6:30 call this meeting of the Manchester United by the seats select board to order here Brian here Kathy here and is here and John here Um this meeting is being
recorded Um the first item is public comments on non agenda items Uh are there comments on nongen items mr Starky Yes Name and address please Jim Starky 13 Tux Point Road I would like to speak
briefly to the legalities of the 10 new Manchester Marine moing permits that were discussed at your last meeting The legalities are very very clear Manchester does not own the Harbor or the Harbor Bottom The state does not own
the Harbor or the Harbor Bottom Harbor and the Harbor Bottom cannot be owned They're held in trust by the state under the doctrine of public trust There are two parts of the state reg laws and regulations that come into
play One of them is chapter 91 which covers waterways Chapter 91 provides that if the municipality has a harbor master the harbor master has to assign more insulin The second
is 310 CMR 9.7 which is the D regulations and 9.70 9.07 covers permits and there are two things that are very clear One is that the harbor master is
required to assign moorings off of a written procedure and the second is the written procedure has to be fair and equitable We have a written procedure which is the Harvard waterway
regulations and it is fair and equitable The 10 Manchester Marine Morines were not assigned by any procedure in that document Period Those morings are permits are null and void They have no
legal status at all Because the state gives the authority to the harbor master not to the sled board You can't change it You can't bless it There are basically two things that you can do One is you can revise the waterway
regulations to give the harbor master cart blanch to give morings to boatyards But fat chance trying to make that appear to be fair and equitable when there are six 430 people on the wait list and 60 people on the change
list each of whom paid $20 a year to stay there and they've been some of the people who've been there for 20 years The other thing that you can do and it's what I strongly suggest you do at your next meeting is to direct the town
administration to strike those mooring permits from the mooring list and follow the rules in our waterway which says that available moing spots are assigned to people on the change list When they vacate a moing that moring is assigned
to somebody from the wait list It is very clear there's no wiggle room here Thank you Thank you Is there any other public comment um Sarah Pierce Hi Thank you Yes Sarah Pierce Um there's
been quite a bit of comments on social media about our town administrator who I know Greg you're on this meeting but I'm just curious how you got a boat moing in 2015 when there's been a waiting list
that people have been on for 20 years I think that's a comment We don't we're not going to respond to it I can provide an answer to you later Sarah offline Okay I just wondered I didn't know I
thought this would be the appropriate place to ask that since it you were there So I apologize if it's not It's fine to make a comment but we don't get into a dialogue Okay Thank you very much
And we have a public public comment from the harbor master Yes I would say that anyone who had any questions about a morning assignment could certainly come and ask me since I'm the one who assigned it Uh happy to answer anybody and everybody's questions
Uh I'm available in the office You can come and see how uh the process works So please come on down Thank you very much There any other comments
okay Um there is no um chairman's report today So our next item is to go to look at the action items and project future action items Kathy you usually usually on top of this
stuff right um I do think at a prior meeting we had asked for an audit of the uh moing situation So you should get some facts and I was just wondering um if we had any I didn't Oh there it is It's right
there There was no date attached to it Do we have any more information on We'll be quotes back this week Excellent Okay Okay So so I'm hoping to have it on the agenda for next time Okay great So maybe we can just update the date on that That was what date did you say so the 22nd
22nd Okay Okay Um can we get an update on the flag pole situation at some point yes And it happened before DPW I thought I actually thought it would be up by now It is up is it
uh not as of Friday I don't know what they did today What was what was I been staring at the last three days okay it's definitely up I don't remember I wasn't around but I guess it was Thursday I was right Um
drove right by and never saw flag Um do we have a spare um American flag that we can or can we get an American flag suitable size
um I happen to have found a Manchester flag It's small but it's in my front entryway right now Um and I will bring it over I think we have a larger one
somewhere in town hall Yes you do The flag The flag used to be there All right Yeah Uh but one in hand we'll figure out where it the other one is when we try to put this one away
Okay Okay I'll bring that over tomorrow Okay And I have Sarah you might mute yourself You got a lovely giggle Oh sorry That's a cough Oh okay Well then it wasn't so lovely
I uh I have a question that the affordable housing trust is going to they were scheduled I think for last meeting and they're coming up Um can they also provide kind of an update on what's going on at Elm Street i mean I it kind of falls into their category for
lack of another category but I'm interested They should be keeping aware of that because they're involved with affordable is it the trust or is it uh Mark Resnik who should be giving us an update on that i don't know It's affordable housing I put it in that in that in that category I I would like to
hear from them if they have to contact Mark to get that information That's fine And do they also have an information on um the SHI inventory in town who's got a list of that it's usually updated on the state website right is that on the state website yeah
But but I get Mark can help facilitate Okay that'll be fine Okay Mark's a key guy in all of that I think the next item on the agenda is um an off- premise wine and mold alcohol
license hearing I move that the select board open a public hearing on the application of an annual wine and malt off premise package store Oh package store Yeah there's no comment there On premise package store beverage
license at two school street Manchester Yes Yeah I I only had one question How to open a public hearing oh I thought we had Oh yeah I vote the select No I'm just voting It's been seconded We need to vote Oh to Okay Yes
Okay That's not Yes Yeah that's yes Ryan I have no idea what we're talking about anymore Kathy yes Answers yes John Yes Okay Okay I don't mess that up You had a question My money back
Um do we have a certain number of licenses we stick to in town we do Yeah How many are open two Two Okay This is the old Helen This This is old Helen Helen's givers up last year So this one's This is a new to kind of take
Helen over Okay Yeah that's the only question I had Yeah I can send you the quota list Yeah I believe you Um any other questions john you No I'm I'm good with the application I read through it
Okay Um ready to vote yes And says yes Kathy yes Brian yes Jeff yes Okay Now we need to close Well that was the Oh yeah That was the
That was to close the hearing not the SP Sorry You're right You're right You're right Sorry This is absolutely right We oppose something that we need to reopen I move to reopen the public hearing on the application I guess we just need to
ignore the vote Okay In the wrong order Okay Maybe Mr Delaney could help us now Can I I move the select board close the evidentary portion of the public hearing Second John Yes Answers yes Jackie says yes
Right Ryan says yes And yes says yes Okay Now I am up You're up I move that the select board approve the annual wine and malt off premises package store beverage license at two summer street be held by Olivia and um um I think it
should be two school street friendly amendment Oh sorry That was two school Yeah School to be held by Olivia and LLC Second Is there any further discussion
