[Music] f good evening
welcome to the Tuesday February 11th 2025 regular meeting of the town of Milton select board I'm going to begin by calling this meeting to order and I'd ask everyone in the room to please stand and join us in the Pledge of
Allegiance Al to the flag United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all
okay motion to adjourn let's go home no I'm only kidding you so a couple of changes I'm going to move item six public comment up to next and I'll get to that in a minute item number five discussion approval on the East Milton Fire Station bid results project budget
that's been deferred we're also going to defer it item number 10 yes discussion approval of the Town Administrator evaluations um and we are also going to go into executive session before I'm going to move executive session number
17 up before we go to item number eight which is discussed on the comment letter on the MBTA 7 and8 yes 78 and then we'll return to public session to handle the remainder of the
agenda so here's how public comment's going to work we allow 21 minutes for in total for public comment at any of our meetings I already say I have a long list here each speaker I'll ask to come up to the microphone on the
file left my file left to your right um each please state your name and your address and each speaker will be allotted 3 minutes to speak at 30 seconds I'll let you know you're at the 30 second point
I will keep the individual time and Mr Milano will keep the totality of the 21 minutes all good so with that I invite Mr Bryant Kelly good evening I timed this so you shouldn't is this on you hear me you're all good
you're good to go I timed it so it's three minutes my name is Brian Kelly I am a Tom meeting member from Precinct 7 East Milton I have a concern regarding the MBTA communities act it has come to my attention that the executive office of Housing and livable communities has
requested that Milton responds with question here by February 13th ironically the state is one day short of the one year anniversary when Milton voters decisively rejected the legislation in a special election they want Milton to sign off and agreed to Milton being categorized as a rapid
transit Community with the Hefty 25% housing load that would be imposed on our small town we have um we've been LED in with big cities like quinsey because of our antique 38 passenger trolley recently Milton won in the Supreme Judicial Court when it sided with Milton
that the guidelines including the rapid transit classification were not valid because the state failed to promulgate the guidelines as required by law instead of waiting until public hearings have been held and a small business impact study has been completed the state recently declared an emergency to
try an end run around the SJC decision the state has now decided to try to trick us into agreeing to a rapid transit designation Like the quote if you build it they will come if you agree to Rapid Transit designation and sign it we will own it I ask that you not agree
to Rapid Transit classification please submit the action plan that the planning board has prepared for you I will leave you with this a young woman friend of my family called me on a Sunday a few weeks ago telling me that she was contacted by the Hyundai dealer telling her that her car was worth a lot of money and that
she should come in and talk she went in the previous day she went to the dealer and convinced and they convinced her to sign a lease for a brand new much more expensive SUV she thought it would help with both of her parents who now require wheelchairs getting them to and from church the deala told her to return her
existing car back to the credit union where she had financed it they did not explain that the car was way underwater in value to her surprise she owed $10,000 more than the car was worth I went over some of the implications of this with her and she started to cry she could not afford both vehicles Monday
morning we called the dealer and we tried to and tried to get her out of the lease that they had that she had signed on Saturday they said no we called Hyundai financing and they said no we called the AG's office and they said there was nothing that could be done because she signed the agreement her parents parents along with the help
of her uncle had to come up with the $10,000 shortfall to get rid of the used car don't be fooled like this young woman was it's time to take the offensive and demand payment of the $390,000 in grant money that we were unlawfully denied it's time to ask the
Superior Court to clarify that we are not a rapid transit community and it's time for our town to come together and find some in some answers to our fiscal challenges agreeing to 2500 units is not the solution thank you so much thank you
you're only 240 I pass I know I noticed bely Ross Denny good evening Beverly Ross Denny um 107 Coline Road Town Meeting member Precinct
2 you may want to bring that a little closer yeah Beverly Ross Denny 107 Coline Road Town Meeting member too good evening I had the opportunity to review the select board packet dated January 28th where Town Administrator Milano took the time to detail the
multiple scenarios for both the override and projected property tax for several years I was surprised to see that the difference between the property tax for a $7 million override which you shared at the last select board meeting and the
proposed $10.5 million override that would fund a level service budget probably the new literacy curriculum in bias a couple of years without having to have another override would cost the average Milton home which is a little over a million dollar an additional
$392 which is essentially $98 per quarter for the purposes of getting our property tax bill I think this is a small Financial sacrifice for our town to deliver quality services and in fact I believe that when we looked at the threeyear ejections for what our cost
would be the override actually need to be a little more than that probably closer to 11.5 I moved to Milton for the schools but I found so much more here I remember the police officers who promptly responded to my calls when I needed their help and chief King who met with
me when my neighbor and I were harassed at a public meeting I would pay $392 for my neighbors to receive that same response when the hoet club was burning right across the street from my home and could have burned my home our brave
firefighters came and put that Blaze out I would pay $392 to make sure that my neighbors have that during the many storms we've had this winter the DPW staff consistently treated and cleared the roads I would pay
$392 a year for that our Librarians who curate and maintain an amazing collection of books the library of things and artwork they do all of this work and welcome the Young people into a space where they're safe and host many
community events I would pay $392 more for that and our schools that educated counseled encouraged my three kids and thousands of other others I would gladly pay $392 for that and I think I'm not
the only one that feels that way 30 seconds I'm getting more time I'm sure you're generous enough to Lo me the extra time Milton has a structural deficit and we cannot afford to cut our way out of it health insurance Al loan will increase at the rate higher than the 2 and half%
Levy so no matter what we do $7 million is not enough I did see your response to miss Talbot's question about funding our schools and essentially Dr pavich Who endorsed you and has been a friend of yours many years resigned in a response
to happened in fy2 I don't think that the schools should be punished because we have many teachers we have many officers we have so many valuable civil servants that actually deserve better thank you and I
would hate to lay them off for $392 [Music] [Applause] reisha to syvia did I get oh Silva I'm sorry two weeks in a row good
evening reisha Silva tet Precinct 2 town meeting member you know I I'm here again two weeks in a row and cuz just last week I I noticed your same smug behavior and just the same way you dismissed the
email that I sent to you and and here you sit up here rubbing your face and rubbing your brow and it's kind of more of the same thing um and and I find it really um insulting to your constituents because what
parents and residents raise legitimate concerns and when you just mock them like last June when uh there was so many parents that turned out for the school board and you said oh they they must think that were giving out something free no all those parents were here for their children's education they are care
about a new school that's why they're here and on top of that your recent claims that Milton residents would prefer budget cuts over an override is particularly troubling and defies logic it would mean larger class sizes
exceeding 30 students losing value teachers di diminishing the educ ational experience that makes Milton special and people moved here especially for the schools and you said it yourself that the taxpayers aren't stupid and you are absolutely right we can see clearly the
results of politrix and that's what this is this calculated in an action it's maneuvering that's what politricks are in case you need clarification on that while the school board does share responsibility for our current situation it's important to Mo to note that most
of the school committee and the mil and public leadership teams are relatively new to their roles they've shown genuine commitment to addressing these challenges and finding Solutions what we need now is for the school board to work collaboratively with select board because select board has a big say in
what happens with this override we need the opportunity to vote for either level funding or an increase that will maintain our educational standards as both select board chair and state representative you hold a unique position of influence chair Wells you could be
advocating for militant interests at both local and state levels instead you appear content to watch our schools decline this isn't about education it's about our community's future families choose Milton specifically for its schools pay premium prices for homes
with expectation of excellent education your current leadership approach threatens both our children's education and our property values we need to move past this politics our community deserves the opportunity to vote on a full override that will actually address our school's
needs thank you thank [Applause] you I wonder a word today um thank
you Denny Swanson sh please hold on listen if we could all if we look it you can throw whatever rocks you want at me or at us I I only say this to all
of you and you can all have your ideas but this is the place we all call home I say this all the time and I say this as someone who spent the majority of my life protecting the citizens of this community in every neighborhood in this community let's at
least be civil enough to listen to each other tonight please thank you I'm sorry thank you thank you chair Wells and thank you select board members I understand your receiving oh sorry Denny Swinson 65 Green Street town
meeting member Precinct 5 I understand you're receiving requests that you sign off on documents certifying compliance iance to MBTA zoning guidelines that haven't been promulgated yet that would be a terrible idea Milton has won a
groundbreaking ruling from the SJC that the guidelines are not legally effective nor enforcable that means we now have a critically important opportunity during the repr promulgation process to seek changes to the guidelines that would make them better to serve our town my
message to the select board is simple please do not capitulate on this your constituents worked tirelessly to get here hundreds walked in the cold December snow and rain to gather the signatures needed to secure a referendum they gathered nearly 3,000 signatures in
one week a testament to how strongly people felt about not going along with a 2500 unit plan over 5,100 voters showed up at the polls to reject that plan please do not forget them now if you were to sign off on guidelines that
haven't been promulgated you would be effectively forfeiting Milton's ability to challenge critical issues with the guidelines such as Rapid Transit classification at this important stage when we have won the right to be heard moreover the state's effort to require a
town to swear compliance to guidelines that have not been promulgated raises serious legal e legal questions this is the time to be working through the issues with the state not throwing in the towel if you are worried about the cost we can secure less expensive
attorneys but please remember Milton has no plan on how to pay for the infrastructure cost of tens of millions of dollars for the state plan Prudence requires developing a plan and how to pay for it that a majority can support
before agreeing to comply with regulations the state is required by law to still be writing please remember that the state owes Milton $140,000 for the seaw wall study and 250
for the municipal fiber Grant we will need legal representation probably to get those monies back the planning board has spent many hours crafting a thoughtful action plan and appendix please respect their work as an elected body knowledgeable in Planning and
Zoning matters and put forward the planning board action plan and appendix as the town's plan now is the time to honor the voters and your fellow elected officers and work toward a win-win solution with the state I I sincerely
thank you for your service and I thank you for your consideration thank you thank you Joe C 920 good evening Joe cing Grafton Al uh today I wish to discuss the proposed East Milton Square mixed juice overlay
District a PIV pivotal initiative here in our community it is often discussed as a revitalization effort but I feel that word is misleading as it is an enhancement to the vibrant District an example of revitalization might be the effort in quinsey Center that
transformed what was known as shoer toown USA to a blend of commercial and cultural spaces the East Milton proposal proposal is the culmination of years of uh meticulous planning
Community engagement and strategic visioning a district towards enhancing the vibrancy and functionality of East Milton Square the journey began with the town's townwide master plan in 2015 which
identified a focus on East Milton Square as a key objective the plan advocated for for retail dining and public en amenities to foster a dynamic business district subsequent studies including
the 2019 Urban Land Institute technical assistance panel report and known as The Looking forward report of East Milton Square uh reinforced these recommendations they emphasize building
Community consensus refining our refining our vision and developing the tools necessarily in the vision the proposed overlay District designed to encourage development that aligns with our community aspirations
includes key objective enhancing walkability improving pedestrian infrastructure and safety and convenience and movement for all guiding Investments directing commercial Investments to strengthen our local community fostering Community identity
cultivating a a distinct sense of place that reflects the unique character of East Milton Square leveraging private investment and utilizing private development and Community amenities while migrate mitigating potential
