uh Tuesday April 8th to order And the time now is 6:02 p.m Um and we'll begin with the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands One nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all All right I'm going to go through some of our announcements Um this meeting is being recorded by the local scene Anyone intending to make an audio or video recording of this meeting should notify the chair at this time And I was already
notified Um financial assistance applications are available on the town's website or by calling the selectman's office For anyone interested in volunteering there are several vacancies on various committees and boards To see a complete list of the openings please v visit our website at
kingstonmma.gov Um please also check our website for any additional events or notices Again it's www.kingsmma.gov Kim I know you have a um another announcement Just a reminder we have um the annual Keep Kingston clean event coming up We debated which
weekend to have it between the people who put the materials together and working with the highway department on the pickup day Um we've had some success in prior years having the bags and gloves when people want to pick some up available at election day So we were
thinking having the materials available on town meeting day so people can see the table as they go in or they come out where maybe people who wouldn't normally attend town meeting can ask "Hey what's going on?" But if there's any concerns or objections from the board or from the
public on that date please let me know Um I think we could do either the weekend before or the weekend of town meeting Currently we're tentatively scheduled for Saturday April 26th You can also clean up any day you'd like Um the information is on the Keep Kingston
Clean social media page so on Facebook and we have a flyer but again if we need to adjust that date we can Um although if we do I'll it will be before the meeting So I guess I guess I would ask
if anyone objects to it on the board let me know as soon as possible so we can make those changes for the public We're looking at the 26th All right Thank you And does any other members of the board have an announcement to make no Okay All right
Before we get started I also just want to um This is um this is sad but this is something that we need to do Um I just want to do a moment of silence for Kenneth Kelvin Jr and Christine Haw Um there are two members of the Town of Kingston community who passed away over
the weekend Uh Kenneth Kelvin Jr who's a retired firefighter served the Kingston Fire Department with dedication for 33 years And Christine Haw who retired after nearly 20 years of service in the building department was a dedicated and valued member of our team Let's now take
a moment of silence to reflect All right Thank you Um before we get started we will have a open forum If there's anybody here who would like to address um the board just raise your hand Um yes go ahead Uh good evening Thank you for a
moment to speak to everyone I'm John Sherid public safety dispatcher uh for the police and fire department I'm also a fire captain for Plumpton And I just want to take a quick moment uh next week we're going to be holding a meeting for community emergency response team Plumpton and Halifax have worked
together over the past couple of years uh to form a team uh for community events uh to date and and this was a real low number Our volunteers have put in over 80 hours worth of volunteer work to the two communities of Halifax and
Plumpton and recently working with Chief Douglas and Chief Holmes uh we're now teaming up with Kingston as well and they bring a bring a great value to the to all three communities now Uh we're probably and this and most of the team
is uh they they make the rules I'm kind of the puppet master and and coordinate stuff but they they decide what they want how they want it and as long as it fits the rules and and it's safe uh they make it up But uh I I looked real fast and came up with 80 hours worth of
volunteer time including um uh most recently in Plumpton we utilized them for uh parking assistance during the presidential elections They were in the parking lot directing cars Cars were parking illegally and blocking other cars in Uh Elise and Jeffrey here who are a valued part of the team there at
almost every event came right out started directing uh the traffic where to go and they participated in the Halifax fireworks night um triad events They're they're uh trained It's a
10-week course I believe uh basic search and rescue first aid It was originally started in the 1980s uh for the earthquakes in California and it's grown to um there's really the sky's is the limit So I I heard you talking about some volunteer events coming up the town
cleanup I just put an email out to them uh recently about uh putting vests on and um and just keeping the people that are working the event safe Um the sky's is the limit to what they can do We're open to any ideas So uh I'd like to thank the chiefs for their support in
this program and certainly uh at least Jeffrey and the entire team Uh our information night will be next Wednesday night uh excuse me next Tuesday night at the Council on Aging at 6 PM Any community uh members that would be interested in learning about the team we'd love to have you Um like I said
we're to date I I made a quick note of 80 hours If I were going to guess I'd say we're up upwards of probably about 300 hours Is that fair like we've done 80 hours Um I feel like you guys have done 150 hours but but I I would if I were going to take an educated guess I'd
say we were up on the 250 300 hours of of volunteer hours just over the past couple of years And um and I can't thank this crew enough They've they're at almost every single event So um Kingston Night Yes they did Kingston Night Out a couple years ago held or last year right
or helped Laura out of Kingston Night Out So they're uh they're they're open to just about anything So if does anybody have any questions about what the team is please i do I I just wanted to um I just thought it'd be good to ask since you mentioned um the amount of hours
spent Um if somebody was interested in volunteering and 200 hours sounds like a lot of time to them you don't have to be available for everything Correct I mean it's obviously you know probably a subset of of your entire membership show up to each thing each event That's
correct Uh what we ask for is participation Yep Uh there's no set number of hours Um in the future if the team chooses to set a set number of hours we may do that but there is no set number right now Um and when I give that 250 hour number that's probably about
seven active members uh combined between uh among seven active members Um most recent event there were three members that were at the event for about 3 hours So there's nine hours and it's amazing how fast that that time adds up Right So
Right But that's that's 200 roughly 250 hours of volunteer hours that the communities benefit from That's a lot Yeah Thank you for everybody who's done that Thank you very much Yep Um house fires the the crew would come out to provide water for the firefighters If
somebody's lost for any period of time if it's a short short event then they'd come out for rehab purposes If it's a long-term multi-day event then they are trained in light search and rescue and they become part of the search team So when when the community says "Hey can I come out and help?" This team is already
there their community members are already already out there assisting with the search under the direction of the unified command through the fire and police department And again it's not just police and fire that the sky's is the limit If the community has an event um can't can't tie these guys down They
want to they want to come out and help Uh is it is there an age is it 18 up yes 18 up Because I imagine that would be a great uh thing for somebody that's younger that's like you know in college or just being able to work up hours being able to get that on their resume Sure What regardless of what their you
know what their career aspirations are that seems like that'd be a great opportunity as well So and to your point there is a teenert uh C team and the uh the theory behind that team is they it's a lot of the same things that this crew does on a much different level Uh
they're learning what the team does and then once they turn 18 now boom they're in the position and and can roll right into the full full team effort Yeah I I mean I get asked all the time like you know okay I'm I'm a senior in college or I'm a you know junior in college and I haven't done yet I haven't done anything This would be a great one to do It would
and I'll defer to Jeffrey and Elise if a teen sir team is something that we may think about in the future Uh we don't have our eyes on it right now because we're still working this the team itself is fairly new It's only a couple are we coming up on three years coming up on three years Um we had talked early on
about the vision of adding Kingston at some point and uh we wanted to take it slow and do it right and I think we've done that The team is very well organized and and we're uh in a healthy position to to make that move Very cool There is a real good education I mean
there is a 10 program that you have to complete each chapter and it's not just anybody willy-nilly out there You actually have to be trained what you're doing If you're gonna say anything else I'm just gonna have to ask you to go up there and speak because they can't hear you online Okay I was going to jump
right in on that I didn't want to interrupt Elise but she talked about the uh the structure training that the members are required to uh participate in It's a 10-week training program It's for the safety of the members that are going to be out there doing the work So we do require complete attendance for
that program Okay And uh certainly if you have any other questions we'd love to see you next Tuesday at six o'clock Great Thank you so much Thank you appreciate your time Thank you All right Before we go on to our appointments I'm going to take a couple items um out of order Uh first
I'm going to uh we have attorney um Alex Castro who's going to talk uh with us about the open meeting law complaint And then I'm gonna um uh also uh let the finance committee um open their meeting after we we deal with open meeting law
complaint so that they can take a vote on our one of the articles um and they don't have to stay all throughout our meeting So first item is our um open meeting law complaint filed against against us by Patrick Higgins um uh on
on March 26 2025 to our town council Uh so um I did take a look at um the memo that we got from our attorney Um and one of the items is the roll call vote and
it says in in the in the memo that we will retake the vote but it's actually not Um Kim looked at the meet at I emailed Alex as well You did okay I I I actually just responded to Kim's email Um so I'm happy to modify that u the
response to that first allegation accordingly Um what I'll probably say is that the um while uh you know that that that may be what was said on the um meeting minutes provided on the town website there's no obligation that um that
public bodies put their meeting minutes on a town website It's not the official minutes And because they're not the official minutes you can't you know say that there wasn't a roll call In fact there was and then I'll cite the video um and then we can just do that if that's okay if you guys are on board Sure And we have to amend those minutes