yes And says yes Yes Yes Brian says yes And Jeff says yes Okay Having made a total pass of that There's no place to go but up now Our discussing water waiting Our next uh
item is the water raise regulation which the language is I think in Greg's memo I might just say thank you to everyone My name is Dave Galler I was part of the Oh where you just voted on Oh and I'd also
like just thank Debbie She was very patient with us filling out the application We had about 80 questions It was fabulous Freddy here came to help me So any I'll send it along to the state Okay
Thank you Good luck to you Best luck Okay Cheers Cheers Okay Greg would you mind reading what was in your um Yes projects Yeah Um so so this is a
follow-up discussion from your last go round on the waterway regulations Um in particular um the current language states that if you have a bow and stern moing it is not to create any additional
moorings anywhere in the order and it really should specify um just in area one So the intent was the first first area of the harbor that was going to go to Bow and Stern was area one and in
area one the density of the of the boats there um is such that we didn't want to add any more moorings to area one and the intent by going to Balance Stern was to create better passageways a channel
from the ramp out under the under the draw bridge and then just in between the the more boats as well Um so that's why that prohibition was put in but it was inadvertently applied to the entire so um but before you tonight is
to stipulate that that prohibition only applies to area one Do you want to add four words correct Four words to that Yes So there's a there's a sentence that starts off no new mooring spots shall be
assigned and I want you to add the words for area one only No new mooring spots shall be assigned as part of the balance initiative etc It's that one short
paragraph that one paragraph And I I would like to suggest that we have a second sentence after that saying that moing spaces created by new bow and stern moings will be
assigned in the same manner as all other available moings that be implied Good to be explicit given the conversations we've been having Right Okay
Yeah Oh wait I see a hand Okay But yes I believe I believe that uh that is already in the language We can check a little more closely but that's the way it's supposed to work Each side of a bound stern moing uh with a float is
assigned from the weight list and uh any new moing would be assigned from the weight list as well Um I thought that the first slide went to an existing mooring holder
with the with the recreational moorings If you want to partner with someone and have a float in between you must partner with an existing moing holder in the inner harbor not from area
7 unless uh it's part of their uh move in from the change of location list Okay So in other words it's the same process whether you're on a float or bow and stern or single point
I'm just Please go ahead All right I I need that clarification I I understand you have to partner with someone who is in a mooring elsewhere in the harbor Did you say something was special about area 7 yeah the only way you can move in from
area 7 is through the change list U so if if someone uh wants to partner with someone who's already in the inner harbor you can't have uh bow and stern in area 7 If you want to partner with someone in the inner harbor it's got to
be somebody who's in the inner harbor or uh who is on the change list and their name has come up to move in to the inner harbor You can't you you can't just pick someone who's in area seven and say "Oh I want them to come in." That's not how
it works Because because there's a change list and I understand there's a change list Okay Yeah Go through the change list and nobody wants We won't go through the ch I think we won't But I'm
If you go through the change list and you can't find a partner because well you don't go through the change list You don't go the only way to move in from the change list is to have your name come up Otherwise you have to partner with somebody who's
already in the inner harbor If you can't find someone to partner with then you don't get a float Okay that is certainly not clear in the regulations That's confusing I think at this point I would like to postpone this
and get actual language because I don't I don't see where it's it's where you get to choose a partner You don't get to choose a partner It comes from the wait list or the change list
You just said you ch could choose a partner from inside Well I I apologize I should have said uh if there are two people in the inner harbor who would like to be bow and stern If they're uh in the inner harbor already those are
two existing moorings But we don't create new spots uh you know one person who wants to partner uh can't pick somebody from area 7 to move in It's got to be an existing mooring holder in the
um may I suggest that it would be nice to see it It'd be nice to see it on a piece of paper visual Yeah I don't discount what you're saying Bion but I I it helps me to see the language and I I don't quite understand that I don't think that directly affects this change
that we're considering right now for area one It does not It does not I would take out my suggestion and we'll just the only in area one just do that one change What did that change now just do those forward But we got to and then
we'll take up for another day Yes continued discussion about I agree how how foreign float based foreign apps are handled in the restaurant Yeah Okay So
so do we have says Brian i move that the uh So you're not we're not amending Okay Not amending I move that select board approve the amendment to the waterway regulation that limits the pro prohibition of new moorings
being created through the change to bow and stern moings to area one only Second discussion ready to vote yes Um Ann says yes Kathy yes Brian yes and Jeff yes
Okay Um next item on the agenda is water meter replacement contract So I'll let um take the lead on this but to just to quickly summarize an RP process has been uh completed very
methodical one Um in your package were a summary of those results Um and the recommendation is to uh award a contract for new meters to styles company of Norwood Mass being um the most
responsive and competitive proposal that we received Um Chuck can certainly go into more details but that's the gist of what we're asking for Jack yeah I mean uh I don't really have much
to add I think uh you know we we did a very thorough process like Greg said uh this is you know one of the manufacturers that we did pilot uh last year so not only have are we familiar with them but you know they they work in town we've you know got that far you know during that pilot um you know
they're very excited to work with us obviously and uh I think they'll be uh the wording that we use in the RFP process is most advantageous to the So I did mention um RFP process for the installer is
separate that's that's underway and so you'll be seeing that at a subsequent meeting So right now what you're awarding is the company to provide the needs themselves Right So just a quick on that is you know we we're getting you we will be getting stock of the existing
meters So my plan is that our guys will install out on old Essex Road which is where the water main work So it's you know very convenient to do that while we're on uh bypass Uh also there's a few houses out on forest street that are still on bypass So we'll switch those over We will also switch out the ones
that were of the other meter manufacturer that we did in the pilot So there's you know a dozen to two dozen of those in the system So you know we'll have our guys get familiar with this system uh by doing those installs and you know getting it up to speed Uh also if anybody comes in and you know with
new construction or you know split meters or adding irrigation meters we'll have stock to hand out over the next couple months Uh and we'll you know we'll keep going as much as we can with our own guys But you know ultimately to get the you know couple thousand of these installed we will need a another
