Oh, I do that. All right. Hello, Danvers. Welcome to our September 9th, 2025 select board meeting. And D, would you like to lead us off with the pledge of allegiance? Thank you.
I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much.
All right. Um at this time, what I'd like to ask the public please is um to silence their phones. Um, and also, you know, naturally I understand that if there's an emergency or you need to take a call, if we could take the call outside of the room and if all board
members could put their cell phones away too or silence them, that would be great. So, we'll move on to approval of the minutes. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes of August 12th, 2025? So, move. Do I have a second? Second.
All in favor? Opposed? None. And I forgot to say that um board member Bennett is not with us tonight because he's on vacation. At this time, we're going to go to item number two, new public business. Um who would like to come up to the audience?
Please go up and introduce yourself. And we also have a timer for three minutes. The clerk, would you take care of that? I will. Thank you very much. Bill Brown Street town meeting member precinct one. If I may, I had a couple
of uh things to mention on the town's website. My wife couldn't find it for me as a spot where it identifies when the flag in the square is at half mass who it's meant to honor.
If uh it could be added to the website so it can be found. I think someone needs to be notified or all of us need to be notified who we're honoring. Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Uh
parking lot that the town owns between Cherry and Elm Street, would it be possible for a sign to be put up that says contractor's yard and boat yard? and the bottom and the last line in the
bottom. Please use your inside voice going to be addressing the parking lot with our um presentation. Whoever has to uh Thank you. I'm just mentioning to you. The other thing I was asking uh I would ask is if there's an update on the dead
and dying trees at Pokes Landing. I know the town planted some new trees down there. They have the green boots on them. One of those trees is already dying. So, I'm not sure what needs to be done or what should have been done. And also
about the evergreen with the solar lights for Christmas or whenever I mean town is I think the town's proud of the park. It's nice that if someone at any time goes through and sees how much care we take of that piece
of property along with others in town. That's enough for now. Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Does anybody else want to come up? Okay. Um, at this time, we will go to uh the board will discuss a potential vote to
allow the treasurer collector to establish voluntary electronic billing pursuant to MGL chapter 63A. And who is here to speak on that? Please introduce. We know you, but others might not. Thank you.
Uh Jill Summit. I'm the treasur collector. Um we were just hoping to have the vote so we can um provide uh ebilling to any resident that is wants to take part in it. It's fully optin. They have to sign up for it and um yeah
and then they'll get a tax bill emailed to them instead of mailed. Um and yeah, that's it. That's great. Um G, do we have questions? Uh-huh. Which, uh, I do my water, sewer, and electric online now. So, which which fees will we be able to
pay through this real estate and personal property? Uh, okay. Not excise. Not excise at this time. It's still fairly new and it wasn't there aren't enough communities using it that I'm comfortable. They're still updating their system and everything with it. So, very good.
Thank you. Um, quick question. Do you uh you guys experiencing any problems with the paying online? Because I I can't uh I can't get it to work through unipay. Uh unipay works, but if you go the other
way uh like right into the regular town website, it uh it won't let me. So you have to go to the the pay bill section or something and it does move you to a different site. It'll say proceed to next site and you need to click on that. Yeah. I mean if you have you can call our office. We can walk you through it.
keeps saying it doesn't know me, which is good because I owe you the money. So, all right. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Mike D. Uh, no questions. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you, Jill. You do a great job. So, this is a voluntary
what's it say? Uh, vote to allow the treasur to establish. So, um, do I have a motion? I move we accept the uh recommendation to invoke the allow the treasure cler to establish voluntary electronic billings pursuant to MGL chapter 60 section 30A. I have a second.
Second. All in favor? I opposed. Thank you. Thank you very much. And the uh public can get in touch with you if they have questions. Thank you, Jill. Um the board will hear a transportation needs assessment report from planning director uh Brian Zeli. However, I
believe Aaron Henry is going to be doing this presentation. Thank you. Please introduce yourself. Use an assist. Thank you. Sorry. Oh, wait. Right there. Yep. My computer didn't like this room
tonight for some reason. Miss Ellsworth is going to help. All right, let's see. If I hit play, it should work. Excellent. Um, good evening board members. Uh, thank you for having me. Um, I am, uh, pinch hitting for Mr.
Skellyy, so unfortunately I probably can't go too deep into the answers should you have any questions, but I will take notes and make sure I can get you those uh, answers um, as uh, he's available. Um, wanted to give you a brief summary. Again, this was a uh, I
want to say this was over a 60-page document. Um, we got funding. Uh, we put in a little bit of our planning consulting money and got a matching uh, grant from MAPC to help us uh, leverage that dollar those dollars as far as we
could. Um, and here tonight we've wrapped up a community needs assessment around transportation. Um, and I'm just going to be giving you a very high level um, summary of that. So again, we'll talk a little bit about the project goals, a little bit about
the background, key findings, and recommendations. So the goal was to reach out to the community to try to better understand the community transportation needs. Um figure out if there was any barriers to
what the community um would like to have out there and how we can get to those changes. also developed some recommendations uh to get further study into those. Um and we touched base with existing planning documents like strategic danvers and some other plans
um to kind of give us a little bit of a guidepost as to how we approach the work. And ultimately if things progress from here uh this would be basically the uh foundation for moving this ahead um for uh equivalency for a chapter in a
master plan. Um, and again that's we're not necessarily saying that we need a master plan, but Massachusetts law does encourage communities to have master plans of which transportation would be an element and the needs assessment really would be go a long way towards
building towards towards that. So a little bit of background in general that we learned through this um we have about 650 households. We have a little over 11,000 households in town. 650 of
them do not have a vehicle. Um about 13% of our renter households do not have a car. Generally speaking, we're about 8020 owner renter. So we have a a significant portion of our renters are without vehicles. 22% of residents are
65 years or older. Um 28% of our households have children present. And again, that comes into things like Salem Skipper where some pre-teens might be able to have transportation options and some independence if we had more public transportation options. And 20% of
people in town have a disability. And again, there are services through the MBTA like the ride, but um those sometimes fall short of community needs. Then again on the right here is kind of the groups that those uh general populations we kind of kept an eye out
on as we move through the uh move through the project. So jumping right to the end again there's a ton of information in this report 60 plus pages plus appendices. Um but here's the key findings. People
wanted a more walkable community. Um, people are concerned with traffic and congestion and people want more transportation services. And again, we we know that we've heard a lot about the MBTA restoring service. Um, so again, no real
surprise here, but it was important for us to go out and kind of reestablish what the community is looking for. Um, as it been a while since we had had a touch in on these topics. So basically some of the things we heard about walkability and for those of you
in the room that come to uh the transportation advisory committee, this is probably nothing new. We do hear a lot about a disconnected sidewalk network, the conditions of the sidewalks and limited crosswalks in town. And we've done things like this year, our
first year, that we have some money set aside in DPW's budget for uh crosswalk and rapid flashing beacon deployment. So again, we're making progress on some of this. So this isn't again new information to us. Um but again, we had not gone out to the community and really
ground truth those. Um we also need and that was mentioned in strategic danvers was the need to preserve those um sidewalks and enhance them when possible. Um we did do a survey and we really got a lot of feedback. Walking
was the thing that more people want. Um we thought biking would be up on the list and it was on the list but cycling dominated across all cohorts. Um walking dominated across all cohorts. Sorry about that. Um and again this last one is something
again we had heard of through kind of uh general community outreach over the years but to have it kind of coalesed into this plan was very helpful and that's basically people want to understand how to get from point A to point B on foot. So, your kids going to Smith school, how do you get from Smith
school to some uh some other community facility? Avoiding the busiest roads if possible. And that's something we've been talking about in house as well. Public feedback. Um I will say generally, I know doing surveys and reaching out to the community is always
fraught with did you get enough to make it valid. Um in this case, we got a little over 500 respondents. that it's a number that we did better than the last one we went out on the housing survey. We did better than that one. Um it was enough to be statistically significant
according to the math based on the size of the population. Um we got about 2% feedback which is enough. Again, it is what it is. But we did uh do that survey and I think that was helpful for us to kind of understand that we're not out of our minds with some of these things that
we are thinking of. um traffic and congestion. Obviously, um lots of people feeling like, uh the increased traffic in town has some sort of correlation to development and we need to kind of do a
better job of unpacking that and understanding that. Um we do as a community have high single occupancy vehicle usage. So most adults in this town have a car available to them and you'll see that in the report. Over 70%
of trips in town are solo alone. Um which again contributes to traffic everywhere. Um transportation emissions are the largest source of emissions in town and again that's kind of a touchback to the strategic Danverse plan where um I think emissions dwarfs all
the other categories. Um so again we are trying to be mindful of of the environmental impact. Um and so again uh public feedback on this part um really about improving c uh sidewalks and crosswalks. Um again not shocking to us
but good to have that feedback. The create more multi-use trails and sidewalks. Again that's kind of that interconnection between public facilities that people want to get to without having to get in a car. uh spec specifically, you know, for kids and youth in getting around town, reducing
traffic congestion generally and again basically restoring some sort of bus service, some sort of public transportation service. We weren't surprised to see that on the list either. Um more transit service, a little bit of a deeper dive there. Um really the
transit services we have are all focused on the mall and that goes to Logan Express's move to the mall in the last 18 months that seems to be successful but again that's kind of transforming the comm that are transforming that area into our community's transportation hub.