this evening anyway Correct Yes Eric Yes So we can amend those to include the language that makes it clear all the vets by roll call All right I'll also I'll also um I'll also state in the response because the response isn't due
till the 15th I I'll I'll also state that the board did vote to amend the minutes to um to show that um that a roll call vote was taken on all votes Right Okay And uh just for the public's
benefit should I go through and read i don't think you need to Okay Do it's your call You can I mean we're discussing an open meeting law complaint You can attach the complaint to these meeting minutes Um I mean yeah we don't have to run through and read every allegation in the
complaint I think it is in the packet So yeah um if I could go ahead chair just real quick I mean there were there were allegations made of open meeting open meeting law violations and and according to our council the only the only violation that was found was there was a
mistake made on the roll call vote So right um all the allegations that were made except for that roll call vote were inaccurate And so I just think it's important for the public to realize that um we take this seriously Uh and um the
allegations that were made are just not just not correct Yeah And Mr Higgins is a um he does this full-time as a job Um his email address is oh it's well he refers to himself as
the open meeting law enforcer So um the the town of uh Kingston is not the first to um fall in Mr Higgin's crosshairs Um so yeah No I I looked at I found
references to him online for the over more than a decade of of to towns across the state and I think it's Alabama or somewhere in the south Yeah Yeah So anyway he sounds he sounds special Um so
um we can run I mean yeah we can I can run through our responses Um I think we have the first one taken care of now If you want to move down to the second um I'm happy to explain our response there If not I mean I can just answer questions You guys call us I I would just say let's go to questions because
we've all read through it It all looks fine It's basically denying that and we still have the Razer Clam license on a future agenda right because we never voted on that Yeah And I actually actually I I came across I was digging through um the OG determinations There
was one specifically where um I think uh uh the agenda item said they're just going to um review uh Common Vic and and entertainment renewals and then they ended up voting on the renewals and the uh DOJ said that's fine that that passes muster as
far as the specificity requirement Um and again and then as to his allegation that you you could also it's fine that you also discuss reducing the number of razor clam licenses the DOJ is you know abundantly clear that you know if if a
certain if a related topic naturally flows from that you you also meet the specificity and requirement Um and I quit you know so I think you're fine there too I I wouldn't even dignify him with saying um you know we'll we'll move
this to another Oh no That's what we said in the meeting We said in the meeting this was an issue to take up at a future meeting because we wanted to discuss it more So okay It's something that we said we were going to come back to at some future date Mhm All right
Oh go ahead Just going to jump in with the last one Just just the the last one that I think there was a concession here that you know that uh we didn't initially um attach the uh list of documents the exhibits to the minutes but we've done so and you know I'll also
modify that to say you know you're looking at minutes online you didn't make an request for the official minutes and you know so on and so forth Okay Yeah So I move the board of selectmen delegate its response to the open meeting law complaint
uh filed against us by Patrick Higgins on March 26 2025 to town council Second All right All those in favor i That's unanimous Well thank you um very much for your
help with this We appreciate it Not a problem Thanks so much If you guys need anything just hit me up Um if I don't hear from you this will be submitted on the day it's due Sounds good Thank you very much Thank you Bye-bye All right And uh next we're going to Carl if you
if you want to call your meeting to order Um and then we can deal with your vote It being about 6:20 p.m Kyle Pike chairman of the finance committee I'm going to call our meeting to order We have four members present So we have a
quorum We're opening this meeting just to make uh one uh motion The documents that I sent out earlier today there is one last change in the operating budget for
FY26 As you know we have voted all of the budget uh department numbers We voted the warrant articles So I just thought to be complete we should vote this last uh change um in the uh budget
What the change is all about is that we as you know we're getting a new resource officer for the uh Silver Lake Middle School for next year Silver Lake Regional School District will pay for
that uh officer pretty much 100% But the timing of when an officer can actually be brought on go through the schooling etc etc is going to result in a le less of a
payment from the regional school district during the uh first year so that we have an increase to the police budget by $50,000 We have the employee benefits
budget increased $16,667 and we have the offset of $48,000 coming from the regional school district to pay for most of the cost of this officer This results in a net reduction to our excess levy
capacity of $18,667 Now I don't want everybody to uh jump at the uh immensity of our excess levity capacity but this will reduce our balance in the budget that we will be sending to town man meeting to a grand
total of $2,989 In other words we've utilized every last dollar that we could So with that um I'm going to make a motion that we recommend increasing the police budget by
$50,000 We recommend increasing the employee benefits budget by $16,667 We recommend increasing the local receipts budget by $48,000 for the sixmonth payment from uh Silver Lake Regional School District Do
I have a second second All in favor i We recommend approval 4 With that I would take a motion to close the meeting
Second All in favor i Thank you Thank you All right Next up um we've got the Council on Aging Advisory Board request to amend the Council on Aging hours Um Keith do you want to take this on sure
Um with us with us this evening is our new Council on Aging director um Holly Getty as well as a Council on Aging uh board member The Council on Aging is looking to modify their current hours of operation Right now the um Council on
Aging is open 8:30 to 4:30 Monday Wednesday Thursday and Friday and they're open on Tuesdays from 8:30 in the morning to 7:30 in the evening Uh because of a uh very little uh activities and and visitors at the senior center uh in the
evening hours Um there's been some discussion and a recommendation uh to have the hours of the Council on Aging open Monday through Friday uh 8 to 4:00 in the afternoon I'm sure Holly will be happy to answer any questions or provide any
more detail to the board if you would like to hear it Do we have any questions the only question would be I know that sometimes we've had evening programs or meetings on Tuesdays and that was the reason to have another night I guess one night open late um similar to the
townhouse but if there isn't a need for the evening time it it makes sense to me and I think they've always had slightly different schedule than the townhouse So meeting the needs of the folks using the center makes sense to me I watched the meeting today seemed like there was
general support I'm Holly Nglli I'm the director of the Council on Aging Um yes So our we have a um it's called a it's called a building usage agreement for the senior center So any outside organizations can still host
host meetings like theert uh team that is going to use the center next week after hours So that's still available to residents and outside organizations Um it just would not be staffed Um that's really the only difference And that happens sometimes when the meeting goes
late anyway It may happen sometimes finance committee has met over there later on to into the evening and it just is not staffed Um there's a key a building key that um anybody that is using the center after hours gets and they return it the next day
So makes sense Yep All right There's no other questions Does anyone want to make a motion uh when would we like to make this change effective i guess would be my only question Uh so our recommendation is May 5th Okay
I can do it I move the board of selectmen approve the change um in hours at the Council on Aging effective May 5th as presented 2025 2025 Second All those in favor i I That's unanimous
All right Next item is review and approve the updated council on aging policies and procedures So we did um have uh in our packet don't go anywhere Yeah Um we have tracked changes of the
document with the updates that were approved by the Council on Aging Advisory Board Um these changes reflect the recently updated improved bylaw changes So so I don't know if you guys remember but we recently updated the bylaws for the Council on Aging that it sort of stemmed out of they were
updating their policies and then there was a realization that some of those things should be updated in the bylaws and then kind of filtered down through the policy So I think this is step two of that process right and I think that um the advisory board sort of identified
that they did it backwards They they uh did step two before step one And so this was really just to um match the bylaws with the policies and procedures with the same language and uh minimal changes just matching up so that it uh flowed
more consistently All right Any any questions comments um would anybody like to make a motion sure I move the board of selectment approve the council on aging policies and procedures as pres presented Second
All right All those in favor I All right That's unanimous Thank you Harley I know And if they ever change their bylaw they'll have to update their procedures or start saying C bylaw All right Next up we have a presentation
from town planner on a 3A quarter study All right So Sharon one second I'm just waiting on a PowerPoint but uh I promise I've worked really hard to shave this down to about 15 minutes So I am your town planner
Valerie Msard And in your packets I believe you received what's a a very technical study called the Old County Planning Council's um Route 3A and 53 corridor study And I've shortened it up to just 53 and 3A study We're really
just looking at that road and the land use on the road So we're looking at both road conditions and land use when we talk about this road Oh I don't have a clip Okay Do you want
me to go down yes please All right So I want to start by looking back Uh that mile marker has our town seal on it And it's really important to think about this as a road that's been there since the beginning of PL um pilgrim time if
you will So we can go to the next slide please This was known as the Boston Road or the Great Road back in the 1700s And I'm sure it was there before we arrived in terms of um being a trail for the Native
Americans who were here first And you can see this is from 1795 There's one church and on that map 13 buildings that the assessors have on that plat map So it's been there that
