good evening and welcome to the March 11th 2025 meeting of the Islam Town Council I'll call the meeting to order and ask that we stand for the pledge of allegiance Ice United States of America for which it stands under
indivisible with liberty and justice for all I would ask that we take a moment of silence to reflect on all of the events going on Thank you In accordance with Mass General Law this meeting is being recorded by LCAT There's anyone else in
the audience if they could identify themselves He none comments Anyone in the audience that would like to make a public comment No one raising their hand online Oh council comments Is there Hey counselor with a comment this evening through the chair Sure Um I would just
like to say um I was able to attend uh Chief Morsett's retirement party which was absolutely fantastic ceremony in the afternoon was extremely well done Um kudos to the fire department and once
again congratulations to uh Paul on his retirement Absolutely I would echo those same sentiments and it was nice to also have that transition ceremony not only to wish Paul a good retirement but also Chris as you know the official new fire
chief for the town So that was nice and it was well attended so that was great Uh the only other comment that I had was um Kathy and I and I think some of the people from the school attended a Zoom last Tuesday for I think it was called
project 211 plus 21 Not quite sure what that stands for but it was essentially just about um education advocacy funding given the upcoming uh fiscal year budget challenges that a number of communities in Massachusetts are facing especially around education and special education
So it was kind of interesting and they had some documentation for us to review but be more to come from here Any other council comments Hey town manager report Hi Tom Good evening Good evening Hot off the
press Um uh so attached are the project reports for the weeks of uh fe February 17th and the 24th uh for the high school and nuditorium Uh projects continue to be on time and on budget
Um we we had the topping off ceremony for the new school on February 26th Uh also another well attended event I think uh it's nice to see so many people come out for everything this one very exciting obviously uh sort of commemorating the placing of the final
piece of steel on the building So uh it's it's a unbelievable benchmark in the progress of the project and it's nice to see these uh every step one step closer to the to the new high school So um thanks to everybody who attended Uh another
fantastic day in town Um obviously the FY26 budget process uh is well underway Uh Kim Rebecca and I are meeting with department heads to discuss uh that their level one submissions for the year
uh having every possible conversation about every iteration of every budget uh for this year and sort of what that looks like for next year and the years to come So uh obviously a lot of moving parts some of which we'll probably get touched on this evening but uh yeah it's
sort of uh taken up the majority of everyone's time uh in the last few weeks trying to to get all the numbers squared away Um I mentioned this last time the Historical Commission and American Legion Post 293 uh teamed up to kick off
uh the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution Uh Saturday April 19th at 10 Uh the Legion will commemorate the shot herd around the world uh with a march from the Legion post to the town hall lawn uh
for a ceremony Uh obviously everyone's uh invited to join and attend uh the celebration um similar to the same kind of thing we have for Veterans Day uh comments there There'll be quite a bit of uh a historical kind of tinge to this
one Uh Ken Hancock has done a lot of research on our uh veterans from the area Uh obviously back then was East Village and and before even but uh a lot of uh cool history certainly American
history before there was even America So uh it'll be a pretty fun day So uh that's April 19th at 10 Um Tanav Meadow is holding their annual Earth Day festivities on Friday April 11th and Saturday April 12th Um the events kick
off with an Earth Day festival here at the senior center on April 11th from 1 to 4:30 Uh there's eco-friendly demonstrations a plant sale uh seed library crafts and then supply pickup for all the Earth Day volunteers Uh the
following morning April 12th the the cleanup will be held from 9:00 to 11:00 uh with with additional supply pickup uh for for those of you who didn't get your stuff the day before from 8:30 to 9:00 Uh and you can contact the health
department um for more details there Um additionally our recycling coordinator Liz Bone is hosting a uh recycling forum this Friday at 12:30 here at the Council on Aging Um Liz will explain the importance of recycling uh how it impacts our area and sort of a timeline
of the journey of your recycling uh from creation to recreation So uh feel free and stop by and learn from Liz the our professional on staff uh has the schools recycling and composting and uh we got a we got a good thing happening Uh and and
I just wanted to put this in there since we were talking about the budget and and contracts and this that and the other thing but um from an economic standpoint the town of East Meadow pays just over $100 to dispose a ton of trash and about a quarter of that for a ton of recycling
So uh obviously do your part for the planet and the budget Uh the weatherization and HVAC retrofit projects at the DPW station are complete Uh the town secured two grants Uh the green communities grant uh for
$160,70 and an EECBG grant at 21,685 These acronyms are killing me Mhm Uh to fund the building envelope and energy efficiency improvement associated with the projects Um the projects were also awarded more
than $20,000 in incentives from National Grid Uh there were no costs for the town associated with these improvements and energy efficiencies will generate an estimated utilities savings of $4,872 annually So uh that's pretty
great And that was uh if you remember when we did all the green community stuff that building in particular was one of our uh lowest performing buildings I guess I'll say diplomatically Uh and it is a lot more comfortable in the kitchen uh
at this point Um Eino PD announced uh today that officers are now wearing their bodywn cameras uh as part of their normal patrols Uh Mark has a media release attached uh went out today I I attached it to this I mean um uh
purchase of the cameras entirely funded by a state grant by the Hilly Driscoll administration Uh Esau Meadow Police applied for the grant in the fall of 24 ultimately awarded just over 129,000 to use towards uh the purchase of the cameras uh related hardware and
