The time being 6 o'clock, we'll call the meeting to order. If you'd all join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the standy for all
Thank you all. Okay. Um this uh this meeting of the board of selectmen on January 12th, 2026 is being broadcast live and being recorded um by Chelsea Tele Media for use by the viewing public
in the future. And with that, we'll start this evening with public service announcements. Pat. >> Okay. The first uh first one we have is for um a resident Sylvia Contover. I know her son is here. This is a certificate of recognition and is hereby
presented to Sylvia Kontover celebrating Chswood resident Sylvia Contover on her 109th birthday. Sylvia was born June 30th 1917 in Lyn, Mass. during World War II. Sylvia was a supervisor at the Atlantic Parachute Company in lower
mass. She is the oldest person living who has an undergraduate and master's degree from UMass Lowel. She has lived in Chelston for the last 30 years. Happy 109th birthday to Sylvia awarded this 12th day of January 2026. And as I said,
I know her son uh Dean is here in the audience. I thought somewhere there he is. And uh if you want to come up and get the certificate and and I will be there to present it on on the big day. Do I have to say anything? >> No, you don't.
>> Congratulations and 109 years old. >> Yeah, I know. >> Uh I like to say uh for one, I'm not running for the select board and uh the the other thing is that uh when she was born, uh woman did not have the
right to vote uh in the United States. So um and she voted continuously. she didn't miss a a vote. So, I was glad u to tell you that it's very important to vote. The other thing is that um she lived through 22
presidents uh through her lifetime and we've had what 47 or 46 or something to that effect. So, I just want to let you know the nation is only 250 years old and she's lived to 109. So, thank you very
much. I appreciate the board and the time. Congratulations. >> And we have another one. This certificate of recognition is hereby presented to Jean Paul Dulak, celebrating chanced resident Jean Paul Dulak on his 100th birthday. Born June 26, 1926, Jean Paul is a proud United
States Air Force veteran who served in both World War II and the Korean conflict. He grew up in Lewon, Maine, and later attended the University of Maine, where he earned a master's degree in mathematics. Since 1965, he has made Chelsea, Massachusetts his home, building a lifetime centered around service,
family, and community. So, happy 100th birthday to Jean Paul awarded this 12th day of January, 2026. And I believe his son is also here in the audience if you want to come up and get the certificate and tell us a little bit about your
father. >> Great. >> Thank you very much, sir. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Okay. And then back to more traditional public service announcements. Uh Chilford has a memorial tree program
that was uh launched as a way to offer residents a meaningful way to honor your loved ones while adding beauty and shade to our community. Participants are can sponsor a tree that will be planted in a public space in town, creating a lasting living tribute that will be enjoyed for years to come. You can learn more about
the program and how to participate by visiting the town's website. A reminder about U 2026 dog licensing. Every 2025 dog license expired on December 31st. Um and licensing is now in effect for 2026. You need an
up-to-date baby's vaccination to to get a license. Um and you need to provide that certificate at the time of licensing. New dogs uh can be you can register by mail with with the town clerk um for new
dogs and for um for renewing a reg a registration. You can also do it uh by the town by the uh by mail or in a town clerk's office. Late phase fees go into effect starting March 1st at $5 per
month until you register your dog. And then on June 15th, um there's an additional citation for $50 if you don't have your dog license by then. Again, you can come to the town clerk's office or check out more on the town website. Um and we have the 2026 annual town
census that has been mailed to every household. Uh the participating in a town census keeps the voting list up to date uh and allows you to vote without uh having to prove that you do live in town. And even if you're not a registered voter, it's important to
return the town census so the town can have an accurate count of residents in town. And you can uh respond to this um census online if there are no changes to be made in your form. And lastly, now it's time to get involved in running for local office. Uh
nomination papers are available at the town clerk's office. There are several townwide offices including uh two for select board uh the town moderator, there's one for housing authority, two for planning board, three for library trustees, and one for the cemetery
commission. And there are also at least five seats available in every precinct for town meeting representative and there are a couple of unexpired terms. the town meeting representative is a good opportunity to get you somewhat involved in town government and see if
you like doing that and make decisions for the town during town meeting. So that's it for public service announcements. >> Thank you Pat. Okay, the next item on the agenda is uh general public input. Is there any general public input this evening?
Mr. Latina, I um I didn't enforce it last time, but this time I I do need to enforce the threeminut rule. So, please proceed. >> Y I like being censored. Brian Latina, precinct nine town meeting rep. I have three minutes and this part of the meeting can't exceed more than 30
minutes. Um I consider that censorship and against the First Amendment. Um I'm a town meeting rep. Have been for almost 30 years. Um, I just uh applied for a um ballot um initiative, a a um
document that requires 10 signatures. And it's ju just to change our family definition back. For the first time in my time as a town meeting rep and a resident in Chelmsford, 30 years, um I got a $1,000 increase in my taxes in
town this year. $25 more than $25 a day is what it cost me to live in Chelmsford just for property tax, not heat, hot water, gasoline, any of that stuff. Thousand dollars this year. I thank the board for giving Walmart a break and um
giving us a higher rate than than we had last year relative to businesses. Um citizen petition 10 signatures. The first time I have ever seen a citizen petition in its full full form with
signatures, addresses, and printed names in the document handed to the select board. Um, normally this requires a foyer uh request by a citizen to see that information. And in today's world, um, last week, as a matter of
fact, I got five different fishing, um, uh, emails by the Social Security office. Allegedly, not really true. So, I didn't appreciate it. And I looked back and I can't find a single case where the the
front and back of the citizen petition was presented in a form that anyone can access without going to the town clerk. Um, this is discriminatory. I don't appreciate it. I don't understand it. Um, and we're supposed to
have equal treatment under the law. So, from this point forward, I will expect all citizen petitions with the signature sheet to be attached to the select board meeting within days of the signatures being collected. And I I will uh leave
it at that point. I think I think we need to pull that signature sheet off of the documents that are presented in tonight's um reports under item 10. Thank you. >> Thank you.
Any other uh public input this evening? Seeing none, we'll go to the next item on the agenda, which is committee vacancies. Pat. >> Okay. As of today, we have the following uh vacancies on local committees. The age friendly implementation committee has one vacancy. The agricultural commission has one vacancy. The bicycle
and pedestrian advisory committee also has a vacancy. The CCA town hall advisory committee has one vacancy. The clean energy and sustainability committee has one vacancy. The Commission on Disabilities has five vacancies. The Community Preservation
Fund Committee has one vacancy. The Council on Aging Board has two vacancies. Cultural Council and Historic District Commission both have one vacancy. The Holiday Decorating Committee has five vacancies. The parade committee welcomes all applicants and
the Vinyl Square strategic action plan committee is looking for one representative uh for the U business representative for that committee. If you're interested, you can fill out an application online or uh check with the town clerk's office. Thank you. >> Thank you, Pat.
Okay, the next item on the agenda is uh reports and presentations. And tonight we have the Northern Middle Sex County. >> If I may interrupt, given the attendance we have in the audience, do you want to take the legislative vote out of order so we can let these people go home? >> Sure. >> Which is item number six, the one after
that, >> the endorsement of legislation. I'm sorry, seven. Number seven, I'm sorry. >> Sure, we be happy to do that. Okay. So, we'll jump ahead. Uh, excuse me. uh demographs um will be with you momentarily. So we'll jump to uh agenda item number seven which is the select
board's endorsement of Massachusetts House of Representatives bill number 4723 an act designating a certain bridge in the town of Chelmsford as the Ferrer brothers bridge and we have some documents for that
and >> good evening Chris how are you how are you tonight? Good, good board. Tom manager, Chris Ferrer, 81 Rivven Chamsford. I'm here along with a lot of family members. Um, in reference to this
bridge, I um and here looking for the support of the board of selectmen on the bridge that's being constructed on Gorm Street, Route 3A in Chamsford. Um, the location of this bridge on 3A was a location of my grandfather's original
business, Tony's Garage, which was taken by imminent domain to build 495. Um, he is part of this um the brothers that are in this bridge. My grandfather also worked as a volunteer fireman in town.
