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atgmail.com. [Music] Carlson Printing for all your printing needs. >> Okay, good evening. It is 6:30 and I'm going to call to order the regular meeting of the Town of Falmouth Select
Board, Monday, October 27th, 2025. Please join me uh in the pledge of >> 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. >> Okay. Uh our let me just uh remember to do this the first time. Just a reminder to please silence your cell phone and notify the chair if you are making a video or audio recording of this open
session meeting. The placement in operation of the recording equipment should not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. Our first order of business is a proclamation. I'm going to ask Mr. Renshaw to give a little bit of a background. >> I would be happy to, Mr. Chairman. Uh
>> thank you, >> Mr. Chairman and members of select board and members of the audience. The Extra Mile Foundation is a national organization. It's entering its 17th year of operation. Um, they exist to offer an opportunity and a vehicle really to recognize people and
organizations and communities across the country for their volunteerism and uh contributing and engagement with the community. Um, I can tell you that Massachusetts currently has 22 uh municipalities, cities, and towns members of the Extra Mile Foundation or
Extra Mile Cities. um none of which of those are on the Cape. So we would be the first Cape municipality um if the board decides to issue the proclamation. Um we become in effect a extra mile city. Um and uh the uh director of
marketing and public outreach reached out to the uh select board office earlier this month and requested this be considered tonight. >> Okay. Very good. I'm going to turn to Mr. Reid. >> Yes. >> To uh >> shall read the problem. >> Mr. read shall read.
>> All right. Proclamation extra mile day November 1st, 2025. Whereas Felmouth, Massachusetts is a community which acknowledges that a special vibrancy exists within the entire community when its individual citizens collectively quote go the extra mile end quote in
personal effort, volunteerism, and service. And whereas Felmouth, Massachusetts is a community which encourages its citizens to maximize their personal contribution to the community by giving of themselves wholeheartedly and with total effort, commitment, and conviction to their
individual ambitions, families, friends, and community. And whereas Felmouth, Massachusetts is a community which chooses to shine a light on and celebrate individuals and organizations within its community who quote go the extra mile end quote in order to make a
difference and to lift up fellow members of their community. And whereas Felmouth, Massachusetts acknowledges the mission of the extra mile America to create 550 extra mile cities in America and is and is uh proud to support extra
mile day on November 1st, 2025. Now therefore, we Robert B. Mascali, Heather MH Goldstone, Doug C, Douglas C. Brown, Colin W. Reed, and Jack P. Richardson as the select board of the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts do
hereby proclaim November 1st, 2025 to be the extra mile day. We urge each individual in the community to take time on this day to not only go the extra mile in his or her own life, but to also acknowledge all those who are inspirational in their efforts and
commitment to make their organizations, families, community, country, or world a better place. In witness thereof, we have here to set our hands and cause the great scale of the town of Felmouth to be affixed to this day, Monday, October
27th, 2025. >> Thank you, Mr. Reid. We'll ask Mr. Renshore to forward that to the appropriate person. Yes, sir. >> At the foundation. Thank you. >> Okay. Our next matter is recognition. Does anyone on the board have any recognition that they would like to
acknowledge? >> Uh following on that proclamation, I I think it's only uh appropriate to acknowledge uh the hundreds of volunteers that support our town um week in and week out, all year round. Um and I think we've also got a fabulous
example out on Main Street right now of our local nonprofits and businesses going the extra mile with the scarecrows all up and down. Um, so if folks want to vote for their favorite, um, there is a benefit to those who win. Um, and that's an example of the Falmouth Business
Association going the extra mile to to support our community. So, I think a great example of that that vibrancy that the proclamation recognizes, >> Mr. Richardson, >> and unfortunately still um to recognize the thousands of furoughed workers uh across the Commonwealth and in Falmouth.
Uh and and we you know we stand in solidarity with you and hopefully the government will reopen again soon. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I just like to recognize the passing of Cynthia Sullivan, the boat accident victim there. The Sullivan family husband I guess is recovering pretty
well in the hospital at the Brighamin Winnman's burn center, but unfortunately Mrs. Sullivan didn't survive and their dog didn't survive either. So our thoughts and concerns and condolences to their family. Yeah, true tragedy. Absolutely.
Um any announcements? Uh the one that I'll mention is tomorrow evening. Uh there will be a uh community meeting at the Lawrence School starting at 6:00 to discuss the sighting of the police station. Uh any others? Miss Coulson?
>> Yes. Um, I was was asked uh by the folks at the Falmouth Pond Coalition uh to share information about a webinar that they will be hosting on November 20th, an educational webinar at 4:00 pm uh to learn about uh watershed planning and
water quality uh protection uh methods and and what the benefits are. And sorry, I'm reading here from a very small version of a flyer on the phone um to register and receive. This is free and open to the public, but they are asking for registrations. For security purposes to register and receive the
Zoom link, please email falmouthpondcoalition@gmail.com. Okay, thank you. Anyone else? Okay, we will move on to public comment. Public comment. Public comment may be made on routine matters not on the agenda this evening.
Comments are limited to two minutes. Please introduce yourself. Since the matter has not been included on the agenda, the select board may not participate in discussion of the topic. Anyone here would like to speak to public comment. If not, we will proceed to the consent
agenda. I will read the items starting with licenses. Consider a vote to approve a change of address as required by the town engineer to comply with the town's address policy for Kenyon's Market and Liquors LLC DBA Kenyons
Market to be updated to 769 East Balmouth Highway Suite 1A. Number two, consider a vote to approve a change of address as required by the town engineers office to comply with the town's address policy for Pepperoni Inc.
DBA pizza 1 and subs 2 to be updated to 769 East Falmouth Highway Suite 1D. administrative office orders, I'm sorry, consider a vote to approve and sign a discharge of mortgage by and between the
Falmouth Affordable Housing Fund and Falmouth Housing Trust, Inc. Number two, consider a vote to approve a request from the Commission on Substance Use to expand its committee membership from 7 to nine members.
And number three, consider a vote to accept a donation from the Falmouth Running Club in the amount of $500 to the Bikeways donation account for the bicycle and pedestrian committee Cape Cod Marathon volunteers.
Do I have a motion to move the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> Just thanks for the donations >> hearing and seeing none. All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. Okay, we will proceed to committee
interviews. The first is to interview and consider a vote to appoint committee members, bicycle and pedestrian committee, Freeder Klein. Mr. Renua, >> uh, just one comment, Mr. Chair, uh, and it's in your packets. Uh, this is to fill a single vacancy with an unexpired
term of June 30th, 2026. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Klein. >> Hello. Please introduce yourself and tell us why you want to be on the bike way bike and pedestrian committee. >> Sure. Yeah. My name is Fred Klein. I live on Ambleside Drive uh precinct 6.
I've been a um um a Felmouth um resident since 2009 and I work at HOIE. I um commute to work uh every day year round by bicycle and um
as such I have uh grown a keen interest in the bicycle infrastructure and safety around town trying to encourage others. I've participated in bicycle and pedestrian committee meetings and believe that they have done an outstanding job um advocating for
cyclists and pedestrians in town. And um I think as a commuter but also as a um you know recreational bicyclist and and walker in town I can contribute uh to their um mission and um yeah would be
happy to become a member of the committee. >> Thank you. Any questions? >> No. >> Yes. I would just be curious um especially as a commuter uh what would be one of your top priorities in terms of improvements that we could be making as a town?
>> Yeah, I think that the um bicycle network in town uh is um good but can be improved especially in terms of safety and connectivity. So, um, when I I have a 8-year-old son who, uh, rides, uh, his
bicycle, and I'm comfortable doing that or let him ride his bicycle alone in the neighborhood. But when it comes to, you know, um, public roads, um, then, you know, it gives me a pause. And so, I think, uh, many other people in town
feel the same way. So I would uh advocate for uh bicycle safety through improved uh markings lane uh paint bike lane dedicated bike lanes on roads that are um you know already marked as bike
routes but there's no bike lane whatsoever. Ideally there would be a physical barrier for cyclists in town that improves uh safety uh evidently and makes people more comfortable. And I think also there's a um there's an issue
uh that we're all aware of that is the um the traffic in town, car traffic, especially during the summer months. So the more people we can get on a bicycle or on foot to do to run their errands or commute to work, the better it is for all of us.
>> Okay. Thank you. I'd like to make the motion to uh accept Fred Klein for the uh appointment set forth by uh town management. >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing and seeing
none. All in favor? >> I. And that's for a term ending June 30th, 2026. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. [Applause] The next opening is on the conservation
commission and we have James P. McGrath. Mr. Renshaw. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, as you all know, the conservation commission consists of seven members uh and three alternate members. Uh, there are currently four vacancies on the concom, two full member positions with terms ending June 30th of 2028 and two
alternate member positions with terms ending June 30th, 2026. >> Okay. Thank you. Mr. McGrath, please introduce yourself. Tell us why you want to be on Kong. My name is uh James McGrath. I've been a uh resident in Felmouth for over 20 years and um really
believe that I'm recently retired and believe I want to give back to my community. Um I looked at various committees that I would like to serve on and the conservation committee really struck out to me as as something that's really important to this town. Uh the
resources are really what makes Fmouth the community that it is. And I believe that uh through proper education and advice that the uh the resources could be expanded further and conservation and commitment would be important.
>> I see you're also interested possibly in the energy commission and the u and and the ponds advisory committee. So thank you for your interest. >> Yeah. >> Um any questions? Yes. >> Is the Conservation Commission uh a body
that you interacted with during your career through your business? >> It's a good question. Um I owned an exhibit company that designed and manufactured um exhibits for companies that went to trade shows and I established a green committee to try to
reduce um waste and our carbon footprint and we were able to do so. We switched from using wood and laminates which are bad for the environment to fabrics and uh soluble inks which have a less less impact on the harmful to the
environment. >> One other question. Have you attended a conservation commission meeting? >> I have not. Recently retired and it's just something that I was interested in getting involved in. >> All right. Do you have a motion?
Uh yeah, I would move approval and appointment of the gentleman. What would be the term? >> There are two alternate position openings and two full member position openings. >> One position is uh ending in June of
next year and the other one goes to June of 2028. Would you like the longer term, >> please? >> I will nominate Mr. McGrath for the term ending 6:30 2028. >> Okay. Second. >> Second.
>> Okay. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? >> I >> I thank you. >> Thank you for stepping up. Thank you. [Applause] >> Our next interview is for diversity,
equity, inclusion, and belonging advisory committee, Miss Suzanne Thomas. Is Miss Thomas here? Yes, please. Thank you. >> Hello, I'm Suzanne Thomas. I've been a Felmouth resident since 1997.
>> And why would you like to be on this committee? >> Um, I've I've been working as a laboratory tech technician at the Marine Biological Lab since 97. And in the past five years or so, I've been involved with diversity, equity, and inclusion
work both at the marine biological lab and in the wider scientific areas. Um, and I hope to expand that to the town committee because as we know, if we want to increase diversity in our workforce, if people don't feel welcome in their
towns, in their schools, then people don't stay. >> So, it's a question of problem solving. We solve problems better when we're a diverse group. >> Well, e echoing questions that come from our members, have you attended any of the meetings? >> I've attended a couple meetings. Yes.
>> And any ideas about making it better or seeing it reach expand? >> I've attended two meetings so far and I think my first point will be to listen. >> Okay. Very good. Okay. Any further questions? >> See, you have great references.
>> I was going to say I will make the motion to appoint Suzanne Thomas to the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging DEIB uh advisory committee. >> Second >> to a term ending June 30th, 2028. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in
favor? >> I thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> And our final interview is for the historical commission, Mr. Jeremy Krauss. Mr. Krauss. Hi, my name is Jeremy Krauss. I've lived
in Falmouth for about 20 years. I'm an architect and I head up the structural engineering department at Falmouth Lumber and I love this town and I'm passionate about architecture. >> Okay, Mr. Brown, you usually have questions on the historic
>> I always ask the same question lately is uh >> are you more of a traditionalist or modernist? I'm concerned about our main street maintaining its traditional architecture and I've been asking everyone lately that's getting appointed
if they will be interested in that. I'm interested in, you know, moving forward in the spirit of what we've done. So, I'm not married to the past, but I like what's here and I would
like to keep it that way. >> That's a good answer. >> Okay. >> Although the last person we interviewed was uh worked on the project down on Quisadav that was like my reason for asking the question, but we still appointed him. That's good.
>> Okay, Miss Goldstone. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> No, no, you can go first. >> Um, I'm I was just uh curious if you could uh point out any examples of your work in town. >> Um, I've done houses in town. I don't know if they'd ring Bell Street, one
down on the harbor. I did one on um Mara Vista and then a lot of stuff sort of nestled into the neighborhoods. I don't know if any would stand out to you. >> Okay. >> Okay. Amen. Mr. Richardson, >> the only thing I'll add is how do you see uh and this is a complicated question you might have the answer to,
but how do we meet the kind of off Mr. Brown's point, our goals around building more housing in density while uh keeping characteristics in place of the town? >> That's a very complicated question. I would think um
that's tough because they a lot of those projects are very budgetoriented >> and those it doesn't seem like they care that much about the aesthetics. So, you know, working with them to
sort of honor what we want while still moving forward, I think will be the challenge. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Do we have a motion? >> So move. >> Okay. >> One more question. Uh it's there are two alternate positions available, right?
With two different terms ending in 27 or 28. Um since you're dipping your toe in for the first time, do you have a preference on the length of that term? >> I do not. >> Okay. Well, someone make a motion and pick. >> He'll he'll he'll he'll take whatever we give him. So go for 28.
>> Yeah. Go for 28 then. Motion to appoint Jeremy Krauss to an alternate member position on the historical commission for a term ending June 30th, 2028. >> Second. >> We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? Hearing seeing none, all in favor? >> I I >> Thank you very much.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> And at this point, I'll make my usual pitch that uh you know, residents should consult the town website. There are a number of uh vacancies that are available that might very well suit an individual's talents. Uh as Vice Chair
Goldstone mentioned before when when we started, we have plenty of volunteers working, but we can certainly use more. So, uh please take a look at the website and see if there's something there that uh that meets your uh meet your talents and your interests. So, thank you. Um we
will now move to um consider a vote to appoint committee members. Now as well mr do you want to give a little intro on this? >> So I I will Mr. Chairman I'm going through my notes. So as you all recall the last meeting uh we had we conducted
interviews. Uh we had three uh what I consider in my humble opinion outstanding candidates. Uh there was discussion obviously about increasing the number of members which the board did earlier on consent. Um uh it would be my recommendation and I we can have some more discussion about the term dates and whatnot, but it would be my
recommendation that the board consider appointing each of those three outstanding again in my humble opinion candidates to serve in those respective committee positions. >> And those would be Dr. Greg Parkinson, Mr. Ryan Walker, and Mr. Brian Leblanc.
Uh and one of the um one of the questions that had been raised the last time we were discussing it was that there was really not a person on the commission who was actively engaged in recovery. Uh Mr. Leblanc was very candid
and honest about his his recovery and uh the board was very uh happy to hear of his interest in the commission. So uh we have uh we haven't asked them to come back. They were all uh interviewed uh to our satisfaction at the last meeting. So
this is just a vote to approve them. Any further discussion? >> Just a clarification. We do have Rick Corey that's on the committee who's an experienced member of that community. So >> okay, >> just to clarify. >> Okay. >> Point of clarification. Are we
arbitrarily picking the dates similar to the last person or >> um >> you have a recommendation for who gets what? Because right now we have June 30, 2026, June 30, 2027, and June 30, 2028.
>> Uh Rabbi Lieberman, would you have any uh help us out from the commission? >> I'm going to recommend Mr. Mr. Leblanc for the term ending in 26, Mr. Walker for the one in 27, and Mr. Parkinson for the one in 28.
>> I I might differ with you in one regard in that we've got two terms ending in 2027 and >> Oh, excuse me. >> Eager applicants perhaps uh Dr. Parkinson for the term ending in 28 and Mr. Walker and Mr. Leblanc for terms ending in 27.
>> That sounds good. >> Second the motion. Is that was that a motion Mr. As amended? >> Clarify the motion. >> I'll second that motion. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> Hearing and seeing none. All in favor? I
>> I Okay, well, thank you to all three of those gentlemen for stepping up. [Applause] >> Okay, we will now move to a public hearing and I'll ask Vice Chair Goldstone to read the notice. >> Just let me flip
>> crowd here tonight. Yeah. >> Where did it go? >> Do you have the notice? I'm not finding it in the packet here. >> Oh dear. Is it just this? >> She usually
>> It's usually just after the >> Oh, challenging my eyesight. Excellent. Uh, town of Felmouth Select Board notice of public hearing. Notice is hereby given under chapter 140 section 183A of the general laws as amended by chapter
299 of the acts of 1926 and amendments there too that Aquatic Brewing LLC DBA Aquatic Brewing located at 661 Main Street Fmouth Mass has applied for an annual entertainment license and a Sunday entertainment license. A hearing
on the above application will be held in the select board meeting room, Falmouth Town Hall, on Monday, October 27th, 2025 at 6:45 p.m. Comments may be sent to select boardfa.gov. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, is the applicant
here? >> Thank you. >> A note to make sure they give the full comment. >> Mr. Reno, while Mr. is it Bergen? >> Bergen >> is >> Thanks, Mr. Chair. Um, all of this is in your packets, but as he's approaching the podium, I'll just say that the applicant per the application, a live
band is going to is plan is proposed to play both amplified and acoustic music inside the building. Uh, and the applicant describes the uh position within the building is along the front left side uh within the tap room area. Um, the application has been reviewed by the police department, health
department, and fire rescue departments with no objections or issues expressed. Uh there is a note however that the health department has reminded the applicant that the food trucks which they commonly have um are required to be licensed by the health department. >> Is that okay? >> Yes, it is. Okay.
>> So, I'm Alex Bergen. Um I've been in Felmouth for 14 years. >> Um I am one of the owners and the brewer over at Aquatic Brewing. Um, and I believe that being able to provide live music will help as um as making our
brewery a hub for ideas and community building within Felmouth. >> Anyone have any questions of the applicant? We haven't received any comments uh Mr. Renaw from anyone. >> No, Mr. Chair, no comments. >> Okay. So, does anyone prepared?
>> Mr. I'd move approval of the application by Aquatic Brewing LLC, DBA, Aquatic Brewing, located at 661 Main Street, Felmouth, for an entertainment license, and a Sunday entertainment license to be executed Wednesday through Sunday from 12:00 noon to 10 p.m. as presented. >> Second.
>> We have a motion and a second. >> This is a public hearing, Mr. Chair. >> Oh, to close the hearing. Excuse me. >> Motion to close the public hearing. >> Thank you. Okay. >> All right. Any of you. Any discussion with respect to the application? >> Did we solicit?