That's where the two MBTA bus lines that do exist in town terminate. We now have um the Logan Express and that's also a major hot spot for the Salem Skipper service which does go elsewhere in town but that spot in particular the Endicott
Street corridor is a hot spot for users of the Salem Skipper. Um so again that nothing surprising there but um just again good to have that feedback and and again there the report has a lot
more data. It goes way deep um and I wish I could answer any questions that you might have on the deep dive but I'd have to touch base with Brian but I will get back to you should you have any questions. And I think that is the short version of the slide. Again
here's what we're thinking. Um what we're doing the update complete streets prioritization based on the walkability results. There is a funding pool out there at the state level complete streets program offered through Mass Highway. Um we tried several years ago
and a few board members may have been on when we adopted a complete streets policy. I think Mr. Tras was was on the board then. Um that was 2018 I believe we adopted a complete streets policy which enabled us to apply for those grants. Um we did do that in 2019. We
were rejected from that and we haven't revisited that since. I think this to to us inhouse. This is um you know that program is custom made for what the community wants and we really need to do a better job of going after those grants. Um, in the complete streets uh
program we are talking about and uh developing and implementing a parking management plan for downtown. We'll touch on a little piece of that tonight at the next agenda item. Um but more generally um as has been noted by some community members, we have started to see some
money come in through the transportation mitigation fee associated with development downtown and we want to spend that money back into the downtown and we're thinking some sort of parking management uh traffic study for downtown would be a logical first step. We last
did that in 2014 2015. Um, and again, there's grant programs out there through uh the state that we could probably leverage our funds to get those to stretch as far as we can. So, we're going to explore that. Um, centralizing transportation planning processes. Right
now, it's um some of it's happening in engineering, some of it's happening in DPW, some of it's happening in planning, and we need to do a little bit better job of doing left-hand, right hand um on that. So, we're going to make those adjustments as we can. Um, promote
existing transit services available in Danvers. Again, there's not much, but right now, that's the Salem Skipper. I just had a uh check-in with that um management team today. Uh for the last couple of months, Danvers has actually
been showing the highest growth of the other municipalities involved between the city of Beverly and the city of Salem. Our numbers are continuing to go up. Salem's been flatlined for a while. They have solid ridership, but our ridership is continuing to grow and that's a really good sign. Um, and then
again, uh, there's some recommendations in the plan about the zoning bylaw and how to promote more sustainable development. And again, that would be subject to further public conversation and process and prioritizations, but MAPC did throw some stuff in there um,
regarding that. So, that is it. I apologize for talking fast and covering a lot of ground quickly. Um I do my best to answer any questions, but um certainly we'll get you answers should you have it. Okay. Uh thank you Aaron D. Do you have a question? H
thank you for the information. Um and um well I will agree with the survey. I I think those three bullets are what I also see and believe. Um, a question that may not be for you or that
you could take back uh about walkability. Um, the those of us who live on the other side of one of 95. Yep. We can't walk into downtown. I brought
this up like maybe 10 years ago and I forget in what forum but if you are at Harton you can't go to stop and shop by foot and it's just that small section under the highway. Y
what do we how do we get that addressed? I mean my kids are are all grown now but it was really unfortunate they couldn't bike or walk anywhere. I mean they can go to Middleton. Yeah. Who'd want to go to Middleton? Exactly.
Um uh well, the short answer for your side of that of town on that side of 128 is Mass DO's um going to be doing the bike path
between Nicholls Street like CJ Christina's that store. Yeah. All the way to Kirk Brad Drive. And there is a sidewalk at Hazen as you know. So that connection will exist in the next couple of years. Um
and one of the things we have talked about with Mass DOT is probably connecting to the Conifer Hill intersection that runs up by Texas Roadhouse, that side of Conifer Hill. Um I don't remember off the top of my head if that pedestrian connection was
in the plans, but I know we talked about that. Um, and so that's something I can remind the the planning team at DOT that we've we really have a strong interest and they know also kind of the we have a housing authority property back there and we have the Conifer Hill Apartments
back there. So there's a lot of households there and so we've stressed that we would love to see that connection occur. Um if you're on Dayton Street, um that side of and Center Street on that side, there is some maybe a little bit better connectivity, but
it's a long walk. Yeah. Um but I do think we have sidewalks on Armory down to center, the top of center. We do. Yeah. And that's I think Mass Highway just did redid that a little bit maybe this last summer. I'm not positive it
involved a sidewalk improvement, but I do think it I thought it did. But so we don't have much on that side, but we do have a plan for um 62. Okay. So there's no need for me to keep bringing it up. Someone is working. No, keep bringing it up. Okay.
Keep bringing it up. Uh again, because again at the staff level communicating with Mass DOT, it would be beneficial if we had more public comments on that. And at some point, uh we don't have a scheduled date from them yet. The next public piece of that project will be the
25% design public hearing. So, Mass Highway requires public hearings at 25% and 75% design. If it does not make it into the 25% design plan that they hold a public hearing on, we want to make sure that we
have community members voicing that opinion at that time. Okay. Thank you. Please keep uh people from precinct 8 at bay. Thank you. That's a good question. I like people from precinct 8 and six and six.
Good question. Ghana. Uh yes. Will we be getting a copy of the report or the slides? I there are some interesting facts in here that I'd like to Yep. I'm sorry. Uh you should have received the report via email. Okay. And hard copy is available here. Um but
we can send the slides over to if you'd like. Great. uh because there's a lot of interesting information here that I would apply in other places. Uh for example, uh it was 13% of renters don't own a vehicle and I did you say
8020 on households that Yeah. So I don't know I can't do the math on No, but 20% 650 households, but you said roughly 8020. We often hear when someone wants to develop a property that they don't have enough parking that that they need two spaces for every apartment or
whatever it might be. When in fact, these bear out the fact that not all renters or homeowners or condo owners have two cars per apartment, even if it's two-bedroom. And I think that that's a reality as opposed to people have these anecdotal observations and
state them as if they're they're factual when this is a number we can point to and say, "Well, maybe the parking regulations uh by the planning board should reflect some of this these modifications or the ZBA to know that no, you don't if you have if you're
recommending four apartments, you don't have to have eight spots necessarily." Um, so I think those are important facts that you got out of this uh that that we we should promote. Um, I also agree I also agree that we do have a lot of traffic in town, but I've also contended
that a lot of the traffic is passed through traffic. People going from Beverly coming center Beverly up, you know, to route one to to 95 uh popular street 62 is is is packed. But I think in order to again that's my opinion
that's anecdotal that's observational but I think we should get some facts out of it. We have the opportunity that police do statistical analysis. They can run the cords across the the street. And if you ran a cord across the street at Elliot on the way into Danverse from
Beverly, you ran another cord across the street uh at at 128 when 128 comes comes off either side of 128 and then again taking a right onto Popular Street and then again down at Summer and down before you get on to Route One and 95 on
the far end. you could actually extrapolate how much of the traffic that's in town is actually passing through town. The same thing with around the schools, uh, St. John's Prep, uh, you know, we know the Davis school system, we know that, but you have a lot of K people at the prep, you have a lot of people at
the Aggie. Um, having those studies done are straightforward, pretty simple, don't cost us anything. I believe we have the equipment. Uh, if not, we figure it out. But we should be able to say with some certainty that yes, while we do have a lot of traffic in town,
absolutely. It's obvious a lot of this is not people moving into town, people moving out of town, not people, not necessarily residential parking. And you can time stamp it. You will know between 7 in the morning and 9:00 in the morning and again again around the schools when
schools are let out and then again when they leave that that's the majority of your traffic. And I think it would be important to actually pursue that as a as an option and an opportunity. Um, and maybe my next recommendation is
for the next topic about uh traffic rules and orders. Um, I I'll hold that one, but I would also like to suggest um that we consider um reviewing and updating the parking study that we did
because another concern we hear a lot is there's not enough parking downtown. we can't find parking, there's not enough parking. When the reality is there's a lot of parking downtown if people are willing to walk a block or two. Um, you know, it should be pretty straightforward to take that study where
the map of of available spots were at that time and find out if any of them are no longer available. I don't think that we've actually sold off our properties and and parking spots. I would be hardressed to think that it's gone down dramatically. But if we were to remind people, you know, you're
right. If you want to stop at Cathmando, if you want to stop at Modern Bircher, you're not necessarily gonna get a spot right in front. You may have to park over by the, you know, be behind um uh the old Tomkins building where the ambulances. You might have to park behind CVS or behind Brothers to get
there, but there is actually quite a bit of parking in in the area. Um so I would actually like to ask that we consider just pulling that out, freshening it up. Yep. um and and and and publicizing exactly where we are because I remember
out of that was the recommendation we do a lot more signage y and pointing people towards those parking and I think that that's uh an again an important fact when people are concerned and raises the concern about lack of parking for all the people who are
moving to town or all the people in town. So, thank you. We are going to be and I hinted at that earlier um in the presentation. Um we are we would like to freshen up the 2014 downtown parking study and maybe expand the scope a little bit to cover
uh the situation as it exists today. Um but I would say the signage recommendations we are also moving ahead in and that's part of the downtown uh lighting project. Um we have near Thank you very much. I think it was either uh Sally Karns or um Senator Lovely helped
us out with that. Um makes the dream work. Um so um that should be coming later this fall. We're just kind of coordinating with that. We had a meeting earlier this week to talk more about that. So some of those recommendations we are moving ahead on finally. Um but we do need to
refresh uh the overall plan there. Great. I you know um like I said I I appreciate people's observations and anecdotal observations but the reality there are some numbers we can apply to these things. Thank you. Thank you Ghana. Good questions Mike.
Uh thank you. Um I guess the general statement that your um uh presentation is screaming at me is that we have to in order to get the walkability to work is we got to um try to get more business to come in fill up all these spots so
there's something to walk to. Um so and again a general statement would be uh how do we get more friendly to with all the different groups committees town hall everything that has to take place for a business to come into town you know where do we uh you know
smoothing out some rough edges possibly and you know I'm sure it's already being done but um how do we get businesses who want to come rent here versus Beverly Salem PB um just so we fill it up and walkability works. Y
and I think to that point, we've been talking um with Miss Cahill about how to kind of uh re-energize our economic development uh focus and so hopefully we'll have more on that in the future. Yes, thank you. Yeah, thank you, Mike. Um that's the
same I'll echo the same things that they said to walkability is very important. Um, I was in Melrose um, the other day and the amount of people just walking through and I used to say to our former town manager, take a drive through Melrose and look at all
the businesses that are thriving there, you know, and and the pretty lights and like you said, as we talk more about downtown development, um, I think that will be the key. Yep. So, thank you, Aaron. Any next steps on this, would you say? Um, I think
there'll be more conversations to come, but I think this part of the process is more or less concluded. Um, I do think there's a bigger conversation about what we want to do next and we'll be back and working with Miss Cahill on those next steps, but this was more of just a we've
done this work um with MAPC and we wanted to share that out with the community. Wonderful. And and we'll make sure all of this gets posted to the website um the slide decks and all of that fun stuff. So, we'll get that up there. Please residents, let's let's make suggestions to Aaron. You know, he's open for conversation. So,
anything you have to say, please email him. Town manager, myself, any board member. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. So, then you might as well stay up there, right? I'm not moving. You're not moving. Okay. So, we'll go to item number five. The board will hear
from LUCS Director Aaron Henry regarding potential changes to the town's traffic rules and orders. So, um, you got a memo. This is a little bit more concrete than the last one. And I guess I can I can kill this, Kathy. I'm
Are you done? I don't have a slideshow. But you have cats on the desktop. We should look at cats. Oh, you want to see my cats? Yeah. Okay. Um, I don't know how to get out of here now with the remote. Um, she's very excited to share her.
