I'll call to order this U select board meeting for February 24th 2025 and let everybody know that Chon T media is is recording is broadcasting live and also recording for later viewing and I want to mention that if you happen to be
watching this on YouTube there are technical issues with it so your your um your broadcast is probably not coming across very well your other options to watch it are live. tv.org or Comcast channel 6 or Verizon channel
37 so if you join me in a pledge of allegiance the United States of America the rep it stands one nation justice for all and I also want to mention that select board member Pat Maloney is joining us via zoom and select board
member and Drew is running late she should be joining us shortly so we will start with public service announcements okay uh first up we have dog licensing you can license your dogs in person
online or complete the application that can be found on the town clerk's web page and return the application by mail you must have a current proof of rabies vaccination the fee is $15 for a spade or neutered dog and $20 for an unaltered
dog and the deadline is uh this Friday February 28th to avoid late fees if you have any questions you can contact the T clerk's office at 978 helps us serve you better from the town offices um if you have no changes to
your household you can respond online there's a mailing envelope or you can drop the census off in person at the town clerk's office next up we have the Freeman Lake Diagnostic and management assessment draft report is posted
through the town website and we are seeking public input on that if you have any questions or comments you can submit them to our stormwater engineer Courtney Thompson at C Thompson chelsford ma.gov or call her at 978
25052 28 extension 5235 and the deadline is this Friday February 28th uh next up there is a another Municipal vulnerab vulnerability
preparedness program uh survey it the um survey can be accessed through the code shown on the screen or at the URL shown on on the screen and those responses are
also required by this Friday February 28th next up we have a public notice that the chumford select board and school committee will meet uh under the purview of the Town moderator on March 24th 2025 at 6 pm to appoint one representative
and one alternate representative to the nooba Valley Technical High School committee for a three-year term ending March 31st 2028 applications are available on the town website at www. chelsford ma.gov they should be
forwarded to the town manager's office at 50 belrea Road by 7:00 on Tuesday March 18th okay thank you okay now we're at the general public input part of our meeting is there anybody here that would like to address the board about any Topic at this
point is anybody on Zoom Paul okay apparently no one so we can go ahead with the committee vacancies the following committees have vacancies uh the CCA Town Hall advisory committee has two openings the clean
energy and sustainability committee has one there are four openings on the commission on disability two on the Council on Aging board and the Conservation Commission has one the cultural Council has one opening the historic district commission has an
opening for an alternate member the holiday decorating committee has two openings and the parade committee welcomes all applicants for one-year terms the recycling committee has one opening if you're interested in serving on a Town Bard or committee please
complete an online application available on the town website or for more information you can contact the town manager's office at 978 25052 two or email TM office chelsford ma.gov
okay thank you um next up on our agenda is a public hearing um so you are Mr husbands is that correct um I wonder if you would mind waiting till our fourth member our fifth member will be will be here um she should be here what' you say
15 minutes yep she 10 minutes okay we do have we have a couple I think we can do the one day licenses okay at least and maybe maybe some other things so let's start with the St John's um so yes we have a one day uh
request for license from St John's there's somebody on Zoom oh okay I thought you said they were both on Zoom sorry it was good evening um my name is Jane saki I live at five Jefferson Drive in tingbo
and I am the chairman of the hospitality committee at St John the Evangelist Church in North Chelmsford at 115 middlex Road um or street street I'm sorry 115
middlex Street um on March the 15th we are going to be having our St Patrick's annual uh dinner party and we are looking for a one- Day special license
for that day uh for that evening from 5:00 p.m. until 11: p.m. and um the public is invited $25 per ticket if anyone's interested um and I would like to ask if um you would
please consider um granting the one-day liquor license for us okay does anybody have any questions about this application no okay and you said um Pat Maloney is on the on Zoom okay Pat do
you have any questions he said no no okay thank you all right can we have a motion I will make a motion to approve the one-day beer and wine license for St John's Evangelist Church at 115 Middle sex Street for March 15 2025 as
presented second Pat second oh Pat you're on mute the volume is volume is either that he's still muted yeah we can't hear we can't hear we can't hear you you're just gonna have to give a thumbs up when she calls
for a vote or down okay all right so we do have a okay roll call vote this Pat up so George seconded yes George seconded yeah so how are you voting George up up I and I'm I so that's 4 Z okay okay
and and a correction it is a beer and wine license it's not a yes that's what's on the application all right thank you very much thank you good luck all right and um we also have a one-day license uh application for St
vet's church and uh Bruce is on Bruce is on the zoom okay Bruce if you want to tell us a little bit about that can't hear him we can't hear you Bruce maybe the problem is with the zoom and not the he told me Zoom was
okay Peter du called me earlier no I don't us have a problem anyway I can't hear Pat either no okay um all right Bruce well we we can't hear what you're saying but we do have your
application here um and uh I don't have any issues with that I'm willing to vote absent discussion pat pat Maloney are you willing to vote absent discussion okay same yeah yeah I mean they're here all the time yeah so if you want to do a
motion oh yeah so I'll make a motion to approve the one day all alcoholic beverage license for St V nun's AR Armenian Church at 180 old Westford Road for March 22nd 2025 as presented second all right and we'll do
a roll call vote Pat George I Virginia I I'm an i okay do if we're waiting for Aaron do we want a break for a minute to see if Chumps for Tel media can get Pat's sound yeah I want to see if I working I want to see
if I can connect back to the sound so at least maybe I can at least hear him um sir you're all set for your license so good luck with your event I'm going to reconnect my sound and see maybe at least then we could hear pan you might be able to ask him to
recording in progress Christine I'm GNA leave my sound on to see if maybe we can hear Pat put me through to the room okay I can hear I can hear you cloud and clear yes yeah so I'll leave the sound on at least then we can hear Pat okay go ahead thank
you well he just said something we didn't hear him well yeah but he's coming through his computer now hang on P hang I think you can hear me because you're not in the breakout room anymore do you want to put me in the breakout room and see if it if it'll work I'll put you in the breakout room and see if you can hear when I when I talk over
there okay if that doesn't work just have Pat I can I can put them on the phone take pat out of the breakout room right let's see if that works test test test yeah Pat I can hear you now oh boy thank you can you hear me
as well yes yes okay yeah that's really good good good thank you do you want to put a microphone computer all right go ahead Pat oh I'm getting the feedback in the room you'll have to
unmute that when he's ready to talk I think is what you're GNA have to do just put him on yeah mute that for now so is your computer muted there we
