There's my boy. There's my boy. Oh, okay. See, I got a 4 foot window. I can only see. You can always say four foot in front of me. That's Good evening. Still hard for Welcome to the May 20th uh 2025 select board meeting. Um can you join me in the pledge of allegiance,
please? I pledge allegiance 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. For those of you who don't know, this is the first meeting after town meeting and we reorganized tonight to choose a chair for the upcoming year. Um, I am opening nominations for select board chair. Do I have any nominations?
I move to nominate uh select board member Moren Bernard for chair. Do I have a second? Second. Do I have any other nominations? Hearing none. Do I have a motion?
I move that we uh vote to appoint select board member Moen Bernard for chair for this upcoming year. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? I opposed. None. 5-0. Congratulations, Mark. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. So, and I will shade seats. Yeah. So, would that be I think it would be ideal if maybe we change seats right now and then everybody can keep the seats they have and we can talk about it. You know, if anybody wants to change the seat
later, call me or email me. Ter, my truck. Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Kathy. You're welcome. Um, I need to start new. Uh, we don't have the minutes prepared yet for the May 8th meeting. So, I'd like to push that to the next
meeting. Due to the election and town meeting, we haven't finalized them yet. Motion to table. Second. Thank you. All in favor? Oh. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Great. Now, under um new public
business, I do have one item that is not on the agenda. I believe in the audience here we are going to have um Letia Demule who has been appointed to a three-year term on the Council of the Aging. Um is she here tonight?
Great. Letia, would you like to go to the microphone and introduce yourself? This is a town manager appointment uh with the endorsement of Matt Mitchell at the senior center. Um, Latia has been appointed to a three-year term.
Thank you. Yeah, it's Leotaa Demule. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, that's okay. Um, I've been a resident of Dan since 1963. I got introduced to the senior
center when my husband had a severe stroke and I needed a medical van. And that's when we started to go down there with all the different activities. And I just enjoy going down there and helping out. I do a lot of
volunteering and it keeps us older people busy and social and active and get us out of the house. So, I'll do anything to help them. Wonderful. Um, does anybody have any questions? Um, Gardner, no questions.
Welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, thank you for stepping up. Do you have any questions? Oh, no questions. Thank you for your service. Thank you. All set. All right. Thank you very much. So, any other new business? Um, and now we'll move on to any new
business. Um, please, if you Yep. Thank you very much. And go up to the podium and introduce yourself. Thank you. Sorry, I have a pet peeve with a microphone. So, I'm going to make sure everybody can hear me. Everybody could do the same. That would be great. So, I can hear everyone else. Um, my name is
Amy Velasquez and I actually prepared a statement because I wanted to be careful of my word choice and I wanted to be um I want to be thoughtful about it um to speak tonight. Amy Velasquez. I am a newly appointed a town meeting member um
in precinct 7 and I also sit on the accessibility commission. In my private life, I work at a disability organization in the one of their leadership roles. Um so I'm going to read my statement. I feel compelled to speak after last evening's town meeting.
As a new town meeting member, but longtime resident, I was impressed with how smoothly the meeting ran and by the grace and support that was extended to each member and citizen that spoke. I noted that even as topics that residents felt passionately about came up under
the citizens petitions, the discourse remained civil. That is until Mr. Bean spoke. He said, "The people that live right here that live next to group homes, they had a nice residential house living next to them. Somebody, some
company right there came in, put a group home right there, and now it's miserable. It's in your backyard. Now, the statement was made on the tail end of his comment referencing referencing the quote mischief and quote bad people
that might be moving into Danverse as a quote fact of life. wrapped up in a veiled threat that these new bad people will result in the inability of emergency responders to support the residents of Danvers. He spoke for about two minutes trying to make what appeared
to be an appeal to the town meeting to slow down growth. But what I was left with instead was disgust and embarrassment from our town. As an elected official, each of us has a responsibility to ensure that the impact of our words do not have unintended
consequences outside of our communicative intent. Mr. Bean knows this as well as any of us. So, it is with that presumptive knowledge that I feel the need to highlight Mr. Bean's abbleist and xenophobic rhetoric. This is not just another insert insert
foot-and-mouth moment. These comments have the potential for real and direct impacts on our community as this kind of dangerous rhetoric has very real consequences on attitudes toward disabled residents as well as the community's attitude towards new
residents. I stood before this board just a few months ago after the assault perpetrated by youth on one of our disabled community members. At that time, I spoke of the systemic historic issues in our town around inclusion and spoke a call to action for the adults in
our community to model the behaviors we want to see our young people develop. They are watching the leaders in our community and to allow comments like Mr. Beans to go unchecked is not in our or in their best interest. As we tell our
youth, if you see something, say something. Thank you. Thank you, Amy. Um, would anybody else like to speak? Joanne subject but a different
one. Sure, absolutely. Thank you. Uh, good evening, Madam Chairwoman. Congratulations, Moren. Um, Joanne Reaguchi, town meeting member, precinct 2, also resident of Ryan Road. Um, I just wanted to take this opportunity tonight to thank
um, uh, a lot of our first responders today. We had a very scary incident. I think a lot of people have heard on Ryan Road in our precinct 2 area today off of Collins Street. Um we had a vehicle
um chase that um started I think in Sus and they were boxed in on 95 from what I understand and at some point I believe it was the state police um requested the pursuit be backed off
on which resulted in these three people coming into Danvers and bringing their chaos and mayhem into our neighborhood. So, um I guess right now they're still looking for them and hope um things are resolved, but I would like
to just take this opportunity to thank the Danvers Police Department, the State Police, their air unit, their K-9 units, the Essex County Sheriff's Department, their K-9 units, the Medford Police, the SUS Police, and the Lynn Police. Um, and
if there were any other departments um, in the area today, thank them as well. Those are all I saw. Um, they responded quickly and um, I know we're searching very thoroughly uh, for these three um,
people and I hope um, that justice can be served. So, I wanted to say that's one that's I have two things. Um, number two, I just wanted to speak briefly um, uh, about town meeting last night. Uh, the citizens petitions that were brought
forth. Um, these petitions were worked on very hard by Mr. Morose, uh, Mr. Zubric, Mr. McKenzie, and other folks. um a lot of town meeting members who had received a
lot of concerns uh complaints about um where what direction Danvers is going in terms of growth um and growth meaning the building. Um I heard a lot of
mumblings and grumblings um amongst town meeting members last night in the audience. um they weren't positive. So, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank those folks for all their hard work. Um recognizing that we all have a
responsibility to listen to the people that elect us and to act upon what their feelings are. And also, even though those petitions were voted down, I want to take this opportunity to maybe put
the idea to our new town manager that we form a citizens committee from town meeting members um to discuss these concerns that have been raised over and over again to see if we can find a neutral
ground and to maybe soften a few of the sharp sharp corners that exist in our zoning laws because they do. Um, these apartments that are being built with almost $3,000 a month rent is not affordable
housing. And the affordable housing committee will tell you that. I've been told that. So, we had the town paid for a survey last year or a a study of what type of housing that
Danvers needs. And one of the things that rose to the top to me was that single family affordable homes for Danvers families. So, I know there's not that much land left in Danvers. So, we have
to be creative on finding that land. Um, so I think um I know a lot of hard work was done the past 5 10 years on these zoning laws and I think people get a little possessive and um defensive on
that work protective of it saying we know we did this we worked hard which is commendable but there's always room as things change as we go forward in life and in if anyone has worked in business
you always have to always rethink things and always reinvent and there's never a wrong time to relook at things. So I hope that those petitions bring and a discussion forward in this town because there are real
concerns. Thank you. Thank you Jolian. Would anybody else like to go up? Please introduce yourself. Uh, hello. My name is Dan Kirby. Um, I moved to Danvers about eight or nine
years ago. I live on Cherry Street. Uh, I work for myself. Um, I'm a landlord and I know I know enough about tenants and a lot of this development that's going on in Danver that there, you know,
might not happen today or tomorrow, but I can see long term um some challenges that Danvers is going to face uh specifically with section 8 tenants. I grew up in Melrose and about 50 years
ago uh my friend's father was the mayor and he made a very wise decision um when the state was kind of pushing section 8 housing on the cities and towns and his decision was for Melrose
to take the elderly. uh there's they're not a burden on the school system and uh you know if you compare the city of Melrose to surrounding cities like River and Malden and Everett any of you that have been to Melrose
recently you'll see a vibrant community with a beautiful downtown that flourishes and if you just go the next town over into uh Malden or River or Everett it's a completely different story. So, I I'm just urging the people
that make these decisions with all this new development to think about some the long-term imple implications um that these that these new residents have on on this town. Thank you.