There's my cats. Um, okay. Apologize for the diversion. Um, in your packet, uh, hopefully you got a memo from me, but for folks at home, just to give you a little background, um, the
community's traffic rules and orders are determined by the select board. Um, it's been about two years, a little over two years since we have formally amended them, June of 23. Um we did have a little conversation in September of that year but nothing
actually came of that. So there were no amendments made in September. Um in you should have received ideally you got a clean version of the existing rules and regulations. You got a redlinined version of the proposed changes and a
clean version of the proposed changes. The red line. What's that? We only gave them the red line. Okay. That's all you need. But out of an abundance of caution, I gave her everything. Um you can have as much as you'd like. Yeah. Um so and just again for folks not
um familiar with the material in front of them um the transportation advisory commission monitors and administers our transportation safety issues on a day-to-day basis uh here in town. We meet once a month um formally. It is the
fourth Wednesday of the month. We now meet at 10:30 a.m. We got community feedback that our former time of 2:30 in the afternoon was um difficult to make. So, we moved it to 10:30 in the morning. We've had great participation uh so far. I know that's not the best time ever,
but it we do have more participation now that we've moved those meetings a little earlier in the day. Uh we also a small group of us also convene um the two the second Wednesday of the month to kind of make sure that we're looking at the action items that came out of the last
meeting, see what's come in and how we uh are routing the various issues. Mo most of what we see we can deal with at the staff level. It's advisory signage that doesn't require a regulatory change, but every now and again we get something before us that
does require the vote of a select board in order for us to implement something that we feel comfortable. So, as a general rule, we kind of let those build up a little bit depending on their level of importance and then we come to you with a big slug rather than come to you every six days with another change. So,
here's a big slug of changes that you've received in this packet. Um, there are a couple of things I do want to note procedurally. Tonight is just an introduction. Mr. Bennett would appreciate the first reading. Um, sort of thing. Um, we are tentatively talking
about coming back to you for a formal approval of these changes second half of October if I'm off top my head. Um, we do have to advertise that hearing and go through all of those machinations. So, that gives us plenty of time to handle that. It also gives us time to address
any questions, comments, concerns that you might have between now and then, any community member might have between now and then. So hopefully we're not looking for much tonight other than um if we're close and you feel comfortable, we're going to proceed with that plan of action. If you have grave concerns and
think we need to do more uh work on it, we can kind of hit the pause button on that. There's no time certain that we have to do this by. Um, but we'd like to get it off uh checked the box. But again, if we need more time, we can do that. Couple of things that are big here
that I did want to highlight. The first one would be the introduction of an allday employee paid parking permit for a limited number of parking spaces in the public downtown
parking lots. Um, essentially what we have today on the ground is a signage that says all day parking. Unfortunately, that is not well defined. And what we have had happening is residents who can park legally overnight. If you happen to be in one of
those all day parking spaces, you're still legal. And the people, the employees coming to downtown um to staff the businesses are getting forced out into regular customer parking. And that's been a source of consternation for both businesses and
staff. Um, and so what we are thinking is I think it's 48 parking spaces um throughout downtown um that we would like to your consideration for moving to a paid parking permit. And again, we're
not trying to extort anything out of anybody. This is just to make sure there's a little bit of skin in the game and that the businesses aren't gobbling up all of the parking permits that could be out there. Um, so we do want a little bit of regulation there. And we figure a low um a low fee kind of gets skin in
the game, but uh affords them the opportunity to get employees uh parking downtown and not competing with their customers and not driving our parking clerk insane. Um, but that is a big change. uh we don't have any such
program like that presently. The other one um and Mr. Bradstreet brought this up in the public comments and um they've they really bear the brunt of this is the parking lot associated with town hall um off of Elm Street that runs back to Cherry. Uh the
front end of that uh parking lot serves as Town Hall parking. the latter half of that as it runs out towards Cherry um has become something of a repository for um oversized vehicles, uh trailers, uh
boats. Um right now it looks okay. Um that's really through and I um Lieutenant Sullivan is here. We sometimes call him Admiral Sullivan because he has to deal with uh boats so often. Um, right now what you'll find out there is
at least legal. Um, they're all registered and plated appropriately. But again, we're we're kind of concerned that that's becoming a place to dump if you're a contractor. You can kind of use it as a contractor's yard, leave your trailer in one of those spots, go home,
uh, come back the next morning and kind of use this parking lot as um, a de facto contractor's yard. and and at the very least what we would recommend is uh clearer signage um and maybe limiting the geography of that area. If you drive
out there, probably not after tonight because it'll be dark, but if you go through during the day and when you can see uh better, you'll notice there's a telephone pole right before Mr. Brad Street's house begins. Um, at the very least, I would suggest stopping that those parkers from being able to go
beyond that because at that point, there's two single family homes right at the end of that and our biggest vehicles are parking right behind the two single family homes right there. Um, bearing the brunt of of our policy. So, again, that's something to consider. We don't really have strong recommendations for
you tonight. Um, again, we think it should be better regulated and clear more clearly regulated. Um and you'll see the language in the document um for that, but we want you to consider that and happy to take any feedback over the next couple of weeks on that.
And then finally, the other big one um that I think is a good news story was the chronic uh issue on 114 of carriers parking on 114. We also have that occasionally downtown on High Street for GMC Moore, um which is no longer called
GMC Moore. I apologize. Um Danver's GMC. Um but we did find that the city of Peeody um had similar problems on 114 added language to their traffic rules and regulations and again through Lieutenant Sullivan and our colleagues in uh PBD we were able to borrow that
language and are proposing to insert that in our own rules and regulations and we think that that would go a long way towards curtailing that behavior um which is uh chronic and again as usual there's a flurry of grammatical and formatting uh catches
that every time you open it up you see another comma in the wrong spot or another indentation that somehow got out of control. Um so we've tried to make those corrections for readability. Um there is a section and I apologize I just ran out of time. Um towards the end
of the book there's about eight lines of Water Street parking rules that are highlighted. Our hope is to not change any of the rules, but if you read those carefully, you will realize that we have about four lines saying the same exact thing. And we just need to figure out what is the right way to say that you
can't park on Water Street uh between Endicott Street and the Zipo Bridge or Mill Street. I think it stretches a little further past Mill. So, there's about six or seven lines there that we just have to clean up and figure out. I apologize uh running out of time there.
Um and I think that is it. So again, from a process standpoint, not looking for anything tonight. Obviously, if there's something that jumped out at you, uh would love to hear it, but again, just wanted to make sure that uh you know the plan and if there's any feedback in the coming weeks, we'd be
happy to take it. Thank you, Ka. Sure. I I look through the red lines. I'm fine with the the the lodge issues that you've uh raised as well as the grammatical things. I wanted to make two suggestions.
The first is can we get a table in this report of the streets in town and whether it's all streets or just that are either completely and wholly controlled by controlled by the town of Danas versus those for which
recommendations have to be supported by the state. For example, Popular Street 62. We can't just at our own discretion do certain things. Y we have to to engage them. Uh I think it's helpful for people to understand
that why don't we put a stop sign here. It's not necessarily just Danverse or a light here. It's not just Danverse. It also is a reflection of uh roads that have state funding for which they their participation requires us to go to them as well.
Yep. I do think Mr. Mr. Tras. Um, it might not be as legible as it could be, but I want to say section one of the appendix starts with a jurisdictional map. Okay. Um, and that may be available online. I
will find out if that's something that we have as that you can zoom in on. Yeah, it is there. I think it's page 51. I'm not sure if the page nation is exactly the same in your copies as it is mine. Yeah, mine only goes up to 30 on appendix. Uh,
it is it is there. I saw it. I section one of the of the append. I see the map. Okay. I see the traffic rules and orders jurisdiction. I believe we have a digital version of this on our website that you can zoom in and actually see. And maybe if just add a table that says what which of these streets is is in green
um you know which portions of the street because there are portions that are and are not of the street. Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm going to take that down as add a table to appendix one. Uh, appendix of the state right of way. Yeah. Just a list of the streets where
it's where the state has some level of um Yep. applicability. Yep. We can do that. jurisdiction. Um the other and I don't expect this for October, but I would like to ask the appetite of the board um uh members.
Um I would like to one of the big choke points obviously is Popla Street at Maple. Uh coming out of town downtown going on to popular street. It's a huge choke point that that intersection is at an odd angle and especially during the
high traffic times you can't get out of there. I apologize. I was writing where what intersection I heard. The intersection of Popppler and Maple. Yeah. Uh where from the old fire station out. Yeah. I'm I'd like to find out what the appetite is to because I've heard this from some of the residents who live there.
Um but also I think it's again anecdotal observation. I wonder if it's achievable to make that a one-way in coming off Maple on I'm coming off Popppler into Maple into the square is fine. Into the square into the square is fine. But people who
want to go to who are who ultimately are going up that street to Popppler, take a right on Locust, take the left 100 100 yards up at the Locust Street um popular intersection. Far better controlled um less opportunity for accidents coming
in. I get it. There are a couple of streets um you know, you have Maple Lav that may be affected. Um I don't believe that that anybody would try to continue to use that um by you know using the you know north Putinham to dodge around it
on Hobart and so on and so forth. I I think that there's a there's a a good opportunity and and and again working with the police department and the police statistitians find out what the number of accidents are there. You can actually eliminate those accidents um by the way it comes out. Um, so I I don't
expect that for October, but I would like that to be a strong consideration uh for review and con and uh and maybe a survey of the local residents, survey of that that area, find out what the people are thinking. I want to say we've dealt we've talked about that generally in the last year. I
I can't remember what month, but yes. So, absolutely get back to you on I guess I formally want to put it on someone's plate. I can give you um I'll go back and dig up the the information. I know we've discussed it and I know engineering had some conceptual drawings of not that
version of it, but they did look at that intersection to see maybe teeing it off um if that would improve the safety issues there. Um so I can get back to you with and that's again Hawkins back to my other proposal which is knowing the jurisdiction.
Yeah, that's all us. Okay, perfect. Y perfect. So thank you. Those are my thoughts and and I I like the modifications you've you've made here. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you, Mike. Um Aaron, the the all day parking. Yep.
Um it just sounds I know I know you need to do it, but it sounds really problematic. How do you how do you govern that? Um and how do you enforce a neighbor that parks there? Well, because basically uh the business will have to
either directly purchase or provide uh documentation that the person purchasing the permit works at a business downtown. And similar to how we've implemented neighborhood parking around Essex Tech, which knock on wood, we're now into the
third year um and have had very good success up there. The only difference how we would apply that to downtown versus how we implemented the program up at Essex Tech would be in this case there'd be a nominal fee for entry.
Basically just a little control mechanism to ensure that uh you know one person doesn't buy 25 permits. And again that's something we've been working closely with Miss Ellsworth and and the parking clerk on fine-tuning. But at at this point, we just wanted to make sure
the concept if we were going to get laughed out of the room, that's fine. We'd figure something else out. But if there is uh a little bit of appetite for seeing if this is a solution, um we'd like to try that. And those spots would be mocked up differently. So, yeah, we're going to get we'd have to
get new signage to make that clear. And we've talked to the police department and Kathy Simon uh about what that verbiage would look like. So, we're in theory ready to go, but we wanted to have this conversation with you all before implementing such a novel program.