>> Anyone in the public would care to speak? >> Nope. >> Okay. >> All right. Thanks. >> All right. Thank you for reminding me. All right. So, any discussion? >> None. I've been to the >> brewery and it's a nice place and I don't think music would hurt anything.
Yeah. >> Mr. Reed, >> I would second what Mr. Brown says. This this is a gem in the community and it's a small business that started and has been successful and we need to do all we can to continue to help small businesses like Aquatic succeed here in town and this is an easy way to do it.
>> Okay. All right. Well, sounds like we have a motion. Is there a second? >> Do we have to So, plenty of clarification. Do we have to vote? Do we already close the hearing? We did. We did. Okay. Then, no. >> Well, actually, we didn't actually say >> that's all. Yeah. >> I thought we >> we had a motion in a second. We did not. We stopped and I said, "Oh, did we
actually ask the public?" Sid tracked you. >> All right. So, do we have a motion and a second to close the public hearing? All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Do we have a motion to approve the application? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I.
>> Okay. Thank you. Sorry for that. >> Hopefully that was the hardest part of the process. This is the first time since I became the chair that we're actually a minute ahead of ourselves on the on the agenda and I was just trying to force it through I guess. I apologize. Anyway, uh
is this 7 o'clock and we would like to hear a report from the school committee please. Thank you. >> Actually 659. So >> you have to wait a minute. >> Good evening and um I'd like to thank
you. Thank you for inviting us to give this report. I'm Terry Madurus, the chairman of the school committee, and this is Lori Dur, the superintendent. >> Can you put in the presentation? [Music] >> You may want to move the mic a little
closer to you >> to me. >> Yeah, I think so. Yeah, just >> All right. Thank you so much for having us um tonight. Good to be here. I'm gonna first talk about um gonna first talk about um
uh school safety. And this gives us an opportunity to really thank the town, all the partnerships we have and the support of not only um the the town, but our our community members um and the town meeting members that continue to support um the items.
that helps us to be uh safer and uh more secure. So speaking about that um the uh infrastructure over the last several years we have been uh working to have uh secured doors. It's upgrading making sure that they shut and lock on their
own. Um it helps with the you know our protocols that uh all doors need to be shut and locked at all times. So, the door upgrades and then the um the system upgrades being that um staff have immediate access to uh to doors at um
pretty much around the the the perimeters so that if we're outside, we need to get in then that um you know can happen very smoothly. Uh the other upgrades that we've been making are cameras and so um the uh town meeting uh the funds have been made available again
for um cameras. we are uh just about near having um a complete uh perimeter uh of our buildings and so a few more cameras will get us there and then we're also looking at a camera upgrade
um that will um going um cloud-based so it actually uh will allow all of our cameras to work more effectively and be able to see see further. Uh so uh having those cameras upgrade over time has been uh really important uh as part far as
our overall safety. Um fencing we have been uh our staff has have uh been assessing different areas around uh the perimeter of our buildings where um a certain amount of fencing may uh help uh
deter um people to be on on our properties. And so, uh, we're continuing to look at that. Um, and that will, uh, be a future, um, or ongoing, uh, expense as well. Um, personnel resources. Um, we're very fortunate that we have a safety and security coordinator. We have
one safety monitor in every one of our buildings. We also have a substitute safety monitor, um, in case anyone needs to be out um, that we actually have someone that's in our buildings. Um, we have, uh, two SRO's. This has been something that uh we've had always had
one. We just upgraded this year to two full-time. Uh it's something that um has been on the plans and and the um uh we we've now been able to move to two. Um since um pretty early in the school year, we've had detail officers assigned
to uh each of our four elementary schools and Morris Pond School and they are still there. Uh and so that is uh something again uh the partnership and we appreciate um with our collaboration. I just can't say enough about um the uh the work that
we do in close uh communication, collaboration, uh training uh etc. with the Fmouth Police Department and the FA Fmouth Fire Department. Um several years ago uh we uh started um the training with Alice and the Fmouth Police
Department has uh led the uh way for us and very um you know very appreciative. they're still heavily involved in all of our trainings uh with our staff. Um so the trainings with the staff uh we do some trainings with our Lawren um Fmouth
High School students and then we do drills in all of our buildings um w with and without students involved. Um and reunification which is uh we've really been ramping up. Last year we have a partnership um uh with the uh the
church on 151. Uh it's a big venue and we are now starting to practice our reunification. So if something were to happen um what are all the protocols so that we can reunite um safely our students and their families. Um we will be having some additional uh we started
one last year. We'll have um two more this year. We'll continue to work um through the the buildings make that an annual um practice as well. We have um other protocols. Um I I mentioned um the doors that all the doors need to be locked. We have protocols for allowing
visitors into the building. Uh and uh protocols if there are um individuals uh on our school property. And when I say that, I mean our community members. We have a lot of people that um enter our property. I don't know that they um the
people know that from 7 to 5:30 um it's off limits to the uh property because we welcome uh community members on our properties in the evenings and the weekends and so we have a lot of playgrounds um they're used a lot. We are part of the um the community. Um but
um but we do ask people, you know, if they want to cut through our property, but just not during the school day. So we have um protocols for for that as well. Um and just um you know I put response here and and really what I mean is you know if if students are anxious for
whatever reason um we have um a lot of support for our for our um students and staff but we have 19 school adjustment counselors across seven buildings and seven guidance counselors. So we are well staffed in our buildings um to
respond to student needs. We also have a really strong comm community uh collaboration with Found Human Services. Uh one person uh is uh pretty dedicated to our schools and our families um full-time plus some additional um uh
supports. Mlean Hospital, Riverside Trauma Center um are both uh provide training for our staff uh as well as half um help us uh in response to certain student needs. And then we also have the companion an animal program as
well as other comfort dogs um like the sheriff's department that has their comfort dog that has come into the buildings with the dogs. It's they're they really are a lot of comfort um to our students um and we've had great partnerships. So so we enjoy that and so just another uh thank you for all the
support and to make sure that our buildings are are really coming up to to the standards that we need them to be. Okay. Um, so I'm going to talk about student enrollment and Lori's going to click the button. This includes prek
rate. Okay. So you can see um, Fmouth High School may be a shocker to some of you that it's below 7 700. Um, and I don't need to read them. You can see them. Um just one comment I wanted to make that um East Fmouth Elementary um
includes the prek um classes where the other elementary schools don't. >> Okay. Did anybody have any questions? >> Do you know how large that number is? PreK. >> Yeah, we were at 135. Uh this is uh official October 1 data. Um we are up to
13 um8 right now, but it was 135 at the time. >> Pretty significant. >> 174 K to4 students. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Yeah. Do you know I'm probably a off-the- cuff question. Do you know what the capacity of students is considered to be at Lawrence? Is that has that been evaluated ever?
>> The what capacity we could have? >> Oh, yeah. What would be the total? >> Not. >> Okay. >> Thank you for the intro on that one. We'll share that shortly. >> Okay. >> One more question. So, if you were to add Morse Pond and Lawrence, four grades
together, it's about 900. We're a little less than 700 at the high school and that's lower that it's been even in very recent past years. Um, do we know what that drop off is? Because if all of those fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders were to move up to the high
school, yeah, it would be a much larger number than it is there. >> Is it is it students choosing other like is is this just a we have a smaller class? Is that students choosing other eighth grade to 9th grade? I hope I'm answering your question on this one. um between 8th and 9th we usually have
about 40 to 60 students that go elsewhere. That's kind of the trend. Uh so that um so that >> so that's that's about 200 students total over four four yeah four years that okay >> we were at um a little over 720 last
year at the high school. >> There's a bubble year in amongst these numbers too. Yeah. I can't remember. >> Current eighth the current eighth grade is a bubble year and our fourth grade current fourth grade is the big bubble. >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, um here's a five-year enrollment comparison. You can see the numbers in 2122 and the present. Um it represents approximately 2% each year the drop.
Okay. Any other questions or any questions? Okay. So now um we always take a look at the various student populations. So our multilingual learners, you can see that's taken a substantial jump um in the last five
years. Okay. Um our um students with disabilities is growing but not remarkably I don't think you would say. Um,
we also have e economically disadvantaged, which actually surprised me that it went down from five years ago. >> Is that based on the free lunch program? Is that how you get to that number? >> Um, there's um it's a calculation that um there's se you know even like the
SNAP program. So when when parents enroll in certain federal state programs, then that um contributes to that number. >> Yeah. Thank you. The formula changed along the road. >> It ch it has changed on and off. Um yeah, >> which may be some of that.
>> Yeah. >> Okay. And then our race and ethnicity um breakdown. Okay. Any questions? Okay. Thank you. So there you have a snapshot of who's going
to Pam public schools these days. Why didn't you round up to one.99 is kind of funny? >> Um maybe because who knows maybe our maybe the program we use to compute in this is
>> no worries. >> I don't know if that was a fair question. >> I don't know if that was a fair question either. But anyway, just kidding. >> So close. >> All right. So um you know navigating the future we uh introduced um to the
community um in September a year ago and um just kind of get a little bit uh on um where we are today just um so uh again the challenges that we're trying to address are the declining enrollment
um you know uh Terry mentioned um the last five years but we have 25 years of approximately 2% drop every year um for 25 year. So, um it continues I think is the point um that we have in that slide. Um the need to consolidate on two
levels, right? The um the drop in enrollment uh and it's not physical sound anymore to be able to operate seven buildings when we know um that comfortably we can have all students in six buildings. And so that's um you know
part of uh starting this the transitions at the middle grades. Um we know that the longer students stay in a building um the more they become connected and then that um you know uh relates to you know how committed they are and then the commitment um obviously translates to um
student achievement. So and then again the fiscal responsibility really is we are you know stewards of the the the budget for the um school department and we really have to think um you know about where we're spending those dollars and I'll have a little more about that in a few minutes.
So, the Lawrence School renovation um the timeline um we uh submitted the statement of interest on April 11th. Um the school committee and select board um signed off on the statement of interest. Uh the school they had a school visit on
September 9th. Uh they tore they had questions for us. Um and then the they toured the building and then also to uh toward Morris Pond um building. uh when we submitted we submitted with a three grade configuration for Lawrence and
that we were also taking a school offline and had school being more spine. So that was part of that package. Um they're probably not going to be interested in renovating if it were just for two grades or we were looking at our declining enrollment that we were not
addressing the declining enrollment um along with um the package. uh if we're accepted into the program, then we'll be uh coming back for some initial funding for the architect and engineering at the April town meeting. Um and again, we will know uh whether we're accepted in
uh on December 12th. So, that would be our next step. So, our uh the recommendation of both the building needs task force uh and the administration um is that we return um reopen the Lawrence School um with three
grades. Uh we're recommending grade 5, six, 7. Uh move grade 8 to the Fmouth High School. Um the year construction begins and then uh more upon uh or move grades five, six, and seven into the new Lawrence School. Um the the year of
construction is finalized. Um we um that is still up for discussion and we'll um be continuing to discuss with the school committee uh tomorrow night. Um whether it's going to be grades 5, six, seven or grades six, seven, eight. So they're still in that discussion. Um
what we're committed to is that it is three grades. >> That's what Mashby currently does. >> I'm sorry. >> Is that what Mashbby currently does? >> So Mashbby has uh grades 7 through 12 in their high school, seven, eight being in a portion of the high school. But yes,
>> um well that's actually a good question. So can if I can expand on it for a second. >> Um >> everyone on the Cape is either 8 to 12 or 7 to 12 uh except for Bourne and Fmouth and and it's uh up at for the school committee at the to vote to put
uh 8th into. So they'll be voting uh in November um for ETH to go into the high school. Yeah. >> Okay. And so, um, Doug, this is what I the the slide I was going to show you in, um, uh, approximately 10 years ago
in the 2015, uh, 2016 school year. Um, for grades seven and eight, there were 578 students at the time. Uh, presently for uh, 444 when we did the presentation, this was the uh, 2425 school year, so it was 474.
This year, it's 444 as seen on that that slide. So you can see um that decline. If we were to um put 567 into Lawrence, then it would be um 5 um 95 uh students. These are all
projections that was done for from an independent study um with NASDAQ that uh did historical enrollments uh and u projected future enrollments at the high school. Um 10 years ago there were um 8
uh 62 enrolled uh in the high school. Um as of last year there were 714 and then you um saw the drop to um just under 700 uh this year. And then the projected um
if we had grades 8 to 12 would be 833. So, Morris Pond, um the building needs task force and the Felmouth public school uh administration is recommending that we return the Morris Pond school um and property to the back to the town. Uh
once the Lawrence renovation uh has been complete and this is important because we need that building um what we can't renovate um Lawrence school while we have students in the school. It is a major renovation. So um grades six and seven uh can attend Morris pond while
the renovation. So it is post renovation uh on that and um the school committee is scheduled to um vote tomorrow night um on that piece. And just a little bit um to explain um further on that. Um right now our
current cost of expenses and this is just maintenance on the building. Um so custodial maintenance utility expenses uh is um $638 um,000. Future capital uh expenses um I think
we've talked to you before the building is definitely in need of a uh new roof which is coming in around 9.6. Um all buildings at some point in the near future are going to need to be air conditioning. If you put solar pan have the roof done so that it will um take
solar panels and um also dealing with the air conditioning um you're talking nearly um $20 million of renovation on that um for for a school and so that expense um does not make sense when we have a declining enrollment and we are
asking uh to renovate Lawrence school and then uh our elementary >> we want to we want to keep pushing how much money we're saving so that we don't feel guilty when we ask for this $120 million or so from the town. So, say that again, Lori.
>> Say again how much we're saving. >> Uh well, that would be uh and you know how expenses of of uh maintenance goes up. So, currently this school year 638,000 and just think about over 10 years plus that that price will keep going up. Um and then the the capital
expenses. Um I did forget to do the enrollment here. Um, right now, uh, grades five and six, I'm sorry, in 1516, grades five and six it was at 613. Um, last year it was at 472. If, um, uh, the
projected enrollment for 32, um, 33 is 404. It just does not make sense to continue these buildings. >> The does your research show that this is the same throughout the Cape these these drop off numbers? It is not only the same in the Cape. We are having
significant drops, but it is happening across Massachusetts as well as nationally. Um there's not a week that goes past that I don't see some national article about the enrollment and you know closing of schools and um having the same conversations about moving um
8th grade you know into the high school or even you know more grades um to that to that. It's it's it's an ongoing issue everywhere. Yes, Mr. >> Do you think uh is some reason that people are more inclined to go to charter schools? Is that having a big
impact or is it just people leaving the Cape? >> Do you have those children those numbers at all? >> Um so I don't it's not that we >> it's pretty steady who you know every year who's leaving. Um we should have mentioned also I mean we have 175 school
choice kids coming in. >> Yeah. Um and so uh and we just and since that 175 number on October one, we already have a few more that's that's that's come into the schools. So I don't know that it's it's the leaving. I think that um housing is one of the concerns.
You know, young families coming into the into the um to this, you know, district or on the Cape anywhere um is some of it. But nationally, what you're reading is just that um it's just low birth rates. >> Yeah. Over time, it's just been dropping.
>> Yeah, >> kids are expensive. >> Yeah. >> Just think how much more you'd save if you got rid of that admin building. >> Um, do you want to talk? >> Yeah, >> we we've been banging that around. Yes, we have.
>> And you know, can I Yeah, we're not adverse to that at all. It's just >> we're not sure what can be done with it. So, we actually would honor suggestions because >> I've been reading that schools lend themselves to housing quite easily and
uh we could use CPC money from historic and housing to renovate that building and make housing out of it. >> I attended the ground I think I said this last time, but I attended the groundbreaking of the Henry T- Wing School or the cutting of Sandwich just did exactly that. Yeah, >> there's like 50 or 60 units of housing
and they uh restored the like common area auditorium where this community can still use it >> and there's a ballpark out back there that the town and the school system still uses. So it was a phenomenal you check it out sometime a tremendous use for it >> and it's the exact thing the CBC funds
that they pull from it. So >> yeah, >> keep that on the back burner. >> We are completely open to that to that idea. Um, it's a historic building and I think our, you know, concern is just vacating the building without there being a purpose. Um, so, you know, if if
there's a a purpose, >> um, then I think that that that conversation would be welcomed. >> Yeah. >> Put a lot of may I ask? >> Yeah. No, of course. Um, we put a lot of emphasis on the student enrollment, but
how's the recruitment and retention of teachers, educators, staff across the board? Are we seeing that stabilized? Do we expect challenges? What's your take on that? >> So, I think we're very fortunate that we've we um are so close to across
across the um bridge. Um, we are very uh we're fortunate that we do not have um the issue with staffing with teachers. um teaching assistants, nurses, um where some specialty areas is where we really have so uh speech and language
um pathologists um you know uh that's that's our biggest concern is trying to find there are few and they're needed across the Cape. Everyone seems to be that's an area um so there's a there's a couple different areas that that are challenging to to
fill. We're actually working with um some colleges trying to bring some programs here to see if we can grow some um of those professions on the Cape. Um but that's that's probably our biggest area. >> Do you have
>> Cape Cod collaborative is um mirroring what Lori just said too. Um and they they also don't want to take from one school to give to another. So, it's a, you know, try to find a good balance and help everybody and but it's a universal
cape um problem for the CL the subjects that Lori was talking about. >> Gotcha. >> And Doug, I just Googled it. Sturgis is like decline rate is consistent with this. >> Oh, really? >> Charter school question. Yeah, >> I think Pope John Paul too has has gone
down. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. >> And then we had the uh elementary conversations which um we will uh doing presentations and discussions with the the school committee that will include uh recommendations from both um the building needs task force and the
administration in those but not ready to quite yet. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you for having us. >> I I have to follow any questions >> from uh six years ago when we started the homework committee task force as a student member. Uh, are are students
still complaining about homework as much as six years ago? >> Um, I have to tell you they're not like >> it was just just me. >> No, I I think that we've made changes because of that committee. >> I'll take credit. >> I just, you know, so yes, thank you for being on that and I think we I mean we
listened and and we've made changes since is why I think we're not hearing it. >> Great. >> Thanks, >> Mr. Reid. Mr. Reid first and then Okay. >> Yeah. I just had a question. Um we we just elected somebody to the DEIB committee. Inclusion and belonging is
very very important. You know, children at an early age learn lessons of right and wrong. Um what can we do as Felmouth to improve the inclusivity and belonging of students for all children across all
ages to really set the foundational goals going forward? and and I guess with that in line, what what do you need the select board's eyes on going forward? That's a separate question, but the first one, DEIB. So, um it has been
a goal of um uh the district uh and the school committee for seven seven years now, I believe, of um and so we h and hired uh four years ago. We have a um a diversity, equity,
inclusion, and belonging um uh director director >> that's uh helping us. We've had an equity audit. Um we have outlined our goals based on that audit. So we are we're really working on that and we've worked so uh one of the things I will say u Mr. St. Julian which is our DEIB
um director has worked um with the uh Woods Hole um committee for a long time. he is uh he does attend he's a liaison to um the town's advisory. So we we've been making these strong connections and with some different entities uh within
we have an ambassadors group that um that are really community members and it is growing. So we we're making the connections because we believe that um if we have a strong community that is inclusive then that filters and helps our students as well. So, um, even
though we we can't work in isolation, so we can do the work inside the schools, but we really need this to be a communitywide. So, thank you for bringing that up. It's really important. >> Yep. Mr. Brown. >> So, one before we let you go, um, later on in our agenda, we're going to discuss the creation of a civic academy, which
helps residents understand how their government works and hopes to maybe get them more engaged. Is there anything like that at the high school? When I was in high school, my last year, I went to Oliver Ames High School. So, you know, my mom passed and I went to uh up there
and I got myself involved in the Hakamok Senate and that was like we sponsor bills and we, you know, try to learn how government works by participating in a a simulated environment. Do you have anything like that going on? >> We do and uh this is three-fold. Uh the
Lawrence School um they actually have their government set up um as a warrant committee. So, they follow the same process as um the town. Okay. And so they, you know, have to submit warrants and then they, you know, they have, you know, discussions and then they bring it to a vote vote to the for the whole
school. And we really do support that. So as they want things, whether it's, you know, new trees, you know, around the school or no, um, do >> Amen. >> Um, you know, new soccer nets, um, you know, so they figure out what's important to them for the school and and
they do it and then we we do everything we can to support them because the students are going through all the work. They have to and they have to stay on budget. >> They have to stay on budget. Yeah. Um and then at the high school we have the student government and that's been operating for quite some time. Jack was on student government. Uh all four years
and um >> only two I beat incumbent beat an incumbent. >> Yeah. I know aful two years. >> Yeah. >> All four. >> It's actually a uh a project of the current administration. the Trump administration is putting out grants
with respect to civics education. The the numbers um it was like 5 cents per student on civics and a multiple of a hundred on STEM uh education. So one of the things the administration is pushing
is civic uh civics learning. So >> there are grants available. >> So the three-prongong is that we also have um civics um uh courses. It's part of the uh DESIE the department of education elementary and secondary education is part of the frameworks and
so um civic education is a part of um our curriculum >> and there are grants I think uh that are coming out or >> there there's mention of grants >> yeah mention of that is a good point >> and I will say representative Mley and I uh we went in uh about a year ago uh Mr.
