt the enabling legislation directly. I hope that clarifies it. The motion on
the table is actually to refer, but uh someone else could choose to make a motion to adopt the enabling if the referral fails. Um Paul, further questions? Uh Sam? >> Uh thank you, Mandy. So, [clears throat] if I understand the discussion
correctly, is it required of us to vote on this or refer it in order to enable the school committee to initiate discussion? Uh, I thought I just heard Paul indicate that it's not a bylaw surveillance issue. So, they can do this on their own.
>> They cannot right now. So, we have to adopt the enabling legislation first. we have to accept the MGL before the school committee can do anything. I moved to refer so TSO could have this longer conversation that we're having now because I was hoping it would be quick
here to get to there. Um if that motion fails, there is a a counselor could make a motion to actually adopt the enabling legislation directly without referral. >> I I misunderstood. I thought we were sending it to the school committee for some reason. You're saying send it to
TSO. This was the the motion on the floor is to send it to TSL to to TSO to make a recommendation on whether we should adopt enable legislation. >> That sounds like a good idea. >> Anna, >> is there anything preventing us from adding and in keeping with the town of
Ammer surveillance bylaw to the motion when we adopt this even though the surveillance bylaw itself exempts them? Is there any reason why we couldn't say in this particular instance it does apply? >> I think that's something TSO could explore. bill. >> Sorry,
>> Council Ryan. >> So, I'm going to ask you to vote this down and I'd be happy to second a motion to approve it. Uh, right here. I think Anna's argument makes sense to me. There's no harm done. Um, if you send it to TSO, I as I said, I don't have the
slightest idea what we're going to talk about. It won't be very long and we'll send it back to you probably saying if you want to adopt it, go ahead. Um, so why don't we just go ahead and adopt it? Um, is my thought. If you really wanted to come to TSO either tonight or by email, send to the committee the
questions you'd like us to ask and discuss. Um, so my suggestion is vote this down and then let's have a motion to adopt it and that'll be done. >> Is there further discussion? Seeing none, assuming yep, there we go.
Uh the motion on the floor floor is to refer the adoption of acceptance of the statute uh to TSO. We start with Kathy Shane. >> No. >> Jennifer Todd. >> No.
>> Councelor Walker. >> No. >> Uh councelor Breick. >> No. >> Councelor Kennel Martin. >> No. >> Uh Andy Churchill. >> No. >> Anna Deon Gothier. >> No. >> L Greamer. No. >> Mandy Johanni is going to be an I. But
uh councelor Lord >> abstain. >> Sam Mlab. Pe >> no. >> And councelor Ryan >> no. >> The motion to refer fails two in favor. 10 opposed one abstension. Is there
another motion to be made? Um, I move that the city known as the town of Ammerst hereby accepts MGL chapter 40 section 71 enabling the city to install, operate, and maintain school bus violation
detection uh monitoring systems on school buses to enforce violation sorry violations pursuant to sections 14 and 14 C of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 90. Any s I'm going to try to add lib here. Any system put in place shall be limited to monitoring and
detecting violations of motor vehicle operators who fails failed to stop for a school bus and shall be in accordance with the town of Ammerst surveillance use policy. >> Is there a second? >> Ryan seconds. >> And by policy you mean bylaw?
>> Yeah, I did. I wrote I wrote bylaw and then didn't have a number for you so I panicked. Just just thought I'd clarify that that's supposed to say bylaw. >> Thanks. >> That motion has been made and seconded. Is there further discussion? >> Seeing none, we start with Jennifer Tub.
