This government meeting is brought to you by Eastworks and our local cable subscribers. Welcome to uh city council meeting of Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. Um, this meeting is being held hybrid uh in an order extended
um by the um state until June 30th, 2027, which allows us to do so. I remind both the members of the city council and the public participating remotely to remain muted until recognized by the city council president. Also, for the members of the public, please remove your camera for the duration of the meeting unless you are participating in
the public speak time or the public hearing. Thank you. This meeting is now called to order. Marian, Peg Coniff here, Connie Denham here, Salem Derby present, Felicia Jadzik here, JP Kuisinski here, Tom Peak here, Brad Riley here, Tamara Smith here, JT
Terrell here. And now if you would like, you could um either join us in the pledge of allegiance or take a moment of silence. 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. I will continue to work for you. I was like uh and so we do have some uh minutes to act on. So we have um the minutes Oh, we
don't Oh, they're not available. April 2nd will be available ASAP. Um, and so this would be an opportunity um for anybody in the public to address the council. Um, oh, just quick point of order. Can we turn captions on? Um, Mr. President, thank you. In our rush, I
forgot to do so. Thank you for reminding me. And I think I can just press this button. There we go. Uh, public comment. Um, so if anybody from the public would like to address the council, uh, just please come, uh, state your name and address for the record and you have
three minutes to address the counselors. Hi, my name is Captain of Overlook Drive. I wanted to speak to you about the battery storage system proposed in Westfield. Jupiter Power, which is a subsidiary of Black Black Rockck, is planning to
install 219 standalone lithium battery storage systems, each about the size of a tractor trailer. Um, near the Barnes Aquar, each unit resembles large storage containers. The company is seeking exemptions from local zoning ordinances, including the
water resource protection orders district, from the newly created energy facilities site work. A lithium fire cannot be extinguished and will burn for 2 to 5 days. In 2023, four out of the eight battery storage systems in New
York caught on fire. In January of this year, when at Landing in California caught on fire and burned for 5 days, releasing toxic smoke, poisonous gases containing PFA, PFAS, and heavy metals. The fire led to forced evacuations,
shelter in place orders, and road closures. Residents reported a range of health issues and still are reporting them today, 4 months later. The Connecticut River Valley is a unique geological area with features formed during the last ice age.
It's much lower than the rest of the area around us and the the smoke from a fire like that would get trapped in the valley and likely poison a good bit of the land between Westfield and the quins in Greenfield impacting our only water
source. Um Westfield has passed a resolution in their city council against it. Holio voted the same last night. Ammerst is looking at it next week. We have asked our state representatives to
um to propose legislation um stopping any more lithium battery storage facilities in Massachusetts until more information is known about the fire hazards and there's a way to put them up. Thank you. Thank you.
and Carolyn Kushing, Main Street. And um this is my last time while I would be talking to you as the current poet laurate. There is a transition happening uh on uh April 26, 2 p.m. in the blue room. We'll be transitioning that will
become poet laurate. But I'm wearing that hat just to speak to you uh in favor of the resolution that's being uh brought to uh for the council to adopt the ECA futures project. I was part of
developing the pro, you know, all the different focus groups we had and uh creating a plan to address the different issues that are coming potentially come up in the future. And it was going to be published for March 2020. that did not
happen obviously. Um but because ECA had it in place and the community had talked about what they might like in various things, ECA pass was able to pivot and do some great programming, residency
programming um because they knew these ideas were generated. So if the city adapts it, then we will have these ideas and we'll be be able to respond you know with our steady growth in supporting the arts or things that come up that we
can't anticipate. And in this time where it is so stressful for so many um reasons coming from the larger political system um the arts are important way for us to process and work through and
envision the future that we want. So, um, that's why I came here and then I'm just listening to Kathy, I'm very grateful for what she's bringing up how to use storage and hope that the resolutions come. So, thank you very much. Anybody else? Anybody online?
Okay, seeing none, I guess that will bring us um so tonight we have a special presentation by um our East Hampton City Arts program director, Pascalina Azerella. I think I said that right. Oh, thank you. And so, welcome to the
podium. You are not timed, so feel free to take as much time as you need. Excellent. Thank you. Pass these out if you want to take one and pass them. So I
was not this is not she's recording. Are you able to pull up the presentation? Um that is a good question. I have it on my iPad. I don't know if I can pass it to this. So let me
uh that might take me a second. I'm sure that's all you share. Oh god, this is probably not going to work. Um, yeah, I don't know if I'm going to be able to get it on here, but I I will
give it a try. Wrong way. No, I'm not going to be able to get it. Are you using the meat app? Yeah. Okay, I think I can send it. Oh, can you? Okay, that'll be great. want to move
on. Um, you want to recess? I think probably she's going to send it. Um, we do have public hearing. So, we might need to I mean, we'll see. We'll see where we get. Okay. I think
we'll try to build this technical piece now. Thank you. Um, thank you. And we we might need to just for full disclosure, we might need to stop at 6:15 and then come back to you. So maybe we can um if you have an
introduction that you can give before we get the video or the presentation going um or or not, it's up to you. Well, okay. So, I will begin. Um, greetings everyone. It is a true honor
and pleasure to be here today. My name is Pascalina Azerello and I have served as the arts and culture program director for East Hampton City Arts in the city of East Hampton for the past eight and a half years. As many of you know and as many of you might not know, East Hampton
City Arts partnered with Depict, an East Hampton based facilitation organization in 2019 to design and implement a series of deeply creative and thoughtful community engagement sessions over the course of six months to work directly
with members of our community to create a vision for the future of arts and culture in the city of East Hampton for the next 10 years. And we did just that. We engaged more than 450 community members, including artists of all kinds,
business owners, landlords, educators, youth, elders, veterans, people who had lived in East Hampton their whole lives, and newcomers, too. And we gathered information, knowledge, and ideas from across these different perspectives. And we documented and recorded each and
every last post-it note. and we worked together to synthesize all that was generated into a comprehensive list of through lines, goals, and strategies as a pathway for East Hampton City Arts to work in community to bring this vision to life. In November of 2019, I
personally met with Jeff Bag, the city planning director at that time, and Mina Kim of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and together we put a plan in place for the East Hampton Futures Project Report to be co-announced and released by East Hampton City Arts and
the Massachusetts Cultural Council on Wednesday, May 18th, 2020. while obviously having no idea of the ways in which our lives and of life itself was about to change. Because of all that was going on at that time both in our immediate community and our greater
world, we all thought it best to hold off on making any claims about the future quite yet and we therefore held off on our planned public announcement. That being said, ECA has referred to the through lines, goals, and strategies that were generated by community members
through the platform of the East Tampa Futures project ever since, and they have proven to be a deeply reliable guide. What's more, they have proven to be a reliable guide through an incredibly even incrementally unpredictable and unprecedented time.
And I personally believe that this very reliability of all that was generated through this project is a true testament of the city's initial open-mindedness toward and subsequent investment in the deeply participatory public process that
we engaged in. And here we are today at the halfway point of a 10-year vision plan which falls during ECA's 20th anniversary year. We are experiencing our little city with its great big heart transform before our eyes. in incredibly
complex ways. We are welcoming more arts and cultural initiatives and organizations than ever before. And at the same time, we are witnessing a mass exodus of artists and creative business owners due to workspace becoming less affordable and unaffordable. It cannot
be lost on us that many of the people who can no longer stay are literally the same individuals who worked with such heart to help create this little city we love. I often hear myself say, "If we don't protect it, it's not protected."
And it is with this in mind that I come to you, our city council, on behalf of East Hampton City Arts and ask that the community generated through lines, goals, and strategies of the East Hampton Futures Project be formally adopted by the East Hampton City
Council. This formal acknowledgement of this important and meaningful work is more than a gesture, but rather it's a demonstration of the city's ongoing commitment to arts and culture as valuable entities within themselves as primary economic drivers of East Hampton
and also as the very means by which our city will continue to grow and thrive. I'd like to thank the members of East Hampton City Council for listening tonight and for your consideration. Mayor Nicole Chappelle for your ongoing support of the arts in East Hampton and
of ECA. The ECA coordinating committee and members of all of its subcommittees for their ongoing commitment to this work. And to our dedicated community members of artists, art appreciators, and volunteers who are working hard each day and every day to bring this vision
and this city to life. Thank you. Thank you. And I think um I think I was able to figure out how to get the presentation home. I'm so glad. I would love to share the visuals. And so we have um we are at we have like less than a minute till 6:15. So if it's okay um
what we'll do is we'll go to our public hearings and we'll come right back when we're done with the public hearings to um to view the presentation and allow you to have and then the next item on our agenda is um the resolution in support of the future. Thank you all.