Feny had us come in and talk to the students and and I ran to Mr. the other day. Uh, and I think we're going to keep doing that. Try and keep coming in. >> It's really special. >> Yeah. I do have one. >> Yeah. Go ahead. One more question. Um, first, thank you to schools where I was the chairman of um, Felmouth's uh,
soccer team in the Cape Cod Summer League and you guys give us an incredible discount on the turf fields. Um, but I was wondering at the originally the policy with public use of the turf was just no in terms of uh, like open uh, open field hours, whatever like they have with the wreck. Has that
changed since? In terms of outside of school hours, can a member of the public use the turf >> if they just want to kick the ball? >> Yes, we've actually been doing that. You know, I mean, >> it might have been sign up and you had to fill out the application. >> Um, we have connected with the rec center and they use it great all of our
fields. Um, but even outside can use um I mean this is a community project, right? So, it's important to do that. Um and then we've actually opened up um Saturday hours, after school hours um for our own student body to be able to come in both the uh wellness center
inside um the weight rooms and and etc. and the the field. So um >> great. >> Yeah. So we're staffing that so even our students get more use out of it. >> That's awesome. >> Right. One more question. >> Can I just say one thing about the fields though is that all the teams, you
know, and the band use them. So it isn't as just because school is over, you know, or I mean there's a lot more people on that field like and I always feel bad for the band cuz I live near there and I hear them, you know, the poor guys, they're out there in the at
9:00 sometimes practicing, but it's just such a demand for the fields. >> Yeah. No, it's it's a it's a great resource. I'm glad the taxpayers >> paid for the first time ever. Thank you for reing that. Um tonight um three large school uh teams got to practice on
the the the high school field. So we're trying to give opportunities for our our uh >> yeah sports at at the middle school. >> Very good. Mr. Reed, one one final question. >> One final question. >> They keep saying >> we keep saying that. Um just to follow up on the retention and the housing
question. Do you have an idea of uh how many teachers are coming from off Cape out of all of your teachers and staff? Uh so when I uh so eight years ago I did that and we had um upwards of upper close to 80 80% of our staff lived on
Cape and that has um decreased quite a bit. I have I did not do it last year. This year I've been trying to keep up but it has been decreasing and we just know by the interviews and who we're hiring many many people are off. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you so much.
>> Thank you. All right, guess we will move on to uh hear an update from the traffic advisory committee. Mr. Reno, you want to give an >> intro? Chair is Sergeant Oliver is getting ready. Um ask Sergeant Oliver
and Peter McCanny uh to come in and talk a little bit about some updates regarding the TAC traffic advisory committee. Um, I can tell you this, they meet the third Mondays of every month at 9:00 a.m. right in this room. And it's probably the most attended uh in terms of the public uh meetings that that I've
participated in. Josh does a great job. He's the co-chair. Um, and Mr. Chair and select board. Um, some of the issues that they delve into, crosswalk identification, motor vehicle parking management, and going with a thematic approach. We have a an update on the parking management plan. So, we thought it was an appropriate time to to bring
the TAC co-chair in. Um, speeding of motor vehicles, traffic circulation. they they delve into a lot of really high impact uh issues that have a huge impact on quality of life in neighborhoods. So, I want to applaud uh Sergeant Oliver for the work that he does, Peter McConny um and some of his
staff um also that sit on the uh the committee. As you all know, it's a town manager appointed committee. But Josh, I'm going to turn it over to you to talk about some of the great things you've been doing. >> Well, I appreciate that. Uh good evening. Um, I appreciate my, you know, being the ability to come up here and speak to you guys and let you know kind
of what T's doing. I know that, uh, it's a meeting we have during the week, so a lot of times people can't make a 9:00 a.m. meeting here at town hall because they're working. Uh, so I appreciate having time in the evening to actually discuss this and kind of let the town know what we're doing. Um, I'd like to thank Peter who I worked midnight last
night, so if I'm a little kind of groggy, I just woke up. U, but I'd like to thank Peter for while I was sleeping today. he finished up this presentation for me and uh made it available so I can kind of stumble my way through it for you. So traffic advisor committee like I the town manager stated I am the
co-chair. Um the other co-chair actually resigned last month. So that's going to be an open position coming up. Uh so I will get with the town manager and discuss that and figure out what we can do for a placement for a co-chair to work with us. Um like he said we are a very busy committee so our agenda is
usually pretty full. [Music] Could I just stop you for a second, Sergeant? Is there any accommodation for people who can't get to a meeting at 9:00? >> Um, so a lot of it is people with their work schedules, they'll put in a request
for something for traffic to me uh through email or through a phone call and we'll discuss their issue. I'll call them or email back both of them, find out what it is. If it's something that is very pressing for them to be here and discuss, I'll try and make it so they can be here. Um sometimes if they are
not able to because of work I will um discuss it for them on behalf of them. Um it is kind of tough in the middle of the week but or in the beginning of the week >> a lot of people have to work Mondays but we seem to do all right and uh most people seem to be happy with the results that we're getting from it. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> So uh what is traffic advisory committee doing to offset traffic related matters? Let's look at some of our projects up to date. So this right here is our trafficcoming policy. Um this was actually designed by Peter. Um purpose of the policy this
policy has been developed in order to establish a structured process consistent criteria through which the town can respond to complex traffic calming measures of the town maintained roads. When this policy can be implemented, when complex engineering data collection and traffic studies are required to determine and justify
traffic calming measures at a particular location, applicants shall present their traffic concerns to the TAC. For more complex traffic related matters, the TAC may vote to recommend that the matter be forwarded to public works for a traffic calming review. The basic time frame for a traffic calming decision in 45 days.
Response time may be altered depending on department's workload. So with this basically people will email me they'll say hey my street is having an issue with speeding. Um one of the most notable projects which we will discuss later on in this is Minot Street. They were very concerned with the amount of
traffic that was cutting through around the business hours of 7 to 9:00 a.m. and then 3 to 5:00 p.m. with people cutting through to go to steamship parking lots. Um we'll talk more about that project later on. But this was one of the pieces where they came to us and said, "Hey, we need some traffic calming." We discussed
it. It went forward from us to Department of Public Works and then later on you'll see the project that was designed out of it. Uh this was a big project that the uh Department of Public Works came out with uh the 20 mph beach safety zones and it
was all the town beaches. Um here are all the notable ones that they actually did. There was actually um this itself has become a item that people messaged me a lot about thanking us for slowing things down
around the beaches because a lot of people walk the heights or surf drive especially with the new sidewalks that we have out there with the water main project that went through and the uh Eversource project. Uh this has actually been a big thing for us. Uh also
it has uh helped out with quicker road slowing cars down out there. We do have an speeding issue out there which is another project which we will talk about um with Curly Boulevard and Quake Road coming up in this presentation. Uh this right here, Main Street and Scranton Air project is right in front
of the uh senior center. Uh most of you have gone by there over the summer and saw the telephone poles kind of stuck out on the roadway with the barrels and cones. Um Eversource is actually going to be out there tomorrow uh working to continue removing those p poles from the roadway. Uh this is going to be a full automated traffic controlled
intersection. Uh the design for this is for the senior housing on Skirt and A both at the corner on Main Street and also further down across from the harbor to allow the seniors to cross safely to the senior center. Um this is a very needed project uh that was brought forth
many times discussing uh children crossing from the rec center in the afternoons and then once the senior center was installed uh the seniors trying to cross the roadway to get over there safely. Um it's a very busy intersection. Uh the new design layout will have a turn lane also for turning
onto Scranton A from Main Street. As you can see when you're coming up if you're coming from Davis Straits you'll be able to actually turn to the left. That was a big problem in the summertime. Anybody who's gone down there trying to get to the harbor in the summertime has sat there for a lengthy amount of time while nobody lets you turn. Uh this will also
um have a full emergency controlled uh light sensor so they'll know when emergency vehicles are approaching and it will turn the signals red so that way emergency vehicles can travel through safely. Any questions on that project?
Uh this project is one of our future projects coming up. It's going to be the east west connector. Uh this will go connect the bike path to Gford Street on Brick Kill Road. Uh this will run right up past the highway, past the new Y, the
high school, um and give access for a shared use path for pedestrians and bicyclists. Um this is a very big thing I believe for our town connecting that westside bike path to teet in East Falmouth. Um having a safe passage too
with a shared um pathway gets people you know safely away from the traffic instead of being in the travel lanes. Um people know Brick Kilm Road being a wooded road and not really um thickly settled. People tend to go a little faster down there sometimes than they
should, especially coming off the highway. Um, also I believe in the future we're going to be petitioning Mass Highway to put an on-ramp on Brick Kill Road um, heading southbound towards Woods Hole, which is kind of needed because right now as you come down Brick
Kill Road, if you need to get on to head into the center of town, you have to go up 28A and that puts a lot of traffic up through that area that is not needed, which could be changed by an on-ramp. >> Any questions about that? >> Yes. >> Uh, two quick questions. So this is the
is connector from I guess I would say center to west, right? Um is there a plan to get from Gford Street over >> to at least sandwich if not 28 in East Falmouth? >> Once you get over to that area, there are sidewalks
and crosswalks. Um when you get up into Brook Hill and you go towards the highway, there are none. So >> So the idea is is connect bicyclists would transition to sidewalk at that point. >> Well, bicyclist could travel and travel lane. believe we'll have the shared use road signs and stuff like that in that area, but the pedestrians that are on
foot will be able to connect it to the crosswalks and the sidewalks. >> And will the the bicycle so this portion of it it's shared use path and will that be physically separated from the roadway? >> Yes. >> Yes.
>> Yes, it will. >> Great. Thank you. >> Great. Mr. Brown, which side of the road will that be on? >> It's going to be on the Gford um Google Park side. Correct. on the north side where the new YMCA is going. >> Oh, right. >> North side. >> Thank you. That makes sense. >> So, as you can see up in there in the
project, that'll be basically where it runs through. >> Um, this section here is all the the town forest, >> right? >> So, >> and the police station >> hopefully. I can only hope uh that would
be a great location for us. >> And I do like I will say that housing in the admin building was a great idea put forward by >> Mr. Richardson. I totally support his idea of that. So >> I think first Douglas first in the idea.
Yeah. >> I I I totally both of you. It's amazing. I totally agree. Uh so this is the Woods Hole traffic triangle. Um, as you know, this was kind of a a busy intersection triangle setup that we dealt with a lot this summer, especially
with the steamship uh authority traffic and everything coming down there. Um, I recently there are updates to this intersection here. Uh, there's all come down here. There's concrete barriers that actually create a consistent intersection. Also here, steamship um
under adisement of myself and Peter um put in a ride share parking lot out of the roadway to get the Ubers, lifts and everything out of the intersection. So, it's been very helpful. Um the officers that have been working down there doing the steamship detail,
sorry. Uh doing the steamship detail and everything have really noticed a difference in the amount of people sitting in the roadway and the traffic being eased up by that parking area. Um, also in here you have the top where Water Street is, uh, which has been a
known issue for well over 20 years, um, with traffic patterns and narrow roadways. Uh, the DPW will be looking for funding, I believe, at the November town meeting to have a consultant take a look at the, uh, traffic triangle down there and try and figure out what is the best way to correct the traffic problems
down there. Any questions? So this project here is Koolie Boulevard. Uh this was a project where we did a road diet. Uh road diet is narrowing of the lanes to slow traffic down. If you look here, you can see
there is a new shared bike lane in the roadway that has to the right side there. You can see the crosswalks. There's a motorcycle, a couple cars turning up there. Uh this has actually helped out quite a bit with keeping the bicyclist separate from the traffic. The
only issue we do have with that roadway is the speed limit is slightly high. Um I believe it's up before that 30 mph sign. It is 45. So, we will be um looking at drafting a
letter to Mass DOT to do a road audit on that to see if they can possibly consider slowing down the uh speed limit there. Um and in that project, they'll actually be looking at Quaker Road also, uh heading up towards Old Silver Beach
and out towards Nashawina. Uh this project uh has definitely helped out with access for our bicyclists in the community, especially with a heavily traveled area going down to Old Silver Beach. Right here we have an example of the uh
shared road shar marks that we were put in on Kathleen Lee Bates Road. Um, this isn't Catholic Bates obviously, but we did use the same exact road markings to let motorists know that they are sharing the roadway with bicycles in that area.
This right here has been one of the biggest uh requests that we have had from uh the traffic advisory committee. Uh, radar feedback signs are becoming quite a common thing around every city in town
in Massachusetts. Uh, a lot of it is driver feedback. A lot of drivers are driving down the road, they don't realize how fast they're going. Especially, uh, Route 151, you're coming off the highway, who knows how long you've been traveling at, 65, 70 mph. You get on this roadway, it's a 50 mph
speed limit. People tend to still go a little faster than they should. These here are examples of the uh radar feedback signs that were installed on that roadway. Uh number number installed throughout the town. Uh there are schools with six of them. Uh the main street library has
two. Route 151 has six. Old Barnesville Road has two. Cypress Roadet A have four. Ki Boulevard and Old Main Road have another two for a total of 28. Um right now at town meeting we are going
for funding for two for Shore Street and two for Quaker Road in the area of uh Old Silver in the neighborhood over there. Uh installation of these units themselves for the two of them is about $20,000 between buying the signs uh
installation foundation and getting everything set up for it. So they are quite pricey and unfortunately with that being the issue many people want them for their roadway but the town doesn't have a sustaining budget to fund every project. Um I
believe in the future uh DPW will be going for a line item for specifically electronic signing so that way we can hopefully provide more of these throughout the town. >> Do you have any way of measuring whether they're successful? So, when I do our traffic studies for the town, I put out
signs similar to this that are battery operated. Um, they'll collect data for about a week. Um, with that program, I can actually show on a graph how many vehicles slowed down receiving the driver feedback. Uh, usually it's between
a third to 2/3 depending on the roadway and where they are. Um, you will catch a lot more on a roadway like this slowing down when they see the sign just for the fact that they were traveling at a higher speed because they're coming off the highway. Um, when I have on a side road such as Queen Street like I did
last month, it's about a third. Um, but Queen Street also is a narrow roadway and it's a side road so it's not as popular for speeding. Thank you. Uh, rectangular rapid flash beacons. We have a couple of those on Locust Street and Woods Hole over at the bike path. uh old
Barnesville Road, Quisa A, uh Gford Street and Dillingham. We had just installed two. That was the intersection um after we had that terrible fatality. Uh we the DPW started that project by opening up sight lines.
They cut back vegetation. They improved lighting. We saw there was still an issue out there. Um from there, they installed the flashing stop signs. We continued to improve this. that intersection with moving the crosswalk
actually a little further up the road to get it past one of the utility poles that was there because the utility pole was causing a blind spot because people waiting to cross the road was standing behind it. So the DPW moved that they then installed the rapid flash beacons and it seems to be going pretty good over there.
uh project underway uh Woodsole Roads looking at uh four uh radar units to be installed and also as I had mentioned the Shore Street in Quaker Road. So this right here was a project that was done a few years ago. Um Queens
Byway, if you noticed, uh this is was done to kind of safen up that intersection. Uh the crosswalk was so long and wide that pedestrians really were getting lost in the roadway. Uh therefore, we put the island in which kind of gives them a break in the middle. So if they're crossing, they
actually have a safe spot to stop and then continue on. Um and not only that, this is our entryway into Main Street. It's very visible. It's one of the most traveled intersections in town. So the project has helped out. It has slowed cars down that were turning onto that
roadway which made it safer for the pedestrians crossing for the coffee shop and for the intersection in general. Um on Main Street we have two projects I believe coming up that they're looking at. Uh Academy Lane and Calhoun Court for the sidewalk bumpouts. Uh for anyone
who doesn't know what a sidewalk pumpout is, if you look on Main Street over by the library, the kind of crosswalk come the sidewalk comes out. It gives you a narrower crosswalk which gives you a safer distance for people to cross the roadway. Plus, it also brings people out further into the roadway for vehicles to see that they're waiting to cross. Um I
think adding these to Main Street is a great idea in areas that don't have it. It just makes it safer for the pedestrians. um especially where you have some in intersections and stuff that are down there that aren't well lit at night or just kind of tough to see people behind the cars.