He also worked as the uh weights and seals and measures and retired from the town of Chumswood as an employee. He also owned Tony's garage which was moved from uh Gorm Street to Rivenneck Road in East Chsford and he has a long history of giving back to the community and their members. Um also with him on
that bridge is uh two brothers Emanuel uh and Souza and John C. Ferrer. John C and Emanuel both fought in Normandy, a war that took lives of u many many um young men. And um John C
came back with a purple heart. And when he came back, he uh went to work for the town of Chumsford working for the town of Chumsford uh highway department for many years. He was a member of the 83rd Thunderbolt Infantry Division. Um he
also received a bronze star. His brother, Emanuel Ferrer, uh was a sergeant in the US Army. He also uh had honorable discharge from the army. He fought in Normandy. When he came back, he um he lost my place. I'm sorry. He
went to um worked I'm sorry. He served at distinction and also contribution to the victory of global global liberty. He worked as um at Fort Deans uh and went to the Massachusetts radio and TV school and worked as an electronic test uh test
technician for the US Army at Fort Deans till his retirement. Um both all three of these brothers gave some sacrifice to their community and to their country. John C and u Manuel they gave their service to the army. My grandfather gave his service to the town um working
through uh the weights and measures volunteer firemen and like I said it was a um huge person who gave back to the community and um we're looking for this bridge to be named after the Ferrer brothers from East Chumsford. They have a long history in East Chumsford. majority of the family members still
live in the original house and in East Chumsford and um we're just looking for the board of selectman's support. Uh if they could pass that on to the delegation on the vote that would help us support to make this happen. >> Excellent. >> Any questions for Christopher?
>> Chris, when do you think the vote's going to come? >> I'm not sure. I spoke a couple months about two months ago at the state house. It's going through um representative I have a lot of support from the the delegation in this area. So within the I
think they're taking a vote within the next couple months, but I'm not 100% sure the exact date. They haven't kind of given me that final vote date. And I do um before I leave, I'm going to pass out just a couple pictures uh for you guys to have of the two two brothers that fought in the war with their war
photo and then a picture of the garage that was on um uh Gorm Street right where the bridge is um for you guys to just take a look at. And then there's one picture I just got a little while ago from my aunt that I I got to get back, but it's a picture of uh my grandfather at this board of selectman's
meeting back when he retired from the town when they awarded him on his retirement. Trying to see who was on the board then. >> Pretty cool. >> Pat was not in that photo at the time. >> So, are we ready for a motion for this?
>> Any further discussion uh or or questions uh for Christopher? Seeing none, I entertain a motion. >> Okay. I'll make a motion that uh uh we strongly endorse House Bill number 4723, which will name the uh bridge over 495
goes over Gorum Street, um the Ferrer Brothers Bridge, and strongly encourage our legislative delegation to vote in favor of that bill. >> I'll second that. >> Okay. I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. That's unanimous. >> Thank you very much. >> Congratulations. >> Best of luck. >> Okay. Um, our next item on the agenda is reports and presentations. And tonight we have the Northern Middle
Sex Council of Governments Executive Director Jenny Ra and the Northern Middle Sex Council of Governments Deputy Director Kelly Lana uh here to give us a status report. Welcome. >> Thank you. I'm Jenny Raid. I'm the executive director. >> I'm Kelly Lenma. I'm the deputy
director. I'm going to run through the slide deck that we provided to you and uh just uh we'll pause uh for a little bit and uh go into a little bit more detail on a couple of our current projects. So, I
think you're all pretty familiar with us, but every year we've made a commitment to go to each of our communities to make a brief presentation to just reintroduce NIMCOG to the to your community. Um, and to those people who are listening who might not be
familiar with the regional planning agency, who we are, what we do, to tell you a little bit about what we've been doing in your community for the past year. um some of the projects of course started perhaps prior to that then give you a little bit of a sampling of what we're doing across the region and uh
tell you what's coming up next uh which is based upon any sort of requests for technical assistance that the town might have made to NIMCOG and then answer any questions. So that's kind of the order of uh of affairs for the evening. So a little bit about us um we are the
regional we are there are 13 regional planning agencies across Massachusetts. We're one of them. We were established in 1963. We have, as you can see, nine communities, which includes Chumsford. We're based in Lel. Um, we have an 18 member policy board and the
representatives are from each one of our municipalities. Uh, there's three reps from each community, and I'll explain that in a second, who from Chelmsford is part of our council. We uh the purpose of our regional planning agency is like all of the others. We're we're a
regional planning district. It means that we provide uh direct technical assistance on things like housing uh planning, land use, zoning, um economic development, transportation activities. Uh we also work to increase your
municipal capacity. So your capacity to carry out and deliver municipal services to your community. Uh we also work to help uh with regional coordination, which is very difficult to do in Massachusetts. As you know, a lot of communities like to work independently,
but we are uh we aspire to help people to work together across municipal boundaries. Um, and we also uh work to foster any sort of advocacy or or cooperation beyond that. So in coordination with the state and federal
government which is one of our two of our major funding sources and it doesn't say it on this slide but in this past year actually last year we adopted our first strategic plan which is a three-year plan uh from 2025 to 2028 and it basically uh is helping to provide us
with uh grounding in terms of our mission or vision and the direction that we're heading into over these next few years. Especially during this time, it's been critical to have that uh because of the nature of uh government funding and some of the unpredictability that we've seen at least over this past year. It's
helpful for us to stay centered um in our affairs. And that strategic plan process uh included representatives from here in Chsford who participated in it as well as people across our our our board or council. Um so the next slide
just introduces you to who from the town is currently serving which includes of course Pat Wis uh from the select board which whose uh service we've greatly appreciated. Pat also um is the uh council representative. This is a as
part of our annual election. She is the uh council representative to the Northern Middle Sex Metropolitan Planning Organization. The MO is the body that helps to uh program and oversee uh all of our regional transportation dollars and those transportation dollars come from the
state mascot as well as the federal government. And so we do all of that programming and Kelly actually oversees the MO and all of its activities. Uh John Seuss uh Pat also serves on our personnel committee. I didn't put that on the board here, but she uh she's been
active in a lot of our hiring processes for the entire time that I've been on board. I think for many years prior to that as well. John Susa is the planning board representative. And then lastly, we have an alternate who is Douglas Bruce. And Doug also serves on our
finance committee. And so our work with the town, uh, we do an annual call for technical assistance, which basically is a call that says, you know, what what sorts of services might you need this over this coming year and
how might might we help you? And that's everything from, you know, housing, open space and recreation, uh, transportation studies, economic development assistance, applying for and pursuing grant funding, uh, which could be for state, uh, for state funding or federal
funding and for projects that are in your town or also you and working with other communities as well. Um, so a lot of different types of technical assistance requests come from the town and from multiple uh individuals in the town, but primarily at least in Chelmsford from Evan Balansky, your
community development director, and Paul Cohen, your town manager, who we both of whom we greatly appreciate working with. And in this past year, what we've been able to do is work on u pursuing uh the Chelmsford Street concept and signature properties project, which uh Kelly is
going to just talk a little bit about in a moment. Uh we also completed as you know your open space and recreation plan which was adopted by the town last year and then subsequently approved by the division of conservation services through the executive office of energy and environmental affairs in May um of
LA it was last year and it's a document that is through May of 2035. You have a 10-year action plan. Also, your housing production plan was adopted uh at least by the planning board and the select board and is now being reviewed by the executive office of housing and livable
communities. They're the entity that ultimately approves the plan. That's a five-year plan. We also provided data as part of your Ledge Road update, which was a project that we worked on to look at uh tra uh particularly truck traffic
along Ledge Road. Uh we also performed an LRTA jobs accessibility analysis. this was something of benefit to the entire region, but also um if you have questions about specifics as it relates to Chumsford, Kelly can answer those questions. Um we're vehford is very
active on getting uh projects programmed for transportation funding and uh positioning the town in order to be able to pursue and uh secure those dollars. Um but also there are state projects that are happening here uh in town including the I495
uh bridge and other types of projects like that. Um but that is a very uh a very big part of what we do at NIMCOG is a a multi-million dollar program for transportation funding and studies. Um in relationship to that we do regional
traffic counting which includes roadway counts here in town which also includes Ledge Road. And then lastly, making sure that the LOL Regional Transit Authority has the best possible services available to across the entire region, uh, but
including improvements in Chelmsford. And then working regionally, uh, the town has participated in all of these projects with us. Um, and they are very wide ranging. Um, this is a hyperl
document. So, if it is posted online, which I believe it is with this meeting, anybody can click on and hopefully access information about each one of these plans and where it is in its stage or process. Um, or if it's a collaborative like the Northern Middle
Sex Stormwater Collaborative, learn more about that collaborative and who from the town is participating in that work um and what they're up to. So the Northern Middle Sex Storm Collaborative is basically a collaborative that formed in 2011. We last year re-uped a