And the businesses have all complained to to bring this forth. Is that what that's why we're there? I wouldn't say they're asking us to charge them for parking, but they certainly have asked us about how do we solve this problem? Um, and again, I at this point, we're kind
of at wit's end. Um, it's got to be some sort of management tool. Uh otherwise it's a free-for-all and the all day solution that we tried has not really worked the way we thought it would. So Okay. All right. Thank you. Uh can I follow up on that? Yeah. Go ahead,
madam. Sure. Uh so I'm presuming the placards will be sold to the business, not to a person who says I work at this pizza place or this whatever. I assume it would be sold to the business. So brothers would buy two or three placards or whatever it is. That's the Yes. And again, we're not
going to regulate whether or not a small business actually says to their employee, Johnny, you give me the 20 bucks and I'll go buy the ticket. But yes, our our thing is we want it to come from the business. How that business gave us, you know, came into that money,
that's on them to figure out. I understand. But it'll be numbered and assigned to a business, not to a individual. Correct. Okay. And I guess you'll also consider where those spots will be. I wouldn't want they certainly wouldn't be street side spots. No, they would be spots
the all day parking spaces exist today. Okay. And they're usually in the back or the sides of the lots. I mean, we try to put them in the farthest in the any particular lot. All right. Well, I just wanted to follow up because when I thought I thought you heard that I heard you respond to Mike's question that they would be sold to the
employees. I'm I'm assuming it'll be sold to the business. Correct. That said, it might be an employee who says, "Hey, business owner, I'd like to take advantage of this. Can I, you know, go through you to get that parking permit?" But sorry. Is it at the same rate for the day? And
you're just ensuring they don't get a ticket for being more than one hour or two hours depending on where it is. Okay. Yeah. And it's first come, first serve. We're not going to say that this is your spot. You have a parking pass. These 48 spaces are available to you. Thank you. Thank you. That's good. Thank you, D.
Thank you. Um, I have a couple of comments and maybe things to look at um as we draft a final version of this. Uh, the car carrier by motor vehicle. I
think that was on my package page 18, section 26. That's an add-on. Yes. Uh, C. He says any violation of this section, they will get like a 500 fine for the
first offense and 1,000 for the second offense. Who does the fine go to? It's not clear to me. Is it the driver or is it the business owner? The driver. Is that Lieutenant Svin? It goes to the driver in that case.
operator will be given to there two tickets. Rob, do you want to do you want to go up there and answer that? Sorry. It's important. Good thing he happens to be here. Yeah. Thank you. That might slide off. No worries. Thank you. So, there would be a civil motor vehicle
citation issued to the operator of the car carrier. uh just like if they were pulled over for speeding or something, it's the same ticket. Um a separate ticket would be issued to the owner of the business. Um the business is required to tell the car carriers, you
cannot park on 114. You've got to come into my lot, offload your vehicles there or make plans for them to be dropped off someplace else. Um so what PBD did was um right now there's it's it's very difficult. The car carriers come from all over the country. You never know
who's coming in today. So, it's hard for these businesses to um to get the word out. So, they just don't pay attention. So, if they are potentially going to get a ticket, if there's a a car carrier parked in front of their business, they're more likely to wave the carrier in and say, "You can't park there. You
have to come into my into my lot." That would be a bylaw ticket. Uh a civil um civil uh ticket that that police Yes. Okay. So, I think we may want to get that clarified in the books. Uh because
just by reading, I'm not sure who is getting the ticket. Um and also, how do we keep track of the first versus the second? Like if Johnny comes to GMC and drops off something, then he
gets a $500. The next day, uh Phillips comes in. Does Philip get a $1,000 because Johnny was there last week? So the individual operator, if it's two different operators, that would be the first offense for each operator. So that would be $500. But the business might be
at a second offense. Okay? So if that ex business allowed two different operators to come in, that business could be looking at a second or subsequent offense. And that information would be uh from our record management system. The officer who's conducting the stop or interacting with the business
would check what we have for records. Has this individual operator um been spoken to by the police before or has this business been spoken to by the police before about this? And would that be tied to their driver license? Is that how we know the operator like
in Mass? So in Massachusetts, yes. So yes, if um if they were found responsible for the citation um or actually the registry does now put written warnings on your driver's history. Um so that would be in their Massachusetts driver's history. I don't know about out of state um registries
though they would have it but our in-house computers say California didn't mark it in their system we would still have that information in house that we would know it was a second offense. Okay. Thank you. I think it might be worth uh Erin as we draft this to
clarify that section C. Absolutely. Because it sounds like there are two tickets going on. One to the operator and one to the business. Um then if there's a third offense, what happens? We hang you
upside down. Yeah. Does the Does the business license get revoked like what I don't think we've I mean I think you're just at that that tier and that's so maybe again to clarify the language is just second and beyond offense that
yeah maybe yeah that that will work too. Um then on this ticket do because because and the reason why I ask is D says that section D says the the driver can appeal
to can ask for a hearing. Um and I think that's just because you're in court. They can request a hearing in front of the magistrate but the business can request a hearing
in front of the select board. So do we have the option to put because if we do if they come in front of the select board and we say okay we are not going to find you. Do we also have the
option to put that on hold? And between the first and the second, do we have like a time frame? Like if I'm if I come in 2025 and then I come back in 2030 is 5 years. I've been a good boy for 5
years. Does that still count as my second offense or do do staying away out of trouble for a while will wipe out the first offense? uh for the for the first part sir the um the operator they have to appeal to the court their right of
appeal is to the Salem district court okay that's for any chapter 90 violation ticket that any police officer writes for any violation um the appeal would never come to the town of Dambridge for that it would be Salem District Court um for the bylaw ticket the right of appeal would be here to the select board
and I believe the will of the board would would the board voted to impose the fine or hold that um you know against a company as long as they stay out of trouble for a certain period. Um or to even determine if the board
believes it's a second or subsequent offense. If there's say there's new ownership or the the businesses it's still there, it's still a car dealership, but it's a new new management or new business. Uh the board could look at that and determine well it's a first offense or we'll give them a warning.
Perfect. Thank you. So Erin, as we draft it, maybe we may want to think of a language in there about like a time frame so someone doesn't get their first offense and then it stays with them forever. I believe in redemption.
Uh if I I I'll quickly move on to uh page 24 on my package, which is the um the fine schedule. Uh it says missing expire rejected inspection sticker
in a municipal lot. Um yes obviously missing an expire is fine but when we talk about rejected expression stickers I've gotten one of those before and sometime they give me 60 days to fix the problem. Yep. Is it beyond those 60 days? I would
assume what we mean there is when the police run the sticker, you had a 60-day rejection sticker and we're at date 90. That's Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Uh if I go to the page
28, the town own site and the parking area. I I also have the the paid parking thing. I'm not I'm I mean I have to think about that a little more. Yep. Cuz if we saying that
we have enough parking in downtown, can the business park a little further from their businesses and walk to where they're supposed to work or is it because there's not enough all day parkings? I think the acute
problem we have is in the brother's parking lot and we have I think 10 to 12 spaces along the back row. We have employees that wish we had 20 employee parking uh permit or employee spaces
there. We feel that that lot needs to be majority customer parking. Um, so again, there's plenty of parking for employees and in other lots, but that lot in particular, the employees want to be as
close to their uh employer as possible. And so there's a little tension there where we we want them to be close but at the back. I definitely have sympathy with that. But that employee can also get in 5 minutes earlier and park in
another lot and walk to work for 5 minutes. So you should come to our meetings cuz you change and just institute this paid parking. I I'm not sure. I mean, I I think I'll give it some Well, and again, I will just say right now that situation you outline is the
status quo, and those employees are not choosing to go to the next lot, which is only a stones throw away from that, and park there for the day. Okay. So, we're trying to navigate this and and so again, I think if we don't change that,
we continue to have the problem we're having now. Yeah. because I don't want to satisfy necessarily the employee for not having to walk the extra five minutes while at the same time inconvenienting some residents who for whatever reason need
that parking spot all day. Um also in that last section about um the site and the parking area, the third paragraph, um it says all vehicles and trailers
must be properly register, inspected, blah blah blah. And then it says if it's in dis in disrepair, how do we determine that if something is in disrepair? like who makes that decision
on the ground? If I have an old Yeah. trailer, but it still works. Generally speaking, if it's licensed, insured, and registered, it's in good working order. We have seen numerous instances of that not being the case.
Um, and that these things are not properly registered, probably because they couldn't pass an inspection. Um, but people are leaving them there because through how we got to this point, our rules don't say you can't leave a dilapitated
vehicle on municipal property. We've kicked them out of I know for a while it was the Hobart Street lot and we've tightened uh enforcement at the Hobart Street lot and those sorts of vehicles are now finding their way into this parking lot. Um, so again on the ground that determination is made by the police
department. I think it's binary in that if it's licensed, insured, and registered, it is fit to be on the road. If it is not one of those three things, then we tow it. I I I will I will agree with that. Uh my my only concern is by using words like
this, then we might be giving the discussion to the officer to decide this is too old to be on the road. So we have to stick with is he licensed, is he properly registered, can he move instead of the subjectivity that could come with
what is what is in disrepair. That's just my concern. No, that's great point. Um and then the last question I have have on this is if the vehicle get tow um it doesn't say is there a different
section that says how people could get it back because I didn't see it in the package if I don't know that the traffic rules and regulations actually say what happens if you get towed by us. I think most people call the police department and say, "I
think you took my vehicle and they tell you where to go." Oh, okay. Um, we can certainly add such language. That that's certainly not a problem to add such language, but you you are correct actually now that you say that out loud. We do not tell people what happens if you get towed and how to find
your vehicle. Okay. Because I I look and I couldn't find it anywhere. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Well, thank you. Great questions to from all of you. Thank you. Thank you. So Aaron, next steps on this one. Um, over the next couple of weeks, if
there's any feedback from any of you, any of the members of the public, um, we'd love to hear it. The schedule would be that second meeting in October, we would advertise for these changes to be formally adopted by the board. Obviously, depending on
the nature of the comments we receive between now and then, we may need to adjust that if it looks like we have a lot more work to do than we anticipate having to do. Um, but that would be the plan for now. Excellent. So, public remember he's offering. If you have any suggestions,
I mean, that was an offer. You email him or town manager, one of us, that would be great. And again, DTAC meets uh fourth Wednesday of every month in this room at 10:30 a.m. And anyone who comes knows how exhilaratingly fun
they are. Mr. Bradstreet is a regular. We have a few other regulars uh um that come and enjoy a good midm morning uh diversion. Sure. Uh for your return, could I just suggest if even if it's just for the board, I don't think it needs to be
codified in the document, a map of the uh all day parking lots or the the lots around town. Yep. And maybe a blowup about where in each of the lots you're talking about so that we can visually see. We have a map that just for your just so you know, um Kathy
Simon has such a map and has multiple copies of it on her at all times. So when the businesses complain, bang. Okay. So if you're gonna be part of our pack, so we have that absolutely for the next time. Thank you. Excellent. Bill, did you want to um say anything? You want to go up to the podium, ask Aaron anything?
