This government meeting is brought to you by Eastworks and our local cable subscribers. Good evening and welcome to the East Hampton City Council meeting for Wednesday, November 5th. Meeting tonight is being recorded and broadcast by E Media on Charter Channel
193 and livereamed on their web page, eastampdia.org. Councilors and participants in this meeting are gathering hybrid on the order extended until June 30, 2027, allowing 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 in the public hearing.
Thank you. This meeting is now called to order. Here I am. >> Peg Coniff here. >> Connie Denim >> here. >> Salem Derby >> present. >> Felicia Jadzik >> here. >> JP Quisinski >> here. >> Tom Peak >> here. >> Brad Riley >> here. >> Tamara Smith >> here. >> JT Terrell
>> here. >> At this time, I'd like to take a moment of silence to reflect on anything that's on our mind and to help us become more focused for this evening. I would ask you rise for the pledge of
allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. All nations under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I promise to do my best to
>> any minutes. >> No, should be next time. >> There was just a little election that that happened in between and it gets a little a little rough. I would like to take this opportunity while we have Maryanne here to thank her for all the hard work and her staff. She and her
staff did for this election. Uh it went off better than I think could could ever be expected. This is her first time doing it on her own as city clerk. So, round of applause.
Would you please pass the word along to everyone? >> Thank you. Yes. I'd like to thank all the election workers. Of course. Yeah, man. Abs. Absolutely. I'm just going to take a moment of privilege here to congratulate all those
who came together to work on campaigns to work and get out to vote and for those who stood up and took the challenge. It is remarkable. It is democracy. It is
our best system at its best. Thank you all for participating, putting it out there, and going home with nothing left. That's the way to do it. Get on the field, play the game. I thank you all.
Public comment. Is there anyone in the audience who care to make any statement? You will have up to three minutes up to not including please state your name, your address.
For the record, >> yeah, my name is Nathan Marque, 37 Holio Street. I want to thank the voters of East Camp for making me city council elect. I also want to congratulate Salem um Derby on a well thoughtout race and
JT Terrell is a spirited race. It did not get ugly though there was definitely pointed um commentary. I also want to thank Lindsay Sakula who is a dear friend of mine um on her race that she um weighed as well and I certainly hope
she sticks around as executive assistant. Um, I also want to say bye Peg and um, thank you for being my micromanager on the very last day of my campaign. So,
get back in line. But um, anyhow, yes, I'm Thank you. Voters will be stamping. Congratulations to everybody. And that is it. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Going once. Going twice. No takers here.
How about in the audience if you could raise your hand uh virtually and let me know you're interested in saying a few words and you have up to three minutes going once going twice
I don't see any takers this is now closed for public speaking so if anyone's here to address public hearings. Please stick around. 6:15. Three more minutes. Let's see what we can do.
First up, items for immediate immediate action. I have none communications from elected officials, boards, and commissions. I would like to defer to somebody who might like to say a few words.
But first, I'd like to say just how grateful I am to that person who stepped up is yours. >> Thank you. >> Um, I'll try to keep this under three minutes. Um, >> that's why we timed it that way.
>> I I do hope you'll indulge me for a few moments as tonight will be my last city council meeting. Um, but before I go, I wanted to just say a couple of things. This is the second time I'm retiring from the East Hampton City Council and trust me, this is the last retirement
there will be. Um, I retired at the conclusion of the 2021 term and was oh so certain that was my last city council stint. However, fate had other ideas. My prior six years on the council and these past nine months have reminded me that this job is not for the faint of heart.
It has been challenging, fun, timeconsuming, changemaking, and important. And it is a priv privilege I never took for granted. Will I miss it? Probably. But I am more certain than ever that it's time for fresh voices to join the conversation about moving East Hampton forward. And I am thrilled at
the new counselors we elected just yesterday. I originally joined the city council in 2016 with zero prior political aspirations, but a desire to contribute my time to the city I had grown to love. I asked a simple question to a friend. Do you know how I can
volunteer for a committee or something? I have a great idea. You should run for city council was her excited response. Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but here we are. As this chapter of my life ends, I wanted to send out a sincere and heartfelt thank you to East Hampton. First and foremost, to all the
people of East Hampton, you show up when your community needs you most. From community events like Cultural Chaos, Porchfest, Give Them the Bird, and Dejubilation to name just a few. And yesterday, the amount of food people brought in when they came in to vote was
phenomenal. Um, so that just quietly lead lending a hand to your neighbors when no one is watching to fighting fiercely for the causes that mean the most to you. I am humbled daily by your compassion, your engagement, and your commitment to the little city with a big
heart. I want to especially thank everyone who works in city hall. I have worked alongside most of you during my time on the council and have come to appreciate your knowledge, your professionalism, and your willingness to educate me on the finer details of anything from city planning to speed
limits and traffic patterns among a thousand other questions I have asked. No matter how silly my questions may have sounded, you answered them thoroughly and patiently. Your time commitment to the city is at times heroic. attending meetings after your workday ends, committee meetings, city
council meetings, and probably others I know nothing about. Thank you so much for all that you do. To our public safety department, fire nor police chief Alexander and former police chief Albertie, I appreciated the frank and open conversations we have had through
the years. And although may we may have disagreed, I always felt there was mutual respect in the room and I hope you felt the same. Thank you for your dedication to keeping us all safe. to the past and present city councilors that I have had the privilege to serve alongside. I thank you for your
collaboration, your insights, and often the ability to bring new and unique perspectives to the table for discussion and reflection. Continue to listen, to question, and to innovate. The city needs your insight and your energy now more than ever. Keep up the great work.
Thank you to my wife, Deb, who has for years listened to me go on and on about almost every city council meeting. And even when I started to bore myself, she continued to listen. Before I go, I do want to congre congratulate Mayor Derby, the new city
council members, the new school committee members. You have hard work ahead of you, so good luck. If you do a good job, East Hampton will thrive. In any election, there will be those who win and those who don't. And we celebrate our can the our chosen
candidate who wins. But no matter if the candidate who won was our first choice choice or not, it is our responsibility to hold every elected person accountable. Democracy is indeed messy, but it is also alive and well in East Hampton, and for that we should be grateful. So, thank you, East Hampton,
for the opportunity to serve you. It's been truly one of the great honors. Good luck. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Sorry to hear this will be your last. >> I don't believe it personally.
>> Smart smart company. Um >> motion to open the public hearing. Second. >> Um we have a motion to open the public hearings. I suppose it's time. Thank you again. Public hearing. Motion to open the
public hearings. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Public hearings are now open. Supplemental appropriations CPA. Yes. Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Uh, we have three CPA appropriations here.
Uh, Eva will be able to answer anything, but I'll I'll do my best to uh just ceue them up. Um, and so uh the first one that we have is a uh $200,000 appropriation from the fund balance
reserve for affordable housing. Uh this is uh going to go to the Ferry Street affordable housing project. Um, you might recall voting on this before because uh when the CPA initially uh made a the larger ask, they decided to
split it up across several fiscal years. So, this is the third and final year where we're going to be uh voting on this. The other two payments have already been made. Um and uh this would be uh used to help the construction of
90 plus affordable housing units. um in uh the Ferry Street development. Uh this was voted on unanimously by both the CPA and the uh city council finance committee as were all the other ones that we're going to be talking about tonight. Um was there anything else you
want to say? >> Um I'll just note so this is 200,000 of a total of $500,000 that has been awarded for this project or was uh suggested for appropriation by the CPA committee. the final appropriation as as councelor Peak said. Um and this
$200,000 along with last fiscal year's $2,000 $200,000 from FY25 will be um awarded after the placing of the permanent affordable housing deed restriction on the property. >> Anything else? Any questions from any of
the counselors regarding this matter? Seeing none, I will open this up to the public in the audience. Anyone care to speak on the subject? Seeing none, I'm the online group. Anyone care to speak on the subject,
please raise your hand. Now, seeing none, this is going to be a quiet beginning to the evening. Any further discussion on the subject? I will entertain a motion.
