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I All right. Thank you everyone. I would like to call to order tonight's meeting of the Milton Select Board here Tuesday, August 4th, 2026, 7 p.m. in the Dumprey conference room at our fire headquarters. I invite you all to stand

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with me for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the stand indivisible with liberty and justice for all comments. Right. We will now open the floor for

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public comment. Public comment will have a total of 21 allotted minutes. Each speaker will have three minutes and I will keep the time here. I will invite Miss Deborah Felton to join us. >> Thank you. Good evening. Deborah Felton,

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uh precinct two town meeting member um Willoughby Road. Um, I'm here to speak about short-term rentals and the need to get this regulation or bylaw on the books now um and not have it pushed down

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the road. Uh, I've been concerned that short-term rentals have a negative impact on our housing stock. Just in a twob block area in my neighborhood, there are two two families and they're all short-term rentals. That's four

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units that housing that people could be living in. Um I did a lot of research. I gave it over to the planning board. Um the town's attorney, Carolyn Murray, she drafted a clear bylaw and I think it is

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ready to go now. Um res um regulating short-terms rentals is something that residents are asking you to do and asking the town. I really don't want to see this pushed down the road. The building inspector has the tools to

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inspect short-term rentals and he can pull in the health department on a case-byase basis and that's what many towns do. Um I know that when I first started researching this, I reached out to some of the neighbors in East Milton,

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spoke to John Cohane, um gave me permission to use his name at the planning board. He was very happy that something was going to be done about regulating short-term rentals. So, I asked you to move this along and not

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wait until the spring. Thank you. >> Right. Could you see your hand raised online? Mr. Corey, can you hear us? Can you hear us? >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay, great. Thank you very much. Uh, dear select board chair and members,

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good evening. I reside at 1452 Canton Avenue and I appreciate the opportunity to speak during public comment. I'd like to request that the select board notify the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Massdot, about our

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concerns regarding the Randolph Avenue road diet and its impact on Stanton Avenue. As you may recall, Masdot testified on March 20 on excuse me, May 26th, which is 10 weeks ago, that the road diet had adverse effects on Canton

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Avenue, leading to increased traffic volumes. In fact, some of the vehicles on Canton Avenue are traveling at speeds exceeding 60 miles an hour and some are approaching 80 miles an hour. I understand that the town administrator has been working closely with Mascot to

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address these issues. However, I believe it would be beneficial for the select board to invite Mascot to attend the next select board meeting. This would allow us as residents to receive an update on the progress of the situation and gain insights into their proposed

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solutions. In collaboration with my neighbors, I have compiled a report outlining feasible solutions to address the traffic and speeding concerns on Upper Canton Avenue. We believe that working together, we can implement badly needed traffic calming measures to

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enhance the safety of our neighborhood. I await your discussion on this matter during the public comment response and I appreciate your attention to this significant issue. Thank you. >> Thank you. Seeing no one in person and no hands

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raised online, I will now close public comment. We will respond later in our agenda. With that closed, we'll move to item four, discussion, update, approval of the proposed local historic district for Milton Village. Um, an article 4 town

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meeting. Um, the historic district did speak about this last meeting. Um, I invited Mr. JD Wild and a couple other developers in town to join us to hear from some of our business community about the article. And so, Mr. Wild, you

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can join us here. Gentlemen, if you want to join as well, you just see if you'd like. >> I made a few notes. Uh, so if you don't mind, I'm going to read from a few of my notes just so I make sure I cover all my bases here. Um, good evening members of the board. My name is uh JD Wild and I

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uh own property in Milton Village. I'm also a local business owner. I own and operate Muscle and Flow, which is a business down the village. I'm also a resident of Milton Hill. I live right up the street. So, um, the local historic district bylaw disproportionately in a lot of ways affects me. Um, which is part of the reason why I've been very

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vocal in, um, encouraging more community engagement. Um, I care about this neighborhood's character as much as anyone in this room. I have such a direct long-term stake in what happens there that, um, I think it's important that we have an honest conversation about the implications of um, putting

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together a local historic district. um with me tonight. I have two additional property owners behind me, Kyle Hares and Bob Falcone. Um on the call, I did reach out to a handful of the other property owners that I talked to. I do not know if they are on the Zoom call because it is August. They were unable to attend. Uh but I do have two property

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owners on High Street, an additional property owner at 5064 Adam Street, and then uh I have several business owners that have expressed concerns as well and said they'd be happy to provide letters uh expressing their concerns uh if that's so choosed by the board. Um, I also want to acknowledge before I raise

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any concerns, I've had the chance to look at the updated draft in tonight's packet. Uh, and I do appreciate the town council has cleaned up a number of issues from an earlier version that I had seen. Um, my concern tonight isn't with historic preservation as a value. It's about whether this specific bylaw in its current form is ready to go

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before town meeting and whether it reflects genuine broad-based consensus among the people that will govern. Uh what I'm going to do first if you don't mind is I'd like to present my kind of high level macro concerns and then I will jump into some of the specific bylaw provisions that I have concerns about. Um number one is that the process

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has not matched the scale of the ask. So a local historic district as many of you know is not a minor overlay. It requires a majority voting town meeting and the attorney general approval. It's one of the highest procedural bars bars in Massachusetts municipal law reserved specifically for changes that lasting legal and binding effects on private

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property rights. um community discussion and outreach to gauge resident and property owner interest is laid out in the state guidelines as the first step in a properly sequenced process before study committee is even appointed. One of the questions I have is that did that outreach occur or at a minimum did that

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reach the 30 affected property owners uh prior to establishing the local historic district in Milton Village or has that engagement mainly been concentrated among a subset of residents who are interested in adding the local historic district. A proposal this consequential deserves a level of demonstrated buyin

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proportional to its twothirds thresh threshold not just committee consensus. Uh number two, and this is a a macro concept, I think going across the town. I think uh this local historic proposes a divisiveness risk. Um historic districts regulate private property in

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ways that ordinary zoning does not. They require prior government approval. In this form, it's called certificate before an owner can alter their property. When that level of control is imposed on 30 specific properties by a town meeting vote, it invites a lasting sense of done to us, not with us, among

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the very owners most affected. This dynamic tends to persist well past the vote surfacing in every future certificate application, every future commission election, every future dispute over what appropriate means. I think it's fair for this board to ask whether the current process has done enough to convert affected owners into

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stakeholders rather than subjects. A district that a majority of its own property owners feel was imposed on them starts its life with a legitimacy deficit that no amount of design guidance can fix later. Number three is that it's a deterrent to investment in revitalization. Uh Milton Village is

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explicitly described elsewhere in town planning materials as an area targeted for mixed use revitalization. Layering a second potentially conflicting regulatory regime on top of that, one that requires commission review before any building permit touching exterior features can issue creates real uncertainty for owners considering

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investment. Just for context, as I'm sure most of you aware, no building permit for construction or exterior alteration and no demolition permit may be issued anywhere in the district until a certificate has been granted. This is a categorical precondition on private capital improvement, not a narrow

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historic preservation carveout, even under the bylaw's own deadlines. That's a potential 60 plus day gate before a building permit can even be sought. real friction for small commercial and mixed use projects in the area town that separately targeted for revitalization through the Milton Village PUD zoning

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district. The memo's own practical considerations uh issued by the state section flag the town's excuse me the memo's own practical considerations section uh flags the town's existing Milton's PUD zoning as design guidelines that need to be considered and reviewed for

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consistency within the proposed LHD guidelines. As far as I'm concerned, that review has not happened yet. I still see the comments um in the existing bylaw and asking town meeting to vote before that conflict is resolved. Uh risk creating two regulatory regimes actively working against each other in the same uh 30

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partial footprint. Uh number four is a lack of demonstrated community support. Uh the study committee was appointed I believe in 2021. Um don't quote me on that. It is issued its recommendation I believe in 2023 based on my research. A multi-year process driven by a committee

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culminating in a report. Um, nothing in the memo describes a resident or pro property owner referendum survey or vote specific to the affected partials. Um, I have had uh conversations uh with members of the committee before about a survey that went out. I as a property owner did not get that survey. So

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although one may have gone out, I don't think it was ever actually sent to the specific property owners. Uh it's fair and reasonable to ask what is the actual documented level of support among the affected owners as opposed to the level of support among the study committee and the preservation community generally.

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uh these are not the same constituency and the two-thirds town meeting threshold exists precisely because binding property rights um changes should not rest on the enthusi enthusiasm of the subset. Um and then there's still some open legal questions um that I'm I'm not

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entirely clear on in the existing bylaw. Um one of which the new draft showed a quorum um and versus a a threshold mismatch. So, the revised draft that I read uh prior to coming in here that I think was part of the select boards package um sets a quorum as a simple

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majority of those appointed which I believe would be um commission members potentially as few as three while a certificate approval clause still contains an unresolved marginal vote. Um and it's unclear if there's a scenario where a two to one vote would deny a

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project. Um there was also um some language in there in a prior version uh that was regarding the setbacks and I saw that u that was removed. As far as I'm aware, I think that's really important. Um I don't think it's appropriate to have um

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nonzoning departments weighing in on zoning matters. So I'm happy to see uh that removed. Um you know, I'm just going to fly through some of my micro concerns. um you know, one is um the scope of permit trigger is unchanged and

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it's essentially a blanket. Um every building and demolition permit that touches an exterior feature is gated by a certificate regardless of scale. Um the concern there is that it's hard to as a property owner to invest in property when you do not know if the

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fruits of your effort in collecting budget, scopes, hiring an architect is going to get approved. And unfortunately, the way these work out is you actually can't get before the local historic district until you've spent money. And this group of uh future um appointed individuals on this board, we

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don't know who they are. We don't know what their design guidelines are. Um it very likely could be a board that technically overrides the planning board and the zoning board. Um, so I would ask that if if this doesn't go before a vote

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and uh the committee is willing to go back to the table and engage the business community, we have a conversation about routine uh like forlike replacements and if those should qualify as non-applicable. Um maybe try to make some of these smaller improvements that we can encourage uh property owners down there to invest in

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their properties uh and fasttrack those versus some of the larger projects that might require a little bit more diligence. Um, I saw that signage was removed. Um, I'm happy to see that was removed. Uh, to make this board aware, there's a new sign bylaw in town. Um, we recently went through it with the approval of, uh, 2

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Pence Market down at 2L Street. And, um, it does create a much longer process for business owners. Um, many signs in town are pre-existing non-conforming. Um, so by changing the business, changing the shape, you essentially trigger a non-conforming

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sign that requires zoning board relief, which I'm sure All you can imagine when you go to open a business, um, waiting four to six months to have a ZBA uh, approval and a building permit from the building department to hang a sign is a huge deterrent, especially for some of these smaller spaces that we have in the village that require pretty light

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turnover. Um, and then, uh, you know, I think probably before I jump into my closing statement and happy to answer any questions, um, I think we should really have a conversation about is this the right fit for the village because I don't see a scenario where we can have the design guidelines in place before we

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vote as a town on this. And one of the concerns is um we would have to adopt the commission's authority before its guidelines even exist, which means that owners are being asked to accept binding review under

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criteria to be determined later by a body not yet seated. Um, you know, I'm sure all of you uh who have residential properties in this town would probably feel uncomfortable with an a group of individuals that you do not know who they're going to be and design guidelines that you do not know what

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they are getting to show up and tell you what to do with your own property when you want to replace the roof, uh, replace the shutters, replace your deck. Um, so I I hope that same courtesy gets extended to us just because we're business owners and property owners. I don't think we should be treated any differently. Uh lastly, I want to recognize that this

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draft is meaningfully improved from the version I've reviewed previously. Um and I by no means am I asking the board to dismiss the study committee's work. Um myself and uh Larry have spent a lot of time going back and forth and I know that they are volunteer positions and they're doing this from good faith their heart. I'm just asking that before this

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goes to a town meeting for a vote. The board require a few things. One is a finalized internally consistent bylaw with no placeholder language or contradictory provisions so town meeting can vote on um something that they can look at in advance and not show up day of. Two is documented outreach and a

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clearer read on support specifically among the effective property owners not just the preservation community. And three uh resolution of the acknowledged conflict with the Milton Village existing zoning uh design guidelines before not after adoption. Um, that's

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not opposition, that's preservation and it's due diligence on a proposal that will bind roughly 30 of my neighbors in my own properties for the long term. Thank you. >> Thank you. A lot of information. I will leave it. I'll open it up to the board for any questions or comments.