He wants us to get spike strips at the post office. Um we're working on that. They've been backorded. Spike strips. Firehouse for the spike. That's another spot. and the front of the post office. It's the grounded notches in the
pavement and and identifying where here the corner actually sign is nice but it doesn't say where here is where the sign is. No, no, that's a sign up to the podium. Yeah, it will be so we can hear you.
I think Mr. Bradley is making a comment on people's intelligence. Yeah, and we will Yeah, and we will have a public hearing on this too. Thank you. Uh there was two uh questions I had in what he had to speak about when we
reszoned uh for the MBTA on High Street to get the traffic public transportation back at the time. I asked is because we did that will we be getting the traffic the transportation back and what I was
told at the time was we're working on it. I would assume that's the people who go to Boston. I haven't heard an update on how that was working. And the other question I was like a layout the public hearing. Yeah, Bill, that will be for the public hearing. Okay. Oh, Sally's here, too. Do you want
I'm not trying to put her on the spot. I just wanted I wanted it out there. And the other question I had was everybody, communities, whatever applied for grant money. It's nice if we can't afford it. And a grant does help us to
do the job. My opinion unfortunately is grants come with strings that might not be apparent when they give you the money. What do we do if down the line we have to do or feel we need to do something
and the grant at that point precludes it? What's our recourse? Do we have to give the money back or can we talk to them and come to an agreement? I I' I'd ask that because as I say, grants the money, someone dolls
it out, it comes with strength, my opinion. Thank you. Terrific. And I'm sure we'll have Aaron and the town manager. Um Sally, would you like to go up to the podium? Hi. How are you? Thank you. Thank you for being here.
Thank you. Good to be here. Hi everybody. Um, Sally Karns, precinct 8, state representative for the 13th Essex district, which includes all of Danverse, including downtown. And we are continuing to work on restoring bus
service to our downtown area. Some of you might remember that the general manager of the MBTA, Phil Ang sat right in this room uh in earlier in the spring and assured us that they will restore
this service in the spring. That is that is as precise a date as I was able to get. And I know that it it would be so much more helpful for everyone to know exactly when, but we're we're still working on it. and they're quite
amendable. Um, there's a micro transit grant opportunity to your point that I was just made aware of and I'm happy to forward that. The bus service that we're talking about, Bill, I don't know if
that's what your question was, but that's not grant related. That I did to a different subject. Okay, gotcha. Um, so that's the update on the bus and uh I'm a big fan of Phil Angs. I think he's done an amazing job
getting the MBTA back on track, quite literally back on track. And um so I think that we have good things to look forward to. Um and uh there is car carrier legislation by the way that
would ban the um car carriers from unloading on a highway. Uh, and that just went to third reading. But I'm also Oh, sorry. Um, so we'll see. But I'm also told that
the ordinance in puberty that we're looking at has stronger fines. So I would say keep going with with the local ordinance. And uh but it would the penalty would be you'd lose your carrier license u for repeated violations.
Um, so you have to go through the chair if you have a question. Oh, sure. I'm sorry. Yes, please go up to the podium and introduce yourself. Thank you. Hi, Jorge Saint Salazar Pre6, I think.
Um, for Sally uh about um the MBTA coming back in the spring, was that specifically said spring 2026 or just a spring? Vague. Yeah. spring. No, it is spring of 2026 and I
thank you for the clarification. Yes. Um, which is around the corner. So, um, I I am confident that they are looking at spring of 2026. Um, so thank you for
clarifying. Good. Thank you everybody. I'm enjoying the the discussion and I look forward to digesting every word of the 60page report. Thank you, Aaron. No worries. Um there's nothing else. I'm
There's nothing else. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. What? Bill right up. Bill McKenzie, precinct 3 town meeting member. I just have a question about the planning board. when they're planning on these big car lots to sell cars, aren't they supposed to provide space for these
trucks to unload? And what kind of fine should have been put in place at that time when it isn't founded? Yeah. Um, thank you. That's a great question. And I actually wondered if I should interject uh when we were talking about this earlier. um with the exception of the downtown
dealership just because of its age and vintage it didn't go through a site plan approval process but I think at this point all of the dealerships on 114 have gone through that and all of those dealerships have the ability to take a
car carrier on their lot like that is the plan so that's why I think the penalties that we've talked about in these uh this proposed language is appropriate because they they can be accommodated on the lot and they should be doing that. Is it because they're lazy?
Yeah. Well, I don't want to say that it's because they're lazy, but they have the ability to get on the lot safely. We've seen that in auto turn uh you know, uh engineering analysis that shows us that they can do it. Um and that is a base requirement for any dealership. So,
this is just a stick and on the public way the site plan uh site plan, we lose jurisdiction when they aren't on the site. So, they're in a public right of way there. So, we need a rule for the public right of way. So, this kind of is the other side of that coin. Okay. Anybody else?
Thank you, Aaron. Appreciate it. So, folks, on the agenda that was posted uh with where the board was going to talk about a block party that has been withdrawn and we are going to replace this on item six. Thank you. The board will consider an appointment to the human rights and
inclusion committee. And who is here? Please go up to the podium. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Good evening. I'm Johan Hunter. I am the new chair of the human rights and inclusion committee for this year. Excited to be here and happy
to have a very fun-filled year. I am actually passing the baton to Jorge who you just heard from and he will be speaking about um our future appointee that we'd like to present to the board. So, Jorge,
uh, thank you. My name is Jorge Saint Salazar. Uh, I am the co-vice chair of the human rights inclusion committee. Um, I would like to present or to submit to you for your consideration, uh, the nomination of, uh, Luis Velasquez. Uh,
Luis Velasquez. Um, I got to talk to him actually in depth yesterday and found out a lot about him and we have a lot in common. Uh he was uh born in Mexico uh lived in Mexico for good part of his life. Lived in the San Diego worked and
lived in the San Diego area uh for a long time. Um and he like I um moved from the uh gu from the Golden State to the land of ice and snow uh for a girl uh for a girl. and uh he's you know I'm
still married to my uh you know wife and he's uh married to uh Amy but he came here for to to be with Amy and her family um and they met actually uh in Mexico uh doing um working for the uh
YMCA to help uh through the YMCA to help uh find shelter for uh immigrant children who were unaccompanied and had been turned back at the border. Uh so he for a long time and he was doing that when he was a kid. Uh he for a long time
has been a you know community activist uh gasp and he has um shown uh you know a real humanitarian human streak. Um and if you just talk to him for a little while you feel you
really understand his passion for this sort of thing. Uh and I think he'd be a great addition to our uh human rights and inclusion committee. And I believe uh Luis would like to uh to chat with you. So wonderful. Welcome. Come on up.
Cut. Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate it. Good evening everybody. Madame Chair, members of the board. Uh before we go any further, I just if I may, I'm told that my accent although it's quite sophisticated and striking sometimes could be makes it hard to
understand me at times. So please feel free to ask me to repeat myself. I'll do it gladly. My name is Luis Velasquez, a damage resident since 2010 in precinct 7. And I'd like to thank the select board for taking into consideration my
application to join the human rights and inclusion committee. But most importantly, I'd like to thank those folks in the Denver community sitting here right now and those at home who work hard working day in and day out to improve the quality of life in our town.
Your efforts don't go unnoticed. So, thank you. I first set out on Danvers back in 1999 when a friend of mine invited me to come visit the town she grew up in. Coming from California, I was used to palm
trees and the Pacific Ocean. So, my first impression of Danas was, man, this place looks like a movie, you know, with a charming Main Street brick buildings and a movie works video store in town. So 15 years ago after relocating with my
family from Sony San Diego, I became a character on this movie we all call dampers. Like Horge has said earlier, my background includes working with the YMCA both nationally and internationally
along the Mexico USA border assist marginalized communities and doing community development work as well as providing guidance and protection to the most vulnerable of them all children.
This work brought me to a leadership position as part of an international youth exchange program with the YMCA called Manu Mano hand in hand in English. And I have to say, bringing young people from all across the Americas, from
Canada to Argentina, together under one roof to share a cultural experiences, try to solve our differences, and try to look for a path forward where everyone is included proved to be life affirming work.
In my current line of work in the automotive industry, I also get the chance to meet folks from all walks of life with different cultures, belief systems, and backgrounds. And that there's one thing that I learned from all of it is that we
are all human and as such each of us are fallible. But also, we are capable of kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and empathy.
As humans, we all strive for the same thing. To be seen and understood, to feel belonging and safely and kinship. I'm confident in saying that every member of the diverse community feels
the same. Therefore, please know that if you accept my application to join the human's rights and inclusion committee, you have my commitment to work to the best of my abilities
to ensure that the rights of every Danas resident are protected and upheld and that together, drawing from the strength of our history, we can chart together the way forward for our town
and a progress in which everyone is equally respected and every single member of a don community is included. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Well, that that was wonderful. Ghana, do you have any questions?
Uh, no. I will say that uh recently I had the great opportunity to become close friends with the family. Uh, and I wholeheartedly support Lewis because of some shared experiences and in and in and the relationship we built and would tell you that if I were asked, I
certainly would have put my name here as a reference. So, I uh I wholeheartedly endorse his uh the approval. Thank you, Mike. I'm happy that you're uh want to be involved. Takes all of us. So, it's great. I think you left one thing out, though. You said that everybody wants to
be included and heard, but when you get to this age, you just want to be left alone. You could just add add that in anytime. Thank you, D. I don't know how to follow that.
I use this as a confessional. I use this as a confessional. I'm blushing, right? Um, well, thank you, uh, Louise. I I've gotten to know you as well. Um, wow, that was
powerful. We are all human and each of us is valuable. That's right. That that means a lot to me. Um, so thank you for your commitment to serve and um to volunteer. Uh, my only advice
would be you're not just volunteering your time. Um, you are also representing the values that our town hold. Um, once you get this position is not just Louis out
there, it's also what Denver stands for. Correct. And and keep that um in mind as you help ensure that every resident feels seen, supported, value.