>> Uh so yeah uh I would make this following request in the form of a motion. Uh requests hereby made for approval of the following appropriation amount requested $200,000 to be appropriated from fund balance reserved for affordable housing $200,000 to
appropriated to fair street affordable housing $200,000. The amount requested will be used for the following purpose. Uh the funding is requested for the construction of 90 plus affordable housing units as recommended by the CPA committee in the FY24 project funding
agreement. Second >> motion in a second. >> Any further discussion? >> Councelor Riley. >> Yeah, I I do actually have um one question that just came to me. Um uh councelor Peak, can you tell me once we
approve this, what is the remaining balance in this account? with that >> certainly. Yeah. So, the remaining balance um in the affordable housing account after this appropriation is $59,78
and the total uh the total remaining amount in the in the CPA accounts is 619,189. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other questions?
Seeing none. Uh all those in favor I >> opposed. >> Motion carries. >> Great. Next. >> Okay. So, the next one uh that we have is a $78,020 appropriation uh for rebuilding the uh
national pond retaining wall at fishing access point. Um, so I think people probably know uh there there's some pictures if if people need to, but there's a there's a point in on National Pond in Nontok Park where uh a lot of people go to fish. There's a retaining
wall that's set up there. That retaining wall is doing less of a good job retaining every single year. It's degrading. Um it's going to get need to get replaced anyway. And they so they they've had this set up in a way uh that's going to be a lot more stable. Uh
it's going to be using stone instead of wood. So it should be a I think this one is uh the the wood one has been good for a little while, but this one should last us for at least you know a generation. Um and it's going to be sort of terrace
with a a spot that'll be like a nice spot for u people who are fishing to uh to stop by. So, um, you know, and obviously it's something we need to do because you don't want all of that point falling into the pond, which is going to happen if we don't repair it. And so,
uh, I think it's a nice project. Once again, everyone's approved it. Um, >> yeah, >> a question, >> Councelor Smith. >> Um, how are these materials going to get to that point? Would they come by a boat
just across the pond or would they go through all of those woods and trails down? >> Well, I think that the spot that we're talking about isn't super far from one of the the the roads in >> uh Natuck Park. So, I think they should
be able to drive them up to to that point and then uh I'm not sure if the plan would be to physically carry them or to to get a little tractor or something, but in some way to you we should be able to get them about 100 feet away really really easily. And I'm not sure about the
remaining uh step. That might be a question. Uh I don't know if John Mason is on the call, but uh he might know better than me, but we should be able to get pretty close. Um >> I'm just I wonder I I thought that this was the retaining
wall in the very back of the pond. Like I we get there by a a boat versus the one on the side. So it looks like Beth Tiffany might have an answer. >> Um >> she can answer. Yeah. Or I can also if I
can share my screen sharing >> capabilities I can show where this is. >> Yeah. Go ahead. Okay, >> I can talk to this as well if you'd like.
>> I will. Thank you. >> Get those three dots. >> This one. >> Yep. Then go add us. >> Should be all set. >> Should be able to share. >> Okay.
>> Excellent. Okay. Um, so this this retaining wall is located right here at this point. Can counselor see it? >> Yep. >> Okay. And so the park road is this is this circle right here
>> right at the point. >> And so the access um I think they actually had it on one of the slides. Yeah. So here's the road right up here. There's some large um stones right on the edge. And then the the intention is for the construction equipment to drive
down this way into this open wooded area. >> Okay. I I thought it was the other location and I just couldn't even see how it would get through there. So, thank you. >> Anyone in the audience care to speak to the subject?
Anyone? Beth Tiffany, would you please go ahead and unmute? Thank you. >> And you're up. And you may even have some answers for us. Um, just to expand on what Ava said, if you're at the boat
launch, it's across. You look across to this. >> Okay, >> Mara, it's not at the end where the siltation basin is. I think that's what you're talking you're thinking about. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> No, that's the siltation basin. There's no retaining walls down there.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. There any other questions I could answer? I think Ava explained though pretty much. >> I I'll note that the the conservation commission um permitted this this
retaining wall back in June um of this year and uh just that we the city has a lot of gratitude to the Nwanic Pond steering committee for this really thoughtful application. They've offered $20,000 of their own um donations to to
supplement this $78,000 and 20 appropriation um towards this project and um as well as a lot of a lot of inind donations um namely the namely the permitting process which is easily a $10,000 process um that they had the
skills and expertise to do inhouse. So really extremely professional crew to work with there. >> That's amazing. >> Great. Thank you for Paul Davis. >> Thank you. Anyone else in the online group that would care to comment or
ask questions? Seeing none, I had one question if I may. And that was in your overall discussions. This is an important infrastructure project for the city though into the pond itself and there
are various pieces and components that go together and need work and repairs and monies from time to time. Was there anything on the horizon that's coming that we're not aware of yet and we should be just just kind of keep in the
back of our minds as we think about the future? I think I'll defer that question to the nationalic pond steering committee if they have anything they want to note on that. >> I can talk to that >> comment again. I recognize you.
>> Okay. We um eval we had GZA evaluate all six retaining walls last uh 2023 May of 2023. and they wanted an extraordinary amount, 19,000 something, just for what they
thought should be done. And we didn't agree with all of their evaluations, and they wouldn't even show them to us until we paid the 19,600. So, um, we decided that this one wall
was visibly a problem. if this busts out the sediments in the pond. That's what they were put in there for. Um, so we have already paid $9,600 for the design
and then we use that to continue with the concom. We don't have any future plans right now. We're trying to get through this and then we'll um then we'll look at the other ones to see if there were some
that we really feel need attention. Um yeah, and we may be working on a pond management plan. Um but that would be no that's something that Ava mentioned to us that she'd like to see in the future.
So that's kind of on our thoughts, but that is not anything we would go looking for money for. Thank you for putting this request in perspective. I appreciate that very much. Uh any other comments or thoughts from the counselors?
I would entertain a motion and 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 $78,020 uh to be appropriated from fund balance
reserved for open space $78,020 to be appropriated to nationalic pond retaining wall $78,20. The amount requested will be used for the following purpose. Uh the funding would be used uh to rebuild the retaining wall and fishing access point
ensuring the stability of a heavily used portion of the pond shore. Second >> motion in a second. I have a question from counselor. >> No question, just a comment. >> Comment. No question.
>> Um, no, I I appreciate the work that's being done in regards to this. Um, this particular location has a special spot in my heart as my partner and I were married there. Um, and in fact, we even had some fishermen there who were fishing while we were um our vows. Yeah.
It was quite lovely. Um but um I think this is just a an indication of um um you know using our funds to meet the various needs of our constituents, right? And this happens to be one small population of fishermen, right? Or fisher women or fisher people uh to be
able to kind of access the the park and to and to to use the park in the ways that they would um that they enjoy. So I appreciate the work that you've done on this. >> Thank you. anything we can do to help those who fish. >> Yeah.
>> We don't eat the fish, but >> they can always throw them back and hope for a better time, right? As we as we proceed to make this the pond stronger and cleaner and move forward. >> Um, >> uh, I made the motion.
>> Second. You made the second. >> All comments were dealt with. No one else. Let's have a vote. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. >> Do I just say thank you so very much. We
have been two years and it's going to be hopefully done in the spring. It's been a long journey doing this and without Ava, wow, incredible helping us. Concom CPA finance committee, thank you very much.
We really appreciate it and we love the pond. >> And thank you for all your help. >> All righty. Have a good evening. >> Okay, one more CPA. Uh this is a $75,000 appropriation to fund an assessment and
restoration design of the town clock. Uh so for those who were not here the last time we had this conversation, the clock that uh sits at the congregational church on uh Main Street is owned by the
city. Uh how exactly that came to be I not exactly clear about, but it is in fact owned by the city of East Hampton. Uh it is not in great shape. The Congregationalist Church would like it to be in great shape. It is a historic church. So, uh, it does apply. They do
apply for these funds, but even, uh, without that, it is our property and so it's not really their job to fix it. It's it's ours. A portion of it, um, fell and could have badly hurt somebody if they had been um, present at that
time. Uh, so that's why it's got the sort of mesh over it right now, but the thought is that they would very much like to get it fixed up. Uh but to do that we have to sort of get a design and assessment of of the the overall just the the big picture and and what needs
to happen there. Um we did put out uh an appropriation a few years ago to do something like this and um correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that basically the amount was not sufficient for the kind of um for for what this
sort of work actually requires. So, we're we're taking another shot at it now. Um, and uh yes, I don't know if would you like to add anything or did I get it right? >> Yeah, I I think you're spot on. I think that the the idea was to um was to set a
high number knowing that there's also a $20,000 and $20,500 free cash appropriation still set aside for this project. So, if the council approves this appropriation, bringing the total amount of to $95,500
um for this RFP for a a design and a structural design and assessment of the of the clock and the surrounding elements needed to support it. And this is a city planning project. So, I can also defer it to to Allison, the
planning director, wants to speak to it. Okay. Just for a moment, I'd like to just say that this is the you describe the place. Well, I it's across from Big E for anyone who may not may not recognize the street names, etc. As an orientation
point, it is the iconic center of our city uh and really is classic New England in my opinion uh and serves us kind of as a grounding point and it is our clock. Allison, please.