Thank you, Dan. Please go up to the microphone. Thank you. Hi, my name is Kathy. I live in precinct 1. Um, I just want to talk for a second about the town meeting last night. I am
new to town and I am new to town politics and new to town meeting. I thought it looked like a zombie festival. People said I and nay, yes,
no. They sounded exactly the same to me. Some of them were very close. It was whoever spoke the loudest. I don't understand how that is an accurate way of passing a warrant. There's so much left to be
questioned. I mean, I just think there's got to be a more modern, less antiquated way of listening and and town meeting members to vote. I don't think it should
depend on one longtime person's hearing. I think it it it's right for um bias. And in defense of Mike Bean, I do
not think Mike Bean meant anything. In my opinion, he talked about the growing and the building in this town and we could end up with an element that will be detrimental to this
town and that is what I think most of us would like to avoid. Thank you. Thank you, Katherine. Lauren, good evening. Um, Lauren Steves, town meeting member, precinct 3. Um, I
wanted to bring up town meeting last night and wanted to put this on the radar for the new town manager and also for the select board. Um, I don't know if this is suggestion has been put forth before, but the use of electronic clickers for
town meeting. Um, 70 other municipalities in Massachusetts use these clickers during town meetings for voting versus everyone shouting yay, nay. You click your clicker and your vote gets counted.
Um, Rockport, Lynfield, Ipsswitch, Manchester, Newbury, Drake, Nant, they all use them. um is 2025, not 1950. I think that we we need to move forward with the technology that we're given to
more accurately, transparently, and have the clarity on who's voting on what. Um it promotes more efficiency with large groups. It gives equal weight and eliminates the influence of louder voices or group dynamics. It gives accessibility for people with quieter
voices, speech impairments, or non-native accents so they aren't disadvantaged. Um, it also gives anonymity because it will encourage more honest voting without the peer pressure which I myself heard last night. Um, and
was frankly disgusted by. Um, so a lot of other towns around us are adopting it and the research should be done as to how much it will cost. You can lease it, you can buy it, you can rent it for
specific meetings. There's all different types of avenues. There's all different types of companies. Um, and this is something that I would very strongly urge you to look into. Thank you. Thank you, Lauren. Would anybody else like to go up? Bill
Bill Brad member precinct one. Last night at the beginning of the meeting, there was an acknowledgment that the uh indigenous people who lived here had great stewardship on the land is now we call Damas. And I asked
before, just tell me you're working on it for a plaque or something to acknowledge their good stewardship. And also their good stewardship should continue on with us presently. I don't
know how you put that out, but I think you I think you should at somehow. The other thing was uh back in November, it made the paper. I'll give it to you. You made the paper or excuse me December
about the select board pleads for more civic civil behavior at meetings. Uh I don't know if it's a a rule set of rules decorum that perhaps a uh a lawyer might be able to write it so it stands the
test of time but uh everyone needs to behave themselves different boards citizens who show up. I know I'm older than most people, but when I was a kid and went to
high school on Conan Street, Connie Dunn was the president of principal. And at that time, one of the phrases that was always used was ladies and gentlemen, always. I'd like to think if I've used
the right verbiage that that would be uh good to use today. Uh, I just ask tell me you're working on it to come up with a working on it. No. And thank you. That's what we want. We want we want everybody to be respectful
of each other. Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Okay. Mark, would you like to go up? Please introduce yourself. He just told me to behave myself. So that's okay. Mark
Zuber, resident, former selectman, former finance committee chairman, you name it, I've done it. The thing that I saw tonight is a tradition that has been established in the past with the other
boards of selectmen that after a town meeting, you go through a analysis of what items have brought have been brought up to your attention because that is the
opportunity that the residents have and the town meeting members have to bring it up to the board of selectment. Not necessarily at these kinds of meetings that you have right now, but that is a tradition that has
been established way in the past. And I think tonight you saw the residents come up and do that analysis for you because last night's town meeting, we've spent $150 million in
half less than half an hour, but then we got bogged down about the issues that the residents wanted to talk about. And I know I'm one of the petitioners and I will continue that because that is
the only opportunity that a non-town meeting member that's elected has to present their case to the town meeting which is our legislative body that makes final
decisions. They usually come to the board of selectmen. Sometimes border selectmen don't listen thoroughly just like we heard last night. But we need to express this at the conclusion of each
town meeting and I congratulate everyone for bringing up these issues because that was an interesting meeting last night. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mark Ellen, would you like to go up?
Hi, I'm Ellen Graham. I wasn't planning on talking, but all this talk about town meeting made me want to reminisce. Last night's meeting, I watched it. I was not a town meeting member. I've been a selectman and a town meeting member and on various boards. Um, I think it was
run very smoothly. Um, it's the way our town meeting has been run forever. We have a representative town meeting. There are other towns who actually have open town meetings where if you can get as many people as possible into the
room, everybody yells. It's not very um it's not easy, but it's everybody gets their their say. We decided on a representative town meeting and I think our representatives um did a good job last night. I do want to say about the petition
um and and Amy spoke very well to it. um the conversation around it, not only in town meeting, but in um the select board when we discussed we had budget hearings and we talked about the warrant. It was well known that two out of the three
warrants weren't written appropriately. It's not an easy thing to do. I've done petitions myself in the past in front of town meeting. We have to abide what town meeting decides. Um the the wording matters. Talking about the elements of
people coming into our community um doesn't sound welcoming. I'm sorry that people didn't feel town meeting was done well, but I think if you're a new town meeting member, you will see the process works.
Damas is a good town. For some reason, we keep talking about it. Um bad elements coming in. Apartments are bad. not welcoming to the people for some reason. I don't understand it. Um but I think we need to be more welcoming. We
do have to be ladies and gentlemen always. I was told that as well. Um and I do my best. But it doesn't mean we always agree. And we have to understand that and not be upset and understand that we're not all the same. And having a
diverse community actually gives you a really good compromises. And we have a good town. We've had a good town. It continues to be good. And as long as all of you continue to stay involved, we will continue to come up with the best way for Damas. But we have to be careful
and aware of how we talk about new people coming in. We have to be welcoming and our current residents, the elements that may be in a group home. I I I you know I was very frustrated with it because the police department was
here a month ago and told us exactly all the calls they get where they go the recovery center the the old state hospital the the mall those are the place not once was it mentioned a group
home group homes are so important group homes are why we don't have the state anymore without group homes people cannot be independ dependent and get the support that they need. What better place to live than in a neighborhood in Danverse as a disabled person to get the
support and feel that independence. I think we all need to be um open to those ideas. Thanks. Thank you, Ellen. Katherine, do you want to get up? Sorry. Thank you,
Kathy. Precinct one. I appreciate what you had to say. I am elderly, handicapped, and I live alone. And I just so happen to live in the same neighborhood as the boys that
are being held responsible for duck speeding. So, I am a little jaded. I don't want um halfway houses and
um drug rehabs. And I'm not ashamed or afraid to say it. I am not af I am not that welcoming. I want a safe small town. And to be honest, I've been here
two years. I feel like it's growing very fast. I don't feel like everything is above board, especially at the town meeting. It wasn't run right. I've been to town meeting in in the town I came from of 40 years that is looks nothing
like this town meeting. You are literally uh passing warrants from the moderator's hearing. And I I don't think that's right. And I will say I am not a big fan of
uh I think DEI is running a muck and I just want to see our town say small welcoming and slow down. Not everybody a lot of people in this town feel the way I feel and not everybody
has to think the same way. We have to meet in the middle somewhere. I don't want hoodlams in my neighborhood and I really don't care what anybody else thinks about it. Thank you. Thank you. Lisa, would you like to get
up? Thank you. Please introduce yourself. Hi, my name is Lisa Silva. I am a town meeting member in precinct 7. I am the chair of the Dammers Housing Authority and I am the vice chair of the affordable housing trust. I just want to