Correct. We are all human and each of us is valuable. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, De Louise. That was a wonderful presentation really. Um, thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah. No, the the kindness that you said, everybody needs to be kind, right? Well, I like what all human. You're very
committed. Um, I love how you worked with the children and you work with the YMCA and there's a lot of YMCA's. We've got a very great YMCA, as you probably know, here in Danver. Yes. Um, I work a lot with the Lynn
YMCA. Um, you know, so the YMCA is very powerful and they're always willing to help, boys and girls clubs, everything. Correct. So, thank you. Um, town manager, is this a select board appointment? Yes, it is. Okay. So, I I would make the appointment, but I defer to D as the leazison to the Human
Rights and Inclusion Commission. Well, I move that we appoint Louise um Velasquez as an HRC member. Second the motion. All in favor? I I opposed. Congratulations. Well, thank you very much. Looking forward. Thank you everybody.
Okay. So, we are going to go with let's see. Did I get mixed up here? That's This is the revised one. I'm going to go right here. Right. We're going to go with this one. All right. So, the board will consider the application of Denise Loretti, 5 Wsley
Road for a firsttime block party on Saturday, September 27th, 2025 from 3 to 10:00 p.m. in front of the house at 3 through 6 Wsley Road. That application was withdrawn by the applicant. Oh, okay. Okay. I'm sorry. That's okay.
Yep. That's right. I did say that. Okay. So we will go to the next one which is a public hearing will be held under chapter 138 of general laws on the application of Ambridge Hospitality LLC DBA Double Tree Boston North 50 Village
Drive Michael fraud and manager for change of ownership interest in an all alcoholic common vehicular license at that location. Um who is here to speak? And madam clerk is the paperwork in order the paperwork is in order. I don't see an applicant.
Can I ask a clarifying question, please, Madam Chair? Yes. Um, the paperwork says there's no change at the local level. Correct. Okay. Because this says so ownership interest in the all alcoholic common victim of confuses me almost that it what
you're saying is that license is an action. But here this is it appears that this is a administrative uh you know changing of an officer or CFO something outside of Danverse. The applicant provided us with a letter
exactly what the changes are and it's just at the corporate level right and however they spoke with the ABCC and that's how the ABCC wanted it to go in. So we But are we reaffirming the same name that's on the current license?
Yes, the name did not change. Great. Okay. Just Okay. Yep. And that was my second question is I thought we had decided years ago that these um corporate changes could be handled by the town clerk, but if you're saying the ABCC is interjecting, then I understand
why it comes to to the board. We could we could certainly do that. Okay. So, so I wonder uh madame chair this is the presentation you know is to not change the local license. It has
it's not before us as a board to modify that or you know we can reapprove what we've already approved. Is there any reason that we couldn't do that tonight and allow the corporate officers way up the upstream? That's a paperwork thing. This is this
is legitimately just a paperwork because someone outside of Nan versus a corporate officer is being changed. I would feel comfortable even though they're not here. And I would feel comfortable actually considering the fact that if these come before us, they're paying for lawyers. is sending in, you know, people to to executives to
come in and before us for what becomes a fiveminute discussion. So, I'm perfectly willing to make a motion that we approve this myself. Um, but I want and obviously the vote will then be the will of the board, but I I think that we're
if we're affirming the same name that we've already approved, I don't understand why we would need uh we'll comport to what ABCC wants. But I think we can do it as a as a administrative task. Yes. And as long as the clerk is fine with all the paperwork,
I'm comfortable with that. The paperwork is in order. Okay. Then madam chair, I would make a motion that we accept the uh the the change in application under chapter 138 general laws uh for Ambridge Hospitalities uh Michael front manager um in the
change of ownership as identified in the application with no local changes. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? I opposed. Okay. Passes. And a motion to close the public hearing. Uh, sorry. I made that motion before we close the public hearing. So, I move
first to close the public hearing. Yep. Okay. Well, if if there's no Is there any questions at all? Anybody? Okay. So, can I move we close the public hearing? Yeah. Move to close the public hearing and then all in favor? I now I make a motion to approve the application as presented with no local changes.
All in favor? I. All oppose? None. Terrific. Thank you. That was a good suggestion, Governor. Thank you. Thank you. All right. The next one will be a public hearing be held under chapter 148 of general laws on the application of Annie Chan on behalf of Costco Wholesale Corporation DBA Costco Wholesale
Wholesale 49 Newberry Street for a license to store 121,500 gallons underground of gasoline and install pumps at that location. The current Costco gas station located at 11 Newberry Street is to be uh decommissioned once 49 Newbury is
operating. Who is here to speak on the behalf? Please go up to the podium, introduce yourself. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you very much. Uh for the record, I am Steve Glowaki with
RJ O Connell and Associates and joining me is Andy Chan from MG2 uh who is the architect on the project and uh well verssed in the components of the fuel and then also with me is John Harter from uh TPD the traffic engineer in case
any of those items come up today. We're here on behalf of Costco Wholesale to request a gas storage license for a proposed relocated fuel station located at generally 11 Newberry Street on the Costco uh property. With the
availability of the TGI Friday's parcel at the northwest corner of the site, uh Costco identified the option to move the fuel as as it exists today and expand the fuel facility, which is part of Costco's ongoing mission to enhance their members experience.
The proposed site improvements consist of the demolition of the former TGIF restaurant, which you may be all aware of, and um and construction of a new f fuel facility in that location. At that point in time, the existing fuel uh facility will then be demolished and
replaced with new paved parking for the Costco warehouse. The relocation of the fuel facility is proposed for several reasons. uh the the relocated fuel to the northwest corner of the site will provide an option to add additional parking that I just mentioned for the members at the front
entry in the location of that existing fuel station. Additionally, the location of the relocated fuel site is separated by an access road which will provide separation between the fuel operations and the members who are visiting the warehouse at the south entrance. And I
think that's an important uh feature relative to safety and uh the members experience. And finally, the proposed location also provides a separate uh access and better traffic distribution from route one for both the vehicles visiting the fuel facility and also uh
fuel trucks and uh current warehouse operation uh in the rear of the building. So again, separating these uh you may be aware of the current situation where you have the main driveway coming in and people immediately turn into the fuel facility and it's quite a busy uh busy
intersection at that front entry and we believe this design will help improve that. The proposed fueling facility will consist of the construction of a concrete pad with 16 fueling pumps and 32 fueling stations and a canopy over the entire fueling area as part of the
design. The existing fuel station has nine fueling pumps with 18 fueling stations after we did uh 2023 24 upgrade. The additional 14 fueling stations will help reduce vehicle cues as more vehicles can be fueling rather
than waiting in a queue. Uh with that, after the relocated uh facility is open and the existing fuel facility is removed, the new parking lot will consist of 121 new parking spaces at that main front corner. So, we believe it'll enhance the uh the experience
quite a bit. As we are here for the fuel petition, I apologize for giving all that background, but I think it may be gerine to the the discussion. Uh we're welcome to answer any questions you may have about the petition. Thank you. I'll go to my board members. D, do you have any questions?
Uh, yes. Um, pardon my naivity. I I'm not very good at plans and just So, is it that you have more pumps? Is that correct? At the new That's correct. So, the facility uh I'm not sure if you're aware or have been at
the Costco fuel facility. So, in the past, several years ago, uh there were essentially two pumps in a row with three rows wide. Okay. and and there were certain certainly as we've heard from the Costco uh members there were
backups and challenges people getting in well uh 2023 and 2023 essentially we expanded that facility to add an additional set of pumps in front of that with a gap so that vehicles can move around and again we can move more people
through the queue with that as this opportunity has become available at TGI Fridays we saw that was more area and we elected to build a four, you know, four pumps deep by four pumps wide. And it sounds like we're adding a lot just for the sake of adding it, but in fact, what
it does is help the patrons move through much quicker because you don't have to wait in a queue. You'll be fueling your vehicle. So, essentially, the additional capacity is to enhance the traffic and move traffic through at a at a quicker rate to avoid cues.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. And it says 121,500 gallon. What what's the capacity now? Uh I I'm not sure exactly uh what the capacity is. I I know that that original station was built some time ago. Andy, do you know off hand the uh the tank configuration?
I don't know the exact configuration that they maybe previously uh the past program as I understand it and recall again I'm I'm more on the civil end uh would would have been three 30,000galon tanks. So approximately 90,000 right
with a with the additive tank which is about 1500 gallons. The new petition is the 40,000galon tanks. I believe that you know I I can't say conclusively. I don't have the information in front of me but um but I believe that's the correct that is the setup will have two tanks to
support. Go can you go to the microphone please so we can hear. Thank you. Yeah. Sorry about that. So typically the design calls for two tanks when we don't exceed um 18 fuel stations. Here it we will require an additional tank because there is an
extended use for the configuration. Okay. So you'll see that you have the plans on uh with you. The tanks will be straddling straddling right above the actual stations and they will be perpendicular to the setup. Okay. Thank you. I mean this may be
above my pay grade u better asks anyways because I'm sure this goes through planning and all this stuff right that's not what's before us today uh but when when that becomes parking lot where the the tanks are now
so will they will you just have crosswalks to walk into the building from that parking lot we will that's correct we will have crosswalks to the front of the building uh it essentially on the side of the building and essentially making that parking more usable to have that connectivity, the
pedestrian connectivity. There is, by the way, you may recall, a small uh parking area next to the fuel now that currently has a crosswalk. Yes. That'll simply be expanded in that crosswalk. Go all the way. Exactly. And will the building be made bigger or
the building will stay the way it is? the current petition as approved. In other words, the petition you see in front of you for the fuel, uh, we we sort of came in pieces on this and I can explain why. The original petition uh, as I mentioned, TGI Fridays became available and Costco purchased that
property. In the midst of that petition, we got that approved through planning board, conservation commission, and ZBA if I recall correctly. Um and we and it was improve approved and then we were ready to start construction. At that point in time the hard cover became
available as many of you folks may know and unfortunately closed but uh the hard cover became available. Costco has purchased that property and now we're in the midst of permitting uh uh additional parking at the hard
cover and potentially a building expansion as well. So the long the answer is yes we will. but it's come in pieces and we're in the midst of that process. For that process, we've already received site plan approval and yesterday we submitted plans for our
notice of intent with the conservation commission for that expanded petition. Okay. Thank you. Just a clarifying point madame clerk um madame chair do so what's before us today is just to approve
that the site will move from um store right 40 it will move to 49 Newbury Street is that correct that's that's it's not a move because the the gas station that they currently have is
going to remain operational until they get the new station up and running. Once the new station is up and running, then they would decommission the um location where it is today. So, they would kind of maintain two licenses until the new
one is up and running and then there are some um things they have to do environmentally to decommission the old property before they could park cars on it and whatnot. Okay. So we're issuing another license for So this is a new a new gas storage
license at this new address. The address is different. Mhm. And then so for for now there'll be a little overlap. I mean clearly they still have to uh remove the building, the Friday's building um and then do their work there, get that up and
running. And that's going to take some time. I don't know what their timeline is on that. That's more of a planning thing. But um once that's up and running then they would decommission and then that all needs to get inspected by fire department. The state has to come in and
make sure that the ground soil is all um not contaminated and then they can then it becomes regular property again. Okay. So before us is just to approve this new license. Correct. And then when they do do we give them a time frame to decommission the other one
or how does that work? We we don't really get involved in that part. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Mike, um just a quick question. Did you say the tanks are going to be on top of the structure? No. No. Below grade. Okay. So, they're in the ground, right?