memorandum of understanding across um all of the Nimco region plus two additional communities and they have been working towards a project called Marramac River Revive which is looking at a very broad watershed study that will help us to understand across the
entire region and then also locally in places like Chelmsford where we need to improve uh everything from culverts that need might need to be replaced to uh perh perhaps inform future investments in terms of uh resiliency along uh key
roadways or riverways basically ac across the entire lower Marmac River uh wershed. Um greater LOL stronger together is our regional economic development strategy and that helps to inform both what we're doing at Nimcog but also the types of assistance that we
provide to places like Chumsford. So uh the the Chelmsford Center uh or streetscape project is very much aligned with that uh regional planning process as well in terms of helping the town ensure that it has a strong business uh you know business community business
opportunities as well as looking at the land uses in that area in order to further foster that development or redevelopment. um at home in greater l is our regional housing strategy and this is in progress and this is something where we're working on uh the implementation side of that project and
we've been hosting uh regional summits to talk about various issues including in the fall we had a summit that uh talked about regional homelessness and ways to address that and we'll continue to to pursue those activities over the coming year. Um and then uh there's a
host of uh transportation initiatives here. Envision 2050 is the regional transportation plan. We then subsequently adopted a vision zero plan which um also includes a greater l bicycle and pedestrian plan which is
currently in progress. Um a bus stop inter inventory which helps us to better understand what the assets are at each bus stop or not um in order to be able to improve the option of taking the bus. a regional digital equity plan which
helped to then set the stage for funding that the town was able to access to improve digital assets at the town's library I think at town hall as well and in other locations where people need access um to you know computers or
software or other things that they might not be able to access as easily at home. Um and then lastly, we organize across all of the managers and administrators in the region regular and ongoing support to all of them to uh on you know
topics of key interest or uh things that are coming up in the future like the Massachusetts integrated land use strategy that we just talked about earlier today and hosted at our office. um to hosting a regional transportation forum where uh all of the key officials
could speak directly to key officials at MASDOT. Um and then uh in the future we are looking to help uh the town with a managed growth strategy. This was a priority that came from your strategic
plan and uh we'll be working with the town on that and Kelly might speak a little bit about that as well. And then as you can see as I mentioned at home and greater l phase two the Marramac River revive project which I also mentioned continued support to the town as well as other communities in our
region in green communities which is a program that you've been participating in since 2010. And we'll be piloting uh funding programs at the local level to advance more transportation projects. And so I'm going to turn it over to Kelly so she can talk about a couple
more things in greater detail and I'll answer any questions. Thank you. Um so just to touch real quickly on the um Chumsford Street concept. We are working with Evan Balansky and the center village committee in order to explore different concepts for the right of way for
Chumsford Street and the kind of development the town wants to see around that. This is a public engagement process to really understand what the community and the business owners want to see. And then we'll be we're working with Evan right now in order to schedule a public meeting our second public meeting for that project in middle the
middle to late February. um not on a Monday night so it won't conflict with this this meeting. So hopefully we'll be able to see you there and that's where we'll be sharing several concepts for the community to weigh in on and tell us what kind of designs they would like to see. That actually leads directly to this pilot of tip funding program. So
this is where we are working with our MO to help design a program that will help our communities pay for the design of construction projects. That is a big hurdle that a lot of our communities experience is because the cost of design and engineering is so high, it's hard to get projects onto the transportation
improvement program. So, we're working on that and that may also be something that comes into play with the vinyl square plan. Um, future CH uh Chsford Center uh Chelmsford Street project. Um, and then the I the I495 project on Chelmsford Street is actually a mass
initiated project. So, that will be separately funded by the state. And then finally, this managed growth strategy really, as Jenny mentioned, it does emerge from your strategic plan. So, we'll be working with um the community, with you, with the planning board in order to help really clarify where the
town wants to grow and where you want to conserve. Um so, really trying to have a balanced approach um that that's right for Chelmsford as far as where you want to see those kind of activities occur. >> Thank you. We're glad to take any questions.
Do we have any questions or comments, Pat? >> Um, I think >> most familiar, so you probably don't have any questions or comments, but I figured I'd start with you and get it out of the way. Okay, >> Jeff, >> I think they're doing a fantastic job, and thank you for your time, ladies.
>> Uh, yeah, thank you, Pat. Um, I'm I'm especially interested in the in working with you guys. This will be my first real opportunity to work with NEMCOG on the on the manage growth strategy. And again, to echo what the rest of the board thinks. We we certainly appreciate the partnership, but look forward to getting together with that your
consultant here in next week maybe or the week after I forget. Still trying to put it together, I think. >> I believe it is the week after that. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, thank you. >> And for myself, um thank you for coming and enlightening the town. Um, some of
us know what you do and others don't, but um, but the the good work goes on and um, you know, we get a lot accomplished through uh, Northern Middle Sex Council of Government. So, uh, we appreciate you and the group and um,
just look forward to doing whatever we can to keep the furthering uh, all the good work. So, thank you. >> You're very >> appreciate you. >> Thank you. Thanks so much. Okay. All right. Um,
next item this evening is the Department of Public Works Director Christine Clancy's going to update us on ARPA. >> ARPA. Happy new year. >> Happy new year. >> Good evening. Um, so this is I know I
previously looked about last year or year before I was providing a monthly update and all the projects have been procured. We're really getting to that last final phase of ARPA uh spending. Um the ARPA program through the the federal um recovery act um through COVID um was
$10.89 million was allocated to the town of Chsford. Um as I said everything has been allocated as of last December 2025. Um, and now we're really just tracking that spending and the goal is to spend every penny. Um, and so in total there were 77 projects that were allocated
across the $10.89 million. Um, many of them DPW, but there were other other projects related to police DPW, our police health department. Um, in tracking all the programs, um, we have 14 projects remaining. Uh the critical
timeline now is all basically this funding expires this December 2026 and when it expires it's fully spent out like you so we're really targeting to complete these remaining projects um this spring summer because I want to be completely done invoices paid everything
closed out u so 14 of the 77 projects remain to be closed out um and I will go over that in the next slide so of that we have 93 projects that have 93% of all the funding has been invoiced are spent. So $10.12 million has been invoiced of
as of the end of this calendar past calendar year. So just I go over this is some I pulled this from the spreadsheet. Um you might have been familiar with the previous spreadsheet where I tracked all 77 projects. And so the good news is now we're down to 14 projects that remain. Um and a lot of these I would say are in
that like final closeout phase and really we're trying to make sure we're spending every dollar amount. Um I'm just going to quickly highlight these projects. So the first one is the this is one of this is the largest allocation we had from ARPA or one of the largest and it was mechanical support through
for the HVAC uh school systems um or HVAC throughout the school systems. Um we have right now this fund this is an on call contract. So HVAC on call assists with the school with HVAC calls repairs um maintenance in the schools
that is going to continue into the into this through this summer. So, we're tracking this dollar amount. As you see, the total remaining spent is $284,000. Uh, so we're making sure every dollar is spent as we close that out, close that out to the end of this calendar year. It
is an on call B or is basically a daily basis. So, it's not something we can finish right now. We know that project was going to take us to the very end. Uh, moving on down, a lot of the next projects we're really just closing out. But I mean, a lot of these dollar the as far as the budget, the amount
forecasted, the amount spent, we're talking a few thousand dollars left on a lot of these projects. We're just trying to really close out that last piece of those projects. U number 34 on here is the culvert structural assessments. U so we still have some money left for the assessments of uh culverts and so we're
just finishing that final phase of um a few more culverts that we can uh evaluate this uh this spring. Um Mont View Road drainage improvements. We still have a little bit of funding left with that and so there's some private inflow removal work that we can complete. Um that is being designed
right now. Um the pilot smoke testing sewer system uh sewer system program that that project is pretty much closed out but we can continue doing some smoke testing um and use police details for that. So we're again we're trying to spend every dollar. Um number 58 is the
gap analysis for protection of the town's groundwater and drinking water. It says zero dollars spent. they just haven't build us for it. But we have advanced that project to quite a degree where we have um a draft report and I know the next phase is to um start to receive comments from different committees. So that's something that I
anticipate we'll be completing this spring. Um and then the number 67 is the McCarthy school switch gear is closing out. So we did the we did the assessment. There's some minor repairs they recommend. So trying to spend every dollar to um to finish those uh
recommended repairs um or maintenance repair repairs. Town office bathroom renovation design. Um I know we still looking for funding to do all the um bathroom projects. We are advancing the uh the construction for the first phase which would be the basement bathrooms.