make a couple points of correction. Um first, Maple Square is not within the MBTA zoning. Um this entire citizens petition was built around the fact that it was an MBTA building. It actually was
approved over a year before MBT zoning even existed. Um, we do have several units, 28 units in fact, um, at 80% AMI. And no, that's not the
level we want to be at at the affordable housing trust, but it was what we were able to get. This was our first time doing this in a big project like this. I can guarantee you that the next project we will get more. Everybody on that
trust is looking to have deeply affordable housing and we are working very hard on it. We have 28 units that range from 2,000 to 2650. It's not $3,000. Let's use the correct
numbers. 4 thou 400 people will not be living in that building. It's actually impossible for 400 people to live in that building. along with Aaron Henry. We spent the last year on the affordable housing trust working with a company that we
hired with the money from our trust to do a housing production plan. So, if you want to know about land use and what is available and how much land the town has to build on, that's a good place to go and it's on
the town website. If you want to know about senior housing in section 8, you should contact Cindy Dunn at the She's the director at the Dammers Housing Authority. Damas does a really good job with senior housing and Moren knows
that. Moren was on the housing authority. Um, so I just really think that we need to stick to the facts. Um, somebody said last night that we're using loaded language. I 100% agree with that. I think we need to stick to the
facts, the buildings, what the town has done. A lot of things that are being asked for are already being done by people that volunteer and work for this town. So, I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew that there are facts
and they are being exaggerated. Thank you. Thank you, Lisa. Tony, I'll try to be nice. Uh, here we go. Tony Benton Courttown meeting precinct 5. Okay. The situation with that building is, okay, Susan Fletcher is the
one that started that prog progress. Okay. I went to all the meetings. Okay. A lot of people, a lot of town meet members went also. Okay. And we picked out the design that we wanted and all that stuff. Okay. And I tried to explain this to yesterday. Okay. That building was supposed to be three stories. Okay, two stories and on the third story is
supposed to be kicked back. Okay, that's what it was supposed to be. Okay, look what we got there. We got four stories and it's oversized. Okay, someone someone closed their eyes and the ball got changed. Okay, that's what happened. That's not what we voted on. That's not what we was told. Okay, I went to all
the meetings. Okay, that's why people get frustrated in this town. You go, they tell you what they're going to do and all of a sudden it's different. Okay, that's the problem. Okay, that's not what we wanted or what we voted or we told we're going to get. Okay, that's the problem. That's why everybody's complaining. That's why everybody's
upset. That's not what we signed up for. Okay. And that's that's it. Okay. I'll just put it that way. Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thank you, Tony. Would anybody else like to speak? Ellen. Sure. Go ahead. I know we're not supposed to get up
twice, but um as I I just want to address um again what we said about the words that we use in hoodlum is very subjective and who is a hoodlm and I've lived here my whole life
62 years and there's no doubt when I was at the junior high I had been called a hoodlum there it's it's it's just a not a nice word. You're trying to pigeon hole kids and act like what what they're
learning as they learn as they grow in our community that that what everything they do is bad. I'm sorry that you're afraid. I'm sorry that you feel that you're alone and that you're you don't feel welcoming. You don't want you're afraid to welcome people. Chairman,
comment should be made to the chair. Yeah. Sorry. It's true. That's very true. But it's unfortunate that anyone in town feels alone or feels like they're unwelcoming. It sounds like intolerance. And as much as we try to be nice to each other, being tolerant is
really important. Diversity is important. Equity, inclusion, all those things help a community grow. And we should not tolerate intolerance. Thank you. Thank you. Um
I'd like anybody else Last call. Okay, Lois. Lois McKenzie, precinct three town meeting. I just want to speak to being told to be tolerant in the intolerance that goes on. My husband was called a racist
because he was holding a blue line flag and it's been constant. Well, if he's got the flag, he's a racist. And this is the person telling us we need to be tolerant. Everybody has their opinion. Everybody has their
feelings. And you can believe what you want, but if you're not going to practice what you preach, please keep it to yourself. Okay. And Joanne, last last one. Thank you very much.
Yan, believe me. We've had a long day over on Ryan Road, so forgive me for having to come back up. Um, Joanne Reguchi, town meeting member, precinct 2. I just wanted to add to my first comments about the incident today on Ryan Road in Precinct 2 that
I'm hoping, my hope is um that um the town leaders, the police, the select board at the appropriate time that we work and reach out to the state police for an explanation on why the pursuit was backed off today on 95 that allowed
um this vehicle to race through our streets and bring chaos. us and mayhem into our neighborhood. Um, I know it's not appropriate right now. I know they're still looking for them, but uh I will send a follow-up email, Moren. But
I just wanted to add that um I know there's a lot of residents that are very concerned. Um my neighbor here over on Irving Well, they need to give us that explanation. Uh why I have different reasons. I'm not going to say publicly
what I was told, but um so I just kind of want to get that explanation and and then we can talk with the residents because it was a very upsetting incident today as you can imagine. Um these um subjects were not uh Girl Scouts from
what we understand. And no offense to the Girl Scouts. I don't want to get in trouble. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um, I just want to say thank you for people trying to be respectful. Um,
we do want people to come up um during the public business and voice your concern. Um, it will take we will talk with the town manager. I'm sure she has plenty of notes on um this good feedback um that you are giving us. So, please,
as I had mentioned before that we want people to come to these meetings and speak their mind and but we also want to be respectful. Thank you very much. Okay. So, the board will consider the application of Stacy Eden, 11 Broad Street for a firsttime block party on
Saturday, June 7th, 2025, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in front of the house at 11 Broad Street. And who was here to speak? Hi. Hi, Stacy. Please go up and introduce yourself and tell us, you know, what you're proposing. And
it sounds like fun. I hope so. Um, I live at 11 Broad Street. My name is Stacy Eaton. Um, we have a really tight-knit neighborhood. Um, and I am looking to host a block party for my son's 10th birthday. Um, I have two
handicapped parents that I would like for them to be able to enjoy it at the comfort of their own home. Um, I do have designated areas that I have highlighted, um, that will be blocked off and I do have signatures from those homeowners. Um, they will also be at the
party with us. Um, and then I made flyers to put in the rest of the neighborhood's mailboxes um, that do state the time frame, the date, and um, the red zone. And there will still be through
traffic um from Appleton, the beginning of Broad and um Rainbow Terrace. Excellent. Um questions. Gardner uh through you to the clerk. Was uh block party uh signed off by the police and fire? I have sign offs from the fire
department, the police department, as well as DPW. Great. That's all I need to know. Thank you, Mike. Hi. Uh I just had a couple things. You probably have already taken care of it. I'm just kind of just safety concerns. Um, do you have help to to pull this off
to do all this? You do? Yeah. Um, and clean up and set up all that. Yeah, we have um plans for the three houses aligned um to have our trash and recycling out front for all the kids and adults. Is everybody in the neighborhood
in agreement with this? Um, I haven't sent the flyers out just yet until I had this meeting. Um, I plan to have the kids help me tomorrow, um, and send them to everybody's mailbox in the neighborhood. And I do have my name and address on the flyer that I'm putting in
the mailboxes in case they want to contact me. Okay. Um, do you have any uh outside lighting because this is going to be at night time, right? Um, no. 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. 12:00 to 5. Okay. Um, 12 to 5. Okay. Is there going to be any kind of a like
porta party or anything? Um, so I'm looking into doing all that. Um, I just wanted to get this finalized before I jumped ahead and paid for all that stuff first. Okay. Is it There'll be people drinking alcohol. No, no alcohol. No alcohol. Okay.
Um, okay. You pretty much wrapped it up. Thank you. Yeah. Have a good time. Thank you. Do you two have questions? Uh, yes. Good question. Uh, 12 to 5. Do you need time before that for setup or does included in the time? Um, so I should be setting up. We're I'm basically setting
up on my parents driveway. Um, I have a 12 by10 gazebo um that I'll be setting up just in case if it does rain. Um, and to cover shade for, you know, the kids and adults, whatever. Um, I will have uh three tables under that. And then my
other two neighbors next door will be setting up smaller gazeos on their properties with also tables and um chairs. Okay. Uh to you, Madame Chair, to the clerk, do we need uh if they're
going to have music, do we need entertainment license or anything for this kind of Well, it would it would be similar to somebody having a cookout where you wouldn't really monitor that. Okay. Thank you. No further questions. Thank you. Great, Dan. Thank you, Stacy.