go muted okay now we don't see Pat at all okay is he there yes okay we can we can uh okay whoops it'll be clunky but we can do it we can do it that's right all right so why don't we start with uh uh DPW director Christine Clancy's reports and
and if when Aaron shows up you know just so we can we don't have to keep Mr husbands here too too long right think first on the uh is the paving and sidewalk program all right so
thank you for having me tonight so annually I do provide an update on the annual Paving and sidewalk plan also reviewing but we what was accomplished last year um so this is similar to the presentation that's been provided in the
past years um so in town we have 190 Mi of accepted roadway um 220 Mi total but 190 are accepted all of our roads are included in a pavement management database um and we use that to basically
build our pavement management plan whether it be Rehabilitation or um preventative maintenance uh that management that database um was that information was collected a few year few years ago um and it's maintained by our engineering department so really that's
a basically a way that we use to monitor each roadway we do also update it annually um because sometimes roads can can deteriorate at a quicker Pace um and so we use this as we build our annual plan and also looking at what we see at
the next you know the next 3 to five years um I guess I really and what it does is also it's able to spit spit out like an algorithm is what are the highest priority streets based on the the the condition of the street how often it's used um and and what type of
Road it is whether it be a local Road or a collector Road next slide please and so each Road has a rating uh zero being a gravel road without pavement and the the best road is a newly paved Road at 100 um so each
roadway has that segment and what we do is we do a compilation of the entire town but we look at each Road and when it is when it goes to a certain rating that's when we look to see if any type of maintenance is needed whether it be a preventative maintenance um or routine maintenance with crack sealing uh then
you can get into some more uh um getting into the structure of the pavement and the structure of the subbase so when we get to a ratings of roadways down to um down to 6172 you start to get into that Milling where you see that's where we Mill the top two inches of the surface
and then when it drops below 60 that's where typically not only do we have to rehabilitate the pavement but we have to rehabilitate the subbase below the pavement um that's what we call Reclamation where we go in and we Mill up the the top eight inches and really uh make a re redo the Bas both both the
base subbase and the pavement next slide please so this is a overall of the PCI rating like I said this is in our pavement management database so going back two years ago we had a roadway rating of 76.9 um we've been very fortunate with
the availability of free cash um so we've been able to put more money into our annual Paving program so if you look at this the past 2 years uh because of all the paving that we've done we've been able to uh increase our overall rating of the of the town roads so last year was at
78.3 and then just this year we just updated this a couple weeks ago and it's at 79.5 so it's great news I would say in terms of other communities I would think we're either at average or above average um to some of the other neighboring towns um and in terms of you
know where we so of the 190 miles we have 67 miles that are in good condition really do nothing um and then in terms of mile or miles of roadway that we want to do work as Mill and overlay a reclaim about 30 35% of all of our streets do
make up that amount of work that is still needs to be done so always it's really a continuous um effort it's always going to be a road that has to be repaired um but as that rating increases it obviously I guess puts more roads into that category of of we don't have
to do anything or minor um maintenance whether it be crack sealing or micro seiling so last year we paved just short of 10 miles um spent 3.3 millions of town funds that was made up of chapter 90 so we receive about $1.5 million from
the state through chapter 90 um we also receive Capital um this recently it's been $425,000 annually as part of that um allotment from from Capital at voted at town meeting in April and then the remaining makeup of that has been free
cash and we've been like I said been very fortunate to be able to put this money into the program because it shows that by spending this money we're able to slightly increase the um PC the rating of our overall rating of our roads here's just some examples of last year Dunstable Road this is an aerial
thank you to our fire department for taking this photo of the roadway being milled um and then Drum Hill just aort was paved and before the markings went down that was um also a mill project when I say Mill it's at the top two inches of pavement um so we did not
do any Rehabilitation to the subbase that was in in good condition so looking at this year this is where we people ask you know what's the paving list this is the paving list we did present this in the town manages newsletter I've updated it for tonight's meeting to also show the streets that
receive micro sealing so we just started a program um Beyond crack sealing crack sealing is when you just when you're just repairing cracks but Micro sealing is really think of it is if you're doing a driveway seal in your driveway the whole the whole roadway is sealed um it's supposed to extend the life of the
roadways um five to at least 5 years maybe even up to 10 years so we started a pilot two years ago we think it's been very successful um so we're looking to continue that annually um about $50 to $100,000 to continue um pay or when I
say Paving sealing some of those roadways so those candidates are are listed here are the micro sealing candidates in the 86 to 92 the same range as the crack ceiling yes so they typically are in the80s I would say we
we look for candidates um before so that exact we want us what we want to do is what we want to do we want to catch something before it goes to that lower because as you go to a lower PCI and a a larger need of repair that it comes with a much larger value so what we want to do is we want to catch the roads that
are in the 80s essentially is what we look for um you could potentially have something that is in the 70s that we go out and we say we is this something we think we could apply micro seiling but a lot of the roadways are in the 80s um some might be in the high 70s but as far
as like if it so do nothing is the 93 to 100 when that drops to 92 we it still has years of Life As in that category um that's why the pavement M pavement management database is so helpful because we can use that tool to to plan
annually and try to catch those roads before they need to go to a Mill and in the picture in the previous slide with the Drum Hill and the dunable road those were both in pretty um horrible condition in that if we had waited another year that could have had gone to a Reclamation which there's a
considerable more cost for that so it was great to catch those roads before they went into a um a worsening condition uh so of so the all these roadways 8.7 miles estimated $3.1 million we just
about to go out to bid right now have that contractor come on Board and they'll be starting this spring we have the contract go up until the fall um we we target uh early October but it's also weather permitting um if we continue that you know this past year we went
actually into nove into November or maybe even first week in December um of so I would say half of of the $3.1 million about half it's almost split between the mill and Reclamation in terms of dollar value and this is posted
on our website um and this so this is our our published list um that we are going on to bid right now next slide please so aside from the roadway plan we do also look at our sidewalk um master plan this was also
this was prepared a couple Years Ago by environmental Partners we have a total inventory of 46 12 miles of sidewalk um all of our C curb ramp locations or The Pedestrian ramps were also inventoried not only were they inventoried but we have the material of it the width of