Yeah. Um and there's a third tank and that's what was that for? For to support the additional uh fueling stations. The pumps. The extra pumps. Okay. All right. I'm sure you had to go through a lot with the wetlands that's right
there. I imagine um in superduty uh fire suppression system and all that. Yeah, that's correct. Okay. All right. Thank you. Excellent. Go ahead. Uh just a couple of quick questions. It's hard to read by the map, but is the
intent that when this comes to fruition, are you going to allow access at the I'm going to call it the main store entrance that you currently use, are you going to allow them to still take a a left and go down to the pumps or are you going to block that off somehow? No, we believe it's important. We
believe it's important to have that connectivity through the site. In fact, part of our petition with the planning board was to add some enhanced signage so that the customers understand if I leave the front of the building, the fuel is that way or the, you know, an exit to the to the highway is this way, for instance. So, we added some
additional sign. Okay. So, now you'll have two primary, you'll have two entrances. Yes. Which, which by the way, we currently do. You currently do, right? You previously shared it with the hard cover and TGIF. Exactly. You got Okay. All right. Um and uh I presume
that and because I'd been here before when you came before us, you're one of the parts of the redevelopment previously was um will you now be able to use hoses that are long enough to service both sides of the car no matter what side of the island they park on?
That is correct. In fact, uh when we did the upgrade to as that I mentioned earlier, the 23 petition uh 2023 petition, we did add the longer hoses then which also helped that experience and in in the in the flow of uh traffic and vehicles through that queue. Okay. Uh those are my only questions. I
know that the fire department, Concom, planning board, all these others do their diligence. Uh we're not talking about we're not here for the safety portion of it. We're just here for the license. So, I'm perfectly fine with this. Great. Uh this is a public hearing. Do anybody does anybody in the audience have any questions?
Got to ask them. Okay, that's good. So, do I have a motion to close the public hearing? So, move second. All in favor? I I All opposed. Okay. Um, so who wants to make the motion?
Madam cler uh madam chair I'll make a motion that we uh approve the application of Annie Chan on behalf of Costco wholesale uh corporation dubbing DBA Costco wholesale 49 new street for a license to store 1,200
121500 gallons underground of gasoline install and install pumps at that location. Um, and I don't know that we need the last part about decommissioning. So, I'll just say, okay, the license that we're granting as moved. Right. So, do I have a second? Okay. All in favor?
I I opposed. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. All right. So, we're going to send it over to the town manager. Report to the board on various items of interest. Miss town manager.
Good evening. Thank you. Um, I have a couple of things for you tonight. I'll start with um the official memo you will receive tomorrow related to managers compensation plan. Um, I've done some extensive research to figure out what Wayne Marquee has done in the past and
what Steve Bara had done in the past. Um, so you will receive that memo tomorrow, but my job is to inform you that it's coming and to let you know that um I believe last October of 2024. So prior to that um and I'm those who
are sitting here, I hope remember Steve had asked the um a team of managers to do a review and make some recommendations related to the plan. I think this year of transition gives us a really good opportunity to do that and the goals um of some of those changes
will align will allow us to better align the manager's goals um manager department level manager goals with the vision of the board and the goals you establish for me um as a town manager. Um it also puts us on to a cycle where
it um is reflected in the budget. So you any any of your goals that would have budget considerations will be talked about so that you would have funding in place in theory to accomplish your goal. So we're realigning the this we're using this transition year to realign the timeline a bit. Um the major feedback
that I heard so it was chaired by um Clint Allen from the util the utility director. Um, and it was it was an interesting conversation to see um that the feedback was that the managers had not previously had the opportunity to collaborate on their goals and often
found that one goal either was the same as someone else's or contradicted someone else's. So, and and also that they were really looking for that opportunity to be part of that larger um alignment with the town manager's goals. Um and and timing also being when you
discuss it in the fall they we were already through the first quarter of the fiscal year attached to their goals. So um so we're you'll get the full memo from that uh on me to from me um in the morning. Just a heads up that it was
coming and then um in line with what was done last year which was also transition year that um because obviously I wasn't able to um to do their evaluations having just gotten here. um they'll get 1.5% in the merit area for fiscal 26
which you all approved in the budget um process for last year. So you'll see that in detail if you have questions I'm happy to have um conversations with you on that. Um the airport com uh airport subcommittee that you the select board
had uh requested through the resolution related to the airport. I wanted to give you an update on that as well on as I navigate here. Um, so I'm working with Aaron Henry, who I think most of you know was previously an airport commissioner, um, and has, um, some extensive background working with the
airport to develop a full scope for what that commission looks like. Um, make sure we get at the heart of what the board was looking for out of um, out of that committee, mission, scope, timeline. um and we will be um presenting that to you and making
appointments towards the end of this calendar year with them kicking off at the beginning of 2026. Um one of the reasons for the delays uh I think it's important that we get through the election the um mayoral election in Beverly so we have a better understanding of who we're working with
in Beverly and and um what that working relationship is going to be. So, an update to let you know, we're working on it, but with a timeline. Um, we had our final community roundt on August 28th. It was, um, for those of for those who
joined all of them, it was the quietest one. It was really interesting. I hope I know. Well, I hope that means that the people in the community who really had something to say feel like they had an opportunity to say it. I enjoyed the experience tremendously. Um, I learned a lot. Um we had over the course um
anywhere between 25 and 65 people attending. Um we're going to take Alicia took fantastic notes. We are going we're extrapolating from that some of the highlighted um topics which I think some of them we heard today obviously um and
I'm going to incorporate those into the goals um that we're creating with the select board. So you will see some references to to that work. Um, and we're also working on how we can uh better sub or present the the feedback
to the public. Uh, the minutes are long, so we're working through what what we can do to make it more digestible for the public. So, you will see some outcome from those roundts. Thank you for everyone who participated. Um and the next step for those also is one of
the pieces of feedback was to do staff roundtables to get and better connected with the team and and find out um who some feedback on what they think we should be doing um and what's rewarding for them in their work and some challenges. A lot of our employees live here, so I'm looking forward to hearing
from them. Um and I've let the senior managers know they're not invited to that. So that is an open forum for um staff at all levels to come and talk with me, not about personnel, about um goals for the town. So stay tuned on that one. I was able to I was invited to
attend the first day back to school for teachers here in Danvers in August. It was uh probably one of the most rewarding experiences I've had so far in that the energy level of the teachers in Damvers is incredible. The marching band was there, Vocal Alliance was there,
Superintendent Bower is, it's like, it basically it feels like a pep rally. Um, you are very lucky in this community to have such dedicated, energetic, um, incredible teachers and leadership. So, I wish them all the best of luck in the new year. That was followed by a tour of
some of the DPW projects that happened over the summer in the schools. We went to and I was joined by I was joined by member Bennett and member Dejoko and member Bennett. I was like someone else was there. Um we visited Riverside Elementary
School, the middle school in the We did not go to the high school. What was the third? Um Thorp Thorp. I was there too. I was there for the tour. Yeah. Um anyway, so I want to say thank you. DPW and the schools work very well together to to accomplish a lot of
projects over the summer. Um the schools look great going in. There are some things that weren't um finished, but the DPW acknowledged what those were and has a plan to address them. So I hope it looks like the first week of school was off to a great start and I wish them all the best this year.
We I also attended um a Rotary lunchon yesterday and uh the subject that came up the most was about downtown. So, I'm really excited to jump in on this these downtown discussions came up a lot in the roundts um and continues to be. So,
I look forward to bringing my expertise there and I'll be speaking tomorrow morning at the uh Northshore Chamber of Commerce breakfast on a regional state of the region um with the mayors from Beverly, PBD, Gloucester, and Lynn. Uh
September 11th, we invite everyone to join us um at the fire headquarters. 9:00 a.m. is coffee and refreshments and promptly at 9:59 is a memorial service. Uh it's September 11th at the fire headquarters. And uh this week is staff appreciation
week here and at in Danver Town Hall in all of our town buildings. Um it's been an interesting week. I it was funky sock day today, but I decided to change before it came to this meeting. Um so it we I want to say thank you to all of our employees. Uh we have an incredible team
here. Um town offices will be closed on the afternoon of September 11th at 12:30 so the staff can enjoy um a celebration at the senior center um with food trucks. We'll acknowledge employee of the year, project of the year, team of the year. Uh obviously my first one. I'm
thrilled to be a part of it. Um I hope that um all of our employees will come and members um you're welcome to stop by for refreshment. It's a time for employees uh to celebrate and I I know you share uh my apprec appreciation for the hard work that they do every day. So
thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much Joe. Uh we'll move on to the board will consider the consent calendar items as they appear below. Moved as presented. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? I
I all opposed and then now we'll go to correspondent select board new business previous new business updates and select board closing comments. Garner, do you want to start? Sure. Uh I attended the round table uh that the town manager spoke of. Uh it
was actually also combined with the accessibility commission meeting. Uh but the topic was specifically uh one of the topics of the meeting of the round table was about accessibility. um our the chair of the accessibility commission was there and spoke to uh um
their uh you know specific um uh oversight or or or uh direction uh and it was wellreceived. Uh so thank you. Um I heard you earlier at the beginning of the meeting asking people to to silence and and ask the select to put away the phones. I've silenced my phone, but I
used this phone to look up uh state legislation or tonight I looked up a street name that I didn't know so I could reference it. So, I'm going to continue to use it as a tool uh as we have meetings uh to look up our town uh our town documents. Often this is ZBA or
it might be the liquor license requirements. So, I'll continue to do that. Um we uh all received um I I want to remind people that um some people have gotten in a pattern of sending select board business emails to some of
our private accounts. I will not respond in that manner. Um, I recently got one from Mr. Zubric and I've I've I've responded to him directly. If you have town business, please use my select board email because I will not respond
from my private email. That opens it up to discovery and I'm not going to do that. Um I also remind people that um when they write us which we encourage and want that if they write to all of us we can't respond in a manner that that
violates um the open meeting laws which means I may respond to someone specifically but uh we can't deliberate in emails we can't make decisions in emails we can't uh do certain things and if you send it to all five of us it's
it's for for us consideredformational we may respond, I acknowledge that you sent it. I'll give it due consideration, but we can't delve into a subject at that point. Um, so for people who who email us, don't think that they we
aren't looking at it seeing it. It's that certain things we cannot do by law. Um, and um, I think that's all I had. I've received the same emails that most of you have. Um, it's actually been a quiet summer
thankfully. Knock on wood. So, uh, that's all I have. Thank you, Mike. Uh, thank you. Um, God, I just wanted to mention that when me and D got on, uh, we went to the Mass Municipal Association training out in Devons. Is it Devons or
Air? What Devons? Oh, there. Yeah, I went and they had told us at the meeting that the cell phones shouldn't be at the should not be at the uh counter here while we're while we're at uh in session because uh they could potentially be
taken in for evidence if a case goes to court. So, I just Welcome to it. No, I just wanted to tell you that they told us that. That was So, um a couple things. Um I got a letter from the Carabel Carabelloo family. Did everybody get that? No. They're they're looking to um
purchase or get permission to use a piece of town property that's landlocked between their property and I think the Hunter Hospital property. Um I thought they I thought the letter said that they all they sent it to everybody. No. So um I can make
copies of this after if you like. Madam Chair, if you want an update. Yes, sure. Please. Um so we did receive it in the town manager's office. Um the process is the process of land disposition. So I realized that this doesn't happen often
here. I'm very familiar with it in my previous role. So worked with the team to set up a land disposition process. There's a basically an internal committee that would review any request. They we will meet quarterly. So anybody who puts um in a request such as this
and and they have heard back from the town manager's office, they will be they'll let us know let them know that we received it. It'll be discussed at the next meeting of the land disposition committee. It's again an internal committee. So, it's not um it's not like a public hearing or anything. It's just to say what what do we have going on on
that land? Um and then it would make then the town manager would make a recommendation fin if if it the recommendation is to dispose of it then it goes through a whole another process that involves finet and so forth. So, um, yes, it was received and we now have a process in
place with again the goal that we share of transparency and and setting expectations for the public so they know um that it didn't just land somewhere. So, they have been um and has been in contact with them. Thank you, Joe. Thank you. And a couple more things.