>> Just a question while you were talking about Main Street. Uh I've talked with some business owners in town about the potential for, you know, perhaps seasonally or on weekends taking cars off Main Street. Have you guys considered studying that at all or I know it's a new issue. >> So there is an actual main street
parking study coming up >> and I will let Jed discuss that with you. Um I have not heard anything about that yet. >> Okay. Yeah. Just an idea that some people came to me with. >> Yeah. Uh this project here is Minot Street which I had discussed earlier. Uh this was used as the detour during the
Eversource project. Um due to that, DPW used some of that funding um to actually correct their roadway with the issues that they had. Uh they did not have a sidewalk. Um they were complaining about the speed issues during the uh morning and afternoon commutes. With this, the
DPW went in, they added in new pavement, granite curbing, sidewalks. Uh this project cost between about $250 to $300,000. Um it was a big improvement for the people in that neighborhood and they are very happy that they now have a safe uh
sidewalk to walk on instead of being in the roadway with the cars passing by. >> How long of a stretch is that? Do you know? >> Uh minor street. So was that a half mile? >> 3/4. >> Yeah. Half mile to 3/4 of a mile. >> Pretty cost effective job.
>> So yeah, Lawrence Lynch did a good job with it. Um, if anybody hasn't been down there, it's it's it's a nice street. It's very well done, but the only problem is is now that it's new asphalt and everybody's going to be using it as the cut through even more. So, unfortunately with that, it kind of brings more
traffic, but it's safer at least for the residents with the sidewalk. >> Right. >> So, that kind of brings us towards the end of our presentation. Any questions or comments? Mr. Reid, first. >> Yeah. Um, well, thank you very much. You're doing a lot to keep us safe and
safer as the days go by. Um, we've received one comment and then one question. We get a lot of uh feedback about 28A >> between Brick Kilm heading south of speeds. Yep. >> Um, so anything you can do to add some safety measures in there I think would be great.
>> So actually right now we uh just did a traffic study on it and we had thought that the speed limit was 35 and we were correct that it was 40. So, we're adjusting that on the speed setting signs and we're going to be doing another speed study this month. Uh, after that, we will try drafting a
letter to Mass Highway about a crosswalk uh for one of the neighborhoods over there for the safety of the children trying to go to the school bus. Uh, we've also put it in our roll call book for officers to be out there, especially during the school bus uh stop times to do some traffic enforcement. Uh
unfortunately it's a large area for officers because they're covering from Old Dock Road to Woods Hole. >> So that includes the hospital in Gausnald and some other places that are very busy. So we try getting officers out there when we can and uh they have done quite a bit in that area. Right now
I know they're focusing heavily on the bus stop at Carriage Shop in Mattoxic. Um, which if anybody's seen on Facebook lately, it was one of them people, it's one of them corners that people kind of just roll through every time they go just cuz it's habit and unfortunately people get used to doing it. They do it
once or twice and they just continue to do it. Um, so they've been doing heavy enforcement out there in the mornings. Um, that has seemed to uh make the residents happy in the area and it's also, you know, correcting the driving measures of the people that drive through there every day. >> Yeah. The other one I had was just um
the separation of bicycles and cars or bicycles, pedestrians and cars. >> Um coming from the city where I actually felt comfortable uh biking because it's contained and smaller and you're going slower. Um I find it a little
intimidating to bike here in Falmouth because the speeds are that much higher and the space is that much wider. >> Right. So, I appreciate what you're doing collectively with DPW on Brick Kiln. I think east to west is a huge need
>> uh for commuters. Um I would I would implore you to consider looking at that separate non-sidewalk um shared use pathway because a sidewalk is named just that, walking, sidewalking, >> right?
>> Um whereas shared use is a little bit bigger. people understand that you're going to be sharing that resource together. And I don't also implore, you know, you and DPW to think about these in conjunction with some of the um sewering projects that we're doing.
Martha's Vineyard does they they have many shared um bike paths that are sewer based >> um to get them off of the road and then you you know combining efforts there and getting some efficiencies and added benefits. But thank you for what you're
doing. It's been great. >> And I will say on that project, uh the bike race committee are huge involved in that project and and Katherine Jensen and her team have been great with helping us with projects. Uh they attend our meeting every month and they give us a lot of uh good feedback and also um ideas for different projects around town
to make things safer. >> Yeah. But the more we can do just to separate cars and bikes. >> So, and also uh as far as the sewer goes, if you notice from Woods Hole to uh the center of town, they actually use the bike path for the sewer for that. Mhm. >> So, >> anyone else? Mr. Brown,
>> I'm curious if uh how far along are we on that route 151 Boxberry Hill intersection? We talked about that. >> Was a year ago or more? >> I will pass that off to sitting here and listen to this to Josh talk. There's a lot of work going on in
town. Um so, the intersections that we're looking at are 151 Boxboro. That's the most dangerous intersection we have in town. And the second intersection we're looking at is Jones Road and Gford because that's the most congested intersection we have in town. But
Boxberry uh Sam Turner is about 90% 95%. Uh we're going into uh easements um the easement phase. We're doing you know temporary easements um some permanent easements move some of the um ever source conduits and relocating some of
their boxes that are in the roadway. But, uh, over the last year, we've got so busy at public works, that kind of fell to the back burner. Now that we have the new deputy director, Jim Kempton, that that's his priority project. He's going to be looking to push that through. And I'd like to see that um go go go start up within the
next year. We do have chapter 90 funding to to pay for that. So, it wouldn't be going through town meeting. We're looking to see if we can get through chapter 90 on that. It's probably it's probably about uh two and a half to $3 million project for that. It's a wide intersection.
>> I'm sure those uh speed alert signs have been helping, but >> yeah, you go through there at night time, it's dangerous, flashing lights, the vehicles, it's uh it's a dangerous >> while people get used to them and start to ignore them. So, yeah. >> So, the the angles of the roadways, the way you come out, you have
>> the headlights just don't you don't see it doesn't line up right coming from a certain way. >> Come out of CLfield, you kind of tend to be angled >> facing towards the east side of town. So, when cars are coming up, they're not really seeing your headlights. to see in the side of your car, >> right? >> So, we're hoping to get that done in the next year, year and a half, get that out
just like the main street project, get that underway. >> Great. Thank you. >> And while I have Peter up here real quick, and another project that we are working on is the central app project. >> Um, that's the realigning of the roadway uh when it comes up to East Bmouth Highway. >> Yeah. >> Instead of kind of comes up, the road's
completely straight now, brings you up to the highway and that's where we have cars going across into the >> where that house >> and hitting the house. Yes. Um, Peter has come up with a design that's going to actually straighten the road and bring it up to an actual 90 degree intersection with Eastbouth Highway.
This would redirect the cars away from that property and actually align them straight. So, when they come around, they'll be guard rail and curbing and then they'll be aligned straight and then when they go straight across there's the trees there instead of going into someone's yard or their house. >> They can drive to the side of the house instead of into it. >> Yes, that's it. The guardrail is almost
going to guide them. So they they they almost they would have to do the the loop, but that's through Mass DOT. So it's all permitted through DOT. So we have a concept in with them and it's under review. >> So that'd be another project that will be underway. >> Great. Uh Miss Goldstone first.
>> Yeah. Couple of questions. You already answered one which was in terms of how frequently you're interacting with the the bicycle and pedestrian um committee and just encourage that to to really continue. I'll say from a pedestrian perspective, I completely understand the
appeal of granite curbed sidewalks. As a biker, I try to avoid them because it means you've got no place to go in a tight situation and you're competing with pedestrians for for the sidewalk. So, right. So, thinking about all of the folks who use the roads um not just cars
and and walkers. Um uh so encourage that to continue. I'm curious in terms of your priority setting as a committee. You mentioned the volume of requests that you get and I'm curious how many of your projects are kind of being driven by data on accident rates and and kind
of broader data and how much of it is is being driven by complaints or requests. >> So, I would say it's about 50/50. Um, a lot of the requests that we get I'll actually do traffic studies on. Um, right now I just last month we did Queen Street, West Fmouth Highway. Uh, the
month before that we did North Fmouth. uh Old Main Road, County Road, Pine Street. Uh the month before that, we had done two other uh traffic studies. We've done Shore Street a few times. We've done Central A,
Marra Vista. Uh we did traffic studies at all the beaches um coming up to the project with the safety zones. So, we do quite a few um gathering data and then we make a decision. >> Do we have anything planned for the Ticket Highway stretch? So, Ticket
Highway, East Smouth Highway, Quiet Highway, those are all stateowned roadways. So, those projects become more of a state depending on what we're doing. Um, we'll do uh West Fmouth Highway was actually one of our traffic studies um last month. We'll do a study
out there and then we can come up with a request and submit it to Mass DOT. Um it's a lot easier when we're doing towns. I can just deal with the DPW directly, but it's a little bit harder depending on that. Um, as far as TT highway goes, I don't think we have anything planned for TT Highway itself
right now. Um, I don't know. >> As far as the track TAC committee, I don't know if DBW does. >> So, when and this we got a slow burn project going on out there that started in like 2017 and it was a large project that actually when the water man went through down at Queens byway, it
actually went out to Oxbow. So the the goal was is while we're doing it, let's make some traffic improvements and it started out at 10 million and then it went to 20 million and then they then going through DOT we came up with a concept and they said this project's getting so big we got to split it up to three separate projects. So we had Main
Street which we're working on now with the the uh the byway and the in the intersection and we'll be doing Felmouth Heights and then we had Davis Straits between uh Falmouth Heights and Sandwich Road and then we have Sandwich Road to Oxbow. So those projects are the DOT is
still reviewing them and we're still working with our consultant to work on that. But the cost is the cost for those projects are really exorbitant. And going out our parks superintendent's concern because going out from Sandwich Road to Oxbow, there's a lot of old
trees that are there that are that would be slated to be removed and um so there's a little bit of heartburn on that. So but it's it's going back and forth with the state and we're working on it, but it's been going on for about eight years now. Um and we're still working on it, but >> the cost of it the cost of it is going
to be high and that's something that we we put through the tip and we're looking to uh see if we can put it through the county. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> But thank you. >> I have one more, Mr. >> One more. >> Um Water Street. Uh I know you talked about the congestion a little bit with the steamship. Um been a lot of
proposals about parking on one side, you know, changing that intersection. And the belief of the community is that uh you know you'd rather cars going slow and tagging mirrors than hitting kids. Uh do you have does the committee have any thoughts or received anything on on water street down there?
>> We've discussed this numerous times since I've been on the traffic advisory committee. Um there's been suggestions of the bumpouts like like on Main Street to bring the entrance way of water street narrower >> but being able to adjust the parking to make legaliz streets. Um, this would be where the DPW is hiring the consultant
to look at the area. Um, they're the trained professionals that are more than just an officer who's doing traffic studies. Um, and let them actually figure out what is the best traffic um, adjustment for that area. Uh, right now we do have at some points a 5-ft travel
lane and there have been times where I've come down the road in a police car and it's dead locked and I can't get through. People get nervous and they kind of gridlock themselves and it locks the whole intersection up. Uh some people have said, "Oh, well, it's fine. You know, leave it." Well, at some point
when your travel lines are way less than what it should be, you're you're causing congestion. We have to figure out that issue and relieve that problem. >> So, >> thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, I think we'll move on to our next item. Get get to bed earlier than midnight tonight. Uh Sergeant,
>> I have to go back to work now. >> All right. Thank you. So, in an effort to keep or to start moving our agendas to a more thematic approach, following on the traffic advisory committee, we're going to hear a presentation and
discussion of the downtown parking management plan. We have our uh community development officer, Mr. Corno. Is that the right term now? >> Uh, it is community director. >> Director, >> but I but I can take the officer. Um,
>> we're getting close for the record, Jed Corn. Um, so I am here tonight to go through, let's make sure this works, to go through and summarize the uh downtown parking management plan, which uh the town recently completed, well recently a
year ago um this time uh in 2024. I I want to start off by um reminding folks in the room and uh folks at home that this study was free to the town. Uh we applied to the OneTop for growth program, the grant program, and we
received $25,000 to hire Stantech engineers um to essentially uh write the report, do all the analysis. Uh the planning office did participate in the study. We did do some data collection uh as part of that. But we'll go through
that as I make my way through. But I just wanted to articulate that because I think that's an important uh component of this uh of this study. So, um, as I mentioned it, we we started this study back in 2024. And it was it came about because, um, you know, at the
time the planning board was was, um, hearing a a project or an application uh, that wanted to share parking within the public realm. And so, you know, part of the conversation and questions that we had were, do we have enough space?
Can we accommodate this this new use? Um and so you know we just thought well let's let's get a study going and figure out exactly what we've got. Um and so over the course of a you know six to eight months uh as you can see up on the screen our consultant uh interacted with
key stakeholders. So we had a municipal meeting where we talked amongst ourselves about you know issues that we know of history of uh parking in the downtown. But then also as you can see in task number two uh they organized two um successful public meetings. Uh the
first at the beginning of the study to do exactly what we did internally is to ask the public what they thought about the downtown parking situation but then in the end in September present the official report and all of its recommendations which is included in
this um presentation. So, as I mentioned in task number three, uh the planning office helped with data collection. So essentially we walked around downtown uh and collected u parked cars, the number of parked cars for each one of the um areas, which I thought was an excellent
use of our time because we actually got to see firsthand, myself included, uh some of the issues that folks deal with uh and especially visitors uh in the summer months and how that affects circulation but also congestion uh when folks are trying to hunt for a parking
spot. And then um in task four and five, our consultants uh they had put together a model uh which I won't go through tonight. It's a little complex, but essentially a parking model to uh show us that we've got room and we can use it better. And then uh they developed some
strategies for us to um carry forward and some recommendations. And then in task six, you can see they uh publicized the plan which is available on the website. So, please don't let me uh move from the podium until I show everyone where to find that report because I
think the more people who read it uh the more we'll understand that you know uh we do have capacity in the downtown and we have uh in my opinion ways to make the circulation and the system work better. So, some of the goals I won't go through them all but essentially I've
sort of talked about them already. It's talk about what are some of the challenges that we have in our current system. What is our capacity? What does that capacity look like? Is it privatelyowned lots? Is it publicly owned lots? Do we have restrictions on how long people can be there, etc. And
then ultimately come up with some strategies, some recommendations to make the system function better. This was our study area. Uh, as you can see, it's it's fairly large. So on the left hand side of the screen, uh that
little sort of lollipop um uh figure is the depot a parking lot that's across the street from the bus station. It essentially ran all the way down Main Street and ended right around uh just east of Gford Street. We also included the Lawrence School because um some of
the things that we had heard were, you know, in the summertime folks might be parking at the Lawrence School and and finding their way downtown. So, we wanted to get a sense of what that activity might look like um because it might fuel a future recommendation. But, as you can see, it it encompassed a lot
of um parking lots which are shown on this slide. So, essentially what this slide shows is uh all of the parking lots that we surveyed and it's colorcoded based on the type of lot. So, anything in orange indicates that it's a private lot or it's restricted in some
way. Um, anything in blue is a public uh lot that is open to everyone. And then there's some restrictions on the uh allowed time of stay, if you will, for each one of those lots. So, for example, Main Street has certain uh time frames
and and as does the town hall parking lot. So, it was broken up in a way that made it somewhat confusing, but hopefully it was uh digestible if you stared at it for a while. But the idea was to sort of sort of show the downtown parking area but then sort of categorize
it in different ways. So overall there were 1662 spaces within this study area. So I'll just go back real quick. So in this figure altogether we have over 1,600 spaces. There's um
two slides here that I want to touch upon. This first one is all about uh where those spaces on street versus off- streetet. So the vast majority as you can see are all off- streetet parking lots. Uh there is a substantial amount of on street lots uh on street spaces.