>> Yes. >> Councelor Walker, >> yes. >> Uh, councelor Breick, >> yes. >> Councelor Kennel Martin, >> yes. >> Andy Churchill, >> yes. >> Anna Deongthier, I >> Lyn Greimemer, I. >> Mandy Johan Hani is an I. Councelor
Lord. I Sam abstain. Pe >> yes. >> Councelor Ryan >> I. >> And Kathy Shane. >> Yes. >> That motion passes. 12 in favor, zero opposed. Um we are the abstain was councelor
uh Samlab. One abstension. Yeah, it's still unanimous. Um, we are moving on to item F, charter review committee beyond the charter recommendations. This was pulled off of consent. The motion is to act on the following items presented by the
2024 charter review committee in beyond the charter section of the report as follows. Through the town manager to request a legal opinion from the town attorney regarding the item referred to as a as quote allow council to increase line items without increasing the total budget and quote to refer the following
item to the town services and outreach committee for substantive discussion and recommendation to the town council by August 30, 2026. education and information for the public on what it look what it takes to run the town like the recent civic academy and to table the following items regionalization
opportunities. Is there a second? >> Griemer second. >> So this is a followup to um the discussion we had I think two council meetings ago on these items um to try and move them through the system. I tried to craft this motion in accordance
with what I heard at that discussion on these items. Uh, councelor Keno Martin, I believe you probably have something to say. >> No, I Well, I just actually um when I saw this on the agenda, I panicked because I couldn't remember the conversation that we had and I wasn't
sure what exactly we had decided and why. So, I would just greatly appreciate a recap like of what why we if anyone can remind me why we decided to do these things. It's only three things, right? >> Yes, it's only these three. >> Okay. Um um I I will do my best. So the
regionalization opportunities is already in the charter as a manager task. So it didn't seem necessary to do anything else with it. Um in terms of the recommendation, TSO was already taking up conversation regarding education about what it takes to run a town,
including the race civic academy. And so it's already there. This is sort of just so sort of disposing it in the same way that it's already being dealt with. Um and the request the legal opinion from the town attorney seemed to be before
instead of going to finance the whole council or many counselors seem to want to say get an idea from the attorney whether it's even possible before the council spends more time discussing whether it would want to do that. they the counselors seemed to coalesce around
wanting to know what our town attorney thought about the possibility legally before we spent more time discussing. >> I I do have a follow-up question on that. Just wondering, didn't do we not already have the opinion of the consultant that helped with the charter review report on that.
>> We have I believe a consultant opinion but not our town attorney's opinion. I think that is Athena. You that's correct, right? Yeah. Yeah. Um, council Ryan. >> So, here I am again uh defending the TSO
uh committee against work that it doesn't really know what to do or how to do. Um, we have, as you mentioned, uh, referred to us three items already that we are already working on and we will certainly give you, I think, a pretty good report on. Uh, when I read this, I
thought, well, I know what it takes to run the town. it takes lots and lots of money. So, uh other than that, I mean the civic academy will be included in the other items related to uh how residents can
participate. So, I really don't know what this is asking us to do. Um so, if somebody can enlighten me, I'd be happy, but um don't have no idea. I think the other items are excellent and the civic academy will be included. um basically the idea of making it clear various ways
residents can participate in town's governance and weigh in on government decisions. So I took that to be clearly civic academy amongst many other things. This I have no idea what it means. So if somebody can enlighten me I will then enlighten my committee.
>> Otherwise I prefer this to go away. Andy, >> uh, I'm on the committee as well and, uh, and I think this is consistent with the other items that have been forwarded our way and it have to do with better ways of letting, uh, the community know how to be involved and
how to be heard and how to get information. And so I we're already talking about civic academy as an example. So I think we can roll this into whatever we're doing and then we can check it off the beyond the charter list as well. >> Keep it as part of the Yeah.
>> What? Any further discussion? Seeing cussor Ryan, your hand is still up. >> Just keep it up for you to mention my committee. >> Yes. [laughter] >> Seeing no further discussion, we move to
a vote. Councelor Walker, >> yes. >> Councelor Brevik, >> yes. >> Councelor Kenna Martin, >> yes. >> Andy Churchill, >> yes. Anna Devon Gapier. >> Hi. >> Len Greamer. >> Hi. >> Mandy Johannne has an I. Councelor Lord. >> Hi.