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>> Can you copy your testimony? >> Yeah, sure. >> Yeah, sure. I can leave this here. >> I think it's Thank you for coming. I think it's really helpful to understand

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from the business owner perspective where things potentially are in conflict, right? I think our goal is to make sure that there is a a robust process that is able to streamline things for business owners,

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right? we are we want [snorts] we want business owners to be successful in Milton and we don't want to have a lot of barriers I think in the in the way um while you know maintaining you know the character of the community so thank you

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for sharing >> and if you don't mind um I I've recently helped open two pens market uh that's an example of the work that I'd like to see furthered in the village um I think we can achieve that outcome with collaboration. I don't think it needs to be a divisive, overregulated,

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uh, boardheavy approach. Um, you know, I often stick my neck out there and come to these public meetings, present all the information myself. Um, my cell phone is always on, the building department, town administrator, anybody can call me at any given time. Um, I look forward to collaborating with the boards in this town and producing a village that families and kids can ride

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their bikes to and are more foot uh, foot traffic friendly and lot less of a pass through um, where it's hard to cross the street because the cars fly. the best. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Mr. Wild, I want to thank you for what you doing down there and a couple

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great properties. You're probably the majority of owner of the most down there, right? Right now. >> Yes, sir. Yep. >> So, I appreciate you coming in and explaining a lot of this for us. And uh sometimes too much government's not good.

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>> And uh I'm very appreciative of what you've done down there. and I hopefully I'll try to help you out, make it a lot easier moving forward. I'd like to see the rest of your properties develop like that. Mark,

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>> I agree. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> One of the difficult things is that even if you know, we don't know what the design guidelines are yet. We don't know who the individuals are who are going to sit on the on the um the future board. One of the problems is is that even if we get the most businessfriendly, forward-thinking individuals on that

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board, we're still out of the gate adding 60 days to a permit timeline. Practically speaking, this is kind of how it looks. If you wanted to a project like Two Pence Market, you would actually start I know there's been some confusion about where this would come into the process and the timeline. um

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you would never go to the local historic district at the end of the project because the way it's read now is that they have unilateral binding authority to deny a building permit or not issue a certificate which would deny. So there's a hypothetical scenario where you could go present to the planning board have spent, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, a ton of time, get an

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approval, go to the local historic district, and for whatever reason somebody doesn't like your project, get everybody to decide no on it, and then all of a sudden your project is stuck and it can't move forward. So now we've got an elected group of individuals at the planning board whose authority should be over um should be heavily

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weighted than an unelected appointed group of individuals, but it's not. This is unilateral authority. So the zoning board could say yes, the planning board could say yes, and then you would show up to the local historic district. So the way you would practically handle that in real life is you would actually go to the local historic district on the front end because we never put all that

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capital and all that time at risk to then have no leverage in that final conversation when you're talking about design and stuff that if there is a substantive change that comes from those local historic conversations, you're going to have to go back to the planning board. You're going to have to go back to the zoning board and modify your application, your plans to adjust for

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the things that have been asked. So it becomes a parallel approval process. That's generally how it works is you try to get in front of all the boards informally early on, get that feedback loop, but you know, it's just one more barrier to entry. It's uh certainly an additional cost. It's adding a ton of time for small businesses to open um

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that want to do a a paint or window replacement. Um so, you know, even if it turns out in the best possible way, it's still going to make it harder to open a business and be a property owner down in the village. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. I have a hand raised online. Uh Charles Hajar, I think he's one of

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the business owners as well over there. >> Mr. Har, can you hear us? >> Yes. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. I'd like to start by Well, good evening everyone. I'd like to start by saying I agree with everything that JD

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has said. It's going to be another barrier, another board of really well-meaning u people but uninformed. And it's going to run up cost, professional cost. It's so expensive to make anything work these

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days. A lot of projects are not getting done because the cost of construction is so high. And this will only make it higher. So you'd have less things getting done, less things renovated, um, less beautiful markets like JD just built as a result. So I want to go on

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the record of being completely against it. I know when we I'd like to ask JD, how long did it take you to get your permits to to to build the two pence market? >> Yeah, it uh we were we did not have a commissioner at the time. So, we had an acting commissioner that was in. So,

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there was a substantive delay associated with that. Uh but it took about a a little over a year uh for an adaptive reuse of an existing building between planning approval, building approval. Both of those processes independently were probably six to eight months, but because there was a lapse there without an acting commissioner, um it slowed

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down the process a little bit. So that again, that's without this involved. It's already for an adaptive relatively straightforward use project like that. It's already >> this will only take this will only make it longer. Absolutely. Fortunately, you were able to carry the building and pay your taxes and your mortgage and everything else. A lot of people can't

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do that. I know we did the facade over. I have the building across the street from the two pence market where Citizens Bank is and my offices moved there. It took us so many meetings, so much time, and I didn't get any more rent from Citizens as a result of doing [clears throat] they have a very long-term lease. I did

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it out of pride. I wanted to make the area look look nice. If there was a historic district in another layer and more expense, I would have said, you know, the heck with it. Why go through all that and pull my hair out? So, I am completely against this. I think it's really bad for that part of the town and

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the opposite will will will happen. There'll be less development as opposed to more. Thank you. Thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> If I could just add to a good example is um one of the buildings that I own is um it's a two-story building. It's it's 73

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to 79 Adam Street. Um it's got eight office spaces on it, but I redid I did a copper standing seam roof. So, um, because there was no local or historic district that could go down to the building department with a light set of plans just to replace a front roof section. It was old cedar shakes, uh, I

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don't know if any of you remember, they were very beat up, very distressed. Uh, very easy permit for the building department to issue because it's a simple um, front roof replacement. Um, you know, I I don't think I would have pursued that project if I had to go before a board, put together a a set of

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plans. The project was already expensive. It's a very small roof section. If I had to add additional cost and additional time on top of that, I would have just said, you know what, I'll just let that continue until I absolutely have to replace it. Those are the types of improvements that aren't going to happen. And if you look at the village right now, um, a lot of it is

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asphalt shingles and vinyl siding and vinyl windows. Like, a lot of the character of some of these older buildings has already been kind of stripped out. And I would love to see um all of that come back to a a wood clapboard, a slate roof, uh, copper flashing. The problem is is I don't

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think that the smaller properties are in a financial position to commit to that. And I don't think they're going to pursue any sort of improvement because they're going to be terrified that if they touch their siding, someone's going to tell them that they have to replace it with something more significant. And if and if the response is that no, that's not what they're going to do, then I have to ask the question, well,

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why are we doing this then? Right? If if you're going to allow them to put vinyl siding back on it, then why are we going through this exercise? Why are we adding this layer of regulation? It's one or the other. We either make a commitment to make all of the village come up to historic design standards or we don't. And I think if you pick that side, uh,

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more property owners are going to show up because they're going to realize that they can't afford to keep their property if this gets imposed. So, I think it's it's it's concerning and I think there needs to be more public outreach and more community engagement. >> Um, thanks for the information. I I feel

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like in sort of the an underlying tension between the issue here um you behind the bylaws on the one hand um you know an in interest in preserving sort

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of a uniquely historic part of town particularly you know significant alterations or worse. um on the other hands allowing the right amount of you

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know growth in that area and um if not for this bylaw um what what's to sort of protect on the front end of the issue I mean from your perspective having gone through that process I'm partly asking so that

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someone you know not familiar with the existing process to understands like what's involved like it are are from your perspective, is there adequate sort of protection against those concerns in place now? >> Um, so when it comes to minor repairs,

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no. Um, I think as it's written right now, anybody can replace the siding on their house in Milton Village with whatever they'd like. And I think that shows um unfortunately the opposite is also true that if you were to impose a a harsh standard on individuals who've owned property for a

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long time where they have to do cedar clap boards and aluminum clad windows you are now essentially you're it's essentially a government taking where you're putting overly cost burden on them where they're not in a finan they cannot afford to repair the property. So, it's forcing a sale in a lot of

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ways. Um, with taxes going up, I just I I think it's it's it's a delicate issue and I think it needs to be more thoroughly discussed. Um, on larger scale projects, um, we just uh modified the site plan review process as part of this town, which is a much higher

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barrier to entry for applicants. So, uh, historically it was kind of gray on what exactly was needed in your application to get in the door for a site plan review, which is the, uh, planning board's process for determining kind of larger scale projects. Um, and with the new site plan review by law, it's it's

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much more spelled out exactly what that is. So, with that comes pros and cons. The pro is is that the applicant has a much better understanding of what's ahead of them and what the board's going to expect, and the board can presumably be more efficient in their processes and review. Uh the downside to that is it's it's uh you can't get in the door

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without spending six figures. I mean it's a massive lift on the front end to show up with an completed application. Um so you know we certainly have that uh you know we do have a demolition delay for anything historic in this town. I know it's only about two years and candidly if this local historic district

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only was trying to deter demolition because that two years is inadequate. I wouldn't even be here right now. I I have no intention of tearing anything down um that's historic and if I if I ever did I would be engaging the community just as I always have and I'd be uh engaging in that discussion. Um

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but this isn't just demolition. This is any building permit. Um so you know I think if you look at the village over the past 70 years it's it's pretty much all stayed in the same hands of the same individuals. It's finally trading hands and fortunately um I would argue that

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they're um in hands that care about this town. Um, you know, I live right up the street. I'm a property owner down in the area. I'm also sitting on the building committee for the Warf Park. Um, trying to help fund raise for that. I coach youth football, heavily engaged in the community. Um, I care deeply about this

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town. I care about my brand and my reputation. Um, so for all intents and purposes, I would say that the three most historically four, excuse me, the four most historically significant buildings are one, Elliott Street, which I currently own, are two Elliott Street, which was just converted to Two Pence

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Market. Third uh I would argue is the Masonic building which is where the post office and the hardware store is. I own that building as well. And then the fourth I would probably say is the uh Joseph Feno House which is the um the brick front to the left of the citizens ATM which I also own. So all four of

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those buildings are in my hands and all of those have been improved. Uh Joseph Feno House I redid the entire brick facade on the front of the building. Redid all the shutters, repainted the whole building. Uh two Ellie Street was just converted to Pence Market. uh one IT street was stabilized into an adaptive reuse, brought in new tenants,

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new offices. Um I've done a pretty significant property cleanup over there. Um so I think a lot of our concerns um are addressed by having ownership who wants to collaborate and come to these meetings and present and have honest conversations about what we want as a community, not just as an applicant. Um

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and then lastly, it was it was all kind of taken out of the MBTA zoning, so that doesn't really apply. The only buildings and um I Nick could probably correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the only buildings down in the village that are part of this that did get included in the MBTA zoning are 1L8 Street uh the

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extra space storage in 88 Warf. Is that correct? >> Yeah. So, most of the buildings that would be of concern that are maybe smaller and probably could be torn down aren't going to get the benefit and then they're going to go through the overlay uh and the design guidelines that come with that. So there already are

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established design guidelines that were over multiple years vetted. So I know it was a long-winded answer. Hopefully that's helpful. >> Thanks. >> Yep. >> So I'm a little bit confused because when we had um we when the proponents of

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the historic district bylaw presented um I was on the understanding based on the testimony that this would apply only to demolition. Um, and it seems as though perhaps it it

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doesn't would and I understand that there's probably more work to be done like back and forth um to get more uh business buy into this before it goes forward. Um,

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but say if this were just to apply to um demolition Would it be fair to say that it would be better for a business owner to encounter

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um restrictions on demolition earlier in the permitting process, you know, before as you mentioned zoning and planning for approval than at like the very end? >> Yes. If this would only apply to demolition, and I can't speak for any of

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the individuals on the call or anyone sitting behind me, but I certainly would be substantively less concerned and probably would have no real resistance to this. Practically speaking, the way if you were going to try to um do a substantive project that involved demolition, the way you'd handle that is you would start with this local historic

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district on the front end, provide a a notice of a project intent where you essentially explore it, figure out the feasibility before you start spending the money to pursue the >> you might not even buy the property. >> Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Um you know, and that's I mean, candidly, that's I would

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ask you guys to think about your own residential properties. This is going to affect our property values, right? The marketability of our property gets decreased substantially because majority of individuals that buy commercial real estate do not want overregulation over commercial real estate. It creates

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unpredictability. It creates friction. So overnight we're losing value in our properties. And in my particular situation, again, I can't speak for individual. I've invested millions of dollars down in Milton Village. I've paid millions of dollars in taxes cumulatively across all the properties. Um, and to have that value taken away is

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is is frustrating. Does it add value to your business by having historic district guidelines in the area? >> There there's so my understanding is that there's well so on the business um I am a real estate broker but on the on the sales side app there is no value

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improvement because of it. Um most people uh shy away from properties that are regulated because it does affect your ability as a homeowner to do a lot of improvements. So, it's on the regulation aspect of this, not in the relative um aesthetic quality of the

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buildings in your immediate vicinity. >> I'm not sure fully. Do you mind? So, so you're saying that the the regulation drives down the value of the property, like the the regulation in in the area

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is what drives it down, but the the um aesthetic standards in the immediate vicinity of your property don't have a bearing on your property's value. >> [clears throat] >> Uh so if all of the buildings came up in

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aesthetic, the village would be worth more uh economically from a um a valuation standpoint. >> Yeah. >> Uh the issue with that analysis is that overregulation often leads to unintended consequences. Um like rent control is a good example of that. on its face a

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relatively facially neutral and productive policy. But the actual implications are that landlords just choose not to improve their property and keep rents lower because it doesn't make financial sense to invest in it. >> So I think what you'll see is a village that historically has had legacy ownership that hasn't invested in their