So that this funding will but this completes the design of all the phases. So that's something that we anticipate to be completed this spring or summer at the latest. And then moving down the list is just um switch McCarthy school switch gears again similar to the um to
the sorry I jumped Yeah, we have similar to number 67 just closing that project out. I jumped uh the police station sprinklers uh we final we still have a couple a few more repairs to complete that project. The police station fuel pump repairs that involves painting. So
it's something that is time weather sensitive. So that will be completed this spring. And then we had an allocation for easement and right-of-way surveying um for various needs. I know Proctor Road is a street that we'll be looking to accept. Um that's part of that effort. So that should also be expended by this spring. So most of
these projects we really are targeting a spring summer completion. Really that last project that I'm looking at is that number one be the first one at the top. Uh we just want to track every dollar spent as we get into the the fall. Any questions?
questions for Christine. >> Um I I think it's it's excellent, you know, the way you've tracked this all so so carefully and and you know, I like how you keep saying, "Yeah, we're going to make sure every dollar is spent." >> Yeah. I mean, but that's the goal is to spend every dollar. And this is um I
think I think there's I can't say every dollar. I think there's 50 cents off of one project that we closed out. Um it was I think the uh the force man assessment. I think we left a dollar on the table. So, >> can't do much with a dog. >> Um, but but the rest of this we want to
make sure we're spending all of it and it is great to be able we really put so much into our infrastructure. >> Yeah, I mean it was it was good. I guess the timing was good that you know we had all these projects and and it it really cleared a lot off our plate, right? I mean it otherwise would have gone to the capital or >> there's always needs. Yes, there's
always needs. So, if we found 10 more million dollars, we'd have a whole another list ready, but >> doesn't exist right now. >> Okay. Thank you. How do you handle um I mean some of these projects must have contingencies on them. So in an effort to spend every last penny, how do we
like if we get down and we have $5,000 left in contingency, how do we go about expending that? >> So that's what we're that's kind of where I say close out. That's what we're trying to do. An example is the number three of the modular RTO replacement. So, we have just over $3,000 left. And
so, it's something that I could lose that money, but we really probably can go back into the that school and one of those schools and complete modular work. So, just making sure we uh we're still doing the same still the same contract. You're essentially amending the contract
with the it's just a time extension is I don't want to say scope. It's just clarifying if there's any remaining work that can be done. Same with the switch gear. we really closed up and completed our initial work, but they had some minor recommendations and we have the funding. So, let's let's um make those additional repairs. Um so, that's the
goal is to make sure we spend every dollar and in that maybe we say is there something else as part of this original scope that we can complete our original intent. >> Excellent. Jine laid it out perfectly.
Yeah, I think I think we definitely got a lot for our $10 million. So, um I definitely appreciate those efforts. I don't want to get weedy into the accounting, but do we spend all the money and then get reimbursed based on those invoices? >> So, we've been reimbursed along the way
and I know so we I guess this is almost out of my territory, but we've been reimbursed along the way. Um or we have the fund. I think it's more of a we have the money, but then it's something that's always auditable. So we have everything here all the contracts we have everything here so that um I don't
know town manager if you can answer more it's quarterly the town accountant has to submit certifications with signed by the treasurer and then we get reimbured quarterly >> then we get re so we're going to spend the last $400,000 and there's no risk of that you know going away correct
>> no and and so of that $456,000 284 is that first project so that's really why I want we're making sure we're tracking it monthly like making sure we spend every dollar of it um in through that contract. >> Again, managing 77 projects is pretty
impressive and to leave a couple dollars here and there, 50 cents is not too bad. So, appreciate that. >> Thank you. And for my part, uh, excellent job on all the, uh, budgeting, the creation of the projects, the execution of the
projects, and I know it's ongoing, and, um, so, um, just a high level of comfort with, um, how it's all been expended. And I will say, excellent job to you. And I will say thank you, Mr. Town Manager, for not using any of these
funds for personnel way back when and having that foresight to use it for >> recurring Yeah. for recurring expenses which >> recurring expenses >> which a lot of towns are facing. >> A lot of towns are in big trouble today because they used it for personnel and I thank you for not doing that and I thank
you Christine for doing a great job executing this. >> Thank you. That means a lot. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. The next item this evening um we did that endorsement
number six. Number six. Oh, yep. I'm sorry. Okay. So, item six on the agenda is the select board's endorsement of the Massachusetts Municipal Association 2026 annual business meeting proposed resolution.
And um there's a proposed resolution supporting a strengthened fiscal partnership between municipal and state governments in fiscal 2027 and beyond. Yeah, this is that the Mass Municipal Association will be holding its annual
business meeting uh a week from Friday. Uh and the only resolution they have before them this evening is the one that's in your package here before you even this evening. Um this is similar to what they they bring before the committee annually. So it's nothing
radical. It's basically calling as continue to call for increased partnership with the state uh in terms of financial support uh in terms of state aid as well as local option revenue ability and so forth. And uh I
can tell you from experience and you know having I think I've attended over 35 of these annual meetings and I know Pat has attended well over a dozen. And so um these resolutions are again gen me meant to generate a message that goes to the governor and the legislature and
have universal support across the commonwealth. So that's why you tend to have language that's not controversial. So usually these resolutions pass 99.9% or 100% yeah to zero. So again there's it's not binding on the town. just not
and uh and it it's just basically trying to once again much like municipal reform act trying to express the message to the legislature and the governor uh of help is needed uh from municipal governments >> all very you want to add to that Pat
you've been voting on these for years >> well I mean it it does mirror a lot of what was in the municipal empowerment act that we've talked about a couple of times and brought up with our legislators when when they were here a couple of months ago so I mean I you like Paul said, I mean, it's there's
there's no harm in endorsing it. And it the fact that it's so overwhelmingly voted, I think that does say something when it's it's shared with the the governor and the legislature. So, we have a you know, we have a good lobbying we we usually have a good
lobbying group behind us with with these resolutions. No, it seems it seems very simple and straightforward and um and as I said, common sense. >> Any other comments? That's good. So, >> you want to do a motion to endorse it?
>> I would take a motion to endorse the strengthen fiscal partnership between municipal and state governments. >> Okay. I'll make a motion that uh uh we endorse the proposed resolution from MMA to support the fiscal partnership between municipal and state governments as presented.
>> I'll second that. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. That's unanimous. Thank you. Okay. All right. Uh the next item is item
number eight on the agenda and that's sign first amendment to grant of easement for 260 old Westford Road and we have a document to that effect and this is would be for one of the new fire stations. Paul, you want to speak? >> Yeah, this is the fire station at
Roberts Field as depicted on the map an illustrative map uh that you see before you. Um because the uh building will be uh reconstructed, the the easement for the power to the building will actually go further to the rear of the property.