>> Sam Mloud. >> Hi. >> Pam Maroon. >> Yes. >> Councelor Ryan. >> I. >> Kathy Shane. >> Yes. >> Jennifer Tub. >> Yes. >> It's unanimous. 13 in favor. None opposed. We are moving on to item
um 14/8g um an item that was added under the 48 hour rule. It is an it is an [clears throat] amendment to the April 27th 2026 council vote charter section 2.8C 8C request for information of the
town man on the town manager executive order on immigration affairs. I'm going to recognize councelor brevik to make the motion. >> Sure. So I move to amend the motion that was adopted by the town council on April
27th 2026 as follows. In accordance with section 2.8C 8C of the Ammeristown charter. I move to require the town manager and any department head or heads he so chooses to appear at a special joint meeting between the
town council community safety and social justice committee and human rights commission held in the month of June 2026 to answer questions and provide more detail on the statements and action items included in the executive order issued by the town manager's office on March 3rd 2026 as it relates to the
interaction between town staff and federal immigration agents with questions provided to the town manager two weeks prior to the scheduled special meeting. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second. >> Uh, councelor Keno Martin gets that
second. Um, before I return to councelor Brevik to discuss it. The gist of this motion is to amend something previously adopted under our rules and Robert's rules and it's deleting the phrases before the town council at the May 18th
regular town council meeting >> to and and instead of delete and deleting that and adding instead a special joint meeting between the council CSSJC and the human rights commission held in the month of June. So it's elongating the time and adding two committees and then instead of by May 4th which was today um two weeks prior
to whenever that meeting is scheduled. So it's mostly changing dates and then adding committees. So councelor Bravik would you like to speak to it? >> Thank you. And yeah, I think that this adjustment came from so I am the the council liaison to the human rights
commission um and just very recently got started tuning into the work that they're doing was not aware that they had uh interest in a similar type of meeting and also learned uh that the CSSJC was similarly
interested in in this same type of meeting. And so to correct that uh misstep, I am just making this amendment that and hoping that we can combine our efforts and have a more robust
conversation and question and answer by including the many different voices represented both on the HRC and the CSSJC. Um, and I think it's I think it's worth not rushing and wait, you know, giving it a
little more time, but I do uh to giving it a little more time to make sure that it fits in with our existing schedule. Um, however, I don't want to wait too long and I would encourage um a date of June 8th if that is possible um to to not
wait too long as a lot of the issues that we'll be taking up are pressing. Um, and then, you know, I do hope that there's a way to combine this with the meeting that Hala presented on earlier so that we can have hopefully a two-part
meeting and I see this being really an important um, conversation for the town to be having. >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments? Um, I I'm gonna let Andy speak.
>> Yeah. I'm I'm just uh curious about whether does this replace the the previous meeting or is it different from the previous meeting in some way or is it sort of it's adding another meeting? >> What's the difference between the two meetings?
So, this motion is amending what we passed last week, right? >> Um, which is a different motion than the one we just passed tonight. So, they would be two different topics. One is a
request for information to CSSJC. The other one is a request for information to the town manager. So, they'd be two different sort of agenda items if they have. So, they they are two different agenda items. they may happen at the same meeting. Does that make sense? Um
my concern with this and I just want to state the concern is we are asking our counselors a lot especially in the month of May with budget season especially our finance committee members. Um and so I have large concerns when when our counselors say that it's a lot of work
to be on the council of adding special meetings. Um, that's my main concern with this request is that it is adding another meeting to counselor's plates in a very busy set of months. Um, councelor Ryan,
>> I hear you on that. Um, but I also think this is something that, um, I just had a district meeting yesterday um, at Hickory Ridge. Holl and I were there and it's something that at least some of the residents, I think more than a few, are asking questions about. And so I think
this kind of conversation is probably timely. Um I'm wondering if since it's two different, if I understand this, it's two different motions with two different meetings being combined into one meeting, will there be an ability for the manager to talk back and forth
with um CSSJC and so forth or is it going to be literally like totally separate >> or do we know or do you know? So, I don't have the logistics worked out in my head. Um, but this motion, let let me just say this. This motion is a motion
to request the manager provide information and provide it to a joint meeting of three different bodies. So that in my initial mind would be a conversa sort of a some sort of discussion between the three
bodies amongst the three bodies between the three bodies along with the manager providing information. So questions could come from any of the three bodies to the manager at that point um or amongst the bodies but it would be under a discussion item part of an agenda. Um,
and then Councelor Lord's motion that passed earlier tonight is a is a motion that's focused on a discussion not between the manager and bodies, but between us and a different representative or if it's already a
joint meeting with CSSJC, it would likely continue to be a joint meeting with CSSJC instead of one representative. And that would be more of a direct discussion potentially between the council and CSSJC. and that part of the special meeting,
but as trying to be efficient, I would probably do my best to put them on the same special meeting. Uh, councelor Brevik, >> I'll just say I see that as a critical piece of this that the reason for
calling it as a joint meeting. Um, so that the members of each of these bodies has the opportunity to speak and be heard and participate in discussion. Um, I think is that's a key piece of it. Councelor Kendall Martin.