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properties. Anybody uh that is considering doing an improvement, depending on the financial position, will probably pass on it because they will not be in a financial position to make the improvement. >> And that's what I was saying about it. it it you know if the answer to that is no, we're not trying to make it more

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expensive. Well, then it's what are we doing here? If we're going to allow people to put vinyl siding back on their houses. >> Yeah. >> Right. And that that's the hard part. Um if everything came up, would I be happy with it? Of course I would. Do I think that that's even remotely practical or realistic? No. I think that would be

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financial suicide for many of the property owners down there uh to be forced to spend that level of money on their property if they're not in a financial position that can sell. Okay. Um, not many questions for me. That was very thorough. Thank you, Mr. Wild. Uh,

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quick question. Um, is there anything in this article that's written that you found to be additive to the district uh as a resident and or business? >> Uh, anything that would add value? You saying? Um, >> I mean, I don't think it's unreasonable

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to want more control over demolition. Um, I think one Elliott Street and the Masonic Building are probably the two nicest buildings in the town of Milton. It would be an absolute shame if they ever disappeared. Um, I and I can see how there's a concern about the

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demolition delay only giving for two years maximum. Um, I just don't think that that's reality in today's economic times. I don't think anybody would ever purchase any of those buildings and then tear them down. The math would never make sense. you have pre-existing beautiful brick buildings that you're

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paying for on the front end. Uh it is so expensive to build those buildings now. Uh they're all small sites. It's not like you could squeeze in a ton of construction there. So, um you know, I can see the argument for uh a demolition restriction capability in the village. I

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think that's a fair request. Um, I don't I personally don't see um making it harder for businesses, make it harder for I think we should be rolling out the red carpet for property owners in those doors to improve their properties and spend money to replace the roof, replace

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the window. I think we should be doing whatever we can to make it easier and fasttrack the permitting for them. Um so yeah >> okay um thank you also thank you for and congratulations on opening of two pence and your work in the town not only

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business owner but again as a resident and parent in the town. Um, I think it was really important for you all to join us just so we have a complete view or more complete view of the article particularly with zoning and anything related to properties and building. Uh,

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we need to have an understanding of all of the impacts whether intended or not. Um, because these things do get very comp complicated and complex and the fallout uh is uh can be dire. I think all of us that would like something

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newer in Milton, whether it's aesthetic or for quality of life, it's really important that we understand what we're putting on the books for business owners as well as what can be created for our residents. So, thank you for your time, Mr. Wild. Um, I do see uh a couple folks

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in the back. Um, but no other questions from the board. I think we have the >> Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. >> Thank you. Much appreciated. >> I'll I have my notes on this. Do you want me to just email a clean copy? Yeah, if you email it the 42 board will have >> Thank you very much. I appreciate your time. >> Thank you.

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>> Can we can I >> Yeah. So, Mr. Lawer, uh I am going to give you some time to uh sort of >> I can do this in three >> share but I will say that the intention is not for it to be kind of a point counterpoint. Now, I just wanted to uh

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let JD know and and the board know um factually when something becomes an historic district, values do go up. They absolutely go up. In this case, uh the other issue is um that the definition of

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historical um is only can end up being just one building in that area. It's not all of the buildings. All of the buildings will not fall under this. And um my

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understanding uh from being working on this for four years is it's going to work at the same time as everything else. I agree with JD. He should go first to the the historical committee that there there won't be a slowdown.

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There is uh I mean two pence is another gentrification. It's an awesome and and that bank that bank building I mean that's that's a beautiful renovation. Um it never it it never would have been not

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permitted. Um so the other thing that uh happened over those four years is we did a series of polls um in on Milton uh uh website. We had um well in four years we

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probably had 40 meetings all of them public. We had called for public three public meetings when we only needed to have one. That's all in the past between now and town meeting. We are going to ramp that up. We're going to speak to

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every individual business owner and uh uh property owner and we're going to provide them information how this enhances the area, not uh uh detriment to any of the building. Um Milton has

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been building uh and changing for years. We want to keep a flavor of that. We do not want to slow down growth at all. And this particular bylaw was written with that in mind. Um what happened before

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with other towns is not necessarily what's in our bylaw. And uh I think that's a difference and uh I'm looking forward to um reaching out to the public with more information including JD. I think JD has done an absolutely

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wonderful job with everything that he's done. Uh, and he is a um he is an asset, a huge asset to the style. >> Thank you. [laughter] >> Answer the question. Um, [clears throat]

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uh, uh, first on the polls that you said were on the website, do you have any any um gross numbers of how many respondents you had to the poll to the polls? >> I'm I'm having a hard time hearing you. >> Do you have any number of respondents you had to the polls, the ones that

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you've put up? um they happened at the very beginning four years ago I don't remember that but um we can get that information >> um and we asked very generalized qu questions would it be a good idea would wouldn't be a good idea um and there

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were three of those polls um and they were up on the website for a good long while secondly you said uh you spoke about buildings being designated as historic is that the intention of this body to designate certain buildings as historic.

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>> No. Could I just Sorry, just tweet. >> Oh, sure. >> If I could just add in. So, this is it is a historic [clears throat] district. So, we have the historical commission has said anything that's 75 years or older would come under review um if they

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were being demolished in the town. Um but there are and there's a large list of inventoried items. There are newer buildings and buildings that have been altered significantly in this area. The reason why it is it is a district and every building actually would fall

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under this, the historic buildings and the notistoric buildings because and a lot of those I I think would be welcome to be torn down and rebuilt. But you want the new the new buildings, the renovations to work in context and to be

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sensitive to the historic buildings. So if you have these beautiful J and again compliments to JD if every developer was like JD I I just you know that would be amazing but we we can't guarantee that every developer is going to be JD. So

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this just gives some when a new building is built what they're going to do is in context with the rest of the neighborhood. And so that's why there is a mapped area. Um, and this is really a a location that already we're seeing the

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potential. The name of JD's company is elevated. He has elevated this area already. It is such a significant and it's so exciting to see what the potential is down here, but we're still we're very vulnerable to to demolition. Um, you know, again, JD's not going to

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tear down the buildings. um he owns most of the you know historically significant buildings but there's a lot that can still happen down there that we just want to make sure that somebody doesn't come in and say wow I thought this really you know

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wildl looking building with a nail salon it would be perfect here we don't know that so this just this just allows oversight yes we do have the planning board does have um guidelines in there but as we talked about it's they're just

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not enforceable. So, this is a layer that just would make sure that those standards and the standards really that JD has set the bar high for anyone who does work down [snorts] there. Um, also, um, you know, I think this is, um, it's an opportunity, but I think just

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tonight's conversation and hearing JD and I hear everything he's saying as a business owner, a developer, I'm um, I'm in real estate myself. I'm very sensitive to market conditions and in his experience in development. I think this is more of a reason and I

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do think um I actually talked to someone um Nick Armada who is the I just want to have his title here um this past week. He's the senior preservation planner um in the office of historic preservation

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for the state. um he actually just moved but he was a resident of Lower Mills living on the Doorchester side and he said I can't think of a better local historic district but he said he said the one thing that he really recommends is really getting community input on

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this and doing community outreach and I think this is part of and I'm I think we both feel this way really doing some community outreach on this and having Chris Skellyy if we could I would be willing to put this, you know, to hold

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off. I I know this this >> we disagree on this. >> This board has worked so hard. They're ready to go to town meeting, but I think until the fact that JD wasn't part of that conversation, we want we want to have this >> Wait a minute. JD was part of the conversation. JD has always been included.

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>> Always been included. Yes. Oh, yes. So, so >> but I I think what I think what my point is having someone like JD speak is wonderful and be involved but we also need someone who can show the cons of this because I think that's what you all

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are all weighing is do what are the cons and the pros you know how do they balance out and somebody who could come to who has statewide experience with how this works in different towns communities can come address your board the warrant committee

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the planning board, the historical commission and sort of usher this to town meeting and then and have a presentation um which Chris Kelly is um does for other towns, other communities, present this and then town meeting decides because obviously um there are

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there's different it's a balance, you know, and and the pros and the cons. And I think if we could see both sides or at least have that opportunity and have more maybe a more robust outreach because I know Larry has done a lot of outreach. >> We are going to do more outreach. We

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talked about that in our meeting last night. >> So is the timeline you know um and I would you know look to the select board on that but um the bylaw is pretty much ready. It's pretty much boilerplate for what the state offers. Um, but I think

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having a consultant on board to to really be able to talk about this from, you know, this is we're volunteers, but somebody who does this professionally who can really talk to um how the effects of this and and what the pros are um versus the cons, you know, what

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are the um what is the balance? How do you see the balance? >> In a lot of the conversation tonight, I've heard demolition said often. Um I don't think we've had any demolitions in Milton Village area. >> Um not in the Milton Village area.

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>> Um we've had we've Yeah. [clears throat] So if that is one of the main uh causes or purposes of the historic um village, could we not make this more narrow to limit demolitions instead of

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an all-encompassing uh historic village and an unelected board that would sort of move on the whims of the body at the time without set historic guidelines before [clears throat] >> developers? Absolutely.

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>> I think that would be a question that >> yeah, >> we certainly could could look into. Um again, it leaves [clears throat] um and I'll just you know, you can look at what's happening in East Milton right now. >> There's inconsistency and and I think that's where having a cohesive

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look to a historic district is part of the goals because we want this to be experiential. So when you go, you know, down to Charles Street and, you know, if you go to Newbury Street, you're looking, there's an aesthetic that's a cohesive aesthetic. So you can take out

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the demolition, but I think it's to our advantage to have some sort of and again oversight um not, you know, over scrutinizing of property and again you this board would actually elect the the

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commission. So you would have control over who the appointees are. There would be one appointee for one year, two appointees for two years, two and two appointees for three years. You all control that. So if you're seeing an issue, it's under your control to not

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reappoint that commissioner. Um and so that piece you do have you do have um a say in who that commissioner would be. Um, but I, you know, I think we could definitely talk about the demolition because I know the historical commission that's been the biggest issue is that we

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don't have a tool to prevent demolition. And again, some of those buildings I would be fine with having them or, you know, they we would love to see them demolished and and something nicer put in there. Um, but it would be, you know, nice to have things that work in

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relationship to one another to have a cohesive look because I think this is this is going to be a destination for people to come, you know, for econ and the economic development that will come out of this actually the um the opportunity for tourism. I I mean I

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think that's something that Milton and the select board for financial reasons Milton really is could be a destination for historic um tours the museums that we have here some of the assets that we have um really sort of capitalizing on

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that um on the historic areas that we have and I think this area is really one that would draw from outside of town as we all know we go to Newbury Port, we go to you know we go to these different areas that they're like, "Wow, isn't this great? Don't we wish Milton was

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like this, that we had more gathering places." And I think Milton Village has the potential to be that. Um, and already again with what JD is doing, activating the waterfront, you know, having, you know, view sheds where you can sit outside over gas fire pits

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overlooking the water. This we want to draw people in, but we we know JD, we don't know who else could come. So it's this is more of not for you know current owners who are really vested who care who are in the town but that doesn't

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always happen and some people really don't care. It's more of a financial decision that they're making in their development projects and this just gives some parameters. >> The demolition issue would not get to the historical committee. It would be it would be worked in before that. Um,

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we're looking at physical aspects of it, not demolition, but how does it look and how does it match and we are not going to dictate what other buildings are. That's not our job. We won't do that. That's the planning commission and

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that's the zoning board. uh we're just there to protect the historical nature of what Milton is for 300 plus years and for another 200 or three. Um that's that's the objective and demolition is

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[clears throat] not part of our bylaw. Well, I I was gonna ask something similar to try to explore whether there's like an opp whether it'll be there's opportunity or appetite to

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take the next few months to see if there's room for further discussion around a compromise that could significantly raise the threshold of what would need to go to this this

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historic commission. And and I don't I I don't think there's appetite for that. I I just think these are two just fundamentally different views that we need to decide whether to go to town meeting on or not. Um I I

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don't see I mean it seems like you know Larry you and JD have worked in good faith to try to kind of bring it closer together and at this point you know I'm not sure I'm not hearing an appetite to get to the questions of

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making this like you know demolition only or like major changes only like I I think it's an interest in kind of trying to regulate sort of the aesthetics right am Okay. Yep. >> And the aesthetic really comes down to

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individual buildings that would be determined to be the best example of that type of architecture. All of the buildings in everything in that historic district is the historic district. The reason why Milton Village

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was chosen were two two reasons. One, it's part of the planning uh uh group had decided that and and two, it's the only area that wasn't designated either state or federal and in any protection

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and we have a uh many federal and many more state um uh places that are historic. We Milton Village was not protected in that way. Um, I guess one comment and then a

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suggestion. One, I just sort of want to commend the dialogue. I mean, I think we're talking about pretty different perspectives on how to handle the issue and I think everyone's really, you know, spoken about each other and each other's

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positions with high level respect. I think that's a very good thing. Um, you know, I think it's my perspective that we should just decide whether to send this to town meeting. Um I I I just