contractor So the idea is to make sure we get as much done with our guys and then we will supplement that with the remaining appropriation that we had for the meter project Are there any second meters in the first group that you're going to do with your
own guys um 92 meters that have not had any water use in the past two years Not to my knowledge So the you know like I said the uh I guess I'd have to look at old Essex Road I'm not 100% sure Um
but like none of the um you know meters that were part of the pilot program right those are all you know have been used and been being used Just quick question Chuck This is Kathy Um excuse me Um so you decided to go with a supplier that uses the cell phone
connections to trans data Um and do you have any concern i you know I think that's great I just wondering if you had any concerns about other dead zones in some areas that don't have cell phone connections and what what would you do about that so
one of our criteria within the RFP process was that every respondent needed to guarantee 100% uh connectivity So you know they are all aware of that and they do their own propagation studies to confirm that Um you know it's a desktop analysis so you know certainly there
could be some issues Uh but it'll be up to the manufacturer if they have an issue with their unit that does the transmitting uh to basically make make that right So there would be a couple options that they could do in that situation One would be to um you know
our our current system goes from the meter that's usually typically in the basement uh via cord to you know the outside and then there's the MXU that's mounted on the outside So the idea is they'll they will be able to install just in the basement without running their MXU equivalent to the outside But
in the event they don't get that signal inside they would put it outside which is the equivalent of our current setup If that doesn't work then they might need to go to an outside uh you know solution where you know they would have to install a pit Um but and then you
know then hopefully they get better you know eye to the sky if you will Uh but um they're they're confident that they'll get 100% without any kind of additional So basically though it's on the manufacturer to make it right not the account That was my Yeah And the the way it works when you install they
either swipe it to turn on or you can do it via an app on your you know anybody's phone or tablet and just to make sure there's connectivity before they leave the site So the idea there is that we're not having to go back and you know because 45 minutes later you know a day later you know month later you know
we're not getting the coverage that we were getting They'll know right away that they're getting the coverage before they leave the house Great Thank you Do we need a a motions um I move that we award the contract for water meter replace the replacement
of the water meters for the new water me I move that we approve a contract with um Styles of Norwood for replacement water meters Further discussion
Don yes Says yes Kathy yes Brian yes And Jeff yes Okay Um I'm actually and through non-essential waterb
Yeah Kathy and I spoke upon this a little bit Um this actually grew out of I guess article 14 in our warrant where the state has asked us to define a non-essential uh outdoor water use and to add that
definition to our um what is it article 8 water and sewer uh commissioners in our bylaws And um we needed to really address the issue of um consumer drip um
drip uh irrigation uh and accommodate that and accommodate accommodate that in article 14 And a suggestion at this point is to um add a add a comment at the end of the uh end of the definition
of non-essential outdoor water use that says for drip irrigation of plants when under a stage one or stage two drought declaration And we learned subsequent to the our meeting last week that there are three stages of drought declaration Drip irrigation is allowed in stage one and
stage two but not in stage three And by the way the d the drought um warning that we're under right now is a stage three So you can't your uh plants estate establishes that Yes
So in in the addition we just say for drip irrigation of plants you you you could you could irrigate for drip irrigation of plants when under a stage one or stage two And that's really not defined anywhere in And what about the hand watering you mean uh I think that was going to be a
problem under any of these Is that correct Greg i turn to Chuck on that one I don't know if you know that old hand Chuck Yeah No hand watering at stage three would not be allowed either What was that stage three would not allow hand watering What about stage ones too
uh I'd have to check I definitely I'm If you give me five minutes while you keep talking I'll find out for sure But I think the issue though is um I think you can stage one or two Oh what about um we talked I forgot the answer Um new
plantings and also trees and we're about to get another have another discussion on all those trees that are being planted Um they have to be watered So was even in a stage three drought are you allowed to water new plantings or
you can't give them any water okay No So nursery um activities are allowed to continue No I'm just talking about homeowners If if a homeowner like planted something you know this week and then next week the stage three was declared are they going to watch all
their new plantings die well so that's what I'm saying That considered new new planting new nursery activity So even though it's on a homeowner's level it's considered new nursery activity Okay Well and maybe that alters then uh
bullet I which says to establish a new lawn is necessary to establish you know stabilized soil Maybe you have to say new lawn or new plants New plants and put that in there because it's silent on that stage Are you looking at something in the package or just the original the
stuff that was it's it's under article 14 package Okay That's it's article 14 I'm looking at the warrant And the warrant has the non-essential outdoor water use and has A through I all of the circumstances under which uh
you can and cannot all the circumstances under which you can't can that's very crazy wording I will agree but these are the things and one is to establish a new law but as Kathy points out but to establish a new law for a purpose
I just I just feel that we're going to have a real hard time um enforcing something that we don't clearly understand And if we're I you know um how do we make this easy for people to do the right thing i think you looked at Tiffany and say
"Yeah spell it out People aren't going to read this right?" But I think we need that magic um before the town meeting and actually bring it to So she's working on that So what you're saying is we have no power to change The state dictates all of this stuff Did you
That answers your question right yes Okay So we really need we really need to follow our edicts Okay Is but we have the capability of adding this additional bullet You can you can add some clarifying language Yes Okay Which was
for drip irrigation of plants when under a stage one or stage two drought declaration Well that's already part of their definition You're just okay You're just reiterating It's fine to reiterate it It's it's um doesn't hurt
What happens if the town meeting votes this i think there are a lot of people who like myself myself included I mean there's reasonable people want to um do the right thing Yeah They also don't want their
investment to die especially if it's a new I mean we're talking about this specifically because there are people that have brought this up Well can I add a couple things maybe chuck please Yeah So just you know the the state is the
one running the show on this and they're expecting you know every water registration uh to be in compliance with you know this bylaw requirement uh which so that's that's why we're here Um they are not um you know the state will not be enforcing it They are leaving that to