>> Hi, everyone. Allison Emanuel, planning director. I don't really have much to add um other than to uh touch on the free cash appropriation. We did use a portion of that to do the black shrouding that is currently on the clock um which was a safety measure uh because
of the pieces that were falling off. Um the plan is to use up that free cash appropriation first and then um cover the difference with the CPA funds. The hope is that that the total amount that we're appropriating here is is more than
is needed. Uh we just don't want to run into the same problem again where nobody even responds to our request for proposals because our numbers just too low. >> And if that's the case, if it is if it does come in under, we'll return the CPA
money. So if I understand this correctly, our options are to leave the clock in place with some sort of shrouding, fix it, make it run and operational, to come up with a plan to make it run an oper and operational,
remove it. It which kind of I'm not sure that's an option, but it is a consideration. Uh >> it is a contributing structure to the uh Main Street Historic District. So, we would run into some trouble, I think, trying to remove it entirely. The
shrouding is definitely just a temporary measure. It's not going to um it's not it's it's not going to hold everything back if everything starts to fail. And there are internal parts as well, and the study will look at that. It's not just about the facade and the exterior. There's clockworks inside and a very
heavy bell. Um and the structure that supports that will be uh looked at closely to make sure that it can continue to support the bell. if there's any um you know shoring up that needs to be done that will that will be put into the designs. >> That's great. Thank you for the explanation,
>> Council Riley. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um yeah, I remember when when we initially had this conversation and um one of the concerns that I had back then which I I just would like to reiterate again is so I know this is a a very peculiar situation
where there is city property within a church. um and that the the line between the separation of church and state and in in terms of how things are funded um is also peculiar in this um situation.
So you know this is with you know no slight to um those from within the church. They've been incredible community partners to the city of East Hampton. I would just like to reiterate my caution that when this project
begins that we don't spend any money repairing things for the church that is the church's property. So, you know, there's clearly a line between where our property ends and theirs begins and that
if while doing this work, there's an understanding that something else must be done to the the church itself, that we're very clear on who pays for what. Um, and I I see counselor Peak has his hand up, so maybe he has an answer for me.
>> Excellent point. Uh, peculiar. That's a very peculiar word, but it's very, very good choice, counselor Pete. Um, yeah. I what I will say about this, and this is kind of news to me, um, to be honest, uh, even though we've discussed this before, I must have
gone over my head last time, is that, um, whether or not you believe that this should be the case, um, CPA funds can be used to fund repairs of churches, provided those churches are in fact histo designated as historical
structures. So um I mean I generally agree that in principle our focus should be fixing our stuff because we have a responsibility to do that and it's not shouldn't be anyone else's responsibility to fix our stuff. But just for the record like I think in
Hadley recently they have a historic church that they use some CPA funds to make I think steeple and clock uh repairs there and that is not city property. It's just it is a designated historical structure and part of a historical district. So, uh the funds
would be allowed to do that. So whether or not I think there's a broader question about you know preferences and whatever, but like just in terms of the legality of it like CPA funds are permissible for that use. >> Perfect. Thank you for explaining. I I don't know how I never learned that
after all these years. >> I feel like I just learned it like three weeks ago. So, you know, >> that's great. Thank you for for providing that um insight. I appreciate it. >> Um, glad we're all learning things today. >> Councelor Janzik. Um, yeah, I just wanted to say that I think it's a it's
an interesting point that councelor Riley brings up only because I um I had the chance to hear a little bit about this project from our DPW director recently and um he probably can speak to us a lot better than I can, but it was my understanding from that conversation
that the access to the clock is quite dangerous in and of itself. Um, and so I do think that what council Riley brings up is an interesting point for us to consider perhaps even just a further conversation in the future with the church because if the clock is our
property, but we are not able to access it safely to allow a third party vendor or crafts person to be able to go and access that piece of our property. And if the church doesn't have funding to
mitigate that danger, I do think that puts us in a position where we might have to in the future consider do we have to then appropriate additional funding in order to use this appropriation to fix the clock. So
again, I don't know what the answers are, but I think it is a consideration for us to keep in mind to the peak. Yeah, I think that's a really great point, but I do think that just just for um just contextualizing this, the these funds will be used to to
do this design. Um so I think when those questions come up about a lot of these things like um you know, we're going to be able to have those discussions being fully informed about a lot of these these details and things where I think in some places we have a pretty good idea but maybe not a perfect idea. And
so my hope is that this project would actually help to contextualize it and help us to have those conversations uh with all the stakeholders involved. >> Yeah. From the public here, do we have any comments?
>> Good evening. Dan Rich, 26 Lion Street. I'm also the vice chair of the Hi guys. Vice Chair of the CBA committee, I want to thank councelor Peak for addressing
the concerns about church and state. Um, this is happening all over the state. When you designate locally a historic uh architecture like the the church, you can use CPA funds for it. You can use
CPA funds to fix a steeple like they did in Hadley and they did it in West Springfield. There's no restriction. it doesn't run a file of the anti- aid amendment. However, that doesn't mean you won't get complaints because I didn't know myself that that was
required until recently because I always thought we were going to run a foul of that if we just luckily we own the clock so we could get it fixed. But now there's not a problem with that. And to answer your questions, we have a member of the church board, Greg Roland, here who can talk about I've never been up
there. I don't think my legs would let me get up there, but he will he will answer your questions. I just have a statement to read. I've been a champion of the Community Preservation Act for as long as it has been available to the city. It allows our city to fund projects that otherwise could never be
funded with the tight budgets we have. The three tenants of the CPA restrict funding to affordable housing, open space and recreation, and historic preservation. Tonight, the council is considering and you have approved a project for all three. I
think that's remarkable. The clock has been on my radar for years after its deterioration was presented to me. We tried to fund the design a few years ago as Chancellor Peak said, but found that the funding was insufficient. Although the congregational church is an Amahill
local historic register and is eligible for funding, the unique situation of the clock being owned by the city is important as the liability for falling debris is strictly the city's debris recently fell prompting the city to have the
clocks outer cases covered to prevent that from happening. The clock looks like it's covered by a funeral shroud right now. Before we can fund the clock and the structural repairs that may be necessary, the law requires an architect make recommendations for its
replacement, a new bell ringer, and any structural repairs to ensure a 50-year life for our clock. The history of our small city can must be preserved. We have seen how history can easily be destroyed in the District of Columbia.