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think that it's been at it for a couple years now. I'm not sure what the benefit is to um you know further defer that decision. um you know

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>> well I also I think that I am concerned if there's if two sides are this separate at this point when it gets to town meeting

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it may not be uh a productive conversation right [clears throat] we you may end up having to rework it. Um, it may fail because >> where we where the two sides come

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together, both sides want the best Milton. >> That's that's where we come together. It's how we do that. And and in JD's uh understanding, and I totally agree, anything that slows down that process is

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a problem to a builder, is problem to a developer, and we would rather not do that. How does that impact the 60-day add-on that was surfaced? >> How does that >> You said you would not like to delay a developer, but I believe Mr. Wild spoke

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about this commission. >> I think there's two things. Yes. One is uh where they go to the where and when they go to the historical district. And I agree completely with JD. Find find that out before you spend

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any money. Um because that's going to determine some things. Um but um >> where would you see historic district being in the process? So, at what point do you think that developers and builders should go to the

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historic district? Should they be first or is as it is right now last on the checklist? >> Um, yet to be determined. You know, I I think they should go first. A a builder or developer can go anywhere at any time they want to. Uh, they determine where

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they want and there are some certain things the planning board and all that they have uh spend a lot of money to to make that presentation. uh they're going to do that anyway, so they might as well take that presentation to the historic permit

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commission and let them approve uh so they don't have to worry about >> Thank you. Um thank you both. Interesting time. >> Thank you for coming and sharing. Uh Nick, do you need a motion about adding this to the warrant tonight? Does this

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need to go to warrant committee? >> Yes. So, uh, for the special town meeting for October 19th, um, [clears throat] that warrant needs to be complete and printed by the second week of September. So, we are up against the deadline here. The more committees aware that this may arrive to them. It has

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been submitted by the local historic committee to study committee to be included on the warrant. Um, so the action of the board as to whether to include it or not. Um, generally the board has been different to committees, but it the warrant is under the hands

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are included. >> And with some of the language that was surfaced tonight that may need to be massaged, I didn't have a chance to look at this newly updated version. Um, if we vote to send it tonight, can the language still be changed and added?

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>> Yes, we address the quorum issue. So, if there are five members of the commission, quorum is three and a simple majority, which is three votes, would be required to include. Um, so it's it's always the of whoever is present in that meeting as a vote. So that has been

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cleaned up and that's that brings it in accordance with a special act that governs forums. So it's in inconsistent with it's consistent with all the other rules about forms about. So uh before we vote um

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I will say I'm hesitant to not include this in the warrant because of how much time has already been spent on this article. I think we're going on at least four years of work. Um I share member Heaggert's uh concern with if it does

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not pass was it worth bringing it to the town but that is the process right um if it does not pass the vote if the town says no then it is the will of the residents I would not say that we should

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not include it work has been done language can still be changed and massaged or um updated um they can we will have our opportunity to weigh in before town meeting on our opinion. We still have time there. The Warren Committee will have their time to

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weigh in as well and so will the town meeting members, but I would not want to prevent the rest of the town from seeing and having their say. So before we take a motion, if anyone wants to comment on that for

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>> So I think if the proponents are willing to try to work to um enhance this that would that would be better. I I am concerned. I sometimes feel like things get to the floor of

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town meeting that are not in a state of readiness and I don't I don't think that's always good for the body. I I agree with Megan. I think that even amongst the committee members

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differing opinions, right? And I think we've heard varying different opinions from um folks this evening. And so I think it's hard when a small body, right,

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it's not clear what this all means. And I I think that the committee has asked for help, you know, making this very clear. I think we're a long way from this being clear for town meeting. Um,

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and that's where I think there would be agree with the two ladies. Okay. Um, I will take a motion for us to vote if this will be included. >> Move to include in the special town

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meeting warrant the article to establish a motion, excuse me, to establish a Milton Village local district. >> Motion made a second. >> Second. Seconded. Uh,

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>> no. >> Yes. >> No. >> No. >> And I will abstain. Motion does not carry. >> Mr. Dailyy. Yes, sir. >> I'm going to go home and get on the computer. All right. I'm not feeling too good.

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>> Okay. All right. Right on. Feel better. >> Thank you. >> All right. With that we will move to item five discussion and approval recommendation of our audit committee for audit firm for fiscal years 27 28

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and 29. >> I will uh defer to Amy Dexter town finance director and town. >> Can you have Amy's memo as well as the proposal from Cus? >> Okay. Pardon? Let's give it a second

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more clear so we can hear you. >> Text John. >> Yeah, he'll be >> okay. >> Floor is yours. >> Okay. So, I'm here um to represent the audit committee. Um the chair is traveling overseas so she asked me to um

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present the recommendation but um the audit committee chose to or decided it would be a best practice to go out and issue an RFP for audit services for fiscal years 27, 28 and 29. Um and we

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did that and we received three um responses to that RFP. The firms being um Hey, Sahadi and Company CPAs, Cabbiz CPAs PC and Clifton Larson LLP. Um, CBIZ

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is the current audit firm that performs the town's audit and um, the committee had a robust discussion about the three firms um, as to um the size of the firm, the

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experience of the staff, um, the number of municipal clients if they had any experience auditing and performing test work on retirement systems. And um the references we did um with the help of assistant town

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administrator um Cody um he helped us send out like a Google form to get references on um the the three firms and the audit committee um voted to recommend to this body to

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appoint CBIZ PC as the town's audit firm for fiscal 27 28 and 29. questions. >> Um, can you speak to the um the in so this is the same birth that

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we've used in the past. Can you speak to the proposal in terms of the um the amount of money uh the increase in potential cost or decrease in cost um and also the relative value of the prior

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contract to this like are we getting more of our money less for our money same amount of services for our money. >> Okay. So of the three um proposals we re we received HEG Sahadi um came in total cumulative for the three years at

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232,500. CBiz came in at $250,500 and Clipton Larson Allen came in at $36,000. Um after the lengthy discussion the

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audit committee um was unanimous in its belief that Clifton Larson was cost prohibited. Um so then it came down to the two firms. Um, Heg Zahadi is um,

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they have 17 staff people in their firm of which there's one audit partner and 10 of those staff people have municipal experience in the state of Massachusetts. So, the general consensus there was that the firm was too small

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and that um, we would be better served with CBiz. They're medium-sized. Um they have gone through a transition over the last couple years where they used to be Powers and Sullivan. They were purchased

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by Markham um LLC and most recently by CBiz. Um there is news out there that there's a potential buyout from Grant Thornton of CBiz. Um but it's the belief is that it you know

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the hope is that it will um improve service if anything. Our experience with SA it was a little rocky through those transitions but um overall they you know they work well with the town staff very professional

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knowledgeable um and supportive on a daily basis. if I have to call them with a question. Um they're available, they're responsive and their their level of service has been, you know, very good over the last several years. Um between

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the three of them, you know, the RFP was pretty specific. Um, one of the main points that the audit committee was concerned about was meeting deadlines and um, so they were all agreed to the timeline where it was requested I

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believe to have drafts by the end of Jan December January I think Janu January because the deadline for the filing with the federal clearing house is March 31st. So we just wanted to make sure that we had enough time to meet that

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deadline. So they all seem to meet that. I think all three firms are great but they you know different reason why the audit committee chose to move forward with COS. >> And just to clarify the does the committee felt that the acquisition by

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grant force would be um potentially good in terms of added capacities. So it that was not that information came to light last week. >> Okay. >> And the committee did not meet to discuss that. >> Okay. >> But I am I sent out an email informing

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each of them asked them to respond to me and to me only if they felt the decision should be reconsidered. >> And there was no no strong response that that should happen and that we should move forward

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as originally planned. I mean I would assume that they're going to provide additional capacities to the >> I think the importance with the size of the firm was if you have a firm as small as um the one with only 17 people you

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don't have an opportunity to change up audit staff and it's just there was concerns there. They didn't um in the information they provided it didn't seem like they had a lot of experience with their timer systems as

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well. They had a lot of um they had some more city experience like I believe city of Attalboroough was one of their um Massachusetts clients. They're more focused. They're located in Fall River but they're they seem to have more of

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their clients in Rhode Island. Um and they have a lot of school districts. Um what uh protections does the potential contractor as the past contract included

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for the town? If um say if the relationship changes through this acquisition, you know, Grant can Grant Wharton changed the terms for the level of service

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on the contract. Um and what are the what are the towns um means of recourse in a given year? Um the performance isn't up to snuff. Like are we I know it's a three-year

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contract. Do we have any do we have any ability to end terminate the contract if the if after a year the first year of the contract not working well in CP vendor?

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It it's my understanding that um you know we'll have a if we have a signed contract that it will be honored. >> Um and I believe and Nick maybe you can help me out [clears throat] here. I believe there is a section that in the RFP that if the performance wasn't met

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as um outlined in the RFP that we could terminate. Okay. Is that your understanding? >> So the yes the town can terminate that. its convenience with notice the contractor can in >> they can assign it with the town's approval.

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>> In this case, we likely would be contracting depending on the timeline most likely with CBS. So they might be assigning that contract then to Grant Thornton, but that is allowed and the town may terminate but not the >> Okay,

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that's it for my questions on [laughter] >> any other questions or thoughts. Trying not to kill >> Winston. Winston. No, >> I I read the materials. I think they have extensive um municipal town experience and move to approve the

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recommendation of the audit committee for an audit firm for fiscal years 2027, 2028, and 2029. >> All right. Motion made. >> Second. >> Motion made. Seconded. Mr. Oak. >> Yes. >> Snowman. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> And myself? Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

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>> Okay. We'll move to item six, discussion of approval of our water and sewer rates for fiscal year 2027. >> Uh thank you. Um we are joined tonight remotely [clears throat] by DPW director Tom McCarthy who will be

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joining us momentarily. Uh we also have with us um Todd Bro and Scott Salvi from Wooden Karin who assisted with um our rape report that I provided um via email and as well in the packet. U Todd and

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Warden have prepared a um a brief PowerPoint >> brief. [laughter] I will um I'll display that now and let Todd lead us through unless Tom there was any other introductory comments that you wanted to make before I turn it over to Wood and Karn.

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>> Let's leave it to the professionals. >> Tom, thanks for calling in from the field. >> No problem. I apologize for not being there in person. >> No worries. >> Yeah, I appreciate the guidance. We'll get through this quickly. Um so the rate setting that we work on for uh water and

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sewer rates in Milton is relatively straightforward. We've got a budget established by the town meeting warrant that of expenses. We look back at the last in this case five years worth of consumption of water and sewer um consumption of water which is is um also

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the the sewer usage and figure out what rate the town needs to charge to meet those uh financial obligations based on the amount of water and sewer we expect to be used. So again very simple kind of calculation from that standpoint. We're looking here at at uh the FY27

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um revenues and expenses. So, we'll go through water first, then sewer. Um, overall water. Um, we don't we haven't We can advance the Do you have the How do I advance? >> I got it. >> Oh, you got it. Okay, perfect. There. Um, >> so, uh, overall water uh, the the total

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revenue needed is relatively flat. It goes up about $24,000 from FY26 to FY27, which is, you know, modest certainly for an $8 million budget. You can see over half of that budget is the the assessment from the MWA who supplies water to Milton um to the town of Milton

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at at about 4.4 million. Um we have in this case with the 5-year look back we have 2021 which was a large usage year [clears throat] falling off. And so that's driving our the anticipated uh amount of water that'll be consumed down a little bit. So, in this case, even though the the numerator and the the

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calculation is kind of staying almost the same with only a $24,000 increase, we're seeing we're expecting a a potential decrease in usage. Um, and so that does drive uh the rates up slightly. Um, if we go one more slide, we'll see the usage trends for water,

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this consumption trends. Um, and you can see, you know, with the exception of maybe 2023 being a little bit of a a high year, um, that things are have been relatively stable. We've seen some increases especially at the tier four level in like 2024, 2020 and and now uh

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into 26. Um but again things relatively you know Milton is relatively built out. Um no no major expansions things are relatively stable here. And so when we look at those revenues and these uh water consumption trends we can see what the rates are predicted to be uh or

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proposed to be rather and should um there we go. So, uh, for water, um, we're looking at a 3.5% increase over FY26 into FY27. Um, you can see that base rate was 710 in, uh, FY26. That's

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per 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons. Um, still relatively cheap in the scheme of buying water, I think. Um, but yeah, again, across the board, um, we're looking at a 3.5% increase. Milton uses what's called an increasing blade uh

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increasing block rate structure. So the as you use more and more water the the higher volumes get a little bit more expensive just to try to encourage conservation and spread the costs around to those who are are impacting the system the most. Um you can see you know with this increase uh the MWA publishes

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an average sort of family um and that bill would go from about $248 a quarter to about 256. So again, you know, relatively modest. Um, we can then jump right into sewer. Um, sewer, you can see we do have a

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little bit higher of a of expense increase in sewer at 3.6%. Uh, so that's about $340,000 up on that that $9.8 million $9.9 million total utility cost. You can see with sewer, the vast majority, you know, 75% of that

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cost is money that is assessed by the MWR to the town of the open, right? Costs that are really, you know, largely outside of the town's control. Um, we don't expect, luckily, we don't have quite the same uh decrease in expected sewage. Um, and so that does help us

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hold the rate uh closer to the the same rate. We can jump one. Yep. There. So, we're looking at the the uh sewer consumption trends. Um for the vast majority of homeowners, water and sewer bills are going to be based on the same number. It's whatever water meter reads. But but some folks will have meters that

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are only used for water, especially irrigation, other things like that. Uh and so that's why we we do have different consumption amounts for for water and sewer because there's some water that never hits the the sewer. Um when we look at those trends and that increase the the just over 3% increase

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in expenses um that leads to uh an about a 2% rate increase across the board uh for the sewer rates. Um so we can move forward one there and that rate should show up. So you can see again you know four tiers

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um it gets just like water gets more expensive the the more sewage that you use. Um like I mentioned it's it's a 2% rate increase. Um so in this case even though the expenses are up a little bit over 3% um we are able to hold that rate increase uh a little bit lower than that

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just because of the the planned or the the likely increase in consumption. Um you can see that that it's charged in the same rates per 100 cubic feet. That base rate will jump from 8.98 to 916 and that'll drive that average bill uh

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from$459 to to about 468 $469 per quarter. Um, we've got one more slide that's very dense. I would say it's probably better to look at in the packet than on this slide. Um, but it shows that that rate increase for, you know, a whole lot of different sort of example

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users within the town of Milton. The highlighted case in the middle is the one I was citing the numbers from. That's MW's sort of standard, you know, average bill that we really look at to understand how it's going to affect most of the residents of town. Um, that is the last slide of my brief PowerPoint

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presentation. I'll just add a little bit of additional context um that on the sewer side, you know, the pressure that we're seeing is that MWR assessment has gone up um pretty quickly the last few years.