long and longer Next slide please And for context in 1830 which is 40 or 50 years later we've got a picture here of Plymouth that was drawn And you can see that it's almost all forested
except for the Great Road on its way to Boston And then people were still traveling by buckboard And that's a picture that hangs here in town hall of some of the former residents of the town Next slide please
By 1845 Kingston was connected by the railroad to Boston This is Paddle Street back in the day when the trains uh first arrived And that changed how people got here the wealthy started to come down to
this part of the Southshore to get away from Boston to start cottages for summer getaways and for um some large hotels that were built on the waterfronts and also the the rail was used for bringing
materials to and from factories in the area Next slide please So here we are a few years later in 1876 and the road is still there unchanged Um Rocky Nook was a hill and
we had um a lot more houses which are the little black dots you see along the road starting to pop up And you can see the railroad now is connected to Ducksbury and it runs kind of parallel to the Great Road Next slide
please Here's a drawing of Kingston in 1885 looking like you're at the landing of Jones River or the mouth of the Jones River looking back towards town So it's a little bit different orientation but you can see that it's forested like it
was in Plymouth and that it was mostly a farming community with some orchards and hay fields all along the river And then at the mouth of the river we had some factories Next slide
please In the late 1800s and the early 1900s the cars came That's a view of Summer Street Um and you can see some of the old style cars that were using the road at that time Next slide
please Here's a plat map from 1903 You can start to see that with the car we're starting to see land getting subdivided we're starting to see the nook not only uh look a little bit flatter but there's also some um houses
all along the corridor and starting to branch out There's a couple more roads being built and the railroad is still there Next slide please And this is Summer Street looking towards town And we have uh for sure uh
Tom Buchard's grandfather's house is in this picture So we're getting catching up with generations Um but this is where we've got more car use And this is in 1927 Next slide
please But then came Highway 3 and that was in the 1950s And it wasn't until the 1960s that that connected us to Boston In 1950 it connected to Cape Cod and it became the new road to Boston and the new shortcut to the beach and the beach
became Cape Cod Next slide please So this is Google Earth view in 2023 and you can see the changes that the cars brought You can see the rail line is still there and the corridor the
great road is still there but it's no longer the main road to Boston It's no longer got the the uh charisma if you will of being that important roadway Now the highway is the main road and we are going through a change here in Kingston
on that corridor Next slide please Our population growth is slowing down When the highway opened we had a boom and that boom lasted until the uh beginning of say 2010
2020 Our biggest building years were in the late 1980s and uh our population is leveling off in the last two available censuses It's about 7% uh growth year-over-year So that's an
important figure That's a big change in terms of population growth And I'll also mention that what we found is 49% of the population in Kingston is 45 or older So we have a huge population that is uh aging here in place That might be my
phone I'll go Sorry about that I think it's just we all were just wondering where where the sound was coming from Once it was located it was Sorry about that Some kind of an alarm Um so next slide please
Guess what our building is not booming anymore This is done on a 5-year average to show the changes both residential and commercial When you get to the 1980s the town reports actually say it was so much
we couldn't keep track 400 building permits in a year 300 building permits in a year It's not like that anymore And that would be triple the lines on this chart This starts in the 1990s We have really slowed down And
specifically you can see the change that almost a complete drop off of commercial in recent years And that is related to the water moratorium as well But it's also related to the presence and the feel of our Route 3 corridor And
I'll mention too that we have that um discovery that we had a zoning issue that we're trying to correct at this town meeting which may have contributed to that problem So hopefully that will help Uh so moving on to the next slide
please Now we're going to look forward Next slide please Um I've put on there a picture of the new signs that are going to start greeting people as they come across the town line And it's time to look at what our infrastructure investments need to
be We have the responsibility as a road commissioners to communicate with the state Even though this corridor doesn't belong to us technically we've talked about it for years and years It's the thing that we all share as physical infrastructure That means that that's a
common place for our community to identify itself and planner speak It's like I walk through this door every day That's what I used to seeing That's my framework and reference for where I live for example This is the gateway to
Kingston if you're coming off the highway or you're driving through on your way to work Next slide please So we did a study that incorporates the master planning the municipal vulnerability planning uh the townwide transportation assessment that we did
last year the open space and recreation plan and other factors And the report itself is really technical and it'll go on the uh the web page after this with this presentation but I want to do a very broad overview and kind of hit the
high points of the study So next slide please In order to do that we've broken the this road section going north to south into four sections if you will Next slide Uh we'll start with the north
end Here's a 1903 plat So we're thinking we don't really have cars We don't have highway 3 yet We have a train and it's mostly residential Those lots are small lot residential lots That's what it used
to be So uh next slide please Here's that area today It's got three large shopping plazas gas station It's car oriented It comes right off the highway exit 20 and it's wide it's paved
it's it's uh traffic signals and um there's some residential along that and there's also some forested land but the the main uh site and feel that you're getting is car oriented Next slide
please So I took a look through the master plan It's several hundred pages long trying to callull out what we had to say about the north end These are the things we talked about We talked about encouraging reuse of existing buildings I'll offer that that's challenging
because the buildings themselves are relatively new And um we talk about wanting them to be close together near the street three stories Well we don't have that And in order to change that we'd have to have complete
reconstruction of what's there So the master plan was looking hard at possibilities but but maybe not looking closely at where we are today Um mixed use development mixing commercial with residential um encouraging what's called
infill or building in on the parking lots and we've seen that happen and I'll talk about that in a minute uh street landscape design standards or what planners call streetscape design but basically what is a bench what is a tree how much grass
what do the sidewalks look like that kind of thing Um and reconstruction of exit 20 and the Tarkland 53 Summer Street which is in other words the big Y intersection when you when you're making that turn into Dubbury Again all of these things are a
challenge not only because it's built out but we're talking about a stateowned road We don't have control over the road We have to communicate with the state work with the state Next slide please So we have seen infill We've seen
the new Dunkin Donuts mini behind the existing Dunkin Donuts at the uh gas station We have the Starbucks the new ATM uh and UPS is relatively recent We have a new apartment building under construction opposite the stop and shop
plaza that's infill There's already an apartment building there We have exit 20 in the tip and we are trying right now to introduce the Tarland 53 summer street intersection into the tip What's a tip what is that silly planner talking
about that's the transportation improvement plan Or in other words that's the federal money we're competing for to try to get money to reconstruct our roads So by getting into the tip we're getting onto the list of uh possible roads that would get paid for by the state to do
improvements Uh next slide please Oh I skipped over that We just picked up Blackwater Conservation Area not too long ago and we're starting to see a couple of vacant storefronts and empty buildings in this area So keep that in mind Um this is the proposed
reconstruction at exit 20 It's currently scheduled for 2027 shifting into 2028 At this point there are design costs that have to be factored in to this double roundabout scenario And then the next slide
please That is the redesign of the 53 Tarland Summer Street intersection The possibility of that being a roundabout solves the CVS problem It solves the Arcade Plaza entrance plaza problem and it solves the intersection problem itself So we're introducing that into
that tip um with planning board funds and then we're going to apply this spring for engineering design money from the state and hopefully because it's a state road they'll feel amendable towards that We'll see what happens Next slide
please So what does this study recommend the study goes and it looks at the economically developed commercial areas and it looks at what we know in our master plan and all those plans I mentioned and in a nutshell we need to monitor the market changes that are
causing disinvestment vacant space and keep talking to the owners of these shopping plazas about possibly going with some new zoning to look at mixed use and also communicating with the state about what the streetscape will
look like as we redevelop in that area We're already seeing some redevelopment We expect to see more Uh next slide please Okay moving on to Town Center Again you can see it was um a little
tiny place back in the day in 1903 You can see the railroad tracks with the bend heading up towards Ducksbury I mean if you spend time looking at this like I did um you can see town hall has been built at this point and we have um some
of the other markers that we're familiar with like the cemetery Next slide please This is what it looks like today We've got again a very car oriented area but we've got some preservation I've got
the Adam Center there and um the post office is something that we're all familiar with Um we've got some reinvestment and we've got some disinvestment Next slide please The master plan calls out sewer capacity which
we've established uh growing the sewer capacity streetscape enhancements um introducing on street parking state road kind of hard to do but we've also talked about off- streetet parking and mixed use at a moderate scale and a
walkable town center Next slide please What we're seeing in the area and there's a lot going on Mass Highway is reinvesting in their crosswalks We're going to see new crosswalks where their old ones are they're going to be higher visibility and safer for pedestrians Um