the local authority which would be you know the select board through the water department Um you know so you know I I'm a water commissioner in Wenham You know Wenham's in this every year because of the Ipsswitch basin uh that we used to have a permit Now we're just a registration but you know it's the same
thing And you know we do not run around in Wenham telling our water department to you know hand out fines and tickets We try first through education then through you know so like if we knock on somebody's door and they just planted a new lawn for a new septic system or they
you know put in all these new plantings you know my neighbor has brand new plantings uh they're watering Um you know they're they're going to you know try and talk to that person first They're not just going around looking for a reason to find their residence Um so I would expect we would kind of use that same approach here And um you know
I think that you know that they're just looking for everybody to have that ability um to you know kind of do this education What's the fine say again Sorry I didn't hear you What is the fine
so in in our bylaw I think it's either $100 for the first offense or maybe it's 300 and then each additional fence offense each day is a new offense each time we catch you water So like that's the other thing is like we're not you know if somebody's watering and we don't catch
them then you know I don't think that really counts and that's more where the education comes in So this this as it reads it is silent on drip irrigation I believe it is defined as drip irrigation is defined and it is not allowed in stage three like Greg said
for sure We understand that right and I mean that's the other thing is you cannot you cannot see somebody drip irrigate So like you know as much as we want to do the right thing if somebody decides to you know use their drip irrigation not turn it off because we're in a stage three drought I don't really
think we're going to ever catch that person except by looking at the second water meter Uh yeah we don't have the time or the ability to kind of drip irrigation is not defined here John how long we've been in stage three
uh well the the most recent stage three was I believe the end of March which is why I forwarded it to Greg and Debbie to get on the agenda for the next available meeting which was tonight Um so that's why we're going back into a stage three but they did declare one whatever it was
back in November when we and you know you guys declared the drought Uh they lifted it in January I believe So we lifted it in January and then you know less than two months later over you know a winter season or you know temporary
Was this a distinction between the stages or it was just a drought or no drought between the stages So we went from a stage three which is critical to stage two and now we're back to stage three again Oh okay So the the drought w it was always there It was just stages
The stages Yeah We we we didn't and you know this is another thing where I'm you know I'm on call with the state about this stuff all the time and you know with through Mass Waterworks as well as others and you know I told them their messaging really sucks because it's really impossible for us to be in and out of drought this much uh just because
they say so like you know the the common the normal person is not that up on that especially over the winter months They we we are actually recommending that they don't even do anything over the winter because it's just going to confuse the message you know today as we're as we're seeing because you know now it is April and we have had you know
rain the last week but here we are So how are ressions are on the ground versus when they make their declarations so how are residents supposed to know what stage we're at all the time so well the the only time we really have to you know enforce anything is stage
three non-essential use uh is completely banned Um so that's you know seeing people's sprinklers going off you know in the middle of the rain Right What I'm saying is how does some you know like unless somebody's watching this meeting right now how are they going to know we're in a stage three drought
right now oh well so you know as soon as we you know you guys declare a vote to declare it We would have Tiffany put out the notice We would put it on the website you know be in the tide over the you know until we lift it you know all that kind of stuff But there is no like um you know we could if if you if you
wanted to we could do additional communication like putting out uh you know the message boards or you know doing you know code red or you know something like that It really hasn't been to that critical level for us This whole paragraph on non-essential outdoor
water use is defining what that is for stage three not for stage one or stage two So you can be in a a drought status but if it's in one or two non-essential outdoor water use does not apply Well so so not
not quite John What what we're defining is the non-essential use because we need to all be on the same page as what is essential and non-essential And it's clearly defined in the water management act What we're saying is only certain things are banned whether you're at stage one two or three And so you know
stage three is all non-essential use is banned But in one and two we could do this is the other thing that are already existing in our bylaw and what's permitted is to say you know let's let's only do odd odd even watering Let's only do once a week watering So that's what
you're would be voting on If we if we decided we wanted to regulate non-essential use during a stage one or stage two we would do those things and but we still need to use the same definition for non-essential use So we don't have people watering every day necessarily on you know a stage two if
if we choose to you know enforce that but those are things that are kind of left to the community not dictated by you know the state stage three is very clear all essential water uses so basically though
this section non-essential outdoor water use these things that are listed even though um they are allowed these are the things that are allowed And so when it comes to plants for example
it's that's under the section of commercial operations of a business So plant nurseries as necessary to maintain They're talking about commercial operations They're not talking about home Yeah So um I think the only thing that affects homeowners here are the
swimming pools Um the uh establishing a new lawn is allowed Um but other than that everything is a no vote What about gardens that's what I'm saying No that's
not allowed That's not allowed Oh that's that's not true The Okay so we're in watering for veget watering for vegetables is allowed Vegetables Yes So that falls under agriculture This falls under C production of food on this warrant Um
So but not flowers If someone has flowers or something like that you Yeah that's just make making sure you mix it in with the tomatoes Exactly Yeah This is as clear as mud We need to
to uh Yeah it is not very clear So Chuck are you saying that perhaps we shouldn't change any of the language in this non-essential water use definition at all so that is pulled directly from the water management act So that's that's
why it's there Um if again we we can certainly change it but I would recommend not because Okay All right In the event somebody from D is going through everybody's bylaws that's what they're going to be looking for But I think we need to clarify things at some point in the future as to what's going
on here because this is so I think that's again where where our own messaging comes into play Yes I would I guess my recommendation to you is to sort of stick with what the state is asking for so that we can check that box and then as we implement these we can do
our messaging around what we're most concerned about We can message and self police is what exactly Okay So I I I understand the desire to be as clear as possible and obviously that's what we should try to do but I also don't think we should kill
ourselves trying to make this perfect No Okay So Chuck in addition uh with regard to our uh article 8 in our bylaws you made a couple of other modifications Are you suggesting that we make those so