these locations um and if there's any defects whether they be Point defects or larger defects that we're looking at a length of replacement so we use this database also as we plan our annual um pay when we do our annual Paving list we
look to see if there's any of those Street candidates are there any sidewalks that need to be rehabilitated that's how we prioritize a lot of our roadway or sidewalk repairs um we all we do try to Target curb ramps annually just because we have 7 900 uh 756 curb
ramps in town and many of which just needs some repair whether it be they not it's not the right material or it's not ADA Compliant next slide please and this is so from that 2023 report this was the the makeup of the existing Network and
we are going now that we've spent 2 years in it we're going through and going to update this um distribution this this uh spring but we had about 8% of sidewalks that were in poor condition and a lot of those have been included in um in recent sidewalk or recent plans
this past year then you have the fair and then all the way up to uh excellent condition 46.5 total miles and then separate from the miles of sidewalk of the curb ramps and so we do just in terms of a backlog we have $22 million
in backlog of sidewalk work for existing sidewalks um stop and then for curb ramps we have $2.1 million just to repair those curb ramps that you see as you're you know connecting between um
crosswalks so a lot of work aside from that we use the master plan to develop new locations where we can put sidewalks to better connect the Network a lot of those locations around schools um the center um and and in the next slide I there's an example I think this past
year we did a good job of trying to uh install new sidewalks to connect that Network next slide please so this is a summary of the sidewalks completed this past year and so a lot of this the effort we're connecting uh sections of uh where we
had missing sidewalks so old westr road that was a a section identif if because it is in proximity to a school so we added that we added sidewalk on parkur road that's largely near a commercial area then the next streaks long spur Clyde steale Windsor Essex Place those
were all a part of the paving program so we were able to re replace those sidewalks as part of that Paving program um and then we just like I said we do miscellaneous curb ramps Mass do did a new sidewalk on tingbo road from Wellman AV down to vinyl square um and one point
so total that was 1.8 Mi of replaced or new sidewalk and that was $810,000 of spent funds between capital and chapter 90 um also here just pictured old Westford this is where where we went around a tree to add the
sidewalk next slide please um so 2025 our sidewalk plan this year so we did have a plan last year for Cushing place to add new brick sidewalk 255 linear feet we did get the curb the the granite in we also paved the roadway way uh we were fighting the winters we were going
into the really November December and we couldn't finish installing the brick sidewalk so that will happen in the spring with the new contractor that's the first thing that will happen um parkerville road that is a new section of sidewalk that we received a grant um it's 3500 linear feet from the BAM
school to the town line that's um estimated we have a $350,000 grant for that that um we're continue it does have some permitting um potential constraints but we are pursuing that this year uh and then Turnpike Road that also is a
new sidewalk project um from Golden Cove up to Warren a we we received a complete streets Grant F in the amount of $500,000 to do that work um and that has to be spent by this December so that's also these are this Turnpike Road and parkerville will go out with separate
projects because there's some permitting constraints um but uh and then aside from that we're focused this year on Miss mous um curbs at at least 20 locations so 1.2 miles proposed $2.35 million um it's a lot compared to last
year and that's because a loan uh $850,000 is coming from Grants um and the parkerville and Turnpike Road have um some considerable costs associated with those installations Christine on on the parkerville road um how far towards
Westwood is that one going to go uh so right now we're potentially going to the town line but there's potentially some significant permitting constraints there so we might cut it short so we're actually still determining the limits but we want to at least spend the grant
of $350,000 so from the biome school take us so it's potential that it could be that 3500 linear feet might be split into a third or half of it um dep but so we're going to try to go as far as we can with uh the what what we can permit
basically okay thank you but the goal would be to the Town Line if possible sure any other questions on the this plan and then just also summarize some other projects that are are large projects that just separate from the annual Paving sidewalk plan so Main
Street reconstruction design I know we've had um looked at this for some years we did do some work at Main Street at school street but really from that intersection Al all the way to gron Road I know we want to look at um the the roadway needs to be redone but also looking at is more of a traffic calming
project that is a considerable project 1.2 miles estimated $1.6 million because most of that is sidewalk on one side of the road and and then about $600,000 would be Paving um that it being a larger project also has potential
drainage implications looking at the school Street intersection and the Gren Road intersection what we want to do there um we estimating about $200,000 in design so we're putting together an RFP right now to go out to to to design that
um that will sorry that will make recommendations um that will also revise the cost estimate any other um whether it be if we have to do any um intersection design um and we'll have more information I would say probably by this
summer when you say traffic caling do you know what is it different options they're going to look at or I mean it's going to be kind of what they recommend but in some effort uh I mean sidewalk can be traffic cing by narrowing so it could be a road diet um I also the
intersection of School Street and Main Street I think the the existing guess I call it a roundabout it's not really a roundabout that really not functions as as it should um so there's something there that could be done you could I've done chicanes before you can um do curb
extensions but I think at least at least looking at a sidewalk to roadway to to narrow the roadway just I don't I don't know if you were in the position then but when we had the fatalities on Main Street the town did a um kind of a prototype medians with
barrels and stuff in the middle of the road and one of the huge issues with that was it narrowed the path for the cars so much that the pedestrians and bicyclists felt that they were more in they had safety concerns cuz the road wasn't wide enough but I'm
sure they'll look at all those different trade spaces and the other thing that had come up with was like a rotary at Maine and Groton and um that erupted in a lot of negative feedback sure as well because people
were concerned that it wouldn't be a calming measure that it would encourage traffic to to rip through that intersection at a faster clip rather than stopping so I'll just offer that sure no that yes so I did receive some feedback from that process and I think
um so the idea is traffic calming but also accommodating pedestrians and in bicyclist so looking holistically and I mean I think Mass D is definitely looking at roundabouts it roundabouts are um safer because you can only go through them at a certain speed so to
they are they are used um so I know Grant and Road's potential but that's why we want to go through this whole process just to see what our best options are or what our options are um so we'll right now putting on RFP design and my guess is with it being 1.6 million it might not might go it might
have to be split too so also this scope would also recommend phasing potentially depending on our cost constraints um another project is the chumford street 110 design so it started as one larger project from the center all the way to Golden Cove um mot is advancing their