we recently like a month ago applied for a grant to try to reconstruct the pedestrian crossing on Green Street by the library We're hoping that we'll hear soon on that We have a new mixeduse building behind the post office which
has residents over commercial and weeprint plaza invested in in a makeover of their parking lot mixed use is allowed Um both uh the conservation department and the planning department are working in tandem with with others
to investigate reinvesting in that old firehouse that's there It's a brown field or what does that mean it's polluted What can we do to clean it up and and not leave it sitting there as it is we're looking at uh lots of free money We've been getting to do
environmental testing and we're looking at additional funding to get money to clean it up So we're hoping that we can make that a worthwhile place We uh the conservation department received a grant to redesign the uh dam
on the farther down by Maple where there's the uh Stony Brook that runs underneath 3A And we're currently talking with consultants about the sizing of the covert that you don't see when you drive down 3A but it's right by the train
tracks The river runs underneath the road And it's important for us long term to think about sea level rise and the water running towards the sea which is closer and is that covert big enough and lastly we're looking at uh
funding for the Bates Pond accessible trail I think some of that might be on town meeting Um but we're also applying to a series of other groups to create a walkable ADA accessible trail behind the senior center Next slide
please What does the study recommend um it recommends developing a town center revitalization plan to actually identify strategies towards these things One of the things that that Matt and I are um wanting to do is try to establish what
that stream under the road means in terms of infrastructure long term before we try and do a revitalization plan But we're going to try to run those two side by side as we go um looking at off- streetet parking looking at zoning
walkability and the possibility of the rail bed the old rail bed that hooks up to Ducksbury isn't isn't being used Can that be a trail also u flood storage and um ready for the next slide Now there's no crossroads on this
picture because this is before Route 3 but you can see it was farmland before Route 3 came through Um next slide please And here it is today We have Dunkin Donuts We have Keegan's Creations
We have um the Charlie Horse We have Cancun We have a lot of restaurants right in that location We've had some reuse of old restaurants There was a an empty Burger King for several years that got reused recently by Brothers And um
we have some needs here Again you can see there's some disinvestment There's an empty uh part of a building The sidewalks aren't in the greatest shape and um it's it's no longer the great road Next slide
please Um again Mass Highway is looking to invest in crosswalks We have a new Dunkin Donuts Plaza We have reinvestment by the private sector in some of the older houses along Main Street which is great to see And um as I mentioned some
vacant space in strip plazas And we are keeping an eye on the hotel which will no longer be a hotel and it will no longer be transitory housing by the end of the year Next slide please And this study recommends no different
that we keep an eye on what's happening and um look at trying to recondition the sidewalks and keep an eye on this as a as a part of town that we need to um think of as commercial space that's cohesive Next slide
please And lastly the south end In 1903 all of it was Rocky Nook And you can see that we have Crescent Street and it heads off to Cordage on its way out of town Next slide please Today we have again some vacant
lots some dilapidated buildings that are literally crumbling as they stand We have um again a highway orient oriented route and uh very car oriented My my emphasis here is it used
to be the way So I think about this is like wearham used to be the way to the cape This isn't the way to the cape anymore and we got to keep our eye on what we're doing with our corridor Next slide please So again we talked in our master
plan about transitioning from automobile oriented to mixed use We talked about walkability We talked about redevelopment patterns being closer to the road and improving Howland's and Crescent which I'm sure everyone's talked about for at least a hundred
years Next slide please What is happening we're again seeing some reinvestment in some areas Um we have uh been talking with Cobb and Drew but we can't find an owner of that property that has views of a pond and
conservation land but it's uh because we don't have an owner That's a very significant loss of income that the town could be viewing We need to find an owner there Uh we have a someone using it but they're not the owner And that
building is is one of the buildings that's falling down into the street Uh we have a grant application that's gone in on a regional scale for rail trail feasibility connecting Cordage to Marshfield including the town center So
we're hoping that we might find some some possibilities there And we have more crosswalks coming in that are going to be renewed and refreshed by the state And I think I'm almost done Um the the study recommends that we
continue to improve the Smelberg corridor that we look at reconstructing the intersections There are problems Uh that we look at that rail trail connection that we consider reszoning the industrial zone that's within a uh residential neighborhood to um a more
residential friendly use for future redevelopment that we um continue to talk with property owners of vacant underutilized and dilapidated properties to see if there's ways that we can incentivize redevelopment of some kind through zoning or other incentives that
might be out there Um next slide please So the common themes this is the next to last slide you'll be happy to hear Um so the guidelines everybody's calling for looking at how will redevelopment look So your planner is
looking to um look at street landscape look at building looks and feel meaning like is it three stories is it flat is it modern and talking with the the communities about that as we go Um communicating with Mass Highway I look
at you as the road commissioners to help with that We want to talk to them and say "This is not what it used to be We want to get you to reinvest in our sidewalks We want you to reinvest in our intersections." Part of us doing that means coming to the table with some engineered plans to get them to think
about putting something into the tip so that they pay for it Um continue seeking ways to reinvest in uh both roads but also sidewalks and bike and pedestrian friendly uh use and reinvestment uh in in
whatever ways we can Whether that's revitalization planning whether that's trying to find low interest loans uh for for people who have property but are unable to keep up with it in terms of the um some of these houses are very very old hundreds of years old And you
can see that there are people that are having some trouble keeping up with the upkeep on those buildings And what can we do as a community to help reinvest in in those structures last slide I think Oh okay You all have a handout that
summarizes for you all of the infrastructure roads streets intersections in terms of their level of safety their level of condition their level of failure and why we've prioritized the top 20 public roads the
top 20 stateowned and top 20 town owned and how those fit together in terms of the other plans that we've And that's to help you as road commissioners to understand the grand investment that we need to make There's engineering that needs to be done in
order to get the state to come and talk to us at the table about our intersections and about our safety And uh we want to be active and and proactive and and get ourselves into that tip to get the money And um if you
have any questions on that I'm not going to go through any of that on slides It's it's just a big table with lots of information And I'll stop there if there's any questions or discussion Before I open it up to questions I just want to say thank you for all the hard
work on this and and for having a vision of what what our town was and and what it could be So it's it's um it's exciting Uh any questions it's a lot to take in My I guess my primary question is this
budget eliminates the assistant planner the budget we'll be voting on later this evening Correct How are you going to do all of this and how can I'm not saying I can how can we support this initiative i'm definitely getting my niece chopped out from under you by the budget cut I
I'm not going to um argue that you don't need it but it's not putting me in a position to be able to do what's needed to bring this community forward which is sort of why I wanted to not to put you on the spot but this is a lot and you've lost 50% of your department Yes Thank
you Just noting that for the Thank you for noticing that It's there's a lot that needs to be done and um I respect that that you need to make cuts I do It's just um also put in perspective who's trying to do that work and that's
it So to be fair I have not noticed me personally that any lack of support and I know that this is we're in a current budget year so it's not happened yet but um I think you guys do an excellent job
and this is this is amazing and I you have my full support in any way shape or form that I can provide So thank you I appreciate it Any other questions or comments
great All right Thanks Val Thanks for listening All right Mo moving on Uh next item is to review um and and vote the 2025 annual town meeting warrant articles Um sorry before you do that do we need to
move to approve the study oh yes Thank you Okay it says approve but I will accept So move the board of selectment accept the 3A corridor study as presented Second All those in favor i That's unanimous Thank you
All right So moving on to the uh town meeting warrant articles So we need to kind of go through these Um I guess this is also the time that we need to close it What's that we have to
close it first Right Right All right [Applause] Um all right Does somebody want to make a motion to close i move the board suck and close the 2025 annual town meeting one Second All right All those in favor i
All right And this is the point as well where we're going to do we want to authorize the town clerk too so I move the board selectman authorize Oh no We need to wait until we vote to do that one or Yes Okay Never mind All right never mind Forget me
So let's just go through these one at a time Um now do we want to make a motion for each one or did we wait until the end and then make a motion and include all the article numbers i I mean it really depends on how you want to run Trying to remember how I think I think we did I
think we went each one didn't we you can just because we have to sign them Okay All right Yep Last year was a bit of like a peace It was like 11 11 p.m We were trying to go through quick So when we we'll go through each one if anybody um has any comments or questions before
we vote Um just speak up So the first one uh prior year's bills Um I think that's pretty self-explanatory Um does anybody have any questions about this one i move the board of suckmen recommend approval of article one Sorry Move