The church clock is quintessential iconic New England. Please preserve it. I also want to thank Allison Monroe and the planning department for sponsoring this as it needs the city department to do so. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Good evening, counselors. Uh my name is
Greg Roland. I am at 23 Summer Street in East Hampton. I um I've been on the CPA committee uh a long time. I'm the longest standing member on the CPA committee here in in in the city. Uh
I've been a member of the CPA committee longer than I've been a member of East Hampton Congregational Church, which I also am a member of. Um and I'm on sit on the board of trustees of the Congregational Church. I live uh for those of you who don't know where Summer Street is um behind East Hampton uh
Savings Bank and in that little neighborhood behind Big E. So I walk to church with my or I have in recent years with um my three teenage daughters and my wife. Um and um I just want to speak
to this is obviously a very unique property for the city. Uh it's a unique situation for the church. Um, and I'm going to speak a little bit to the history, um, because I'm also a history person. The the origin of East Hampton as a city, um, is intertwined with the
congregational churches of New England. And that's it's it's it's just part of New England history, and it's partly why these congregational churches are iconic and ubiquitous around small New England towns. East Hampton was created by a splinter group of the Northampton
Congregational Church that was over sort of near the Oxbow and D Street area and they basically petitioned to create their own their own congregation which became the city of East Hampton. And so our founding date of 1785
is when the charter for the new East Hampton Congregational Church uh was uh approved in Northampton. It sort of became legally separated at a time when church and state were kind of much more intertwined here in New England. So, I
just want to kind of uh I I'm not a believer in bringing church and state any closer together than they currently are, but that's a little bit of the reality of New England history. Um I think when it comes to CPA funds in
general, the committee at large, but also the city needs to look at public benefit. So independent of whether it is a religious structure or a privatelyowned tattoo parlor or we've had a number of different things that have come forward
over the years and the lens that the CPA committee looks at is the public benefit. Um so funding projects uh is really much you know through that lens and I just so I I think the committee has been very clear on that. uh and
looking at the anti- aid amendment is specifically not for churches necessarily but also just for non non-public or municipallyowned um properties. So a nonprofit that comes forward and wants public dollars is also subject to the anti- aid amendment in
the same way that religious institutions or other institutions are. Um so obviously the church as a church now I'm going to put my church hat on a little bit. um representing congregational church members who have
received complaints or requests from the public when are you going to fix your clock. It is been a challenge in recent years to navigate that because we don't own the clock. So, we as the church community would have put in a
application to the CPA committee for this historic clock long ago um and and and tried to have it repaired, but we we don't own the clock, so the church can't actually do that. So, we're really excited at this moment uh that the planning department has made this um
application. We think it's timely. It is the first step because it is an architectural assessment of the clock and the workings of the clock. Um, and we're eager just obviously there was some deterioration and we're looking to have that remedied um, both on the city
side but also on the church side. Um, as far as access and the integrity of the steeple, it is an old structure. Um, it is an inconvenient structure to access. It has never been meant to be convenient. It is a church steeple. Uh
that doesn't mean it's unsafe, but there is like a trapoor. It is a steep winding staircase to get to the top. I've been there multiple times. Uh part of this project long-term, the envisioning of it is that people will not need to access
it frequently. There is an enormous bell at the top. Um there is no there is no plan for the bell to swing. Uh, the bell has been static for years and the plan is to have a remote hammer to be able to
chime the bell and bring the the tone of the bell back to back to the city, but it should be able to be operated from like a remote location without having to go up and down. Um, so I think, you know, we'll see what the architectural
assessment is on this, but u I feel very safe going up and down. It's just extremely inconvenient and cramped. And I'm happy to take any questions from counselors. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else here
>> online? Please raise your hand if you have any comments. The public is invited online to have comments or questions. Seeing none,
I will say I was really appreciative of the elucidation of the arguments of church and state and CPA and the education that gets provided. Uh so I thank you all for your comments.
As we go through the various comments, what occurred to me is yes, we want to certainly preserve the ex exterior of the structure of the clock, the internals of the clock itself because it's owned by the city.
And it's a good question that councelor Jans raised about what happens if something else councelor Riley spoke to it, you spoke to it. What else do we do if uh something else is found? What happens?
This is good that we're going to study the matter. Uh we're going to find out. And I would going to easily say that well if it has to do with the outside of the structure it's easy to say this is the outside and it is an historic building
stairway stairway with access to ours and I appreciate uh Mr. Roland's uh comments about the integrity of the stairs to help us understand that from his perspective. So thank you. Any other
questions or comments or thoughts on the subject from counselors? Councelor Peak. Oops, I did not see counselor Smith. >> That's okay. >> Just yell out if I missed you. Thank you. >> I just rais my hand. Um, I was just wondering why are we still owning the
clock versus giving the clock to the church? >> Excellent question. I see several people. Yeah, I don't want to speak out the church, but I don't know that they want it >> for one thing. Uh, and the city signed a
memorandum of understanding a few years ago that spells out um what exactly we own and it was agreed to by both parties. So, >> so we have a historic record that establishes the current understanding of ownership.
I will recognize. >> When we first discussed this with former mayor Lash Chappelle, she actually offered to uh sell the clock for a dollar to the in the thought of trying to avoid the architect and all of this if they own the clock. But our purchaser
noted quite clearly that if we're using CPA tax funds, it doesn't matter who owns it. I mean, if the clock was owned by the church, we still had to have that architecture uh study done. So, um it doesn't need to
be changed in changed hands maybe in the future, but it doesn't solve the problem of having to have an AR because we were trying to avoid that that 75 or whatever thousands. We were trying to avoid it, but that cost is going to have to be incurred no matter who owns the clock.
>> Thank you. questions, >> further thoughts, Mr. Ro, >> I will recognize you. It's a little uncommon to go back to the audience, but please do.
>> Yeah, I I uh am unaware of the dollar offer to the church. Um um what I will say again a little bit of history um through the middle of the 20th century um and into I believe the 1970s there
was on payroll for the city of East Hampton a clock keeper. So it was a paid city position with somebody who accessed the clock and regularly kept it in condition you know in working condition on behalf of the
city. So it is not a relic of the 18th or 19th centuries. It's well into the 20th century that the city um had an active person paid in you know in part to take care of their clock. Um I think that was codified in an the memorandum
of agreement uh based on that history and I guess it potentially could be undone in some at some future time but that's just not where we are. But so I just wanted to kind of clarify again a little bit of the history of the that relationship. Um also I have a key to
the church. Uh and in my personal invitation to allow any council member to um to take a look. Um, so if you wanted to um get a tour, uh, we have been good partners
with the city for a very long time, but you know, since I happen to be the sole representative of the church here tonight, um, I I can let you in or anybody at the church would be happy to host you for access, I I don't think access should be a it's more of a logistical issue than a any other for
access. Thank you. >> Thank you for the invitation. Shall I counsel the peak? Go. >> All right. I'll make the following request in the form of a motion. A request is hereby made for approval of the following appropriation. Amount requested $75,000
to be appropriated from fund balance reserved for historical resources $75,000 to be appropriated to town clock design $75,000. The amount requested will be used for the following purpose. Uh the funding would be used to complete an assessment
and restoration design of the town clock. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second regarding the town clock. Any further discussion? All those in favor? >> I opposed. >> Eyes have it. Motion passes.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Peak. >> I'm all set up. Okay, to the denim. >> Thank you, Mr. President. So, uh before us, um we have a proposal prohibiting
the application of bioolids on municipal property. Um this has been an ongoing conversation for over a year where we had an additional item that's no longer on our um agenda regarding a moratorum
on sewage sludge. Um and what we found through discussions, we worked very closely with our um agricultural uh commission um and really sought their insights um
and thoughts and opinions uh regarding um bioolids on um property. in part um related to protection of the aquifer um as well as recognizing that the impact
of PAS on soil uh etc. And part of uh why we were talking about sewage sludge was there was an incident uh in the community where uh sewage sludge uh was applied uh to uh property uh which led
to um complaints from residents because of the intense odor that was associated uh with that. Um so we through our discussions with the aquafer protection um or I'm sorry the agricultural
commission they were really of two minds and very split um about um not allowing certain um materials to be applied to soil and in part that has to
do with East Hampton's uh right to farm. Um and so we were um gave them a lot of space to be able to have some internal dialogue around what that would look like. Um and so at a recent meeting we
removed the um the moratorum on sewage sludge uh without prejudice. So that is something that could be brought up again. At the same time, uh there are two states um Maine and Connecticut uh
that are looking at um laws uh prohibiting uh PAS um that could end up in in soils. Um and the state of Massachusetts or the Commonwealth right now is actually looking at something similar. And so we were not inclined to write something
that may be in conflict or not as um uh thorough uh in terms of looking at that. So, President uh Quisinski uh who was the original um
um proposer uh to this particular uh item uh worked with the um city solicitor um to create uh this proposal prohibiting the application of bios on municipal property. So instead of being
a kind of citywide thing, we narrowed the scope of it to be just on municipal property. Um and the agricultural commission felt that that was a fair compromise uh in part uh
because it becomes a um opportunity for the city uh to um uh kind of take the first step I guess so to speak in addressing this particular issue and then hopefully
other individuals farmers, uh, people who own property, you know, like houses and and whatnot would also follow suit to be able to adopt that. So, this is really just a first step. Um, the item is has not gone away because we um we uh