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That's grant it's tied um obviously to flows but also to their own cost to treat a deer island um for the entire district. So we're feeling pressure on the sewer side largely related to MWR assessment. Um and then in terms of what

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as these are enterprise funds, they're standalone funds. They have their own um reserves referred to as retained earnings. So water is in a much stronger position overall uh with upwards of $3 million in its retained earnings, which is 35 to 45% of its budget. So it's a

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very has strong reserves. The fiscal 27 budget draws down a little bit of those reserves to buy down that rate increase a little bit. invest some onetime money into this year's budget to help offset a rate increase. Um, by the flip side, sewer, although it is closer to a $9 million,

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$9.5 million budget, its reserves are closer to 1.6 $1.5 million, so a little bit more vulnerable to a big swing or big a very wet year. If our rate drops, our costs aren't going to drop. Our revenue will significantly drop. So, that's why we have pretty significant uh

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reserve balances in both the enterprise funds. our costs are very static. The revenue can vary significantly. Um so in terms of the overall um stability of the enterprise funds, they're both very stable. I'd say that sooner is a little bit lower than we would like it. Water

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is a little bit higher than we probably need it to be. So we'll we'll use that cash retained earnings um likely in the upcoming budget uh to likely on some capital to draw that down a little bit as we continue to build the service. So that's just a little bit um of the

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broader enterprise fund uh financial commission. >> Thank you both. Uh questions or comments from the members? If not, I will take a motion. >> Move to approve the FY 2027 water and sewer rates. Second.

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>> Motion made and seconded. Mr. Rober, >> yes. >> Snow. >> Yes. >> Saturday. >> Yes. I believe Mr. D. >> Nope. Mr. McCart. >> Yeah, he's on. >> Yeah. >> All right. Um, and yes, uh, Tom, I'll

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give you a chance. We didn't go to you. Anything you want to share? >> No, I think I think we covered just about everything. Wood does a great job and obviously Nick and his guidance helped me along >> as I'm first getting into this myself.

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>> Thank you. >> Thanks. D is there now. >> I don't think he heard all of the discussion, >> but thank you. Have >> a great night. >> Thank you everyone. >> Thanks Tom.

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>> Thank you. >> Thank you Todd. >> With that we'll move to item seven discussion update library college potential acquisition and view buildings. chair of the school committee, our superintendent. >> Good evening. Thank you for joining us.

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And I believe Mr. Aor is online. [clears throat] All right, I'll floor is yours if you want to do some introductions before we start. >> Oh, yeah. I'll start. Uh, Mark Loring, uh, chair of the school committee and vice chair of the school building.

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>> Hi, I'm Chanel Rajan. I'm a senior project manager at the DR group. >> Good evening, my name is John. the inter online. >> Hey, good evening. Uh Sean Oor, chair of the school building committee and then also uh John, I'll let you introduce

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yourself also. >> Um Janna Silsby, I'm principal in charge from DLR group. >> Thank you. >> Sean's gonna kick it off. >> Yeah. So, Miss Milano, do you want me to run the slides or you gonna run them?

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>> Uh, I can hold them if you give me a minute. I don't >> I No, I have I have them ready. I just I know last presentation we're running, so I I'll I'll share my screen if that's all right. >> Sounds good. >> Thank you. >> [snorts] >> just let me know when

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you're >> good. >> Thank you very much. So we're here tonight uh essentially what we're here tonight to present as a culmination of our efforts kind of over the past two months uh working with DLR

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group in the uh school district uh for the educational program that we're looking at college. So as you're all aware uh library college uh became available market uh shortly thereafter school building committee and school

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committee uh really started investigating this um you know high level the initial buildings that we look at or talk about are are essentially three interconnected buildings. Building A, which is also known as the mansion.

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Uh, building B, which is connected to building A, which is essentially office space, and then building C, which is the majority of the classroom spaces that are there. Uh, and building C is connected through the gray hallway that you see on the on the left. Um, some

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things to keep in mind when we first looked at the building was building C has existing classroom space, but there were roughly about 725 square ft. And the program that we're looking at, you know, required us to make bigger classrooms. Uh, also there's

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no cafeteria as part of that building. There is no gymnasium. And then also in building C, there were minimal bathrooms. Um, and then finally, you know, with the amount of renovations we'd have to be doing, you know, we just want to be cognizant of the energy code.

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So for us, you know, the process by which, you know, we we've been looking at this is, you know, the school building committee looked to the school committee to develop an educational program that they thought would fit with this facility. Uh so they determined a prek

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um uh facility would work best. So school building committee from that point on uh partnered up with DLR group and we'll go over a timeline on the next slide. Uh and then collaboratively the school committee, the school building committee and DLR group have essentially worked, you know, in concert over the

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past two months. Uh Janna, you know, Shanali, I'll let you guys talk a little bit on, you know, some of your efforts that you've done. >> Uh thanks Sean. So Jenna and I um met with the school building committee to do an initial kickoff to understand what

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the expectations were for this project. And it was essentially to understand what were the space constraints, the opportunities and the challenges of converting this into a viable learning center for the town of Milton. We brought on um FBR as our structural

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consultant to do a high level understanding of what are how is the building put together? Can can it support this kind of learning community? And then we also brought in PMC as the cost estimator to help us understand what are the implications of looking at

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a couple of different options and what does that mean for the town of Milton. Um Jana is going to talk a little bit about how we got to the design options, but we ended up presenting two options initially.

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The first option, which I believe Sean's going to um walk through in a minute, was just looking at the existing space without really adding anything. We had to make a little bit of addition for a stair and a lobby, but really using the footprint as is. And then another option

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of what do we do if we wanted to add more? And the reason we looked at these two options is to understand what the enrollment was for the town of Molton. And Janet, do you want to jump in and just talk about that? Sure. >> For a minute. >> Sure. >> Thank you. So um in that first initial

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um meeting with the early education director um Miss Butler as well as the superintendent Failen it was to understand their highle goals like is this a temporary building? Is it a long-term building um and everybody said if we in you know that the town makes

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this investment it's a long-term investment switch. Um when you look at a long-term investment, you want to understand what's the potential for growth as well as the ability to flex and change over time. Um we were given a set of space requirements that like okay

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we're this is what we want to fit um you know into a project at a minimum. But then we also um talked about like all right well how much growth and there are different um ways to think about it like

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is this maximum capacity is it optimal capacity i.e. you don't want every classroom to be 100% full. Um because therefore if somebody shows up you have no seats available and then do you want to do what they have now which is half day or do you also want to then have the

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option to go to full day and so um you know in a nutshell as Shanali mentioned the first option was just see how much we can fit in the existing building. The second option was give the to to provide the number of classrooms as well as the

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space um uh like for admin and things like that that were requested. And then third one took a more um expansive and uh future facing option that was like all right if we plan for growth if we plan for full day prek as a for instance

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what would that look like? because we wanted to do a test fit sort of like thinking of it in a in terms of maximum. So we had smallest, medium and then maximum options that gave the full range and of course if the project went ahead

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you would do you know full programming and everything and truly hone in on that design enrollment. And so the end result might be somewhere in you know in between um the options and not any one of these three but we wanted to give a full range so that the um school

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building committee could just understand what's possible. >> You know just to echo the the efforts you know the the work that's been done essentially over the past month on this through DLR group really takes a lot longer. Uh so we ask you know as you're

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reviewing some of this stuff just just keep in mind there's there's a lot more work as we progress with these options. Um leading up to tonight I I just want to kind of give an overall timeline uh for what we were doing. So in April there was an initial site visit by

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myself town administrator uh superintendent and other representatives of the town. um school committee shortly thereafter took on uh discussing educational options or program options that would be there. Um the week following that school building committee

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allocated funds that we had remaining uh to secure architectural services. Um the week after that the school committee voted on this educational program and we contracted with DLR group. Um DLR group two weeks after that walked the site. Uh

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and then you know we we had that visioning session that Janna talked about with the uh superintendent and the director of early childhood education. Um the all that input led into a draft report uh that DLR group put together very quickly for us and then tonight you

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know the overall final report and cost estimate. Uh as I mentioned I tried to keep this presentation brief highle you know call it executive summary. We do have floor plans a 51page detailed report that we can pull up and dive into as you know you have questions but I

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wanted to keep it high level. So the first option as John and Chenali talked about uh was basically looking at the exist existing building and how we could utilize that and how much space we could fully get out of it for uh

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classrooms. So, for classroom counts, uh, for preschool, we were at four, uh, preschool, just got to move this. Sorry about that. Zoom was blocking the counts. So, four preschool, two special education, and

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then for kindergarten, there were 10 uh, regular classrooms and one special education. this didn't meet the needs um that were described in that uh visioning session that we had. But again, we did it as kind of a you know, the smallest case that we're looking at. The next one

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consists of a two-level addition on the side of the property that you see here. That gets us up to the space count that we needed that was prescribed by the schools, which are five general uh prek classes, two special ed classes, 18

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kindergarten classes, and one special ed class. And then because we had that addition, you know, DLR group looked at what a third level on that space would look like. And you know with that it expanded prek out to nine total classrooms, two two additional special

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ed. Uh kindergarten had 20 and special ed again had two. So what what they've done is you know we've looked at all these options and presented them to our cost estimator. Uh so essentially for the options uh we'll walk through them.

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For option one, uh the construction cost was roughly $32 million and the overall project cost including soft cost would be a total of $42 million. Sorry about that. The option two that we looked at uh the

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two-level addition which is in the middle uh total construction cost estimated at 57 million and a total project cost of 74 million. And then finally the third option that we looked at of a total project cost of 65 million

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and an overall project cost of 85 million. So uh as as I mentioned we do have much more uh detail that we can share but again I just wanted to keep it uh high level for this meeting. You know knowing time is always critical with

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this with this board. All right, numbers. >> My first question will be to Mr. Oor. What is your definition of total project cost? >> So total project cost is essentially all

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soft costs for architects, engineers, uh permits, uh the um what is it? FFN, the furniture and everything that builds it out. It does not include uh if you're talking about salary costs or other uh additional costs like that, it does not

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include those. >> Does it include like police details, construction contingency, like all that? >> Correct. Yeah. So, what what we did is we we can forward the the cost estimate to you. So, the initial cost estimate we

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had, they carried a 15% contingency, but knowing that we've only worked on this for roughly two months, we asked them to bump that to a 20% contingency. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Just to clarify also for the public, it obviously doesn't include land acquisition,

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>> right? >> Y members All right, I'll give you guys a second. [laughter] My question is uh not on the instruction but on the programming. So I see listed

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about 450 students in prek and kindergarten. I just want to hear a little bit more about the program and it prek and kindergarten moving to this site, the impact it has on the schools

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and any potential growth that would be either covered by this space or that we would predict for this space and what it means for taking those students out of each elementary school. What's the impact? What do we get for having this site?

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>> Um, John Bernard [clears throat] Schools. We at the June 30 school committee meeting went through a rubric of uh several different options to get to the programming option of prekk. Um what it does uh to the initial goal that

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the school building committee has been working on for a while. It does relieve space at the elementary level at all four elementary levels and I'll describe what that look like. It does not provide relief to the middle school level because those grades will stay the same and there'll be no impact. And it does

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provide relief to the high school because the administrative offices of the public schools will leave the high school space and go down to the library space in the uh intervention part of the building, not in the school part.