Um, you notified some neighbors, but not all neighbors, right? I will be notifying them tomorrow. I'll be sending the flyers out to their mailboxes tomorrow. So, you should be aware that it's against the law to put something in somebody's mailbox unless it has a stamp on it delivered. Okay? So, don't I
suggest you don't do that. Okay? Thank you for letting me know that. You're welcome. Okay. Um, what's the will of the board, Mr. Well, Madam Chairman, I'd make a motion that we could um approve the application of Stacy Eaton, 11 Broad
Street, firsttime block body on Saturday, June 7th, 2025, 12 to 5 in front of the house at 11 Broad Street, subject to no objections from those neighbors that are going to get notified tomorrow. That's great. Do I have a
second? Second. All in favor? I opposed. Okay. Okay, so next on the agenda is Thank you. Hope you have good weather. Oh, thank you very much. Yes, Stacy. Thank
you. Um, next on the agenda is a public hearing will be held in the application of a Kelly's Danverse LLC. DBA Kelly's Roast Beef Danverse 165 Endicott Street Jim Rata manager for transfer of a wine
and malt beverage common vehicular license at that location. Madam clerk, is all the paperwork in order? The paperwork is in order. Thank you. Okay. Um would you please introduce yourself and just uh tell us about this? Yeah. Evening, ladies and gentlemen. Uh my
name is Jim Rati. I'm a director of operations for Kelly's Roast Beef. Um, I'm here tonight to um uh ask for a change of ownership to AM50, our parent company now for a liquor license at 165 Endicott Street in Dampers. Thank you.
This is a public hearing. Anybody in the audience have any questions? Go to the board first, Madam Chair, and then audience. Y Okay. To Gardner, questions. Uh, looking at your application, how how long how often do you think you'll be on site? Uh you
you're you're I'm sorry. You're Mr. uh the the gentleman who's going to be taking over the license. Correct, sir. That is correct, sir. And how many hours a week do you plan on being on site? Uh I pretty much live at that store. It's uh closest to my house. We do our catering and our food truck out of that store. Gold Bellyy's done out of that
store. It's poised to probably become our second busiest store after SAS. But the question I'm asking is how much time are you going to be on site as the license holder? Probably 30 to 40 hours a week. Okay. and uh through you to the clerk. Uh madam chair, is there a list
of alternates or backup people as well? I do have that. Yes. Thank you. And I see you certified. That would be my normal question, but I see that we have that application here. So, I'm all set. Thank you, Mike. Uh looks like everything's in
order and I have no questions. Thank you, D. Uh no questions. Thank you. And Dan, no. I'm all set. Thank you. And um I just had a question. Thank you. Um, is the menu changing or anything like that? Uh, no. Um, we've kept
everything pretty much the same. I've been an employee there for 45 years and um, with the exception of taking off a few items that were not selling well, we're probably poised to put just a few more back on to um, fill those gaps and everything's the same as it's been in
the last probably 20 years we've been there. Wonderful. Thank you. Um, this is a public hearing. Um, anybody in the audience have a question? Please feel free. Okay, we're going to close the public hearing. Um, make a motion.
Motion to close the public hearing. Second. All in favor? I I opposed. Okay. Thank you. Application. Uh, the application. Um, motion on the application. Oh, the motion. Can we have a motion on the application? D. I move
that we approve the application as presented. Do we have a second? Okay. All in favor? I I opposed. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Gentlemen, how about Stephen? Yeah. Thank you for coming. Um, the board will
consider the application of Steve Horn for a one-day malt and wine license at Putnham Pantry, one of my favorites, on Saturday, June 14th, 2025, 5:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. for the high school reunion. Welcome. Welcome, Steve. Nice to see you
again. Thank you. Please tell us about this. Like like to u welcome Jill to our town, too. So, um Steve Horn, five Brookside Avenue, class of 85. I know that may surprise some people in this room, but it has been 40 years. We're
requesting a wine and malt uh license for a day to have our reunion at Putnham Pantry with maybe some ice cream. So, it's excellent. Uh Gardner, do you have any questions? Um Kita, the clerk, I did not get an application for this in the
packet. We don't generally give one day applications to the board. I can you describe how uh uh who's going to be doing the serving? Who's going to be uh controlling the alcohol? And are you a portioning off part of the building to from the public? Um yes, Gar, we're u
getting a tent. It's going to be um right next to the Putinham Pantry use their uh lavatories. Uh it will be open to us. Um so if any classmates do want uh some ice cream, they can do that. Um, we have uh Subpinos going to be catering um the food there. And then our uh we
have a licensed bartender. I gave Kathy the tips insurance uh as well as Doyle insurance um liability insurance. Okay. Uh through to the clerk just we we have certified vendor and uh Yes. Yep. All of
that's in order. Thank you. Those are the questions I had. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Uh nope. Sounds like you got it in order. Thank you. Thank you. D um well, June 14 is my birthday. Come on out. You can have a 17. Make sure you
have a cake. And June 14, 1985. If someone was born that day, could they also come? Absolutely. Absolutely. No questions. Thank you. All said, Dan. Steve, how who's providing the
liquor? Um it's by the tips provider. That's that's Marramac Valley distributor. Thank you. Okay. All set. You don't want to go. I don't know. What day is it? 14th. Steve's birthday. The 14th. It was
Steve's birthday. That's right. I move that we approve the application as presented. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? I. I. I. Any opposed? Thank you very much, Steve. Good weather, Steve. Yeah. We're having our
class reunion on the 21st, but I won't tell you what year. 20th. 21st. Yeah. But it but we maybe we'll join you because we don't have the numbers. Mary. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Uh, next on the agenda, the board
will consider applications by Lewis George, event coordinator, Damas Historical Society, 11 Page Street for three 1-day wine and malt licenses for the following events at Glenn Magner on the following dates. Tuesday, June 17th,
5 to 8:00 p.m. Summer Music Beer Garden. Rain date June 18th. Tuesday, July 22nd, 5 to 8:00 PM, summer music, Beer Garden, rain date, July 23rd, and Tuesday, August 19th, 5 to 8:00 PM. Summer music
garden beer garden rain August 20th. Um, please tell us, hi, Lou. Tell us about what's what you're planning and how it's going to Sure. play and we're excited for this again. Absolutely. Yep. Good. Good evening, Madam Chair. Good evening, the rest of the the select board. Um, Louie George, I'm on the board of trustees of the Danvers Historical
Society. Um, I also uh chair our our media and events committee. And so we're uh we're planning our summer beer gardens at Glen Magna Farms. And so these will be uh three dates as was mentioned uh June 17th, July 22nd, and August 19th with rain dates the
following day. Um and this is now our fifth year of doing this uh this event. Um we first did it in 2021. And really why we we did it really it was it was a it was really a way to um to really be able to to showcase not just the
historical society but also Glenn Magna Farms to folks who may not necessarily maybe attend a wedding there or may not go to some other historical society events. U and it picks up a little bit on what we did if you might remember um the history hot dogs and harmony events
that was held uh pre- pandemic. And so, um, yeah, and so we've had, you know, uh, so we've done this event. We've actually had a very, um, people have enjoyed them. Uh, they it's going to be held from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Uh, we do have, uh, food and, um, uh, food
provide. We'll have Vinwood catering, uh, with, you know, they have a they'll have a pretzel cart as well as a sausage and a hot dog cart. We also um I believe starting last year we had a ice cream truck local ice cream truck uh the Cravery which is a Danver's uh ice cream
truck and they're going to be there for all three uh beer gardens. And so uh in terms of the we'll also be having music. So, uh, for the first, uh, beer garden, we'll have, um, we'll have open mic, which is actually coordinated by a a
friend, um, Ron Sero from the Lynfield Historical Society who coordinates the, um, the open mic. Uh, in July, we'll have a local band, Stroke of Luck. And then in August, uh, we'll have Decades of Rock. Uh, and so, uh, just in terms of some of the logistics, uh, we do
have, uh, we do a 100% ID check. Uh so when we are uh so people who are attending if someone is attending and they do want to uh drink uh uh 100% ID check just like you're going we explain to people it's just like you're going to Boston Garden or Fenway Park uh and you'll get a wristband. So if you don't
have don't produce an ID you could be 85 years old. If you don't produce an ID you don't get a wristband. Um all of our uh servers are um our Glen Magner event managers and their tip certified. You should have the materials for um Heather Palm and Christina Tadiello in the
materials and I also am tip certified as well. I recently renewed my tips um as well. Um and we do have a centralized uh beer tent on the grounds uh checking IDs sort of at the entrance to the parking lot and we do also have volunteers who
are going around as well just to make sure everything's fine, people aren't climbing the trees and stuff like that. So u but we it's it's been an enjoyable event. We've, you know, we've um uh this is sort of the beginning of our our our our summer season. We do have some other
um events that are coming up as well. We just recently had our revolutionary tea on a Gamrell Roof, which is our uh uh our play, an adaptation of Lucy Larkham's uh poem, Tea on a Gamrell Roof, which was just over at Memorial Hall just this past Saturday, and we'll
be having it again on Wednesday, uh Wednesday evening. Just thought I'd put in a quick plug for that. Um, but we're um, yeah, we're looking forward to the summer and if if the members of the board have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Thank you. Uh, Gardner, uh, as I have a direct interest in this,
uh, issue, I'm going to abstain. Thank you. You're welcome. Uh, Mike, sounds like you got it handled. Thank you, D. Uh, no questions. Thank you. And Dan, so you're down to three voting members. I'm vice president of society, and I will abstain as well. Yeah.