Okay. Thank you. Um, and so, uh, we have, uh, 30 seconds, so we'll just we'll hang tight until we get a a motion here. Um, all right. I would entertain a motion to open the public hearing.
Second. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Uh, all those in favor? I. Any nos or abstensions? Motion passes. Public hearing. And we are starting tonight with an interdep departmental transfer. Kazo peek. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh so this inter departmental
transfer is uh for uh $4,500 to be transferred. Uh this is sort of an interesting uh situation. It's going to be transferred from uh the treasurer salary uh to central purchasing for bulk paper, UPS postage,
and other supplies. Uh and our our acting uh treasur and procurement officer uh Robert Mr. Parent is here to uh or No, I'm sorry. Uh Mr. Owens, yes. Michael Owens. I'm sorry. Why did I think so? Sorry. Michael Owens is here
to uh uh to to discuss uh sort of the details of the situation a little bit further. Okay. Mr. Owens. Uh thank you, Councelor Peak. Appreciate it. Uh yes, I'm here for an interdep departmental transfer $4,500 from the
treasury treasures department treasury salary line item to central purchasing. Uh these are going to be used for USPS postage, bulk paper, and other supplies. Uh the numbers that were prepared on the 26th of March still hold
true. Uh we use about uh anywhere from $260 to $300 a week on the postal machine downstairs. Right now, we have about $800 left in that. Another $2500 will bring us to about $3,300 with 10 weeks remaining in the fiscal year. Uh that should uh that
should uh uh suit our uh suit our needs. Uh right now, uh I need some bulk paper. Last purchase bulk paper on February 11th. I'm paying $41.99 for a case of bulk paper. That
was about $53. Uh, I need to order bulk paper right now. Uh, so I see uh the $1,500 uh meeting that need and the $500 will be used to uh meet other office supply
requests from across the departments uh downstairs at 50 basin. Okay. And uh the finance committee did vote 3 to zero to approve this appropriation. Uh the one thing uh the reason it's being transferred from the
treasur salary is uh our uh treasures uh no longer employed here and there there was just the way that it worked with uh the stipens for the existing uh treasures department staff to fill in that work. There was a little bit of money uh a little bit of difference left
over. So it um that they felt it made sense to to make the transfer uh from there. So sounds good. Any councilors have any questions? Uh, seeing none, anybody from the public like to comment on this appropriation? I'd just like to say real
quick, you know, the city is dealing with inflation just like every any other household in the in the in the Commonwealth. Uh, we've also seen an increase in postal costs consistently over the last several years. Uh, so that's where we're at. Okay. Thank you.
Uh, and nobody from the public. Uh, seeing none, council peak. All right, I'll make this request in the form of a motion. Uh, requests hereby made for approval of the following appropriation. Amount requested, $4,500 to be transferred from treasurer salary,
$4,500 to be transferred to central purchasing bulk paper, uh, $1,500. USPS, uh, postage, $2,500. uh other supplies $500 for a total of $4,500. The amount requested will be
used for the following purposes. Bulk paper purchases uh postage of USPS postage machine uh and other office supplies. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in
favor? Extensions or nos? Okay, motion passes. Thank you for your time, council. Have a great evening. Thank you. Uh and uh it looks like we have another uh we have a supplemental appropriation this time. Mhm. Councelor Pete, thank you, Mr. President. Uh so this is a supplemental appropriation of
$20,000 from general stabilization to uh legal and uh so this uh would this is something that often happens at the end of the fiscal year uh where we uh receive uh just the legal budget is
notoriously difficult to forecast and it's run over this time uh and so they're asking for money from civilization. Uh this one is a little bit tricky because uh we voted to bring this forward without a recommendation because there was nobody at our meeting
that was able to speak to the specifics of uh how we found ourselves uh like like what the specific legal costs were that that that brought us into this position and sort of where we were. Uh I'd spoken to the mayor earlier and
uh Yes, there you are. I could see behind the TV. Uh uh. Yes. Thank you, Councelor Peak. And sorry for missing the finance meeting. Usually I'm a little better on that. Um yes, as you said, we um this is an account a line
item that I purposely underfund every year like um overtime and DPW police and fire. Um as we need it, we'll come back for it. I think it's just a a more prudent way to to track uh expenses that are really volatile. We It's very hard
um to track how much we will use uh in my budget. I usually put forward $85,000 in this past year and what's leading us to this point. Um we have done and needed a lot of legal work around the different um housing developments in town and easements and
whatnot. We've also had a lot of labor negotiations. Um and I will say successfully uh in agreement with that. We're about to ratify the last but um that's very difficult to um foresee based on you know h how those go. Um as
well we have done a lot of reviewing of ordinances legal language meaning of uh that we didn't anticipate it comes and goes. Um I would not city council um also uh I
think for the first time um that I can remember actually is using their legal budget. It's fantastic. I say they in that um sounds funny but it's great. Uh so you know we want to keep those accounts going. I do anticipate legal expenses um to fully meet the 20,000 if
not uh go over that before the end of the fiscal year. Um towards the end of the fiscal year, we come back with a budget. Um and with that, there's a series of appropriations and transfers. And the hope would be that we would transfer money towards the end of the year from one account or one department
line item to cover legal cost and come before you for that vote. Um but right now it's it's $20,000 for a mix of of things and and we have some big things coming at us as well. So that's um this will not be the last legal ask of this
fiscal year. Okay. Any counselors have any questions? Does anybody from the public like to weigh in on this? I I actually do have a question. Um if I
could ask the mayor. Um so you know just just for a little context and background. Um the mayor and I have uh served on the Massachusetts Municipal Association's board of directors and um one of the privileges
and opportunities that you get in a position like that is to be surrounded by your peers across the Commonwealth. And one of the things that I have learned from several communities in Massachusetts is
that it is actually more affordable to hire a attorney that becomes a staff member than it is to to contract out for various things. And so I guess the question is ha have you have you done or
could you do an analysis to determine on average how much we spend per fiscal year on legal services and what that would look like to retain or to hire an attorney in staff with with benefits and and all of that. Has that work ever been
looked at before? We look every year um at that and the decision and what you see in the budget is is based on a couple of of things but primarily we look at the type of legal expertise we needed you know so there are some that the same every year you know it's it's
HR it's contract and and whatnot sometimes it's tax take uh tax title tax taking um sometimes it's very specific um environmental law uh we would and I've talked to a couple
of other um uh C's about this right we are at this like we've been at this precipice of hiring in um in council uh the approximate salary would be between $140 and $160,000 and then add on to
that benefit and pension. um with that uh it is it is really difficult to find everybody or a person or even two people who would cover all of that and and that's been a challenge because I think you know I just think about what the
city council access is legal for what we do it would be maybe convenient and even more efficient to have somebody in the building that you know could talk or or I I think with planning and talking through but the balance is um we can't
find a firm that has that expertise among it um to fill that role and if we could from what we've talked to like Northampton about in Holio which has large inhouse and outside um the hourly
rate for a firm that would have that expertise is you know anywhere from I don't know $275 to like 600 you know depending on where but um Yeah, we have we I I've also looked at costing out uh an in-house council plus a parallegal.