onboarding costs Uh Chief uh Mark Williams ended his release with a perfect clo quote so I'll steal it Uh we're blessed to enjoy a great amount of support from our residents here in Esau Meadow We do not take that for granted and we expect that having these body cameras will only increase the amount of
trust that is placed in us Um and and they're just a big thank you to to the East Summit Police Department for all they do to keep our community safe Um upcoming events the recycling forum this Friday March 14th at 12:30 at the COA Uh
our budget submission due April 1st uh at some point during the day right Or is it by April 1st We'll figure it out later Uh coffee with the town manager uh April 2nd uh 10:30 at the COA Earth Day again April 11th from 1 to 4:30 here Uh
the cleanup April 12th starts at 9:00 Um and the American Revolution ceremony is April 19th at 10:00 on the town hall lawn Um and that's it for tonight And I'm sure that's the first time most of you have read it because it for about an hour and a half
Thanks for the latitude Thank you Tom Does anyone have any comments or questions Seeing none we will move on We have no public hearings Uh under orders of the day our first topic financial matters FY26 draft budget Of course as
Tom just mentioned town managers budget draft isn't due to the council but until April 1st However I did ask you know knowing the all the budget discussions we've started having and some of the situations we're we're facing this year that I would wanted to see what the
level one solutions were in advance So things aren't catching us by surprise So that was documentation that Tom provided us so far So that was just what the department had said submitted but not what Tom Kim and Rebecca may review it and come up with different numbers that
we'll see by April 1st I didn't necessarily have anything in particular to discuss on it unless any counselors do It was just more of aformational But if anyone has any comments or questions
I do the chat And actually one of them's very very small and it has to do with our 250th anniversary the celebration Um I know we've been typically doing $20,000 as level funding for the
celebrations all the different ones Yep I wasn't sure if that's something you've even thought about because I believe it's got to go into this budget Yeah For that And I don't know and again I just wanted to bring it up because usually what ends
up happening is we don't think about the celebration and yeah it's basically too late and then it's like the historical commission won't let me do that but last year we should have budgeted for this Yeah So putting it out there Yeah So uh
I don't know how much is going to happen this side of Fourth of July M So then that budget would actually be for 27 if right you know what I'm saying If if it's a Fourth of July celebration it would be in FY27 and then we would
budget it for it then I don't know what we're doing other than the the the the shot herd around the world here because the 250th isn't really till July 4th
2026 which would be in FY27 So the budget again we haven't had all the conversations to know right what's going to lead up to July 4th So so that's a good point and maybe I can have a a discussion with uh the historical
commission to see what they're what the state is the state is putting on a huge thing So typically our parade you have to pay for the bands and all before they show up to march right So you're paying
for those well before July Yeah Usually in January and all to get them to march in your July 4th parade which happens to be the next year Yeah So it's actually this year's budget that you Okay All right I'll check with Ryan because that
budget line item basically disappears in July We don't you know what I'm saying So it's just a lot of the marching bands and all you have to pay in advance Okay So I don't that's why I was bringing it up It would be nice if accepted payment
after the most of our Yeah Most of our I think most of our budget ends up being police details and stuff that happen on the day So uh the parade committee must work with someone else for the funding of some of that stuff Yep Uh whatever
other groups in town are partnering with them Our our invoices don't come in until that July So that account doesn't get we're not drawn off that account right now for the 4th of July right It's
already expended So uh in terms of any expenditures for the Fourth of July parade they don't happen in this budget till that year the police and stuff like all that stuff So so the rest of it doesn't come out of the town's budget
And that's what I'm saying because it's I celebration I'll have the conversation if we were considering it I don't know if there's any other events planned I will tell you in the past when we had the board of selectmen and all the appropriations committee every single year did not
want feel as though the town should be paying uh money towards it I recall which I always found amusing because that was the one line that always got overridden I want you to write Uh all right Well let me Yeah let me
have those conversations Like I said I don't know what else is on the docket before the actual 250th anniversary of July 4th So yep Um just something like I said No no I It's a great point and it may not It's good to think about now
because like you said these things get forgot about So if if we end up talking about it right in March next year it's because we have a whole bunch of other stuff planned on the 4th of July I know we have um a time capsule to open right
Uh and then I I think we have multiple ones open but there's one that's happening that year the 26th uh or excuse me 2026 calendar year Uh so that may be something that we want to decide
to write if we want to bury another one I would assume we do Uh we've had some some brief conversations about how it's going to go and do we want to fill up another one and do another 50-year time capsule Uh which is probably a good idea
Um it's it's the one that I'm talking about is over at Heritage Yeah Um so let me let me let me put the feelers out there to the to the people and and see if there's anything that we think might be planned that may require
extra funding in that celebration account because we haven't uh we we've basically been putting the same amount of money in that account for for a lot of years and and I think have almost always turned a couple thousand dollars back like we haven't call So good point
Um the next thing uh through the chair sir um is the budget's coming up pretty quick Uh April 1st is the deadline for submission Um and I just wanted to um talk a little bit about the finance oversight committee Um it's a standing