impacts the the overlay District allows Property Owners the flexibility to develop according to existing zoning regulations or opt in for the new mixed use provisions this approach maintains the current zoning framework while offering an incentive for coh iess and
coordinating development 30 seconds Joe okay um in conclusion the East Milton Square mixed overlay District needs to be presented to the citizens of East Milton Square I understand it's going to be uh put on the Maytown meeting and I
just want to make sure that the residents of East Milton who have spent many years listening and suggesting changes to that plan are heard before it goes before Town Meeting thank you
[Applause] jannifer wrong good [Music] evening good evening good evening everyone Janet Fon town meeting member
Precinct 2 71 Central Avenue Milton um I'm thrilled tonight to see so many families children people coming out to support education education is really a Priceless gift to our students to our
town to to the world um I'm here in a little bit different perspective I'm a senior citizen I do not have any children in the schools my child um is 25 so it's been a long time since he was
in the Milton schools but I'm here as um as a senior citizen as a long time educator 33 years in the Boston Schools as well as currently at Curry College and I can stress enough how important education is and how important education
is to Milton um show of hands who moved here because of the schools I mean that that says it all we're here in a town our property values are high yes some of the taxes are high but I would rather pay for
taxes and not lose money when I sell my house because property values are down I moved here from Dorchester I still have many friends there including several Realtors saw them the other night and they've been telling me this even before
that it used to be automatic when people in Dorchester wanted to move on up they moved to Milton for the schools now what they're telling me is that's gone it's not an automatic people are looking elsewhere uh NM is mentioned
I do some work in NM through Curry I see what the schools look like the spacious the facilities and it it's heartbreaking to see what's happening in Milton so as I said um nobody wants to pay more taxes
but I would rather pay to keep Milton a highquality education town all the hands you saw in the room room if those people are gone people who come here because of the schools we won't even be able to sell our homes because people will not
be moving here um but having said that I still want to just say that what we need for our students and our families and for the the people working hard in our schools 30 seconds um we're already
coming off the um negative impact of Co we've all seen the reports of the achievement situation so if we don't fund our schools we really have just given up the most priceless thing thank you thank you thank
[Applause] you so this will be our final speaker and I believe is it McKenzie big be [Applause] did I say that right yeah actually and these are these are your my daughter's
and can we squeeze it in three minutes sure yeah you we'll give you three we'll give you 3:15 because that's what's left you manage it how you want here go first go first okay good evening Lindsay
Bigby 591 Blue Hills Parkway this is Mackenzie Bigby and Michaela Bigby she's seven ch6 when I see the reports of a budget at 9.6 being at level service I want to highlight that at level is what the schools are now but it's not appropriate and it's significant below the level
that we need these students whose needs there are students whose needs are not being met and there are teachers teaching a A literacy curriculum that is not up to date to the state standards in the last month the same teachers who are hiding under desks protecting my children in their classrooms for a
lockdown were also Al told that there's a freeze and they don't have any more copy paper there was a man with a gun less than 30 ft from the school and these teachers at everything they could and now we're cutting all their supplies we have some of the best teachers in the country and through the
pandemic in the last few years they have been working their tales off to provide incredible educational experiences to children in our community with little to nothing spending money out of their own Pockets but they are tired and we have unfairly pushed them to the map these teachers and students deserve to
feel as if we as a community support and value them um we we should value them as much as we value our children and our grandchildren they are the heart of our schools and the community and they deserve at least level support an investment in our schools is one of the
strongest Investments we can make so many people move here because of our schools according to the information that was provided on the January 7th 2005 select board meeting the $7 million override which significantly below even our at level budget would force us to
cut approximately 35 teachers and grow our class in size to over 30 children when they are already bursting at the seams this would significantly reduce the quality of Education in our children and would drastically hurt the level of special education services able to provide it would be ludicrous to
continue to pay 70,000 to 100,000 per student that we are sending out of town because we cannot provide the services in addition to all the legal setup settlements that we will be facing when because we're not supporting the children an$ 11.5 million override
will allow us to appropriately staff our school maintain our overcrowded and barely table class sizes um and it looks like it would be approximately 65 or $56 per month difference from the $7 million budget to our um
homeowners a reduction in teachers and services presents itself as saving taxpayers money but in learning how the system works it's evident that uh approving a lower budget would increase the amount of kids that would need to send out a district therefore costing the taxpayers more money in the
end the town has already used 250,000 of our educational budget to pay for the lawyer fees as a consequence to the results of the vote of the MBTA zoning lot we have to stop equipping we have to stop underere equipping our schools and expecting our teachers to provide top-notch education
with the current political climate there's a push for people who misuse the term Dei to say the word diversity Equity inclusion when you're deciding this budget I would like you to instead think about instead of thinking about money think about approximately how many teachers aren't worth our investment how
many students don't deserve the services that are required through their I AP how many kids don't deserve to attend a neighborhood school because we won't fund the services needed for them to stay here thank you we have a ridiculous amount of excuse me thank you okay can I
let them read there like less than 30 seconds is that okay they're very quick go ahead should I time it I won't are you feeling shy why don't you say the first line real quick go ahead my name okay I'm going to read it for
her she's feeling a little shy that's fine my name is Michaela Bigby and I am in kindergarten at sucker I want to thank the grown-ups who are fighting for our schools I want to grow up and do big things in our world please help our school so we can grow up and do great
things and be great humans Michaela Mackenzie Spen Shai too so I'm going to read it for her too my name is Mackenzie Bigby and I a second grader at Tucker please vote for a budget that is enough for all of my friends who need extra help so that they can get it our teachers are like family
and I hope you vote so that they will still teach at Tucker and show them that you love them too part of being a Tucker tiger is learning how to take care of each other so I hope tonight when you vote you do it the Tucker way thank [Applause]
you thank you so that's going to conclude public speak draw and I'm going to move to item number three which is a joint working session between
um the school committee and the select board with two things discussion update of the fiscal year 2025 school budget situation and a discussion update of the fiscal year 2026 budget I will say we we will not be I know this agenda said this
we will not be voting on an over scheduling an override amount tonight that won't happen tonight but um that will happen in a later time so Madam chair you bring who you
want it's up to you I um I'm on the zoom is it possible to get elevated to share my screen [Music] please yeah let's um so so could just for the millions in TV
Land shair Carol could you just ask everyone starting with yourself could just introduce themselves yes absolutely um oh they brought name plates they we did the someone gave these to us and
that was very kind thank you um so yes we will introduce ourselves and um thank you for having us I'm Lizzie Caroll I'm the chair of the school committee re Regina Watts interim super assistant superintendent for teaching
and learning thank you Anna varges uh School Committee Member Selena Miranda school committee Vice chair dror Feer burrow
superintendent Mark luring School Committee Member hi I'm Katherine Blake I'm the assistant superintendent for finance and operations my name is bchu school Committee Member Amanda Serio School Committee
Member so if I may have a second before you start so at our last meeting chair Carol was here I believe Amanda I don't Mark may have been here I made a comment we talked about several things in the
schools and I made a comment about an an incident that happened probably 15 or 20 years ago where um it was a negative incident that happened in the Milton public schools and in that I named the title of the position that the person held at
that time and that person W up residing um I no way in no way shape or form was insinuating the current person who holds that title was Katherine Blake who I met with the other day who I have all the confidence in the world in um was that
person and as as she knows when I went to visit her and as you know chair Carol I apologize publicly if that hurt you or directed at you and because I do know you have been the one person in this mess that we're in because there's no other way to put it that um have been
extremely helpful to all of us in this and I thank you for that and I apologize proba I told you I was going to do this and if whether people like me or not good or bad I'm impressing on my words so I apologize public to for that now you can begin Che
thank you and I want to begin by just um expressing our appreciation for this opportunity to be here with you this evening um it's a really important opportunity for us to share information to answer questions that you
might have and hopefully to engage in some discussion about the options that we have before us um we do as the school committee seek Clarity from you as the select board um
on what path we are taking forward as a town um we need to be able to communicate clearly with our community and we need to understand what tradeoffs we are needing to make as we proceed uh
towards um decision making around the budgets and so uh we thank you again for just having us and allowing us to post this as a joint meeting um you know you didn't have to do that um I do appreciate the opportunity to have our
entire team here um what we are prepared to do is offer hopefully a rather brief presentation but we will want to be thorough with the information that we share uh that presentation will be offered I will begin uh we will have Dr burough Finance chair Mark lauring and
assistant superintendent Katie Blake sharing the information following that all of us are available to help answer your questions and to engage in some dialogue to support you as you move towards your vote um glad to hear that that won't be happening tonight so
you'll have more time to sort of process the information but we also do understand that you know we are um facing some urgency to arrive at some decisions as well um I want to underscore before we begin
that um we are really interested in protecting funding for all the Departments across town um several of the commenters spoke to this we are here representing the schools um in the context of our great town of Milton uh
so I don't want to begin this MPS budget update without just highlighting that piece um with that said though uh I am the chair of the school committee here with my colleagues um with our leadership of
the district and we are here to advocate for our kids and our staff a lot of work has gone into this presentation uh we've been discussing our budget since November in our public meetings and we are really thankful for this opportunity to bring the discussion
here to you we are going to um sort of touch upon FY 25 and where we're at uh with that before we go into any depth on our FY 26 budget requests but I have to begin by just laying out what we see as the
options um I'm heartened I will say by your conversations over your past meetings that it does seem like we are in agreement that uh the town of Milton is in need of an operational override for FY 26 for next year this is something that we have discussed for the
past couple of years we all know that it's been overdue um and so that is a good starting place I think um um that said when we think about what opt uh override we're moving towards a
key question is what is the number and that's what you all will be needing to decide you have three options you have an override that provides funding for level service and needs you have an override that provides funding for level service or you have an override that provides partial funding below level
service we're going to be talking about what the implications of these three options are I want to just remind us of our goals and I believe these are shared goals these are our goals I think they're your goals too um we want to provide our residents with a return on
their investment if we're asking asking people to raise their own taxes to even consider doing that we need to make sure that they feel like they receed value for that additional investment in our town we want to protect our town services and
staff I really want to underscore protect our staff we're going to be talking about the implications of partial funding and what it would mean to take cuts and I'd like us all to remember as we have this conversation that what we're really talking about our people and their jobs
and their lives and their livelihoods and their families so let's just make sure we keep that in [Applause] mind we're protecting our town services and staff to preserve the quality of life which is why we all live in this
town the final goal is to avoid another another operational override for the next 5 years and we share that as a goal um so that is another consideration that you'll be hearing as we move forward before we dive into any depth on the three options and what they look like in
our actual budget requests I'm going to hand it over to Dr burrow um to speak a little bit about fy2 our current year and where we are with this great thank you um great to be back in front of you all I'm going to um talk a little bit