Well, I think it sounds wonderful and um what is the will of the board? I move that we approve the application as presented. Second. Okay. And all in favor? I I abstain. Abstain. Okay. Thank you. Thank
you very much. Thank you very much. Check out our website. We hope to see you there. Yeah. Hope hope everybody goes. It's a great event. Thank you. Okay. Uh, next on the agenda, the board will consider an application for 12 one-day wine and malt beverage licenses
in calendar year 2025 by Twisted Fate Brewing. David Panette, owner of Summer Concert Series on the lawn of the Peabody Institute Library, 15 Silven Street from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the following dates. Monday, July 7th, rain
date July 8th. Wednesday, July 9th. Rain date, July 10th. Monday, July 14th. Rain date, July 15th. Wednesday, July 16th. Rain date, July 17th. Monday, July 21st. Rain date,
July 22nd. Wednesday, July 23rd. Rain date July 24th. Uh, Monday, July 28th. Rain date July 29th. Wednesday, July 30th. Rain date July 31st. Monday, August 4th. Rain date August 5th.
Wednesday August 6th. Rain date August 7th. Monday August 11th. Rain date August 12th. And Wednesday August 13th. Rain date August 14th. David, tell us um introduce yourself and tell us about this event. Good evening. Uh my name is
David Panette. I'm co-owner head brewer at Twist of Fate Brewing. Uh tonight I'm here for one day licenses for the summer concert series. Um this will be our third year doing it. Excellent. Um, do we have questions, Gardner? Again, I have a direct interest in one of these events and I'm going to
abstain. Okay. Um, Mike, um, question. How does this work? Does does it go for bid or how does it how do you get this position? Well, I think it's a town event and they try to get local businesses involved and we're the
only local brewery, so they reached out to us. Okay. And obviously you all the applications filled out and correct. Yeah. Um and serving and whatnot besides your bartenders, is there any of the staff
there? So 90% of the time it's me and my wife. Um we're both tip certified. All our workers at the brewery are tip certified. So whoever is there is tip certified. And you guys will be solely checking IDs and whatnot. We check everyone's ID that appears under the uh
age of 40. Okay. That's per Massachusetts state law. Okay. And then you handle cleanup and all that. Yep. Okay. All right. We have a we have a simple setup. We have coolers with cans of beer and then we have a table. Okay.
All right. Thank you. Y uh no questions. Thank you. I always find it to be very simple operation, very wellrun. You and your wife do a great job. Look forward to seeing you on some of those dates, not all of them. Thank you. Appreciate that.
I think it's a great event, too. You'll be seeing me, too. I I can't I try to come to a couple of them, but thank you for um helping us. Um what is the will of the board? I move that we approve the application as presented. Second all those dates. All in favor? I I opposed.
One abstension. One abstain. Right. Got abstain. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, David. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you. Okay, now you're up next. He's up again. Oh, he's up again. That's right. Yes. You might as well stay there. The board will consider the
application of David Pette on behalf of Twisted Fate Brewing for a one-day malt and wide license at Endicott Park on Saturday, June 21st, 10:00 a.m. to 4 pm for the Oniontown Field Day. Can you explain to uh you're on TV? Yeah. Thank
you. Again, Dave Panette, uh, Twist of Fate Brewing. Um, I'm applying for a one-day license for the Oniontown, uh, field day. Uh, the previous couple years it's been in September, but they moved it up to June. Um, so I'm here for a one-day license.
Excellent. Um, questions, Gina? I My band is not playing at this one, so I will vote on this one, but I'm I'm familiar with the um the methodology in which you do liquor control, and I'm satisfied. Thank you, Mike. Uh, no other questions. Thank you. Indeed. When June
is a fun month, uh, it says 10 to 4. Do you start serving alcohol at 10? I'm just curious. So, we get there for about 10 and then we start setting up. Um, so I believe it's 11:00 is when people start to get
there if I'm I could be mistaken, but I believe it's 11. Okay. And then we usually shut down be a half an hour or so before. Thank you. No questions. Thanks. Wonderful, Dan. All set. All right. Well, I think it's a great event. Thank you. Oh, questions for the
audience. Yep. Uh Joanne Reaguchi, town meeting member, precinct 2. I don't mean to rain on all these wonderful parties that are going on, but I just wanted to re uh raise some concerns about alcohol being served
at a town event. Um I I really don't think it's a good look because it's it's sort of a family event. Um even though I know it sounds like you guys have been doing it and it you know it sounds like there's fine control and everything like that. I just kind of want maybe everyone
to kind of take a pause even the concert series is that there's a lot of children running around um the Oniontown Day again it's at Endicott Park. Uh it's just it's it's a bigger family event both of these events and it it kind of
concerns me that alcohol is being served. Um I think they we should kind of keep it more without the alcohol involved. Um, but thank you. Those are my remarks. I just hope that the the board can kind of take um my concerns
into consideration when they make their final ruling. Thank you. Thank you. It's not a public hearing, Madam Chairman. Okay. Okay. No comments if you want. All right. Um, so the next on the agenda. Oh, we have on
these. Have to make a motion. I'm sorry. I move that we approve the application as presented. Second. All in favor? I I opposed. Okay. Thank you. The board will hear a presentation. Thank you. The board will
hear a presentation of the town's new online utility payment portal. And I was in there because I couldn't get mine to work at first. Thank you. And very helpful staff. Thank you. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Angelica Medina and I'm the DPW
business manager. I'm excited to walk you through the new and improved customer portal for the town of Danverse water, sewer, and electric services. This upgrade is all about making things more transparent and accessible for our customers. Have
to All right. So, we upgraded the portal to improve the overall customer experience with enhanced security and mobile friendly access. Now, customers can view real time smart meter data, access more detailed billing insights, and use
customer-driven reporting tools. It's about convenience, transparency, and empowering our customers with better tools. So, some key features of our new customer portal are a live bill presentation. Customers can view their
bills as they're generated. Customers can also sign up for service, transfer service, and move out with just a few clicks. There's a self-service portal that provides access 247, anywhere, anytime, to account information, billing
history, and much more. And the thing I'm most excited about is our meter usage data where customers can view detailed meter usage data to monitor consumption and make informed decisions. A lot of this data is available for
export and to Excel and other files as well. So this is the landing page for the water and electric customer portals. It's the first screen that the customers will see when they log into the town of Danverse customer portals. It's been designed to be userfriendly and
intuitive, offering clear navigation so users can quickly access the services they need, whether it's viewing usage, paying a bill, or managing account settings. This page acts as a central hub for managing all your utility
accounts anytime, anywhere. The portal is fully responsive, so it works seamlessly on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. And we're excited to share in the next couple of months, we'll also have mobile apps. All existing customers must click sign up now when first accessing the
customer portal. To assist with this is example bills displayed in both portals and there are tool tip text boxes available throughout the signup form offering helpful hints and examples ensuring accuracy and avoiding errors. These
steps help match the customer customer information correctly and activate online access. Customers who were previously enrolled in paperless billing and or autopay must reregister. Email notifications were sent to all customers before and on the go live
date. Letters were also mailed to our autopay customers. To ease the transition, the business division will not charge back any prompt payment discounts during the month of May to give the customers time to complete the reenrollment process without penalty.