favorable action or move favorable action Sorry Article one prior years bills on article one Well prior years bills second You get to do all of them now You know that right nope It's motion by school committee So no no I just mean because
it's easier for the minutes if the same You're right I did it last year I should have remembered that All right All those in favor i All right Um article two Uh it's the wastewater department supplemental um FY25
Um we're not going to pick people now or we don't do that School committee does the first motion You got to do it so you can see who it is Article 3 is our first one That way Yep So this is a motion by the sewer commissioners So again this this is the transfer from the the
retained earnings a sum of 300 grand to the undesated fund balance Uh any questions move favorable action on article two wastewater department supplemental fiscal year 25 fund budget request Second We're not doing the same person
doing them all I just felt like Don didn't love that idea so I just took it over All right All those in favor i I All right Article three uh fire department supplemental FY25 budget request Um any uh any questions here
move favorable action on article three fire department supplemental fiscal year 25 budget request Second All those in favor i I That was unanimous All right Article four it's the uh FY26 general fund operating budget Um
61,64,745 Yeah Keith Go ahead So again Kyle can correct me if I'm wrong Is the is the cap is the finance committee chairman The only um change in the warrant that where the finance committee and the board of selectment at this point are not in
agreement is the general fund operating budget The general fund operating budget that the finance committee approved includes adding $25,000 to the library book budget So the board um should deliberate as to whether or not they want to add that $25,000 back in and
agree with the finance committee uh on a operating budget warrant article number or choose to leave it as is Doesn't that include the SRO funding as well though does now Okay So just keep in mind we eliminated a position in the planning
department what was and we reduced the hours at the transfer station and we made others as well and those were all approved by the the finance committee as well Right So just me personally I have a hard time adding books back in to the So I think there there was uh
significant discussion at the library trustee meeting as well as finance committee regarding the eligibility for state funding So that number is the minimum number to qualify I believe the way that it was
presented So and I don't know if anyone's here from the library to speak to that So our total change in the budget is 25k for book budget and so plus the SRO is the SRO um accounted for in this
number It is it is okay but the um the library books are not So it's just the it's just the 25k that we're talking about Yep For the library So just to get clarification So it if if
they don't buy $25,000 of books then they're not No it's that has to be budgeted for the budget So they have to you can't cut the library unfairly compared to other departments That's the way that they work that But again I'm not a library
trustee so I'm just watching their meetings So we're dropping our cash down to $2,000 and for 25,000 That's tough How much time how much how much time do we have to to present this to the town clerk so we're posting we The
plan is to post this tomorrow Yeah Yeah I know Okay So so you you don't have to you don't have to vote in favor of it but you'd have to explain it to town meeting No Yeah Well so correct me if I'm wrong We're voting we can vote this
number That includes that includes Oh it does include the 25 I'm sorry That's what I was missing So keep and keep in mind finance committee presents the budget traditionally in Kingston two- town meeting and the board of selectman's
vote will be will appear on the warrant Yeah So I feel like I I I wouldn't be able to support but this is just me I'm just speaking for me I I I wouldn't be able to support that without more information from them And that's my fault for not getting it before before
tonight Um so that would mean I would not support the entire article which is then we can explain that at town meeting Um but if if if everybody else is with is comfortable with it you can you can
someone can make a motion on this article I guess I move federal action on article 4 FY26 general fund operating budget for the total number of well as is Yeah it's as is Isn't it just as is yeah All right Do I have a second second
All right All those in favor i I I and against nay Nay So it's three to two All right Article five water department enterprise fund budget and retained earnings appropriations Um any questions oh we never signed Uh we don't
have to yet do we for article three we usually do that We can do it Oh just do it Get it done with Do it now Uh fire department supplemental budget Yeah I can do it
Okay All right Um article five water department enterprise fund budget and retained earnings appropriations Any questions and if not does someone want to make a finance fin someone want to make a motion on five
Sorry Um move favorable action on article 5 fiscal year 26 water department enterprise fund budget and retained earnings appropriations Second All right All those in favor i against No that was unanimous Okay
All right Article six leeching field debt expense reallocation So this is um this is the article where the sewer department is asking us to cover onethird of the leeching field debt service U based on research that was
done uh with our attorney Um there's no way to do this long term So this is just for one year's um uh debt Um any questions as the article is written it's raise and appropriate not free cash
Correct Correct Okay Uh I mean I just want to I wasn't at the I wasn't at last week's special meeting to talk about this about the some of the logic behind the one-third of it being for phase two And I just I just want to I just
throwing it out there in progress Now they're recording me Um no I just it's it's I I think it's one thing on its own to stand there and say that we we're going to the town is going to pay for onethird of it To go back in
time and say that that was something that was that was promised in 97 and 99 The people I've talked to including family members who were on boards then I haven't heard anybody other than Brian say that So I'm just going to come I just want to I watched the meeting and
that's was talked about um last year It was we were told we were not going to be paying for this That's why people voted for it They were we were we were told we will not we were not going to be voting for we would not be paying for this and I I saw people including myself change
their tune on in that room So I will be voting no on it but I also want to be publicly saying no on because of this one-third argument is just like a straw man argument And I feel like a lot of people last year I've talked to said we wouldn't
have voted for that if we knew that we were going to be paying fit for that So that's my stance I wasn't here last week to to to frame it but I'm here now So so here's here's my take on this We have a short-term issue We have a long-term issue So to me the short-term issue is
if we don't fund this and Elaine can you correct me if I'm wrong or Keith or anybody else um if we if the town does not pass this then this ends up getting restructured into rates and back on the rate payers And if that's the case that
that to me is a short-term problem that I would support this for at least one year not necessar I certainly into raise and appropriate though not one time like free cash Well that's another option that that I think could be um potentially But Elaine am I right i mean
you are you are 100% correct and uh Tyler you are correct as well Um new information comes up history gets so everybody's correct tonight Um but I do want to say write it down It'll probably be the last time too Um but the language
in the thing does say raise appropriate and transfer from available funds So I believe that would have an option of free cash if okay if that direction was going to be taken and if this doesn't get passed then 100% of it rather than 2/3 would go to the sewer customers
which was made known at the meeting last year right um and the one-/ird would just be absorbed by the sewer customers and I I don't know if you have it in front of you Elaine right now but I believe it was like $20 per household but if it doesn't pass it would be like
60 something on the rate payers Yeah it would be $28 uh per parcel 5,000 parcels estimate Correct And if it wasn't passed then that um raises the sewer customers um
debt $188 Yeah From like 125 Yeah Some So those those are the numbers So there's different ways of looking at Yeah Please go ahead Keith when we're talking about free cash numbers
and the uh excess levy capacity are we assuming the 137,820 was assessed under the levy yes Not free cash Correct Okay
I just wanted to make sure that because we're down to 20,000 something right so I just wanted to know where we were kind of earmarking that money to come from Okay All right Any other questions comments statements disclaimers
uh would anybody like to make a motion move favorable action on article six leeching field debt expense reallocation Do I have a second second All right All those in favor i All those against nay No All right So
one to four and that the sewer commissioners are presenting that Yes All right Article 7 wastewater department enterprise budget and retained earnings appropriations Move favorable action on article 7 fiscal year 26 wastewater department enterprise budget and retained earnings
appropriations Second All those in favor I Nobody had any questions Okay Thank you because you just I just figured I' can make the motion and then they can they can talk after All right Article 8 renewable energy enterprise One of the recurring articles I assume the
moderator will probably put that in a consent agenda Right Um move favorable action on article 8 fiscal year 26 renewable energy enterprise fund budget Second All those in favor i And who wants to present it if not
I spoke up too We'll give it to Tyler It's his last time Oh jeez So you're not going to make him present anything all right we we'll find the most difficult I'll find something to talk about I can't keep my mouth shut so All right revolving funds Yes move favorable
action on article 9 revolving funds Second it Tyler Second There you go I know but I want him to It's easier for the minutes All those in favor dawn I I I All right And who's going to do
finance committee on that one my last vote is five nothing on that thing right individual Oh that's right Oh okay But they're all unanimous Interesting Okay You said Missy Yeah I can do that one All right All right Article 10 establishing a police
activities revolving fund Are there any questions before we move on on this one um no I think the chief spoke about this in our last meeting All right Motion Move favor action on article 10 establishing a police activities
revolving fund Second All those in favor I Who would like to take this well I'm going to say no So four to one Four to one Sorry It's okay You got to call for both ma'am I just assumed All right And um who wants to do this one somebody