looked at um without prejudice, the the other kind of item that we had on the agenda. Uh, and so this what you have in front of you is really just um a a statement of uh of the city not um
not having any property that is maintained by the city to have any bioolids that are applied to it and hopefully other people will follow suit. So really it's just uh um being a good steward of our property um um and being a good mentor to the
rest of the city. So, as a first step, >> I'm happy to answer any questions, but I think that was really the gist of a year-long conversation. >> Councelor P. >> Um,
I am I think I I'm not as worried about PAS as anybody else. Um, I'm just curious, are there are there current applications of bioolids on municipal property? >> To my understanding, there are not. >> Okay. Um, but I think that this is
saying even moving forward that this is something that is not going to happen. >> Cool. Thank you. >> And I just want to be clear. >> Thank you. >> Is the So what we have before us is a new ordinance or is it a revision to an
existing one with the wording that you have here? Is this brand new? It >> is a new >> and that's what we're voting on tonight is this wording. Yes. Thank you. I go ahead. I >> I will say that I think that I have heard from one person within the
community that this could something that could be stronger and uh you know to your question of are we using well we're not using it on municipal property right but again uh could this be stronger? Could we do more? Sure. Yes. Uh I think
that we're in large part waiting to see what the Commonwealth decides. Um but also I think again no disrespect to anybody I think this is our first step uh given that we have um different stakeholders within the
community who look at soil use of soil soil contamination damage very differently right and so I think that we're trying to be uh good partners to some of our um
um city uh um committees, commissions uh to be able to to address an issue that I'm sure moving forward will be um a a challenging conversation
>> and I'm this was uh uh to to President Kuisinski, this was was your item. So if there's, you know, if there's things that you would like to say, I welcome you to speak. >> The state of Maine and and the state of Connecticut have enacted laws
>> and because of problems that they had with their farmlands in particular, and my biggest concern is that we protect the food supply. Mhm. >> The water supply may be affected if the contaminants leech through to our
aquifer which pervades much of the city in either a zone one or a zone two water supply areas. The concern I have is that the message just isn't getting
out for the most part. Farmers are unaware of the plight of other farmers in other states and in our state. As word spreads, I think we can help to
educate everyone to take action on this matter to restrain themselves voluntarily from putting forever chemicals on the farmland and into our water supply is
hope that everyone takes attention and pays attention to this. And that's what we're trying to do is to send that message forth. I think this this measure although limited does protect in fact some farmland in the city. The city owns
some farmlands that are leased out and used. could someday they'd turn into farmlands for vegetable production, for other farm products, for farm animals to eat. Uh aside from horses, let's say,
but animals that people would eat that would enter the food supply. That becomes our biggest concern. uh our water supply is important and we don't want any immediate runoff or runoff that would be or or areas that would be
infiltrated into the aquifer. So, we're taking that first step. At that time, if there's no further comments from counselors, I would open this up to the public. Councelor Riley, I saw you before I did. >> Um thank you, Mr. President. So, um, you
know, a a question that I have about this specifically is, and I and I don't know that there's an answer for it right now, and it's not going to change my vote. I'm going to I'm going to support this. Um, but I know just paying attention to
regional policy debates um that there there are a lot of concerns in Connecticut about what Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts do to the Connecticut River upstream because the things that we do impact the residents
of Connecticut against their own will. And I I would just say I I I think going forward if we could, you know, you all who have been reelected and for the new counselors coming in
to be mindful and and think about is there any potential where people could be held liable across state boundaries for violating, say, Connecticut law by having these chemicals ending up in
the water and coming downstream. I again I don't know what the answer to that is, but I know that this is a a very um heavy debate that's happening in Connecticut right now about what communities in Massachusetts are doing
with our water supplies. Um so to the extent that we take these next steps after this um that that we pay close attention to what could potentially happen um if it means that the state of
Massachusetts violates Connecticut state law. Um and again that that may be that you know the attorney general's office is the one that takes care of that. I don't know but um just to keep it on everybody's radar as you go forward in the future. >> Thank you. Anyone from the public in the
audience care to speak on this matter? Seeing none, how about the public online? Please raise your hand if you have any comments or thoughts. Seeing none entertain
motion itself. >> Great. Thank you, Mr. President. And again this is just in full transparency of first step right. Um so in the form of a motion uh to adopt chapter 8 article 1 sections 8 streets sidewalks
and public grounds um I'm not going to read the whole ordinance. So >> I think it probably should be >> I'm going to read this unless count for a peak so I can read it. I love reading,
but I think I'll let you have >> I'd be happy to read it. >> Uh, chapter 8, article one, section 8, streets, sidewalks, and public grounds. The application or spread of bioolids on real property owned, leased, or maintained by the city of East Hampton
is prohibited. A used in this ordinance, the term bioolids shall include but is not limited to A treated and untreated sewage sludge generated by a municipal, commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plant, septage or other source
collectively sludge. B compost materials which include sludge or any product derived from on containing sludge. >> Yeah, there's a typo. A couple were noting a couple typos
>> or C any other product or material that is utilized or intended for use as a fertilizer, soil amendment, top soil replacement or mulch or for other similar agricultural purposes purpose that is derived from or contains
spludge. >> Thank you. I would entertain a second. >> Second motion and a second. I'll make a motion to adjust the language. A in to as in the first sentence and in D the first on becomes or
>> second >> set motion is second to adjust the language. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion passes the amendment. Now the mo main motion. Any further discussion on the main motion? There being none. All those in favor?
>> I have it. Motion passes. >> Thank you. public. >> Motion a second to close the public hearing. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion passes. He said this hearing is now closed. I would like to
just give a quick communication before we proceed too far. Everyone who's listening on the live tonight, tonight is a very serious storm that's coming is dangerous. The winds could be very high
tonight. I've heard reports as high as 70 miles an hour. I don't know where it's coming from, but huge storm. I know we received ever source notifications. So, those who are out there, please take note for your light items, anything in
your yards, be careful, tie them down, get them inside. That being said, uh also wanted to report if I may about uh the election and swearing in since we
heard from councelor Khan who will be leaving us as of tonight. Uh we will be having uh her replacement. Uh and that is the person who has won the atlarge race who is not currently high the
highest votes in the atlarge race who is not currently sitting on the council. That person is councelor elect Jonathan Schmidt. Uh and we would invite you to be sworn in
at November 19th at the beginning of our meeting. So, thank you so much and congratulations. Welcome aboard to councelor uh Schmidt. Uh the other item is we have a new mayor
coming up. A mayor elect Derby uh who ran a very important race did very well won by the highest number of votes on the first round and in the next round. Uh so congratulations to our new mayor.
With that, the council business that we have before us will be the replacement of the precinct for person. I would at this time ask that the council consider scheduling a special meeting for November 19th
just before our regular meeting let's say at 5:30 where we could discuss the vote on the replacement. The process is that the council appoints for the remainder of the term according to charter the council
replaces for the remainder. >> Is that the person elected? the person elected. >> It's not the person elected. They they get to sign in. That's the way the charter reads. So >> maybe we could fix that at some point. >> Well, maybe we could fix it. And my recommendation at that time, at this
time, would be that we uh appoint uh the newly elected precinct for counselor, Amanda Newton, to the position. That's my recommendation, but that's an entirely a decision up to the council. Uh, so I would schedule ask for scheduling a
special meeting 5:30 on November 19th. >> So just a point of clarification. So just earlier than we would normally >> just earlier than we normally would meet which would meet through requirements of having a special calling a special meeting. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Uh, councelor D. >> We would also have to >> That's an interesting point. We do not >> in this case. >> Are you guys reading each other's minds? What What was counselor gonna say?
>> Well, because we reading each other's minds because >> she didn't say it. >> Counselor Jadzik replaced Gomez. >> And so technically after the election now, >> she also has to be sworn in.
>> I believe she was appointed for the remainder of the term. She believes she's not. If you'd like to be sworn in, I think we could accommodate that. >> Yes. >> Councelor Jazz. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, the former city clerk, Barbara Lumbard,
>> yes, >> told me in no uncertain terms that if I lost my election that I would lose the seat for the remainder of the year. So, it is my understanding that I have to be sworn in officially on the 19th to
replace myself for the rest of history. >> No, no, no. is really swimming in all of this. You're going to replace yourself. Well, tell me how to duplicate myself and I'd be in two places at once. >> I don't know how you would. >> Yeah, that would be great. Uh, councelor
Denim. >> Yeah, the the circumstance is the same, right? We had a vacancy and councelor Kiff replaced the former counselor. >> And this is the it's the same exact thing. So,
>> it it is a bit different. The vacancy occurred for councelor Jadzik's position early in the year when when when councelor Gomez resigned. That was an earlier situation. The vacancy which is
to occur by the 19th is just occurring. No, >> it may have to do. >> No, it's the same year too. >> Yours yours was as a as a pre as an atlarge council, >> right? >> Yes. I'll reconsult with the attorney. I'd be happy to schedule both. I mean,
just as Jonathan is replacing me, >> for the position of an atlarge counselor from before when the election occurred months ago, many months ago, your election occurred many months ago. I understood that there was a distinction. In any case, we hope to see your face
here on the 19th >> and and I would ver amend my motion to say to replace counselors for pre to replace precinct counselors
>> as as as required. >> Yes. And I I believe that for my position, unlike councelor Khan's position, I don't need to be approved to replace myself. I just need to be officially sworn in on the 19th. >> Right. And that may be the reason we're
not. Yeah. But in any case, we're going to say to replace counselors >> if that's okay with everybody. >> Second to that motion. >> Second motion and a second for the special meeting. All those in favor?