committee that we've had Um typically as soon as the budget's ready uh they Tom is nice enough and uh they send it off to the finance oversight committee so that they can start planning and doing uh their scheduling and stuff So I just
wanted to bring that up Um see where we stand with it and if everything's stable and ready to go I don't know if you've reached out to any of the members or not Uh conversations are still ongoing on that topic
ongoing as far as members or as far as having a finance oversight committee Both So so I know you had mentioned to me so um I I double checked our rules and rigs and it is a standing committee such as the liquor licensing committee
and we voted on that on purpose Um so that way there as we went along we didn't have to worry about it It automatically went out I do understand um and I do think the council um should do a deep dive into the
budget but I think um having the finance oversight committee is extremely important It's another set of eyes and um the people that are on it have passed appropriations Uh they've researched our
budgets They have a long length of experience with it Um and again it's one of those where I mean we've already voted that it's a standing committee Um obviously as president you have the option to uh remove people off of
committees and replace them Um but I think it's one that we just have to uh keep moving forwards with it Until such time if we decide not to do a finance oversight committee then we'll have to change our rules and regulations to
remove it I don't know if anyone else has the same thoughts as through the chair Sure Ralph your trends setter What would what you're thinking about should you decide not to seat the committee this year My thought was that
most of the leg work should happen at the council level And if there's any particular topics we want to dive into I was hoping that we would go department by department here at the council level and review everything especially knowing that there will be numbers that I mean
may not be a shock to the council but are going to definitely be different than previous year's budget and we should all be aware of that well in advance of the May public hearing when we ultimately vote on it I don't want that to come as a surprise to to anyone
at the last minute I think historically what has been problematic among a number of things with just the financial oversight committee process is it's great that other people review it but then it gets dumped on the council's lap at the last second and it's too late if
any counselor doesn't like recommendations that we see because for us to try to wing it on May 28th and come up with a different number to vote on is far too late And we tried that well before I was on the council Previous councils tried that and ended
up appropriating an incorrect amount of money So through the chair Sure So um I'm sure you remember the meeting both me and you were at previously Um that was when the council was trying to do it and there was not a finance oversight committee Um
the last few years the finance oversight committee's been working and like last year they recommended to adopt exactly as submitted Um the only time that there was a difference was during COVID Um and
they realized that hey the expenses may be a little bit more and they recommended not increasing the school budget by quite as much as they wanted And at the end of the year the school actually turned back to uh the town almost an additional million dollars So
I do understand what you're saying I do think uh we should all be involved in the numbers Um but I don't think we should be afraid of another set of eyes looking at it My concern would be that the uh in the past the subcommittee had or the
standing committee has spent um from the middle of March all the way up until the budget hearing upwards of 20 plus hours doing the deep dive on a weekly basis
Um how are you planning to get to that level of scrutiny at a meeting like this We can't go on for 20 hours Not all in one go but I think having the two meetings a month at least helps And if we have to have a couple additional
meetings on the off weeks in between will we have department heads here at those meetings That would be the plan unless there's a particular department we don't feel we need But how would we how would we know that at the time we sit down to talk about it What we need
and what we don't need I think it's the same way that the FOC had sort of approached that before like in advance you have to notify a department head that you'd like them to attend So we follow the same sort of process here if there's any red flags that we want to
talk about Just a point of information we as the standing committee last year elected not to meet with department heads We felt that the um review by uh with the
department head with Kim and Tom was a sufficient level of scrutiny Both of them always attended the meetings and were able to fill in the narrative about why a department had felt in a certain way
about a particular expense or uh maybe even a cut in what they were asking for Um I just think it's going to be too cumbersome a process if we try to take that on even with meetings every other
week Personally the benefit of the current membership on the committee includes um a career commercial banker and
um another member who uh as well as with the banker uh were long-standing members of appropriation and they brought the former appropriations committee and they bring a level of skill not just about you know trying to get narrative from a
department head but about um forecasting budgets um what the impact of short and long-term debt does to your annual recommendations and it's it's information that unless I'm mistaken
none of us has that skill at this table and it's essential information that we need So personally I would um be opposed to not seating a committee this year I think one of my other concerns is
that if too much work isn't done by the council and it's offloaded to any other oversight committee Again knowing the budget that we're faced with this upcoming year ultimately it's the seven of us counselors that are going to be held accountable to the voters and
everyone that's going to be dissatisfied with things that may be cut And are we willing as individuals to take the heat for other people that may make recommendations that we personally do not agree with I'm not That's just my I would say I am
You've got a bylaw subcommittee that is doing hours and hours I know you just started but we'll have done hours and hours of deep dive on bylaws to have a planning matters um standing committee that um and I'll be the first to say
that would be my weak link the planning and zoning knowledge but I we have colleagues at this table who um are have deep experience in planning and zoning and um when they do the deep dive and