so that it better fits the language that we've got here should we do that all at the same time yes Okay Yeah So the only the the other two were pretty minor I thought one was it looked like there was an omitted word in the definition So it's just you know putting that omitted word back in and then the other one was
just making sure we refer to non-essential use because obviously our previous bylaw didn't really use the term non-essential use And so now by putting the definition in for non-essential use we should use that definition in the in the teeth by law Y
and it's there So now so yeah that solves both of those issues as well as adding the definition Sarah Milish Yes So this is crazy Sarah your name and address I guess we have your name Sorry Sarah Melish 11
Bennett Street Um to me this is crazy We've had two and a half inches of rain in the last two weeks and we're talking about putting in restrictions on watering Um I've spent probably
$50,000 on shrubs on my yard which is on granite And if it's not watered I lose them all And with global warming we want the shrubs Um so this makes absolutely
no sense to me It seems to me that we should be able to look at the water table in Manchester and the amount of rainfall in Manchester and not have to go after a larger circumference of the state uses
which is delayed Thank you Are there any other public comments it's today's I've noticed many times because we've lived here a long time Neighbors of friends of ours that they have underground piping you know I don't
know if they time it for every day They just have rain sometimes coming like crazy and they have the showers in the morning I mean during the day the by the grass water by their own sprinklers which is crazy Maybe that
should be a problem But what else can you control i think at the moment we are trying to comply with state law which as we've seen does in other cases saying not everyone agrees
with but you don't have much of a choice No not at this point That's the bottom line is to's point and everyone else's point Yes It doesn't make any sense But that's Massachusetts But it's Massachusetts
Okay So So we're not changing anything in the article in the warrant art in the article in the warrant Are we going to add the omitted word and the reference to the uh which emitted word was that because I I think we're just going to
going to go with it as it is So we don't have to do anything in the warrant I thought those other things are not in the not in in the warrant They are in our bylaws Yeah No but we need to we need to amend the bylaw to have those additional Okay Yes No I agree And there are two So
that'll be part of the motion Okay That will be made Okay Which will differ slightly from the warrant right yes And it's only two places and it's just like one word right i think it easily clarifies right so the motion will be
different from the article that happens right only for those those words four corners Okay So I guess that's a discussion We don't have there's no action to be taken So so back to the main part which is
part which is declare a drought declare this all started which with any luck gets lifted if this weather continues You ready for a motion yes I move the select board declare an outdoor world ban for all non-essential
outdoor water use until further notice Second Further discussion Jeff No Brad No Kathy No
John I don't like it either No besides this is a very unusual situation Yes it is We are unwilling to change the definitions but willing to turn down the
whole thing and then votes no I might go on I'm sure So we got a letter from the state or something I don't know what happens though We'll see if they catch up to us Okay I could give a little bit So you know the way So right now I I don't
think they're they're busy enough they're not going to do anything The the issue is going to be at every year I have to or even before then but I have to notify whenever you guys vote these things I have a form for DP that I have to send in to DP to say that we have instituted the non-essential ban Um so I
don't think you know up until last year when this started they had the new state drought plan I don't think they ever really cared Now I think they're probably putting those in a file and they're looking to see you know I'm sure we go in some sort of database and they'll say "Okay Manchester did or did not institute a ban you know and they'll
line that up when the state declared the drought." So I don't think we'll get in trouble today or tomorrow I don't think we'll get in trouble maybe this year but eventually you know this type of thing will catch up We'll ask for our forgiveness instead of going to take that risk
They may lift this in a month I will say they I think they actually meet tomorrow to decide whether or not to lift the ban Uh but the the data the way I understand it the data from this last week like Sarah was saying is actually not included in that update
They purposely have made the criteria that they're evaluating on a kind of rolling basis You know all of the you know drought monitors for all the streams and you know depth charges on monitoring wells that they have across the state and you know for our for us it's the northeast region Um you know
they they're only looking at the data through you know in this case March 31st though they're they're missing what's happened in the last week even though that's their discussion tomorrow is they're they're omitting any data from April Um so it purposely probably will
not change until the next time they meet which is probably later in April When when did they declare this u this uh drought when did they move uh I can you it was a little bit more because you know it was last last month was the
funny month because you guys you know last Monday was you know the 31st or whatever So but so it was you know a week and a half or so before that So we're two and a half weeks in probably some stuff doesn't make sense on snow This is one of those
water for common sense This is the common approach It's raining outside Yes Okay And nobody's going to be watering in early That's right There's nobody to punish anyway So common sense is not so common
sometimes We find true statement Becoming uh endangered species That's what you know Okay Okay What's next is the Friends of Trees Um and Jody Morse can't be here She had eye
surgery this morning Um I there are two area there are three trees that are in the main area of Rosdale um which she has negotiated with
um DP and others which are two hickories um by the u entrance and one new sour gum on the northeast corner Um and
and what um the president trees would like is to look further at the area between the school uh parking lot and um the nearest
graves and see if we can negotiate with the with the district and perhaps redraw the line so as to give the cemetery some more room and come back in a year or two with a a cemetery plan and um a planting
plan that that work together to create some new grave sites and provide some screening between the high school parking lot and and the and the cemetery And so the friends of trees would like
you to approve the two hickories and one sour I'm sorry It's be a nice symphatica that were shown on the bus What about all of the other things that we discussed the last time i'm confused
She's they in discussion with the families of people who are there She has they have removed a number of I see some xed out on the but I was wondering if the other ones we had talked about were going to get planted
or there was like 20 or 30 I forget how many of those original that original population how many are actually going to get planted three just three just three and the whole plan is being deferred a year until there the rest of the plan is being deferred a year until they can talk about those property lines
and etc They will come back above that like 15 or 16 I think was born Well is the the quantity of trees is this uh an effort to reach a status well the arboritum but there was also other reasons for it but I mean are we trying