Um and and to see how that work. Um I don't I don't want to take I don't think we're quite there, but I could see in the next couple of years, we have the big transportation projects coming in Main Street, whatnot. Maybe the city should look at having a parallegal with
specific contract or public um works uh to prepare um these documents for we right now there are three big legal um contracts agreements we have one is for HR one is for um general property
and whatnot and one is for um contracts contracts property HR um and then there's some specialists. So if there could be an allpurpose maybe parallegal, you know, in fiscal year 28
or 29 when those big projects stop, there could be some real savings for the city because right you're you're giving a lawyer some very basic information. They're doing it um when maybe somehow, you know, we're not paying $325 an hour for somebody to do that. And and we
could have somebody in council. I I think in-house it would probably really help with bills but also efficiency. Okay, perfect. Thank you for that explanation. I I know that it's a fine line between how much you spend externally versus the internal investment. So, it's good to and it's it's hard to predict what it is. Y
great. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments or questions from counselors? Any comments from the public? Seeing none, Council Peak, I'll make the following request in the form of a motion. Uh request is hereby made for approval of the following
appropriation. Amount requested. $20,000 to be transferred from general stabilization. $20,000 to be transferred to legal $20,000. The amount requested will be used for the following purpose. Legal costs build for FY25. Second.
Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. Any extensions or nos? Motion passes. Okay, thank you. Uh and next we have a strawberry ordinance. Uh councelor Den. Uh thank you Mr. President. Um so for the last few months we've been working
on the um including a shrubbery ordinance. Um and we've worked with our uh planning director, the director of DPW. Um and we've also had some input from our um city engineer. Um and so
this is what's in the packet is what the um committee has proposed and voted on three to zero. Um but essentially it, you know, addresses the concerns around um sidewalks and um shrubbery kind of
overhanging of sidewalks for there to be some opportunity for DPW to respond to that or or residents to be able to respond to that if because of concerns around accessibility. um but also at points of intersections where shrubbery is kind of
in the line of sight where you're unable to kind of see around corners um and things like that. So that just uh uh creates safety hazard uh for uh for residents and vehicles but also cyclists
um pedestrians etc. And so this was uh what we had um uh come to um as I said the uh in the um uh in section 8-36B
um there was some uh indication or there was some articulation of actual measurements. um I think it was like 25 ft from the center of the line to the side, you know, etc. But the the problem is we
have a lot of um non-conforming properties. Um and so 25 ft could actually take you to the um to the to the sidewalk to be able to measure that, but it could also take you to the corner of somebody's house, right? And so that
actually didn't um was not useful. So um you know we made sure that we gave the director of public works uh shall determine the area of un unobstructed view required for safety in public. So we did give that uh the director the the
the ability to come in and say actually this is fine or actually this is actually a concern for for safety. Um and in terms of enforcement and penalties, um you know, the the DPW will
work with those individuals to be able to um you know, remedy that situation. I think a lot of people are concerned about fines and and things of that nature, but but certainly um the director will work with those individuals to to make sure that that is addressed in a timely manner. But Mr.
president. Uh I I want to provide uh either the uh planning director or the um uh DPW director the opportunity to to speak about this as well. So Okay. Um I believe Greg is online.
Mr. Nullman, if you have anything you would like to add and good evening everyone, director of public works. Just want to thank councelor Denim for her work on this. I think uh she's really diligent and went through and we really uh kind of drilled down on it and made sure it covered the
situations that uh we deal with kind of the same four, five, six situations across the city uh every year with line of it's mostly line of sight issues and um it's just really getting this um ordinance in place will just help keep
people safer that are walking on our sidewalks and driving on city streets. Councelor Dham, thank you for for keeping this moment. Thank Thank you, Mr. Nom. And I think Allison is Is there anything you want to add? I knew you were here. Just couldn't
see you. Hiding. Uh, thank you. I I don't really have anything to add other than to just sort of um thank Counselor Denim again for for her work on this. I completely agree with the DPW director. It's it'll it'll it'll help um with addressing those sort of recurring
problems that we've had. So, I definitely support it. Great. Thank you. Uh, any questions from counselors? Looks like councelor Kazinski. Uh, thank you for all the work. Uh, I appreciate, uh, DPW being here and the
planning department being here for the public who I think is used to certain, for example, at an intersection. Uh, geez, you need clearance of so much to be able to not have bushes or shrubbery
in the way or you need so much availability on a on a sidewalk. How does one in the public begin to understand is is there some examples you could give that would be helpful for people's frame of reference uh so that they can
maybe call it police themselves for a lack of a better term in terms of gez what do I need to cut what should I cut where can I put a fence I don't I'm not sure maybe you could help help help elucidate that sure I I think that for
the committee, we actually went out and took some photographs in our own neighborhoods that we could um explore and identify as are these actual incidences of obstruction or is accessibility impeded in this particular way or is visibility uh in terms of
being able to pull out into um onto a a cross street. And I think that we all kind of provided some of those things. I think some some salient examples were um at a at an intersection
um uh in precinct 4 and um I don't want to give an address or anything like that, right? I'll just work itself out, right? Um, but you know there is a a clear u at a stop sign
if if an if a if a motorist was turn to turn to their right, there are actually tall trees that sit right on the corner. Um, and you actually have to pull out into the intersection in order to be able to see across. Um, and if kids were
walking or riding a bike and they were on the wrong side of the street, that could create a clear kind of immediate hazard. And uh because it's to the uh uh to the right uh as I'm pulling out to see a motorist or vehicle from the right
uh if I wasn't paying attention because I was focused to the or to the left was to come, you know, I'm actually pretty far out into the into the roadway to be able to do that. Um, and also there are examples of of specific examples of
um um tall hedges that actually overhang the uh sidewalk by 2 to 3 ft. Um, if I was in a wheelchair, if I uh if I had uh canes uh etc., I would have to have to
do a step off of the sidewalk to get around that to then get back onto the sidewalk. Um, and that the sidewalk is actually on the uh right hand side. So, if I was to step out into traffic and I wasn't paying attention
because I was wearing headphones or whatever, right? Then I now have a vehicle to my to my rear, right? Um, and so I think those are some kind of very specific examples, but I know that uh, director Nettleman, I'm sure, has some additional um, situations that that he
often has to deal with. So, uh, Mr. President, maybe my question may continue. My question was more in relationship to the to the person who's responsible for taking care of the shrubbery or taking care of proper sight clearances. What sort of guidance can be
given to them that helps them to be able to say, "Oh gosh, I'm so many feet over or I one foot over, a half a foot." Mhm. You can't be any feet. So that that under that circumstance, you'd say, "Well, there'd be zero feet onto the public sidewalk." And that would make
some sense as guidance. And then you'd have it in writing and there wouldn't be any arbitrary, I'm imagining arbitrary, somebody coming in and saying, "Well, geez, I I think what you're doing is wrong." So do this. Greg, can you maybe help us with that? I know. Or and also
comment on other towns and what they do, other cities. Well, absolutely. I mean, the way we handle these is when they come in, it's generally on a case- by case basis where something is brought to our attention or we happen to observe something where it's, you know, obstructing the sidewalk or creating a line of sight issue at a at an intersection. And I have a pretty basic
letter we'll mail out to just help bring it to the uh property owner's attention and then work with them to resolve it. We're not looking to, you know, we understand people want their yard or property to appear a certain way. Um, and a lot of it's about communication.
Someone may have some taller grass or or bushes or something that are out there that they don't realize are creating a hazard or causing a problem for someone um trying to navigate the sidewalk or the intersection. So, uh, really it's, you know, think of a house on the corn on a corner where there's a sidewalk and the the grass gets too tall right up to
the edge of the street and a small child on a bicycle gets ahead of their caretaker and before you know it, they're in the road and the driver approaching that intersection can't see them come at it. It's like that's kind of situation that we really want to try to prevent. But, um, a huge part of it is about communication. And unfortunately, there has been some
instances where we've needed to take action um at a property and the property owner was unwilling to um to cooperate and and help just ensure the safety of people on the sidewalk or or someone driving on the street near their house. So, this uh
ordinance is going to help us uh be able to resolve that situation in the future. One just one followup briefly to just a quick followup on so for example shrubbery let's say you're putting in some shrubs on and you're at at an intersection at a corner and the shrubs
grow 2 feet is that allowed 3 ft is that too high is there a standard that we can it's going to depend on the intersection it's too hard to to tie it to one standard which is why that's great that there's some discretion built into the ordinance councelor Kiff
so in the enforcement and penalty section. It talks about if the owner fails, refuses, or neglects to abate such nuisance within 7 days, blah blah blah, the owner shall be subject to the penalty provided in section 1-6 of this ordinance. What are those
penalties and where is 1.6? Um, I believe it it uh I don't have it in front of me. Um, but I think it's 100. So, it's monetary. Yeah. Yeah, it's monetary.