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So it doesn't fully address the uh the needs of all three levels of the district, but it does address two of the three. From a program perspective, what it would mean for each of our elementary schools is that they would lose each of their kindergarten classrooms. So if you're a threest strand school like Tucker, you lose your three K classes.

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So you have three spaces open and they also house two of our preschool programs over the top. So each school would lose the amount of kindergarten classes they have uh which have the Glover is four, the club is four, sometimes five, is

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four. Um and the Cunningham also houses all the other preschool classes uh that are related to some separate classes and half day program as well which would relieve the pressure on that larger facility as part of the public which seems to be where the the most pressure

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for enrollment squeezes in the district. So that would be the main driver of this work. Um I think what it would do to the schools uh is they would all miss the little students. Everybody wants kindergarten in school. Uh it really is

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K to five is that longest span that top families have in one building to grow relationships with their school teachers and their principal and create community. So it would be one less grade of that moving into the school. Uh what I believe the positive sides are to the

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prekk is that we're creating our early learning center that's consistently implemented for all of our students across the town in one space in preschool and kindergarten to get them prepared in one year in one group before they move on to grade one to their coary

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schools. Um and and we're really addressing that early childhood need or you know flush with literacy number sense community in preparedness. Uh some of our students would be there at the age of three in preschool. Uh some of

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those students in preschool would be uh typical students that would be part of the process that we already have in preschools that be in there. Uh and it would create a great learning community for our youngest learners to then be prepared all in the same space in order to go out to elementary school. So, um,

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there's definitely pros and cons. It doesn't solve every box that I think the school committee in the school building committee was hoping to check, i.e. it doesn't address middle school. Um, and I do believe that the third option, which does provide for some growth over time.

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Right now, we're averaging about uh I looked at the enrollment this morning. We have some grades that have 370 students, but they they add over time. We get students that come in each year. we just registered this this summer up to 80 students new to the district. Um

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but kindergarten right now is in the lower end of the 330s 320s but very recently we had 350s and three 360s. So, uh I think that the um the leaders of this design have built in what's projected enrollment could be to

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give a little bit more room because unlike the elementary schools that has might need one more kindergarten sometimes you go to 5ks at college or 5ks at Glover where we have a high enrollment spike this space will need to absorb that at one point in time and we

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won't have four schools to choose from to make that happen. So we do have a little bit of a restricted option base. So building in more capacity with that third option I think would be very very helpful and money well spent now in order to make sure that the future is protected

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in the space. Are you in a sorry um are you in a position at this time to um like have a quick and dirty to the impact on uh bus routes and

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transportation costs. I assume that like this this is different bus stop. Um, does that necessarily increase routes or >> it'll have to be its own route. We will have to bus transportation being an

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expense. It's an ongoing operating cost of the district. It's not a walkable school and all of our K students will probably the majority of them would be busy. Right now, most every kindergarten student gets on a bus to go to school. They live within certain miles from the

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school. Um, we we would have to draw the the lens very high about whether or not we need to add any buses to make that work or we create some synergy around start time. And just for the public to know, uh our budget didn't include one

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extra bus this year. Uh that was the recommendation. We have uh negotiated with our bus company five buses that actually carry 15 more students. So we have no longer buses. So we're trying to be more efficient with how we get students to school. Uh and we'll have to tackle that challenge.

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transportation will be potentially an added cost to the project, >> but we just don't know to what degree. >> Correct. I I would say that one of the factors about operating costs were part of our thinking when we chose prekk

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prek doesn't have the same amount of time with uh physical education. Our music the specials are done a little differently and we can kind of incorporate that a little bit with how we do our kindergarten students. So we have a little flexibility about this the

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u the specialist teachers that we use because we did also consider a K to5 school which could be considered part of our MSBA proposal with the and we we thought that we might be diluting a little bit the resources across five

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elementary schools that the operating cost might become a factor having more physic just have to travel or maybe add more phys or add more music in order to make those connections work. Um, so we were trying to think operating to a at a high level uh not to burden the town

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with a higher operating cost as well as adding to the debt exclusion as well. So I do think that we need to look into that a little further. I think the prek is a mobile unit that we want to pick up and move a little bit more freely >> than having a school generally speaking.

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I just want to before we change topics follow up on Winston's initial question about sort of how we feel about how this addresses overcrowding. Um and helpful to hear Superintendent Failen um sort of your breakdown and which schools this

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would help and which it wouldn't. um you know sort of the line I've seen or maybe one of the standards I've seen in valuing the option it was included again in um the the e newswsletter today from the public schools was was considering

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um you know any building project would need to address a substantial portion of our current space needs. Um I I'm trying to sort of understand if we feel this could do

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that, you know. Um let's rule out for a moment, you know, option one, which doesn't meet the requested classroom needs. If we focus on being in either option two or three which either meets

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um sort of the classroom number request or exceeds by 15 or so percent the plan for future growth. Does the district feel that um while not

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addressing middle school not providing middle school relief unless you can do something with the mansion later on administrative side um are these options potentially doing that? Um potentially, you know, substantially addressing some of the space or

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overcrowding needs that are going on. I think it creates excellent space relief for our elementary schools that have the most over at this point in time kind of even qualifies as a very private space. Uh the ability for the district to address the needs of our children

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especially our children will require a lot of different types of services require a lot of different types of spaces that are just different. So for me, walking the buildings every week, I think it does an excellent job of providing that space in the elementary. And when one would ask,

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well, if the lover doesn't have preschool, they just have been losing four kindergartens. What would those classrooms reduce already? We're talking about potential taking that class away. Every every other year, Glover gets a fifth class and sometimes goes back to four. So we could really ensure that

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those specialist classes have their own space. Uh we have a first grade class in the art room that was originally designed in art room 20 years ago that the public schools. Um and we also have a robust after school program that needs

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space. So dedicating space in each building that we can use for after school program is also um there's no getting around the middle school doesn't gain any space with this. Uh their numbers stay relatively the same. I think that I think as the former

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principal of the middle school and the person who's actually built it. Um I think right now we have four teams at the sixth grade and we have three teams in seven, three teams in eight in it stretch in the space. So I think we can be flexible with that as Dr. Fish has gone out to four teams in grade six. Uh

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but we could equally be as flexible and go down back to three teams if needed uh to create space to do and and the high school quite frankly could use the space because high school been the school that has added the most students over time in the last five or eight years. Uh [snorts] and having central office,

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business office, special education office move out of there and utilize the space operate to provide you know well needed space. So do I think it works? I think it works. Is it perfect? Does it does it fit every box that we do we check every

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box to check? We don't check you. Yeah, I would I mean I you know I agree with a lot of what John said. I think the thing I take away from this is as fantastic as the designs were and appreci the site is like what what can on the

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site can the site provide some right and so I think what they've shown is that it absolutely can through this type of model. I think it also shows that uh upper middle school idea which is the one project idea that solves all the space opening that's not going to fit

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here right you saw how much they maximize the space there's no cafeteria still with a you know it's 200 less kids there's no auditorium there's no fullsize gymnasium there's just like a lot of things that the site cannot fit for that so that's kind of off the table

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for this site I think that's one of the things the school committee was talking about is we we really wanted to see multiple little design ideas. They just didn't have the time. Um, but I think my takeaway is that can't fit. The thing that could fit is this prek program. And so then it gets into the calculus of

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the prek program accomplishing these things. It through the cost estimates looks like it would be a cheaper project depending on what the land acquisition cost would be. Then you get into the timeline question of you could offer them SBA money. um and state that

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financial reason relates to all those kind of other implications obviously that go along with this uh to make the calculus like is this a better project than the one dial road and ultimately is the town going to support this project better than the one road right like a

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whatever perfect project we might have at any site town doesn't vote to prove it we're getting no space for kids at any site and we're still suffering in this five years whatever it is. So, um I think you know I I hesitate here to

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speak too much because the school committee has not had a discussion on this. Obviously, we just had final discussion last night. It's rebuilding committee. So, we're having a discussion here. I know the timeline is very tight. Y'all are trying to make a determination here, but um yeah, we I think the school

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committee feels urgency around creating a solution to address a very long-standing problem that Sean and the team working on uh and so lots of the similar excitements kind of to this parcel that John

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>> uh so I'm glad you brought up Gallo Mark so can we speak about that I think we have not said because we haven't gotten to really the specifics yet that is this project or Galler we would not be doing

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both so Sean maybe you have the better grasp on this as working on this since day one. The savings, can you speak to the savings versus option three, max option versus where you think we'd be right now with the Cal Ro project?

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>> Yeah. So the Galro project if you recall was [snorts] we had it estimated in July of 2024 for uh 173 million for total project costs. So just use keep using

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that term. Um after we did follow-on work as school building committee after that into November uh where we're able to kind of fine-tune that estimate and do some of the revised design and we brought it down to 167 million. Um if you take those costs and just use the

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standard like 4% escalation I believe I just look at my calculator because I knew this question would come up. um escalating at 4% from 167 million. Uh in today's dollars, we'd put it at $181

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million. Um the some of the work we did previously with our OPM was determining our effective rate from MSBA for what the reimbursement would be. So our uh

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project reimbursement was 45% but essentially the effective rate when we take out non-eligible reimbursement uh items in the design was about 28%. So at 181 million at a 28% reimbursement

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which is roughly about 50 million that total project cost after the reimbursements uh comes down to 130 million. Um, I I I I could run similar numbers for what we're looking at for option three, but I I I just didn't have

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that readily available right now. >> Okay. Um, did we are we factoring in any additional costs for the classrooms that are freed at the middle schools to be redesigned? is if those classes are right now prek and kindergarten, I assume there'd be

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some redesign for a new usage of those spaces in the existing schools. >> Sorry, do you mean kind of at the K5? You said middle school. >> Yeah. So, let's say you're at Tucker. Tucker gets four freed up classrooms. >> Those classrooms have housed uh prek and kindergarten for the last few years. Is

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there any redesign cost for those classrooms to now be used differently? But in either project, those costs will happen. So it's worth comparing the two things. Either you're redesigning because you're pulling out fifth grade, right, from the for the upper middle school project, right? You'd be pulling

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out fifth grade to Pierce and you would be pulling out eighth grade. And so you you're going to be freeing up space kind of at the K5s and also freeing up space at the Pierce Middle School in addition. So there might be a little bit more cost because you're dealing with the space

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issue at Pierce in a way that the the prek is not doing anything at Pierce touch pierce. So it might be a little bit more cost with the upper uh or the G road project but it's probably for the sake of like the conversation here the costs are probably going to be pretty

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similar across those two projects. You're going to have to figure out how you redesign those spaces to make them use. Do you have do you have a back of the envelope and an understanding of the operating delta in both scenarios yet?

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It sounds like it's probably a little bit early for that, but you know, we've discussed at length um operating is potentially substantially lower on Lay versus what operating might be on um

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Dial Road. U but it sounds like the transportation might not totally be there yet on in terms of like understanding what that might look like. Do like do you have any sense of magnitude at this point?

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>> Not a very high level I would say that transportation is going to be an issue whether you go a project because you have a separate building. >> True. >> In order to address the needs uh the elementary the prekk will need to be driven uh your your 78 students don't

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quot have to be in in less days uh at all. So you could actually if you want to that we probably would do that to our families. >> Um the the mobile unit that is the prek comes with an administrator. It comes with all the services that are already there and we'll go right to the prekk

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school. Um the teachers in grade seven will just go to that school and transfer over. But again, you're talking about those specialist positions. How do you you don't want to have everybody be do you want all your presented music and art be 7 or they share schools? Do they

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go across? There'll begin to be those types of choices that you'll have to we'll have to make in order to maximize the service delivery but minimize the cost. >> And having gone through this in previous districts there there is somewhat of an increase in operating cost but the teachers are already there.

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>> Yeah. >> The the par professionals are already there. You might have to add a nurse because you're adding a building. You're going to add some custodians because you're adding square footage. You're going to add some things, but generally speaking, I think that we're moving sets of people that do the same work somewhere else to space. And then

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there'll be some costs, >> you know, surrounding that pretty. >> Yeah. I just think as we go forward in this dialogue, just keeping in mind sort of the coral operating >> expending pace with it along the way.

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having to have people do their own >> well to that point I think there's moving forward we're probably going to need to start doing more concrete numbers around the operating lease so that we're sharing um if we are to move forward with this prek

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and kindergarten laboratory assuming that we are able to acquire the property that we are doing the budget analysis of the additional either teachers or custodians for the impacts on the overall school town

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budget. I think that's going to be a really key point to us presenting this to our residents and our parents. We going to need to have a really complete picture of what this means long term. Not only the relief that we get at the

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elementary schools and I thank you Superintendent Hill was saying us having an early childhood center, the impacts of that where it can be really a launch pad for our young people going into first and second grade and being able to really focus on that population of

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students in one space with all the resources there to really give them a great start that impact as well as what it will cost long term and how we pay. I think that's an important piece for us to be as well.