Yeah, I think it's just the most efficient thing that we could do is try to do it in the same meeting and just have them be separate agenda items. And so I do think it is, you know, something urgent um you know, considering uh constituent concerns and and need for clarity around, you know, what will
happen um should ICE come into our community and just asking those follow-up questions that we talked about last time. Um, so I do think it's really important and also it's a great way to restore uh trust with the BIPO community, especially um after what happened with the racist letter that was found and it's all the more important
right now that we listen to folks. So, um I think it's really important to do it as soon as we can. Thank you. Any other further comment or discussion on this motion? Seeing none, we start with councelor Bevik.
>> Yes. >> Councelor Kennel Martin. Yes. >> Andy Churchill. >> Yes. >> Anna Developier. >> I >> L Greamemer. >> I >> Mandy Johannicky abstains. Councelor Lord. >> I >> Sam Mloud. >> Absent.
>> Oh, he's will come back if he re-enters the room. Pam Rooney. >> Yes. >> Councelor Ryan. >> Hi. >> Kathy Shane. >> Abstain. >> Uh Jennifer Tub. >> Yes. >> Councelor Walker. >> Yes. and councelor uh Sam Mloud is still
absent at this point. Um so that is 10 in favor, none opposed. It's unanimous with two abstensions and one absent. Um that moves us on to
um appointments were on consent. We passed them on consent. Um, I want to remind us as we get into committee and liaison. Well, there were no appointments. Sorry, confusing people. It says consent and then none. There were no appointments. We did not do anything on consent with
relation to appointments. [laughter] Um, we are moving on to committee and liaison reports reports. So, I want to remind people to try and keep this section of our agenda as quick as possible as we move on through to item 15 um because we still have an executive
session to get through and it is 9:21. So, I'm going to start with any committees that need to report on anything that is not in any written reports um that are town council committees. Pam, >> I want to publicly uh announce that
planning board interviews will be held on May 28th at our regular CRC time, which is 100 p.m. ZBA interviews we plan to hold on June 11 at the regular CRC
meeting at 1:00 p.m. Thank you. Uh I see no other hands for council committees, town councils, town committees with council members. Is there anything that needs to be reported that isn't written? Pam, >> thank you. DPW,
uh, I did want to bring to attention that in moving forward, the committee approved a request for qualifications for design services. Uh, and that and that RFQ has been issued, made public.