wants to do this one I'll do it Take it Go ahead Don You can do it Don Okay This is how I'm going to go through the meeting I'll say I'll take it and someone else Well you're next because you don't have one yet Article 11 uh transfer to this Oh this will be good I'll take this That's going into the
extend agenda Anyway I'll take it Move favorable action on article 11 fiscal year 26 transfer to employee liability reserve fund Second all those before you do that yep This was we reduced this didn't we from 150 to 100 Yeah 150 to
100 Okay All those in favor any against no Okay that's unanimous And Eric you want this one Okay Article 12 Um this is OPED and it was also reduced Move favorable action article 12 transfer to other
postmployment OPE health insurance liability fund Second All those in favor I that's unanimous Uh finance committee makes that one and transfer to stabilization fund article 13 Move favorable action on article 13 transfer
to capital stabilization fund Second All those in favor i All right That's unanimous Uh article 14 transfer to municipal building insurance fund Uh move favorable action on article 14 transfer to municipal building insurance
fund Second All those in favor i Unanimous Um that's finance committee Article 15 Does we want to Does anyone have any objections I guess to any of projects yeah So that's a good point Yeah Hey so
finance committee uh was not supportive of the engineering on the first section of projects but everything else looks like it was unanimous I watched that meeting but I don't have my notes in front of me from there Oh I
see That was the safety improvement So the engineering is interesting because we asked for that to be added because we keep having to have engineering costs for different projects and capital planning's bylaw requires engineering over a certain amount to go through them
So the workaround was to put it in the capital planning article Whether that's a permanent solution I'm not sure I think ideally we'd have it in the operating budget if it's always going to be there But given that we don't have room in the operating budget I think it
makes sense for it to be here Um and I think if we need to readjust their bylaw regarding engineering so things like this we don't have to worry about Um that's probably ideal but I don't know if that's on the docket for this town meeting
So do we need to go through each one individually or do you want people i'm fine with everything but I'm good with all the I'm fine with all Okay I am as well So go ahead and move favorable favorable action on article 15 Yeah Projects one
through 8 of article 15 fiscal year 26 capital equipment project funding Second All those in favor i so the grant applications also had some mixed reviews from finance committee My understanding
was based on watching the capital planning meetings that they we might or might not get these grants and if we don't get the grant the money reserved for these this grant funding would be returned to free cash So um and again I
don't want to speak Mr Pike I'm sure can get up and correct me if I'm wrong I I I frankly think that there was some concern about the amount of free cash that was going to be remaining after uh town meeting if all of the warrant articles were approved as presented
Um so there was some concern that free cash would drop down to about $700,000 if everything was approved the three engineering articles or engineering projects excuse me The first two are um
specifically for the engineering and I think Valerie mentioned it in her presentation We have to have the engineering done to be able to apply for um to to accept grants I guess let me put it that way So those funds would not be expended for our project for the two
first two projects unless we get the grants the the cost would be solely for the engineering and then the construction of which which again I don't want to speak for the finance committee but I think there's some concern there the estimated construction costs are roughly the same as the
engineering costs Yeah Um the last of the three engineering projects uh is is an expense that we would incur um as part of the application for a long-term
multi-million dollar main street um upgrade um that would need to be expended if it's approved at town meeting uh if the first two as I mentioned before so I apologize if I'm reiterating this but the first two the 151 and 160 that will not leave free
cash unless the unless the unless the state um approves the grant applications that we will be submitting We expect to have decisions back from the state on whether or not they're funding one or both these grants we expect before town
meeting And if it is before town meeting and something is not approved we can amend um this section of the warrant uh article to reflect what was actually funded Okay Okay So does anyone have an objection um to voting these three
together no No All right Move favorable action on projects 9 10 and 11 of article 15 fiscal year 26 capital equipment project funding Second All those in favor i I that's unanimous
Right Now we're on to the proposed lease payments for FY26 All right These are just our obligations anyway Okay Move favorable action on projects 12 through 19 of article 15 fiscal year 26 capital equipment project funding
Second All those in favor i think that's unanimous You missed your second Ston got you All right Article 16 uh Samson fund appropriations Um any questions
move favorable action on article 16 fiscal year 26 Samson fund appropriations Second All those in favor i It's nice to see some new stuff on that list Article 17 Oh boy this is another is
this another 18 is the recommended project Move favorable action on article 17 community preservation committee administrative budget Second Uh all those in favor i I that's unanimous We don't have many selected articles No
Uh article 18 So this is by project and the votes vary So you might want to I don't know if people have objections I had a question on the Evergreen Cemetery historic preservation and I don't know Keith if you know the answer to this but I bet
Trish does There were there were some questions at um the finance committee meeting regarding a couple of these projects One of them was the Evergreen Cemetery Um it's a private entity meaning it's not a town-owned property And when you look at
the the Community Preservation Act website and guidelines it says you c you can fund projects through CPC funds as long as there's a public benefit So like if
you're getting access to something new or you're I don't know getting a deed restriction when you sell the when they sell the property I I don't know what the new public benefit would be on the Evergreen Cemetery project So I guess that was my only question was whether or
not the funds really can be used for that project So I remember that uh it came up two years ago as well when because I was at every CPC meeting for another project that was talked about quite a bit as well being private right and that that was raised I I believe
that year it did pass but with considerable challenges to the to the rules Is it is it taking into the into account that it's the historic preservation of where those trees are is the historical part
of that cemetery So but the guidelines on using funds for a private organization it says you have to have like a new public benefit So what's the new public benefit i don't know what that would be So yes right preserving the stones has a benefit to the
community but I just I guess I would love to have someone in the legal field look at that And if they did already then fine It's new to remove threatening trees So in in my opinion it's
it's not a park but it's it is open to the public that people can can walk through I don't know how many people actually walk through there I mean I've done it when my kids were younger when we were here for the parade you know we kind of went through and just kind of looked at some of the um the headstones
which is you know in in the ponds and whatnot in there Um Right So I mean it's again it's not a park but it's open to the public right so what that doesn't but that doesn't mean it qualifies So it says the key concept to understand that public funds are prohibited from being used for private purposes Any
expenditure of public funds must be used to advance a public purpose And then it says "Bottom line CPA funds may be able to fund a project on private property but only if the project is advancing a public purpose such as the municipality acquiring a deed restriction providing
public access access to a property where there was none before or some other public benefit rec recommended by your town council." So I'm like I don't playing the Devil's Avenue I can see that some public benefit would be not letting it go into disarray because it
it looks like I mean it's not but it looks like it' be it would be a municipal owned property It's something you drive by you see from multiple corners of of of town So I could see kind of like it if that went into disarray and looked like you know like a
like a movie cemetery a little scary that might not be the best thing for the center of town to have So I I generally support the project assuming we can legally use the funds for that purpose Yeah So I and CPC was in favor favorable
vote on that Yeah And they they did vote to determine whether or not they felt as though it did qu whether or not it qualified and they did vote to say what it did qualify Okay Okay Proceed So do we want to take each one of these separately
uh I think that probably makes sense Mhm All right Who wants to do a motion on the first one uh move favorable action on uh article 18 community preservation fund appropriations for recommended projects for
community appro preservation fund appropriation to affordable housing trust Second All those in favor i That's unanimous All right Hold on Move favorable action on article 18 CPC I'm not going to read the whole
thing every time Community preservation fund appropriation to fund replacement of a temporary roof on the Jack Bur Boat House Do you have a second second Um or do you have question no sorry Yeah I have a question Yeah go ahead Um do we I didn't see that part of the uh CPC
That's the boat house for the back right no Yeah I know the boat Yeah Yeah Oh sorry Yeah the boat house It's up at um at Governor Bradford's property What was Did anybody see the CPC meeting i didn't see that part Uh what was the kind of what was what was the disscent
there was well you probably better at it because you were there but there was discussion about the replacement of it being that the shed itself that were wherever there the containment of it they didn't seem to think it
qualified for it Right Correct Okay From what I watch but also the the non-public property part of it Right I actually I don't think I they've discussed that at length but it being not a town property still can be used
for CPC funds It can It can Yeah Again it's the same question Yeah I was just I was just the what's the advancing of the public purpose the new public purpose I don't know Okay All right Um did somebody second this
one yeah Don did Done All right All those in favor and those against Nay All right Okay Um move favorable action article 18
preservation fund appropriation to fund the Evergreen Cemetery Historic Preservation Have a second Second All those in favor i I I against nay Nay All right Three to two Next move favorable action article
18 premier preservation fund appropriation to fund historical tree evaluation at the old bur burying ground Second that is on property Yeah Any questions before we move on that all right All those in favor i That's