Uh because it is underground, it requires an easement. Christine Clancy, myself, fire chief Gary Ryan, um are working, you know, with the uh project manager and design team, uh and and moving this forward. And one is is the
requirement for national grid for the construction easement. Um because it's only electric powered uh there is no gas easement. So it just so basically this and because the plans aren't finalized as you as you see in the parenthesis the exact location of said facilities is be
established by and upon the installation erection of the facilities thereof. Like I said, it's an illustrative plan that is is required to um allow the installation by National Grid to continue simultaneous when the project and as you'll hear later this evening,
their project is will be bid this spring. So, this is basically getting ourselves in the queue with National Grid to have this work done when the weather conditions allow. Um, okay. Any questions or discussion for
Paul or anything else here? Seeing none, I'd entertain a motion to approve this grant of easement. >> Okay. I'll make a motion to approve and sign the uh easement granted by the town of Chsford to Mass Electric Company to be located at fire engine number three
at 260 um Old Westwood Road. Right. >> Yes. >> In Chford as presented. >> I'll second that. We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. That's unanimous.
>> Great. Thank you. I'll be back at a later meeting for the South Johnson fire station once that's u completed. >> Okay. And item number nine on the agenda is town manager bid awards. >> Yes. I uh have a couple bid awards pertaining to DPW. So, I'm glad our
public works director is still in in the room this evening. We have two bid awards uh having to do with the Southro school. Uh and these were procured by our public works department. I guess first one listed is the and the most significant one is is the roof
replacement project. Um sealed bids on the roof replacement project were opened on Monday December 29th. Um this is a project that's funded through the Massachusett School Building Authority Accelerated Repair Program and will receive a 52% uh eligibility for
reimbursement. Uh the estimated project cost is $3.3 million. Um there were eight general contractor bids received on this project, which was great news. Um the lowest bid received was from Siltown Roofing in the amount of
approximately $1.8 million. They then submitted a letter withdrawing their bid due to mathematical error which was verified by our project managers. they had um neglected to include the cost of removing the solar panels from the um
South Row School roof project. And so under the state law, if you do a mathematical error as a bidder and you can document it, then you can withdraw your bid. The good news is is there were five other bids that were below the estimated budget project cost. And the next lowest qualified bidder was
submitted um by WPI Construction out of Webster, Mass. uh in the amount of $2,27,878. Um since the time of this um bid opening, our project manager has worked with WPPI construction, checked
everything to make sure there were no math errors, make sure that they had all the requirements for the bid and they have. They also check references, but most importantly, SooTote, SooTotech, which is our uh designer on this product, has direct experience with this company. So, um, they they're fully
supportive based upon their own experience as well as reference checks. So, therefore, we're seeking the board's award this evening, uh, to award confirmation to award the bid to WPI Construction, Inc. at the price of 2,27,878 for the South Row Elementary School roof
replacement project. >> And what was the initial construction budget on that? >> The 3.3 million. >> 3.3. >> Yep. But we will be under and it's we will be under budget. Um you know again we have a contingency. Um but it was very comforting that there were there
were eight bids on this and I think it's reflective on the fact that there's more contractors looking for work and most importantly we bid this early knowing that contractors are trying to line up their work and for a school roof project you got to do it in the summer. And so the good news is is we we we got a lot
of biders. We got a favorable bid and the work will be scheduled once school lets out in in June and then be you know essentially complete uh when the kids come back at the uh end of the summer in Sep beginning of September. >> So it's a good indication that the bid
market is is tightening. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Good. That bode well for us. >> Okay, any other discussion or questions? Seeing none, I'd entertain a motion to approve. Okay, I'll make a motion that we approve the town manager's bid award
for the South Row Elementary School replacement project to WPI Construction in the amount of 2,27,878 as presented. >> I'll second that. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in
favor? I opposed. That's unanimous. >> Great. Thank you. And then the next one uh and final bid confirmation this evening is also for the South Rural Elementary School. This is for the electrical panel board replacement project. Again, um this was this was
meant to take place while the extensive work is taking place at the school this summer. Uh eight bids were also received uh on this project. Uh and the lowest responsive and responsible bidder was Dagel Engine Electrical Construction Corporation in the bid amount of 68,686.
bids range from 68,686 to $196,000 and the estimated project cost is $90,000. So again, another favorable result um for a project that was funded at last fall town meeting. So again, we we seek the board's confirmation of the bid
award to to Dagel Electrical Construction Corporation at $68,686. >> Questions or comments for Paul? >> Gez, there were some big swings at this, huh? >> Yeah. What the the good news is you can see most of them are around that 60 $80,000 range. What often happens is
you'll have somebody who just who has work will just throw in a a lark bid to say, "Hey, >> oh, I'll do this project if I can get, you know, twice the profit or my while. >> You make it worth their while." So, >> yeah. But no, >> but then we also have to be cautious not to just assume the lowest is going to be
>> Exactly. Then that's why you saw we we check confirm and and verify and and again there's no concerns with Dagel. >> Any other questions or comments before? See then I'd entertain a motion to award this. >> Okay. I'll make a motion that we approve the town manager's bid award for the
electrical panel board replacement at South Elementary School to Deal Electric Construction Corporation in the amount of $68,686 as presented. I'll second that. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. That's unanimous. >> Next item on the agenda is town manager reports. Paul, >> thank you, Mr. Chairman. A few items this evening. I'll try to be efficient. The first one is the citizen petition warrant article. Deadline was the first
Monday in January for the spring annual town meeting. Um the uh January 6th when the date of the citizen petitions were submitted uh on the form there was one citizen petition warrant article submitted u by Brian Latina. Um
the and that is to uh as you can see as the proposed language would be to vote to overturn the adopted 2025 fall annual town meeting warrant article 29 zoning bylaw amendment definition of family change in the definition of family and zoning article 20 terminology from the
pre-existing relationshipbased definition of family to a zoning terminology based definition of family and restore the pre-existing relationshipbased definition of family. Um upon receipt of this uh petition in verification by the
board of registars I sent it to our chair of the planning board and to our community development director and the reason for that is because this is a zoning article. Uh it has to have an endorsement from the planning board in terms of consideration. It also has to be legally advertised. Um and that is
already occurring. So the um chair of the planning board and community development director so between Crystal Valley and Evan Bolansky they immediately have advertised this will be a hearing on this article like there are other zoning articles and it will be placed on our warrant for springtown
meeting and I believe at this point I have it placed as the first zoning article for consideration um for um springtown meeting. So that's that was the only article that we received at the deadline. Um, and at your next meeting, I'll be presenting you with the first draft of the warrant for the Springtown
meeting. Uh, and and then you'll receive a second draft at your first meeting in February, and then you'll sign at your second and final meeting in February. Um, the next item I have is the fire station construction project update. our project manager um
um left field provided an extensive you know multi-page document which we're not going to go through but we put it in there for transparency and also just that for people to see the extensiveness that goes on in in a project of this nature that what's important to note is
the project remains on schedule uh at this point in time the cost estimates appear to be within budget they are moving towards 90% construction drawings And later this spring in the next several weeks, the project will be put out to bid and that will be the moment
of truth in terms of um the whether the bid estimates and design drawings meet the project budget. Uh and if all goes well, it'll be brought before the board for award confirmation. Hopefully, like we've seen here this evening, we'll have multiple biders that are qualified and
uh have sharp pencils. And if that all completes um then the plan as originally conceived would be construction would be completed by fall of 27 essentially complete. Um so it's good news and again this this report as you can see goes on
for pages and it's very well organized. I mean as we've seen from the very beginning left field does a great job of performing but also presenting their information in a clear manner. You know reviewing how the permitting has occurred to date. uh you know providing
all the attachments including the updated project budget, project schedule and cost estimates. So um good news at this point and uh and um you know we we'll keep you updated as we continue the milestones on this project. >> When do we expect that to go up to date?