>> Opposed? Motion carries. We will have a special meeting on five at 5:30. >> All right. I see a someone on the on my seat over there. >> May I ask a question? >> No, no more questions for you. Please do.
>> No, I just wanted to This is just for me. So, Felicia will be reappointed until January when she's sworn in. >> And in a similar Oh, God. I don't want
to screw it up and I don't want any more questions. So, I take my question away. Let's move on because I think I'm going to go down and don't >> that we probably don't need to go down. Never mind. >> It's probably all good since she's replacing herself. >> Tom has a question.
>> Can I attempt this? Oh, >> or we can move on. I don't really care either way. >> Basically, my understanding is that Jonathan and Felicia are subject to the same >> situation and then the precinct four is a separate thing and that's all I can
say about it. >> Awesome. >> Like both of them would be the same. Okay, good. >> Both of them were coming into be sworn in or elected and sworn in. >> Great. So, so >> it remains. It did. Uh, I think we'll
figure it all out. Talk more >> point everybody in swearing. >> Very good. >> No. >> No more. >> Mayor, communication, >> please. >> You get to >> keyword communication.
>> I'll try to make it, you know, I'm a little a little tired. It's been a long two days. Um, so I'll do my best, but I think that I might need to replace myself, too. So, we might need to factor that into the whole situation just for fun. Um,
>> no comment. >> May I ask, were you thinking of of coming to this meeting to be >> Well, I think it could probably be done during the regular meeting because I I my swearing in, which I think would probably happen at that meeting as well since it's after the 10day period. Um,
would happen probably during the regular meeting. I mean, if I'll I'll leave I'll defer to the president to make that decision. Th >> this is all a very interesting situation that we're in. Typically, this doesn't happen, folks. Uh but in this case,
>> times we get through I would I have invited the mayor to be sworn in if he so chose chose >> he is it is his choice the new mayor to be sworn in at any time after being certified. So at any time after being
certified, you may be sworn in. >> Okay. >> But seeing that you're replacing yourself, you duplicated yourself, too. So, okay, good. >> Um, and so I just want to start my mayor of communication. I actually do have something that is quite important. Um, but before I start that, I do want to
acknowledge everybody that worked so hard over the last few months um to campaign and to run for the city that they care about. And I think it's an amazing testament to our community. Um how amazing uh and vibrant the election
was and the the record turnout that we got was really great. And you know, I want to give a special kind of acknowledgement to um the people that were campaigning for mayor because that is especially difficult um task to undertake and it puts a lot of strain on
you personally and on your families and um and I think it's worth acknowledging that you know everybody worked really hard and for the most part it was a very cordial and and pleasant um race to to run in. So, I just want to extend um to
the other candidates that, you know, as we move into a new chapter, I I want to be as open to their ideas and to their input as as I possibly can be. Um, and because I think that people that care and love about the city should should be
able to have a voice in the mayor's office and and I want to make sure that that's known. Um, and so I just want to put in a special acknowledgement out to them. Um, so now getting into the next piece which I think is another piece I think is important is councelor Coniff.
Um, I I I may or may not have encouraged you to be sitting in this seat right now. Um, >> and and I think that that for me was not a stretch because having served with you, I realized again someone who really
cares about their community, is willing to put in the work, um, is willing to do the due diligence. And, you know, I think that's a special quality that, you know, really serves city councilors. Um, and I I knew that you had that. And so that's one of the reasons why I wanted
to make sure that I reached out to you to encourage you to see if you would fill this spot. And and I don't know if you remember, but um I also felt that you had skills that were were so um honed that I needed to make sure that you were on specific committees and and
had to restructure, you know, and that's not always an easy thing, but it was, you know, in in an effort to make sure that we had balance within the committees and we were able to put the expertise which you had in the right place. So, as I say goodbye to you as a
city council for a second time, I think it's important to notice even if you know even if you like to make fun of me sometimes, I still want I'm I'm hoping that you always know that I I deeply respect the um commitment and the effort that you've you've given to our city.
So, um you know, you will be missed. Maybe you're you're joking with me. It will be I'm sure you'll do it anyway, so whatever. I won't even say it. Um, but I I just want to say thank you um for stepping up because it was it was really
um needed and and I appreciate it. So um now on to my report because I just want to this has been a crazy few weeks. Um, and one of the things that was really uh disheartening and and scary uh for me as
an interim mayor was to see what was going on with um the government shutdown, but more specifically SNAP benefits. Um, and so when that started to happen, I really felt like I owed uh a responsibility to our community to try
to see if there was a way that we could help as a city. And I have basically been on a two-eek quest. um to the point where you know for many weeks what woke me up in the middle of the night was what was going on with a campaign and
that quickly faded away to waking up in the middle of the night worrying about whether we were going to have people in our community that were not going to have enough food. Um so I ended up meeting with Josh Garcia from Holio and we had a really interesting um meeting. you know, he has a significant uh
population of people on SNAP benefits and interestingly enough, people that are federal workers that had just gone without their first paycheck. Um, which adds to this and not to mention the economic impact that this is having on our grocery stores um and other businesses that rely on, you know,
people using their SNAP benefits. So, I had this great conversation with him. One of the things he mentioned was ARPA funds. I don't know if you're familiar, but Northampton um with their ARPA funds was able to fund the Northampton Survival Center. Um and and so that quickly kind of came into my orbit
looking at ways that we as a city could find uh a pathway to to materially support organizations in East Hampton that were providing direct food to people that needed it. Um and this was not an easy process because I guess we talked a lot about the anti-aid
amendment tonight. uh that became a a stumbling point pretty quickly, but more so where do we get money? Um because our our ARPA funds are obligated and um so we had to get a little creative. I'll say this is great. This is one of the
reasons why East Hampton is amazing and our staff is amazing because our staff got creative and we started to look at um funds uh specifically ARPA funds and realized that yes, all of our ARPA funds are obligated. So we can't really do
much with ARPA funds. However, those ARPA funds have not been spent, not all of them. And they're in a bank account. So when we check to see what bank account they were in, we realized it was a bank account that was gaining 4% interest. Um, so we were making a significant
amount of interest off of these funds that have been obligated but not spent. Um, and so we started on a path to figuring out how we could potentially use these funds. And I would say that um that path has been um completed and in
the next couple of days I'm going to be reaching out to the East Hampton Community Center and I I'll explain why the East Hampton Community Center in a second, but um to do a a contract with the city of East Hampton and the East Hampton Community Center to provide food assistance to um people that go to the
Eastampton Community Center. Um there is a decent amount of money in this bank account. I don't feel that at this moment it's prudent to use it all. Um, so what I've proposed is that we will take um a a small piece of this, which is would be $2,000, um, to do a 30-day
contract with the East Hampton Community Center to allow them to give direct food assistance. Um, and each dollar that we give to the Eastampton Community Center, they can provide two meals. So, that could potentially be 4,000 meals um over a 30-day period, which I think with some
of the reinstatement of SNAP benefit benefits, not the full reinstatement, but some of the reinstatement and some of the aid that the state has released could really kind of fill the gap um and and really be helpful. Um so, this is something that was really exciting. We
kind of were able to nail this down today. So, even after a long night, I was in city hall this morning trying to figure this out and and work on the contract language. And um I'm really hoping to see this uh come to fruition um early next week. So, uh that that's
really the the main update I I wanted to say besides the fact that I said I'd go back why I was talking about the East Hampton Community Center. One of the pieces of this is though you have to use these funds for things that would be um allowed under ARPA guidelines since it's interest from an ARPA fund and and
providing food assistance is one of those things. The other thing that has to happen is it has to be open to everybody. You can't put restrictions on it because one of the things that I've really wanted to in the beginning I was thinking about doing micro grants um to the East Hampton Farmers Market for example. They have a SNAP match benefit.