portion between they're including Alpine line Alpine Lane to Golden Cove Road um they're still working on the 25% they are looking at roundabouts in some of those areas um I still haven't seen the final design or final 25% design um but that's being Advanced right now
um the section between Alpine Lane and the center that was potentially a Mot project but um they basically we had to continue with the funding we've paused just because if we continue with them asass do project we will have to do that
10- foot multi-use path and I know it was questioned well do we need a multi-use path if you have the Bruce Freeman Trail right there U Mass do often doesn't give exemptions so so we're just pausing right now to see we also have a drainage con concern near
Wilson so we're pausing to look at the drainage to see if there's any drainage um improvements that we'd have to do considering potentially a watershed study and then also putting together um maybe an alternative is if we just look at more of a just enhancing the sidewalks and not putting in a multi-use
path what would that be it would be a town project we're just looking at those options before we advance the 25% design with mass doot Christine what are the numerical r for Main Street and chelsford Street I'd have to check but I do know that I know for chelsford street
we did a spot pave spot Milling at one point and we had to because the roadway was unraveling um so my guess is it would be somewhere in the 60s um it and so it's getting close so we that's a thing too is we might have to do some sections and there's a there was a piece though that
we we did do an overlay um a year and a half ago I want to say is Main Street in that range too Main Street was probably closer six I have to check I bring yeah but a lot of these that we're looking at are all probably below 70 thank
you and then vinyl square reconstruction this has been going on for some time we're wrapping up the 25% design so then mass mass do will work towards the 100% design it's on the tip for 2028 um we still I guess one we're doing a little more investigations right now
with mass do just to revise the cost estimate if there's utility relocation required that would have substantial cost increase so that's right now also being developed as to before we finalize the 25% um and then Route 3A Richardson Road to Technology Drive um we're advancing a
I guess pre- 25% design right now survey work um and looking at some Concepts and overall cost estimating before we move forward with a 25% design um and that would eventually end up on the tip it doesn't have a placement yet but that so maybe 2029 2030 but um get it in the
queue for the that that project um any questions anybody have questions for Christine Aon Virginia had any questions no no okay thank you very much and we will
pause your reports right now sure sounds great thank you and uh go back to our public hearing for um smoke shop barbecue so Mr Husband if you want to come up and uh tell us a
little bit about what what you're be going to be doing here okay uh my name is Andy husbands I'm the uh my official title is pitmas and owner of the smoke shop barbecue um we're an American barbecue restaurant that serves
uh we're a food first organization that is family focused so we're not a Roadhouse by any means think of us more of like the 99 but with really good barbecue award-winning barbecue and we were asking for uh all
beverage uh for the 18 Boston Road um the old Andi Almo space okay um anybody have any questions for the applicant at this time my questions are all related to the different occupancy and seating numbers
I just if we could step through that and the staff comments and cuz I don't the application says 220 occupancy 155 seating and then if you go through the department comments there seem to be some questions then and on one
application it says 197 for C oh I missed that so we maybe could help yeah I I can tell you I Pat's trying to say something Paul we should just get Pat's comment well was U the seat discrepancy okay so
um we were given the Asis is from uh andyo and so we simply just took those and put them in the application because we assumed that those were the ones that they got approved by and that was not the case so then we went back to the original app uh the permit and we
changed it to 155 seating with an occupancy of 220 each town does a difference so I'm not exactly sure how your town does it but usually the occupancies is going to include staff and uh standing and um patio and things like that okay so the one where it says
197 that's not no I think there was an amended one okay there is I didn't get it I have a cop I could send you a copy of it I have it on my have it on my phone if we have it if somebody has it here we can we can get it but we did we did send an amended one with 155 and 220
okay um my question has to do with the closing time um I thought several years ago and prob Maybe you can refresh my memory that we decided not to do anything past 1:00 a.m. that's correct okay so and we asked for 2 a.m. is that
what it says that's what it says on 1 a.m. is fine if we were open to 11:00 a.m. that I mean 1: a.m. that it' be surprising to me I mean just so you know if you if you have a special occasion and you want to extend for a day or something we we are minable to that generally but I appreciate it you know
other other places that close at you know 11: or 12 or 1 they're all going to be at your place if you're open till too I rather they have their last drink somewhere else there you go okay all right uh and Pat you had all your questions answered so so the remaining comments
from the Departments related to seating that'll all get ironed out before the license goes through okay does that mean there's questions on on it that I need to answer no they'll they'll they correct it well the the the
so so the the Community Development said the license was up updated to 155 155 seats but then there's like uh the Board of Health says the grease trap right M size must meet the seating
regulation requirements and then the DPW comments say they need clarification on the number of seats have the I didn't know I'm assuming that all got closed okay so thank you okay I guess we're all set
okay so this is a public hearing is there anybody here in the room that would like to make any comment about this application I don't see any of there any on Zoom Paul no okay so unless I'll make a motion to
close the public hearing second okay we have we have a motion and a second to close the public he we do a roll call vote Pat George I okay the public hearing is closed so
uh I will make a motion to approve the all alcoholic beverages restaurant license for chelsford Barbecue Company LLC smoke shop barbecue at 18 Boston Road Unit 100 with an amendment that the
hours of operation requested for both weekdays and Sundays will end at 1:00 a. second okay we have a Motion in a second we'll do a roll call vote Pat I George I
I okay I'm I okay so do we have a timeline for yeah when are you opening well we just opened a methu a month ago and we're going to open and wurn in about three weeks wow so maybe it's awful um it just wasn't supposed to
be like this this is how life Works uh probably about two months after that I think great yeah it's a lot you'll see me there I'll be there every night so and then if I could just say if this is public and people want to reach out to us at our website the Smokeshop
barbeque.com we need people to test on and it's a great opportunity so if they email us we'll looking for volunteers yeah volunteers yeah it's it's fun it's just like it's sort of like a soft opening but it we need people to test our systems not to test us but test our
systems all right thank you thank you very much all right we'll get back to um Christine Clancy on to talk about the arpa update so this will be a very quick update um so as of December this past
December we provided I guess all the funds were allocated so every penny has been allocated to a project and we have until this December 2026 to spend all the funds so uh the spreadsheet that we provided monthly it we just continuing