unanimous And the last one move favorable action article 18 community preservation fund appropriation to fund the Bates Pond accessible trail project second Do we do we have a second all right Um this is part of the bigger plan So this is part of the open space group
was talking about that and initiatives at the senior center and and and the applicant is here in the audience and if anybody has any questions he's here to answer those questions So if you have any questions he's happy to do that I think it's a great project I'm fully support enthusiastically
Any questions no All right All those in favor i is this the loudest I yet that's how I'm just practicing for town meeting Yeah Uh article 19 Uh yes
Move favorable action on article 19 Fiscal year 25 elected officials compensation in it fiscal year 26 It should be fiscal year 26 Thank you for that catch I even read it out loud and didn't notice Any seconds me Oh there we go All right
Uh any questions i still think we should have waved our stipens but All right All those in favor i I I Those against i'm going to say no All right Cuz I want the opportunity to tell town meeting I don't have statements All right Article 20 Oh
wait a minute Hold on Who does that finance Oh wait Personnel Go ahead Although really I thought that was finance committee Doesn't Finance Committee do the elected officials yeah they do So article 19 should say finance
committee Okay Uh article 20 uh move favorable action on article 20 fiscal year 26 wage and personnel bylaw amendments and compensation schedule Second All those in favor I I'm going to abstain from this one Okay Okay 4 01
article 21 Uh move favorable action on article 21 fiscal year 26 federal storm water permit Second All those in favor That was unanimous Everybody has one article So who wants the storm water
tyler Tyler Yes please All right Tyler 21 Got it Article 22 Uh move f Hold on I want to read it first Oh yeah That's fine Move favor action on article 22 reallocate prior
year appropriation Tyler's already up there So is there a second all right All those in favor I I I'll take this one Okay 22 23 is up
Yes Move favorable action on article 23 waterways improvement funds appropriation Second All those in favor i All righty for committee Article 24 Oh yes Move favorable action on article
24 creation of a public works department I'd like you to present on this one please momentarily Can you give us an update on what's going on and what the working group has talked about because I don't think we've talked much about it in our meetings Do we have the I don't think we have the um the diagram I
wasn't prepared to to to talk about it tonight but we can we can go over that It's just a good opportunity too to Yeah So we met two or three times I think Three times since um December So we met with uh water
commission sewer commission um with a member from each uh the fire chief uh Keith and I Who am I missing is that it keith Paul Paul Basler Thank you Um because as you know Paul Basler retired and rather than immediately um hiring a
highway superintendent this was the time to take a step back and take a look at um what the creation of a public works department would look like Uh with the idea that we would potentially create a director of public works who would head up the public works department Do you
want him to put the slide up no it's fine because I don't I don't have it to send it to him I'm just going to explain it to you That's fine So it's it's pretty simple Um so a department of public works the way that we've envisioned it would would
um oversee the highway department the water department and the sewer department So there would be those three departments that that roll up into department of public works Um and the director of public works
would also um be taking on the tasks of um the superintendent of the highway department So we would still have the highway department for uh foreman Um but the dire So the director of public works would be overseeing all
three departments kind of doing a um an outlook of of where the town needs to be Um what's that you want me to share you can if you want This hasn't been voted on It's just it was something put together for for the um for the working group Um
it's not I guess the official an official handout or anything No So one of the key things that we didn't want to do is eliminate the water commissioner or the sewer commissioner um and still keep those um still keep the commissioners on because we do not want
the board of selectmen to be water commissioners or sewer commissioners Um uh is it similar structure to the like the planning department right now where the the town planner has elected officials that she works with but the
planner administratively reports like day operations the director of public works would um both the water uh superintendent the sewer superintendent and the highway department foreman would report directly to the director of public works um hiring the commissioners
would have a say in in in the search for their um uh department staff Um the superintendants um would then put forward their recommendations The director of public works would put forward a
uh make the hire and oversee the staff Um and then we would do the appointment like we do with all the other positions Um so water commissioners and sewer commissioners and Keith correct me if I'm wrong or Mark raise your raise your hand if I'm forgetting something Um
Elaine you weren't at the meetings and nobody else here was at the meetings Um but please somebody interrupt me if if if I'm leaving anything out Um so the water commissioners would still be putting together the budget They would be putting together policies
and procedures Um uh working on bylaw changes that sort of thing um looking at at at and they would work together with the director of public works and the the superintendent on um planning out projects but that director of public
works would be able to coordinate projects across the department So rather than the water department having contract with one um vendor vendor okay you know it would the town would would would have uh would be
able to share that and share resources So um you know the idea is that um there could potentially be some cost savings but also there's just going to be a lot more coordinated effort across the departments because and and with public safety because there's a lot of stuff
that goes on um that needs police department and fire department uh coordination especially when they're doing road work That that's kind of the biggest biggest area Um so but the water commissioners and the sewer commissioners have their
expertise in that area that the board of selectmen don't So that's why you know we really aren't looking at at at getting rid of or even combining the commissioners A lot of towns across the state have done this in the past and and a lot of towns locally have
departments of public works It doesn't matter how how big the town is Um Kingston has definitely grown quite a bit Um but there's a lot of smaller towns that have uh uh public works departments Um some of them have a public works commission So they've kind
of combined the commissioners you know water and sewer together They might have two from water two from sewer or something like that to create a new commission But that wasn't something that that um this committee uh was really looking to do Um there was some discussion about longer term combining
you know water department and sewer department but that's not something that that that we were not bringing that forward Um you know and that would be something that that uh that the water department and sewer department and the commissioners um could certainly talk about doing something along those lines
longer term Um Keith what am I forgetting i think you've summarized it pretty well I mean very simplistically the day-to-day operations of the water and sewer department would be under the supervision of the public works director They the public works director would work with the water and sewer
commissioners to look at long-term long-term capital plans um discuss changes to their bylaws um you know things of that nature discuss budgetary needs and things of that nature But ultimately it's going to be the director of public works who is
responsible for the day-to-day operations um and um you know the the oversight of the staff One thing that um has come up in the past when we had a special legislation consideration at town
meeting was why does it need to be special legislation why can't you just change a bylaw why does it need to go to the state house and that might be something that we should address a at town meeting because I think when you look at this long legal document people
get a little nervous and that just might be something Eric if you're I'm assuming you're going to be presenting this article Um maybe maybe you can talk about that when we get there Mark is there anything that I'm
forgetting okay So there there's still you know we're not trying to take away power This is one of the key things that we've discussed in this meeting This isn't a power grab It's more to enforce and to create a um a hierarchy and a reporting
mechanism to really enhance communication from each department right up to one central authority which would be the director of public works So it's kind of like I mean one of the key benefits too is simplicity for for a
residents So if if if your kid is struggling in math do you walk into the TA's office and say you know my kid's having a really hard time with fifth grade math you know I want you to do something about it He's going to say you need to call the school department You
know you call your teacher that you know we have nothing to do with that but we do have people who come in who are having issues with water or sewer And it's like and you have to explain to them it's not under our purview It's a completely separate from our town and it does it doesn't make sense It's
confusing I think there was discussion as well about if you have a question or an issue there's you have to call a meeting and there's notice requirements and posting requirements and decisions can't be made as quickly um currently and as
collaboratively No that's correct So I mean this way it it's a direct line of communication from the staff to the superintendent to director of public works things can day-to-day operational things can happen a lot quicker it can happen real time the same day private
sector we call removing silos right I mean that's typically that's how it's talked about is removing silos to have communication and and then there's also um you know potential and this is down the road I mean there'll be opportunities for for
sh I mean they still do it somewhat now um in terms of sharing equipment but there's also um you know cross trainining and whatnot so um there's opportunities for that as well but a lot of it is just the daily operational
um tasks and that's what really and and this will enforce that rather than it just depend on how the current people feel if that makes sense so this enforces it so and that's something I think that That's going to be important and we'll we'll put together a
presentation for for the town meeting Okay To kind of go through this and then we still have one more meeting Um water commissioner water commissioners voted 030 Correct Um yet they revote they voted today and I don't know what they're what they're