bring something back to us uh I feel confident that I can rely on the vetting that they've already done I I think it's just we're we're in a year where no matter what news source you rely on we
can tell that um our federal government is cutting left and right Um the governor announced yesterday that there's 12 million I it could be billion but I think it's a million dollars that is
being cut from the um food benefits for um schools and those that are eligible for SNAP benefits and such Um we have a school department right now struggling
with an unforeseen um unfunded mandate um with a significant shortfall To me this is not the year to change horses in the middle of the stream I think we need that deep dive done and brought back to us If the
concern is that um it it comes too late in the cycle I can respect that um then that that would be incumbent on the finance committee to tighten up their schedule and um have it back so there's multiple
uh weeks in between Um excuse me Jamie for saying this but um for the longest time LCAT covered those um FOC meetings in the past couple of years uh they weren't able to I don't
know the reason but if if scheduling wise if that were to be possible again then um I would say the council has an obligation to watch those videos when they get posted because
that's where you will hear the information you need to at least make a note about to ask you know when we get to that point And I would have no issue um with the finance oversight committee if they see
an area that jumps out to them to relay that to the town council via email so that during their normal meetings we can take a deeper dive into it ourselves also Um I mean a lot of the stuff is straightforward Health insurance there's
nothing you can do The numbers are the numbers Um you know and a lot of a lot of the numbers are like that And even though they're um extremely um offensive and the increases are just some of them are just
jumping Um there's nothing you can do about it And we've already done I mean the finance oversight committee had suggested to take a look at our insurance and see about maybe going in a different direction The town manager did which saved
us money I forgot the number and that's unlike me But again that was that was one of the suggestions that came up and I thought it was great Um I mean those are people that have been looking at it for a long time and uh um they're going
to come up with suggestions on ways to save money and adjust that I wouldn't think about Um and like I said I do think to your point I do think uh the council can set time aside to be going through at the same
time But this way here we've got another set of eyes to say "Hey may maybe you miss this Take another look here or take another look here." And ultimately whatever the decision it comes down to us taking a vote at the end So if we're not comfortable with
recommendations by them we can change those Um and we should I mean like you said ultimately it's us that were elected Um but I do think we should stay the the course that we're on Um I think everyone
needs to look at this in depth Um I spent a few hours already and my head was spinning last night for the chair Sure Um a couple different thoughts on it One is I I I can see and hear kind of both
sides of this argument and it seems like there's room for a bit of a compromise in between Um Conor if I think I'm hearing you correctly I think you're mainly concerned with some type of abdication of the council's actual authority and up that authority Um me
myself um I would appreciate some more knowledgeable people acting more on the behalf of the council taking a a look at and just passing along recommendations I don't think there's any harm in that um
maybe asking for an expedited timeline because I think I kind of share your concern of it kind of arriving at the 11th hour and not having an adequate time to really go through it Um I also think maybe my uh newness to the council
Um I I hear your concern I would like to see some type of council hearings um again more expedited I think you know when we get copy the budget or munition sheets in front of us you know we don't see what actually goes behind the scenes and the operational aspects of it and
not in an adversarial way but hearing from the department heads about their operation and how this money translates into services I think is critical for us in terms of our own decision-m um I I would I would air on the side of a more robust process than an
exclusionary one um but I do think I don't I I personally would not want to be sitting here in late June and seeing a lot of this for the first time But I also feel like losing that expertise and that extra set of eyes especially amongst people who do this for a living Um I would I would appreciate seeing
that as well Um so that helps in anybody's decision- making or that's kind of where I kind of come down on it Do you have something in there I was thinking more maybe this goes along with what you just said like working
collaboratively with the FOC instead of them for us And I don't know if it's something because they meet once they start meeting it's once a week every week for two hours Two hours a week Is
there you know instead of doing it at a council meeting can we attend their meetings We have to because they're open Well they always are council meeting It would have to be it would have to be a council meeting on top of that because one of the concerns
in the past too is that too many counselors are in the room and that's definitely bordering on the open meeting law violations right So so we'll post Yeah we could post for both Um you know when I look at the town
council I think that we all bring to the table a different different set of gifts and talents Um I've always felt that way in all of the roles I've served in this town You can't expect everyone on the board or committee to be able to do
everything our town manager has an attorney to ask when he has issues that are not not of his area of expertise Um this has come up numerous times and I'm a little frustrated that it's coming up
again I have always spoken that the financial oversight committee offers a tremendous assistance to the council They're not they're not acting in our behalf They're not telling us what to do but they're doing the stuff that quite
frankly I'm not able to do Um they're you know I looked at the budget I've looked at it I've looked at it again and I'm trying to figure out how does um taxing to this levy limit mean against this one I don't have that expertise And
I believe that I mean I know where this is coming from And I think that as a council if we're if we want to change something now is not the time to do it We I mean we're ready to embark in another um