Those include areas like main street depot a and uh Katherine Lee Bates. So then the next slide's really important. It uh talks about that whole that idea of restrictions. So it's roughly half and half in the study area
of lots that are restricted to the public and those that are not. So those that are restricted would be, you know, private lots behind some of the businesses uh in the downtown. Um areas such uh that are public spaces would be uh you know the Eastman uh parking lot
or town hall. So, uh, these next four slides show, and I want to just draw your attention to the map itself because I'm going to go back and forward, um, to show the utilization, uh, between May, June,
July, and August of 2024. So, we did counts on the weekday and the weekend uh, because we know uh, the popularity of the downtown and, you know, with its um, restaurant utilization, but also its shopping. So that's generally uh the
time frames that we looked at. We looked at the parking within the morning period, the afternoon, and the evening. So really quickly, what you'll see is um up especially up in that uh blue bubble, you'll see the utilization climb as you
make your way into the summer. So the highest uh full area utilization was in a in August. And you can see the color coding indicating red would be the highest utilization. And then obviously as you come to the cooler colors, those are the lowest utilization, but I'll
just sort of go backwards and you can see how it changes. In May, it's really low. It's right before, as as as you all probably know, it's right before the tourist season. In June, we started to see those numbers tick up a bit. What
was interesting about this uh study was that the peak utilization was always lunchtime. It was always that time period, I thought for sure. And typical parking studies indicate that it's usually the evening, but it was always the lunch uh period that had the highest
utilization. >> In July, as you can see, it started to ramp up. Parking lots like this one outside the library, depot a those public lots started to get that uh really heavy uh utilization and it peaked in uh August. In fact, some of
the data collection that I was doing in August, I was surprised by the number of people who were circulating the lots endlessly. I don't know if anyone's ever been to uh the Reanm outlets, but as you leave your destination and you're
walking to the your park car, you can feel the car sort of following you as you and I was I was actually collecting data and wearing a yellow vest and people were following me through the through the lot. Um, but >> asking what you were doing probably. Exactly. Exactly. Now, it it does lead
to a recommendation. So, I'm glad that that happened. Um, but the point was that people are really struggling to find parking spaces, especially in the evening hours uh in our parking lots. So, this full study area slide just essentially shows what we were just
describing in in in the previous slides, but you see the peak right around July and August. However, what you are seeing, especially, see if you can see my cursor. these areas here, this is indicating your capacity. So, anything that's hollow and outlined means that we
still have plenty of capacity in the system. Now, that also includes the Lawrence lot or the the Lawrence school lot. So, there's plenty of capacity for other places for us to consider in the future and not just focus all of our
attention on on the main street, especially the on street parking, which is the next slide here. Main Street throughout the study period was always full. Uh people really uh covet those spaces. It was difficult for us because
we weren't um assessing turnover. We were just assessing utilization. So in a turnover study, we would get a sense for how long that car is actually parked on Main Street. What we did hear anecdotally is that folks will park there and sometimes stay there for quite a long time. Um so there's some examples
of folks who are just leaving their car there all day long. So as part of the um public engagement as I mentioned we had two um major public meetings. The first was an open house where you know essentially we just asked folks to come in whenever it was
comfortable for them tell us uh a story about how they parked downtown and some of the challenges that they come up against. You can see up on the screen some of the things that they were looking for. improve pedestrian crossings, adding wayfinding, which is another study we're working on. Um adding bicycle facilities downtown, and
increasing uh violation fees because some of the things, as I just mentioned, what we saw were, you know, cars are typically willing to pay the violation rather than move the vehicle and park somewhere else. Uh we also had a uh survey that we had
out for approximately 3 to four months. uh we had over 500 responses which was great. It uh dovetailed really nicely on the transportation management committee's effort uh then in 2021 where they an analyze this whole idea of
downtown circulation. Um and a lot of the same themes came out. How long do you stay in downtown? Roughly an hour or two. Some were over an hour. Um do when you do live downtown or perhaps work downtown, where are you parking? I think the biggest story here is that they're
parking in the off- streetet lots for the VA vast majority of folks. And then the last public meeting was held in September of 24. This is when we rolled out all of the draft recommendations. Um, and we asked folks, as you can see up on the screen, to sort
of vote for us, you know, give give them stickers and let us know what of the recommendations uh that were presented, which ones were their favorite. And so, um, you know, importantly, improving the wayfinding in in downtown is really important. Uh, we hear that time and
time again. Folks just don't know where the public parking spaces are. Um, my theory is, you know, when you're driving around and you're especially in the downtown area, the first and, you know, your first eye is is always towards not hitting someone who's crossing in the
crosswalk, making sure that the car door isn't opening and you're not hurting anyone else. the last thing you're looking for is street signage where uh public parking is. So, you really need a helper in the vehicle in order to make that happen because it's really busy. Um but importantly, improving bicycle
conditions and then uh crosswalk conditions uh in the downtown. So, some recommendations um I won't spend too much time on this slide because we're going to go through each one of them. I'll try to do it uh very quickly, but the whole idea was to
essentially give us a menu of options. So, this first one uh you're familiar, most of you are familiar with the shipwrecks pond improvement project. Uh that included a dock uh which is currently in place or a platform. Uh part of that project was also to um
extend a walking path up to Lawrence School. We're still working on that initiative, but this was sort of dovetailing into that this whole idea of utilizing Lawrence School as a off- streetet um or a off-site parking lot in the summertimes to alleviate the
congestion and the demand downtown, which is I thought was a really great idea. Of course, we would need to create the path and make it um visible, but also safe um and increase some lighting in that area, but make it usable for folks. Um, and as part of that, uh, 1B
initiative, uh, if you've ever visited places like Newport or Plymouth, they have these, uh, really cool electric, um, shuttles basically, and they're free. Uh, you can get in, you park into the parking spot, and then you get right out into a shuttle, and it direct, it
brings you free of charge right down to the downtown. So, it's it's this really cool offsite idea to again reduce that congestion and and uh and that demand for downtown parking. Uh recommendation number two was to
continue to pursue uh the shared use path along Katherine Leates again connecting the Shining City bikeway to downtown. Uh not only doing that with physical infrastructure but with signage. So, that's our next phase is our wayfinding uh study that we're we're just wrapping up. And we want to make
sure that, you know, we've got consistent theme of, hey, while you're biking down the the bike path, there's really cool stuff uh just to your left, 2 minutes away, etc. It's another option to get folks to ride their bikes downtown.
Um, Officer Oliver mentioned this whole idea of creating safer crossings. Um, so I'm just going to point out uh for first and foremost, this was one of the first initiatives. So this is a parking spot right outside of Liveetta. Uh, it was
identified as um an unsafe crossing because of its proximity obviously to the crosswalk. Um, I've physically witnessed many people standing in that crosswalk waiting for someone to actually see them. And it would have tall vehicles there. It's hard to do. Uh, that parking spot has been
eliminated. Um and so that was an initiative through this study but also through the TAC. So we heard uh that from many residents and so we've successfully eliminated one of those um issues. The other two locations that he was referencing is on the screen here.
This is Cahoon Court. So this is right in front of the library and then the second half of Academy Lane essentially creating the second part of the bumpout. Um and that will be done uh I believe in the near term. But those are some of the things that our consultants identified
is really increasing that safety for pedestrians crossing the road. Uh recommendation number four, which um is interesting. Uh the idea is a two-prong approach. One, first and foremost, the the image at the top was
to essentially increase the amount of on street parking. Um, so out where King Street and Gford Street uh locations is, the consultant identified the fact that the road is really wide. It could utilize some on street parking to
potentially slow vehicles down. Um, there is a concern on our part with the fire station being right there. They do have to come out of there and make some significant turns. So, that one is an idea. We don't know if um that's going to be worth pursuing, but anything of
course that we would pursue, we would run by this group and others to make sure that we're doing the right thing. Um and then importantly, the second image is um something that we hear a lot uh with the downtown is off- street loading. Um there's constantly uh large
trucks unloading their um you know, goods for the restaurants and whatnot. And sometimes they're doing it at um inappropriate times in my opinion. You know, sometimes you'll see them at 11:00 right before the lunch rush and there's a lot of people and it's just very difficult for them to find space and so
they're utilizing parking spaces to make that happen. So there is one loading zone that we have currently. I've seen it utilized once. Um so we may uh want to consider uh signing that appropriately but then al also reaching out to the trucking companies to make
sure that they're aware of it and then explore the idea of creating new ones. Recommendation number five. Um, this one got an awful lot of attention at the public uh session. So, the idea of reintroducing um paid parking along Main
Street. I will just move on to the next slide. So, recommendation number six. No, I'm kidding. I mean, it's an idea. The idea would be to clearly encourage folks to park further away, potentially utilize
the path, utilize the shuttle, but reduce the demand downtown >> and not stay all day. >> What's that? >> And not stay all day. >> And not stay all day. Right. Uh I can say this. This was not uh a popular option. >> So we'll just say that.
>> Mr. Cron, can I ask two questions on that? >> Yeah. First of all, um might there be uh lessons we can learn from the introduction of paid parking in Woods Hole this summer um that would inform
thinking about whether it's worth trying this again on Main Street? Um well, I'll I'll stop with that one first. >> Yes. >> Okay. I mean, do we have those or that's like we just but we have we're collecting data that we can use to to learn from.
>> That's my understanding. Yes. Um, what are the ramifications for uh making Main Street more accessible for those with mobility limitations? >> Um, mobility limitations. So yeah, it
the impact would be that you would have to reduce the number of parking spaces um because we've also heard that um that particular item from the disability community that they would like to see more handicap spaces um accessible
spaces out on Main Street. Uh the challenge of course is that they're all everyone's competing for those uh Main Street spots. So they're very coveted. Um I will say this. So after uh completing this study I was invited to um talk with the Falmouth Village
Association and um so I got to go to their annual meeting. I ex you know sort of went through this whole um item and I would say that there's some openness perhaps um with this whole idea of looking at the main street in a
different way. U to your point m uh Mr. Richardson earlier, the whole idea of trying to reintroduce bicycles and pedestrians into your downtown and try something different and say, "Well, let's shut it down to to vehicles. Maybe it's two, three times a year, whatever
it may be." But they were open to the idea of um trying things on a trial basis to see whether or not we can start making improvements like that. So, it could start with something like accessibility and improving that condition. Worth noting, we already close our main street to all but
pedestrians twice a year. So, >> Right. Right. And I will say Mr. Reed and I, we both lived in in Washington DC, uh, a city that's known for doing that pretty frequently. And I just felt the other day when Main Street had the trick, uh, event, you know, there were dozens and dozens of kids and parents,
and it was great, but I just I was I was walking to I go to the gym up here. I was on edge the whole time because, you know, these kids who are this tall in tons and tons of cars. Um, so I was, you know, wondering, you know, and I think this is worth a future agenda item, uh,
to actually propose, you know, certain times a study exactly like you said to see what this looks like. And I'm glad that that this was considered because I think it would be a great opportunity just to see if this is how this impacts travel in town, you know, while also,
you know, promoting safety. And um, you know, that that's not even including you could consider having vendors or whatever there, but just pure pedestrian traffic, I think, is worth considering at, not as a wholesale, this is what we're doing, but as a once or twice uh,
you know, a month kind of kind of thing. >> Yeah. Yeah, I would suggest if if we're going to try something like that that we try to have other options available for for people who are going to park. For example, that shuttle that off street location at Lawrence School where you can park and you can take a shuttle in.
It's nice and easy. You don't have to pay for anything, etc. >> So, that was a question I was going to ask. Is there any way that a shuttle uh would expand? And I know you studied this area, but is there any thing beyond that area that a shuttle might improve access to in terms of parking?
>> The beaches. the beaches. >> Yes. >> Yeah, >> that was another um it was another component of our wayfinding study that a lot of folks don't or at least the survey indicated that when visitors come to town, it's hard to know exactly where
the beaches are. Um, I would imagine a fair amount of folks are, you know, googling that or getting on their phones, but when you're into the downtown, even me, I as a new employee, when I was first here, it, you know, I I knew they were this way. Uh, but that
didn't really help me get around. So, >> cuz I imagine it'd probably be pretty easy to run a loop from Walker to shore. Yes. >> Like that. >> Yep. Yeah. I Lee Filson, president of C Plymouth, who purchased those vans. I have a meeting with her on Friday. Um uh and it's you know they what they do is
they run it also to uh Kingston uh the MBTA. So when folks come in from Boston we obviously can't do that but uh it's full all the time. You know every time I'm in Plymouth for work it's it's a tremendous how how many people are are writing that that service. >> Right. Yeah. I I visited Newport over
the summer. I think it was last year and I was astonished by the number of people and and their shuttle is as long as your table. >> It's huge. So um without taking up too much time the wayfunding uh study as I as I mentioned is wrapping up but the whole idea of communicating to residents,
business owners, visitors etc. where these parking lots are located, how long you can stay, etc. and then directing them once they park where are the places that they're most interested in going to shops, restaurants, etc.
Um this was another one of those um items that had mixed review, we'll call it, at the um at the public session. The idea of charging folks more money is um sensitive, but there is a recognition
that folks may be abusing the current parking system. So there's a there's an acknowledgement that we need to do more. There's just a concern about how much more. So it's just another tool in the toolbox. So, as I mentioned, um I I won't sign up
for this um because I am too busy, but the whole idea of creating an ambassador program, which I thought was really um intriguing, was to, you know, if you've ever been to a parking lot and you're looking for the pay station and then there's this long line of folks, I mean,
I've done it myself. I just say to people, "Hey, look, there's a QR code you can just scan and you can pay on your app. You don't have to wait in this line. You can just go to your dinner and you can pay while you're walking." Uh I think it's a really good idea to sort of identify the fact that this lot's full, but this one over here to your right is
wide open. So it's just a way of communicating uh to especially to visitors in the summertime. And then this one is um shared parking opportunities. So, uh, my time here, uh,
approximately 4 years, um, I've uncovered a lot of, uh, these informal situations, uh, that already exists, but of course, we would encourage, um, more shared opportunities. I think, uh, uh, folks like, um, the aquatic brewery
would would benefit from from something like that. And then this whole idea of reducing the parking minimums. Again, this is another one of those sensitive topics. And I think, you know, nationwide we're talking about reducing the amount of required parking. Um, it is something
that we are interested in pursuing. Um, but we want to be very cautious because the last thing we want to do is create a system where there isn't enough parking and then people are just circulating endlessly and we've created another problem by just reducing the amount of available spaces. So, those are the 10
um recommendations. This is my last slide, so I'll just pause here for any questions that you might have. But the basic takeaway message here is that now that we've got this complete, our work really begins. We start um going out to the public, we start holding events, we start working with stakeholders, and we
start trying to identify which of these um recommendations we might tackle first. >> Okay. >> Quick one just on this slide. Is that when you say parking minimums, are you talking about zoning reform? >> Yes. >> And that can also apply to our housing. Yes. >> Yes.
>> May I ask another? >> Sure. >> Um, do you have a sense for uh how much of the quantity of taken parking or used parking is used by employees and or commuters. Um, we're looking we have
that problem in Woods Hole. >> Sure. >> Um, we have employees of other restaurants, you know, parking in our lots. um depot and you know my work with the uh EDIC we've got
the small parking there but we we've seen an uptick in parking that are commuters um coming in and either working in Felmouth or not taking the ferry over and then I'm just you know extrapolating that out to Main Street
like how many folks are are parking there because the minimums are squishy and the fines are low >> right >> uh parking there instead of parking else. Is there something we can do to help our employees and our commuters?
>> Yeah. So, the answer to your question is no. We don't have that concrete data. Um because that's a different type of study. Yes. Um but the goal is to um now that we've established a relationship with the village association and the business owners, that would be the next
step is to try and not only identify but also try to solve that problem of their employees potentially parking in these public lots. You know, let's find somewhere else where they can park that's not only safe for them to get to and from, but also has the capacity because the last thing we want to do is
encourage um business owners, employees to park somewhere. But and then it's full and so we're not really living up to our our commit. >> We have that in its whole. >> Yeah. Right. Challenging environment. >> All right. I think we'll move on. Thank you, Mr. Corno. >> Of course.
>> Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> All right. We will discuss and consider a vote to approve an application to the Falmouth Affordable Housing Fund from the Falmouth Housing Trust regarding property at 439 Pinerist Beach Drive.
Mr. Wrenchure. >> Uh, is there loading the slideshow? I'll I'll lead this off. Um, as you all know, Fmouth Housing Trust brings a lot of great projects, uh, to the town. Um, this, in my opinion, is an example of an outstanding project. Uh, the applicant
brought uh to the request to the Felmouth Affordable Housing Fund Working Group a request uh for funding in the amount of $175,000. that is $25,000 higher than what we typically uh grant uh for projects. But this project, as you're going to hear
from uh from Laura in a moment, is very unique. Um and and it it it's it utilizes an existing home to purchase a home for for a reduced price and then sell it to a qualified homeowner, affordable home, make it affordable property. So, um, and I think in my
mind, the best part feature about this type of a project is that it's an existing home and it doesn't require any kind of clear cutting or land land disturbance activity. We're just basically moving a family in quickly. So, I'll turn it over to Mrs. Moan. >> Thank you. For the record, I am Laura
Moahan. I'm the executive director of the Falmouth Housing Trust and um, this is 439 Pinerest Beach. And thank you, Mr. Ranchoff for your words and recommendation. Um, this is an existing three-bedroom
ranch house in the Pinerest Beach neighborhood um of Falmouth. It's a home that has been um um upgraded recently. Um this is the lot. So, it's actually about a half acre of land.
And this is uh showing the rear of the house um with the new roof, new shingles, new windows, new deck. So, lots of improvements. Um, here are some more photos showing the backyard, which has a beautiful wooded buffer and a back lawn area. Uh,
and the basement access, which is a second means of egress. The basement is unfinished. Um, it has about 10,040 ft of finished space on the first floor, three bedrooms, two full baths. Um, as I
said, a brand new deck and an unfinished walkout basement. Um, we are proposing to resell this at $399,000. The market uh purchase price was $600,000.
So, it'll be a significant uh uh reduction for um a household earning up to 120% AMI. It would be deed restricted in perpetuity. So any resale of the home in the future would have to be under the
same household uh income limitations and for a family of four that's up to 164,000 right now. So, some of you may say, "Well, that seems like a lot." But the reality is that families here with a
median sale price in Falmouth at about 850,000, a family really needs to have a household income of 200,000 or more to qualify for a mortgage. So, this is really what we're seeing is this middle
income um or middle class is really it's out of reach for them to be buying uh market rate homes. So, this house um is movein ready. Um we, you know, are always looking at homes. Um this one came across my desk
and it and that was the key. It was movein ready. So, a lot of homes we look at need new windows, a new roof, new this, new that. you know, it's ching ching ching. You're walking through the home, you know, 10,000 year, 15,000 years. So, so when this one came across,
um, it it had everything pretty much done. Um, and so here's the floor plan showing the three bedrooms and the two baths. It's a it's a classic, you know, ranch house built in 1984. Um, primary bedroom. You can see the new
flooring with the attached bath and the hallway. Again, the new flooring, new paint, new doors, etc. And I'm put the list of improvements in your package. Um, as well, um, there's some bonus features, a whole house generator, the
mini split system for AC and heat, uh, the full walkout basement, and all the appliances are included, including the washer and dryer. So, and also the owner may join the Pinerest Beach Association, which is really neat um because it's uh
close to that and for I think it's $50 a year, might be a little bit more, but it's not a monthly HOA. It's just a onetime membership fee to be able to use the beach and the kayak racks and uh the playground. So, the the breakdown of cost, this is in your package. I'll just
run through it quickly. uh the purchase price at 600, the fees and carrying costs, and this is how we get to our total project budget at 625107. Um and when we break down that uh we
subtract the resale price, um if the board is inclined to grant the request for the 175,000, it means that the Falmouth Housing Trust would be putting in about 51,000 of donor funds. So that's taxpayer funds as well into um
into the resale project. So that is our application. Um we'd appreciate your support for the funding and um as Mr. Renshaw said, you know, these market rate flips, we call them, they are really the quickest and most
efficient ways to house our workforce families because we can buy the property and resell them in about 3 months. Um, and with the way things are going with permitting and land acquisition and
building, you know, our WOI highway project right now or a five-unit project, that's two and a half years, you know, to get to this point where we're looking at occupying those homes. So, um, there's a lot more involved in that, a lot more money involved in that.
Um, I know that, you know, that that these these uh these transactions really, you know, it's one house at a time, but they really do work and get people get people housed. So, we'd appreciate your support. Thank you. >> Uh, I'll just say uh I'm part of the
working group that uh had this come before us and we struggled with it. Uh our current guidelines, as Mr. Entra mentioned, were $150,000. uh but we felt that this was a very unique situation as uh you know no clear-cutting move in condition a
nonprofit uh developer so that was where we landed on recommending 175 for this project. So Mr. Brown, >> how can we apply uh local preference to this project?