The portal has action focused prominent buttons for bills and payments, transaction history, build usage graphs, smart meter interval data, comparing usage information, profile information such as managing guest access to accounts, forms
for stopping service, transferring service, and updating account information. And the customer portal allows for multiple electric accounts to be linked to a single electric portal login and multiple water and sewer accounts to be linked to a single water
portal login. It this feature is especially useful for our landlords, property managers or residents who manage multiple accounts. It allows seamless switching between accounts without the need to log in and out repeatedly. The usage graphs in the customer portal
provide a clear visual breakdown of the build usage over time with labeled read dates and consumption amounts. The ability to overlay weather data um is also there so that you can see how your temperature may have influenced your usage. You're also able to add custom
markers for user added events. for example, if you installed a heat pump or you replaced your swimming pool liner or maybe your kids were visiting. Um, helping customers correlate life changes or upgrades with ch um life changes or
changes in usage. The interactive tool makes it easy to spot trends, understand spikes, and make informed decisions about your energy or water usage. There's also a daily usage tab which allows um smart meter interval data
showing nearly real time usage before it's processed through the billing register. This allows the customer to monitor their hourly or daily consumption patterns, identify unusual spikes or usage trends early, and to take action to reduce usage or investigate issues before their monthly
or quarterly bill is generated. Um, I'd like to thank you guys for listening to this presentation and I'd like to give a special thank you to the business division team because they've been working incredibly hard to support the customers through this. The portal went live on April 29th and as of today
15% of the water and sewer customers and 18% of the electric customers are enrolled. If customers have any requests or need help, we're um available to assist during business hours or you can call us or email us at the number provided there. If there are any
residents or board members in the audience today that need help enrolling, I do have um a sheet that I can put over in the corner and we can collect your contact information and our staff will reach out. Wonderful. Thank you. Um questions, Gina?
I think that looks great. I do have a question. Um, and I'm glad that you allow for residents to look up their data and see their use utilization. Is there any opportunity for the system to identify and reach instead of it being a reactive where the
customer has to go in and look where if you exceed a certain threshold, it will send you an email about that. Because we often hear about water, someone doesn't know they have a leak. someone's to they're away on vacation and the toilet's running or whatever it might be. Is there any way to
identify that there is um unusual patterns of of use and ex and send an email to the to the to the um person to say, "Hey, you should look into that." Yes, that's a great question. Um so, right now they're currently under your
profile in the customer portal. you, the customer can set their own usage thresholds if they want to be notified if the consumption goes over a certain quantity or percentage threshold. I'm also hoping by the end of the calendar year, we're working in the water and sewer portal to incorporate automatic
leak detection that will notify the customer via text, phone call, or email um if there's continuous running water detected. That's a great answer, and I didn't know it beforehand, so and I wasn't just pitching you a softball, so Thank you. Uh, thank you for that. I'm
all set, Mike. I think my questions will be after I fumble my way through it, so I'll tonight. But thank you. It sounds great. D, I agree with Mike. That would be the same for me. Thank you for all you do. This this is amazing. So, thank you,
Dan. You answered most of my questions. The one that I have is, um, can I set up certain accounts for autopay but not all? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Good questions. and and the usage controls. Oh, that's great. Um, great
presentation. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Okay. The next one would on the agenda is the board will discuss and potential potentially amend a resolution related to Beverly
airport. Is there anybody here that wants to speak? We have the uh resolution right that we all got. and uh that we signed. Correct. Yes. Can I last meeting can I make a comment? Yes. Um you just mentioned we approved and
signed a resolution at a prior meeting. Um there was additional amendment requests probably from Mr. Zuber for a different resolution. And in reading that resolution, some of the statements I could agree to but not all. So I
couldn't sign the separate one at all. I couldn't approve that and I don't think we can send out a resolution without all our signatures. Then it's not a resolution. So at at this point um subject to your thoughts madam chairman I would recommend we send our original
resolution along. Um is there any discussion on this Gardner? I was not one of the original signers. I also looked at the language that was recommended or suggested and there is
some less than factual information there and I would I I wouldn't have signed the original either. So I don't think I can speak on this. I was not one of the original signers. If the board wants to send it out with the original signatures, that's certainly their purview.
Mike, um I thought it was a good start to get things going. Um I think the there was a one item on the other the second um one. I don't think we have any control over
that as far as um I don't think we have any authority to put a moratorum on the hanger that's being built and um so I don't think we can get involved in that part. I I I
think moving forward though, if we can have a commission on this side that will support our two seats and then further uh attempt to gain more seats in that um in the Beverly uh committee, I think we can
um work with them to to make them obviously the best neighbor they can be and and and for us to understand how things work. I mean, planes have to take off in the wind. So sometimes they're going to fly over your house. Um but I think if we have five people on
this side, we'll it would work best for us uh for towns people and for in smoother uh operation uh as we try to communicate with them to um make this all work. So I would uh go with the uh
one we signed. Thank you D. Uh thank you Madame Chair. Uh I would agree with select board member Mike. Um I did uh I did receive the second one as well.
Um and the the area about the moratonium was the actually the only part that I had a pause with. I actually briefly spoke to Mr. Zuber last night about the use of the word jetport instead of
airport. Um and yes, I don't think we have any authority on stopping it completely or imposing a moratorium. Uh I will be in support of sending the one that we signed
originally while we work our way to any further action. Stan, did you want to say anything more? No, that's pretty much what I said and everybody's kind of echoed that that sentiment. Yep. And I agree too. I think the one in Gardenner was not here at the
time. I think Mark I think it's and and the folks for the Beverly airport what we signed on uh when did we sign this? April 5th or 15. April 15th, 2025. I think it's a start. So I'd like to move this along and um and then uh any other
revisions naturally bring before us Mark in the group. That would be great. Um I don't think we need a vote for that, right? any does somebody want to make a motion that we move this one forward? Well, I think the agenda if you read it um we'll
discuss and potentially amend. We're not amending the resolution. So, we're not amending it. Okay. So, it's good to go and we can ask the manager manager if that's my assessment is correct. Oh, I would agree. Okay. If you're not taking
any action, you don't need to make a motion. Okay. Great. Okay. So, we're going to uh move this forward with what we signed. Thank you very much for everybody. Thank you. Um the town manager um welcome Jill Cahill. Report to the board on various items of
interest. Uh thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward to working with you. Um and I want to start by thanking everyone here um particularly the select board for giving me the opportunity to serve Danverse. Um it was a very very um
engaging process and I enjoyed it very much. So I'm happy to be here. I my report today will be quite short. I've been here seven days. Um uh in my first week I was thrilled. I met with our senior leadership team. I've met with our um
state delegation, Representative Karns and Senator Lovely. I'll be meeting with our uh superintendent on Thursday and working on getting setting up meetings with each of you and was able to attend the town meeting. So, I feel like it was certainly uh a busy first week. Um lots
of engaged citizens in this community and that's what brings a community together. So, I think that um together we'll be able to accomplish a lot of great things. Uh, one of the things that I'll be announcing and we're working on rolling out is uh some community roundts. I would really interested in
getting to know uh the people of this community. So, please keep your eyes and ears open for those. Um, we'll be out in the community uh likely the senior center, Endeott Park. Um, and I'm open to suggestions the library. So, um, I'll be working with the board on some
suggestions on that. And so please um join me and I'm here to listen and learn um and I'm looking forward to it. Uh to report so far, I wanted to speak on the police accreditation um that they're going through. On June 1st, uh Chief
Lavell and his accreditation team will welcome a sitebased assessor. His name is Mark Brooks. He's from the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies Incorporated. Cesar Brooks will examine all aspects of the department's policies, procedures, management, operations, and support services.