about FY 25 the work that we're currently doing and um talk about the the steps that we're taking to close this Gap as you all know we ended last year in a in a pretty challenging place I I am so appreciative of Nick Milano
Amy Dexter um and and the entire team Joanna as well who have worked with us worked with us last year at a really challenging time to help us get to the Finish Line with our fy20 4
budget as you all know that put us in a pretty challenging position in fy2 where we had to spend down all of our reserves in fy2 24 to close that budget we are have been in fy2 and and you heard some comments
earlier um in public comment about some of the challenges that that are that we're experiencing in schools this year as we're working to contain costs use the microphone closer to you f home to contain costs
to to um address the the some of some of the practices that we had in place previously that that led us to um the outcomes in fy2 24 so we feel like we're on very stable ground now in terms of knowing where we are where we're headed
uh I'm going to share a little bit about what we're doing um you can go to the next slide please turn your cell phones off please I guess I feel that way about fy2 sometimes [Laughter]
too see I just try to bring a little humor and people don't understand why I do this just go ahead sorry okay that was not me so we we um are looking at any and all options to end the year without we're
projecting a deficit U the where we've H have a current purchase order freeze we have a hiring freeze so I've listed some of the positions that we haven't filled these are positions that have vacated this year that we have not um hired back there are a number of other positions
that we haven't posted that we would typically post for that we've had to pull services from from one classroom and and potentially shareed across two classrooms we so we've had to do those kinds of things to address this shortfall uh we are alloc allocating a
portion of our custodial salaries um to our food service account or Food Service account is is a separate account um so it actually has a a fairly large fund balance um we are also reducing some of our Consolidated facilities purchase orders uh we have
some offsets we using to address this Gap as well um we are comfortable with that $550,000 number there's still additional funds in those in those um accounts but we don't want to overexp those so that's kind of where we sit
right now next slide uh we are we are working our substitute line is one of the three things that the other two are special ed transportation and utilities this year that are the three kind of main budget lines that are uh are significantly over
from what was budgeted U so we are looking at sub coverage right now and and having people leave current positions uh where they would be working on curriculum development things like that they are now covering for for um
classes so just to to help paint the picture it's um everyone is pitching in but it it is challenging uh we are waiting on some circuit breaker um supplemental funding U and we don't have enough number on that yet uh we are also
looking at um resending our FY 26 Capital requests for end user devices and rooftop units those are two um two Capital requests that were made for FY 26 that um would require us to get
approval at town meeting um this is something I've um talking about with Nick in terms of a way to to help to close that that Gap as well so after this after this for next year this is for this is for this year we're in now
okay all right go ahead yeah yeah because we haven't voted next year okay go ahead keep going yeah so after after all of these these different um initiatives we would be at roughly $650,000 so it's taking it down from where it was before this number is very
fluid um meaning we are constantly getting U you know recently we had a few POS come in from a a from special ed cost that we're having to Now respond to so it we this number is not a static number but we are continuing to to bring
it down and do everything we can to close this year um whole and and are as I said we're committed to to doing everything in our power to to close this
um we we recognize that the the focus on fy2 right now is is taking away a little bit from our focus on FY 26 and that should really be our Focus to get back on level ground without reserves in a typical year if we had uh
our reserves we wouldn't be talking about any of this we would just be going status quo and the fact that we have absolutely no wiggle room now puts us in a pretty challenging challenging place questions can I you if we before we
questions by the members M brownle thanks uh I'm confused about the 466,000 that you're taking from capital and putting towards an operating I didn't think we could move Capital money to do that so walk me through how we're going to make that happen that's my question
as well I think the point is they've submitted those requests as for fiscal 26 and nothing's been appropriated but it's been typically we'll do about $400,000 in end user devices for the
subsequent year it's a free cash appropriation it's up to the town meeting to appropriate it or not I think our perspective has been try to keep them separate capital and operating separate however it's it came up last year as well so take the 466 from capital and plug it that they were
requesting for FY 26 and plug it in for fy2 free cash as free Cas as free cash so it's going to come out of our Free Cash correct I got you now okay instead of spending it next year on Chromebooks the request is say we'll we'll drop that request and let's spend it this year on
other stuff I guess if I'm hearing that correctly you're good I'm good now so just a f that so this is the Chromebooks that we're about to approve Thursday morning in the 26 budget so we're going to remove that from this from but you're going to use
the free cash because if it's bonded you bonded would give money not bonded money isn't real money it's spread out it's it's Monopoly money and we typically fund it as fre good way of looking at all right I get it that's okay so but that's still leaves you at at a negative
650 is the number on the bottom here y so my million dollar question um $650,000 question yes with what's the chance you're at zero on June
30th and the frowns tell me that's I don't see any Smiles I see nothing but Grim chins because that becomes a then it's it comes to us to have to good no I no I uh I mean I it is as Peter said uh slightly a moving Target
we are obviously not able to just kind of close doors and really stop there there are things that continue to come up in terms of new identified student needs right new costs associated with that I think Katie is doing a tremendous job of controlling and shrinking as much
as possible and trying to keep this number manageable I think just to be transparent within the finance committee meeting we had on Wednesday we were debating whether or not to share these numbers at the public meeting yesterday and we were a little hesitant because we
we don't want to overpromise and underd deliver that is like the biggest concern we have I think we feel good about these it's going to require constant vigilance and in order to close it further the things that are currently being implemented are being felt by our
teachers they're being felt by our kids right every parent knows this when they get the emails about like hey there's homework packets are online this week right there's not even paper uh you know I called one of the schools today and the assistant principal was serving as the principal and the assistant principal and the receptionist because they don't have coverage so like these
things are are real and impactful but to continue to cut is going to be more so and so we we need to do that I think as the school committee we're not s Saied at not having that number be at zero and so what we have asked the school department to provide
to us is what are the things that would need to be cut to bring it to zero so we can discuss that so we can look at that and at that point again it could be a possibility that those cuts are are significant in terms of their impact on on our families and our students and and
we'd prefer to come back here to have a a further conversation about how we can close that so last year at the end of FY 24 we came into money to cover the $750,000 that was short what was that money from Nick was that part of the
Chapter 70 that we got extra last year so you tell what came in July like after we were to cover the that's what I'm thinking of so if we got that money last year God I've been doing this budget for too long if we got that money last year
then there's no reason why or maybe there's a reason why we wouldn't be getting it this year but could we use that to plug them but you don't know what that different I think there's two different things that happened as the budget was being finalized there's one thing happened as the budget was being finalized and going to town meeting last
year and then there was the request at the end of the fiscal year around helping close off the deficit yep so item number one was going into town meeting the house Ways and Means budget came out with an increased Chapter 70 number and state aid generally actually
went up and based on that increase um there were amendments to the budget at town meeting that um funded additional Monies to the school department but also to the firefighter contract that came out of the arbitration award so there a couple of different changes that's right that came with um additional state aid the
other piece that changed at the end of last year was what uh Dr B refer to in terms of the deficit at the end of the year that was um with the select board's approval costs were charged to uh Federal funding to the arpa F right it was about
$415,000 at year end in in July I think was select board's July meeting Y and those were use it or lose it ARA funds weren't they correct they needed to be incurred by December of 2024 and we had actually put them for something else the housing and then they came they never used it so we had to use it by the end
of the year so that's what okay that's what we used it for and we don't want to be in that position again it just we don't have the money this year we just don't have the money to do that and so if you the more you communicate to Nick and Amy where things are because unlike
department Town departments where the Town Administrator can move money at the end of the last 90 days between you know police fire libraries DPW we can't do that without an article or some other method and is you don't
need me or any of us to tell you where we're at in the reserve fund right now you know where we are like MoneyWise so I think I I heard the number you I watched last night I heard the number last night and there's a so that's I mean I'll pray for
zero but and I don't I mean I know I get that and I you we're not placing this just we're in a tough position here and it's not like we have money to just so that's all that we want to get we want to know as much as we can about
where we are right now which is the world we're living in which is our this year's operational budget and then here about moving forward so I'll give you we just I knew we're going to have to have cuz as soon as I saw then I'm like we can't let that go though we got to find out like we don't want to know on but
it's a less 15th it's 550 like just like we're going to keep trying also keep things in perspective which is last year it was a bigger number we're unraveling a lot of things this year it's a smaller number maybe we will find a Magic Door I
often talk about my money tree in the backyard cover in snow right now it's under snow but I I'm not I'm not saying that it's over yet for your 650 there's got to be something we got to be able to find something so and I think you guys
still have some slides to go through or so go ahe what I just want we wanted to get that was just we had to get to that before you kept going no I appreciate that and that's just so this is fy2 and the bulk of our time we want to just spend really providing texture around FY
26 so that you understand how to weigh the cost and benefits of the different options that you have before you so um Mark you're going to start this part right yeah so uh as we look at syy 26 uh again Katie has been doing a fantastic
job kind of um helping us warrant committee members public in general uh in kind of the public meetings that we've had laying out the things that are drivers for our budget uh we know the s26 number of 6.4 million for level
service is a high number none of us take that lightly we all understand that we we would like that number to be less because that means the the needs for our our kids are less and the likelihood of us filling that and giving our kids and our staff what they need would be easier
uh these are just some of the things that that influence what the budget numbers are on a given year obviously salaries uh offsets such as circuit breaker funding we get from the state or from other areas uh mandates is a big one that's
what we talked about with sy25 uh that's what we talked about with sy24 that that is continues into Sy y26 uh things that we are required to provide whether we want to or not and those are places where that are a significant portion of our budget that we cannot cut in any situation we have to pay for it the
other one is obviously inflation where inflation has averaged 4% since the last override uh we know that uh annual increases have been closer to 3% right that is a significant Gap over a 9-year period where we have at overrides and we know inflation has been even higher of
late and within school specific expenses such as transportation outof district placement special education those are well above 4% so all those things are things that are consistently hitting our budget they're things that are hitting every school Department's budget across
the state it's talked about very widely we are unfortunately not an exception to that as much as we wish we were uh so these are things that that are driving that number in order to keep up with the cost of providing the programming we are providing today what it will cost us to
provide it tomorrow so getting back a bit to uh what Lizzie was laying out at the beginning in terms of what what we see as the conversation with you around and and the decision you ultimately will make around how we move forward as a town with the override and the first option we'd like to start with is kind
of level Service Plus needs uh so you know Peter has spent the last 18 months kind of going through uh doing a listening and learning tour creating an implementation plan and an action plan to figure out what are the things our school department needs to help it take the step forward uh we brought in a new
superintendent we were excited coming to this year about the possibility of investing in the vision and the opportunities as he laid it out for our kids we know that is challenging with where we currently sit as a town with the the size of the level service
requests going to next year but we still think it is really important that we share this and we talk about this with our neighbors with the residents of this town because we think they are smart enough to be able to hear and discern for themselves what we need to fund and