financial year so to speak And that Thank you And the committee's ready to get up and running and to keep keep putting it off isn't fair to the committee It's not fair to us and it's not fair to the town because we do get I believe for me I I would either
attend the meetings or I watched them on LCAT when they were available and I was able to sit with my budget and listen to what they were saying and be able to understand exactly what was going on so that when it was time for the council to meet with the final budget and make a
decision I was ready And so to to put this off and say it's not important or it's not meaningful if that's how I read it I think it's a disappointment I'm sorry Can I ask a quick question Sure Um what makes the
FOC experts in this They're experienced They're because they're the same people every year But I thought uh kind of could appoint somebody else if he wanted Well he could He could but I mean I'm not it's I'm not arguing that No no no This is a honest question I mean maybe
Kathy's a better one to answer that question And and just really quick doesn't Kim and Tom have that kind of level of comfort with the budget that they certainly do And I'm not I'm not
saying one way or another I'm just Kim more than me Well obviously but you know ouch I mean do they know more than you or I mean are you guys kind of on the same page
It's a terrible question to ask me What did you think of the process last year I think everybody has everybody is bringing something different to the table in terms of municipal finance I think that I have more knowledge in that So I get asked a lot of questions okay
just about um the fact that municipal finance is very different from banking It's very different from you know a private company or something like that Yeah Um you know I think no matter whether it's you looking at it whether it's them looking at it you're always
going to ask questions that maybe I didn't think of or Tom or Tom didn't think of But I do think we spend a lot of time Tom myself Rebecca sitting down with department heads and walking through every single line item with them Okay So you know even if you look at
what our estimates were like on the department side the town department side and then you look at level one and then you look at level two we've looked at every single line item to bring those numbers down in every level of the budget Um I mean you know it's not my decision
whether or not there's a an oversight committee or not but I I think it's not a question of like expertise It's more of a question of just having extra eyes looking at it Well whose eyes are the eyes
Yeah I mean we certainly could move forward with having some version of an FOC but if we do I would say the membership would be different and the time constraints will definitely be expedited as part of that process So how
would the membership be different Just who's comprising the committee and how many members there may be on the committee Yeah but it's a and they can't switch the me you can't switch the number and they weren't appointed back in July So their appointments expire No
no no So a standing committee is just that the committee standing until such time that the president chooses to remove someone and replace them just like the liquor licensing committee That's why we switched from ad hoc which is set up by a time frame Hey this
committee is in place for a year or two years standing committee from what I understand is a standing committee until such time as the president chooses to replace a member with someone else Okay Then either way I can still opt to
Exactly members on the committee Yep And that's the prerogative of the president and but I think through the chair um I think the suggestion of posting um council meetings at the same time as the
financial oversight committee gives us the ability to go in and sit down um because I have to tell you a lot of times sitting down as we're doing the budget and asking the questions is a lot easier than in this format Um you know
because you know you go in and that's all you're talking about and typically the finance oversight committee will say we're going to be talking about IT department and this department today so that you're not looking at the whole budget You're only looking at those two
departments ahead of time You come in with multiple questions for it You ask those questions They get answered You give your suggestions the next week or next meeting it's this department and this department and um sort of like capital I was just gonna say it's kind
of like capital right I mean which we kept the capital committee um and I say we I mean Tom kept the capital committee um could he would he have done it on his own probably but thank you but he so chooses to reach out to different
departments and different people to help him with it and I think the council's doing the same thing We're reaching out to different members and asking them to help us I don't see an issue with that No sorry I will ask that having the FOC that's similar to last
year that we shouldn't have department heads going before it And if we want agree department heads they should come to a council meeting through coordination with Tom following the charter because I think all of us should hear that not just whomever's able to attend a random afternoon meeting
because any of us have to work I don't believe any department heads came department heads last year for that reason that they had such a level of scrutiny with Kim and uh Tom that uh we felt that the information Sue brought to
us was sufficient So I I I appreciate that sentiment because that's really all I was going to ask was we block off April and May not doing anything else Got it But not everybody else does So if there is a scheduling thing I know the department heads would
say yes in a second I obviously try to give you the 20,000 foot view and not have people come at night or agree after hours or whatever They all will and they all would Um but if we can just however we can schedule it so that there's as
much notice as possible and uh you know obviously everyone's super busy and not everyone is required to be at every meeting So um it however you want to work it it really doesn't uh again we're through everything We we didn't I would
say need the department head so much because we had been through the budget so many times already by the time uh financial over which would be no different than in a council meeting Um so um I will say this year we'll have less conversations because there isn't a
whole lot of uh ways to go with the existing budget Uh so um some won't be looked at as many times to see where we can you know get to a wish wish list item or improve operations by spending more money It's