Yeah. Okay. I see. I I did have it. Yeah. It's I think it's $100. Yeah. Um is there like a first, second, third? Okay. It goes up. I'm pretty sure that on here cuz we actually went into the ordinance and looked it up then. And if
I can ask a follow-up question. Oh, absolutely. Please. Um, councelor Denim, did you talk about uh the situation? What if it is an elderly person unable to take care? Maybe we just talked about this. Would would we provide assistance
to them or would the senior center or neighbors there's a neighbors group neighbors would that be something that we could facilitate if they had no idea that these things like is that part of how we're going to mitigate this as
opposed to just saying you got seven days figure it out right I mean I'm I think that that could probably happen but I think for the sake of the ordinance itself. I don't think that we would put in that type of language. But I mean, I certainly think that that the
um DPW, for example, could have connection with the senior center or East Hampton neighbor to neighbor, right? I think that there are some opportunities to be able to to facilitate or to support uh residents in in that particular because I think
sometimes that's the problem that things get out of hand and you don't have the ability to do it. Not that you don't have the desire to do it. Sure. And I actually have um just a shout out to um Director Nugleman um they're over on um
Cherry Street. they have to do um uh water receptacle things on the side with the plants and shrubbery in in that particular situation. And we talked about the fact that there are residents um who are older who actually can't take
care of that in their front yard. And so, you know, he had talked about we had talked about like what happens when those become overgrown. And so, you know, if he is made aware of that, um then they're able to go over and to do that. So I think that there is some um willingness on the part of the
department and I don't want to speak for um director he can speak to that but um through that conversation I think there is the willingness to do that and I think we also have other um resources within the city to be able to help address those things. Okay. Thank you.
But um Mr. President, if you would like Director Nuttleman to speak to that, he can. Sure. Greg, if you'd like to speak to that. Yeah. I mean, we're not trying to create an undue hardship for for anyone by by any by any means with this ordinance. What what we're trying to do
is just have it where things can be kept safe for people. Um because there are some properties in town that are unwilling to consider the safety of people using the sidewalk and want their property to appear a certain way. And um I just don't feel as though putting
public safety at risk um is is is worth allowing that to happen. And we're not asking and even even in a particular situation, we're not looking for someone to cut, you know, 20 ft back towards their house. We just need that four to five, maybe it's even 3 ft in some situations where um just to keep people
safe and visible for someone approaching the intersection in a car. Thank you. But any anyone that anyone I've ever spoken to that's come and said they need a little bit of help, uh we we come up with a way to either to to to help them find that that help or take care of it for them if if that's the the
situation. So, thank you. Uh, and and I believe it's uh councelor Riley and then there was someone over here, councelor Jadik and then councelor Smith. Okay. Um, yeah. So I I mean to that end also you know I just know um I've done a lot of outreach
education and collaboration with um you know the Council on Aging and the Commission on Disability specifically with um snow removal and ice and how that can be a a challenge for people to navigate the streets but also for residents who are elderly or have
disabilities that cannot do the work themselves. So we can we can adopt a similar framework for something like that. I I would imagine if we reached out to both of those entities that they would be more than happy to to help uh facilitate those conversations. Um so,
you know, really what I just wanted to say is um thank you to the ordinance committee for um doing this work. Um you know, on the public safety committee for I don't know probably 8 months now or so. Um we've been having lots of
dialogues about pedestrian safety specifically to car speeds. Um but that this is an additional policy solution that also helps keep people safe that you know if if people can see cars coming if they're
speeding or if someone is speeding and sees a person that just adds an additional layer of of safety um for our pedestrians. So um and then and then just by the you know the accessibility issues I I think
that's also um justice for people in our community with disabilities. So I think this is like a really well-rounded um policy solution and I just thank you all uh who worked on it. Thank you. Uh councelor Jazz. So my question is more
to do with the structural piece of this because with bushes and trees and shrubbery we can cut those back but I know some of the impediments are actually fences or even retaining walls. Um I can speak to precinct too. I know there's some known issues there. So I
guess the question for either Mr. Nuttleman or councelor Denim is what's the plan when it's not an easy cut back but it's actually more structural where the homeowner or um property owner would need to actually take down some kind of a
existing structure which is going to be much more cost intensive and time inensive and may need the engineer to be involved as well. Just curious what your thoughts are around that. Um Dr. Neland would you like to respond or Mr. person. Would you like absolutely
Greg if you have a a thought on that? Well, as far as a fence is concerned, I mean, you know, we speak of a a fence needs to be installed with um in in agreement with the building code which was handled by the building department. So, I can't really speak to
the the code around fences. Um, but if someone were to put one up too close to a um intersection, they I'm I'm thinking kind of speaking out of turn here, but you know, nine out of 10 times that's going to not be in compliance with the
um permitting for for putting up fences. So, I don't know that there's an issue where we're currently dealing where we we're dealing with a fence creating a line of sight issue. Um, when you think about like a retaining wall, um, most of those are municipally owned like Ferry
Street for example, Ferry Parsons, that's a that's a municipally owned retaining wall that we're working on. Uh, we have a project that's about to really break ground here on getting that moved back. So, um, I guess when it is something structural, for the most part, it's going to be something handled by the U building code around Pence
installation. Thank you. Yeah. And I I do know that we have even before we had this ordinance, this this was something that has come up in the past. There was a fence that was um you know facing out onto Holio Street and that they actually had to move it because it was out of the code. So in
those situations, they're going to have to move it if it's not up to code. And I think this could potentially be a way for them to clue in that it's out of code. So uh and I believe is that Yeah. Okay. Councelor Smith. Um, I just wanted to say as we were on the committee and
we were doing this work, there were several different pictures that I took as possible examples and brought them to the committee and almost all of them were exempt from it for one reason or the other. One of them were fences. Um, and then the other part was that in the
Plains neighborhood and in precinct 5, we don't actually have sidewalks um on most of the roads in there. So I was taking a lot of pictures of let's suppose the the middle of someone's yard has a tree that's coming out. It
wouldn't be obstructing the someone's walkway in the same way. So it wasn't it wasn't subject to this in the same way. And so I'm not saying that to add to confusion, but it really I think one of the easiest ways
if you were not sure is to take a picture and and ask about it because that very quickly all of my questions were answered right away. And um the other part was when we were talking about how far away I know you had talked
about there were different sections and different intersections that it's just because of how wide the road actually is. And so at some of the places if the road was not wide enough we were looking at I think it was a five 5 foot clearing
because it would have been from the center. So almost like a a radius around it and that would be the intersection. So if there were no sidewalks that what that's what we were going on instead. And so really once we put that to
it I did the drive after that and it was really hard to find any examples. Um, I will say that I have a fence in precinct 5 that I thought thought for sure would be in violation of this, but when I applied that same logic to it, it
clearly is in the fence codes. So, yeah, it just was a really interesting education about these boundaries, particularly if we don't have the sidewalks. So, okay. Any any other counselors?
Uh it looks like everybody might have councelor Krinski. Um on another piece of this uh and I think this would go to Mr. Nuttleman and to councelor Denim. So, we're setting up a system whereby
the director of the board of public works will go out and view a site and say say whether or not in his opinion this conforms or doesn't conform with the standard that well his opinion whether it makes
sense and is is safe. What appeal process is there from that decision have in in the ordinance to whom does one appeal? Now, let's say they're agreved and they say, "Well, I disagree." Um, does it go to the board
of public works? Does it go to city council? Does it go to some other I imagine in order to have due process, you would want to have an appeal process. Just curious. Um, we actually didn't talk about that.
Uh, it's not in zoning, so it wouldn't be the zoning board. Uh, my guess is if it's the, you know, if it's the DPW director who is making the judgment call, it might go to the the board of public works, right?
That's that's just my initial thought. And if that's the case, is that something we could include in the language of the ordinance? And that way, in case anyone was agrieved, there would be something in writing that says, "Oh, here's the process."