what we don't and so one of the things we've talked about within a needs budget if that was a possibility would be things like our Ela curriculum that is a high high need of ours it was work that our Ela uh director was working on last year to kind of uh with a working group
to figure out what would our curriculum be we were excited about funding that this coming year other positions as you see up there uh additional professional development needed to implement the ELA curriculum uh student supports additional teaching positions for overcrowded kindergarten classes uh HR
Director so on it was about 1.4 million in total you can go to the next slide this is what we talked about kind of back in in November or December as we were looking at kind of our our needs budget as presented by the school district of the things that would be really helpful to again continue to boost the academic experience of our
students forward and support our staff in supporting our kids one second I missed at the beginning what you said your level budget number was did you say 64 million I didn't 6.4 is the increase
we'll get to that is the increase what is I I want to I want to go that's not what I want to ask what I want to ask is what is your level budget so your budget right now for fy2 is what amount total budget approved total
budget 67 million is our FY million is your fy2 and then usually you guys get two and a half 3% as an increase I mean last year it was 9% but we're not going to talk about that so does that she
talking poing Bing so does that does that 67 million the numbers that you're now about to talk about does that 67 million as your bottom line include what we already would give you as a percentage
increase uh the 67 million is what our budget is this year right but do you understand what I'm saying K okay so when you're talking about these numbers do they include the 3% that you would already get no no so these are just flat
everything so it's not as what I'm trying to say is it's not as we need $100,000 we might only need $70,000 because you would have already gotten the 3% that's what I'm trying to figure out okay M so we're starting at
67 and now we're adding 1.4 yeah 1.4 is would be for the list of needs that are up here got you okay thank you sorry thank you no no problem can I ask go ahead Mr absolutely on the previous
slide so um Mr Lauren you you alluded to um the ELA curriculum being a sort of high need I think it's like number one on your list can you just say a little bit why that's what like how do you guys identify what a high need is because me I wouldn't you know I wouldn't know like a kindergarten teacher seems like just
as high of a need as as Ela yeah and I I think in some ways that's why we've talked about El curriculum for number of years and it hasn't we haven't moved forward with it we have done a lot of work in preparing for it and I think as we look at this
coming year and all we we've basically it's been about a three-year Runway to to purchasing new curricula and and moving forward and because we've done so much work and we're poised to move forward and and our current curricula is
does not align with best practice um it's something that our community has talked about a lot it's something every time I'm going into a school and talking with parents about teaching and learning it seems like it comes up so it's a it's a kind of a broad Nationwide
conversation too I I think we've been waiting for too long and I think we we have so much expertise in our district uh and we we need to provide these materials to really help people run thank you Mr chair true it just I think
when I heard it I heard it as it's a one time cost but is it actually a recurring cost it's one time okay the4 is one time the 250,000 on that list one curricular materials okay all right that's helpful
I didn't catch that good good good y okay I appreciate you no problem we got to hear I mean thank you this is the time this is why we did this and again just uh sharing kind of a year two again what we asked Peter uh to present to us
to think about again what are how do we sustain about this and think about this over time given the expectation that we had kind of going to the budget process that this likely would be an override year it would be the the year to be thinking about this right let's make sure we're planning kind of more than one year at a time this is the list of
kind of year two needs which as you can see gets to about $822,000 um so when when we talk about kind of the total needs that were presented by the district to the school committee over two-year period it is um
closer to that kind of $2 million number so we think about what would be the impact of receiving a needs-based budget of any level uh we'd be able to address kind of current challenges and pain points within our community whether that's the ELA curriculum as uh Dr burough has said whether that's uh
adding additional Transportation which has come up consistently from residents uh residents in East Milton West Milton uh all over uh it's it's come up a lot uh we'd like to we would be able to expand needed services for students we'd
be able to add additional positions that supports our students and our staff uh obviously the the downside of a needs-based budget is the greater cost to our residents and our our fellow taxpayers uh in order to fund that so we understand that that that is the cost and those are the trade-offs that that
you consider as you think about what the budget override number is so that brings us to are the second option which would be a level service budget and this is uh ER kind of the 6.4 million up here which is a 99.44% increase uh that is the amount needed to
maintain current service into next year that is the cost and that includes uh cost of living increases for obviously uh all employees is is the part of kind of every Union and every Department uh it also includes the adjustments to kind of the line items that we are currently
experiencing significant issues with uh with substitutes uh with utilities with uh special ed Transportation adjusting those line items to reflect the current realities of what those things actually are costing the district to provide those services that kids are receiving
today um it includes uh inflationary adjustments to make sure that we are compensating for those one example of that is Transportation uh we are assuming an 8% increase in the cost of Transportation Service uh because that is what the market is coming in at Transportation
costs are not increasing at 2 and. half% a year they are increasing significantly uh the the last bullet I think is a really important one because $800,000 out of the 6.4 million is just
to push some of the use of circuit breaker the state funding for special ed services onto the town's um onto the town's expenditure line and the reason to do that is to to start to rebuild our reserves within circuit breaker so by
only using 2 million in circuit breaker next year instead of 2.8 we're able to bank 800,000 for Sy y27 and then continue to do that until we get to what would be best practice which is we are not using the current Year's circuit breaker we're using last year's circuit
breaker and we always have a Year's balance within that so that if something were to happen such as special ed Transportation uh spiking over a million dollars this year we have a way to cover that without coming back to the town without needing uh town meeting to
allocate free cash without needing an override to cover it in the following year etc etc quick question yes so you pretty much emptied that account last year am I correct but if my memory is correct that's an account that
was like took year like our St caps like you get and so from what you took out of completely are you trying to get it all back in one year or so how many years do you project to get it back to where it was well the plan right now is to put in
to put back 800,000 in it for next year how much was in it before you went into it last year what was the reserve do you know I believe they took uh a million dollar there was a million dollars in there is my recollection of what was taken out to cover the fy2 24 deficit so
the goal would be to get it to the $2.8 million we know doing that in a single year is too much of a load on the town's budget that's not feasible and so thinking about how we chunk that within a way that gets us there within a
reasonable time frame that's where the $800,000 number came in again a real core of what we're trying to do here with the level service budget is to present to the town a budget that is sustainable we do not want to be in the
position we put ourselves in in FY 24 we do not want to be in the position we've put ourselves in this year where we are have line items that just are not representative of what the actual costs are to serve our students we want to be clear with the town we want to be clear
with you town meeting warrant committee everybody about what it costs to provide the services we are providing today and so uh and how we make that sustainable over multiple years to be responsible with the dollars that are entrusted to the schools so that is why we we believe
strongly there's been conversations between the town and the school department about that particular line item should we reduce that should we eliminate that just to shrink them out because 6.4 is a very large number it's a reasonable ask but we believe strongly
that that would be a diservice to kind of the long-term stability of the town's budget and the school Department's budget M Bradley thank you um I actually think that over the last two years we've dipped into that that sped Reserve more
and I think that more was used at one point I think before you were on the school committee I feel like I remember this happening a few years ago maybe even three or four years ago where they really went in and and sliced that um I
think the 800,000 is um prudent and definitely needed um sped is it's one of those wild cards that you get and you never know what's going to happen so I think think that that's a a really smart thing to do I still I I look at the budget a little bit differently because
there is always an increase right we always get an increase every year so when I'm presented with this budget it's not to me because my mind works crazily it's not a 9.4% increase to me it's like a six and
a half increase right so if you do it that way in my little head um you're down to you know really only needing you're subtracting 2.1 million
so you're down to 71.3 as your total an annual budget because you got you got to factor in that we were already going to give you some money I mean the town gets 3% roughly every year so the
6.4 is being added to the 67 yep yes okay and and that is just to keep the Train on the tracks for right now will it get us through a
year yes but it won't it won't help us in the next year again we would be in the same we have the same difficulties that we have every year with the town where you know costs exceed two and a half percent and
so I think within any override what we would be looking to the select board to do is ensure that is whatever number is necessary on top of what it takes to provide whatever service amount is being decided on that there's a number on top of that
that would help provide for the additional increases within future years again hopefully New Growth any of that stuff helps offset that the free cash you have within this year and that you allocate for future years could offset that but that really becomes somewhat outside of the purview of us in terms of
maintaining that but again what we are trying to do is uh you know create a budget where we are starting to build back our reserves so where when things come over we can deal with that within the school department budget uh ourselves and not yeah not not come back
where we are today we don't want to do this again don't complely agree um I nobody does so you got more slides I'm hoping that's going to tell me how we're going to get to the number that you guys everybody swinging around the room yes okay so I'm hoping that this helps
summarize kind of at each level um so this exhibit shows the increase to level service you can see that first line is our starting point and so our starting point is our current FY 25 budget that's
been appropriated to us um the exhibit is summarized by our major budget drivers that we were discussing previously and those include salary increases you can see that that is truly the largest part of our budget and that
is the largest budget driver um that we're showing for our fiscal year 26 increase you can also see that there is a reference to some of the changes to the revenue offsets that we receive and
that we utilize and that was that change to circuit breaker I just want to provide some clarification to so there are some references um in the information to a revenue offset but then we also um we also reference it as a
reserve account and so I think those two two terms have been uh used interchangeably so I don't want there to be any confusion um but a revenue offset is any of that outside funding that we may receive to help
offset the operating expenses of the school department whether they be grants any of the fees that we receive um through any of our fee-based programs which include transportation and Athletics um we're also showing
increases in our special education costs Transportation costs our facilities costs and then in um referencing some of the inflationary increases that we're seeing we do have to make some
miscellaneous adjustments and so this last line truly speaks to although we're providing in some instances the same service the same textbooks the same curriculum materials those materials
cost more each and every single year and so we need to account for that if we don't account for that and we just assume a flat cost and then the materials do come in at a higher cost
then that means that we can simply afford Less in our budget than next next year and so that's a really important point to just make sure that we are considering when we're um doing our budget
projections so again the largest part of our level service budget for the school department truly is our staff um our staff is they are the ones that are providing this amazing service to all of
the approximately 43 00 students that come into our buildings each and every single day and so this exhibit is just a summary of the overall salary expenses so we typically in the school department and this just speaks more to kind of the
um technical accounting side of creating the budget we just categorize the salary expenses in three major areas so our primary expense is driven by our professional staff that's our teaching
staff that's anyone on staff that has a professional license we also have administrative and clerical um staff that support our schools every day and then support services that could be our custodial staff our technology staff um
and other um staff members you can see the breakdown there so when we're looking at the level service budget and creating the level service budget the salary budget is carefully reviewed annually and it's adjusted to reflect
the current staff at their full-time equivalency or FTE so we if we have staff that is not working the entirety of the school day or maybe they're only working um three out of the five school