Verification by the assessor that the Danver's police department meets the commission's compreh comprehensive state-of-the-art standards as part of the voluntary process to gain accreditation. A highly prized recognition of public safety professional and excellence. Um, I will
say in the previous community I was in, they've been working towards this for a long time. So Danver should be very proud um of the many years that they've had in accreditation. I'm scheduled to meet with the assessor as well on June 2nd and we invite the community to be a part of that as well as part of the
assessment. The agency personnel and members of the community are invited to offer comments through a public access portal portal that's now available on the website. So, if you scroll down, um I think it's right underneath the um right underneath the top the top bar,
you'll find three um engagement portals and one of them is for the community police uh accreditation. So, please um get involved there and share your feedback. Uh also want to invite everyone here and everyone watching to join us for the Memorial Day um
preparations, parade, and ceremony. The veterans office is hosting a flag placement at the Walnut Grove Cemetery tomorrow from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. And you can contact the vet director of veteran services, Kelly Rayo Sera, if you would like to be involved. And we will all
hopefully be at the parade on Monday. I will be there um kickoff at the Holton Richmond Middle School at 9:00 a.m. and a ceremony to follow at approximately 10:00 a.m. at the middle school. And uh one other event that I am learning is very important to this community is the
Wayne Marquee um park dedication. That will be June 14th at 10:00 a.m. The leadership team and I did a walking meeting today. Um walk the rail trail. Um we made our loop around. So I had a chance to see the park. It's it's beautiful. So for those who worked on
it, thank you. And I look forward to being at the dedication. Thank you. Thank you, Jill. Uh the board will consider uh consent calendar items as they appear below. Motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. Madam Chair, I'm going to I'm going to ask that we
take I'm going toain abstain from the first. I have personal interest and then I'll vote positively on the other three. Okay. So we want to take them separately. Then I'll make a motion that we approve the block party.
Do we have a second? Second. All in favor? I oppose abstained. Okay. Thank you. And I make a motion that we approve the common vicular gas storage and plant sale items. Second. Yep. All approved.
I I Okay. Um all in favor I should say. Okay. Um any and then the ne last one. Dan, next one. All three were covered. All three. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you very much. And at this time, we will do correspondence,
select board, new business, previous new business update, select board closing comments. Ger, would you like to start? Sure. Um, I have not received any uh public correspondence at this point, but I do want to ask I know that um after the reorg, we usually contact this the
chairperson to discuss um committee appointments. Yes. Uh I would like to ask that we consider a select board representative on the accessibility commission. The accessibility commission is authorized by Mass General Law Chapter 40 section 8J and until this
point I did not realize till a recent uh discussion with uh with the chairman that there is no select board representation there. Uh I think the commission would benefit from that opportunity. have spoken with the chairman about it of that commission and
uh they would agree and be happy to have a select board representative there. Wonderful. Okay. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you, Michael. Um two things. Um, the first one I'd like to um ask if uh we could uh I could
make a motion that we ask the town manager if she could investigate the handheld uh beepers when we vote at the uh at town meeting. A lot of people have mentioned um similar concern. I don't think it's a bad idea. Um maybe we could
find out what um would work best um for all of us. So I'd like to make that motion that we ask Madame Chairman really it's it's not on the agenda for a vote on a motion. Certainly um Mr. Bean can make the
recommendation. We can have a consensus. Okay. To ask the manager to look into that. Okay. Is that good, Mike? Sure. Okay. Yeah. So if we could see how everybody feels on that. Sure. Yeah. And I would be interested to know the towns
that she read off, which ones are open and which ones are representative. How many of each? And what else, Mike? Anything else? Uh, yes. I'm sorry. We're still discussing the consensus, right? Before you move on to another topic. Yeah. Um, this was
actually a uh a suggestion by a citizen in the past. I believe that there was uh we should find out what details were discovered at that time if there was followup including cost and again we are a representative town meeting which is
different than an open town meeting. We're not a city. I want to make sure that we're comparing apples to apples when we make that analysis. Thank you. Excellent. Mike, did you want anything else? Uh nope. I'm happy to hear all the opinions. That's good. I think we do our
homework. Yep. T. Yeah. Thank you, Madame Chair, and congratulations. Thank you very much. Looking forward to working with you. And welcome, Jill. Excited. Um I I do have a a small statement here
that I wanted to make. Um I'm sorry. Pardon me. Just point of order. Did we ask for consensus from the board? I I'm going to be in favor of consensus, but I don't think we asked for consensus on Mike's issue. Dan indicated his consensus and and Mike has indicated. I don't know if the other
two board members have indicated that their consensus to ask the the Tom the Tom manager to look at. I'll have my my I think it would be a good idea to find out what happened last year and the reason why that did not move forward. I don't mean to interrupt you. I just that
was that was the flow is a suggestion been put out there. We should act on it and then move on to the other items of of interest. Okay. And I'll go with the consensus, too. Sure. Thank you, Dan. Dan, thank you. Are you in? I'm not voting. It's not a vote. It's We're
asking the manager to just investigate, and I think we all agree. Good. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead, D. Not to interrupt you. Oh, no. Thank you. I lost my train of thought there. That's right. Take your time. Take your time.
Uh, yes. So, uh, and I I want to thank everyone who, uh, email me that I I try my best to always respond and address people concerns or questions when they do email me. If I did not answer you, I
apologize. I will do that. Uh, as a select board member, I have heard a lot and tonight as well, uh, lately about Maple Square. Uh some residents are worry about
increased density, traffic, parking or strain on public services, police, fire, school, water, etc. These are valid concerns that
deserve in my opinion real datadriven solutions. No one can sit here and say that's not a concern. However, and that was spoken to a little bit
tonight. I'm I'm concerned about the tone of the conversation. I've said it before and I'll say it again. There seems to be a sentiment that
somehow this future residents of Das could be a threat to our way of life. We are judging them before they even arrive here. That's not fair and is not what we
are all about. Every one of us, every one of us was new here once. Whether you moved here last year or two years
ago or your family has been here for generations. We all part of the same town now. And even if your family started this town, you were born, which means you were here new before
too. Uh I believe that we should be focusing on how to integrate those new residents. Denver Square is here to stay. I don't want any more Denver Square, but I think we should stop bidding on Denver Square and finding out
ways to integrate these new residents, support local businesses, and ensure that this development that's already here. There's nothing we can do about it can contribute positively to our downtown.
I I don't know why I would want to move into Denver Square if all I hear is terrible things about our town. This is a great town. I wasn't born here. I
love this town. I felt welcome when I moved in this town. There was someone called the wagon. Welcome wagon. Welcome wagon. Yeah, welcome wagon. We moved and my wife and I were home. Someone came at the door, gave us pamphlet, spoke to us
of the town. My kids have had great experience. Have it always be rosy? Absolutely not. I actually had a neighbor who move out because I move in. So we we have to be very careful on how
we address potential new residents who can get here and revitalize our town. I was new too. So was every one of us. Madame Chair, uh I would propose that
this board direct the town manager to instruct the planning board to work with the developer of Maple Square to attract businesses to the commercial part of the building, businesses that will support
our residents and support the vibrancy of our town. We can stop further Maple Square, but this one I believe we need to stop beating it up. Uh, and I will also
urge our board to instruct the town manager to work with staff to reinstate and organize the welcome to town committee or the the wagon need whatever we call it. We maybe today we don't have to go to people's door. Maybe we can do
it on Zoom or But if it's very special when you get to a new town and you see people who welcome you, it it helps you be part of the community, participate, getting involved and and trying to make
sure that you have a stake in this town. Guess what? If this town goes down, we all have a stake here. I don't want my property value to go down as much as anybody else. And the more we talk down our town, the more that's where we're
going to go. This is a great town. It's got great people. We can disagree without being disagreeable. I'm extremely concerned that every time we talk about our town is in such a negative light. We don't
want these people. We don't want those people. We only want these people. I don't think that's okay. And as a board, I hope that we set the model that we want for our town. Uh we don't fear new residents. We look
forward to meeting them, hearing them. I'm reminded of what one of the select board candidate member, the Michael Baxter, I think that was his name, he said during one of the community forums, the
stranger is the new friend you haven't met yet. I'm paraphrasing here. It wasn't exactly like that. And I think that's a model that we have to adopt as a town. Does that mean I will have a problem with my
neighbor tomorrow? is possible. Things happen, but the direction I I think there has to be a paradigm shift into the way we want the town to go, especially with the Maple Square
building cuz we want to be able to participate into what businesses go in there because as of now, I don't know if it's happening at the staff level. I I'm not aware of it, but as a board, we
should have vested interest into working with whoever the developer is to make sure that they bring to our town something that we like. I don't think that has happened and I'll urge this board to work with
the town manager and planning to be more involved and making sure that we steer it in the direction that we want to. Thank you. Wonderful. I think that's great. Um, do we have any more comments or anybody? Oh, by the way, full disclosure,
uh, just to be clear, I had a private conversation with select board member Bean this afternoon and I'm not going to speak for select I know uh what uh Amy said up there, I'm not going to speak for select board member Bean. Uh, and
like I told him before, good man, good family man. and we talk about some of the things that you say and how you say it and how it can be perceived and we can hurt and is it really what you meant or what you didn't mean. Uh I I do think
that you know we all say things that we can take back that should not necessarily define us. I'm really looking forward to us changing the narrative in some of these issues and disagree without being disagreeable. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you.