just not on the table this year Um so as long as there's some sort of schedule that we can if the department heads are going to be involved if I can let them know ahead of time obviously that I appreciate that sentiment because
um it just would make it it easier for everyone Great So I think the thought process last year was it's not the department head's uh budget it's the town manager's budget
And between the town manager and uh finance director they should have every answer Um and they did And they did And um very very well done last year And like I said I think that went to show that there was
no suggestions for changes or whatever the suggestions that were made were brought up as far as you know whether bonding or whether um you know like I said take a look at the health insurance see if there's ways to save that and u those were more the suggestions that
came about because we both know there there's not a lot of room in this budget um in the past uh when uh another person I knew was on um the financial oversight when they got done with it his comment to me was we really don't have a
lot of say in this whole budget Um maybe 3% that you can make adjustments to because most of it like I said obligation you're obligated to pay it um find a way to come up with it Good luck and that's
why fiber optics is going to help us Can I can I can I make just like sort of an overall suggestion too from a public hearing council input standpoint because um there are some things sort this year that could increase the budget if you're
thinking different than me which you can't do once I submit Correct Right We can take away but we can't add Correct The only thing we could add is if you didn't submit a line item and didn't submit a zero as a recommendation Oh I
see Right If there was an omission Yeah An error Not even just an error but if there was like something that you just didn't even think of and there wasn't like a line item in your budget for it at all But generally that never happens Yeah We we have too many line items and
you have the print out Uh but typically the council would say to the town manager so i.e you can adjust i.e if you chose um the heroes act the heroes act Okay So that's our next
we have some options here about 25% 50% 75% 100% whatever anywhere in between and if I think that um you know 50 fits in just as for instance fits in better with what we're trying to do
um I just don't want to if you have a a decision that you would like to make as a group and I take it away from you by budgeting a certain number I just think if we can have a conversation about some of your options and our my options because I don't I'd hate to right I'd
hate to do that Um and maybe that's something we can we'll be there next week And so maybe if we think about that more in terms of yes Diane has all the information laid out for you but if we can it's very close to April 1st If I can get to a
point where I think this would be a recommend like you know what I'm saying I just don't want to I don't want you to be like geez I wish you submitted something different than this right And I and I don't know uh and maybe you guys can help me out
with the law of that and that's if I submit this number you can't go over that but can you move this line item and then move this line item so that do you know what I'm trying to say Oh we can't make any of them higher even if it's swapping even if it's right So again I
just want to I want to be mindful of decisions you want to make in my recommendation because it could stop you from doing what you want to do Um so I'd like to if nothing else plant a seed for the next meeting when we're having this
conversation to sort of walk away with that with a real idea of what we all want to do andor um I I don't want to like I said last week I don't want to do these oh it's my decision anyway right I I want to make
sure we're we're we're doing this collaboratively and I'm not stopping you from doing something you want to do because I made the numbers work in such a way So through the chair the Heroes Act that's based on the money being
appropriated isn't it So let's say we say hey I would like to go 100% But that fiscal year we're only able to appropriate enough to cover 50% Mhm I think the Heroes Act is only based on what's appropriated So if not enough's
appropriated obviously you can't give out that much So you're not locked into it That's the way I read it Again 22J 22H 22 Yeah No And again we I didn't mean to sort of this conversation two weeks early Uh and then that was a an
example off the top of my head Uh I just I I just wanna I don't I don't want to shy away from having all the conversations And I think to be perfectly honest some of our budget process could be uh fasttracked even
more in terms of how how quickly we get to May whatever And we're like "Oh man." Uh if if if we can have more conversations more of the time And again that's a big huge time constraint we don't get the the first iteration of the
state budget till you know the end of January early February It's kind of hard to get that going any quicker than we do Um but maybe we have those more meetings before April 1st so
that we kind of all know where we're coming from I'm just I'm just thinking about how how to make it better so that we're all on the same page and when that day comes we're all comfortable with what what what you're voting on
I think the Heroes Act if let's say we voted at 50% this year and then we chose next year to increase it We can move it Oh of course Annual No And this and this is the the the conversation that we have with all these things the the the thing
that we're dealing with is this increase in the budget right under under the law So if we if we get to a point where we can't do 100% but we want to you know we do 50 this year and the increase is only this and then we do the other 50 the
next year and we get to 100% in two years These are all we're getting ahead of ourselves with our conversation for next week But this is what I'm getting at I don't want to have that mindset and you say "Nope I don't care what you got to do Get that 100%." And at that point
it's already too late cuz I've submitted a budget at 50% Or 100 whatever So I I Yeah just talking out loud Yeah that makes sense Sure The makeup of the FLC it's couple counselors
historically I think has been two and then is there three the um Connor is always ex official on any committees Okay So just thinking if there's two of us say it's me Kathy
Ralph's going anyways you're going anyways that I'm not sure of this year I would like I said um just you know I mean I don't know if that helps anybody kind of think about it in that sense like it's