I guess if it's not elsewhere in the ordinances, can we look at the 1.6 section about penalties? Is there anything in there about an appeal? I was just thinking the same
thing. See if I can find it. Six. I got this. It doesn't I lost the page that I was on. It doesn't It doesn't speak to that. It only speaks to the maximum penalty. The maximum penalty, which is $300. Yeah.
Yeah. That's why it it doesn't talk about um appeals, but I don't think it would be necessarily difficult to put in in that the area where it um refers to the 1-6
to um and say, you know, any appeals should be taken up with the board of public works, something to that nature that could be council Jazzic in the ordinances. There are other sections where there is specific language around
what and how to appeal. So I don't know if putting a general appeal language in section 1-6 makes sense because not 1-6 just in within this ordinance where it references 1-6. Just want to clarify that. Thank you. Yep. Okay.
Council P. If we like I I could make a motion to Well, I guess we've got to have them before, but I'd be prepared if that's the what's going to hold it up. I'd be prepared to offer an amendment. Okay, that's great. And I think we would just
wrap up uh council questions and then open it to the public. Um because we would need to get the motion on the floor before we can amend it. Yeah. Any further comments from counselors? Anybody from the public like
to weigh in on this interesting matter? Okay. Um, so uh and and nobody No, there's nobody raising their hand online. Nope. Um, so councelor Denim. So I'll take a motion to amend or in the form of motion uh to amend chapter 8 to
add a new section 8-26 East Hampton Shy Ordinance. Second. Okay, we have a motion in the second and um I believe this is where we could have an amendment. Okay. Uh I would move to
amend the proposed amendment to include in in the section uh in the paragraph referring to enforcement uh a line saying a property owner who wishes to appeal the judgment of the director of public works shall request an appeal uh
with the board of public works. Okay. And that's in the form of a motion. Second. Okay. So, we have a motion and a second on the uh amendment. Um any further discussion? I just wanted to say logically, if I may. Yep. Logically, I think it makes sense, especially since
this is a subjective decision and not something based on objective criteria that we that we endorse this. Think that makes sense. Uh no further discussion. All those in favor? I. Any against? Any abstension? Amendment passes. And that
brings us back to the original amended motion which we have um on the table. Do we have any further discussion on the amended motion? Okay. All those in favor. Any abstensions or nos? Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you everybody.
And um I would entertain a motion to close public hearing. Second. Okay. We have a motion in a second to close the public hearing. All those in favor? And extensions? No. Okay. Pasino, welcome back. And um let me see
if I can share my screen and make this actually happen. So, let's see. And let's see if this works. This is my first time trying this.
Okay. Right. now. And I think it's right here. Is that it? That's it. Make it big. Thank you. Uh I don't know. I won't ask for more. This is as big as I can get. All right. This is great. I
appreciate it. And that actually was pretty interesting. Um so I did want to first say thank you to everyone for listening earlier. I'm going to try to like bring these two moments together. Um, and I did want to bring some visuals
of the East Hampton Futures Project into the room with us to really give you all a sense of the feeling of what was possible in that space. A number of you were there and so you remember and you know um but if you can just I can flip
through next. Just let me know when to stop. Um, so this is what the space looked like. We were in East Works. We were in a great big um few thousand square ft² space um four different times
and we brought in um you know a total of more than 450 community members over the course of 6 months and Ceda Magnuson and her family and many members of depict who we partnered with they're based in Eastworks they're based in East Hampton
and they do work all over the world and do a lot of work um in a very grassroots way here in our city. And we were able to work together to put a process um to to create a space that
really that really valued public process. And we really did that. And the city really supported us in doing that. And by investing in people and by investing in that time and by listening,
we created something that was thoroughly reliable and a a direct reflection of what the process had been. So you can flip through um Oh, it's the Oh, no. Okay. So, yeah. Um, so there were four
different times there were blanket forts. There were campfires made of fans and um tissue paper and we had the mayor sitting with teenagers and you know it was like a very special space. Every time you walked in people didn't know
what to expect and it really offset our expectations and presumptions of what life can look like and how decisions could get made and so it was very productive. Um everything was recorded. There were live drawings happening all
the time. There were little quiet spaces made of cardboard where people could go take a break. Um we worked with um several East Hampton businesses. So we had popsicles from Crooked Sticks at every um you know Galaxy provided
lunches. These were 6 hours long. Like this was a full day commitment. And I just want to, you know, the timeline of our sharing this got really thrown off like 2 years into the pandemic. It felt a little strange to make an announcement
about something we did 2 years ago. You know, it was like so at this halfway mark and honestly seeing what happened on Cottage Street, I know you all were very supportive of artists and were very vocal about and explicit about your support of Cottage Street artists and
the value that artists bring to the city of East Hampton really moved me personally and moved us all on the board of East Hampton City Arts. Um, a number of our board members are here tonight and you know it's like what can we do?
Well, this is something we can do is having our city council adopt the what came of this. Um, it's a matter of listening to community members. Um, we put a lot of trust in the process. I remember Jeff Bag saying like, well,
what happened? You know, we don't know what's going to come of it. And it's like exactly and and no matter what comes of it, there's incredible value there. You can flip. You can just kind of go through. I just I just want that I wanted that space to be in this space. I
wanted there to be a moment of integration there because I think it matters. I think the voices of all the people who contributed to this project matter. We are going to have a new mayor. There is a tremendous amount of
transition in our city both um you know here in this building and out on our streets and within our federal government like we don't know how it's going to play out and I do feel a
great I feel so fortunate to be a civil servant and to get to give locally because often times what we we get to receive we get to see the impact of what we do and I think this is the
opportunity tonight for that. So I thank you all for listening. I thank the members of the public that have come out to support ECA tonight and the East Hampton Futures Project and I thank you all for your consideration. I want to send a very special thank you to
councilors Denim and Judik for their attention to this matter, their commitment to arts and culture and their working with me and supporting us um on putting this resolution together tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anything else in the presentation you'd
like me to stop on? Well, what I will say is throughout the east, so as a result of the East Hampton Futures project, there were four through lines, five goals, and 16 strategies that were
surfaced and they were all vetted by members of the community that generated them in the first place. Um, I will note that the last four strategies that are included in this
were carried over from the city's last master plan. So, we revisited that master plan. We had done a lot of the things that we said we were going to do. There were a number of things that we didn't get to and there were um four
strategies that we said yes, we do want to prioritize this and bring it forward. Our plan for the East Hampton futures report um as well as the through lines goals and strategies is to keep them up
to date. We're looking to share them in a public folder in a Google folder that can be accessed by the public anytime and they can see what we've done. They can see what we're doing. And in that
folder will also be a a form where people can give feedback. They we want to hear what people appreciate about what they see. We want to always know we consider this a living document and living work. And we want to continue to hear from people about what they would
like to see for the future of arts and culture in the city of East Hampton. And I imagine we will revisit this before the 10year mark 5 years from now. um and roll up our sleeves and have new conversations about looking ahead.