>> Uh within the next several weeks. I think it could be as early as late February or or March. Uh and and the other thing I'm doing just as an FYI, I'm also sending this report to the former fire station study committee members just to keep them updated as to you know their work because obviously
they were the you know the the forerunners of moving this project along. So that's where we are and if you just give me a moment to just move through this uh report because it is lengthy but again it's available on our on our website by this meeting link to
you can see the extensive detail and documentation and everything that's been paid on this project. Um so that completes that. Um the next item is the um quarterly update or review of the select board and town manager goals for
the year. Um, again, we did this three months ago back in um the end of October, early November. So, we're I'm not going to go through it page by page. Um, be, you know, because again, you've have it, you live it, and
if people want to see the extensive detail, but I don't think there's need to go through, you know, slide by slide. Um but just to just touch upon things, you know, we're obviously on top of the financial issues with the town with the tri board meetings, you know, looking at our fees, our fees, available revenue
options, uh possibilities for regionalization and other savings. Uh our collective bargaining is is is essentially complete, although we're heading towards a mediation session next month with the only outstanding collective bargaining agreement with our firefighters union. And hopefully that
will be successful. we can bring that to town meeting in the spring. Uh progress continues on these sewer inflow and and storm water efforts um include and uh you know water supply and water district
consolidation. I did speak to the consultant uh this this morning and we should have a draft report hopefully within the next several weeks. Um, and they they apparently have received uh a significant amount of material from the water districts that they're going through right now, which again will
provide hopeful helpful information to this board and to the community in terms of again potential efficiencies and and efforts that are needed there. um infrastructure. You know, you heard from from our public works director earlier this evening regarding the opera funds,
but obviously that extends be beyond opera funded projects and and right now without exaggeration because I was in a meeting last Friday with the public works director and our superintendent of schools and our facilities manager in the schools facility director. They're
managing 83 projects and and I know she has left for the evening, but there's 83 because she's she's gone next door to the uh final square committee meeting, but there are literally 83 projects, separate projects that are, you know, that are reviewed in terms of ARPER, in terms of town meeting
funded projects, in terms of road construction and so forth. Um, and you'll be hearing from uh public Christine Clancy, our public works director um in the next month with the road plan for the upcoming season because even though we're right on the
cusp of of uh mid January, basically by midFebruary, they're really lining everything up for the new season because hopefully this the cold weather will break and they'll get an early start in April um out in the roads as well as in some of the buildings in uh some of the
fields and some of the outside work. Um the underground project in the center, we're awaiting the uh ex survey of existing utilities from our uh consultant BHB. Uh and again, we should have an update for that relatively soon.
Uh the uh PAS remediation on Richardson Road continues. Uh again, you'll hear next month as we're talking about the budget, what's in line in terms of the upgrade to the remedial system and what needs to occur on the upcoming fiscal year. The Warren pole conservation
restriction, we're still awaiting review of that and that's been over six months. I mean, I think it was before the these two gentlemen were on the board. Uh we're waiting for, you know, that submitt for um Warren Pole. it just the state is back on it and so now that the
holidays are behind us hopefully we can get that complete and then circle back with the coolest one which will follow the same um pattern as that agreement the coolest restriction as you know uh same thing we're we're waiting the baseline survey plans and condition
report to move that along traffic issues uh again major one you heard about early this evening about the work over um 495 the replacement of the bridges the latest update on at which I think I shared with you is there'll be rolling roadblocks um in the next several weeks
because if you go by the Westford Street uh Westford Road crossing, you'll see that they're doing the full demo and they're basically they're at the point now where the only more work they can do is right over the roadway. So what they do is they temporarily stop traffic, get those beams out of there and move that
along. So everything we're hearing is is that project is moving along according to schedule. Obviously it's been a noise inconvenience, you know, because of night work for the neighbors and we appreciate the appearance, but basically by allowing this type of nightwork
activity and these roadblocks, it it minimizes the duration of the project. >> Um tree planting, you heard earlier this evening about the community tree and the planting efforts and again that will continue once the weather breaks in the spring. um the the consolidated regional
services. We just did another quarterly billing and quarterly reports on those seal of weights and measures which we um share with Turksbury and Westford and that's going remarkably well. Um the project with Buricker is the lead community for the clean energy advocate
program is underway. I know there's a anformational meeting coming up at the library for people to meet with the energy advocate. Um, and we're continuing to explore possibilities for regional public safety dispatch, and that will probably occur
this summer once the state completes their review of the program and their funding components. Um, business development, we're continuing to host job fairs and promote ribbon cutings and so forth. Parker Middle School project, you'll probably give an update later. I won't speak on that. We just talked
about the fire stations one. Ledge Road remains in the land court and there'll be a hearing next month on the first Thursday in January for the modified order at the board of appeals which has been appealed by Newport. Um but that's >> February. >> In February, I'm sorry. In February, uh
it was what would have been held in January, but the applicant requested a continuence till February. Um the open space plan, as you heard earlier from NIMCOG, we're awaiting um the um uh we obtained the approval and now
we're developing plans for $65,000 of a grant award for accessibility improvements at Heart Pond, Sunny Meadow Farm, and other locations. Uh again, once the weather breaks, clean energy, and sustainability. Um again, we spoke
about that ADU and housing. And I'll speak later to that this evening under my report shortly. Uh but right now the building department has issued the first 13 building permits for ADUs uh in the first year of implementation and and the you'll see that the state is monitoring it and that's why we have the survey
that I'll speak to earlier later I'm sorry. Strategic plan uh you heard early this evening that they'll be working with the strategic plan committee uh on that. Um and um again it's all about infrastructure in terms of these
projects um and managing growth as we talked about earlier and trying to maintain the quality of life with the age friendly program and the fall festival and other activities in the community. Uh and the gap analysis that Christine mentioned earlier has not been
build. Um they are working on it and hopefully that will be finalized shortly. Um, again, we're reporting on projects. You you did the policy updates for the town accountant hiring last August. And later this fiscal year,
meaning in the um last quarter, we the board is scheduled to do a minutes policy and a um create a committee manual. And there will be a volunteer appreciation day. They're they're trying to confirm a date in March um for that
between the library and the council on aging at the senior center. Uh and we will recognize um I think three individuals again this year at that. And then the civic academy is going to begin later this month on the 27th. There are over 20 residents who registered and all
were accepted into the program. Uh and they'll be this will be an eight session um evening program that will run through the end of March. uh you know obviously pausing over uh school vacation week. Um so that's that's where we are on the
goals update. As I mentioned about one of the goals and and next item I report is >> the state uh did a survey for the last calendar year on the accessory dwelling unit. >> Yes. Go ahead. I'm sorry. >> I just have a question about one of the goals under community engagement. Yep. >> Uh you said the town has modified its
website to meet the new federal accessibility guidelines. Have Have they done that for Well, well, I went to a meeting last week and there was a committee that was concerned and they thought they had to be they're responsible for making those changes themselves to their web pages.