basically another council meeting for people that attend Okay that's all Okay any other discussion on the budget So I'm going to go back to the budget and let me just see if I can
under the recap summary Um is there any way Kim to do a recap summary but take out the line excluded debt It is so hard with that excluded debt in there to do a year-by-year comparison Um especially
now like this year jump five 5,574,000 which really skews the numbers when you start looking at like projected tax rate because a big chunk of that tax rate is going to be covering that $5 million And so you can't look back a year and go
well wait a minute last year was $1840 and now it's going to be over $20 Um that's the multicolor bar graph that's on the next page They give you the next page if you don't have it Tells you how much of your tax rate is actually excluded that I think the estimates like
a dollar was a$130 or something like that This is something like again just it's one of those things that it's just it's there You can't change it True But excluded debt was in it last
year so it was part of your tax rate I wanted it out last year too I mean if you're looking It was a million dollars last year which was about a quarter So it's like okay well I I can minus that If you're looking to
compare yeartoear that's why I separated the town budget out debt excluded debt insurance health insurance They're all separate and they all have separate um percentage increases so that you can look at just the town
departments and see how much those go up You can look at just the school and see how much that goes up You can look at excluded debt specifically by itself and then general fund debt is separate from that So you can see in terms of general fund debt how much we had last year versus this year It's actually going
down Um I'm not sure I mean if I took it out I think I'd have to take it out for every year Oh that's fine with me Excluded debt's excluded We have to pay it It's excluded because the voters
voted on it Part of your tax rate And I don't think out tax rates that don't actually include excluded debt I might be able to find another way to arrange it so that you can see different tax rates Maybe this is my favorite sheet Ralph
This is your favorite sheet It is okay Um if it's possible great If it's too difficult I understand Like a like a Nothing's ever too difficult though for our Would it be like a separate snapshot Like we can't mess with the recap sheet
Yes I would It would be a separate Okay Yeah And other than that I will wait until we actually get the level one to you You sure Rob You want me to keep going Yeah I mean obviously there's a lot of
uh things that are going to change in the next three weeks uh monumentally Um so we're we'll still we'll just keep banging away at it How long before revenue comes in for uh
municipal light All right If there's no other discussion we'll move to our next item under financial matters which is approving the town manager to enter into a contract exceeding three years for material recovery
facilities So before we make that motion um on page two of the document you will see under contaminated loads it says uh $300 per ton for reloading But on page
16 under the example it is actually $300 per load which could be a huge difference So I think on page two the wording is just incorrect I believe it's supposed to read $300 per load instead
of per ton You see it on page two undercontaminated That should be 300 per load and I on page two on page two because it says throughout this section So if you
actually go to is it 4.5.2 which is page um clearly gives you an example that it's $300 to reload And truthfully if it's $300 per ton average truck is 7
tons that means they're going to charge you $2,100 to put the stuff back in the truck Um which would be a huge increase from the previous [Music]
Okay Uh I just think they they wrote per ton instead of per load So we will double check Yeah of course Uh yeah I didn't read the whole that's good on you I I have to say I was surprised um I
mean one year we actually received uh uh money for the recyclables but the amount that we get per ton changes so much It's um it's amazing It'll go from $123 we're
getting per ton for them down to 80 to even less And um it's nice that we're getting something which is good I mean it helps offset it but um yeah uh it all and then a three and a half% increase
every year now um five years all of a sudden that's another 17 eight% that it it's interesting the way that that's sort of those percentages make such a big difference right here we are bound by two and a half and everything goes up by more than two and a half every year
and how do you make it Other than that I've got nothing You save the tail thousands of dollars It's amazing Potentially actually contaminated loads do we have a year That's something to look up I would guess that you don't have many
in recyclables if any So is there a motion I'm not ready I make a motion to approve the town manager to authorize the material recovery facility MRF contract
for a period exceeding 3 years for Mass General Law Chapter 30B section 12 Second Motion's been made and seconded Any other discussion Seeing none roll call out Jim yes Kathy yes Hannah yes I'm a yes Marilyn yes Ralph yes And John
I'm a yes Great Thank you Next we have approval of minutes We'll have our February 25th meeting Is there a motion I make a motion to approve the February 25th 2025 open session minutes Motion's been made and seconded Any further discussion Seeing none Jim Yes Kathy yes
Hannah yes I am a yes Marilyn yes Ralph yes And John I'm a yes Great And we have approving the March 5th special meeting minutes Can I make a motion to approve the March 11th 2025 open session Second
Uh I guess we typoed that It's supposed to be March 5th not March 11th March 5th Special minutes Yeah Jackie is good but she's not that good Opening session minutes Second Okay Motion's been made and seconded Any
other discussion Jim yes Kathy yes Anna yes I'm a yes Marilyn yes Ralph Yes And John I'm going to abstain because I was not in attendance Thank you Under old business we have a first reading for proposed zoning bylaw
amendment relative to assisted living This was something that came before us originally as a recommendation but a public hearing hadn't been held yet from the planning board but now planning board held a public hearing on February 18th So now it's before the council
for us to move the process along So let's see So dated to the council and our clerk from Rob Weller our director of planning on February 19th he said at the February
18th 2025 meeting of the Islam planning board the board reviewed proposed amendments to the town of Islam zoning bylaw for the amendment 3-1 schedule of use regulations to allow for the use category uh convolescent assisted living congregate elderly handicapped housing