Perfect. Thank you. And um who's going to take the resolution? Councelor Denim, I think this might be an appropriate time to move into that. Yes. Um I mean, I can't add anything. That was a great presentation. Thank you so much for all
the work that you've done and all the work of the community and and dedication to the arts and culture within East Hampton. Um, you know, this is a resolution in support of East Hampton City Arts 20th um anniversary and the ongoing work with the futures project,
right? Um, and so I'd like to read the the resolution that we put together. Um, and this is in the form of a motion. Um, East Hampton City Council resolution in support of East East East Hampton City Arts and the Futures Project. The East Hampton City Council was proud to
acknowledge that East Hampton City Arts, ECA, is a city initiative to promote arts, culture, and the community. March of 20 25 marks ECA's 20th anniversary. Their mission is to create positive,
innovative, and accessible arts programming and cultural events designed to generate and increase opportunities for both local artists and our local economy. In 2019, ECA and the city of East Hampton partnered with a local
facilitation organization to conduct an indepth exploration focused on the future of arts and culture in East Hampton. Through a series of community gatherings and visioning sessions held over the course of six months, ECA created a living document, the futures
project, that outlined guidelines, goals, and strategies informed by the community and the city's master plan. These directives have helped ECA and the city move forward with ongoing and future efforts in the arts. Whereas the
East Hampton City Council recognizes that the ECA initiative is a valuable part of the city's of the city's departments and serves a critical purpose in providing a voice for the city with regard to art, artist, culture, and cultural vibrancy. And
whereas this council appreciates the value of the futures project as a deeply researched, meaningful and community vetted document with the involvement of more than 400 people of all ages and backgrounds, including teenagers, elders, artists, educators, business
owners, community partners, newcomers to the city, and people who have lived in East Hampton their entire lives. And whereas the project creates an intergenerational community space by and for students as it did with ECA's youth
arts initiative in 2022 with the high school's center for diversity, equity, and belonging. And whereas it prioritizes new models and approaches to counter the destabilizing impacts of gentrification
as the ECA's annual invitational in 2024 that focused on models of collaboration towards sustainability in a gallery exhibition and public panel discussion and engagement in ongoing discussions to establish long-term affordable artist
workspaces. And whereas the project utilizes East Hampton's existing arts and cultural resources to infuse municipal planning and civic engagement processes with creativity and participatory methodologies, which results in ECA's
creation of two permanent foundations to support future public sculptures as part of the Union Street redesign in 2021 and the inclusion of public art in the ongoing new city redesign project. And whereas ECA has committed to continuing
to offer and grow programming for free to the community by raising 100% of any and all necessary funds for programs including but not limited to art walk and ECA gallery ex exhibitions serving 1500 plus community members through 11
exhibitions and events throughout the year. poetry programs featuring six poets who have served as East Hampton's poet laurette and serving 1,00 plus community members, cultural district programming, namely the Cultural Chaos
Street Festival, which serves 12,000 plus community members annually. Public art, including public sculptures, wayfinding signage, bike racks, park designs, and murals. youth arts initiatives in partnership with East
Hampton High School, pandemic response programs, including an art artist grants initiative that supports 50 artists, a free studio workspace program that supports 20 artists, and the spot lot music series, which supports 30 plus
musicians and serves 1,000 plus community members. increased staff capacity and engagement with other city departments such as the police department, fire department, and DT DPW. And whereas the project emphasizes the integration of arts and
culture into outdoor public spaces as with ECA's work in collaboration with the planning and public works departments to include public art in upcoming redesign projects and have added public art to new parks such as the pocket park on the Manhan Trail uh
at Ferry Street. And whereas the project facilitates new opportunities for East Hampton artists as it did with ECA and City Space Partner to co-host the director the director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council on a tour of East Hampton in 2022. And whereas it
gathers data regarding community assets and underutilized spaces as exemplified by ECA's participation in a city-wide community assets mapping initiative in 2021. And whereas the project proposed strategies to revitalize old town hall
resulting in speed city space signing a long-term lease with the city establishing performance space and hiring staff and therefore be it resolved the East Hampton City Council recognizes that the futures project is an ongoing living document that includes strategies
carried over from the city's master plan and upcoming efforts will be focused on modifying zoning codes and regulations to support affordable living and working spaces, establishing an arts curriculum in public schools, requiring a percentage of matching funds from new
development to support public art and community engagement and formalize intergenerational relationship building opportunities. and be it further resolved. This city council recognizes the overall value that ECA and efforts like the futures project bring to the city of East Hampton in both
quantitative and qualitative aspects, including the fact that arts and culture can be continue can and continue to be economic drivers for the city. and be it further resolved. We recognize that artists are being displaced and we are
losing artists from our city due to factors such as rent increases and lower prioritization by commercial and residential landlords. And be it further resolved, we recognize that part of what draws people to East Hampton both to live and to visit is in large part due
to the vibrancy and diversity of our arts and cultural programming. And be it further resolved that the East Hampton City Council commits to the ongoing support of ECA and the Futures Project. Second. Okay, we have a motion in the second. Any further discussion? Council
Riley. Um yeah, I just wanted to say um a really big thank you to you, Pascalina. Um, when I moved to East Hampton 13 years ago, um, I started to see the beginning of the things that I've grown to love so much about living
here. And so much of that has happened under your leadership. Um, and you know, in this presentation, you know, I look at the page for foundational support and I see so many names that I know have done this time and time again. and to see the
pictures. There was a time when the pandemic started and I was so worried that we were going to lose that. Um there is a certain charm and quality about people in East Hampton to come together to create spaces like
that. Um, it's so inviting and inclusive and and almost childlike in a way to be able to play and to explore and and that's something that not a lot of communities
have. Um, so I'm really thankful to see this coming up because I see as these dates started to wind down was right before the pandemic started. So this was probably one of the last really big things that we did before everything
shuttered. And there's a there's a sort of symbolism and um empowerment to see this coming back, right? That this is the thing that has always made the big heart aspect of the little
city. Um so thank you to you um to everybody that you worked with on this. Um you're a huge part of why this city is so special. So, thank you for your work. Thank you. Looks like councelor Quincysian and councelor Johnson. Uh, I just wanted to follow up on councelor
Riley's comments and to say Pascalina, thank you so much. And for CEDA, I see you in the audience and I see that great smile on your face and it it for me puts a smile on my face and reminds me of what you talked about. What you talked
about was the integration of all of this together in a community form, in a place where we all could share, in a place where we all could learn from one another. I appreciate that. That's what makes Eastampton very exciting and a
great place to be. Council Johnson, thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Pascalina, the ECA coordinating committee, and everyone else who's come out in support and everyone who's just been part of this work and this community. I just wanted to share that prior to joining I was on the ECA
coordinating committee for three years. I'm not actually sure the total length of time, but um I know firsthand the work that goes into making our city an amazing place to live and also the amount of time and energy and thought
that everyone puts in to thinking about the future. I think the futures project as we all mentioned it got derailed because of co but I'm really grateful that we have this space both here with this resolution and in this room to talk through everything because we are in a
moment where we want to be thinking about what comes next and I really feel very strongly personally that arts and culture needs to be a critical part of what comes next for East Hampton. So thank you. Any other thoughts? Uh I I would just
say one the word that comes to my mind right now is symbiosis. And I love to travel and I love to travel to places that have art, public art. And you know when a city has beautiful art, it's a
thriving city. And you know I think that um as we create East Hampton into its future, art is an integral piece and it's going to help the city. So, I I'm very thankful for this. Appreciate that.
Thank you. Um, okay. All those in favor? I I abstensions. Motion passes. Perfect. Okay. And so now we have we have two more. Um uh and and if nobody objects, I
would like to the resolution that I put forward for this evening, I I think I'd like to save it for next time just in um in in recognition of the the time. Um and that way we can move right into the resolution um for the battery storage and because I think there probably some
people here for that as well. So council Jassik, I'll move that right to you. Great. Thank you, Mr. President. So in the form of a motion. So this is an East Hampton City Council resolution regarding current and future plans for a lithium battery energy storage system best before the Massachusetts DPU.
Whereas this East Hampton City Council recognizes that water is life and is therefore a critical factor for ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of its residents. And whereas article 97 of the constitution of the commonwealth of Massachusetts states that the people shall have the right to clean air and
water, freedom from excessive and unnecessary noise, and the natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic qualities of their environment, and the protection of the people in their right to the conservation, development, and utilization of the agricultural, mineral, forest, water, air, and other
natural resources is hereby declared to be a public purpose. And whereas the city of East Hampton has created an aquifer protection committee to protect the city's sole source of drinking water, Barnes Aquifer, through regulations, ordinances, development review, and land acquisition. And
whereas there are current plans to install lithium battery storage units in Westfield near the Barnes aquifer. And whereas in an effort to develop alternative energy supplies, there has been an increasing number of proposed and constructed battery energy storage
system also known as best projects nationally whose technology is fairly new, rapidly evolving and for which there is not a wellocumented history of the impacts of these projects on local communities. And whereas best failures are such a frequent occurrence that the
Electric Power Research Institute maintains a database of best failure incidents whose consequences pose a very real potential threat to our environment, first responders and residents. And whereas best projects do not bring realistic economic benefits to
communities where they are constructed, such as jobs and/or new local tax revenue, and instead may burden communities with health and safety risks, long-term static land use, negative impact on existing residential land values, disincentivizing employers and businesses from locating into the
area, and creating lower than optimum local sales and ad valor tax opportunities. And whereas these lithium battery systems with known volatile risks contain software that is susceptible to cyber terrorist attacks from foreign adversaries that could result in the destruction of our power
grid leading to exposure to toxic gases, environmental contamination, destruction of personal property, loss of property values, and loss of life. And whereas one health and safety concern reasonably related to best projects is the potential for the ignition of fires,
explosions, and thermal runway events, which once initiated are extremely difficult to extinguish and may require the deployment of East Hampton Fire and Safety Resources and personnel to battle those fires. And whereas there is a proposal for a best project on MadiRaa's
Way in Westfield at a site that is partially located over Westfield's zone 2 and adjacent to Southampton zone 2 and located in the secondary recharge area for both municipal drinking water supplies and which may have direct impact on East Hampton's water supply.