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Um any any other thoughts you guys want to share um just on on general feeling about the quality of the the prek and K experience. Um you

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know you've already touched on it so may maybe there's nothing more to add. Um, and Mark, I understand that the school committee, well, I guess there was some earlier dialogue on that option, too. So, I don't know if there's just any other color you want to um share around the

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enthusiasm or not of that option. >> So, from the leadership team perspective, there's a lot of enthusiasm for prek um with with the asterk that our educators will miss their colleagues and they'll miss the most students and then it's a real it's a real big deal to

426
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kindergarten went to school. So, uh, but there is when when people start to think about the trajectory of what a student's journey would be from prek, K into his neighborhood school into middle school, uh, the leadership team had a lot of good energy around that. They they feel

427
02:06:25.679 --> 02:06:42.400
like it's a good idea. They feel like it's good for children. And if we're going to have a break point and add a different destination on that journey physically by having another stop, whether it's 78 or preKK, they they really like that. day idea. Um, and uh,

428
02:06:42.400 --> 02:06:59.040
so that there's good energy around it. I haven't gone out and spoken to staff specifically about it. That's why we have it in the update. We're trying to let folks know from the staffing perspective that we're keeping this in front of them all the time. We're being very transparent. This is being considered. We're we're getting this is going down another step this week to

429
02:06:59.040 --> 02:07:15.040
keep keep them in tune to uh, what is going on so they don't feel surprised if at some point in the fall, at some point this year, this might be moving forward. concretely and at some point we're really going to have to survey that a little bit and get some feedback from

430
02:07:15.040 --> 02:07:31.840
our staff as well from our parents that this condensed process when Sean kind of wrote down the timeline that you've responded to is pretty amazing that this amount of work done in one month and at the point where we need to include more voices in this we want to make sure that

431
02:07:31.840 --> 02:07:48.000
we get that from our educators. >> I was going to ask about that. So, can I just do that now? Um, I was I was actually trying to um bucket my questions into sort of pre-propy acquisition considerations like costs

432
02:07:48.000 --> 02:08:05.040
and then what do we do if we get the property? But you open the window superintendent. So, just just on the community engagement piece, and we don't need to to map that out tonight, but I did want to ask, you know, knowing you all would be here. Um, if you just had

433
02:08:05.040 --> 02:08:20.239
any early visions on what that might look like, um, and frankly, who might drive that? um you know whether it's school committee, district, school building committee um I

434
02:08:20.239 --> 02:08:37.440
I don't know other um just just wanted to while we're all together you know I don't know the next time we're all together wanted to just open the floor to any early thoughts on you know so that folks the next couple weeks August September can kind of hit the ground

435
02:08:37.440 --> 02:08:54.159
running on that piece potentially um you know invite any thoughts on, you know, what that engagement might look like. >> I mean, it can take several different ways. Uh, first of all, communicating it and making sure people are reading it and it's in front of folks on a regular

436
02:08:54.159 --> 02:09:10.480
basis. Uh, we could do it through our PTO meetings with our elementary schools, preKK is the initial um, part that we really want to discuss. Um, and we do that with staff meetings with with our staff as well. I think it's going to be really important to meet at the elementary level. The hard part about

437
02:09:10.480 --> 02:09:27.119
prek is that the families that are going to be impacted aren't hearing yet. They maybe just moved in or they may just thinking about other than the younger siblings that when we do the 78 you're going to have a real wide uh body of folks if we want to weigh in on that

438
02:09:27.119 --> 02:09:42.800
third grade parents, fourth grade parents as they envision their seventh eighth grade look. So we'll have to be thoughtful. we have a preschool um source where we can identify our three-year-old parents and we can kind of get that up and running through our pres. I envision an elementary heavy

439
02:09:42.800 --> 02:09:58.880
kind of uh conversation when it becomes about program and impact on students and families. Uh and then the larger audience obviously when it comes to financial uh purchasing of the property and the cost as Sean was explaining that's going to be a town meeting

440
02:09:58.880 --> 02:10:14.000
discussion and how do we educate folks around that prior to any votes or prior to any town meeting um forums so people are well informed. There's going to be some questions that might not be just fully answered and that might be hard for folks, but that's

441
02:10:14.000 --> 02:10:29.280
I'd rather tell the truth and say I don't have an answer to that question than kind of run something say well it just might look like this. So, you know, we're going to have many answers but we might not have every answer because we're working with condensed timeline and it's a great opportunity. If it

442
02:10:29.280 --> 02:10:45.360
works, great. And if it doesn't, John's team is going to do a great job with the original proposal, and there's something in place that's already has a process with MSBA and a connection. And that's a good news story. The MSBA uh engagement in being in module one, we're getting ready for module two is a really big

443
02:10:45.360 --> 02:11:02.560
deal. So, this is a good news story in both. We have options. >> I'll just Sean has his hand up. I'll jump in the form. I think um yeah I mean I think all of the above is in terms of who is involved. I I will highlight the

444
02:11:02.560 --> 02:11:18.320
school building committee because I think they've been kind of given the charge by the town to say you know help drive the work towards addressing what has been acknowledged as an overcrowding problem. So um the school department lives with it every day. The school committee works

445
02:11:18.320 --> 02:11:33.679
with school department oversees that and um interacts with families who deal with it every day. uh school building committee Sean has done a tremendous job of like hosting information sessions about the G road project as that was going along right different things it's

446
02:11:33.679 --> 02:11:50.239
been it's not just many many years in which they were doing that I think that will continue I think the other thing that this new idea aroundk you know unfortunately the timing was towards the end of the school year lots of people are busy summer everybody's

447
02:11:50.239 --> 02:12:05.199
kind of gone so appreciate the superintendent kind of trying to put it radar. I think we get a lot more engagement in the fall and if the board decides this board decides to move forward procurement and that occurs, I think it gives us really good opportunities for sessions with families

448
02:12:05.199 --> 02:12:21.520
to say like what did you and your family and your child really love about your PK experience or experience like what it seems like is missing like what are the things you want to get out of those you know past positive learnings that we've had we can take within the design and

449
02:12:21.520 --> 02:12:47.400
like actually more design more detailed which has done a great job. Um there are lots of ways in which that kind of design will be tweaked and adjusted based upon that detailed input which is not not there. >> Uh Sean and then John go ahead Sean.

450
02:12:47.520 --> 02:13:02.560
>> Thanks and and just in response to Mr. overshimer's uh comment, you know, about, you know, enthusiasm for this. Um, you know, I got to admit, you know, having the potential of having full day preschool as a component of this

451
02:13:02.560 --> 02:13:20.079
project, I think is a big win. Uh, for any parent that's experienced half day preschool, you know what I mean? Dropping off and picking up really quick is never really that much fun. So, I think if we can offer that as part of this project, I think it's a really big win. Um but you know the the the idea of

452
02:13:20.079 --> 02:13:35.440
the students coming together at an early age I think is a very good thing. But similarly um you know just to contrast that at Gal Road the intention of that was to create an educational campus for you know seventh and eighth graders along with high schoolers. So you know

453
02:13:35.440 --> 02:13:51.840
that that that feeling of community I I understand it for the younger generation that would be there but you also get that as part of the other project. Uh and then you know the last thing that was kind of alluded to too is you know for this facility uh will probably take

454
02:13:51.840 --> 02:14:07.199
two to three years before it opens or we could construct it and you know open it. Um and the majority of the parents that would uh be able to experience this may not be living in the town right now and the students that are part of this wouldn't be able to whereas Gal Road you

455
02:14:07.199 --> 02:14:22.639
know 2 to three years out students that are in the elementary schools would be able to experience it. um you know with this entire effort uh I appreciate everyone's you know you know help and assistance on this um you know and you

456
02:14:22.639 --> 02:14:40.560
know we're just excited to do something um you know what I mean so um thank you for your time tonight >> Mr. Driscoll, >> I'd like to thank the school building committee for switching gears and doing such a great job.

457
02:14:40.560 --> 02:14:57.040
>> John, I think you got a little closer to your microphone. >> Hello. >> Can you hear me now? >> Yep. >> I just want to thank the school building committee for switching gears and getting this thing where it is now.

458
02:14:57.040 --> 02:15:12.639
Really appreciate it. Christopher's group have been at this for a lot of years. And believe me, I wasn't one of the believers, but all you could do was drive down Edge Hill Road on Saturday and Sunday and see all the mothers and fathers and all the young kids in the

459
02:15:12.639 --> 02:15:27.520
carriages knowing we're going to need these. And I appreciate you working so hard. I appreciate it very much. Thank you. >> Thank you. uh on the program piece uh piece that Sean just brought up uh can

460
02:15:27.520 --> 02:15:43.199
you but Mike my my kid is obviously very far out of prek. Can you break down uh the difference in are we currently offering full day prek and kindergarten and do we intend to offer full day prek and kindergarten at the site?

461
02:15:43.199 --> 02:15:59.679
>> The the intention is not to have full day prek for all students enough room for that. That would be doubling the size. Um it would be that some of our half day program could turn into full day program if we wanted to but that might be folks

462
02:15:59.679 --> 02:16:19.599
that access. >> But just to be clear to the public we do already have >> so and just to remind folks that preschool is a legal mandate for students who reach the age of three who have been diagnosed with disability needs to be serviced by the public

463
02:16:19.599 --> 02:16:35.679
schools. And some of those some of those classrooms are full day classrooms given the needs of the children and some of those uh programs or facilities are half day and some of those half-day programs we invite students that are not on IEPs to join them in order to create a

464
02:16:35.679 --> 02:16:52.639
classroom that's robust and learn environment a lot of different learning styles. That's where our preschool support comes in for the public. They can uh get into that and get in get in have their child at least have a half day experience. We have one full day preschool uh class at the Tucker that

465
02:16:52.639 --> 02:17:09.519
was created probably about 15 years ago. Uh that's the only that that's not really part of the state mandated preschool that's just for the community to use as one full day option that we would love to expand if we had space but we don't look at that space

466
02:17:09.519 --> 02:17:32.479
more. questions. >> Can I just make one? Um, thank you for all of the work on this. It's tremendous. I think one of the things that I've been hearing from community is kind of about the tradeoffs, right? Like nothing's a perfect solution. And, you

467
02:17:32.479 --> 02:17:48.639
know, thinking about the schools as being really the gem of our town. Um, and I think What I'm hearing from folks is they want us to make sure we're thinking about not just a if a fast solution, right,

468
02:17:48.639 --> 02:18:04.960
but something that, you know, is long-term and sustainable. And it would be great to see and it sounds like, you know, through these kind of different levels, right, that we could come up with something that would serve us well, right, to immediate, you know, to more readily

469
02:18:04.960 --> 02:18:24.319
um help with overcrowding, but also to have to be more of a long I would like to think that this is a pretty both scenarios will provide I think the 78 would might provide more capacity long term and make differences

470
02:18:24.319 --> 02:18:39.760
at every level in the district. So, you know, keep that there for sure. Sean and his team have done a great job of making sure that that that they're checking all of those boxes in a very long term. So, that's so much appreciated. The question becomes this is a unique opportunity. So

471
02:18:39.760 --> 02:18:56.160
if we take something that's just a little less than in terms of capacity that provides a unique opportunity and take advantage of it but the savings of the money whether it's 10 million to 30 million may be a big deal for main is this good for children is it good for the families is it good for the time is

472
02:18:56.160 --> 02:19:12.080
it good for the long uh term of the time and uh I think it's a good option to explore more deeply and I think that the the programming that uh we just went setting with our uh wonderful design team come up with a really unique way of engaging young learners. You know, for

473
02:19:12.080 --> 02:19:27.280
example, like this, we don't want students to go up and down three floors. The cafeteria will be done on every floor in a very unique way. The libraries will be done differently because we don't want little legs going up and down three floors. So, we'll put certain things. So, we can be really creative with that space to address the

474
02:19:27.280 --> 02:19:42.080
needs of our rooms. I think it would be either program will be serve the time well. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. >> That's the tipline question. Um, this might be for Sean,

475
02:19:42.080 --> 02:19:58.319
Mr. and Nick. I'm not sure. Um, so it's sort of an MSBA. Um, any views on my my instinct is, you know, MSBA related decisions might

476
02:19:58.319 --> 02:20:15.600
drive our timeline a little bit around further evaluation of this scenario. In other words, I think there may there's got to be is there a time, you know, in the coming months

477
02:20:15.600 --> 02:20:32.880
where the town will need to decide sort of, you know, if lab is acquired. Um, are we pursuing school there through the MSBA program or not? um which inevitably

478
02:20:32.880 --> 02:20:49.920
will sort of to me that seems like kind of a final decision time. You know, how long can that go on where like we we're not decided on that? You know, is there a view on sort of when we should really have that figured out? So right now the

479
02:20:49.920 --> 02:21:07.760
town through the MSBA processing through that project can study a K5 495 students or grade 78 building for 670 students at library today. That is included as part of the MSBA program.