And I don't know if there are any other >> Thank you. Um, councelor Kennel Martin, >> I just wanted to say in followup that last week I raised the idea um, was it possible to have hybrid meetings for this committee so that more people can attend um, via Zoom or watch the
recordings. And I just wanted to report back that I did speak to the committee chair today um, Christine Grey Müller and she said that um, she would be open to starting that in August um, and that she said that a lot of it will depend on having the town room available. Um, but my understanding is that they meet
during the day. So, I just wanted to flag that for folks to see if that would be a possibility given that a lot of the activity up until then may be done in executive session. So, it might not make sense until August. Thank you. Um, seeing no other hands, are there any liaison reports from
counselors? Seeing none, we did approve minutes in consent. So, that was my mistake there. So, the minutes have already been approved. Paul, the town manager report. >> I have nothing to report. >> Excellent. Thank you. Town counselor
comments. Um, president report. I did not do one this week because, you know, there's only five days between reports and there's not much to report. Um, I do want to remind councilors before we move on to future agenda items that um, as a legislative body, we act and affect
change on motions and measures and that any proposed measure, particularly proposals to adopt or revise general or zoning bylaws. You should be thinking about submitting them soon if you've got them. Uh, because it can take a while to get them into committee, out of committee, back to council, two readings
and all of that. two years goes by really quick and all. So, if you're looking at trying to make permanent changes to any bylaws or add bylaws and all, start thinking about getting those in form and proposing them and
submitting them in writing. And as Athena was just gesturing, she would love to help you with that or or talk to her about that and submit them to her and and ask her about that. So, um that's that. I just wanted to say that as a president report. Um future agenda
items [sighs and gasps] May 18th um has tenatively the rental registration report as a presentation item. Um given the votes tonight, it will not have the 2.8
request for information regarding the executive order. Um it has Pride month proclamation. It potentially has a relocation of a polling place in precinct 2B. Um, human rights commission
general bylaw possibly. Uh, we'll see if that's out of go. Um, and then if we've got time and at this point it looks like we might have time on an agenda. Um, beyond the charter discussion, the only things left to deal with are sort of the
major charter changes. So I expect that discussion to take a while as to when we discuss do we want to what do we what does that look like and all of that. So I think I need a little more time on that one than we've had in the past. So I don't know whether it'll fit on it or not. Um on May 18th there's a
possibility for some public way changes if the transportation and parking commission has made any recommendations on some. Um and there's the possibility of a letter in support of a state house bill. and I received today a request from a number of counselors for an
executive session um related to union negotiations. Um so I'll be discussing that in agenda setting tomorrow. Is there any other future agenda items? Councelor Kennel Martin. Yeah, I just I just wanted to say that I
submitted the request um about the DPW contract so that we can have an opportunity to um converse with the town manager about what the remaining obstacles are to settling the contract. And that was requested by myself, councelor Ryan, uh Jennifer Tob, Jill Breick, and Councelor Walker. So, I just
wanted to say that out loud. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um any other future agenda items? Seeing none, any further counselor comments? Kathy Shen, >> I'm not sure it's an agenda item yet, but um over the weekend when we went to
a legislative briefing, there's a potential that there would be a an amendment that we would all a constit an amendment to the income tax that would be a citizen referendum that would lower the state income tax that would be
devastating to all of us. So, it would be like nice to get an update. Lynn said that the the legality of it now in question because I would actually go out and go doortodoor to try to defeat it if it's actually there. I didn't realize it was potentially going to be up for us to
vote on in November. >> It is one that is potentially on the November ballot as a citizen initiative. Yeah, >> I I just like an up. It doesn't have to be next time. It just it would be an update. if it if it's goes away, I would just like to know it's gone away as
opposed to be surprised by it. >> Um, I will add that to this week we we have our monthly meeting with um the senator and rep and Rep. Dom and Senator Kmerford. Um, so I will add it
to talking with them about it. Um, Um, anything else on future agenda items? Seeing none, we already dealt with topics not anticipated by the chair. And so we are moving into I'm going to make
a motion in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 3A section 21A6 to consider the purchase exchange lease or value or real of real property 893 West Street.
The chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public body. Um the chair count town council will not return to open session. Is there a second? >> Second. Griezmer.
>> Is there discussion? >> Seeing no discussion, we will move to a vote. We start with councelor Keno Martin. And this is a vote to move into executive session. >> Yes. >> Andy Churchill. >> Yes. >> Anna Devongier. >> I. >> Lyn Greimemer. >> I. >> Mandy Johannick is an I. Councelor Lord.
>> I. >> Sam Mloud. >> Hi. Pam, >> yes. >> Councelor Ryan, >> hi. >> Kathy Shane, >> yes. >> Jennifer Tub, >> yes. >> Councelor Walker, >> yes. >> And councelor Brav, >> yes. >> It is unanimous. Um, we have we are
going to move into executive session. What this means is um we will log off on our present zoom session and log into a zoom link that is provided for the executive session. Um, we are now entering that exe executive
session. So you can log off now.