And whereas our community responds in solidarity with Westfield's vulnerable populations as this proposed site is located in close proximity to an assisted living and memory support home, an environmental justice EJ census block group, a school, and a residentowned
manufactured home community, another designated EJ block group. And whereas we must balance clean energy progress with vigilant oversight to prevent environmental and public health harm from emerging technologies. Therefore, be it resolved that the East Hampton City Council opposes the construction of
any best project in Westfield, and be it further resolved that this project has the potential of violating East Hampton residents and our neighboring community residents, article 97 rights, and be it further resolved that sitting this project near to already overburdened EJ
and disadvantaged communities, schools, and long-term care facilities, and in a water resources protection district is not an equitable able distribution of environmental burdens and environmental benefits. And be it further resolved, the developer of any current or future
lithium battery storage facility should pay for a third party consultant to review the project to determine the possible effects of a best project on the drinking supply of all neighboring communities, specifically those utilizing the Barnes and Grape Brook aquifers. And be it further resolved
that the consultant should be hired and maintained through the project's application at DPU and should be separate from any specific consultant or monitoring agency that the city of Westfield has to represent the aquifer flow. And be it further resolved that
the East Hampton City Council is calling for DPU to issue a moratorum on all best projects until the affected communities can update and review the newest data. And be it further resolved that we want our mayor to engage in the creation of an aquifer task force by June 1st and
the mayor will provide city council and residents with a progress report by the middle of July and be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to state representative Omar Gomez, Senator John Bellis and to the chair of the DPU. Second. Okay, we have a motion in the
second. We have any further discussion? Councelor R. I I will be very quick. Um I just want to say um two specific thank yous on this. Um so the first is um I want to thank Kathy Wisinski for bringing this um to our attention.
Sometimes there are just so many policy things that are happening in East Hampton that it's hard to pay attention to what's also happening in neighboring communities. I did not realize to the extent of how troublesome and damaging this could
be were it not for you bringing the information to us. So I thank you for that. Um and and to just call out that this is a rare moment where whenever people disagree on policy issues that in East Hampton when it comes to our
environment and our water that we are unified um across the community. and this is a really important moment um to acknowledge that. So, thank you Kathy. Um and then the the other thank you is a thank you to councelor Denim. Um she had
started the process of writing this resolution and when there was so much enthusiasm and willingness to be co-sponsors of this resolution um she stepped aside to let those of us co-sponsor um because it it's important
to us as well. So, um, that that's a a moment of leadership that I appreciate, um, to give all of us the opportunity to on paper put our support to this. Um, so, thank you, Councelor Denim. Thank you, Kathy Wasinski.
Council Trill. Yeah. I I just want to say um I also would like to thank Kathy and Jean because I I was not fully aware of this um until Kathy spoke and she she was nice enough to speak at at this meeting as well as last meeting and and uh to code till council Riley said this
affects everybody. We can agree and disagree a lot on a lot of things. This affects every single person with an earshot of me right now. And and people need to just educate themselves on this because once you just read about this and inform yourself about this, there is
no benefit. There is absolutely no benefit. And it's not an if a fire happens, it's when. And we've seen that based on what's happened in California, what's happened in New York. And we need to be proactive and not allow that to happen here because they are reacting in
those two states based on snap decisions they made letting these uh facilities in. And we need to take those examples and learn from that and be proactive on this. So again, I like to thank Kathy and Jean for what they've done. I like to thank councelor Jezdic um for the resolution and just educate yourself on
this please because it's very important to everybody. Thank you. Any other thoughts? I just wanted to say that in addition to all the other comments which we appreciate, other communities are getting on board
with this. This is happening to all of the valley. Uh when it was mentioned that uh Hoyok, Westfield, Ammerst in under consideration, we're joining a very good group uh in the passage of this
resolution. So, uh, I appreciate all the efforts of fellow counselors, the quickness with which we're bringing this forward. Uh, and we want to let the world know. Please give it pause for now. Give it
pause. Not in Westfield and not in East Stamp. Any other counselors? I guess I I'll just say, you know, I'm an environmentalist and so I can support this. Um, you know, I kind of look at this through a different lens I think
that other people are looking at it through. Um, because we are in a climate emergency right now. We are in a a specific space of like being addicted to fossil fuels and we live in a valley. So, we should care because, you know, Springfield is one of the biggest hot
spots for asthma in the country. And the reason is cuz we live in a valley and there's pollution here now. So, I would love to see the energy that's been focused towards stopping a renewable energy project, which I believe that this is, um, towards weaning us off of fossil fuels. And, you know, sometimes
there's something called specific phobias where you're afraid afraid to get in a plane because you think it's going to crash, but really the danger was driving to the airport. Um, and so I I just want us to be mindful of that in context of the fact that, yeah, this is
new, it's scary, and there are potential issues here. And you know, I I'm have no problem voting for this to put the brakes on until we know exactly what's going on. But there's a bigger issue here, which is like you don't get to ch pick and choose when you become an environmentalist and what topics like
you you care about the environment, you care about the environment. You should care about it all the time. You should care about clean air in the valley all the time. And part of that is caring about the other issues, too. Um and focusing some of that energy. So, I'd really like to see, you know, like yard signs and energy focused towards really
helping us all come together cuz this we all live in the same fishbowl. So, this is something we should all care about and it's something we should all pull together and work towards together. So, um that's all I have to say. And so, I will say all those in favor.
Any nos or abstensions? Motion passes. Uh and nobody told me they had any communications. Is that correct? Mr. I just have a quick question on the item that we're not doing tonight. And maybe this is a Marian question. Do we have to remove it by motion without prejudice or
do we just we I think we can just extend it until our next meeting. Marian's like I don't I don't we don't even have to vote. We don't even have to Yeah. Um and does does anybody have any announcements they'd like to make quickly? Um because I would like to get to mayor's
communications because I believe we have something that needs to happen during mayor's communications. Isn't that correct? Yes. Okay, perfect. Um, thank you, um, Mr. President. Um, I would like to swear in Maryanne Giza,
um, as our city clerk and clerk to the city council. Thank you, mayor. Repeat after me. I state your name. I, Maryanne Giza, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially that I
will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform discharge and perform the duties incumbent the duties incumbent upon me upon me as city clerk as city clerk and clerk to the city council and clerk to the city council for the city of Eastampton for the city
of East Hampton according to the best of my knowledge and abilities according to the best of my knowledge and abilities agreeable ly to the rules accordingly to the rules and regulations and regulations of the Constitution of the United States of America of the Constitution of the United States of
America. The laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city of East and the City of Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Okay,
Mr. President, can I say something real quick, please? I I forgot. I had something to say just real quick. I just want to make everybody aware that uh Saturday, April 26th is opening day for East Stampton Little League um down at Nanatuck Park. So, everybody is invited and I just want to make everybody aware
of that. It's Saturday, April 26th at 9:00. Perfect. Does does anybody else have any I didn't want to rush us through that, but I wanted our clerk to get sworn in. Yeah, actually I have a couple of things. Yep, feel free. I think it was
um one is that on April 22nd, it's Earth Day. Um so there will be a proclamation read out um front here. And also on um April 26th, which is a Saturday, at
9:00 a.m. 9 to noon, there's going to be a tree distribution. Um so we'll be handing out trees. So in in honor of um Arbor Day, um so there'll be that opportunity to um pick up um trees.