It's a $10 benefit. Uh, and I was hoping to be able to, you know, give a a small microrant to them to be able to fund that benefit. Um, but it's restricted to people that are just on SNAP, so it wouldn't fall under the guidelines of this. And the other one is the Pioneer Valley Power Packs, which is a amazing
program based in East Hampton that gives um, you know, bagged lunches to kids that are schoolaged that are don't are facing food insecurity that since they're not in school on the weekends, they they need food. Um, and I would love, so I'm not done trying to figure
out how to fund those other two things because I think they're really important, but I think this is a good step towards, you know, doing our part as a city to really help um address the the needs of our community members and food insecurity with the faces the crisis that we're facing right now. Um,
and so, you know, I would be I don't want to take up any more time. I just wanted to make you aware of what we've been working on and how we're kind of coming to that. Um, and you know, I I think I'm hoping that it's an exciting idea and and there is enough money that
I think that we we're going to kind of keep it to potentially say if this happens again, we're going to have a way to help mitigate some of the impact um and have a plan. So, um, just wanted to put that out there. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer and
then I'll let you get on with it. Councelor Riley. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, yeah, you know, I just wanted to say, you know, thank you to you um Mayor Derby and um
to the um political parties um within East Hampton who came together to do a food drive. Um, Nathan Marquy's truck was full when I left at 1:00 p.m. Um, so,
you know, as somebody who grew up um, food insecure and relied on Wick benefits um, and well, SNAP benefits, but back then, you know, food stamps. Um,
the amount of fear that comes from not knowing if you're going to be able to eat or being a parent that doesn't know if you're going to be able to feed your kids is a psychological hell that you can't explain to somebody unless you've
experienced it yourself. Um and and I just wanted to say how thankful I am for everyone who's come together to do um this work, particularly right in the middle of an election. Um, I know that
so many people put their everything into their campaigns, but to be able to do all of that plus this at the same time, it it it's it makes me feel really good to know that this is a character trait
that we have in East Hampton. Um, so you know, I I have uh regularly donated my city council stipens um to various causes in East Hampton. Um, so I I would just like to say to you, um, Mayor
Derby, that I'll also donate my um $432 for November um to the community center um to to maximize that $2,000. Um, and if any of you on the council can do the same thing, I'm not saying that you
should, but if you can, I I would love to see us also donate our stipens um towards this cause to to really emphasize how much we care about members within our community. So, I'm not going to put anybody on the spot or ask, but if that
is something that you would like to join me in, um, I will do so um, with the community center. So, thank you for everything that you did on this front and please relay my thanks to everybody um within city hall who helped um sort this out. I know digging through
compliance for ARPA funds is is not an easy task. So, um thank you to everybody who did that. >> Appreciate it. >> I'd also like to express my congratulations to you for working hard
on that serious issue. I know confluence of the whole world coming together and an election at the same time is not easy, but you did a remarkable job in pulling all that together. So, you're to be congratulated
for that. Also, I can't help but to call out our federal partners. In this situation, it is my understanding that this is the first time ever SNAP benefits were allowed to lapse during the shutdown of our
government. I find it unconscionable personally that that's the case. We should not be in that situation. Those who need the benefits should be getting the benefits regardless. And political differences aside,
we need to come together, folks. We need to come together and this council is doing the very best to make it happen and I thank you mayor for doing your very best. >> On a less serious note, council J, you will be sworn in on the 19th. I checked
with the attorney's memo that would be sworn in. You're not on the agenda for the special meeting in any in any regard. In any case, we all knew you were fighting yourself. So, that being said, thank you very much. Uh,
council, uh, finance finance report. Council P., thank you, Mr. President. Um, yeah, we have a few things. Uh, so we met last week. Uh, we're going to meet next week. Um, but it should be a pretty short meeting because the new business includes one appropriation
that's quite small. Uh, so I think we should be able to figure it out pretty quickly. Um we'll deal with that then. Um we're sitting on borrowing. We're still waiting on um uh just the word to go
ahead on that. Um we did have um there's uh the uh I just realized I should have had the the language for this queued up. Uh we did meet uh with uh Chief Norris uh to
discuss um some upgraded some updated language um uh when it comes to and now isn't Oh, you have it. Thank you. This is just a big packet. Okay. Uh so some updated language uh so there are two
donation accounts uh within the city. Um for these purposes for for >> we have multiple >> yes there are more many many many more than two donation accounts. There are two specific donation accounts related to the fire department the EMS. Uh so uh
one of them is uh the uh uh it's the uh yeah there's the fire one and there's the ambulance one. Uh right. And so it's I'm a little sleepd deprived but I'm going to make I'm going to make it through this. might be a little bit of a rocky report on this.
>> Um yeah. Uh so uh the the reports uh both the accounts both of them uh when the chief was looking into it, the language um was either outdated or hadn't actually ever been formally established. And so he had proposed that
we uh update the language to sort of more specifically uh state what uh the language uh what sort of the definition and the scope of these uh accounts is. So the language that he's um uh so and
and and so uh the idea is that to one of them would say uh uh the language we updated to say approval to establish an account in accordance uh with MGL blah blah blah uh for uh the purpose of receiving donations designated for use
by the East Hampton Fire Department. So just to kind of keep it broad. Um and then the other one, the MS was a little bit more specific uh of saying for the purpose of receiving donations uh to be used for the purchase of medical equipment and supplies, resources needed for public outreach and educational
programs, uh equipment and resources used uh for the health and safety of our members as well as paying for professional development opportunities for members of the organization. Um so those are the proposed um uh updates to
the language sort of clarify it. Uh finance voted uh 3 to zero to uh approve uh this update. Uh and so uh at this time uh I I would make a motion to uh to
update uh both these account the language on both of these accounts in accordance with the fire chief's recommendations. >> Second. I have a motion in the second to update two donation accounts for the fire department according to the fire chief's recommendations. Are there any
questions by the counselors? >> Seeing none, we have a motion and a second. Would you do you want me to read the whole thing? >> Read the read the motion to read it. Blah blah blah. Yeah. Uh so
uh the uh the first one the fire department one would read approval to establish an account in accordance with Massachusetts general law chapter 44 section 53A for the purpose of receiving donations designated to be used uh for the East
Hampton Fire Department. And then for the ambulance one, it would say approval to establish an account in accordance with Massachusetts General Law, chapter 44, section 53EA, for the purpose of receiving donations uh to be used for the purchase of medical equipment and
supplies, resources needed for public outreach and educational programs, equipment, and resources used for the health and safety of our members, as well as paying for professional development opportunities for members of the organization. >> All right.
No further questions. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Done. Motion carries. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Um second thing we have um
uh is uh we met uh to discuss the assessor's FY26 tax classifications and the request for a public hearing. Uh we were walked through the uh uh the recommendations which probably shouldn't
surprise anybody there to keep doing what we've traditionally been doing. Um so uh not to spoil their presentation but uh they walk us through the reason for their particular structure every year and uh the nothing on the facts on
the ground haven't changed. So that's kind of where we are. Um, I would like to schedule uh I would like to make a motion to schedule a public hearing uh for our November 19th meeting at 6:15 uh in these chambers to uh vote uh to to to
to get that public hearing from the uh uh the board of assessors and to to do that to to to vote on that. Second. >> Second >> motion in a second regarding tax classification hearing on November 19th.
Any further discussion? All those in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. >> Okay. Um the next up um we also received a um a request from the city to adopt general
laws chapter 200A section 9A um which is an alternative procedure for managing abandoned funds uh so unclaimed checks or tailings. Uh so we thought that the solution here uh for handling
uh unclaimed funds made a lot of sense. Uh we did approve it in uh finance. This is one where I am unclear if uh its adoption would require a public hearing or not. Um, so
>> the procedure requiring the return of funds or the the return to the treasury of funds that were sent out as payment to the vendors and to individuals fundamentally.