to update um and if you remember the the col the rows that are in blue are projects are completely closed out complete and now we really just have projects that are in green because everything's been procured and we're just tracking the progress and making sure that we're spending every penny by
December 2026 so um not too much to report in that because now we're just tracking amount spent and we have was just all shy of 2 years um we are I think now we're at 79 now we are at 79%
spent of all the money procured um and I think you'll start to see I think we'll start to see a lot of these projects close out um over the next few months particularly some of the ones um like the drainage projects we still are holding some open because we have to
submit they've been completed but we still have to do some close out our final pavement um and then also a lot of the projects we allocated towards the end um like food pantry is one that's one that's underway so should happen this spring so I start a lot of the uh
amount spent will occur this spring and summer some things you know can linger up until 2026 but our goal is to close this out as quick as possible um are there any questions about the spreadsheet questions okay I see all all negatives thank you very much thank you
thank you and one more that we don't want to hear about yeah one more update and um so we have been monitoring the snow and ice budget particularly after the last storm this last storm we had um it was a a really difficult storm uh we had staff
in at on Saturday at and then it really that storm continued um post accumulation we had some free freezing rain some rain some and um it was we applied a lot of salt to the roadways and so um like I think thank you so much to my staff um they did a great job on
that last storm um it was they were they you know they left their families and they were there pretty much all weekend and and it was a long weekend um but we monitor the budget and so annually we have 1 point just 1.15 U million allocated that's been it's been the same
for the past few years it has been fine um we usually actually have a little money to turn back um because we've had more mild Winters um this winter we haven't had significant storms but we've had a lot of rain rain events or icing events that require a lot of salt
application um I provide a summary of all the storms so we're at we had 12 storms this this year again a lot of them are 2 Ines 1 in 3 and a half Ines um that we still have to Salt the salt the roads of all these 12 storms five of
them we did apply brine ahead of time um and so with all with all those you know the hours spent on that and also the salt um our budget is getting low and I think you'll see this regionally we've been hearing from other communities that they either over budget or they're approaching over budget so we're not
over budget yet but this is the warning that if we have more I like to say Winter's over but we still have March and who knows what's happening in March um so we're we'll just monitoring it very closely um where we are right now is we have um 100 basically
$181,000 available um but that's probably just enough to fill our salt shed um because we do at the end of the season like to fill our shed for the next season um so and we and maybe also just a little bit of um if we have a small storm we might be able to get by
but if we're plowing in anytime in March we'll be tracking over budget um which happens you know we can't predict the winter but I just want to let uh let the select board know um any
questions any questions about snow and ice and salt has gone up too in the past few years so that's something that I mean obviously the brining helps um when we can apply it but the the applic I would say this last storm probably cost us $100,000 um and half of that were prob
was probably salt okay all right thank you very much thank you all right next is the warrant for the springtime meeting Paul if you want to talk about that yeah members of the board I have for you the final form of
the warrant that's been reviewed by Town Council since your last meeting um and once you sign it'll be handed off to the clerk's office tomorrow for posting uh in time a manner for the town election and town meeting sessions there's nothing to change in
the warrants from what I previously presented to you at your last meeting other than the withdrawal of the one article regarding lockade Martin which came as a result of the conversation with the planning board where they've uh agreed to take that up okay anybody else
have any questions about the the warrant no and we'll be doing recommendations after after the election sometime in early April okay so can we have a motion to sign that do um I will make a motion to um
sign to sign the warrant for the April 28th spring spring annual town meeting as presented second okay we have a motion in a second we do a roll call vote Pat I George Aaron hi Virginia hi and I'm 5 Z
thank you all right and we're on to um policy discussion on Town Council appointment I just did a you know a quick timeline and process thing here um to at least begin the discussion on how
we should how we can do the Town Council appointment in a I guess a a more straightforward way um so I don't know if anybody has any questions concerns
[Music] suggestions I I thought it looked good Pat um because the I mean the issue we were having was It was kind of 11th Hour exactly changes and so I like the timeline that you laid out um I just had
a question more of an education for me is is a 1 to threeyear term a typical term for Town Council yes um because we've been doing one year every every time and it seems like it comes up so quickly yeah the year goes by awfully quickly so um you know maybe if we if we
if you have a new one maybe you do it for a year to see how yeah it plays out so any other any other questions concerns what is our current is our current agreement one year yes we did do one it's it's up June June 30th this
year yeah so if we're all right with it I'll bring it back at the next since to vote yeah yeah and if anybody thinks of anything in the mean time you can let me know right thank you that was easy okay um now volunteer
recognition you want to you want to lead that one Paul yeah um as as the board one of the goals and we'll be getting to the goal summary shortly was for volunteer recognition and when Pat and I presented a few months ago on this the notion was to present it in conjunction
with the volunteer Fair which is now upon us it's coming up on the uh next month in March um and so the thought is is to not only to recruit volunteers at the volunteer fair but also to you know thank those existing volunteers and also
encourage people to volunteer by seeing that but most especially by recognizing people who have uh contributed you know an outstanding effort in the town very similar to other you know noteworthy recognitions and I think the sense is is
like most things in in the long term there's a process and and people can submit nominations and so forth but I think probably for the initial um to do that I think it would probably be best done by the select board and then again set it into motion um so we're we're
going to um undertake that uh on the Saturday the 20 22nd right 22nd from 1 to 1 to 4 and I think the idea would be to do the uh recognition at 2 p.m. and that way it's a fixed time so that way
people are onon it will know what time and then people who want to be there for the um for the event would would take place um at that time uh and then obviously it would be part of the flow with it and just you know be a brief
ceremony and and then do the presentation at that time I don't know if the board has any other thoughts on how basically to kick off this kind of volunteer recognition we'd be open to it yeah I think it's one of those things we'll try it first and you know this
year and see how it how it goes and how we can improve it when we when we first started talking about this was it was it to recog recognized like you said those who would be recognized was it to recognize individuals or was it was it to have an
event that recognizes all like all the volunteers in our town well the other part of the of the volunteer fair is something was an idea Paul came up with to to show appreciation so if you want to talk about that right so we would invite those to participate and we're