days that is reflected in their FTE count our salary expenses reflect the cost of um annual cost of living increases and many of our a large portion of the
salary expenses of the 81% are driven by collective bargaining agreements so there's very little flexibility there's very little discretion in what those percentage increases are once we are in
um an executed collective bargaining agreement which are all coming up which are all coming up yes okay so that's another stepping yeah so I think that also um adds just a a layer of
complexity to um creating fiscal year 26 and then we have just increases that truly are representative of experience and years of service um for the Milton Public Schools our salary expenses also
include cost of stiens so if our teaching staff is staying um kind of providing time outside of the the day whether it's um leading extracurricular activities or coaching one of our teams
they are paid to stip in we also fund um the substitute teachers that come in um and are hired by the district we have longevity payments and other miscellaneous payments so those um the reference to those those are more volatile in nature so we do set a budget
but we we hope to be able to um stay within those expenditures they're harder to predict during the course of the year and the salary budget just as a note does not include the cost of um our employee health insurance that is on the
town side of the budget share cost um facility staff that's under Consolidated facilities our cafeteria staff or our Milton Community School staff those cafeteria and Community Schools are both
uh funded by the self- sustaining revolving accounts just another um snapshot of the breakdown of our salary budget this is just overall a summary to reflect
adjustments to our staffing uh our substitute Staffing budget so the substitute budget has um been carried over at the same levels for a number of years and so as a part of this process
we really tried to take a look at some historical numbers also taking into account that there was an adjustment made to the substitute budget in November of 2023 and then looking at some of the
projected needs and so the main point on this slide I um is that the level service budget and the salary budget is truly reflective of our current Staffing levels so it does not include any new staff it does not include the positions
that you saw on that needs-based budget it truly is reflective of the estimated and projected cost of what our current staff will cost us in the um upcoming fiscal year 26 so just in reference to the budget
offset we spoke a little bit about um circuit breaker so a budget off off Set uh is an outside Revenue Source I had mentioned that earlier and it consists of user uh fee revolving accounts some
of the federal grants that we do receive um on an annual basis the state re reimbursement program and so the that's the program that we refer to um as circuit breaker and other sources and so
we had alluded to it earlier but uh decrease in a budget offset so the decrease of the availability of circuit breaker um as we try to retain some of the reimbursement that is coming to the
district next year to be able to build up that Reserve account it has the same impact on the operating budget as an increase in expenditures so as we try to make that adjustment in fiscal year 26
the result to the budget is an increase is the same as an increase in expense and looking forward to fiscal year SE 27 we won't have that same impact if we build in the same Revenue offset so it
will just be we had $2 million in 26 if we put in $2 million in 27 it will have a flat effect it won't have that incremental um increase as if it was an
expenditure so the good question course good um I have to turn my mic on what are you hearing um on the federal level about some of those cuz it doesn't look good but I'm but I I don't know I'm not on the
federal level so what are you guys hearing I go ahead no like are we are we as as we're doing this how much is are we relying how much of this budget are we relying on reimbursements from the
feds yeah I don't have an exact number off the top of my head but fairly significant with Title One Ida we are getting kind of weekly updates from the superintendent Association who are working with the the federal organization to keep track of
all this we don't have anything actionable in the development of this budget to be able to to to move one way or another um I think if there is any change it would it would not be instantaneous so I we're we're hopeful that we would have time to react to that
okay um as you mentioned it's very fluid and we're we're keeping all ears open and and eyes open and and you're not alone advocating where we can we have to right I mean that's that's should speak to our budget too because it should we should not last year we didn't put
anything in rainy day so this year we need to put something in rainy day CLS down South we couldn't but we couldn't last year because we had no money left to do no because we used everything we had to balance the budget so that's that's why but I'm just saying
with this unknown we might need a little bit more draft budget as we've been working on it includes a half a million contribution into stabilization from free cash for fiscal 26 okay thank you and I think I have to look don't quote me I
thought that sub budget we passed the other day might have had some circuit breaking money in it that's yeah I think that's what refer I mean there were a lot that wasn't the main focus of the the day but I believe that was in there okay so I had the opportunity to attend
um a Business Association meeting today and there were um Financial representatives from the Department of Ed that were able to speak to some of the state funding um they spoke to some of the advocacy that was happening to
hopefully raise the Chapter 70 per people minimum aid from $75 to the $104 that were received last year um which would benefit us as we're as we receive
the minimum Aid increase per student um and then they also talked about circuit breaker that was something that I was hoping to learn more about because that would certainly help us in this this fiscal year um they weren't able to
provide an update on the timing but they certainly we're not alone in the need of that reimbursement um they underestimated what the costs were going to be and communities really had such a
substantial increase in cost last year and so that is just going to be continued work as soon as we have updates that's something where there may be some opportunity for us to be able to have some additional funding to be reimbursed for some of our
transportation costs and we're hopeful that it is approved for fiscal year 25 so that will receive the funding this year um but still more to come on that we should make sure that we tell our parents to contact our legislative
delegation I voted V by the way just so you so they can help with the sped uh monies and trying to re redo that Cal calculation including Chapter 70 cuz that bailed us out last year that was part of that money we got I think the Senate votes next week yeah but but you
can always R the formula Mr chair I just got there I'm only a freshman I voted yes I paid attention go ahead sorry go ahead that's okay and so this is just a summary of when we talk about our Reserve funds or when we talk about our
Revenue offsets this is a summary of the offsets that when we were going through the process of building the budget the assumptions and the calculations that were utilized for this fiscal year and then you can see the calculations and
the offsets that we are projecting that we'll have available to us for next year I just wanted to um also clarify too for those that may not be aware the circuit breaker program we talk a lot about circuit breaker it's a state program
that helps public school districts pay for special education services for students with high costs um circuit breaker covers tuition and instruction services and transportation to out out of District programs and the
reimbursement the target is 75% of costs that exceed threshold so just to provide some additional context to when we say the term circuit breaker which is an extremely high number in cases that most people could
never imagine mhm correct so the level service budget also as we had mention accounts for a number of miscellaneous expenses and we say miscellaneous expenses but they truly are the tools that our educators are using every day
in our classrooms to be able to um interact with our students um miscellaneous expenses are curriculum materials any instructional descriptions consumables that are used
manipulatives any of the reading materials that are used um and these items as we had said previously are all subject to inflation um some mandated expenses we are required to cover we have some
mandates for transportation we have mandates for our Educators for professional development um and they are not funded by any outside sources is um but in some instances we are required to provide
services to our students and so we are required to be able to fund those on an annual basis and again those are not necessarily always mandated um or always funded by the state nor are the mandates
put into place at a time that we're able to make adjustments to the budget and so um that being said we just need to make sure that we're able to fund those great back to me uh impacts of level service what would that mean for
for our students for our staff for our community uh it would protect protect kind of what we are currently doing in terms of the positions that are with hired within our schools and the services uh we would not have to cut we would not have to lay off um uh it would not allow us to expand programming we
would not be able to add any additional transportation service for those families who are looking for that we would not have funding for new Ela curriculum uh we would still have over subscribed classes at the high school etc etc and again you that list of needs at the very beginning uh kind of speaks
to a lot of those um uh costs will be escalating kind of more than 2.5% so we we look to the select board to understand that and as we look for a override number to make sure we are creating a number that builds buffer
within the townwide budget that accommodates for this uh over time again at the school we are doing and will continue to do whatever we can to contain costs uh Katie is doing a great job negotiating contracts going back to
vendors and saying is this really your best your best offer do better um and those are the things that we should be doing and we will continue to be doing uh but this is what a level service budget would get for our Our Town wait please go ahead can you go
back it says it says that it's not sustainable for five years so did we miss that bullet yeah uh so what we mean by that simply is that if there's to be clear if there's 2.5% increases if that's what we expect to receive yep for the due to
prop two and a half the school department budget as you know is not on an annual basis increasing by 2.5% right and to be clear I would be uh probably untruthful to say that next year we expect it to be at 2.5% so what
we think in terms of creating something that is sustainable we need to expect that create some buffer within the budget to say that we are going to take a certain amount of money from whatever override amount call it 1.5 2 million whatever whatever yall are determining I assume the Town Administrator has
numbers in mind to put that aside use that use free cash in whatever ways you have to help sustain this budget sustain the increases that will be above 2 and a half% because they've been above two and a half% for since the last override every year when we receive $4.5 million
of free cash this year which is the largest amount we' ever received I thought we hit the lottery it was gone in five minutes and I just want to ask a question because I want people to understand how serious this is and I know that sometimes times I'll bring humor into a room to try because this is
as you know chair Carol we've had more discussions in the past six weeks than I can remember I want every person in this room that's ever been on we've had I think 13 operational overrides in this town since 1913 or 11 operational not
dead exclusion since 1986 want every person this room that's ever been on an operational override committee to please raise their hand and that's why I worry there's can you just please stand and and one person put your hand up what's your name please
just stand up don't be shy you don't have to come up here just state your name what year we 2018 2017 2017 2017 that's that's the most recent one 2017 that's it 2017 no no that's it
and I I say this to you because we are in uncharted waters and we're going to get to when we get but I I want you to understand and I say it as one who's been on every operational override committee since 1986 that and I look at I know Mr Walk
is in the back and I see Miss the GU sitting here because I'm looking at faces who have been around in these battles these are hot Beyond hard they're the hottest things you'll ever do you talk about words like quality of life and things like that it's extremely
extremely difficult do not underestimate how hard they are thank I wanted everyone understand because even the members here like we have a lot of discussions amongst myself and I often look around them and say how am I the only one here but they're hard go ahead
no I we we fully understand that um and I think that's brings us to kind of option number three less than level service again exactly what that number looks like can can clearly vary and the discretion of this board but the impacts include kind of things that as a school
committee again we do not want to see we cannot advocate for uh in terms of impact on students reduction of supports increases in class size due to um potential cuts to staff elimination of non-mandatory um services such as busing
um reduction in operations cost increased fees these are all things that we will need to look at depending on what number this board sets in order to create the level Service uh anything less than the 6.4 will result in some
combination of these again it depends on exactly what the number is that's 6.4 specifically just for schools no other depart 6.4 is the level service budget for schools that's what we can support yeah that's what we can speak to Mr thanks Mr Wells um so I think this is
maybe another bullet that was on the previous slide that should be on this slide as well I'm guessing that if we do something that is not level so imagine that we have an override campaign to increase everyone's taxes and then the schools get worse and then next year we're going to be in the same boat again
because we are still underfunded would that be the case we would still expect that in Sy going into syy 27 the increase of the school budget would be greater than 2 and a half% in any of these scenarios we would expect that and
so we think the responsible thing for the town is to make sure that we are creating buffer within whatever the override number is to make it sustainable over the period of time so we're not needing to come back for an override in two years three years that
we can push that out for the residents you good I'm good thank you sorry Mr appreciate all the questions um so uh what are the impacts of a less than level service budget um again it is