Well, um we can't really because um it's only one home. So, typically when you only have one home, you know, it could be construed as discrimination. Quite frankly, if you have more than one
home, then you have the ability to make one local preference and one not. But um this this um program of marketing this home and selecting um buyers will be from a ready to buy
list as it stands already which is being marketed locally. So that in itself keeps it more local. Um it's not going out on the MLS. It's not going out on um um um you know that type of
advertisement. But um but I don't think that we can employ local preference because >> Thank you. >> We >> Mr. Richardson >> on that point and I believe this is correct. If we adopted the seasonal communities designation, we would be
able to >> um possibly for uh municipal employees um >> um and you know artist housing. I mean it depends on how those regulations shake out but but yes there would be
some uh more flexibility I think. >> Uh and then my only question um and I understand you kind of answer it with the timetable. Uh this is much quicker turnaround. This property looks large enough where you could put an ADU on it. And you know, I saw a piece that was in
uh the news the other day of where they're starting to be prefab where you can put them down and they're in in less, you know, months, plural time, just one or two months. Is that going to be a consideration for projects perhaps is um if if the you know maybe
requesting the board would appropriate extra funds to build an ADU or something like that or I'm just thinking that looking at the map it looks like there's plenty of room to put an ADU uh on the property. Well, certainly with, you
know, these over 80% AMI um funding projects, no offense to the state, but when the state's not involved, there's a lot more flexibility in what you can do. Um, the issue with the ADU is that,
you know, if say the Fmouth Housing Trust was acquiring these properties and then reselling them, it would be up to the housing trust perhaps to build that, you know, and >> and then there would be there would be a lot of additional costs. So, I think you'd have to plus the the length of
time that the trust is carrying the property until that can materialize. But but you'd also have to figure out how to separate the the principal unit from the ADU. And my understanding is that you may not be able to sell them
separately. >> Interesting. >> Because it's supposed to be accessory to the principal dwelling. So um some there are some theories that you could create a condominium and sell them separately, but it would be pretty complex. So, so I
think there's a funding issue, there's a timing issue. Um, if a homeowner purchased the property and and had it deed restricted and the homeowner wanted to build an ADU, then it would that would be an issue of, you know, is the
homeowner going to be recovering those costs if they resell the property? So, I think if a homeowner was going to do it, they would probably be somebody that was going to stay there for the rest of their life, you know, which is possible. and and and a and a lot of these deed
restricted home ownership homes, they they really don't resell very often. So, that's poss a possible option. Um, and this property certainly is kind of ripe for that because it has a basement with
two forms of egress and it also has some additional land area. But, but I think it's complicated. Interesting. >> Not not impossible. >> Yeah. No, that's why I want to ask you. You're the you're the expert on this, so I appreciate it. >> Anyone out, Miss Colstone?
>> Um, thank you for um bringing this project to us. I think um the this this whole model just of buying and deed restricting properties, right? It's not actually any new development. It's just converting our existing housing stock to something that's that's
actually affordable. Um and that's terrific on on any number of fronts. Um, I'm less worried about the local preference thing because I feel like a family at that income level looking for a family home, it's not somebody
looking for a a second home and they're probably not looking to buy on the Cape to commute to an hour off Cape because they could buy something closer to that job for cheaper than than this. So, we're probably getting somebody who wants to be in this community um if
they're taking advantage of this. Um I'm curious if you could just put a little bit more color on the the 25,000 above the the recommended limit, right? What what made that extra 25,000 from the town and your cost the housing trust
cost 50 instead of 75,000 for this project? Um what why is that so critical? Well, um, because of the gap between the cost of a market rate home in movein condition, you know, 600 is a very
reasonable price for for a home that's in this kind of condition. I mean, there are homes on the market that we look at that are in the mid5s that, you know, need $100,000 worth of work. So, so when you start at the 600,
um, you have to look at what you can resell for and we have to set the resale price. We could set a higher resell price to reduce that funding gap. Um, but then we're limiting our pool of
buyers because the higher you go, the less opportunity you have for buyers who can actually afford the mortgage every month based on their income. So, at 600, when you subtract the sale price that we
think is doable for a good pool of buyers, um, so that we can actually get people in in three get somebody in in three months. we have a gap at 75,000.
So for a nonprofit to put up 75,000 in, you know, quite frankly, in our view, when the money is available in the Aphelmouth affordable housing fund, that's why we made the request for the extra 25 to help out with that um with
that gap of about 75,000. Um so you know as I said in my application um you know my our position is that the guidelines are guidelines. The select board can we think do whatever you want you know um
and if you if you do feel you need to kind of hang your hat on some factor. I think it could be that these that the development here, the quote development is actually the the resale of an existing home and that the costs
involved for advertising, lottery carrying costs, you know, other fees are development fees, predevelopment fees. So, so there is a way to fit it within the box. Um, and um, so that's really
the rationale for the request. Did that answer your question? Okay. And the other thing I just want to mention is these are firsttime home buyer homes only. So it's not a second home market. These are they have to be firsttime home buyers for these homes. And what we are
seeing at this 120% AMI level is exactly what you said um Miss Goldstone is that it really is people that want to stay in this community, people that um you know grew up here um that their parents are here,
their family members are here and what we are also seeing a trend is that their parents are helping them buy these homes to bring them to even at though they're at 120% % bringing down the the mortgage
monthly mortgage so that they can become eligible because the more because they can have $125,000 in assets and that would include any down payment monies gifted to them from family members. So we are seeing a trend now generally in
not not just this home but other lotteryies where parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, they're stepping up to keep these kids in the community. So, >> well, and I know you're talking about the adult kids who are buying it, but as a three-bedroom house, it's probably a family with kids, which helps our
schools and those enrollment numbers we were seeing earlier tonight and especially in the location near Jenkins Pond really attractive for families. So, um >> and and just as aside, I'd be concerned about the commuting teachers. I'd love to know what that percentage is.
>> You know, that's that's an issue. >> Someone ready to make a motion? >> I have just one more question. Oh, okay. >> Have uh given that this house is in such great condition and it has a generator which is sort of a beyond what you would normally do, did you ever give any con
consideration to maybe even higher than 120 to close that gap? Maybe I don't know if there's such a thing as 140. >> Um we didn't really think about 140. Kim did. um you know I I think we felt that
um that we weren't really eliminating anybody because of the income limits at the 120 level for I mean a family of four that's 160. So, um, you know, we we
just we could have put it up to 140, but, um, was there a funding issue with the >> If I can Jim might be able to address that better than you. >> It wasn't so much, um, trying to we do have in the guidelines that we can go up
for home ownership up to 140, not in the rentals because then it becomes a market rate at 140 AMI, but if you do 140, you can close that gap. But we really need some 120s going up 25,000 over what the guidelines
um are suggesting. We felt strongly that when we're out in the community and we're for instance the town owned land, we're hearing a lot that we don't we want to keep open space. We can't do everything. This is a tool in the
toolbox. And so we thought as a working group that um where you don't have to cut down more trees. It's not a new build. Someone can get in there sooner. We would like to actually at a later date come with a revised uh guidelines
to you all to request that you go up to 175 for pre-existing homes. just like this model because we're in a sense buying the deed restriction in perpetuity and the turnover is much
faster. So even though it says 150 now, we were at we were hesitating as well to go beyond that. But the more we talked about it and there's not a lot lot of land left to build affordable housing. We need as many tools in our toolbox, we're not going to see a lot of
opportunities like this. We're just not. >> People want to make the profit on it. a forprofit is not going to make any profit on this. It's going to be nonprofits that are going to do this. It's very limited. So, if we can buy a deed restriction in perpetuity, I think
it's worth that extra funding and we would like to come back the working group at a later date to request it be put in the guidelines. >> I don't know if that helps at all. >> Y Thank you. >> Okay. I move that the select board acting as trustees of the Fmouth
Affordable Housing uh fund grant $175,000 to Fmouth Housing Trust to purchase a market rate single family home to then sell at $399,000 and attach a deed restriction in perpetuity at 120% of the area median
income and to authorize the town manager to execute the documentation setting forth the terms of the financial award to the Fmouth Housing Trust. Second. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing and seeing none. All in favor?
>> I. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay, good luck. Thank you. Thank you for bringing it to us. >> Thank you. >> Okay. The next item is to discuss and consider a vote to submit a letter in support of the railto trail bicycle path project. Going to ask Mr. Renshaw to
give a introduction. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh I just wanted to bring to the select board's attention a couple of letters um that are at your desks uh from Congressman Keading. Uh one is dated today to the chair um Miss Galley and one is dated March 7th of 2023 um indicating uh the
congressman's support uh for rail two trail. Um I'm going to give uh for the benefit of the audience I think most of the slight board is kind of aware but just give an overview. Um, if constructed, the proposed Borne rail trail project, rail two trail, removing the uh the F2 tracks and converting that
to a a bike trail would utilize existing FEMA secondary rail line or the F2 to close about a 6 and a half mile gap between the Cape Cod Canal Path and the Shining Sea Bikeway. Once the proposed project gets completed, it would connect the towns of Felmouth, Bourne, and
Sandwich and create about 24 miles of uninterrupted multi-use uh path. This is important. I had an opportunity back in September of 2023 to meet with the Falmouth bike and pedestrian committee and in additional uh some members of the Bourne uh Friends of the Rail to Trail
and they indicated to me that a pretty significant economic benefit potentially um 10 to 15 million um and I'll I'll let some others that are more uh uh up to speed on that and that number may have changed but potential significant economic impact to closing that gap and
making that connection. There's a lot of information in your packet. Uh what I'm going to try to do is kind of summarize some of the information. Um as you all also know uh this F2 line, the second FMA secondary rail line uh currently serves connects the upper regional uh transfer station which is a
vital part of the upper cape um municipal solid waste system. Um the uh upper Cape regional transport transfer station is currently operated through an intermunicipal agreement between the towns of Felmouth, Mashbby and Sandwich. Um, in 2022, the town of Borne, which
was a member, um, opted to, uh, to to pull out from that IMA. Um, I cite, um, I I repeated a citation of some data. Um, I think it's relevant. I want to get it out there so that the suck board again has all the information it needs to make an informed decision. Um, it is a an often used uh, transfer
station. Um, the current uh, vendor provided this data to us about a year and a half, two years ago. Um, six to eight rolloff container trucks per hour, 50 to 60 per day. Uh the monthly tonnage received at the facility, again this is the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station, um averaged annually is about
2100 tons of CND and about 170 tons of municipal solid waste, the traditional trash, family trash. I also made reference to a couple of reports that are included um in your packet. Um the Mass DOT has recognized the value of utilizing rail transport of
solid waste to remove trucks, truck traffic uh from our roadways, congested roadways. um to the uh to the extent that the agency the mass DOT has uh subsidized for the past several years some of the heavy equipment uh procurement on the site of the upper Cape Regional Transfer
Station. Um I also referenced a report from the Cape Cod Commission that identified the use of alternative methods to trucking to transport waste, encouraged alternative methods to trucking to transport waste and mentioned uh in fact that encouraging additional use of uh the two existing uh
transfer stations, one in Falmouth and one in Yarmouth would be important. um to give a little bit of um kind of bring this to the contemporary. There's been a lot of interest generated lately um in in bringing uh this uh issue back to the select board. Um and I'll just
kind of again um a couple of uh letters have been generated from the select board to the governor's office. 2019 was the first. Um the most recent letter was in 2023, December of 2023. Um, in September, uh, last month, the Felmouth,
uh, Bike and Pedestrian Committee voted to, uh, ask the select board to consider a letter, uh, to governor's governor Healey's office, uh, that would support the rail to trail, again, removing, uh, the existing rail that services the upper Cape Regional Transfer Station.
Um, there's been a lot of supports um, from the Friends of Bourne uh, of of the Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail. I cited also some information um included in your packet um that uh from that website the born friends of the rail
trail in addition to the economic impact that I've talked about um there's a lot of interest in again uh connectivity and closing that gap um importantly and I wanted the select board to be aware of this again as an additional piece of information um according to the website friends of the born rail trail um the
organization uh received notice from the mass DOT back in August of this year late August August uh that the Felmouth F2 railroad tracks would not be removed at the time according to that post. Again, that's on the website. Mass DOT position was that it would be less expensive and take less time to
construct a pathway with the track with the track than by removing the track. Um I understand they're currently again looking at that site and watching a video from I think it was during the month of August um phase one mass DOT is currently in phase one design I believe
of that kind of alternative utilizing a roadway um a rail adjacent to an existing roadway I believe in the Poca village of Pocasset. All that being said um I am concerned I was concerned in December of 2023 and those concerns
remain. I use the word nonviable um by removing the tracks it would make that our upper Cape regional transfer station unviable or nonviable. Um my concern is that um it would make it certainly by removing those tracks and that connection it would certainly make that
transfer station less economically advantageous. Um because let's face it, um having that rail transport, that spur and being able to move trash off the Cape uh via rail, um is a lot less
expensive than by putting it on a truck. And I I cited some data as far as the number of trucks. So um my my concerns about the viability and the uh the um effectiveness of of that transfer station should those tracks be removed remains. Um, it remains my
recommendation that the select board not support the rail 2 trail, but I understand uh the public uh sentiment and the public input that the select board has received over the past year certainly. Um, and then wrapping up again uh leading up to the September 5th vote by the bike and pedestrian
committee to reconsider. Um, so I wanted the select board to know um my my recommendation. Um it's I think based on on on strong data. Um the friends of the Bourne rail trail and our Fmouth bike and pedestrian committee also come with strong data and support of a rail to
trail. Um so with that Mr. Chairman um I'll stop and uh answer any questions you might have or entertain some comments. >> Sure. First I want to thank you for you know an exhaustive uh information in the u in our packet. Uh I do have to
question DO's conclusion considering a 1 half mile uh extension is going to cost over $10 million. Uh and that's why that didn't proceed. So I must uh question DO's
logic with respect to that. Uh, and with all due respect, um, I understand your concerns with respect to removing the tracks and what it might mean for the transfer station, but uh, I I don't think it would be nonviable. I mean,
that would mean it would go away and I don't think it would go away. It may be a little bit more costly, possibly not quite as efficient, but it certainly rem would remain viable in my opinion. U, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Richardson, >> I was actually going to request, Mr.
Chair, would it be possible to take public comment from people here before discussing? >> Uh, we can certainly do that. I mean, >> I know we have a lot of people here on both sides, I think, of this issue, and I would like to hear their opinion if that's acceptable to out of order than
traditionally. >> We can certainly uh we could certainly hear public comment. Uh, I I just would caution you not to be repetitive necessarily with your comments. I think we all are pretty familiar with the positions of many of the people here in
the audience as to how they feel about it. Uh but I'm certainly willing to entertain public comment. There's a gentleman apparently ready to speak has been there for a while. So uh if you don't mind introducing yourself we're going to limit public comment to like
two minutes uh uh and uh you know move forward. So thank you. >> My name is Michael Fineold. I live at 88 Palmer here in Falmouth and I'm also on the board of the friends of the Bourne Rail Trail. Uh we are asking you to vote
for the Falmouth secondary track removal and to send a letter to the governor stating that fact. The most important part is rail to trail will cost around 20 million. Rail with trail will cost 70 million plus. That's an enormous
difference. It involves taking of land by eminent domain, building 11 bridges. It's just too costly. It will never happen that way. It's unfair to the people of Bourne that have voted voted overwhelmingly
to support this and who they want rail to trail. Thank >> and I'll keep it brief because we have other people that like would like to talk. Sure, Miss Jansen. >> Thank you, Mr. Fine.
>> Thank you, Chairman, Miss Golly, and select board. My name is Katherine Jansen. I'm the chair of the bicycle and pedestrian committee. I'm also on the board of Friends of Felmouth Bikeways and on the advisory board of Vision Zero Cape Cod. Um, a lot has happened in two
years. In 2023, there was thinking that, you know, we could still do this. It would be messy. There'd be land takings, lawsuits, etc., but it still could be done. But that half a mile in phase one, I beg to differ from Mr. Fineold, um,
came out at 10.1 million. There are 13 half mile segments. Simple math says that's 130 million. That's not accounting for the bridges. 11 bridges and for 14 land takings. Ain't going to happen. Um over three million in removal of
contaminated soil and remediation is included in that 10 million. We have a chance now to design a new track. So a new track and a rail two trail will cost less than rail with trail. So we could have a new track as
part of the bridges could come straight down MacArthur. Could have a spur to the upper Cape transfer state regional transfer station. can have a spur to the military if needed. Um, it would support passengers and freight. We have the opportunity to create a long-term vision
for the upper Cape that includes multimodal transportation for pedestrians, cyclists, and I I would encourage you to think of commuters. Um, I have someone on my bike committee who rides up to Picasset for work every day
and have modern rail. we do have that opportunity to do both things, not one or the other. Um, so I'm encouraging you to u begin work on this long-term vision for the upper cape that would be multi multimodal transportation and modern
rail. Thank you for your consideration. >> Thank you. >> Yes, sir. Michael, what I I don't have much to say other than I >> I appreciate that, but >> viewers at home won't hear you from back.
>> We need to uh we need to have you there. >> Good projection, though. >> Michael Reece, I'm from Monument Beach. Um, my only question is could we hear the letter that um the senator wrote about
what he had to say in his letter today? That I was just curious. >> It's from Congressman Keading, I'm happy to uh I'm happy to read it. Uh, dear Chair Mscali, I'm writing to confirm my continued support for the conversion of the Falmouth secondary rail line F2 from
an active rail line to recreational bicycle and pedestrian paths. PN rail to trail in town of Borne. And I am also enclosing a copy of a letter I sent to Governor Healey in March 2023 in support of the rail to trail on the F2. And my
position remains the same. The most cost-effective and efficient path toward I'm sorry most efficient path forward is to take advantage of the $20 million in federal funds and move forward with rail to trail. Uh the Cape Cod Regional
Transit Authority was able to set aside 20 million in federal funds for the construction of the rail to trail on the F2 line through the hard work and leadership of the late Tom Cahir. In my opinion, the starkkest and most compelling argument for continuing to support rail to trail is the incredible
cost savings it delivers to taxpayers. Feasibility studies indicate that converting the corridor entirely into a path is the least expensive alternative with initial estimates around $9 million. Conversely, attempting a rail with trail design will be an exorbitant
undertaking with current estimates for that approach soaring to over $80 million. Railto trail will be a net benefit to the community because it is not only achievable with exist existing federal funding commitments, but it also
delivers a superior, safer, and continuous recreational amenity. In a time where federal funding prioritize in a time where federal funding priorities are shifting away from projects like this, we must take advantage of any remaining federal
funds. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to my district director, Michael Jackman, at 508-7469000. Um, I I will say that I'm not absolutely sure where the $20 million in federal
funding that uh the congressman is u is referring to. I'd love to see it. Uh but in any event, I think the letter clearly uh clearly indicates his his support for the concept of the rail to trail that I won't bother reading a similar letter he
sent to Governor Healey back in March. So uh >> that that 20 million is time is running out. It >> certainly is. Unforted it's too late for that. >> Mr. McCartney.