to are we trying to is the goal to create an arboritum so we have to have these many trees as opposed to again a common sense approach at the moment that we're we're having there is possibility for creating the necessary conditions
for our in the space that will be looked at over the next year So the space between this the high school parking lot That's you think that's the ultimate goal i think the Friends of Treats would like an arborita They've had some push back and and they
are responding to it Okay Well I'm I'm willing to wait and see what they've got Okay Well they have they have to come back to us when they say "Okay we're going to move ahead." They will come back Fine Right now they just want their permission to plant these three three
trees or right oh no the new new the one two hickories Yeah And the two hickories and she they have worked with the DPW to locate those And then there's
actually a marker for the two hickories And this keeps everybody happy that's not happy kind of I the families this is in response to the complaints from the families I do not guarantee
anyone's happiness Well no I know that But well we addressed they addressed the concerns of the families about providing too much shade Yeah The families want to pick those plots for the sunshine and they don't want that to change So so that's this will take care of this will
take care of that Okay So we don't have a motion but I will move that we approve u the planting of three new trees in Rosedale Extension as shown on plan
325.25 325 Second John yes And says yes Yes Kathy says yes Brian yes And Jeff yes Okay The next is to review and approve the
municipal energy aggregation plan So the plan really is um outlining the steps that the aggregator would perform for us our consultant and your process for choosing a supplier and then the
process by which people participate Um all of that follows pretty closely has to follow closely various state guidelines that are put into place for municipal aggregation Um so it's pretty pretty boilerplate language for one of
these plans We had the plan out for longer than the required 30 days for comment periods We did not receive any comments So the plan is ready for your approval Um so once you approve it which I recommend you do this evening then the
consultant will submit it to the state Um they should approve it since it's follows their guidelines very closely And then once that is approved by the state then they're able to proceed with soliciting um bids from suppliers and then we'll be back before they get the
results of those bids And then you would in consultation with them make some choices about what to offer residents for When do we expect them to come back with that if we approve tonight what ex how long will it take them to come back to us so with the RFP process probably
first of the fall by the time the state the state I should want to say they have three months to approve it once we submit it Um maybe four months How many options do they come back with is that is that uh codified or Well they recommend you
offer two to three options Two to three Okay you know typically um sort of a standard offer that mimics the current state required mix of conventional versus green energy sort of a middle of the road offering that is a little um
greener if you will than the state offering and then 100% So typically those are the three offerings that you make state equivalent slightly green all green Yes Oh those three Yes Yes Exactly and they'll come back to us Yes Us know
what's going on So then can we um can we add that to the auction item list for the September one just to should be targeted around September that we don't forget about it And that is that assumes that um you
know they get good good bids and good prices Some sometimes they recommend you know what we did we struck out so we suggest you wait until the market changes again Um but they'll they'll advise us on all of that Okay Sarah has her has her up Sarah
knowledge please Yes So I have solar and I pay no electric bills but I receive a grand total of between $6 and $9 a month for something And does this adversely impact
the receipt of that rebate from National Grid no it does not Okay No impact on on that at all Okay Thanks In that instance does she have to opt out opt out or are they not going to it
doesn't impact if you opt out Correct Or if even if she opts in Sarah can still opt in She's just not going to be getting much supply along because she panels Okay So it's it's sort of agnostic for her All right
Um motion Yes That the select board approve Manchester's energy aggregation plan for state submitt Second Jeff Yes Brian yes Kathy yes And answers
yes And says yes Okay Right And the next item on the agenda is the discussion and vote on the Woodtown administrator And I am going
to take on number five and say I move that the collect board appoint Anthony Betta as the new town administrator Second discussion I could say a few comments Sure Because I wrote them up
All right So well I think we all went into this town administrator search process a few months ago thinking uh it's the most important decision that we'll make certainly in the last year or two and maybe the last several years of the town And I was frankly was worried or at least wondering whether uh just
how it would all work out Um after last week's uh interviews I still think it's the most important decision that we're going to make but I'm no longer worried about how it might work out We interviewed three well-qualified candidates last week the finalists in
the selection process and our town I think would be well served by any of them I want to thank all of them for the time and effort that they devoted to learning about Manchester by the Sea and to sharing their thoughts with us The screening committee did a great job in winnowing down the applicant pool and
I thank them for their time and effort It was a job well done We should be honored that there were so many applicants from what I understand 17 who expressed an interest in uh serving the citizens of our community And while each of the finalists had experience in
serving small coastal communities they otherwise had different backgrounds to bring to our next town administrator's job John Apple served two communities over 13 years as an administrator and so he has the perspective of how two different
towns operate and he's worked in the marine private sector Tony Barleta has been an administrator for seven years and spent several years in state government so he has firsthand knowledge of state agencies how to work with them
and how they uh can be a resource And Chuck Dam has been our DPW director for seven years So he certainly knows our town and our staff and is and is uh certainly especially familiar with the capital budget challenges that we
face but I think that Tony Barleta is the best fit for our town for the future He was confronted with budget problems when he arrived in Nant in 2018 developed a way to deal with them and successfully communicated that plan with the citizens to gain the needed
support Manchester is going to have similar challenges with its capital budget in the next few years He's filled many department head roles some due to retirements or departures and others because people needed to be
replaced He's developed a positive work environment in the town hall and those new employees are still with him And that skill set has also served him well in dealing with the union contracts covering many of the town's employees Also he successfully has uh pursued
grant opportunities for Nihant Grants are a very important part of Manchester's finances as we all know particularly on the capital side With fewer grants expected to be available in the coming years his experience in state government will be a plus in our search
for those resources And his references say he's straightforward thoughtful and transparent earning people's trust every day I think we all saw that during his interview last week Communication skills are an important part of this job and he
said that he would adapt to the communication style of the select board There are five of us sitting up here and each of us has a different style So I think that's going to take a little time and effort should he be get selected for this whole slot Yeah So in conclusion