the benefit is it's fewer Cuts than a no override scenario an override scenario is the the worst possible scenario as you kind of alluded to I think uh chair Wells uh so that that is a positive but they are still cuts and uh those cuts will still be very impactful for the
people who are impacted by them uh in additionally it will cost us more in taxes to get less in services and that seems like a hard sell to our neighbors um that that is what a less than level service budget gets us and that goes for
all of our departments not just the schools these bullets would apply across across the board so we wanted to share a little bit about so I before you go I don't think I'm just GNA survey quicker maybe
save you some time I don't think any AR us are out of no over right point to so I don't well it might be important for folks to understand if because if it was a vote go ahead yes so I wanted to share the the the no override picture and then
share kind of what the impact would be at a less than than level service um override so a no override budget would be 82.8 FTE loss which total $5.4
million just to share with you the the the impact and the kind of the the devastation of what that would mean for us as we looked as a leadership team as we've been doing this work to to determine where would we
cut uh obviously the F the first thing we did was was collectively say yes we have to student facing positions have to remain that that is our priority so that that's kind of how we started this process of looking at what we would
cut when you when you take away this many positions from a school district you're pretty much taking away all of the the supports and Leadership that are around the classroom and you can see here in terms
of of the proposed cuts and what that would include and again this is 5.4 million it's not uh whatever the 2.5 million is you could basically take these numbers and and cut them in half um as a potential U look at what it
would be if you had a less than level service um override um we're looking at losses in Central Central office leadership we're Lo looking at a number of directors and instructional coordinators who work throughout the
district to sustain um many of our services up to 20 FTE and Elementary and secondary Specialists these are all those positions outside of the classroom teachers in general
education up to Ft 8 FTE in student services in HRS which is one of our classifications U business office and Technology um and some of the central office positions up to six FTE 13 classroom teacher positions and
up to 30 educational assistants and I think one of the reasons so many people are are in the audience today is because we all feel and know that this is so so important to to maintain all of
these these services and supports that we've fought for many many years to put in place in our schools without which we don't feel our students are going going to be as successful our our staff who work so so incredibly hard every
day are going to be strained even further without all of the the the positions that and again this has happened year over year that we've put these positions in place this wasn't developed at one time and I know in in in conversations with um our leadership
team a lot of people have talked about the history of adding these positions and what they've meant um some of these positions have been there for in the district for for many many years so it's not they're not all newly added positions I could talk a long time about it but yeah that's that's it yep well we
we do want to wrap up so that we can take it whatever other questions you have and maybe help pressure test the different options that we've presented here um I want to note that the school committee has not yet formally voted on our budget that's scheduled for our next meeting at this time on February 26th
however I feel confident to um provide this closing symbol of the school commit sentiments on this topic um please
don't approve an override number that provides partial funding less than level service I I am speaking as the chair of the school committee representing our conversations up to this point um that is like
a that's a no for us that's a red that's a red light um that would be extremely devastating to the services we're able to provide to our children in this District um not to mention to the
staff that we rely upon to educate them so uh we are hoping to avoid that scenario um a yellow light you know a cautious [Music] um but bringing reservations obviously
as presented in depth today um would be to provide funding for level service um we've explained I think at length you know how and why our level service budget is the way it is um for next year and then finally of course back to not losing sight because we've gone through
a lot at the beginning we we started uh where we hope to end up which is some funding um for for level Service as well as at least some if not all of the needs that we've identified um I ask that in the context
of our goals um and just to remember um these really important points we want to provide our residents with a return on their investment if we're going to ask them to raise their own taxes an override is more likely to be approved if they understand the value
proposition of that request um it's not only about the dollar amount but what value they're receiving for the additional taxes that they'll be paying and I'll say we I mean obviously I'll be one of these people uh raising my own taxes hopefully um we also want to avoid
another operational override for the next five years we've heard that message loud and clear we're on board with that um but only one option actually guarantees that for us um or comes close to that and that would be the level service with needs so with that um we
thank you again for your attention for your time I know this was a lot of time you have a full agenda you have many things to consider um we do appreciate this opportunity so thank you again chair Wells for creating this for us um
and we I can stop sharing the slides or if anyone has slides you'd like us to go back to in the course of the discussion I can keep them up you can we're good on the slides I think I'll go to basic questions questions yeah questions from the board members
I have basic questions so um I just want to be crystal clear here the level services so the yellow caution light is 6.4 million yes that's correct okay thank you and the um level Services plus our
needs is how much be 6.4 million plus uh 1.4 million is the the full list of needs so 7.8 that would be 7.8 would be the full amount for the full list of needs for the
enchiladas okay and that will put us on a path for five years the 7.8 will put us on a path for 5 years where this does not have to be this bad we think yeah what the what the 7.8 would
do would be to invest within our kids with within our staff to provide the additional supports uh instructional materials uh Staffing to to support the learning that that our kids deserve that's what I would do and Nick for our
town for level Services what is the increase that we need because I'm looking at the need list here and that's I just lost it 2 million so the town side on on the town side I'm trying to get a I'm trying to get to numbers um give me one moment sorry it's
about 4.5% um increase 30 sorry I have it hang on of z um give me one moment and I will pull the dollar amount is Amy or Johanna here Amy is what Amy is I don't know if she
knows you need it tonight though you need it tonight I I want to know what our end numbers are going to be for both of these options so I know that the town 1.5 million wait what 1.5 million 1.5 that's for level service and then the need one that you gave us is 2 million
correct that's the though it's every need asked for on yes and one department has a third of that budget which we're not going to get into that part but I'm going to put down that's the full list that's the full list if we were to do this everybody in town would be happy supposedly I won't speak for them
but do 2 million you come up the 2 million yeah I haven't even seen that yes you have oh I did okay all right you're right you're right listen my head is spinning today all right I'm going to do some math I'll be back anyone I have don't have questions for them I have comments for us I do
just want to say we we've talked about within the board that like while again we are here representing the the school department right that is our role as school committee and your role is the rest of the Town departments we fully expect and would would um believe
strongly that if there are needs being given to the schools that those needs also need to be given to the other departments in the town we we believe very strongly there are there are significant needs within other departments that need to be looked at we'd be really excited about the select board sharing more of what these needs
would be because I I don't think think that has been done to this point um because you know we think that we you know this needs to lift all boats right it's not we decide on a number what it is and what the what what you're funding
versus what you're losing because I've heard all different kinds of numbers 11.5 12 all this stuff and it actually the enchiladas all in is 9.8 so that number is really the number that we're looking at and I I would
guess that that would probably be a little bit lower once we get some real numbers from the state because again it's going to have to be those well those aren't in and so it would be it would be silly I mean Ian we're going to have to but I think that those numbers are going to come in higher so that
might be a 300,000 so we're at 9.5 I just want to say I just added up this is how much of a lift this is going to be I added up all the overrides starting in fiscal year 90 to to today the total of them came to
15 million right and we've had 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine overrides in that time so just in perspective the chair is not wrong this is going to be a really big lift that the community is going to have to do
because that's a big number is 9.8 is a big number and 15 million over the course of how how 35 years it's a big difference so there's my numbers for today can I go no you go first no go
I'll go I I I just I I I I do want to make a particular Point here too which is that it Milton doesn't have to be this way we don't have to every five years come back and ask our residents to to to to play this we need more
commercial tax revenue we need to stop fighting the state we need to find other ways to fund our town because the tax burden that our residents bear is unconscionable it's unconscionable as a percentage 94 94 percentage 94% of our
tax income we absolutely must develop more commercial and we must look at federal grants we must look at state grants we have to find other sources of revenue because this pattern will repeat itself until we say no to a an override and the moment that we say no to an
override you can replace the American flag in front of town hall with a surrender flag because that's what we're going to be doing we're going to be giving up on our community we're going to be giving up on our schools on our police on our fires so please ask your representative officials including us to
think about not just putting a Band-Aid or 11 million dollar Band-Aid whatever you want to call that on right now but planning planning for our future we have to have a plan for our future because this is not sustainable overall it's
just not sustainable and unless we change the structure of this town so that we can stop burdening our taxpayers with every dollar that we need to raise this is not going to [Applause]
change so I've I've you've heard that speech I've heard that I think I heard it I think I heard it 1990 but I it's it's it's funny uh someone a veteran of this community who's been deeply involved these for many years said to me today and I've heard it a few times now
in the past few weeks is that as much as we want to change and we've changed like just you and I talk about just the restaurants and meal like we didn't even have such a thing 10 years ago it didn't it didn't even exist and it brings in a significant significant amount of money every year that we never had before but
Milton is a community that is for 300 some odd years the bulk of everything is on the residence it's just how it's been a lot of people take pride a lot of people love it people use terms of qu I don't really think about it that much until I I hear you you said it tonight and I heard it the other day someone say
it look none of us here this isn't easy for any of us it's not um to think that we don't care every day here we try to manage within the budgets that we have I mean I have the benefit at least for me that
I've been both a department head and operational side and now here for eight years [Music] um the amount of money we that we're talking about is it's truly M brownley said it's like unprecedent and you know I said it to you when you first I'm like
I knew like and I watched very closely I've said this publicly brain Tre last year they wanted to go for 16 million was their needs-based budget and they agreed to only pursue eight because they were too fearful about losing because the greatest risk of any
override is to fail and we have never failed on an operational override never and that's why it has to be as much as this room is filled with people tonight who support the schools who support this there are people in homes
here tonight who cannot afford it and you have to remember them as well because the person who's living week to week now a month to out on the fixed income 20 years ago was standing out there holding Year signs the vote for overd to maintain the quality of life
that you and I share today so that's the key thing is what is the number we can get that they that residents can tolerate and that residents and I've said this to you many times that residents will pass you've heard me privately say a number in my
head I I've I've like CU I look at I just know how hard it is which brings me to the last part which because I've never seen this in an override before and I watched last night I think we all did I think we all watched last
night that was very painful to watch it was sad but unlike any other override I've ever seen there's a public trust issue here right now and that's never existed in any override I've ever seen in my life and we can't solve that we can't
cuz it's not on us we can't like I heard you say you you came here and begged last I you did and I wasn't CH I'm not putting it on the chair like you can't do an override in for 30 days to go we've been talking about this operational override since we're lined up outside here I mean we've said it
over and over again we at least for me you know I am committed to this I think we all are the question is what can the voters T and how much can we afford without dramatically impacting the quality of life that people enjoy and that's really hard very one second
really hard so and I hate to say this but as I watched last night I was like wow I'd never seen anything like that and I think that this isn't a time for anybody to high five or