>> Good evening. Peter McCanny, director of public works. Um I am on the board of managers for the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station. It's myself. It's the director of um public works for Mashby, Katherine Laurent, and the director of public works for um for Sandwich, Paul
Tilton. We currently uh actually recently we just approved the each of the towns, all three towns approved a 17-year extension to the IMA. Um and currently right into the inter intermunicipal agreement and then currently the project is on the street
for it to go out for an RFP and it's actually gaining a lot of momentum. There's three content went out on Friday and there's three contractors that are avail um interested in operating that facility. Um, so it's not just Kav Kavosa um anymore. So with that, we're
looking forward to to put that out to bid and having a another contractor or Kavosa back in there on January 1st for the duration of the next contract. I will say um you know this I' I've heard the the uh the concept of uh moving the track and putting the track in another a
different area. That's all well and fine, but from from my point of view is if that's going to be the case, that really needs to be designed and built first before the tracks are removed. Because building the tracks, a $10 million uh cost for dealing with roadways, I know what roadways cost. $10
million for half mile or 3/4 mile does not seem out of the out of the realm for me when you're dealing with going over horizontal, vertical curves, train tracks, doing all the permitting. So, um, if that would be the case, I would like to see the train tracks designed
and built and then start talking about removing the, uh, removing the existing tracks. So, currently the town manager had talked about uh the the trucks and the trucks going over the bridges. In the next 5 years, seven years, those bridges are going to be under construction. So, there's going to be a
lot limited uh, mobility to be able to get off the Cape. I can tell you that the Felmouth trucks um alone, that's five trucks. They make a round up twice a day, five days a week to the Bourne facility. So they got to go to the Bourne facility and they come out, they
got to round out and then come back down. That's a lot of truck traffic on the road. For the rail traffic, the rail traffic, those rail cars take about 100 tons and the rolloff container trucks take about three tons per container. So one rail car would take about 30 to 35
trucks off the roadway for going over the bridges. So for us that that's a substant substantial um difference and and amount going over the bridges. So for the board of managers and speaking for the different towns, I would like to see if that was going to be a concept
for the rails to go first before the the rails the existing rails be removed. Um, and like I say, there there's there's getting some um some uh additional contractors up there looking to uh bid on this next contract. We already have the IMA. The next contract is coming
into place and there is a representative from the joint base Cape Cod that sits on as a liaison for the uh for the base with the uh board of managers. >> Is my understanding correct, Mr. MCD that the representative from the joint base specifically asked that any RFP be
limited to two years be with the uh uh uh disposition of the property and the and the changes going on at the Cape. They asked for it to be uh for two years. But right now that facility is being used for uh MSW and it's being used for CN.
Specifically in the uh in the RFP that's going out, there's proposals that that can be used for road salt coming in in the winter time. That can be used for wastewater sledge being moved off the Cape because everyone there's nowhere to bring wastewater sledge. There's two plants down in Rhode Island and one of
them is closed right now. So that's going to be that's for all the Cape Cod towns, but that's going to be a big consideration for our wastewater superintendent at the plant. Um, it can be used for water, it can be used for for compost facility being able to move compost off the Cape. So it instead of
just thinking of being C and D and MSW, I think we need to look at really what the concept that that real that rail can be used for to go bring it over the Cape. >> And just keeping in in mind that those bridges are going to be under construction in the next five to seven years. So things are going to change for
the traffic coming and off the Cape. Governor Healey could take that into account as well when she makes her ultimate decision. But, you know, how we feel about it may may be, you know, important as well. M Reed first. >> U Mr. McConn, is there a cost difference
between I'm totally new to this, so I'm going to claim ignorance. Um, is there a cost difference between shipping off via rail versus truck in per unit, call it a metric ton, whatever it is. Um, is is
there a cost difference and and what is it? >> Yeah, I I don't have the exact numbers for a cost difference, but there is a cost difference. If right now we go through Borne, if we went through that um through the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station, the contractor for for
that's doing the trash contract for Bourne is actually looking at putting a bid in for that. And we're being told that the numbers could be considerably lower than um than than what we're right now. We're paying $71 at Bourne. It could be considerably lower than that.
So if if that went away, Bourne would be the one facility on the Cape. Landfills are going away. There's not many landfills left in Massachusetts. Several. Um and if Bourne at some point in time is going to be coming up on that same thing. They're going to be coming
up with the limitations that they have at that facility. We um continued with another 5-year agreement with Bourne, but things happen at landfills. If there was a fire or something happened at a landfill and they had to close, then you you wouldn't have another option to get
off the Cape. I'll give you for an instance just real quick. I've been well over two minutes. The town of Bourne two two weeks ago, their contractor up and told them their their trash contractor up and told them, "We're out of here. We're leaving at the end of the year. See you later." So Paul Tilton was
calling me in a panic saying, "What do I do? I don't have any other options to go. What do you What do you do? What do you do with the town of Bourne? we have to haul it. So, um it's a very real situation. It just happened to Bourne. Could happen to Felmouth at some point in time. So, to have different options
would be would be a to me to me that would be the viable >> Thank you. >> option to have different options. >> Okay. Mr. Brown, >> I'd like to follow up on what uh Miss Jansen said. I had a similar conversation with Susan Shepard earlier today about let's all get on the same
team and get this advocating for this new rail spur because it's obvious that the rail to trail is the practical way to build that path but to give up the rail now without the guarantee of the new rail. I mean, I'd love to see it
built first, but we'd also like to see this in our lifetimes. But if we could at least get it onto the tip and make sure that it's guaranteed project that's funded and going to happen, I'd be willing then to go to the railto trail. But until we're at that point, it's just
it would not be responsible of us to eliminate this valuable resource that we have. So I just I mean I I live right next to the tracks. My son-in-law and his wife live right up in Monument Beach, right next to where the track goes through. I would love to ride my bike up there, but that would be selfish
of me to do that for myself when I have a responsibility to this town for the future. >> So So M Mr. Brown, are you suggesting that um a letter of support with the condition that it uh have some um
reference to the tip and the rail spur that we're talking about, but a letter of support at this point with that condition? Are you >> I would that's within the scope of what's posted on the agenda or we could have another meeting to talk about it further if needed.
>> No, I I I would go a step further, I think. And I I really like the vision that Miss Jansen put forward. Right. The upper Cape deserves a 21st century transit and transportation system. And that means multimmodal long-distance
transit. That also means 21st century rail, both for cargo, not only the current use of this rail line, but potentially additional cargo to get more trucks off of our roadways and alleviate more congestion and also passenger transit to get folks between here and
Boston, whether it's folks commuting from here up to Boston for the day or folks coming down who could pretty quickly get from a train down to the ferry. um you know the frankly the way they used to be able to straight train from Boston all the way straight to the ferry without the additional congestion
here. And so I guess in framing that letter to the governor and and frankly also to um our other state representation, I would say yes, it is conditional support for the bike path, but it is a more comprehensive. We need
to see that commitment to rail and to 21st century transportation for the upper cape from the state level, including the bike path, but not just focusing on the bike path. If I could just >> Yep. Mr. Brown, >> one more uh thought. So another thing
that came to mind thinking the big picture of this is not just connecting to Borne but you know where that loop goes around where it currently goes to the transfer station that might not be needed because maybe I know that the town of Bourne is planning to build a new transfer building because their CND
building is getting out of you know it's wearing out and the current location where they process the CND is going to be extended you know part of the landfill is going to be expanded and the transfer station is going to be moving to the rear of the site and so that train track could come right alongside
maybe it would go perhaps a tunnel. This is way beyond the scope of the >> Yeah, I I think we're we're moving a little beyond the last >> the agenda here >> suggesting that this make a letter tonight for this but we could continue on that little loop around get past Route 151 and make use of that bridge
that's there under the 151 and make a place where we could uh make a connection to that uh bike path. I mean that shared use path up Route 151 like Mashbby has done. >> So that that's a a meeting, you know, a discussion for another day, but I'd like to get a a big picture uh vision for
this. Mr. I I yeah just I I mean I agree that the uh the design for the new bridges uh gives us a perfect opportunity to have a win-win here uh to provide some some 21st century rail transport and at the
same time the bike path that uh and the connection that uh there's a an overwhelming amount of support here in the town of Falmouth for that. So yes, Mr. Richardson. Yeah, I uh I spent 3 weeks in Japan um this summer. Um I got
in a car once and I lost 10 pounds. So uh and that's with the alcohol consumed in a foreign country. Um so I will say that I think that um Miss Jensen and and and Vice Chair Goldstone are absolutely correct where I think that uh if we are to support this, it should be
conditional. And I know that both Senator Fernandez and Representative Mowley have bills. Senator Fernandez's bill would bring commuter rail uh in the short term, you know, in the next year to Buzzards Bay, but Rep. Mowley's bill would bring commuter rail over the bridge um like it used to be. So, uh I
think that in aligned with uh our representative and and senator, I think that that vision supports what's happening on Beacon Hill right now. Uh and also aligning with the governor's priorities of, you know, how do we get more cars off the road? How do we meet our climate uh goals? um while at the
same time being fiscally responsible. Um because I think we do need to look at um yeah, I think Mr. Mscali does make a or Mr. Brown, whoever made it. Um the question of is this 20 million actually real? We'll have to find out. I hope it
still is. Um but I think that any >> I think it had to be spent by the end of this year. >> There there's our office, Senator Fernand's office has heard different things. So >> that it is a it is a serious question though. Um so with that being said, I think we that that puts the extra
emphasis on being fiscally responsible uh in the scenario. >> You probably designed the whole thing. >> So >> yeah. So I um I I agree that any letter that we would consider I think needs to emphasize the need for uh a future that
includes rail and not 50 years from now but in the next 10 years or or sooner. >> Well, there is a tip that it would uh be part of with a fiveyear. Yeah. >> Transportation improvement plan. So, um,
is there a consensus on a motion to, uh, to direct the >> You want to hear more? We kind of interrupted their comment. >> Yeah. Okay. I mean, if there's more comment, uh, that can add something to what we've discussed, by all means. >> Timber race, I'm on the board of the
Friends of the Born Rail Trail. I appreciate all you're saying about the long-term planning for rail and we and we support that. I would urge you not to tie this smallest project, 6 and a half miles to something that is much greater and bigger and was going to take a lot
longer. One is because there's been no discussion about the 90year-old railroad bridge >> and already the Cape Flyer which is wildly popular in the summer and overs subscribed. It's a seasonal train that I don't know if you're familiar with it.
They applied to the Army Corps of Engineers to have more crossings because it's wildly supportive. And the Army Corps of Engineers said, "We're not going to raise and lower that bridge anymore." Their charge is to keep the canal open, which makes sense if you think of it. If there was any disaster
on the bridge, we would need barges and all kinds of, you know, emergency vehicles or boating to be able to get to solve the e, you know, the problem. So, that's a huge problem. We're going to spend 400 what? How? Four billion
dollars on the Sagamore bridge. Probably that much on the Bourne Bridge whenever that gets done. That money isn't even allocated. I don't know where you're going to find the money to invest in a 90-year-old railroad bridge that already has limited crossings because of its age and because
it has to keep the canal open. So, I support commuter commuter rail to Buzzard's Bay. I think it's great. You already have the line along the canal that that can take, you know, the seasonal train. I'd like to see that seasonal train be larger. It goes to Hyannas. Freight, I think freight's
probably going to be on barges. You know, I I'm not an expert. If they want to bring it on on the trail and down the canal or whatever, that's fine. But I would urge you not to tie this 6 and a half mile missing link that would be a huge economic benefit to the entire
canal region and the upper cape, including Falmouth. I mean, it connects Woods Hole to Sandwich, and the Cape Cod Commission's vision is all the way down to the Cape. I would really urge you not to tie this 6 and a half mile project, which is practically shovel ready,
except for the track. And, you know, it's going to be two years of track because we got to go to the federal board to have that track abandoned anyway, which at this point could probably happen given that it's only used by one private contractor. Um, and also, you know, quite frankly, the idea
of sludge moving through our coastline is a little alarming. Um, I don't know if any of you are familiar with that line. It runs all along our fragile coastline through marshes and everything else. Now, we've already had a fire on one of the the cars that went through
didn't go through, but if it did, and then, you know, it's it's it's an environmental problem. So I would urge you not to tie this to that largely because of the the railroad bridge which I has not been discussed without any discussion with the Army Corps of Engineers saying is that possible to
bring commuter traffic over it to the Cape you know onto the Cape. That's my comments. Thank you for listen >> Miss Jansen. >> Katherine Jansen u chair of the Fwood bicycle and pedestrian committee. I just
wanted to note that we specifically did not put the how in our letter to the select board. So, we didn't say put it on the tip. Who knows if it would be funded that way or through federal rail funding or some other methodology. Um, I
know that Rep. Vieiraa is very keen to get rail coming across the canal to the Cape and has the resources to find that out. So, we deliberately did not put the how in there knowing that the timing of these would not be contiguous. It will
take a couple years to pull the F2 line and it'll take a couple years to get funding for rail. So, why could you not start in parallel? That's all. Thank you. >> Okay. Anyone else?
Okay. Well, I think what um what I would recommend is uh if the board is agreeable that we ask the town manager to uh work on a letter that maybe he could have for us at our
next meeting on November 3rd to uh to consider uh support for the uh for the project with um >> might not be >> about December 1st, Mr. Chair. That's a little bit >> okay >> realistic. All right. So by December 1st.
>> Yes, sir. >> Okay. >> Next week is a little quick. >> All right. Yep. That's true. And we have town meeting coming up and so forth. So um you've heard what what I think the position of uh of the board is >> conditional. Mr. Clarify on placing it
on on the table or whatever. >> Well, let's see the language. And that's why maybe we need to to have enough time between now and December 1st to actually see the see the language. And again, this is only going to be a recommendation to the to the governor.
She's going to make the ultimate decision, but I think the consensus is that we want the governor to know that this is something we want to see happen. And in all likelihood, it won't happen. Uh, rail with trail at the cost they're
talking about. So, >> I will bring a letter to you December 1st. >> Is that okay? Do we have a motion to direct Mr. Renro to do that? Um, yeah. Do we need to make a motion to do that or is it just >> that's going to conclude this agenda
item somehow? >> Yeah. Um, yeah. I will say I asked >> You asked for it to be on. >> I asked Senator Fernandez to text Governor Healey. She did not respond. So, I tried to get the governor's opinion uh but I was not able to. >> Um,
>> we haven't gotten the governor's opinion in, you know, four years. No, >> she's trying to figure out how to fund the SNAP program probably. >> Yeah. No, she's got a lot of problems. Um motion I guess motion to direct the town
manager to draft a letter uh for the board's December one meeting uh discussing support um for the rail to trail project uh with conditions >> conditional
>> conditional on future rail >> new rail infrastructure. Okay, >> there's a motion. >> There a second. Second. >> Second, Mr. Brown. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? >> I >> I
>> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Y. >> Okay, moving right along. We are going to discuss a civic academy. >> Let everybody Yeah. >> Yeah. April to 14.
The only thing I'll add is I do appreciate, you know, I think there was a precedent where if a board voted for something in the past, it wasn't really taken up again. And I think that I think it is worth our time to review. I don't have anything else in mind, but like
when this comes up, if there's been public outreach, you know, the board reconsider it, you know, following. We've had two members on the board. So I I I >> three you didn't >> three since it was last. Yeah. So I think that that's a good point of practice. Again, I'm not sure if there's
other items, but I I I think that's a >> okay responsive to the public. >> All right, we're going to discuss the creation of a civic academy. Mr. Wrencher. >> Thanks, Mr. Chair. Moving on to a lighter topic, but equally impactful, I think. So, this is a discussion item.
Um, not asking for the board to make any any any uh formal motion. Um, it was about a year ago uh that a resident uh Margaret McCormack uh reached out to my office, I think to Peter as well. um to talk about this concept of a civic
academy in Felmouth. Um Miss McCormack subsequently reached out to uh vice chair Goldstone I think recently um and uh to nudge because it's been a year. Um these are great programs. But I gave the select board some some information, some some links to four or five programs, uh,
four of them here in Massachusetts, and then kind of selfishly, I gave it gave you a link to a community, um, that I managed in Colorado that implemented one of these programs while I was there. Um, so hugely impactful, I think. You know, we talked about um earlier we had what
four interviews for for to to fill out uh committees, vacancies. Um introducing people to municipal government um is is uh is I think one of one of the one of the top priorities a municipality should have. Getting that interest and engagements um with the uh with the
community and educating them uh making them more aware, I should say, making them more aware of how local government operates. Um so these uh these programs basically and they're different lengths. Um the one uh that I uh managed in Colorado was eight weeks. I think a lot
of the um I think the Arlington example is maybe six or seven. Um you can make it whatever you want based upon the amount of information um in terms of classes and sessions that you want to get out. Um but hugely impactful um in terms of introducing people to uh to how
how the wheels turn in local government. Um and uh I think even more important uh than the awareness and education piece is getting people more plugged into the opportunities to get more involved. You know, we just the proclamation was about um extra mile uh day and uh recognizing
volunteerism. Well, you have to be aware of those opportunities and and have some kind of a a poke or a catalyst to get you to jump in. Um and and these types of civicmies are just that perfect I think forum to do that. They're informal. um they're educational and um
the the the community in Colorado that I was managing, there was a wait list um after the first year and and I'm I'm sure that it's that same way and for a lot of the communities here. Um so um the most successful examples and models of these types of civicies that I've
seen rely on staff um uh to to basically put on and facilitate the the sessions. Um and they can be everything from finance to public safety. It's hands-on. Um it's a lot of handouts and information, written material. Um there's a huge commitment. Um it's
important, I think, to make sure that people when they sign up, um that they understand the commitment and they they can't miss a session because it's all it all kind of builds on, uh each other in terms of the session. So, um I think it's a great opportunity. I want to thank Vice Chair Goldstone for uh for again nudging and bringing the topic
back up. Um we all get busy and uh a year has been too long uh since it was introduced uh uh to to to my office. So, uh, I would I would ask, uh, that the board after some discussion give me some direction perhaps to, uh, to implement the program. I wanted to kind of go in
here tonight thinking the first of the year, but that may be aggressive. Um, it may take a couple few months to get kind of get the program up and running, develop the curriculum, so to speak, but, um, I think it's doable, and I think the, uh, the benefits, um, uh, that, uh, that are going to be created, um, are going to far outweigh the cost
in terms of staff time. Would you think maybe a subcommittee or a working group or something working along with you would be a good idea to try and flush it out? >> I mean, we can do we can I've not I've not used that model in the past. Um, we could we could put together staff could
put together something and bring it back, you know, for review or we could have a subcommittee, a member of the select board participate in that. I'm not going to I I'm open to any suggestions you might have. Um, the important thing, I think, is trying to get something in place. Um, and again, as we as we head into the new year,
maybe sometime in the spring, I want to be realistic because sometimes I'm a little over ambitious with how quickly I can get stuff off the ground. Um, so I think in the springtime, if we focused on that, be successful. But if a select board member would be interested in participating in that process u because select board's going to be involved
because one of those sessions usually the first session is that uh local government 101 where the select board member perhaps the chair um would kind of sit down with the class and kind of explain what the uh what the uh governing body uh does and how it keeps the wheels turning in local government.