I got some emails from some residents about the um Essex Tech the parking issues and I'm sorry that the lieutenant's here but uh but you are here. Um, you got them as well? Yes. Okay. So, um, Preston and Apprentice.
Um, so I don't know if I'm sure you'll address it. I sent the email out before coming. Okay. Okay. All right. Good. Okay. Good. Thank you. Um, also, um, I got an email
about, um, outside drinking at the, u, uh, facility and, uh, I don't know, did we allow outside drinking? I I can speak to that. Yes. Would the clerk like to, uh, so when, um, when the Larkin came before
the board, they came before the board only for the entertainment license? Yeah, they have the option to use an outside liquor vendor which um they have chosen to do. Uh I believe the case that there
was um a comment on um they did in fact have the proper licensing for that. So, if they hire an outside liquor vendor, um their requirements are that they need to uh notify the town clerk and the
police chief 48 hours in advance that there would be uh an event that they would be serving liquor. Um they need to tell us what the event is, what the number of people might be, and um an emergency contact person. Okay.
So, they are within um their right to do what they're doing. Okay. Good. Thank you. Can I follow up on that? I thought they told us that they had to you I thought we were informed that they had to receive a one-day liquor license that they're going to have an event that has liquor and that they had a certain number of those that they had to go to
their board before coming before our board. I I didn't think they had a cart blanch opportunity to sell to to provide liquor. They have the option to do that as does St. John's Prep as done the um Glen Magna. So, did that event have a one-day
liquor license? Which event? The event that that was in question? They have they were they hired a liquor vendor who has um a liquor caterer license through the state of Massachusetts and it's they use Vinwood
Caterer as does um Glenn Magna and as does St. John's Prep. So, they do not have to come to us for those events. They have the option to come to us if they want to use a one-day liquor license from us, but they are not
required to do that. I am now completely confused that they have a opportunity to have liquor at every event if they hire a licensed person. I I that was not my understanding that and not the questions we asked specifically which is do you
have to have if you have events it doesn't matter that it's and it's not about Vinwood it's not about a licensed caterer are you saying that anybody who hires a licensed caterer like if I decide to hire Vinwood I could hire them at my home and I could have an event and I could have liquor through them
that was part of the discussion and debate is that we weren't giving Vinwood would a non location liquor license. Well, we don't have a a a similar um arrangement with Glenn Magna. Nor
I I understand that. And when Glenn Magna and St. John's wants to have an event, they come for us for a one-day liquor license independent of who they hire to serve. That's incorrect. Oh, they have not been coming to us. They have the option to come to us if they choose not to hire a liquor caterer.
There are times where they do come to us. However, they have the option of using a liquor caterer and what the uh arrangement is with the liquor caterer, what the cost is, I'm not quite sure. That's not my purview. Okay, I'll take this offline. But I don't I did not understand that liquor
caterers can provide services of liquor service anywhere in town if you hire them. State license though. It's a state license. Yes. Okay. Mike, did you want to? Oh, one last time since I've stirred the pot
again, Lieutenant. Um I know the season's coming to an end, but at at a rail trail meeting, uh there was discussion about the um electric bikes, motorbikes, four-wheelers, all hidden down the rail trail. Um I know Kevin Wood years ago
used to pedal a bike down there every now and then. I don't know if it still happens or if it can get back on the calendar at some point. And I I know we're getting near the end of the season, but there's hundreds of people that use the rail trail. So, even if
somebody's able to walk down there here and there just to show some support, that would be great. Thank you. That's all. Great. Thank you, D. Thank you. Um I also did attend the last
uh town manager open session. It was I mean they were quiet but the questions were very productive in my opinion and talking to the resident it seems that they've been well received. Um
I don't know if it's just a honeymoon or it's we're hoping it stays that way. Um people were very appreciative. Uh they were actually asking that select board members should do one of those
like I don't know. Um I also visited the schools uh with the DPW work and again kudos to our DPWs and our schools. Um the the energy of the
people that work for this town was very palpable during that visit. They love what they do. They're passionate about it. And we should be very grateful. Um, Superintendent Bower is like a rock
star. I mean, we walking down and kindergartens are like, "Mr. Bower," I'm like, "Wow." So, clearly clearly he he makes his presence known. He's not an office person. He's out and about and
and I think that's a really good thing. Uh the last thing I'll mention is uh soon Taekwondo in downtown is going to be hosting a St. John I'll say this one St. John
University uh championship cup and it's the first time they coming from it it'll be from all over the the the country and this St. John University is in South Korea
and it's going to be the first time they holding that championship in the United States. Wow. And it's going to be in D. That will be on October 11. Denver Sport um
Denver Indoor Sport Center. Uh October 11. Um I'm sure it will look the the ceremony starts at 11:30. expecting about 5 to 700 people uh for that event and it's actually also
the first time that Dverse is going to be hosting a taekwond do championship. So I I think it's a big deal. He will love all the um elected official to attend if they can um and show their support. I know
the dean of the master program at St. John University in South Korea will be in attendance and a few dignitaries. I've also extended this to our state rep Sally and uh and I hope she extends it all the
way to as high as she can go. Thank you. Thank you, D. All right, just a couple of things. Um the tour was spectacular. I mean, that was really good. Dan Bower is a terrific guy and uh really you can
tell all the DPW workers the whole townwide with for the schools to support the schools we it's great. Um I do want to thank uh Jill for a terrific job with the community roundts. I mean that's spectacular. Um I like the idea how you're having to have the staff roundts
which is great too. Um I would like to give my condolences to the Typrit family. Um, we lost uh Janice Typert um who everybody knew. If you didn't know her, you should have known her. Um, but I just wanted to say that I did want to
let people know that the reminder for the updates we got in the town manager and the town manager acts uh the review committee will make a presentation at our next meeting and I'm going to have um maybe Ann or Jill send this out to the board members. The town council be
in attendance to help answer legal questions. Uh the select board deliberations begin 10:7 and we will be considering the recommendations of the review committee as well as the select board proposals. In order for members to have time to review and consider other
members proposals, we are requesting that initial proposals be submitted in writing to the town manager office clerk Annne Fredus and Kathy Ellsworth via email by 9:29. They will then be distributed to the select board and included in the packet
prior to the 107 meeting. If members have additional proposals to submit as deliberations continues, we ask that they submit in writing to the town clerk and the town manager's office by Thursday before the select board meeting where they will be discussed.
Um, we have established these protocol recommendations to better prepare the select board for efficient and effective meetings and to provide transparency to the public. Joe will email the above timelines to the select board members uh tomorrow. Um, thank you. Reminders to
the public initial meetings including including and I'd like to see hopefully we'll see everybody there. Initial meetings including 9:23 presentation and the select board deliberations are public meetings not public hearings. We will not be taking questions from the public. Residents are encouraged to
reach out to their select board members with any questions or proposals they would like for the select board to consider. There will be a public hearing on the warrant once it's finalized, tenatively scheduled for a December 16th select board meeting. There'll be
another public hearing scheduled by the finance committee date to be determined. So like we're trying to say is we want a lot of transparency here. So folks, you know, look at that. It's on the website. Any questions you have, please submit to your select board members. Um can also
uh to the town clerk. That would be great to uh town clerk, town manager. Um that would be great. And um Gardner, as much as I can appreciate your research and everything that you do, I did ask um for respect for this board and for the
public that we do I'll bring a laptop from now on if that's the case because I need to do research. I'll bring a laptop and put away the phone. The the thing that right the thing that I do and I'm sure I don't know how everybody else seems like they have their notebooks is we write it down but that but Mike was right because I attended that um
I will bring a laptop from now on. Yeah. I Yeah. So no cell phones. I will bring a laptop from now on. Well, we'll talk about that too. You and I can take this off offline and talk a little bit. I'm not going to respond to emails from the public that are about the about this subject.
No, no, no. But I'm just saying out of respect like the public's not going to have the cell phon. Understand that I was the one who was concerned about uh phones years ago because a a member of this board was sitting here updating the board about Red Sox and was not Red Sox scores as they were going on proud of it. I'm
using to look up ZBA information. Last week I used it last meeting I used it up because there was a law cited right that was not that was not evident prior to the meeting and I looked up the law while we were here. What I'd like to do moving forward though is not have
anything any electronic device just have the town manager has it have it and then if you have any questions you can always refer to the town manager and she could look it up for us and I use it during the budget time. I'm I'm not going to dissuade from that practice. All right. We'll talk about this later. Thank you. All right. Who wants to make
the closing comment that Dan Mike would you like to Oh yeah. Dan always says if you see a vet uh thank him and uh I think we should should all maintain that. Thank you very much, Danvas. Have a good night. Thank you. Thank you.