I'm confident that the commitment and passion that Tony has shown for uh Niant will readily transfer to Manchester and I am happy to second the motion to nominate him as our next administrator
Thank you I should have said at the beginning that we will not take public comment on this topic Um I'd also like to just say a few words Um you said everything beautifully John The only and I agree with 100% all all
the words that you said The only thing that I would add is um I expect a um a different level of engagement with the residents Um it's something that we as a board have talked about the past
three years I've been on the board We struggled with communicating effectively to the residents And what I impressed me about Mr Barleta was no matter what the topic was he talked about listening to the residents as a core part of his
process in the beginning not trying to come up with a solution and sell it to the residents at the end I found that very compelling and I I think he can really help us with that particular gap we we struggle with right now So um I I think I thought long and hard about this
and and watched the videos multiple times because it is an important decision and um and he had a very difficult choice Um but I I agree with the the motion U I'm very was I'm conflicted All right I think that all three candidates did do
a fine job in your test Okay Everything you've said about Tony Bala I agree with I think in a vacuum if I were to look at a at a uh town administrator Tony is the one I'm not but I'm also looking what I believe to
be in the best interest of the community and I'm looking at the struggles we're going to have going forward I like the idea of someone who is wellversed in the challenges we have coming up in front of us Right Especially as you pointed out as money
dries up okay from this from the state and federal government we have to look at you know I want someone who's be able to uh prioritize who who's the architect for all the for the hund00 million worth of work we got going for us So my cons what I'm still struggling with
is sometimes the I'm looking what is the best candidate for the town of Manchester not just the best town administrator And so I'm I'm looking at Chuck I'm looking at Tony as those two And that's where I'm at right now I think John you you hit it out of the
park Pretty much Kathy you guys pretty much covered it I tell you I really struggled with this Um you know like you guys said we had three great candidates and we couldn't do bad by any of them Um but I do I do agree with you guys I
think Tony is the best you know going forward His his um ability to deal at the state level and his knowledge there I think is is we can really use that going forwards
Okay Um I don't I made my statement at the beginning Um so John Yes And says yes Yes Brad Oh Jeff Yes
Give you another minute 30 seconds So I want to go uh so no matter how will we we're going to want to have a unanimous vote at some point Correct All right So I'm going to say no at this
point Okay Okay I I still feel that uh I just I feel strong It's important your position is recorded as as with your conscience Yeah basically that's exactly my conscience You got you have to vote your conscience Yep
Right Um the So so then what is the next motion then is that to support the next town admin how would you suggest that asking Mr on the books at 4 to one Yeah Um if someone wishes to make a motion of
reconsideration at this point or in the future that's prerogative of the board uh for a unanimous vote Doesn't need to be but that's a you know consideration a board can give
So I would like to make a motion that we consider giving our unanimous support Why don't we we give our unanimous support to to Antonio Mr Barleta as as
our next tone administrator Second discussion John yes Ann says yes Yes Yes Brian Yes And Jeff Okay Congratulations Thank you
Thank you very much Yes You did great job I'm glad you struggled with the uh decision in a positive way Um so that's that's a very good uh uh piece So now the board needs to set um its negotiating you know panel uh to meet
with Mr B letter as the next step and then um just a reminder that this isn't finalized until you finalize a contract you know um in in the near future So you have a candidate in waiting at this point um so you need to negotiate with that candidate um as soon as possible
and then come back you'll be coming back to the board to approve the contract moving forward Okay Um I think we need to choose two of us Two of us to be to negotiate contractors Can't be more than two So right
Okay That's true You're backing up All right I'll be one Yeah Kathy Depends on If I can do it I'll do it But for me it's not a lack of desire I don't want to hold up the process So I do have some time
constraints I'm happy Well I do I'm gone for five days coming up Whoa Okay Saturday to Thursday And what's the time i mean we want to do this We need to do this So I suggest you get it You know you've got you don't
need you've got all this week So you got this week So you know get the conversation going you know and uh see where you're at Okay So ideally you would be ready to ratify in two weeks in 20 on the 22 Yes
I don't know I assume this was in your wheelhouse That's why I I No it's it's strictly timing I can't I can I have afternoons or if it's in the morning I can do it Can something be one person there's no rule of you know two I would have two I think we should have two You
you are generally available in the morning I I'm I'm available all day pretty much every day right now Afternoon are tough If it can be in the morning I can meet in the morning Next week I'm just gone Okay Three days It's four days All this week is good
Mornings What happens when you retire well wait a minute I'm retired too A mess right now All right Okay Okay Keep going We'll keep going Our team will keep going How's that okay
Bye So who so who connects with who connects so I'll connect with all three tonight Um just to let them know their status Um and then it's up to you You can work through Greg with you know um do you
have a cell greg should you have um Tony cell yeah So Greg has Tony cell I can forward it to um and so make contact you know amongst you folks but I'll notify the three of their status this evening by text messaging email I'll
never find it we have a starting contract we just erase your name right that's okay goodhead you'll be hearing from us tomorrow and if you have questions I'm available
you know so my cell phone number so yes arises feel free to contact me on a question thank you very much this for us yeah I thought this was going to be awful and it was only dreadful
again you had a very good screening committee so I want to thank the screening committee once again as I said you know fire too and um You know the only awful part is setting schedules you know So that's always the tough part of what we do is getting nine member of the screening committee to agree to times
but other than that um you know everything went basically um fairly smooth And I'm glad you had a very difficult you know you had things to think about you know as you were making your final decision So you had three candidates who put themselves forward and certainly I want to thank all of the
candidates who had themselves forward Absolutely Yeah I you know this is my first time going through a public set of interviews and I I really have to applaud all the candidates for putting this is really putting yourself out there you know in a in a way that a lot of people don't quite Greg and I have
been through it but you know people don't quite understand sitting in front with the TV going you deserve a lot of credit all of them yes okay great thank you jo um please on updates
I don't have anything planning boards meeting now it's uh Wednesday the uh uh the pickle ball is up and running slight
incident middle of last Well it was just DPW was in the uh courts putting up this the uh sound pass I think they left for a bit unblocked and someone said "Oh this is good I can go in there."