trying to find some reasonably priced concession to to make a to be fitting people we attract people to the event um and so we're we're the challenge is is we don't know how many people will show up that's the issue um we for example we
we reached out to a food truck provider um and then the question they come back with well how many people are we expecting now what we do know is generally how many people are there Manning tables in at a given time so the idea is to thank the volunteers do the volunteer recognition conjunction so
that's that's the initiative all in all in once and we've you know we've got to um get the word out um basically this week and next week so that there's ample advanced notice for people but that is the intent I I wonder if maybe we could just
um that like that I think that's a really good idea I wonder if maybe even just like something on the town website for a week or two saying thank you to our volunteers or yeah and I some kind of a something that's out there for
everybody like a banner across the yeah or or yeah or even like a yeah something on the the you mean you're talking like this the signs oh oh yeah yeah yeah um I was I was going to send it an email to
all the chairs of all the Committees and have them let their let their members know that what's going to happen and and see how you know and and remind them that they can they can sign up for a table at the volunteer fair in fact Paul and I are meeting with Leslie Kimbell later this this week to to make sure
there's going to be enough space there I I don't know how many how many committee members you know different committees would be represented already there's maybe four or five that go every year but you know I think we anticipate that that more would participate and this
would kind of be in lie of our Municipal open house that we we we've had for the past couple of years that doesn't really seem to attract that many people so you could also and I'm just kicking this around but the you have those um Granite
posts at vinyl square and at the common that they use to say vote vote Tuesday I mean you could put a banner up that just says like thank you volunteers or something like that yeah I mean that wouldn't be a bad idea for sure you know okay okay good any other thoughts or
questions on that apparently not okay we move on to to manager reports okay um just a few items this evening um the first one is um believe it or not it's time for the quarterly goals checklist
um this is sort of the penultimate one the next one we would do would be in May uh and that would sort of you know close the year and then be the kickoff for the goals for the upcoming year um just re and I'll go through them real succinctly um first one one again we
won't spend a lot of to time with first one was the goal with the select board and the manager was to have early notification of financial issues as we talked about the last review three months ago that clearly has happened regarding the increase extraordinary increases in the health insurance middle
sex retirement assessment and utility costs um and we you know we even noticed that even back at the fall town meeting when we were doing the uh five-year Financial forecast uh and then I provided uh in advance the tri board meeting a a um summary of those
financial issues the other item related to the financial management was the uh fee structure valuation um you may recall we we presented at established report your November 18th meeting um and then there are articles on the upcoming warrant that you signed this evening to
adjust the fees and license for dog licenses and kennels and for the Seal of weights and measures services and so the goal is that these standal items would sort of cover their cost on on grant opportunities again we note them when they come in but just sort of a big
summary of that is the big one obviously was the accelerated repair program for the 50% plus reimbursement for the South Ro School roof um the state obviously brought us into that which um will you know save the town a half a million
dollars when it plus when it's all done uh We've contracted with the onus project manager and the designer that provided to us by the state under the program with their contract documents um Christine Clancy noted earlier about the
vinyl square a traffic Improvement Grant of $60,000 once the uh weather conditions arrive in the spring they'll be planting over $31,000 of trees and the at the dog park as part of the cooling corridors Grant award um we also again received
the Municipal Road Safety grants and they just replace the LEDs uh in the police cruises with $14,000 Grant award um and then the one that will be kicking off onto the Mass Save program uh is the full-time clean energy and
sustainability uh coordinator um to Advocate um as an energy advocate for for the towns of barer and chelsford um so that funding is there under the controversial Mass Save program that as we know is causing you know some Shock
on utility bills but that's what those programs fund uh and legislative funding opportunities really hasn't been an opportunity yet as of this time the legislature has not done its committee assignments they're a little behind because normally they'll do their hearings in March for the April release
of the house budget so I expect when we're in here probably a month from now we'll have to talk about a marks for the house budget um because again they'll be picking up that debate uh the beginning of April but they're they're they're behind schedule in fact they're supposed to do rules uh um later later this week
at the in the uh House and Senate um on the marijuana question about reconsidering M wara uh again the board had this discussion and you've got the ballot question on the The Advisory ballot question non-binding on the warrant that you signed this evening and
then collective bargaining we we've been in negotiation with the labor unions particularly the police unions and it's possible that one or two of those may be completed in a timely manner for consideration at Spring town meeting it's obviously very clear to them that
no last minute you know deals will come in so basically the message I is it really needs to be done by the end of March in order to have ample time by the the board and the finance committee to consider action at the end of April um arpa funding again you just
received that work this evening uh in terms of Christine Clancy's ongoing periodic reports obviously all the funds were committed in in accordance with the deadline of December 31st last year um on the process improvements this Gap
analysis is moving there was a conference call last week with the health department DPW community development director um working with the consultant um to manage the coordination amongst the town departments uh on the
process which so that once that gets launched then we'll provide quarterly updates uh sewers storm water drain AG um again the inflow reductions that program is ongoing um with the manhole
replacement um The Reserve program is working um in in terms of the manoles being providing capacity and then those such as um projects that come in um then can purchase that capacity the MDR
options U analysis is probably going to be available in May um from the consultant so once that comes in we'll present it to this board uh Regional cooperation um again not much there in terms of sewer and storm water um for
additional sewer capacity um the DPW did do the smoke testing infiltration program and we are continuing our infrastructure last fall town meeting we did the $125,000 for the forest main on Progress
Avenue uh and Kensington Road Pump Station work is ongoing uh on infrastructure um roads and sidewalks again you heard the report this evening about the 10 miles of roadway resurfacing in 1.8 miles that were done this past season and obviously the
aggressive schedule for this upcoming season um on utilities the underground utility project is finally advancing uh with the assistance of Town Council and and wrangling Verizon to the table and we
seem to have settled on a funding source through the community preservation fund to advance the Verizon portion of the project that project has been supported by the community preservation committee uh and once we have the town meeting approval of the funds uh we have