or nursing home allowed by special permit in the Industrial Garden Park Zoning District The board voted unanimously to send their recommendations to the town council and encouraged that they review and adopt the amendments as presented Text in blue underline indicates language to be included while red striketh through text
indicates language to be deleted Language that is highlighted are additional recommendations included by the planning board The advertised public hearing and the board's discussion on this vote are duly noted in the minutes and the recordings of their February 18th 2025 meeting Respectfully submitted
Robert Bella the director of planning The only change under table 3-1 schedule of use regulations bylaw number 14 land use classification convolescent assisted living congregate elderly handicapped
housing or nursing home standards and conditions See article 8 Everything remains the same except for industrial garden park changing from no to special princip something in ages
So through the chair Sure Um our um rules and regs basically state that this shall be submitted to the planning matters subcommittee Um based on the fact that it's an end to an FP and that's the only thing Um I would make a
motion that we not send this to the planning matter subcommittee that the town council can handle this on their own Second Motion's been made and seconded Any further discussion Okay Jim yes Kathy yes Yes I'm a yes
Marilyn yes Ralph yes And John I'm a yes Okay great So then I think from here there's no votes that we're taking on the matter because we'll have to do a second hearing and post and advertise that which probably wouldn't be until
April I'm just done with the assisted living Yeah I already posted it for the next meeting We're all set All right I had a schedule So we will do the second reading for that on March 25th unless there's any other comments or questions we have before then
Okay Next under old business we have reviewing the revised language for the capital stabilization fund policy Um hey um so I literally tried to keep this as simple as possible Did you can you tell
Perfect Um basically just adding that this account is specifically related to municipal buildings at the end of the um you know had had we thought of that at some point we could have called it something else but I think that involves
voting and all that stuff So I think just adding that line at the end that that it's specifically for municipal building purposes only uh pretty much covers it Fair enough
Okay sounds good Any other comments or questions So do we need a motion to approve the change I don't have here So I make a motion to approve the
revised language for the capital um capitalization fund policy as presented Second Motion's been made and seconded Any other discussion Saying none Jen Yes Kathy yes Anna yes I'm a yes Marilyn yes
Ralph yes And John I'm a yes Hey great Thank you Business we have approving the conflict of interest training requirement exemptions Um normally I would ask Jeanie for an overview but since we have the the whole order I can
tell you how it started We our office got a phone call The interns had to do the ethics training And when we looked into it um we found that there are exemptions from the ethics training and it's mostly seasonal and temporary workers that have no author authorization or supervisor super
supervisory responsibilities So I announced the department heads if they think they have any of these positions to let me know And I gathered a list that I'd let the ethics commission look at and review And this is the list that we came up with So
what they had uh suggested is that we have something voted on by the council we can memorialize it and have it on record that these certain positions do not have to do the ethics training That makes sense All right So then an order of the East
Lamato Town Council exempting certain categories of public employees from the education and training requirements of the conflict of interest law based on the state ethics commission's conflict of interest law education training guidelines Summary Chapter 28 of the acts of 2009 The ethics reform law
amending the conflict of interest law imposes education and training requirements on public employers and public employees The law authorizes the Commonwealth Ethics Commission to establish procedures to implement and ensure compliance with these requirements and these implementation procedures are issued
pursuant to that authority Ideally all public employees in the Commonwealth would be trained in the conflict of interest law However cost and other practical circumstances require that a principled way be found to exempt certain categories of public employees from the education and training requirements without compromising the
objectives of these requirements Therefore the commission establishes guidelines to enable public employers to determine which of their employees are exempt from the education and training requirements Additional information relative to these guidelines and examples can be found on mass.gov
This order requests exemption from the following positions in the town of East Long Meadow Senior work off of baitment program participants election workers lifeguards camp counselors basketball monitors rental monitor basketball scorekeepers crossing guards Be it
ordered by the East Meadow Town Council that these positions above are exempted from the education and training requirements of the conflict of interest law based upon the Commonwealth Ethi Ethics Commission's conflict of interest law education and training guidelines provided however that such positions
shall remain shall remain subject to all other applicable provisions of the conflict of interest law Second second motion's been made and seconded Any other discussion Seeing none Jim yes Kathy yes Anna yes I'm a
yes Marilyn yes Ralph yes And John I'm a no Okay Motion passed action items for next meeting We know we have the Heroes Act that we'll be discussing Diane had provided the very
detailed information and charts of possibilities for us Would you like me to Diane here and or Marty Yes The board Yeah I think Diane was planning to come here right Right I think we're going to have a vacation or
coming back probably as we speak back in March 20th Okay I'll just assure that somebody's here from the board That sounds good Perfect Any other action items
I don't think so Nothing else that I can think of Seeing none I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn So move Second Motion's been made and seconded Any further discussion Say none Jen yes Kathy yes Anna yes
Yes And John yes Thank you Thank you John Have a great night Bye John