discussions. Mike, I didn't get to we got jumbled up here before and I I wanted to be able to speak what's the in what Amy brought up and and so I apologize. I I didn't mean to sound that way. I'm supposed to be a help and so uh
my words were sloppy and and that's what I am. But I will try to do better because I am looking for improvement and and I'm glad you came and told me that. Indeed told me that
this afternoon and I get to show the new town manager that I can apologize in public. How's that for your first night? Um I think my problem is that I come from working on the police
department. you get uh I don't know if it's jaded or you just think of the things that can happen. And so I've been to a number of group homes and and I grew up with a handicap sister and I worked at the uh Hogan Regional as a
young person in the adult uh section. So I feel like I have an idea about handicap situations or or or that I mean I so if I said it wrong I didn't mean it
that way. I didn't I wasn't clear. I think what I meant to say was that my experience was that going to some of them you can tell that they're just a business and so you don't see
people being taken care of. Well, sometimes you go and then you find out that the person that they're saying is disabled, it was changed from a criminal situation and they changed it to a
disability and then as a police officer, you're wrestling on the floor with this person to see the things that happen that change that open your eyes in a different way. like I don't know your experiences and I'm sure you can explain to me those and I want to hear that. So
I think that that's what happens is I I look at things on a security kind of an attitude always worried about this and that and this and that. So and and it goes along with what D was saying which is that it's coming off when I talk
about the uh MBTA law and the and the Maple Square that I'm downing it. I don't mean to down it. The building's a nice looking building and and hopefully, you know, they rent it all out and we get great businesses and whatnot. Um, I think
it my concern again is that we're we're not going to have enough services with the vast amount of volume that's coming to town. And so, I don't mean to be unclear and sloppy in my words, and I certainly will
work to do better. So, thank you. And I I'm I apologize to have upset you. Yeah. So, would you like to comment, Joe? Um, through me, right through the chair. Please go to the podium. Introduce yourself
again. Please. Thank you for getting up. Amy Velasquez, town meeting member, accessibility commission member, um, as well as working in the disability field. Um, I appreciate your apology, Mike. Um, and I think, you know, we can speak
passionately about things that are important to us. Many people spoke passionately about density, the heights of buildings, all of those things. But it's important to really think about what we're saying because everyone's watching and I can understand that we
all bring unique perspectives and our experiences to the table. Um, the undercurrent keeps popping up and I have a real concern about it. Um, and I can't really speak to, you know, all of the the things that I do in my private life,
but I'm sure that there are places here in town that would invite you to see the wonderful things that are happening in all of the disability sectors um, in our community. I can't really speak for the organization that I work for, but I know that they are a welcoming community and
they are very transparent and they um offer tours and things all the time to be able to open your eyes to the experiences of the people that do care, that care for residents, that are advocates and allies for people with
disabilities. Um, and so I I invite you to do that work. Um, as you say that you are you're open to. Um, because it's those it's the unintended collateral damage that defines everything that we're doing. It's the things that we say
when we're not intending to say it that our young people stick with and that's the message they get. They don't hear what you're telling you, what you know what you're saying. They hear the tone. They hear it. That's 90% of the communication. So, thank you for for that. I appreciate
it. And thank you to D for opening this conversation as well because we can't move forward without uh our community coming together and celebrating that a diverse community is really valuable and that's what propels
us forward. So, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Got it. Do you want anything more to say? No. Okay. All right, Dan. Thank you. Uh, thank you, D, for bringing that up and addressing it. Michael, thank you for
your your words. Amy, for bringing it up, Ellen, your comments this week, last week, it's all appreciated. Um, we all need to be held to a higher standard because we are the face of the community. People watch us, listen to
us, and it's what we say sometimes is not what we mean, but it's what we do that's important. That's the important work. Change the subject a little bit. Uh, Madam Chairman, Essex Tech reached out
to the neighbors and invited them to the Lan Cottage. Mhm. Uh, Thursday at 5. Uh, did you have any thoughts on some people that you want to send? I don't think we want the whole board to attend. Who's interested in going? Do you have any I
was going to announce that too. Open uh I was going to ask who wanted to come go to the Lock and open house on Thursday, May 22nd at 5:00 p.m. I think it'd be a good idea. I have a strong interest in that. Okay. Mike. Yes, I'll go. Okay. D.
Um he's a neighbor. It's Mike. Yes. Okay. Dan and myself. I think we're No, I'm not going. If you get two going, you can't have the whole board go. That's why I asked you where you wanted to go. I would ask I would ask I would disagree that if we are at a social event this is
a social event. As long as we do not discuss board business, there's no open meeting law violation. We we've all been to barbecues. We may all go to the oniontown field day and happen to be there at the same day. If there is no discussion cautious about um perception
if we're all there I'm going as a social event to see the facilities 5 to 7 you can if if for caution we could ask through the clerk or the town manager or through you the chair to confer with legal counsel fine
I'm happy with that and I'll abide by that but I want to go because I have some strong opinions about this that I want to validate the setup up the layout, the opportunity for noise for the neighbors, whatever it might be. And I can do that
best eyes on. And I understand your concern about open meeting law violations, but we're not discussing that application by going to a social open house. It's a social open house that they've invited us the community to.
Mhm. I'd be open to when I was thoughts from some Well, I thought maybe we would check maybe we'll have um town manager check with um town council or maybe we could even split the times. I mean I I wanted to go too de I mean you know if
we need to split like we are we're just it's they did say open house and I do agree with gardener but naturally we want to check for legal opinion. Yeah, it's my understanding that we can all attend as long as we're not discussing
um board business. Jill, do you have anything to say on that? Thank you, Madam Chair. I would um I would agree as long as you're not deliberating. Um but I think it would be helpful if we had an agenda for the event if we knew are they doing a public presentation or is it just people moving through? Um, I think
that if they're going to be discussing um what's going to be before the board and doing a presentation on it, I think that's that would be different and I think that's what they're doing. But I'm not I don't know. So, it would be helpful, Madam Clerk, if you could um through you, Madam Chair, to the clerk, if you could find out if they have agenda for the evening. And if it does
look like there's an agenda, then we'll we'll bring it to council. I I can check with the tech and then I can check back with town council as well. Thank you. Yep. Thank you. Thank you, Dan. All set. Okay. Um couple of things. I just want to thank um the
town moderator, the clerk, as well as um all the town meeting members for participating last night. Um the suggestions that um the audience has um given us. We can take it back and discuss that with the town manager. Um I'd also like to remind people about the
DARE 5K race on June 5th. Um the town manager did also um mention about the parade at 9:00 at the Holton Richmond. Um I wanted to extend sympathies to the Doyle family for John Doyle that passed
away. Good guy. Um great guy. And um I just wanted to say welcome Joe Cahill. We're we're all looking forward to working with you, all of us, this board, the community. Um I already like your ideas about community roundts, right? I mean that's wonderful. I've always
spoken at our meetings before about um new businesses coming into the town, right? We want that. We want a welcoming committee. Um Gardner and I served on that welcoming committee um back what was it Gartner in 2020, right? Um which was good. Um I just
wanted to thank my my select board members uh uh for nominating me. I'm honored to be your chair this year and I believe my skills will align well with the responsibilities. Um serving as the chair um I think as with when we did the
uh search committee for the town manager brings continuity to help us with this transition and it's important that every that we respect everyone's opinion and work as a team everyone. Okay, remember everyone's opinion does matter as De was
really saying and communication is key and everyone has a voice. So please come to the meetings. I've always said please come to the meetings. We're a group of five, right? We're a group of five and all our voters, you voters put us here, okay, to move this move our community
forward with always keeping in mind that everyone matters and everyone is welcome in our town. Thank you again. And Dan, do you want to thank Yes. Remember if you see a vet say thank you for their service. Thank you very much. Um a motion to adjourn during the meeting.
Right. So move. Okay. Second. Second. All in favor? I I thank you.