cheer or look around or smile or think you know like where this is serious business this is a time where you have to roll up your sleeves and you have to get your neighbors on board whether they have a kid in the fifth grade preschool
are there the people who come in this building fill this building you we are guest in tonight every every single day because that's the only way I've never heard a union leader speak against an override ever until last night that's
significant you need you said it Mr Brown you need police you need fire you need the DPW we are a town we're not one this is where we live all of us regardless of your background you anything this is where you choose to
call home and for me I know I'm some you can think I'm because I've seen so many bad things in my life so I choose to use humor when sometimes the tension and when I see this room full as it is tonight I know that you're not here to have a birthday cake or we're not going to let set off candles tonight you're
here because you care about your community whether it's about NBTA the schools public safety whatever it is that brought you in this room tonight is because you care about your community don't lose sight in that and for us as the leaders of the community
we have to remain committed to you but it's more than just sending us an email and say give us this override this will be Fring I'm using a fragant word I could use a lot stronger word as as Carol's heard me use this is hard so let's not lose sight of that thank you
Mr Goan um you said exactly what I want to say um it's not this room that we need to sell it's it's people not in this room that we need to sell and I I also want to say that you know I'm sure
the staff is on pins and needles and we need to work this out quickly and and I I also want to say that that I support an override too what it is we have to figure out that I want people to know that I want everybody to know that we will figure we have to figure this out I
I was encouraged at yesterday's meeting in fact because I I heard people finally being honest about what's going on and I think we should use this as an opportunity to move together in this issue move forward this is a perfect opportunity for us to do that and we got
to restore confidence this you know we we got to restore confidence thank you go Miss musle thank you um I had tuned in to the meeting yesterday I didn't know about it ahead of time um I did have a few people reach out afterwards and wondered why it was at 5: and could
they could it have been a little bit later because a lot of people work till 5 um so that was you know some comment about that the the theme that came through I think that is people do care about the schools um as I do my kids both went to
the schools and and I love the women who came up here with their kids from Tucker that's where my kids went to school so I have a special affinity for Tucker I did a lot over there um when my kids were there so I I think that we all care about the schools we all understand that
an override is needed I think there's also accountability that needs to happen um clearly you heard it from people that were there about trust you know trust you have to build trust and when trust has been broken it takes time to rebuild
trust and confidence um and you know people want to support something and they want to support the school but they want transparency as well and that came through very clearly um in terms of budgets and things like that people want
to see what's in the budgets what's on each line what was added when it was added um and I wanted to ask in terms of when you came in in I think it was June or July when there was a deficit from that time forward what were some of the
I know that Katie had talked about some of the things now that were being done for the the um shortfall but I'm just wondering at that point in time what things were implemented from then you know going forward when you knew there was an issue then so that we hopefully
wouldn't be in these situations you know what what policies and procedures were there things done at that point I know there are things being done now and I appreciate that so I'm just trying to get a sense um I don't know if you can answer that sure
yeah so yeah when that happened um Katie had actually already taken over the position and uh our former U assistant superintendent was finishing up closing the book so we actually did from from
July we started to Institute new policies and procedures and one of one of that was really kind of Shifting our budget practice in total um we knew after wiping out our reserves that this year was going to be challenging and we
had some structural deficits so we uh you know kind of began by reigning in kind of process and procedure talking about protocols U being sure that we weren't spending money we didn't have um
making sure that we were as as POS came in as new positions were needed especially at Aid is needed here or there that we were creating kind of chains of approval so that we weren't adding onto the budget and then finding out later which is what had happened
previously um so so essentially we we have and and I kind of tried to share this last night I think we're on firm ground now we we did in our first quarter report to the school committee still hadn't didn't have a projected deficit we as I said we were concerned
about it so we were kind of watching and talking a lot about it and predicted that we may have one when we got to um second quarter U as U Katie mentioned we did share that we we were at looking at a
projected deficit and we've been working on that as we as we go through the year to to close out the year and and Shrink that as we shareed tonight Mr I just wanted to follow up on that M Bradley and M they came I I do
remember because at that time I was the chair of the finance committee they came and at that point I think you guys thought it was a $4.5 million deficit so I'm happy to see that we're down to 650 um way to go that's a feat um that you
should be take a little bit of pride in um but I do know that you guys have had come to us back in I think it was August I want to say and actually s it was the former assistant superintendent um and actually said to us that you were
looking at that deficit so that is something that had been brought to the select board and I just didn't want to lose that thread um because it has been talked about um publicly so thank you Mr Z this just a a quick comment um or I
guess it's a question and and I don't expect you to the answer if you do i' would be pleased um when I ran for select board two years ago uh we were spending less than $2,000 less than the state average per pupil um which I think is shameful um and I it's just been
pointed out I think the last couple of weeks or months somebody's told me that we're now closer to $3,000 uh less than the state average per pupil so we've we're actually spending even less money now on our kids than we were spending two years ago so I want to say first and foremost the fact
that we have a functional school system is an immense credit to the teachers and Educators that they do so much so much for our kids and I know I obviously have kids in the school system I'm rep this this went to some of your
budget I think so or at least helped the athletics department out um you know our parents are always chipping in you know when we go to see a play we throw some money in the in in the till when we go to you know the go to the football game we buy our tickets it's um everyone is
really put putting you know pulling their best I'm I would be curious to know if we got the if we were able to successfully pass an override that included the needs plus the level Services I'm I'm sure that we'd still still be under the state average but I'd
be curious to know where we would be on a per pupil basis compared to the state and if if you have that number now I would be super impressed if you don't I would love to to learn about it in the future uh our per pupil average is um I think around 18,000 uh per student the
state average is um 21 20 yeah 2700 um and so 27 that's where we are we're in the 30th two 20,700 um so um yeah we're in the 30th percentile that that's as of 2023 just
to be clear it's a lagging indicator the state puts together so it's kind of about two years behind in terms of fiscal years so that's the most recent data and it's released in January of every year um you know 10 years ago we were in the 45th percentile so it has gone
down and we don't know um well we don't know for the it it's hard to say because it's not just depending upon our own spending it's depend on everybody else and again it's a two-year lag uh so it it's a little bit difficult to say I think as we approach a uh campaign start
just a quick FP followup it that information like that I think would be very helpful as we talk about and override and what the consequences are thank you Mr com you're welcome com thank you Mr chair um I just want to say that once again we get inundated every
once in a while for certain topics um we have been inundated with emails again my phone and I know Mr chair's phone was blowing up all weekend um and um still is I and I just wanted to say you know uh piggybacking off of what I said about
how this was going to be a hard push and how it really is going to come back down to the community if we're going to push for this 9.8 one of the beacons of hope that I saw was that in a 24-hour period one letter was able to get 500 signatures and
[Applause] so so I think that that is something that I'm going to rely on when I go to make my final vote and my decisions because we can't do it alone they can't do it
alone it's going to take all of us in this boat together and that was really something that helped lift me up this weekend so I just want to thank whoever was organizing that um it did make a difference and I did read every name so thank
[Applause] you go ahead um final comment final final comment what show was that what show was that um who who millionaire so speaking of that letter I had the opportunity to read that as well um and
I would like to just ask you to consider something that that letter raised um Beverly Ross Denny raised it in the public comment as well as you think about the number and you weigh the pros and cons of the different options before you and even the different sort of
levels within the options before you um please think Beyond just one one round number um that you believe may be the sort of magic number that we can win with I think it's really going to be
important for you in addition to consider the differentials between um you know the tradeoffs of what someone is going to pay for what they're going to receive and I know that that letter did a pretty um thorough job
of providing detailed breakdowns of you know what different scenarios are going to cost the average homeowner taxpayer um but what they would be receiving in return for that and I just really caution all of us
um in moving forward to consider the challenge of um cutting services while raising our taxes I think even if that might feel more attractive for the number being
lower overall I don't think that's going to necessarily be more attractive for voters going into The Ballot Box um making that choice and so um we we we are available you know um for whatever information you may find yourselves
needing if you're not voting tonight before you do take your vote um I I want to just end on something you mentioned chair Wells which is I I think a strong theme that did emerge from the discussion last night um you know which
was a challeng challenging discussion I think an important discussion to have and I I know that we all appreciated the opportunity to hear from our neighbors their concerns their questions and their support which was also voiced um we do need to work together as a town we need
to work together across departments we need to work together uh within departments um and that is something that we are actively working to do every day um and you know we need to work together with you um because we are the leaders
elected by the residents of Milton to do right by them and um you know I I appreciate your taking this time to kind of hear from our from our perspective uh what really matters most when we think
about our schools um and if you have other information that you find yourselves needing we're available um and I'd like to really thank before we wrap you know all of my colleagues on the school committee as you all know
this is not easy okay uh we are here we are volunteering our time because we care I know that's the same for all of you um really appreciate the dedication of my colleagues who have so much
Integrity in this work that we do and really would like to thank Dr burrow assistant superintendent Blake and assistant superintendent Watts um who are also doing great work leading all of our amazing staff um and keep up the
great work we're doing our best even though we could definitely use some more support um so thank you I would like to make one final point before you all go because it could be easy to be lost and this you know it's a comment was
made tonight earlier about that Dr pav was my friend and that he supported me well I never met I met Dr pav many years ago I didn't know him he wasn't my friend I met him when he was on the war committee and uh I was a deputy chief then he was he might have been share he
was pretty tough he was very tough on us he was very tough on all the Departments um Mr gas was sitting back there smart because she knows I'm referring to and then he came to the school committee and I think when he first ran he lost and then he won he won the second time it's easy to you know forget things the
history that gets you to where you're at and I just want to say that I judge people on what I see they contribute in life and what they contribute to a community what they contribute to an organization there are things in those schools today
programs buses Fields educational stuff computer computers nobody fought hard with us to put the Chromebooks from as Mr Walker can recall the former
School Comm on the back to include those Chromebooks into an operational budget than he did for the students of this town so I know some remarks have been made about him tonight don't doubt for one second in your lives that Glen pav
was not a warrior for the students of this town because he was he's right up there with Charlie Winchester and so many others that fought so hard for your children for so many years that'd be my final comment thank you all for tonight well said thank [Applause]
you um so we're going to go on Executive session what about we're going to recess we're going to take which do we have to no we don't have to no we don't even have do we have to cover yeah so we're going to um we're going with J to go to Executive session
for a quick 10 minutes on item I got to take a vote first to do you have to make a motion I have to make some get I have to make the motion so thank you all for your time those of you that are leaving those you are staying so I'm going to make a motion uh pursuant to master Law chapter
30 section 21A to enter an executive session discussion strategy with respect to litigation attorney general versus the town of Milton at all Supreme of cour of suffa County um the board will return to open session following that I second second by