coordinated the National Grid they have funding to do their phase and so that would all come together again in May once town meeting uh advances funding request um on the focus areas 54 richson Road um W Wesson and Samson has been out
there doing the ongoing monitoring they're doing additional testing um this week and there um there'll be a report coming in the next several weeks in terms of the ongoing uh results and upgrades to the to the
package treatment system that's out there obviously the news is very positive uh the challenge has been that the state lowered the standards um because had they had the original standards we would have been we would have met those standards uh now the standards are harder to attain but it it
appears it appears they will be attained um with the system that's out there uh Warren pole conservation restriction as the board recalls you approve the draft agreement that was approved by the Conservation Commission and by the land trust that's now been sent off to the
state but it will be a little bit of a while before we have the state's review of that document um traffic issues Traffic Safety advisory committee meets monthly and reports as NE obviously with the winter months it's much more limited in terms of the
thresholds um and then the Central Square project um the uh as we know we did we opted not to pursue that parcel uh in the Central Square uh because of the liability concerns I mentioned about the tree planting and then the re
regionalized Services um Nim Cog has continues to advance efforts um there's um an effort today that will be coming in the weeks ahead may get been discussed at Nim Cog to have almost like a regional affordable housing committee
that would help cities and towns in the nib Cog area monitor their lists and and also conduct the lotteries and basically a lot of the services that are currently provided to us by the Housing Authority basically would take that model and provide it region wide to the ncog region they have a grant for the first
year of cost of the program um and then that would identify the outgoing oute costs um that is where obviously the weight seal of weights and measured one did not um Stay Together Nim Cog was unable to provide that but we we have
the agreement out there to Westford and tuxbury for a shared person to do the three towns of Chumps tuxbury and Westford and I'm just awaiting the response back from the uh two communities which basically is an intermunicipal agreement um on the Strategic plan the
good news is is it's on schedule the committee is meeting this WI Wednesday evening two nights from now uh the plan will be going out next week for a two week for public comment on the draft strategic plan um once that public
comment comes in by Ben March the consultant will revise the plan present it back to the committee and then work on the implementation and again with the adoption by miday of the entire plan so that remains on schedule and um again I'll send it to you uh as well as the
Comm committee BAS in a matter of days we're just waiting for the consultant to take back some feedback that came from department heads on the draft uh board and committee initiatives fire station committee we all know that was successful with the town meeting vote uh in in November open spec creation plan
is now complete uh and we're seeking funding at Springtown meeting to improve accessibility on open space lands clean energy and sustainability I mentioned already about the coordinated effort with the town of Bara with the uh with our sustainability committee and then
the MBTA zoning support um as as the board knows we've successfully uh re re Revis the development agreement with traml crow in choice for 255 prinson Street we're still awaiting the sign subordination agreement from traml Crow and hopefully
that'll be here in a matter of days uh and then on the housing production Plan update they're in the final phases I know George had a meeting on that last week but that is wrapping up as well so the updated affordable housing plan and will be forthcoming adus in the planning
board as we noted less than a month ago the State's new regulations kicked in and the town meeting adopted regulations and uh bylaws in conformance with that regulation on the doorstep of the implementation and uh I in speaking to
the Building Commissioner we have received a few applications um so he has 30 days to review those and he is hearing from the meetings they're having with with the building inspectors around the state and others is that the adoption of that zoning regulation was very helpful because there's a lot of
confusion out there of of what's allowable under the state regulations and therefore having the zoning you know has has really made it bearable and chord uh on the mbba school project as as we mentioned earlier the big one is the Parker middle school project um
we're now in the project feasibility phase for that um they'll be out advertising soon for um for the um owner's project manager uh and then designed for that project and then for the accelerator repair as I
mentioned the owners project manager and the design phase have been signed because the state assigns those um for this for this project and then going back to the fire one the tomorrow night's permanent building committee the proposals were received that they've
been reviewed by the committee and they're going to be recommended for discussion at the permanent building committee meeting tomorrow night and then come back here for final approval so it looks like that is and what I've and speaking to the public works director who's here in the audience the good news is there was a unanimous
consensus on on the preferred firm so that's always comforting that everybody agreed on on who to move forward with U for that project um the 250th birthday celebration that's been a little lackluster and I you may have saw the story in the globe that was very
critical of that process about two weeks ago um we we applied for the Grant application in the one round that's been available we were unsuccessful and um you know we obviously the big thing is going to happen in in less than two
months you know on Patriots Day uh which is the March the Lexington and conquered um and we know they've invited every living former president and and every other dignitary to come um it's going to be a big deal but that's really been the
extent of the the state's efforts I think the story summarized it the focus was on tourism as opposed to historical education of students and I think that sort of was where things stand at this point in time but again if New Opportunities come we'll apply for that
um and then the senior cator expanded inclusiveness you recall Deb serani was here at your last meeting and um the goal is to provide more uh Outreach and inclusion to everyone andol TI appreciation we just spoke about um
policy updates Town Council you just spoke about and then the town manager process that that'll be later this fiscal year uh and then the charter update same thing that'll be remainder of this fiscal year that'll probably be fall town meeting because it has to go to town meeting and then the ballot so
that's why it would be a fall town meeting item um that's that's the goals update yeah you have any questions I can or comments or suggestions I'll take them if not we'll move on quickly to the remainder of my
report okay um just wanted to note on the two other items regarding the um we did receive another cyber security grant for the calendar year 2025 from the Massachusetts executive office of safe technology services and security and
that project is already launched uh and the good news is it's it's a it's a program that is is is would I call high quality and and reasonable time constraints from people so we're getting good participation and the messages are real clear the one that came out over
the weekend which was about the idea of how you make sure you're exercising cyber security when you're operating remotely from the system and so anyway so that was good news and continuing I think that's our third year in that program and then last item I have under