Yeah. So I just want to make people aware of that. Thank you. Um, yeah. Council, we have a time for that. 9 to noon. 9 to noon for the pick up of trees at Biggies. Big E. Yes. Big trees. Big trees at Big E. Okay. Uh, little trees.
Little trees. No other announcements. Okay. Uh, great. So, let's uh go into reports from uh standing committees. Uh, finance. Councelor Peak. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, we met last week to discuss the two appropriations that we vote on tonight. Uh we will be meeting
next week uh at uh 5:30 uh to be disc to discuss two uh CPA appropriations that I could uh uh take a first reading of. That would be great. Thank you. All right. So um I'll do these as a single motion um to do do both of these
appropriations and to set a public hearing for both of them uh for our next meeting at uh 6:15 p.m. in this chambers. Great. Um so uh first one request is hereby made for approval of the following
appropriation amount requested $21,875 to be appropriated from uh CPA reserved for affordable housing $2,913 CPA undesated fund $962 uh for a total of
$21875,000 $21,875. 5 uh to be appropriated to Valley CDC mortgage subsidy financial literacy $21,875. The amounts requested will be used for the following purpose. Uh
provides low to moderate income households with financial literacy, education, housing, counseling services, and three down payment assistance grants. Uh the second appropriation is
uh uh requests hereby made for the approval of the following appropriation. Amount requested $69,382 to be appropriated from CPA reserve for open space $1,948. CPA undesated funds
$67,434 to be appropriated to LARUP years 2 and three uh invasive removal $69,382. The amount requested will be used for the following purpose. Uh the funding would be used to control invasive vegetation
uh on le community land and educate the public about invasive species. Uh those are Yeah, second. Okay, we have a motion in the second um for the community preservation act supplemental appropriations to send them to finance
and set a public hearing. Uh any further discussion? Okay. All those in favor? I abstensions? Motion passes. Thank you, councelor Peak. Anything else includes? Perfect. Public safety council trail. So, we had a very uh informative and
detailed discussion uh during our last meeting regarding a lot of safety traffic safety items in town, but all centered around the 25 mph citywide speed limit proposition. So, um in response to that, I would like to request a public hearing in these
chambers um on May 7th at 6:15 for the 25 mph citywide speed limit. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. Any nos or abstension? Motion passes. And one other thing, our next meeting will will be April 20 Tuesday, April
29th at 6 p.m. in conference room 1 downstairs. Okay. Thank you, Councelor D. Thus concludes uh appointments. Councelor Smith. Uh thank you, Mr. President. appointments has not met since the last city council meetings, but I do have one appointment to move
forward to the appointment subcommittee. So, I'll make this in the form of a motion to move Maddie Palmer for the position of assistant city clerk with an term expiration date of April 1st, 2028. Second. Second. We have a motion and a
second uh to move the assistant clerk appointment to uh appointments. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. Any nos or abstension? Motion passes. Thank you, Councelor Smith. Anything else? Um, would it be possible to put a
90-day extension on the ongoing agenda item request that is currently listed there? Yes, it would. And and that's in the form of a motion, correct? Yes, it is. Okay. Second. Okay. We have a motion and a second for a 90-day extension on the um one uh appointment agenda item.
All those in favor? I. Any abstensions or nos? Motion passes. Uh ordinance. Oh, I'm sorry. That concludes, right? Yep. That uh ordinance councelor D. Uh thank you, Mr. President. So, uh on April 1st,
uh the ordinance uh committee uh met to discuss the um the review of the affordable and fair housing partnership zoning ordinance recommendation. Had good conversation there. Um it is by no means over and
we're continuing to have those um conversations. Uh and we will have um no decisions have been made. We've just been you know discussing uh the next meeting regarding u the review of the zoning ordinance
recommendations will be April 28th at 6:00 p.m. in conference room 1. Um, we have also uh had really great conversations around the ordin uh ordinance amendments regarding
short-term uh rentals. Um, we've had a lot of public input particularly from um um hosts of the short-term rentals. And we've also had a few um uh uh
community members uh expressing concern around those uh short-term rentals. Um and we are uh we this past um meeting we had input from the uh fire department
um as well as the building commissioner and as well as the uh police department uh was also there and they shared their concerns around other things. We've got some clarification around various statewide codes uh fire codes, building
codes uh etc. So, um that uh and we've also had a lot of input from our our our uh planning department who's done a lot of work on this as well. So, I appreciate all of that work and all of the time that staff has put in, city staff has put into to to this
discussion. Uh we are going to have another meeting regarding short-term rentals on April 30th um at 6 p.m. also in conference room 1. Um so that will happen. Um and then
regarding the other items, we've been spending a lot of time on these as well as the um East Hampton shruby ordinance which is now off our plate. But uh we will continue to make headway with those things as as time um allows. But um
other than that, that's everything that our committee has to offer council this evening. Thank you, Councelor Dam. And uh apologies to the property committee. Did you all reorganize? Councelor Peak, are you now the chair? Okay. I wanted to make sure we announced that and I didn't
want to get it wrong. And uh councelor Kiff, are you now the taking notes? Thank you very much. Taking names. Appreciate that. Councelor Property. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh yes. So the property mean committee has not met in a
long time despite having an agenda item on our agenda since December uh around a ordinance request uh regarding flags on public properties including over ponds. We recognize that there's a lot of community interest in this subject. So
we're going to be holding a meeting and sort of an informal public hearing of sorts just to get community impact. That's going to be occurring on Monday. uh the 21st at 6:00 p.m. Uh ideally in these changes that's
possible. Um building will be closed as Patriots Day. It's a holiday. Oh, it is. Yeah. Well, then that's not going to work. What a good time for a flag discussion. True. Patriots. Yeah. Um well, shoot. Uh what was the other day we were talking
about? I'm sorry, guys. I just want I Tuesday or Thursday? Tuesday. Yeah. Let's do Tuesday the 22nd. Tuesday the 22nd. Um that's Earth Day, but that's good. Yeah. Every day is some sort of day. Let's Let's do Let's do the 22nd. Uh yeah, I just I want to get this
announced because I want to get it like, you know, I want to do it before our next meeting. So, uh yeah, I apologize for that. 5:30 or 6? 6. 6. Yep. If that's okay. Thank you, Council. I don't know, Mr. President. Yeah, Council. Um, so my only comment, Tom, I
just want to or I'm sorry, councelor P, uh, is I just want to for even our small committee and also for the public, I want us to make sure that we don't get mired down
in the opposing parties who want or don't want a flag. I I feel like I want to get to work on this in terms of creating something. And so if I don't I guess my
my preference would be I mean I think we know there's a lot of people who love it, a lot of people who hate it. Okay. Um so if we could limit maybe the the public hearing, you know, not to hours and hours an hour, maybe one hour or something because I think we're very
clear on the opposing issues. It really is now a legal safety and whatever else issue that we have to address and that's for us to do here. So, just throwing that out there. And I think that's fair and you guys can sort that out. Yeah.
Um, okay. Any other uh items that need to be held in these chambers? That would be awesome. Not the biggest one you've got. Yeah, it is recommend. Okay. Rules and super. Uh, yeah. And let's conclude.
Oh, thank you. Thank you, Councelor Peak. Uh, councelor Quisinski, rules and government relations. Yes. Uh, regarding uh the home world charter amendment request for the mayoral compensation that also is in conjunction with terms
of the public health office. And there's an issue that we've asked for some clarificate I've asked for some clarification additionally from our attorney and I hope to get that and then get back to the committee for a meeting and then we could I think wrap that up
there. There's basically an issue of do we need to change the the the how we define the term of the mayor because we're doing some other integral changes as to when we vote. It gets very complicated. Let's get some clarification. Try to
make it as simple as possible. Uh should we move? Yep. I would say the creation of the nine member rent study go to Yep. the issue of the creation of nine member rent study committee and I'd like to move that to uh rules and government
relations. Second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I. No abstension. Motion passes. concludes. Oh, thank you councelor Kinski. I don't see any other new business which means that I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. So second
we have a motion and a second. All those in favor I thank you everybody. Appreciate you. Look at that. We got collapsed in this one. That's amazing. Thank you for clapping.