>> Wondering if there might be some state funding that we could look to for something like this. my notes. Um, everyone needs state funding nowadays, unfortunately. Um, my only slight reservation with a subcommittee
would be, um, the timing as kind of like the town manager point to unless unless we put a semi I think this should be something we aim to do aggressively because uh, this is an awesome thing. You know, I I'm going to say it again as a young member of the board. Um, I think
it would be great uh to have this tool available to people and you know this I didn't really have an experience like this. I'm just a nerd which is why I'm sitting here. Um, but I think that that would be terrific. Uh, because you know I think people when the thing about student government and government it's
way higher level than the municipal level. And I think the town manager is absolutely correct. We're encouraging people to participate and look at how much good can be done at the municipal level. Um, so I think it's something we should really try to pursue. it's in my list now to look for state funding for. Um, so Mr. Chair, my only concern then
would be if we did a a subcommittee on it is that I feel like sometimes that can lead to a longer time period. I might be inaccurate in saying that, but I would like to go the route of of of the town manager and town staff making a proposal for us to review and then, you know, kind of going from there on how we
want to pursue it. >> I would agree since seeing how Mr. Rencho has already done it before. So, >> and we've got uh a lot of well a handful of of terrific models, especially the ones from Massachusetts that uh share a similar form of government. You know,
there's there's a lot of um backbone to >> to to go from. So, I'm not sure if a a subcommittee is necessary, but certainly if and I want to also say I don't think I was the only one uh to that was approached or that that brought this up.
Um, but certainly any support that we can offer in getting it off the ground, um, more than happy to to be involved in that. And in terms of the the funding, I mean, as you've noted, the the cost is is essentially staff time and some
amount of of photocopying probably. um which is not a huge cost to the town, but to the extent that it's an impediment in this um this fiscal year in particular. Um some of the community members who approached me did uh express
a willingness to fundraise and and provide funds to a donation account that could be used to offset that cost if that were desirable and and could get things off the ground. I agree that ideal timing just based on when our elections are. It would be great to be
doing this typically in a January to March time frame. Is that realistic this year? Maybe not. Maybe it's a later spring thing this time for the first time and we aim for a January civic academy in the the future. But um
I guess I would say from my perspective it doesn't need to be a break your back break neck. we have to get this off the ground next week, but it would be great to get it moving. >> And uh I'm not I'm not a fan of reinventing the wheel. So, we have a lot of great examples of how this has been successful in other communities, and
we'd we'd model those um and and pick the best features from from each. Um that's that would be my recommendation. And um and also um making sure that um we I I think to be successful, you have to be realistic and you maybe put a cap right on the first class just to kind of
see um and then grow the program. um kind of start small, so to speak. Um and I think reading through some of these websites, the other communities in Mass Massachusetts. Um they they did that. They they placed a cap on the membership. Um if you're too aggressive, you start to overwhelm and uh and we
want to keep it kind of manageable. >> Train everybody in the first round and then a program dies, right? >> Well, yeah. Well, and and and and it's a and you know, I mentioned there's not a significant cost. I mean, it's a commitment um on the part of the participants as well as staff. Um, so
there there is a cost um and and getting that buy in. And I've got I want to talk about some other things that I'm going to do in my in my manager's report um with regards to the staff part of this, right? Um because it's a lift and they're typically after hours. >> Um and uh so anyway, um we'll we'll cross those bridges when we get to them.
But I I think we can make this work and uh it's not a huge lift. I'm just trying to be realistic with the launch date and um and again, we've got perfect we've got models that we can pick from. >> Great. staff go the extra mile on a regular basis. This is one more mile. >> Yes. Yes.
>> No more bridges and no more miles analogies. >> I say do it because being wearing my co-chair of the EDIC hat, uh the the direct and indirect uh benefit will be uh trying to fill vacancies on boards
and committees. And with a uh with increased awareness and understanding of municipal operations, I think we can, you know, really solicit the next generation of leaders from residents that live here. >> I think that's one of the bigger benefits that I see right out right out of the gate. Yeah.
>> Y absolutely. >> Do it. Let's do it. >> Let's see if we can engage younger people. >> The only thing I'll really need a motion, but can we just like authorize authorize you to to get working like >> Yeah. So I just I'm looking for some direct some consensus of direction that this is a program and initiative that
the select board would like to see implemented and then we'll get to work on it. >> So I think a draft proposal by whatever date, you know, we don't have set a date to it, I think would be awesome. >> I agree. >> Okay, let's move on. Uh we consider a vote to approve the submission of a
community preservation committee application to fund the replacement of the Taft playground located in Woods Hole. Mr. Enshaw. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, as you all know, uh, the assistant town manager, Peter Johnson Stout, uh, directly overseas, supervises the, uh, community
services department of which, uh, recreation is a division, and he's been working with Julie Williams Tinkham on this project. So, I'm going to ask Peter to kind of kick off the discussion. >> Thank you, uh, Mr. Town Manager. So, we are seeking the board's approval to
submit this application to replace the playground equipment at the Taft playground in Woods Hole at uh at Bell Tower Park. the um as many of you may be aware that the the playground is in
really tough condition and there we feel that this is a pretty time-sensitive project to make sure that we can continue to have a safe facility, a safe playground at this location. Um we um
over a year ago there was some dialogue with community members about the design of that playground. It is uh named after um a a community member. Uh Taft is is
the name of a community member uh an an individual with disabilities who has since passed away and there was a lot of community involvement in the construction of that um playground. So we certainly want to continue that dialogue. We did get an email um message
today from a member of that family. Um and there was some concern raised about the design. Uh, and I just want to emphasize again that what we're looking for tonight is select board authorization to submit this grant application, continue the design
process, get more community input from the Woods Hole community in general and the the Taft family um or the Taft is the first name. >> Tap family. >> The Tafts family. >> His his name is Taft Morris.
>> Right. So the the uh the individual it was named after is Taff Morris. uh the family of Taft Morris. Um we look forward to continuing that dialogue and um the I I the last point I'll make is just that uh playground equipment is
expensive to begin with. There's a we've already heard from the dialogue that took place a while ago and I will um mention prior to hiring Julie Williams Tinkham that dialogue took place. Um, so there was a really strong preference for
wood as opposed to the more economical, more uh commonly installed modern playground equipment which is primarily, you know, synthetic products at this point. Um, and we did get a quote that
that is a a black locust um design, so it would honor that. Um, and there's, you know, there's room to reconsider the design, but the the the cost at $650,000 presently is, you know, is is pretty
steep. And, um, so they'll, you know, there'll be some limits and some parameters in terms of that um ongoing dialogue about what the design of that playground is, barring, you know, some private support. >> And I just want I was going to Sorry, Mr. Chair, I didn't ask. Um, thank you
for for sending that email. Um, because I think it is important to again note that we're not voting for a design. We're just voting for uh the approval for the the funding request. >> We But we are funding a design. >> Yeah, but we're not voting on that design.
>> No, but that's what the funding is based on. >> Yeah, >> the funding is for design and construction. And there there was a representative design that was submitted, but there is funding for design. So you don't have
the full design until you pay for the design. >> Uh see >> it was con you have a copy of the of the of the rendition and it's more conceptual in my mind. I'm not a playground designer by any stretch. I had a chance to meet with one of the Woods Hole uh village association
members um back in April and it was made clear to me and Mr. McConny at that time um that this is a special place and uh it was important to kind of honor that um you know the the elements um meant something right so to just we we we had
no intention of including this ill illustration or rendition is saying that this is going to be the final design I think Peter's point is there's going to be time after the after this to meet with the designer meet with the community and make sure that we get the elements right that again honor Taft and the uh and the original playground set
that quite honestly it's no longer safe to use. >> Do we have a plan for going out to the community or we'll develop one fairly soon? >> Yes, we will develop one soon. Um, you know, I'm sure there's there are going
to be multiple meetings and it I think it's probably I I think we'll want to have a meeting before some community engagement before town meeting, but then after we have funds in hand, you know, community engagement after that to
finalize the design. >> Miss Goldstone. >> Yeah. Can and excuse my lack of familiarity with um the the CPC process, but so this application was submitted in August, correct? This this past August.
What's kind of the the timeline? Where are we in the process of review of of this application that we're looking to to potentially approve? So the CPC will be deciding you know will be acting on the applications that it has received by
January for the town meeting warrant. >> So that would be to recommend funding at this level not necessarily still a design in in January. Is that I mean because it does it does say project description the goal is design and construct and and installation. Okay.
Um, so >> yes, that's exactly right. So if CPC moves it forward, brings it to a town meeting vote in April, then we would have funds in hand for both design and construction. So there would be
design work that happens after April. Okay. Anyone else? Miss Pumpus, do you you've stayed here throughout this meeting. I assume you have something to say. I'm Katherine Bumpus from Woods Hole.
Um, I'm here because neither Barbie or Kip could be here tonight. Um, Taff's mother or sister and they asked me to come. Uh, they were I appreciate Mr. Renshaw sending me the email that this was on tonight's agenda. It came a little bit as a surprise because we had
had conversations previously about it and I had no sense that this application was going in. Um, Woodlull loves that space and really wants to participate in it and wants to participate in in the
planning. Um, as Doug says, my civic education says, seldom is something put down with a cost and a a picture and it does not come to a fruition in that shape. So, it's a little unfortunate sometimes to see this
far along without a little more engagement with the village. We are happy to to come and and talk any time. Um, but I appreciate what you've said and that there will be future engagement is terrific. There are serious concerns
about the site, I would think, um, that don't need to be hashed out here, but poured in place plastic on when when you're inches above the groundwater level might not be the best surface. And there are a lot of things to think about down there. Um, so I will welcome being
able to participate in those conversations. And I know that there are a lot of parents and people who played on that playground who would like to participate, too. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Are we at any rush?
>> I'm sorry. >> Is there >> There is a bit of a time >> Yeah. >> constraint. Yes. >> So, you we're trying to get this as Peter Peter could give a better understanding of the timeline. We're trying to get this uh done uh so it makes the April town meeting warrant which means January time frame. So,
we're trying to get this >> So, yeah, if I could just if I could just add to that. So, um, frankly, we're we're reverse order a little bit. This was, um, our new recreation director, and I, um, is, uh,
is new to the CP process, but really it it falls on me that we missed the step back in August to seek select board approval to submit the application. >> So, um, the we we do have urgency to
complete this you know final step that the select board is communicating to the CPC that this application already received does have the select board's stamp of approval um so that it is eligible because the C the community preservation committee is
reviewing applications now they have to complete you know they have to make their they have to vote their funding recommen recommendations in January so that this goes on the April town meeting warrant >> we don't want to miss the we don't want missed the January and April dates. >> I just I feel like we could thread the
needle here if we had like a community forum in Woodsole at sometime in late November, early December, you know, one or two of those and then put it on a December agenda item. You know, I know that turnaround then was then quick, but
is that not impossible? Frankly, we can definitely schedule a community input meeting um in that time frame, but given the complexity of the issues that we're looking at, to think that we're going to complete the design process, you know, in two months, I think is
unreasonable. >> Right. I'm just I I'm just saying I think that, you know, where Miss Bumpus is coming from is is, you know, there needs to I am slightly hesitant to, you know,
vote. Yes, I understand this is not the final design, but you know, we're we won't have as much say as what the design could then be become after we vote. This is my understanding of >> Well, I think we'd have as much opportunity >> controlled by a third party. The final
design and construction will be controlled by the town manager, right, once funding is received and approved. So, we can we can bring the design back to the select board. >> Okay. >> In after April, after town meeting. >> All right. So, >> is it possible at this point to amend
the application in any way? >> Yes. Yes, it is. >> I guess I feel like um I hear the urgency to get us to a place of having a safe playground in Woods
Hole. Spent hours on that playground. Um uh and at the same time I I hear you that the the urgency is with with the funding process. We have months to actually use that funding for community engagement
design and installation. Um if we have it in this round of funding, but I would not feel comfortable, I think echoing Mr. Brown's and Mr. Richardson's discomfort with putting in an application that does strongly imply at least that that is the design. It's got a line item budget that has equipment,
freight. It does not have design in the budget. And so to see an application that makes clear that we will be engaging the community and designing a playground as well as constructing it and this is an expected budget would make me feel much more comfortable with
moving forward with this at this point. >> Right. that we could add a narrative to say, you know, based on feedback from the community, there are elements that will be changing in this design and we will expect to stay within budget, but we may come back. We may we may not stay
within budget because you can adjust a project with CPC >> if needed if you can justify it. >> So, I guess I uh I'll I'll put an idea out there. I would move um approval of a
submission of a CPC application uh an amended CPC application to fund the design and replacement of the Taft playground located in Woods Hole um with amount not to exceed $650,000.
Is that is that amended >> amended to reflect um community pending community engagement and design? >> Go >> final design >> including now community engagement. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I would second that
>> that just works though like legally >> or I don't know where I'm directing this at but >> so we'll right so we will modify the application based on if approved based on this select board motion to reflect the intent of the board and and yes it
is it's modifying community preservation applications is something that frequently happens >> second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. All in favor? >> I I >> Thank you all. Have a good rest of your
evening. >> We're almost done. >> We'll take the rest of the day off. >> Okay, >> so we are now at minutes. >> I move approval. >> Someone might make a motion. Okay, we have a motion in a second. All in favor? >> I I
>> Okay, town manager report. >> Uh just a quick update. I think I mentioned this to a couple of you already. Um we just earlier this month we had our third annual employee appreciation. It was well attended. Appreciate the slight board members that were able to make it. Um I know it was kind of an awkward time sometimes for
folks that are working. Um my update is um taking that employee recognition uh and acknowledgement to the next level. Um Peter and I Peter and I have talked about Peter and I have talked about um with the other department heads. talked about establishing a employee employee
of the quarter and then employee of the year recognition program. Um I've had experience in other places. I think Peter has as well. Um it goes a long ways. Um and I'm not going to go into all of the details, but I just kind of will launch it right now that we're going to be bringing that and I do want to launch that at the first of the year.
Um and turn it on a calendar year. So January, February, March, quarter 1 and then so on. Um so in recognizing it's a it's not much. It's a it's a gift card. It's acknowledgement. I think the most important part beyond the gift card, although that'll be appreciated, is um the uh the fact that there's recognition
at a select board meeting. Um so it's public recognition of a job well done, going above and beyond, going the extra mile. Um so it's going to be I think it's going to mean a lot and it's going to resonate well within uh the the employee ranks. Um and uh importantly,
the uh review committee are their peers. So we're we're reaching out to uh a committee of about 15 spread out throughout the ranks so to speak um so that representation is across all departments and all kind of levels of the organization is the ones that are reviewing. We're going to tie it to the
uh the um core values uh that we created part of mission vision and core value statements. Um so tying that um give us an example of how you go the extra mile or above and beyond and how it uh touched upon one of the five core values. So, I think it's going to be an important message to the staff that what
they do is important and we recognize that. >> That's it, Mr. Chair. >> Great. >> Um, update on the immigration um forum on ICE and immigration. >> So, is that a question to me? We haven't
we haven't No, I'm sorry. We have We I thought you were going to say something about >> an update. >> What's the update, Jack? >> So, we we we have I have not planned a date yet. Um we have talked about initially it was going to be like November and here we go into November and I I haven't set a date yet. Um so
that that's on my on my list of things to do. >> Um you know fortunately um >> the uh I I've not my office has not been made aware of any recent incidents. Yes, I was going to do that but I decided not to. Um but regardless um we talked about
having the uh the community touch points in the conversation so we'll set that up. >> Thank you. Yeah, I just I saw it on the agenda. So, an example of one of those things that's been on my list and and uh and just have gotten occupied with other things. >> At the risk of a difficult question or I
would like us to consider as a result of the U parking uh report that Jed gave us to consider raising the uh overtime violation amounts. I think we can discuss it. uh you know born which is right around the
corner is at $50. Uh I think it's >> saw that. >> Yeah. I think it's something we uh we probably should at least take a look at. May not be popular but uh >> I'll tell you even though the paid parking is not popular, it's certainly effective. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. No, I I I was surprised to see how far out of whack we are with some of the fines really. And in addition to that, if we could also consider, we had discussed this last week after the uh libraries uh new library needs found
with looking at our um number of parking spaces uh laws that we have in place. >> The minimum >> minimums. Thank you. >> Zon. >> Yeah. Which might be the zoning change. >> That's what zoning. >> I guess those would have to come from the planning board. >> That would be zoning change. Yes.
>> Okay. So would we just matter of process obviously being new here would we send a letter to our own board zoning board recommending changes would that be something we could discuss >> planning boarding board thank you >> that would that be the way to go about that >> I would imagine that would be something
to to take a position >> probably should be from from this board not individually >> yeah no >> oh yeah sure sure yeah I I just meant like as an agenda item >> okay do we have a motion to adjurnn >> so moved >> I one. >> Oh, sorry.
>> Sorry, my under is long gone. Um, >> I would like an agenda item soon to discuss the uh potential for a uh emergency fund. Um just pursuant to just reading the stories of what you know
this is obviously we can't do immediately you know so no rush on it but just reading the stories of the amount of people have been affected by the federal government um not being able to step up just there's any way we can support uh the fantastic work done at the service center and you know provide them more funding or whatever it may be
um I I just think that we're in an environment where uh municipalities are being asked to do more and I think it should be doing more uh than the federal government usually is, which is antithesis to my entire political ideology, but that's the reality and where we're at. Um so I think that it's
a sign agenda item discussing uh an emergency fund or whatever you want to call it to to support um >> local local services >> or amendment at town meeting to increase human services. >> Yeah. So I mean that could be the short-term answer but I I just think that some kind of planning or fund like that
>> would human services be the right place to increase the budget if you wanted to wouldn't really help directly to the service center. >> Right. >> Maybe human services does offer grants. >> Did you have a question?
>> Right. It's part of their budget. Right. Exactly. I think that's what Mr. Brown is suggesting. Right. Mhm. >> Motion to adjurnn and >> second. >> Lest there be any concern, the meeting tomorrow night has been posted, so it's not a problem with everyone attending if
they want to. >> Oh, I want to. >> Yeah, I'm sure we all do. >> Okay, I think everything motion and we have a second in a motion. I I thank you. I
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