my report is the um double poll report from National Grid and the on the surface it it it was a bit alarming because the number went up but I just want to explain um what happened
there that um I'll just read you the memo from National Grid the total number of Open tickets increased to 52 over the 29 from the previous month however the majority of those tickets were to capture the double poles from a project construct at the end of January on
Pleasant Street Joyce Street and stev Street which is over off of myth Street if you just to put that area they they had a major project over there so that that's why you see this bump in one month but what we've seen with those projects is is they generally tend to move in and move out of the system real
quickly um so again you know we were very excited that we' got them down to 29 last month this bump I think would be temporary and uh National Grid is continuing to work on the the older outstanding ones so at last time you you brought this I mentioned one that I had
seen that came at the end of December and it is still not on here okay and it's still there okay it's at Kate's Corner okay I will I will notify them that that is the one concern that we do have is is you know what about polls that aren't on the list right so okay
thanks thank you that concludes my report for this evening okay we're on to uh meeting minutes so first being January 27th anybody have any edits Corrections
for those I have a couple that didn't get Incorporated um under the call to order the word special should be deleted chair wers called the meeting of the board it wasn't a special meeting on the 27th January 27th it says
chair W just called the special meeting of the board to order not on mine no mine nether how does that happen I don't know what I downloaded from okay I'm sorry for I'm sorry no this is W well and then on page
five under leaone reports um I had asked for for the um Eagle Scout to say building a new area for the high school shot put course and then on the second bullet under my Leone reports the second line says the current
building committee will issue an RFP and I'd ask for that to be changed to the permanent building committee it is it is then I don't some may I then I have a feeling what got posted um they might want to check what got posted with the agenda because this is where I got it
from yeah okay that's fine if they're in there that's fine all right then I have no amendments if but I downloaded this from the town website okay we'll look into that tomorrow why that happened sorry all right so you're okay if we
yeah if there if those changes are in there I'm fine okay did they just print out the newest the newest version well I'm wondering if shouldn't be because how it gets produced is in the packet is is I think it' be the same but I'll look into Tom I took it from the individual
link on the town website okay okay okay so if we could have a motion I'll make a motion to approve the select board meeting minutes of January 27th 2025 February 3rd
2025 um why don't we do one at a time oh okay sorry I'll make a motion to approve the meeting minutes of January 27 2025 select board meeting as presented second okay we have a motion and a second so do a roll call vote Pat
I George hi Virginia I I okay thank you all right and now um the February 3rd minutes any edits or Corrections on that I was good with that I just have one
minor thing at the very top it says select board special board meeting minutes it probably probably that second board can be eliminated oh the special can get eliminated two right no that was the special meeting with just the oh you're
right sorry so we do have an just one Amendment yeah just that one edit yep motion I'll make a motion to approve the select board meeting minutes of February 3rd 2025 as
amended second okay so we have a motion in a second do a roll call vote Pat hi now you were not there ohain sorry okay
George CL an i i i Virginia all right 4 Z with one abstain okay and then February 10th anybody have any edits Corrections for this set of minutes well I might depending what you're looking
at um just at the bottom of page one it's a typ of the last line says in my version says by not taxing the residents living chelsford housing I think it should be living at a Chelmsford housing complex the last line yeah yeah yeah I
can give this to you um and I I had one minor one also in that same paragraph but further up on the third line down down it says Town representative for over 99k residents the nine is spelled out and then the number nine you probably only need one of them just say
over 9,000 okay anything else anybody has we can take a motion I'll make a motion to approve the select board minutes of February 10th 2025 with
amendments second can we have a motion motion and a second Pat you also not at that one Pat abstained okay I I I okay I'm not 4 Z with one
abstain okay that takes care of that all right so now I want to select what member Le on reports and referrals Pat do you have anything I'm not going to U bother you with the uh communication issue so
actually loud you're loud and clear right yeah right when you speak so that was a no yeah it's no okay uh George I just want to mention the passing of Tom Moran uh two I think two
two term Selman and a a real nice fellow uh great family and um I tended to wake this afternoon and it was nice nice group of people there in honor of the family and uh just wanted to mention
Tomy be missed he was a good man yes he was a good man and I did tell the family we'd have the flag at half staff tomorrow I know I know it's already but just to let them know that we had that we did want to recognize
him good Aon anything Virginia um yeah so um from the senior center and the associated committees uh they just wanted to recognize the passing of George Carston's uh George was a long-term volunteer at the friends of
the senior center and he was also involved with the Chelmsford Elks and the parade committee um and then the fire department in this last week has had their departmental flag at half mast uh to honor the passing of Alan Melo who
retired as a captain in the fire department in 1978 and prior to that he had positions in the town with the cemetery department and the DPW um the planning board is reviewing their town meeting zoning articles they
have their public hearing this Wednesday uh the finance committee open their budget hearing on the 13th of February and they will be continuing that February 27th March 13th March 20th they're hoping to close on March 27th
and get the book published but they're holding April 10th as a backup so those are all Thursdays um I guess I'll also mention the school committee B public hearing for their budget is tomorrow night if anybody's interested in that and then uh
I just wanted to recognize uh there's a new Cava that opened in Drum Hill and I uh volunteer once a month to serve dinner at the L Transitional Living Center and when I was there last week uh Cava at least twice this month they're
training they were training their Cooks prior to opening and they donated over a 100 meals uh two times to the shelter uh for dinner for their clients so I I just wanted to recognize that I thought that
was a really nice thing for the local business to do okay good U I just have a few things um we have um three new police officers the U Paul and I attended their um
graduation the Police Academy graduation and they're swearing in a few days later they are Carly Rose Ricardo Garcia and Andrew fery so they are in training right now so you'll be seeing them out patrolling very shortly um also um last week we had a
ribbon cutting for my hair company in vinyl square um the a new uh hair salon opening up there it's really nice uh right next to Rosie so stop in there and I want to mention about Tom Moran also um I I did I also went to the wake this
afternoon and and it was interesting one of the daughters said that uh um that Tom most enjoyed being on the Sewer Commission not the select that's right that's what this daughter told me so
whatever um so that's all I have and if we don't have anything else we'll take a motion I'll make a motion too Jan second okay we have a motion and and a second or roll call vote Pat Jia I I okay thank you very much