Is that true? >> No, they they they just need to reach out to Christine and James and the office and they'll help them. That's what I >> Yeah. No, we're not expecting every committee to the experts on how to make the because it >> Yeah, there's no way anybody would have that capability. So, I hope Yeah, please pass that along. you know, the deadline
is still a ways out, but we want to get ahead of it. >> Oh, just a quick one before you jump to ADUs. Um, just on your your you commented on the bridges. Um, >> I travel that way a lot, so I've been keep an eye on the traffic and I'll admit it's definitely still seems to be
working. I thought it was going to be a little bit of a disaster, but nothing that needs that I felt needed to be reported, which you can do like the DOT has a way to communicate that to them. And I will just say that I don't live anywhere near those and I sympathize with those residents because I've heard
the demo of that. Um but I but hopefully when that's all said and done and we have these new bridges, everything will be uh be good to go. So >> yeah, >> just uh sympathizing with my fellow residents. Hopefully it lasts another 50 years and they won't they won't have to
experience it again. All right. Yeah. >> I just one quick question, Paul, on the civic academy. the 20 residents that are scheduled to participate. Are they >> mostly students? Um, >> a mixture. It was a broad array from new residents to uh students to people
who've recently retired and wanted to get more involved to people who've moved into the community to people who just want so it it really is a a a diverse mix of of applicants. Um and you know again we're we're hopeful given it's the first time that we'll learn lessons and
that uh you know it'll be something that we can continue on an annual basis. >> Yeah. Keep promoting volunteerism. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Love it. Thank you. >> All right. So next thing real quickly on the accessory dwelling unit survey that the state conducted. most to note is
that there were seven applications for detached accessory dwelling units in the last calendar year and 11 for attached interior. Uh again, some of these were verifying maybe some that were not legally completed prior, but there were seven and 11 that were submitted as you
can see that none were rejected. That's always good to know. Um none were withdrawn. um and four have already been approved for the seven that were applications for detached and of the 11 applications for attached nine were
approved and one of those nine already has a certificate of occupancy. So I think the interesting thing is going to be what is the aggregate data from the state um and then and then what does the state do over time in terms of if they're going to amend the laws what
have you. I mean, one of the things the governor talked about several weeks ago was putting out and they did is they put they're going to put out a model ADU design again to reduce the cost. You know, in other words, you remember they did this with the school program. Remember they had model schools and then
that didn't work. >> No, that's this won't either. >> This won't either, but at least they're trying because you're right, there was going to be model. The idea was it's very costly, you know, to design, construct, because they're seeing as these things are costing several hundreds of thousands of
dollars. Uh, and therefore that's why they're tracking to see, well, is it is it a cost issue? Is it the community issue, permitting issue? So, I again I I think we'll look forward in the several months ahead in terms of what data the state might have on this.
>> So, is that in an effort then? So the state providing a design, could a homeowner then just take that state design and go right to the building department and say, >> "Yeah, and stamped engineered drawing. I don't need any stamped architectural drawings. This I have I'm using the
state approved design and I have a builder to build it in accordance with that." >> That's that's the that's the the thought. Yeah. Whether it happens would be interesting because they tried that as we know most notably with the model schools program back in you know >> going back 2000
>> 2000 it was that was the idea of you know you you we weren't going to have every architect designing their model you know architectural digest school for the commonwealth they were going to go to model schools it didn't work >> well one one uh project one design does not fit all
>> exactly >> right but the idea well it it was also the similar the idea of you could just go buy a prefab building and just drop it into your yard. I mean, it was all these great notions. Um, but we'll see what we'll see what comes out of it in the but anyway, the most important thing
I want to share with you is what's happening in Chelmsford in terms of interest from residents and then how they're being processed in our town. >> So, the detached units kind of like tiny houses. >> Yeah, basically. Yeah. >> And I mean, the zoning I think is pretty much the state laid it out already,
>> right? >> Yeah. So Paul, do we have a um I mean assuming that you know we're adding a bedroom essentially, right? It's >> sitting on the board of health and the the planning board liaison assignments. I hear a lot obviously about sewer
capacity as I always do. >> So we have these by units being built now. Not obviously a whole slew of them. >> Um but if each one adds a bedroom and say it adds a 100 gallons a day, right? Um, do we have any idea how many of these
would be built before it creates problems even at a rough level or could we could we ask? >> I mean, we could ask, but it would be significant because at the at this at this level of development, I mean, 11 units, it's going to be nothing. And that's that's the issue. And that because again, we've got third, you
know, >> right? >> 13,000 single family, two family homes. So it's I think that's what's going to be is what what what level of activity is taking place. But I think >> I and I think that's why you're seeing the state quickly pivoting to the cost issue
>> because in Chford you're not dealing with the septic issue. If you if you're in Carlile or Dunable or place like that, you not only have to design and build this thing, you got to then look at your septic system >> and that's costly as well. Um, and so
that's that's I think that's kind of why I think they're concerned about, you know, is I think they're trying to evaluate what the effectiveness of this program is going to be. >> It would have to be thousands of bedrooms to make a difference. We're going to be nowhere near that. >> Yeah. >> Okay. And then the last thing under my
report this evening is the uh monthly double pole report. Um, working with the utility database system. As you can see, we're the number of double polls in the system at this month is 54 as of the J start of the new year. That's plus four
from last month. Um, five were removed last month. Nine were added. Uh, you can see National Grid, which is the initiator, there's zero. So, they're not holding anybody else up. Verizon has their next to go is 16. Comcast is 20.
Others which are third party uh attachers are eight. And then the town is 10. of the town 10, six of those were fire alarm cable removal. Those have all been completed and then we're working uh to do the move our fiber off four others. So, and again, I've reached out
to Verizon, Comcast uh to accelerate their work on the um double poles while the conditions allow and this is a perfect time of the year. There's no snow banks out there. You know, the weather's not severe. You're not dealing with, you know, down trees and ice conditions and so, you know, can
we get your crews out there? So, I'll keep I'll keep the effort up and keep you updated. >> When's the last time National Grid was zero? Because that >> Yeah, they've been seen that >> Yeah, they've been really they've been really on top of it, but they're the first, right? >> And so, you know, once they get it and they're also, as you know, they've got
the big stake in the game because they want to upgrade all the utility poles across the Commonwealth for the new phases of power. So, not not not uh coincidental. Um, so that's all I have under my report. And then for under appointments
for the holiday decorating committee, I'm seeking the board's confirmation uh for Eric Merrill and Deb Tivera for term ending 1231 2026 for the holiday decorating committee. >> All right. Any questions or comments for
Paul on the holiday decorating committee appointments? >> How many people are we going to have now? I know that's >> those are the first two. So we're hoping for more. It's kind of like the parade committee, Jeff. You know, Vivian Merrill did the big lift and she made it known. You've been at this podium saying, "We need people. We need
people." Deb and Eric have um you know, have stepped up. We'll keep their work really doesn't begin until the fall, right? But again, it's like the parade committee, we're trying to get advanced notice that look, we need people who are going to plan upon this if you know, otherwise it creates more of a burden on
the town in terms of trying to do the logistics of it because yeah, we can do the policing and the public works closure and everything else, but there's a lot of details that go inside the project. So, we'll we'll we'll we're glad that Eric and Deb and and why
that's helpful is we can say of new people, hey, we have people who've done this before, come join, just like the parade committee, we'll show you how to how you can help do this. And again, in this case, it's a one night event, just like the parade. It's a one-day event. And unlike the parade, it doesn't take a
year- round planning commitment. Maybe you should have um Eric and Deb come to your first civic meeting, civic academy meeting and say any volunteers. >> We'll probably get them before they go. >> Well, we thank them for stepping up and
um you know the institutional knowledge that um that these folks could take advantage of before people start to move on I think is really important. So uh >> we we encourage any and all takers. Yes, >> as they said. >> It's a And this one's fun. Just like the parade. It's a lot of fun. The people
who do it enjoy doing it. It's just can't do it forever. >> No. >> That will be good. I worked with her on a bunch of committees already. So, >> and Eric used to be the town Santa. >> Yeah. >> Yep. >> So, he's got a little bit I took over from him for a couple years and then my
grandkids got older, so I'm like, I can't do this. >> All right. If there's no further questions or comments on Paul's appointments, I'd entertain a motion. >> Okay. I'll make a motion that we approve town manager's appointments of Eric Merrill and Deb Tivera to the holiday
holiday decorating committee with terms ending 1231 2026. >> I'll second that. >> Okay. I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. It's unanimous. >> Thank you.
>> All right. Um the next item we have is approval of select board regular meeting minutes from 12225. Any um
comments are >> I read through them. I think everything was pretty accurate. >> Looked good as well. Everything pass it. Okay. Seeing no um discussion or questions, I'll entertain a motion to
approve the meeting minutes of December 22nd, 2025. >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> We have a motion and a second. Um if there's no further discussion, all in favor? >> I opposed. That's unanimous.
Okay. And select board member liaison reports and referrals. Pat, we'll start with you tonight. >> Okay. Um, couple of, uh, congratulations are in order. Um, last week, uh, uh,
Sergeant Nicholas Zaminsky from the Chancellor Police Department was promoted to lieutenant and patrolman Nicholas Theer was promoted from patrolman to sergeant at the Chancellor Police Department. So, congratulations to both of them. Uh, Chimps Housing Authority has a new executive director.