On the ground with baited breath So uh but that was quickly taken care of And so as long as the weather holds like this we won't have any complaints about and we won't have to worry about drugs
Checked off a lot of boxes And as far as uh beach taxs over almost 600 was sold online and another 300 Milwaukee so far that's really over 900 fish tact in the first seven days
So that's uh going pretty well and apparently it's going it's not been a pain for uh to deal with it at this point Yeah it's encouraging to see more and more use of the online so people are available themselves It's it's
discounted during April so you can get them a little less expensively and they get it online right we we can say even more clearly to anyone who happens to be listening buy your beach bags now Save money right
tough sell when you look out the window Just don't go to the beach Oh the beach Yeah Or be of certain age you don't need it Use your car that fast So when's the last time you're on the beach i don't know I don't
like I don't like Okay Um Kathy let's see Oh um so regarding the uh liaison assignments um nothing new on bike and ped right now Um there's been a lot of discussion at the downtown improvement I think I mentioned this um at a prior
meeting around working with the chamber of commerce to help reinvigorate our downtown Um coincidentally there have been some uh discussion on Facebook as well collecting good ideas So um I did reach out to um the chair of the
downtown employee banking uh committee to um connect with those folks who were sharing ideas online so that hopefully we get one set of ideas If something needs to be brought to the select board it's a it's a cohesive set of recommendations instead of you know
right people Yeah we don't need waring factions here We we just it would be nice if the residents could come to some consensus before before they come to the select board So and I offered to help So other than that I think that's all I got any news Uh yeah just a comment on the seniors
Susan Beckman who is heading up the uh money raising initiative of the senior center leaseold improvements met with the seniors I guess on two occasions over the past two weeks the friends of the Council on Aging and has also met with Nancy Hammond to start to lay
groundwork with regard to how this money raising initiative is going to play out And she will continue to meet I know with the seniors probably once every three weeks two three weeks at least more than at least once a month and maybe more and uh probably more
frequently as time goes forward So things are starting to move along there She will go shall I say more public with all of that once the PNS is signed meaning um the most recent school committee meeting which I
did not attend but have heard and and read about um the superintendent um described the worst case scenario which is that um we don't come to an
agreement and they go on what's called a 122 12th's budget where um both towns are required to come up with their appropriate share of last year's budget one month at a time it's removed I think
22 people who were who are student facing um I there was enormous public comment I believe all of it against the
idea of a 1212 budget um there's the way that would happen is um we have a budget There are two town meetings and
then Essex has an override vote If Essex fails if it fails in either town meeting or the override vote fails then the school committee puts together another budget which probably can't be higher because that
just makes everything awkward but perhaps could Um technically it can be but yeah Okay Um and we go through the town meeting thing again and then um if either town
turns the budget down and if they reduce the budget there is a strong group in Manchester who would vote who would encourage Manchester to vote a lower vote against a lower budget Then um sometime in July late July or
August we have a joint town meeting which is awkward because we don't have a building we don't have a territorium large enough for a joint town meeting And do do you get anything on whether we can have that
meeting outside of the town it's it's not clear There's council still trying to answer that question life stadium I mean football field with tent football field outside we did that in co Yeah Yeah You
got to hope the weather's okay but that's doable I don't know Um let's hope we don't that's where that sits Um you've
seen lots of lots of messaging from from mostly from parents on on this So the 1212s comes in if the joint town meeting can't agree on can't can't vote votes against the the budget
which is I think really unlikely Yeah Yeah So so the school has done a little bit of of scaremongering frankly but they're praring Yeah Okay That's everybody Um consent
agenda There anything that anyone would like to take out of the consent agenda okay Kathy do you have a motion oh excuse me Yes I move that the board approve the consent agenda items Second
John yes Ann yes Kathy yes Brian yes And Jeff yes Okay the town administrator's report Few announcements or updates Um one you may have heard that the drawbridge here
um will be undergoing maintenance between now and early June Um so it will be disruptive to voters trying to get in and out Um so um best to look at the schedule Hope buy will have that Uh it
actually was printed into last week's cricket but people should pay attention It's um it's intermittent terms of its operations but I I thought it was all weekdays
Yes they are So that so they'll move the barge out of the way so that it can be so that the garage can be it'll be functional functional so people can get in and out in the weekends
Okay Um so just a heads up on that Um just a couple of other items on the action list for updates um on Ocean Street that was on the list again Again we have some capital dollars proposed in the FY26 budget And then we
we have submitted another grant proposal that we will be waiting to hear back from Um if both come through that would be great It would allow us to do a more in-depth analysis and and outreach effort Um but at a minimum we will have
the dollars assuming voters approve it as part of the capital Um and then you've had some very brief conversations about um having the conservation commission be more involved or perhaps take over um tree hearings So I just
flagging that again to see if you have any additional thoughts want to have a have a conversation with with members of the compound or just how how would you like the next proceed yeah that'd be my first question I mean I know kind of
how I feel How do they feel right we don't we don't know that yet Yeah I think um as far as structural changes to the processes um I would hesitate to make any big changes until we get our new
administrator He might have some thoughts Um but I do agree that this body shouldn't be the tree shouldn't conduct the tree hearings I I'm very much in favor of that But how best to handle it i' I'd like to hear the the
new town administrator There's also process underway to do a better identification of of um town trees because the model that the current regulations use is
basically the lower part of summer street um you know where there are sidewalks and and and clear definition So the friends of trees are looking at that
and may be looking for somebody from this board to work with them on on better definitions um and whether we want to change the preh hearings between now and then I
think I think Kathy's right Just just sit on it until Yeah Um last time on the left I had here was um for the discussion on employee volunteer engineer the tactics that we let slide over the last couple three
four years Um so there's been some mention of of reconstituting that Um so again interested in hearing your thoughts and do you have a desire to do that and if so how would you like to proceed
i think it's a good idea I'm all for it I'm a big I recall I can't remember when last time was hasn't been the past five or six years but maybe I think Tom Kio was still in the last time Okay That was Tom's I think that was one Tom that
project wasn't it yeah How do we go about do people nominate people or how does that work that's how it was dealt with in the past Yes Be a nomination Anyone can nominate anyone yeah basically we have it open nominations for a couple of weeks take names and
then present those to So we need to publicize that So people know something else for Tiffany Yeah No I think it's a good idea What do we need to do about that tell Tiffany
Yeah we can start the process Yeah Okay Yeah I all for it I think I I remember years ago asking talk about it because I had someone in mind you know said "No hasn't happened quite some
time." I'm ready Okay Thank you Final item is an exempt executive session pursuant to general laws chapter 30A paragraph 2186 to consider purchase exchange lease
or value of real property if the chair declares that an open meeting may have a sentimental effect on a negotiating position of public body so clear and he will not return to open session
So I I did have a conversation with Mory Clayton earlier today and um suggested that he might be helpful Yes In that conversation So if you're okay with him attending that session then I would recommend you do that Wondered why I was sitting
there to see Okay I I see smiles and nods So please second Is there a vote on you're voting into executive
session oh go Okay Yes Yes Brian Yes Okay Thank you very much Fun Well would you like a fun fact before we move into executive session my my
daughter just um my daughter just texted