>> Yeah. To take them that money back if that were the case, >> right? But it's not >> would be something financial. I would think we should we did a public hearing on that. My my taste. >> I'm not Yeah, it's fundamentally it's the adoption of a mass general law, but I just think that just to be on the safe
side, maybe we should schedule a public hearing. >> We have one already for the advertising minimal. I would go ahead and do that. >> Okay. So, uh I would uh make a motion to set a public hearing uh for the uh
tailings uh item for uh November 19th at 6:15 in these chambers. Second >> motion second regarding the do you have a question about the motion in the second or >> I just have a question. >> There's also the adoption of the whatever it is 19987.
>> I was going to get to that next. I think maybe it might make sense to push that down. >> Yeah. Let's deal with one. >> Let's deal with one at a time. >> Yeah, I was going to get to that next. >> Point of order. Okay. I would I would >> deal with this one >> like a review motion and a second
regarding the request to adopt chapter 200A section 9A as amended by 65188. Any further questions? Any discussion? All those in favor of scheduling the public hearing for the above mentioned
matter. >> I motion opposed. None. Motion carries. >> Okay. >> Now the next issue. Yes, >> which hopefully will address council's point of view. >> I hope so. Um, so there's a city council action request uh that's there. I um
given the fact that there are going to be some public hearings and given the fact that from the sounds of it there's going to be two brand new counselors that day. I'm thinking it might be slightly inhumane to drop them right into that conversation. Um, so I don't know whether we should push that into
December or whether we should just push it into January at that point when we could have a full new council. But I I do think that maybe in the in light of these items, it might not it might be I know that at our last meeting we had discussed scheduling it uh scheduling
that hearing for that meeting. And I'm now thinking in this new context that perhaps we should move that um towards either one of our December or one of our January meetings. So I I don't have a strong opinion uh either way about that,
but I thought I'd bring it up. I think I think it makes sense to consider the the bandwidth of new counselors on the first day especially when they weren't maybe anticipating all of this that we give them time. So I would
certainly be amanable to it either the first of December or first week in December or in January sometime. Does anybody have any You're going to say something. You're not even going to be here. I know, but I I >> got it. >> You know, I can't help it. Um, so part
of the reason we waited was we wanted to have a mayor in place. And the second piece is we still need to have, I think, internal discussions within finance. And until we know who's going to be on finance, it could change. Mhm.
>> It feels like something that requires a lot more discussion and attention than trying to squeeze it in either before the end of the year. There's a lot of new counselors coming on board and I feel like it's important enough that
they have a hand in gearing this to whichever direction it goes in. Not that I get a vote, but I think it should wait until everyone is sworn in >> the new the new slate as it were. points well taken. >> Absolutely.
>> I was just going to say I would prefer it not be on the first meeting in December because we have the short-term rental ordinance that is going to be taking place on that meeting and I have a I have a feeling that it might be a lot of people here. So, it could that could
just be a very long meeting. So, I don't other than that I don't I don't I'm not attached to when it happens just on that day. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. Yeah. And one other thing that I just thought of is that the those end ofear meetings uh tend to involve a lot of reappoints that take a long time. I'm
fine just not scheduling something at this time, just sort of rescending the the scheduling that we had and waiting into, you know, until we get a new finance committee, we can talk this through and and and figure out what the game plan's going to be and also connect with the mayor and work through that.
Um, I just the one thing I would say now and I will just to set sort of expectations for where I my position on this will be is that I'd really like to take a vote one way or another on this before we get into full swing with the
budget process because um I just think that it I I just think it's nice to set rules for things before we start doing them. Um, so you know, I don't want to wait until March or April to to vote on
this, but if we want to uh, you know, push it into maybe late late January or something like that, I'd be amendable uh, to that. So I think u just hearing that at this time I would make a motion uh to uh I don't know what the word resend the scheduling unschedule
>> postpone >> postpone indefinitely the public hearing for >> I think we could postpone to a later date >> but I don't know if I want to set the date yet >> that date could subsequently be changed postpone indefinitely
I I I feel like we're leaving it in great limbo if we postpone How about the second meeting in January? >> Second meeting in January or the first meeting in February I think would be appropriate. >> Let's do the first meeting in February. >> Then we have a certain date and we can
deal with it at that time. >> Okay. So I would make a motion to move that public hearing to our first meeting in February, whatever Wednesday that is at 6:15 in these chambers. >> Second. >> I have a motion and a second to postpone
till the first meeting in February. Okay. The date was do we >> February 4th. >> February 4th >> the meeting on uh the city answers >> ch adopting chapter 2329 of the act 1987.
>> Any further discussion on that subject? All those in favor? >> Opposed? None. Motion carries. This concludes public safety. Councelor Terrell, >> I'll be brief. We have not had a meeting
since our last um city council meeting. Um it's all we have. >> That's all you have. >> Yeah. >> Uh appointment council. We also have not met since our last city council meeting
and our next appointment will be on November 10th, 2025 where we'll be looking at um four new meril appointments as well as four of the six appointments that are still
on our docket. and we'll be looking at the code of conduct for appointed members of boards, committees, and commissions. >> Okay. >> Can I ask a a clear >> um and I I don't know if um the the
clerk has this information available now. It it was my understanding when I looked at the calendar before that there was a meeting that was already scheduled on the 10th where we would typically meet. So, do you >> do you know if there's space in the basement and
>> Okay. So, we'll just we'll have to check on that. >> Okay. No worries. >> So, at a at a place to be finally determined, check the website. Yeah. >> Or call >> Council Smith or youth. >> Councelor Smith. Okay.
>> Uh, great. The public will now be informed November 10th. Anything else? >> Ordinance. Councelor Denim. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, we haven't met since our last meeting. Our next meeting will be November 12th at 6 p.m.
in conference room 1. At that meeting, we will be discussing the um some amendments to the short-term rental um ordinance that the
um fire department and the building inspector have requested. Um and we can discuss in more detail about what that is. And the other thing that we will be addressing is to amend exhibit A classification of employees to add position of public safety dispatch
director at that meeting. Um as I said that will be November 12th. We will also be scheduling another meeting this month to address the review of affordable and fair housing partnership zoning ordinance recommendation. Um I've dates uh from the housing partnership that
I'll be reaching out to committee members so that we can um meet to discuss that their their committee uh members uh represented on in for that discussion um have a very schedule. So I'm trying to work with
them to identify that date. Um other than that that is everything that our committee has to offer council this evening. >> Thank you. property. >> Thank you, Mr. President. We have not met since our last meeting. We should
get a meeting scheduled for you soon once we've got our new members for >> Thank you. Rules and Government Relations. Uh, no report this evening. No old business. Uh, new business. Mayoral appointments.
>> Yes. In the form of a motion, I would like to move the four mayoral appointments that I'm about to read to the appointment subcommittee. First one is for Rebecca Bell for the 911 committee with the term expiration of
123128. Next is Leslie Char for the commission on disability 123126. Tyler Carson Iinsman, PNGDI committee 123128
and Francis Sky Renars for the TNGDI committee with an expiration of 123128. >> Second. >> We have a motion in a second to send the appointments to the appointments committee. >> Any discussion? All those in favor?
>> Opposed? Motion carries. >> I abstain. Oh, we do have an extension. Thank you. >> We have an extension. >> One extension be noted. >> Denim. >> That was counselor Denim's extension. >> Thank you, Council. >> Okay, I'm paying attention.
>> Ah, good. Uh, motion carries. Supplemental veterans dental bill for $85. Council, >> I would make uh a motion uh to uh on the
first reading of this uh move it to finance and schedule a public hearing for uh November 19th, 6:15 in these chambers uh for for this item. Um request is hereby made for approval of the following appropriation. Amount
requested $85 to be transferred from account number 001.5440.5772 $85 to be transferred to the same thing. Um the amount requested will be used for the following purpose. Uh the appropriation will be used to pay an
FY25 dental bill uh for a chapter 115 benefit recipient using FY26 chapter 115 funds. The expenditure has already been approved for 75% reimbursement by the state. >> Is there a second? >> Second.
>> Motion in a second regarding the dental bill. Any discussion? All those in favor? I opposed. Any abstent? Seeing none, motion carries. >> Councelor Kiff, again, thank you so much
for stepping up. We appreciate it. With that, I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. So, councelor >> second. >> I'll make the motion to adjurnn. Second. >> Motion in a second to adjurnn. All those in favor?
>> Opposed? Motion carries. This government meeting is brought to you by Eastworks and our local cable subscribers.