I made the most of M M Bradley Miss must yes M Bradley yes go yes M yes myself yes we're an executive session thanks welcome back um so we are
at item number seven discussion approval Town M actions plan per emergency regulations related to the master Law chapter 48 Section 3 MBT commities act so
um am I have you what am I I'm you could throw it to Nick yeah so I'm going to do that right now so you want me to just out I'm not sure where we I think we're just going to meet on Friday all right so we're not any discussion we will not be taking a vote
tonight and we will meet on Friday morning to finalize what we're going to do I I will give you one update um first off I want to thank the members because and I want to thank all
of you because this has been in town Council and Mr Mar because this has been a very tough thing and I also want to thank Senator Driscoll who today arranged with me a uh personal meeting with housing secretary Augustus and we spent an hour together and it was I'd say productive but it had some
light to it and I'm appreciative to him for what the time he spent with us to hear us today on this this is c a tough issue it's probably the toughest issue this town's ever faced um I don't know if we we going to vote it's just my head's spinning right now
so can you just update me what we're doing here um I understood no action this we reconvene on Friday morning we are not going to take any action tonight we are going to convene on Friday morning where we will then take a
decision and we will take an action um it'll be on Zoom so there won't be any public comment we know we are all out on this I will say that um just briefly um was secretary Augustus today and I know I'm in a unique role and he
was aware of that that I sit in two roles now here and as well in is in the legislature and I know I'm brand new there but Senator Drisco really he's worked on this for a long time there is you know there are a lot of complex issues um earliest said I I had thought
of going one way but personally thinking another way now and I will say this um and I said this to him today to the secretary this is not an anti-h housing thing I'm not anyone who knows me and people who know the role I play particularly the keeper
um this is important to all of us but it's a fness thing and um one of the things that Senator drco and I did talk to today about with him at late is um I kind of said it this way I think in 15 years that trolley won't even be
there and so if that's the case then why are we not focusing on commu so to the members of the planning board that are here the one thing I would ask you to focus on is to be to Begin work to focus on looking at this community as a adjacent commu as a am I right Nick am I
using the term right I've had so many terms in my head today I don't want to missp speak um and I I said this the chair Hall earlier today when I called there is to begin to look at our community as a um adjacent Community to the three Community I know of at least
two I heard today in meetings there were three I don't know where the third one is but I know what two of them are um and while there's nothing official that was a discussion that we started to have today and um I hope and they offered today that
perhaps to have the planning staff some of the planning personel Mr Milano come in to hlc and meet with their staff the staff that handles owning the things of that I do think that he was really unaware of what a communa what a point I think they've been focusing on what was our rapid and was still considered a
rapid that that didn't go away although um we did talk at length to both to them today about this so it's not my expertise and as those you who know I don't like being ahead of my skis I don't like that this is more your thing and their thing and I know we don't have
a town planner right now but um I would like to see us get to the point where we have before town meeting a is it 960 and what is it CH is it whatever the N9 10% 10% is in past because I do believe for
all of us including all of you on both sides of this issue who worked so hard either ways that had that been the case in the beginning none of you would be sitting here we wouldn't be having this discussion today so I know I'm only one person and I really again I thank my colleagues because we just had a pretty everyone cares about
this um and um again I thank Senator Driscoll so we won't be voting tonight but we will be taking a position on this Friday morning Mr chair yes ma'am um the meeting that you mentioned with hlc um I would like to just say for the record
that that should only be Town staff or elected officials that attend that okay oh yeah that's all he so I'm and I I don't even need to be there I need to be there I got like I went today that was good um um so I'm F yeah and that's what they they want to see the you know
planning staff is he he mentioned Mr Milano I think that's because you and he have already met on this I don't think any of us would have any intention to be that this is really for you guys the case that you would make and and I'd be remiss to not recognize attorney Dy who's here tonight Who's put it in Yan's
hours on this Serv was all time you know very so that's it that's it for tonight we still have a couple things no no not for us for them for them go home so all right here to watch the whole thing all right so yes uh so item number nine
discussion approval board committee appointments you don't mind thank you all on item 8 the public comment letter so this comment letter is due the 21st select board we now have a meeting between now and the 21st but I don't think we'll I don't know if we want to
talk about that Friday um I've drafted a lengthy comment um some edits were suggested those are circulated so if you have any other comments questions concerns about that comment letter we can incorporate some changes and feedback over the next couple days as we try to get a new version out to members
from there that's the longer letter that's the it's like five pag draft comment letter thank you the dates would have kill us if they both had the same date on them like February 21st well yeah that's my datings oh sorry yeah so the longer one it's like five pages um
back this says comments okay okay okay just want me to keep going okay very well then um all right so we're going to are we going to I'll make a motion to appoint Josh Thompson to the airplane noise advisory Council
or airplan noise advisory committee for a term to expire on June 30th 2026 do have a second I'll second okay um I'll just do a we do a roll call no okay all in favor hi I okay uh next um we're
skipping 11 I think right right uh item 11 we have oh oh sorry pilot program so someone make a motion for that that we accept the $110,000 we to accept the pilot payment from Curry College in the amount of
$100,000 the letter says 110,000 sry it's 110 yeah is that an increase or from was they've been at that level for years we should probably talk to them about increasing some pilot considering the conversation we had tonight be chair of the pilot
committee are a second on that second sorry okay all those in favor yes yes I okay where we okay item with the Town Administrator report yeah y oh my God Mr Milano thank you uh Mr chair I don't um
have too much tonight just wanted to thank um DPW staff for the kind of regular call outs they've been getting um and luckily for them I guess is that they've been a lot of Saturday Sunday storms so um overtime time and a half
and double time um but it's been a lot of work uh busy season um these recurring a couple inches of snow every couple of days uh storms we could do without but um that's the wi to Lu been delt so thanks for them for their hard work and um ongoing efforts um DPW Park
staff contribute as well um it's a lot of work every storm and then secondly I just wanted to acknowledge all the work from Milton police um Coastal ambulance Milton Fire and responding to the shooting on Bellar Road um that was you know it's these domestic violence
incidents you never want to see in a town uh it's just a striking reminder that how prevalent that is as an issue um in every Community really but um this is an individual who was um shot multiple times um quick work by
everybody involved not only to get her to Boston Medical Center into treatment um but also to track down uh the As salant and um and arrest them so appreciate the work of Milton police Coastal ambulance Milton Fire on that one and hopefully we can go at least a
year without another incident like it in Milton and we've been lucky that they are few and far between but they do happen age that's all I have than you this evening I've talked enough today can I I want to give a sh thank you I just want to give a shout out to Marina
who just started her job at the DPW and she's already killing it um I can't believe how much my road was plowed and the sidewalks were plowed um they just kept zoing up and down so um I just want to give a shout out to her um as I always like to do with the ladies and
just say thank you she's rocking it and I'm really happy she's there if I there was also a fantastic Lunar New Year celebration uh on Friday um at the at Pierce Middle School um I know B was one of the uh primary organizers it was a
really lovely event there was a huge huge turnout actually um and so I think um if you missed it this year come next year we red couldn't go we had a whole um contingent show up at the buck this our office in the state
house so and ran the same thing huge one ran off normous like that's good anybody else I have I do have a item for public comment response oh yeah I forgot I forgot sorry no no that's okay um I just wanted to correct a couple of things that were said about the NBTA
communities act and public uh response um Miss Swenson alleged that it would cost tens of millions of dollars to the town to implement a plan of course we know that that's not true we had a economic study that showed that the plan that was uh turned down uh last year
year was going to increase our tax revenue by about a million dollar a year um also um another uh I think Mr Kelly said that the vote was to reject the law uh and that is also incorrect it was a vote on a specific zoning plan it was not a vote to reject the law there are
many people who voted no who believe in housing who wanted Milton to comply they just didn't like the particular plan that's it okay we good everybody you motion jour oh sorry no jeez Logistics uh Friday
morning time future meeting how about 11 future meeting and we need to talk about those because I another to follow on by the way so Friday is the 14th Valentine's Day and did you see that did I send you that request who did I send the request from Chris hot did you say that are we meeting on March 4th that is
not one of our meeting dates if the board is open to shifting around our meeting um I I can't do the fourth Chris har is asked to come in and be the regular day for us no the 11th would our be our normal one all right so can come
no he's he's limited he it'll be Pat Latimore if it's not Chris I don't have to be here you guys can do it another time I also won't be here no he won't be here either so he did he just asked me today that we meet on the fourth I said I'll get back that's why I sent I I was didn't even look at the calendar I just
knew that cuz he had asked me but he's told me he's teaching oh that's night class yeah he's teaching a night class spring break that week that's what it is then okay so love words he did he did email with that so um I'll email him back tomorrow and
ask him like listen I know he wants to get this done but he did say to me Pat would come in so we'll get Pat scheduled for March to come in all right um we're going to keep our regular meeting dates in March yes yeah 11th okay 11 we
special we have the town meeting 2th 25th 2th 25th Oh's birthday so Friday morning 11:00 a.m. this Friday yes uh no what's up with Friday Friday 11 how about 11:30 can 11:30 can anyone do
11:30 is that 2 late I can do 11 uh I can do 11:30 okay 11:30 works is that all right is it okay earlier is always earlier would be better but if you guys I got go I'm going to funeral forg don't forget it's Valentine's Day oh that's right that's
for night I'll make it work 11:30 elain you're a soldier over there Warrior um and then just to be we do need to talk about the budget again um so our meeting schedule is tricky CU we're slated for the week of town meeting for the 24th
25th 26th so if the board is open to it we could add a meeting next week I know it's school vacation week we have two issues that are time sensitive the budget at some point but we do need to talk about the East Milton Fire Station and we need to make a take a vote on
that before the end of the month that could conceivably be the night of the 24th if we started early okay um so we don't necessarily need to meet next week but it just means we start the menu you want to start we start at like 6 maybe or we do that30 so I was going to try to go to
class my class is out at 7:20 and then come back and make it for town meeting on Monday but if you want me to take an absence I will for the town no that's fine you that's a town meeting night yeah the 24th yeah we're going to meet before Tom meeting but yeah I just wouldn't be here that's how is there so
what is it we need to vote well East Milton Fire Station but also we need to talk about the budget so if it makes more sense to meet next week on Tuesday night to take up number when does he need the I I've asked you this every time haven't I it was supposed to be today I thought and he
is it's the the the difficulty is and and look I hear the I hear the like I don't even know how to walk you know I don't even know how to may I can do the other thing too is
I'm worried and you've heard me say this to to chair Carol like they don't have a committee yet they need a I know but we're not about we're talking about scheduling I thought you were just talking about wanted the number you will get into the that's the number SCH the
timeline question so on the 18th we if the board wanted to meet we could talk about the budget not is Weighing on me tonight it's Weighing on me huh select board doesn't necessarily need to make a decision again but at least if there's you know more dialogue that needs to happen that could happen on the 18th we could take up East Milton Fire Station
and not have too much on the plate the week of town meeting since those long those will be long nights anyway F I could do the 18th okay I could do the yeah is that okay do that okay instead of the 24th we yeah we can
have a shorter me okay I'm and I'll just I'm just going to come at 7:45 okay that's fine that's like what it just it's a boring class I wish I could miss it but no don't worry about that might watch it 10m it's actually about the APA your professor could be watching
right now okay all right so plan on the 18th um that agenda will need to be posted on Thursday because of the holiday so we'll get that um out um it'll be I think pretty limited maybe the town meeting articles budget and East Milton Fire Station cool okay okay motion we and MBT
community's public comment actually so that works motion adour motion to adour Second all those in favor I I thank you all so much thank you everyone at home too for your patience and time tonight [Music]
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