His name is Kirk Fulton. He's worked at the housing authority for a while, so he he does have some some history there. Uh he is replacing David Hison who worked at the housing authority for over 38 years. Um probably at least half of those as the executive director. So uh
congratulations to Kirk and you know definitely thanks to David Herson for all the work he has done. And just one more note, um, uh, Jean Callahan, who used to live in Chumsford and actually served on the Chsford school committee, uh, passed away recently. So,
condolences to her family. I did not know her, but um, I'm sure others in town did know her. That's all I have. >> Um, first of all, I want to congratulate Jack Eel, Charles. He's going to be on
the USA team for the Olympics this year, which is exciting. And I think we have a luge. >> Yes, we have a luge, a child high school graduate who's on the luge team, the women's luge team. Um, and that's that was just announced yesterday >> and she didn't see snow until she was
what, 17? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I saw there was a really good article, one of the news stations did a uh pres thing about her and it was really interesting. So, that's exciting. which CHS is going to be represented in the Olympics.
So, um, on another note, we uh had quite a bit of, uh, tree damage with the winds at the cemetery. Fortunately, none of the stones were damaged. >> It's Jeff, I can interrupt you. Her name is Chevron Forgan. F O R G-N. And, um, yeah, she's, you know, she's she's
basically in in the doubles of the Luge. So, I mean, you know, so that's, you know, we that's that's incredible. >> It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah, >> congratulations. >> Yeah, her she's originally from Australia and they moved to Chford for her father's job and her family still
lives in the area. >> It's good stuff. So, tomorrow the pray committee is going to hold our first meeting of 26 tomorrow night. I encourage anybody who's interested in joining the committee, please come and see what what it's all about because we're going to need some fresh
ideas next year for sure. Um, beyond that, I think everything else conservation's pretty quiet this time of year. So, it's all I got for now, Pat. And go Pats. >> Yeah. Thanks, Jeeoff. And go Pittsburgh
tonight. >> Aaron. >> All right. Thank you, Pat. I'll go through these um fairly quickly. Um, aid friendly committee was done on the last day of the year. Um I think people know by now Fred um resigned which is I think a loss for that committee. I worked with
him pretty extensively um on the strategic plan and uh enjoyed that time. So uh good luck to Fred. So that committee is looking for um has an opening um as well. On the 6th I went to the board of health region um meeting. I
saw Joel was here too. He's the planning board rep. Um we have a standing um agenda item for the for the board of health. So if we ever need to communicate back to them, usually it's in this direction. Um they had a lot of regular order of business, but I do
think it's important to note um they're working through some u board of health regulation systems regarding um uh septic systems and some maintenance that's going to be um required. So that that's been a project we've been hearing
about for quite a while. Um, in one of the items that came up, there's I thinkund I was gonna ask Joel to confirm, but I think it's 101 homes in town that are still on septic. Um, and there's about 29 of them that are in the
um, Aqua 2 zone. So, the planet, the board of health might be coming to us to discuss the um, freeing up a little bit of the moratorum specifically for those 29. I don't want to get ahead of of Richard and and the team there, but just know that there's an opportunity that
they may be coming to the to the select board to discuss that. Um, and again, they continue to do a great job at publishing all their reports and those types of things. Uh, I'm supposed to be at Vinyl Square. Those guys are meeting tonight because our meeting synced up. Um, I did speak to uh Virginia before
this meet or emailed with Virginia before this meeting. She just wanted to uh to remind me that they're um the new topics that they're discussing tonight are the planning board's proposed CBLT zoning for the Middle Sex and Princeton Street area up in Vinyl Square. Um this
was this is the same article they had done for um Kate's Corner that got that got passed. And I think the most important thing that they have there um is that there are three meetings. one on January Monday the 12th, one on Wednesday the 14th, and then um
Wednesday's um uh sorry, the one on the 14th is anformational discussion with the with the neighborhood. Um so that's an important one for people to know. And then there's um uh public meetings on the resoning from on Wednesdays the 28th
and February 11th at the planning board. So if you're in that community or or you know travel through that community um you can certainly go and participate in those meetings and they have a nice little flyer that will be coming out. Uh and then the two up and cominging meetings that are coming really soon
obviously um to today's Monday so on Wednesday there's a council on aging um meeting at the um uh senior center. So um come and join if you want. There's openings on that committee too that I know um Deb's looking to get filled. And
then we have a uh the first planning board meeting now in a couple weeks. Um coming up tomorrow, there'll be some public hearings uh regarding the water treatment plant um at 50 Orleans Street. And then they're going to be going through their um zoning bylaws for um
town meeting. And as you heard um earlier tonight, the uh managed growth strategy committee is everybody's been sworn in and that's going to kick off I I think the tenative date right now is the 22nd where we will be meeting with NEMCOG. So at the next meeting, our next
meeting I'll report out on the status of that. Um and I do uh wanted to mention I know the the scouts had reached out to the board and and Jeff responded and and I got involved too. Um and and in some of the email discussions, we suggested
that they try to come to either, you know, obviously tonight I thought was too late, but come to next week's meetings to see, you know, how the local government works. So, it was great to um see all those kids in here tonight. So, I wanted to acknowledge that they they attended. So, that was >> they gave me a couple of dates. One was
this Friday, and I'm I'm out of town this week. So, uh >> I said the 30th is when I'll go. >> Yeah. >> They said they just want us there for like 15 minutes just to answer answer some general questions. >> Yeah. And I like working with the kids, so I kind of moved in with with Jeff to
participate in that. So they they get the Aaron and Jeff show on uh on the 30th. Um and then just because it didn't get mentioned earlier and since they're still sitting here, um uh Sylvia's granddaughter here is in the room. Um Melissa. So heard a lot about Melissa.
So get to meet her tonight. And um I think it was great having both her and Dean for for that uh presentation that we did tonight on her 109th birthday. That's pretty impressive. So, thank you guys. That's all I got. >> Okay. Thank you, Aaron. I don't have a
whole lot this evening. Um talk a little bit about the Parker Middle School project. Um so, you know, we have an architect on board. Um project website has been launched. So you can access that website with all the updated
information through the school um website. Um so that is up and running. Uh we had public outreach sessions that occurred in October, November and December. Um the schedule right now is to reach consensus on a middle school
grade configuration and educational plan by the end of January. So the work that's been going on now for the last several months other than visioning and and so on is um uh review and uh assessment of the
existing conditions um on the various projects. We have 13 options that we're looking at that we'll be looking to minimize over the next um several weeks. Some of them were just not feasible right out of the gate like
um you know bringing the existing building up to code and then additions and renovations and such. But we are required by Mass School Building Authority to look at those things and weigh in on them. And so we actually now
have um um very high level budgeting in place for all the various options which came out the end of last week. Um we have an an evaluation criteria that we'll look at. So this Thursday night, the the the Park and Middle School
building committee will be meeting at the central admin conference room and we will start that process of uh evaluating the options and the budgets that go with the various options. So realistically over the next month it's it's it's start
to whittle down the options, settle on a grade configuration. Uh for anybody that doesn't know, we're um looking to keep either the existing grade configuration or go to a 4 to6 model on the middle schools or a 5 to8 which would be a very
large school. Um so we have um um some crazy budget numbers out there and um so we really need to evaluate all that. The educational plan is being put together um through a cooperative a cooperative
effort um from the school committee, the school department and the architects etc. So that all has to be in certain format for acceptance by Mass School Building Authority. So, we're uh we're
starting to really um get working. Once we get past the next month or two and we settle on um uh an option, then then the real work starts and we can start moving along very quickly. So, uh keep paying attention. Uh again, the the project
website is up. that's launched and there's a lot of good information there and it will be updated uh regularly just as we um start to either eliminate options or projects and um that type of thing. So uh uh lots of good work going
on there and uh we start again on uh Thursday evening. So that is all I have at this point um with the first meeting of the new year and I'll say happy new year to everybody and hope everybody had a good holiday session. And with that, I'd entertain a motion to adjurnn.
>> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I >> opposed. Unanimous. Thank you.