uh I think it was 03 They were going to vote again Um and water commissioners have not have not voted on this yet I think they're saying they voted today They voted today Water did They did But didn't wasn't sewer gonna I know they were going to have another meeting I thought they were
going to take another vote No Okay 030 Okay Can I just ask a quick question what are the are there any significant changes like I I read this but any significant changes to the commissioners like what
is that role going to look like differently so the just like policy making instead of data policy making versus management similar to the recreation commissioners So it's an advisory board Well they're still policy making So planning board
they they're vote they vote in the direct reporting hiring and firing that's dayto-day issues dayto day Yeah Y so similar uh so similar departments would include conservation although
they're appointed they have a conservation commission but the conservation agent reports to the town administrator um recreation similar and planning and recreation and planning have elected officials serving in as you know policym roles but day-to-day
administration through the town administrator and just to also uh give you an idea that the the um Brian um and yeah was a representative from sewer commission um and then um Bob Erlandson
was there at the last meeting they were both um they both said that they understood what we're trying to do and even ne support it to an extent but they felt it was too rushed they wanted to wait another year um interesting but the
problem is you know and and work with the departments to even poss possibly merge their departments Um again I don't know how much of that has actually been explored by by both um uh commissions and and those departments
but that's something that they thought um might be interesting and and doable to save money Um but they wanted to put it off a year before doing it But couldn't that still be done under this already happening that really has no ramifications to this happening
and this person and this person a D a director of DPW can actually help guide that if that's something that those two departments wanted to do So it really depends on what what they decide We weren't pushing for that at all Um that was just something that was discussed
between those two members So you mentioned the foreman of the um there would be a foreman of the highway Correct Did you also mention the transfer station transfer station has a foreman as well Yes they yeah they do We have a transfer M that's in the in the diagram Yep Yep Okay
Thank you Um any questions all right Uh do you want to make a motion sure Move favorable I think we did I second Oh and you second it All right All those in favor i I I just really wanted to move favorable
action Trisha All right Article 20 five Yeah I'll take it Article 25 I was going to say do you want me to take 22 that's fine We'll figure it out Yes 22 I don't know The repurposed Lake
Street shared use path engineering fund approved So you're going to do that one instead It's a very long Don's going to do 22 instead of Eric Okay All right Um actually could I was going to say does does anyone want to explain this one but I've watched the
finance committee meeting So move favorable action on article 25 adopt chapter 22 of the hero act for cost and cost and living cost of living Cost of living sorry Adjustments and an
additional property tax exemption Second All right All those in favor I I no against All right Article 26 Move favorable action on article 26 Adopt chapter 22 Oh the other one was chap 22 I This is 22J of the
hero act for cost of living adjustments and an additional property tax exemption Second All those in favor i I against No So it's 41 410 27
move favorable action on article 27 establish a taxation aid committee Do I have a second second So finance committee was 051 on this Um any discussion questions comments
yes I I didn't see I I didn't see that meeting or I didn't see that part of the meeting at least They didn't they didn't have extensive discussions on it but there was a my sense from watching it was that there was a feeling of not wanting to build more committees and more government
structure All right Did we already have a second yes Okay All those in favor against All right 5 Z and the board of assessors are doing that Article 28 Uh move favorable
action on article 28 authorize the selectment to accept slashdispose of property Second All those in favor i Anyone against no Okay 500 And who wants to take that
uh I I can do that one Okay Missy So just so that you know 28 and 29 29 are tied together standby They're they're tied together so they are related so it makes sense if it's the same person Well
planning board is doing 29 Oh never mind That one Yeah forget it You can do that one then It's just 28 for me Excellent So move favorable action on article 29 amend zoning bylaws and zoning map for mixeduse redevelopment overlay district
mur o d Second All right All those in favor i I don't know if you're supposed to say Morad or I don't know Oh okay Murad move favorable action on article 30 modification to zoning accessory
dwelling unit Do you have a second second All those in favor i That was [Applause] unanimous All right 31 Okay Move favorable action on article 31 Amend the town of Kingston zoning
bylaw uses in commercial district Second I think this is the article that Valerie was talking about right to correct some Okay Yeah All right All those in favor i That's unanimous And we are done Amazing So
wait Do we have So we really don't have that many articles We don't There's going to be a lot of consent Um three No actually not that many All right And next item for tonight is uh appointment to agricultural commission due to a resignation of last
board um meeting associate member Elizabeth Corbett is requesting to be moved from an associate member to a voting member The agricultural commission provided comments to their recommendation having Miss Corbett as a voting member I move the board of selectman appoint Elizabeth
Corpet to the Agricultural Commission effective immediately through June 30th 2026 Second All those in favor i All right Uh acceptance of donation to the Council on Aging I move the board of selectmen accept the following donations to the Kingston
Council on Aging in memory of Mary Bowman $25 donation from Kathy Hogan and Stacy Watts $50 donation from Alan and Christina Palmer $50 donation from Robert and Pamela McMurdo $50 donation
from Constance and Barry Murphy $25 donation from Jean McAdams Jenkins $100 donation from Dorothy Dolly Bnell Second All those in favor i Thank you so much for those donations Yes Yes Next item
Close annual town meeting warrant and authorize town clerk to post We have a couple motions Yeah we already closed So we have the second motion I move the board of selectman close and authorize the town clerk to post the April 26 2025 annual
town meeting warrant Second Uh all those in favor i I citizen petitions this year huh all right So we have some uh meeting minutes and and one of them was already if I noticed it looked like you already
amended that in the packet Is that right yeah And it was highlighted There are some amendments Sorry guys I submitted some amendments the last minute So that's my that's my fault Um they are in the packet if you want to take a look at them or the amendments Yeah main they're
mainly just some adjustments to wording and things not not significant to content Um but the reason we have the two separate motions here I think is because we had the amendment to the one we already approved Right Yep Okay So do you want to add the dates to the a to
the first one if you've amended the other ones uh well you just say as amended on the second motion right so I move the board of selectmen accept the amended open session meeting minutes of February 25th 2025 Second All those in favor i I'm abstaining because it wasn't
there Okay Okay 4 01 Technically you can vote on minutes if you watch the recording but I didn't I move the board of selectment accept the open session meeting minutes of January 21st 2025 February 11th 2025 and
March 11th 2025 as amended Second All those in favor i Perfect All right Town administrator report Just a couple of quick things Um our ring road drainage project is underway Uh our acting streets speed and park
superintendent Sean Turner has coordinated the necessary detours of the police department the fire department and our school department to minimize the impact on the residents and the school buses The water department and their engineer met with the police department and mass dot today to review
and finalize the uh excuse me Route 3A paving activity to to put the final coat of asphalt down uh on Route 3A That will occur during the week of April vacation Um the there's been some interviews for
an assistant director of elder affairs I expect to have a recommendation to be bring forward to be brought forward excuse me to the April 22nd board of selective meeting And I've also offered to um go about go to the Council on Aging every uh every first Thursday of
the month to spend however much time I need to to um have conversations and hear concerns and provide information to the seniors If there's another group who wants me to to uh to spend some time with them I'd be happy to do that as
well Thank you for all of your efforts during the time the the the budget I guess And lastly I just want to thank um the group of department heads who really came together worked hard uh to to uh over 3 months 3 4 months to uh put
together a budget that certainly everybody didn't get what they wanted uh completely but we understood what the um the limitations were and um I think that the budget will provide the necessary um departmental um support that the
community has has uh learned to uh become expects excuse me Thank you When you were talking about traffic um road improvements did you mention ring road at the beginning so did the highway
Okay I was trying to find the ring road stuff started you know Sean Sean met with Okay police and fire They she they spoke to the schools made sure the bus routes were um were amended or modified to to um
make sure the kids get picked up but not impact the uh the construction area So Sean's done a great job at managing that as well Perfect And I also just want to add uh big thanks to Sean because he's starting to get pretty busy and he's doing both the foreman and the superintendent's job He's done a great job stepping up to help us out So yes
yeah big thanks to him and and all the staff there making it work I I meant to mention this during the budget discussion too I I don't know if folks had a chance to watch the school committee meeting yesterday the local school committee but they had um they found an extra $96,000 in their budget
because something was duplicated and they moved that money to a long-term substitute line So I just wanted to let you guys know So excellent So our next regular meeting is April 22nd um two weeks and then we have our our town meeting on April 26th and
the elections are on what date again may Oh gosh that's Saturday No not it is May Hold on May 17th 17th Thank you All right Keep Kingston clean Yes April 26th
All right Uh any other comments before we adjourn and if not would someone like I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn Second All right All those in favor i And we're done Thank you