480
02:21:07.760 --> 02:21:23.200
You can look at as many sites or as few sites as you want. So um we have an OPM on board. They're preparing designer procurement process. designer will be selected in contracts by the end of October. So that work related to K5,

481
02:21:23.200 --> 02:21:39.680
grade seven, eight could start looking at labs right away by then to look at lab for prek with MSBA partnership. That is an indeterminate timeline

482
02:21:39.680 --> 02:21:54.880
because the initial conversations we've had is they've said if you acquire the site and you're still interested in preKK, come talk to us after you've acquired the site and if that's true. So now we're looking at at least a couple months before we can engage in those

483
02:21:54.880 --> 02:22:11.439
conversations. And we don't really know where they're going to say go back to. They're going to say go back to the beginning of eligibility period and we're forming school building committee again and doing other initial stuff. or will they let us kind of move more quickly through those preliminary. So

484
02:22:11.439 --> 02:22:26.319
the exact timeline is is hard to tell when we can have a final decision on whether we can dok partnership. it would be a delay. It's not clear and I don't know when we have a better answer from then on as to how

485
02:22:26.319 --> 02:22:44.800
long of a delay that might I was going to ask perhaps you and Sean to work on a best shot at sort of a timeline

486
02:22:44.800 --> 02:23:01.840
key you know dates decision points over the coming months. I can't quite tell if that's a reasonable ask yet or if more information is needed, but but if it would seem helpful um for you know

487
02:23:01.840 --> 02:23:18.479
upcoming discussions to to sort of have a visual like that. >> Sure. I mean, and we can kind of plug in what we'd expect in kind of a not a worst case, but in kind of a longest duration for an MSBA project that would

488
02:23:18.479 --> 02:23:34.399
that would bek can at least work on that. And maybe there's a way to to leverage a lot of the work that's already been done to skip some other stuff and try to move more effectively or efficiently with MSBA, but that's not really that's going to be in their court. They have a very

489
02:23:34.399 --> 02:23:49.520
deliberate methodical process that they want districts to adhere to and the idea of a district coming to them after we've already signed an agreement and saying they want to study certain things to come back that really throws their program out of sync. So they don't it

490
02:23:49.520 --> 02:24:09.880
just would be I think >> Sean Sean you got your handle but I also have a question. Uh can you share the difference in size between the two projects? What would be a labor and what the 78 would be a Kyle?

491
02:24:12.080 --> 02:24:26.800
Donna Schnali feel free to correct me where I go wrong. So the the project at Labber numbers is about 86,000 square feet. Uh I believe it's I would say 45,000 of new

492
02:24:26.800 --> 02:24:43.359
build and 41,000 of renovation of the existing building. And you know I'll pause to let John Arishnali correct me if I went wrong there. >> Um >> it it's slightly more than that but you're close. >> It's slightly more than that but you're close. Yes, very close. working up

493
02:24:43.359 --> 02:24:58.720
working off the top of my head. And then for and I've got the construction cost up for Gile Road when we did that. Gal Road square footage area for the middle school was 137,000 square ft and the

494
02:24:58.720 --> 02:25:16.000
preschool was 24,000 square ft. So roughly 161,000 square ft. Keep in mind with the middle school um there are additional very large areas. uh auditorium, much larger gymnasium, full-size cafeteria, uh which which

495
02:25:16.000 --> 02:25:31.040
drives some of that that size up. So, when you're looking for it, uh just keep that in comparison. >> Thank you. >> Um the the one thing though I I I just want to touch base on Mr. Overshimer's uh question on on the MSBA timeline and

496
02:25:31.040 --> 02:25:47.680
and Mr. Milano's comments too. So, the the middle school option was 660 students, not 670. Um but you know the the the overall working with MSBA this past year and a half that we've been working with them um you know we we've

497
02:25:47.680 --> 02:26:03.760
done our best to be ahead of them or go as quickly as we possibly can. For example in module one we had 270 days to submit all our documentation to them. We submitted it in 90 days and it didn't do anything for us. So my, you know, just

498
02:26:03.760 --> 02:26:27.520
from experience through this past year, um, I I I wouldn't anticipate them accommodating us wanting to move fast because they haven't done it already. >> Uh, no other questions or comments from the members. This does not require a motion, more of an update for us as well

499
02:26:27.520 --> 02:27:02.479
as the community. Thank you all for joining us. But much more to come. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So we move to items item eight. discussion approval of the special town meeting warrant if you want to walk us

500
02:27:02.479 --> 02:27:21.120
through. >> Uh thank you Mr. Chair. We went through these articles a bit in our last meeting so walk through where they stand. So the first article on the agenda is an

501
02:27:21.120 --> 02:27:37.120
appropriation related to um water main system um and seeking additional funding from to take on additional infrastructure improvement work. Uh DPW engineering has identified an additional

502
02:27:37.120 --> 02:27:51.359
$2.2 million in projects um that they contemplate um fitting and constructing over the next two construction seasons. that be summer 27th and summer 28. Uh this appropriation will draw down from

503
02:27:51.359 --> 02:28:10.960
our pot of um interest free loan money that is available to the town through the U system. So we can acquire uh money at 10 years no interest to include the W systems and we have

504
02:28:10.960 --> 02:28:32.399
through DW engineering recommendation to draw that 2.2 million that again for additional projects questions from members. >> All right, the next article is to transfer surplus bond proceeds. Um, so

505
02:28:32.399 --> 02:28:47.600
surplus bond proceeds are when we borrow money for projects that we ultimately don't need the money for. So it's not only town meeting authorization to borrow money, but we did bring the money in. So um, It is sitting in a bank account to put

506
02:28:47.600 --> 02:29:05.280
it in those terms and we cannot use it for the purpose for which we borrow it for because the projects are complete and the funding is no longer needed in order to use that funding now vote to move it and apply it um to a different capital project. And the the rules are

507
02:29:05.280 --> 02:29:21.280
that if the surplus proceeds are less than $50,000 we can apply it to cost. We had a vote several months ago where we applied surplus proceedings to existing debt service costs. If the surplus proceeds are greater than $50,000, we trigger that requirement for

508
02:29:21.280 --> 02:29:37.680
town vote. The two projects that are complete and we no longer need are $350,000 from awe cemetery project um eight or 10 years ago. The other is for um what had been expected improvements that were necessary for the

509
02:29:37.680 --> 02:29:53.680
P tree control dam $74,000. Um so we proposed the way we teed this article up was not to um do additional work but rather to defer the cost of a project that's already been approved by the town meeting but not

510
02:29:53.680 --> 02:30:08.720
been paid for yet. So we have a replacement fire engine that we expect to arrive um early winter November December 2026. Uh so we proposed to apply these savings or the surplus proceeds to that cost. So

511
02:30:08.720 --> 02:30:24.800
that $1.1 million fire engine, we won't borrow $1.1 million. We'll borrow less 350 less $74,000. The maximum issue debt for that is $676,000. So we put this money to work on another capital project

512
02:30:24.800 --> 02:30:48.000
that's expected to continue this year. So we close up these projects and All right, the next one is uh the adjustment to the reserve fund. Um with the additional state aid um approved for the fiscal 27 budget um that delta is

513
02:30:48.000 --> 02:31:04.640
about $363,000 and we recommend incorporating that into the reserve fund to be used for extraordinary or anticipated costs in fiscal 27. Um I will note one anticipated potential cost the um operating costs to to fund laborate the

514
02:31:04.640 --> 02:31:21.840
balance of this fiscal year. If if we take ownership if you know we reach agreement and acquire and the town votes to acquire uh we will have a cost to manage that facility for the rest of this fiscal year that we have not budgeted for. So there is a potential place for this money to be used for

515
02:31:21.840 --> 02:31:40.560
already but we just recommend it necessary budget here. >> Thank you. >> Uh we included in the packet and just uh for the members and for the public and we shared this with our committee too is

516
02:31:40.560 --> 02:31:56.800
just it's more of a kind of a template acquisition article um just to give fols to think about in terms of labor. Uh so this is just a a pretty standard one article that was drafted by KP law to acquire property. This has the specifics

517
02:31:56.800 --> 02:32:13.040
related to library in it. Um some blanks that we would need to fill in would be you know purposes that were acquiring it for general municipal purposes including but not limited to based on this conversation we would add student purposes to that um and that would be sufficient to cover it. And I'll note

518
02:32:13.040 --> 02:32:31.680
that um it is um the recommendation is contingent upon debt exclusion vote. Um so the language here until the town shall vote to exclude the amounts needed for paying the bonds would mean that a debt exclusion will be required for this to

519
02:32:31.680 --> 02:32:47.120
proceed. U but again there's there's more blanks to fill in but this is broadly what that will look like. And I also included um again just to give context what the ballot question might look like if you had to put it on the ballot um what is different from debt

520
02:32:47.120 --> 02:33:03.520
exclusions to operating overrides is that the amount is not included in the bot question. So um without it doesn't provide a lot of context. This is the state mandated language. Um you're asking to exempt from two and a half the cost to pay for the box to acquire

521
02:33:03.520 --> 02:33:19.280
operate. That's the amount of detail that they'll get which makes the information sharing and you know the communications around it leading to the town meeting because that's where um the town vote sets the limitations on how much money the ballot

522
02:33:19.280 --> 02:33:40.560
question is much more specific >> is there anything we should discuss tonight about like I mean just from a timing perspective right like this would go to warrant committee. Actually, I'm not. Maybe I should just ask like what would the sequence be in

523
02:33:40.560 --> 02:33:56.880
terms of finalizing this potential article to get to war committee for the fall? The only the only edits to this version of the article and the article the articles all could be voted approval. you know, subject to time council's

524
02:33:56.880 --> 02:34:12.640
final edits would be to add language related. Um, generally this purposes, we would certainly want to add that. Now, um, >> and maybe I can save you, maybe I can simplify my like is there anything else

525
02:34:12.640 --> 02:34:27.200
that would be helpful for us to weigh in on for readiness for this one for it seems like not, but >> no. And I would say the board will need a subsequent meeting between now and the end of September. I mean the end of August, excuse me, if and when any such

526
02:34:27.200 --> 02:34:47.600
agreement is reached to finalize this. I'm sorry that's >> okay. My question was not clear. Yeah. >> CPC. >> So I no I have sorry yes thank you. I have not drafted that article. Um the CPC project appropriation that's

527
02:34:47.600 --> 02:35:05.319
contemplated is to um looking for assistance with council on that one is to appropriate $300,000 to the top playground project. Um, so we have draft language we're just working with council on. Um, so it's prepared to be approved for subject.

528
02:35:05.840 --> 02:35:22.560
Um, school building committee should ask Sean to stay on call. So to the question about MSBA and non MSBA, um, this is a proposed appropriation for the school building committee to study

529
02:35:22.560 --> 02:35:39.920
and design a project. We have an existing appropriation of $ 1.5 million with school building committee under the MSBA opices to design a school project um related to a K5 or a 78 that appropriation is very

530
02:35:39.920 --> 02:35:56.000
specific to MSBA program and that type of a project in order for the school building committee to study and design a non MSBA project that is they do need appropriation. We think about $1.2 2 million solution is sufficient to get it

531
02:35:56.000 --> 02:36:11.200
to a point where that project can then come back to the voters into town for full approval for the total project budget a year or whatever that timeline is for that. Um so the question here to the board and it says in that school

532
02:36:11.200 --> 02:36:28.720
committee has whether we would want to give the school building committee appropriation to commence work once a decision has been made or not MSBA otherwise they will need to wait till a future town meeting for future

533
02:36:28.720 --> 02:36:45.359
to proceed. Um, so it would mean there are two appropriations out there for the school building committee to to design two schools. We know they wouldn't do that, but I just do know the um that might be a little funky or um or just a little

534
02:36:45.359 --> 02:37:01.439
strange, but I if the intention is to have them once a decision related to MSBA is made to just start working, it would be in the interest to have an appropriation available. Um, so that's I don't know that provided

535
02:37:01.439 --> 02:37:17.120
prior context when I share this, but that's that's kind of the decision that we have to make this related to an additional school. So, we'd have two appropriations for two sites, but that does not mean that funds are being spent

536
02:37:17.120 --> 02:37:34.720
>> because one set of funds can't be spent on it's not like you can't take Guile Road the Guy Roadation vice versa. >> Yeah. And I didn't put in language, but there could be additional language that says provided that, you know, your fund

537
02:37:34.720 --> 02:37:50.399
shall be expended if the town is proceeding with the project with MSBA or something just to kind of clarify that. I I didn't I wasn't really good at something like that. That would be another way to kind of build on that. But yes, there would

538
02:37:50.399 --> 02:38:05.680
be two two separate appropriations. The school building committee is going to start using the MSBA1 now until we stop going seems like we need the appropriation. I'm

539
02:38:05.680 --> 02:38:22.560
sort of thinking about whether but but like the explanation or messaging would be really important for Tom meeting and I think I land where you do that maybe that needs to happen like around some presentation or something

540
02:38:22.560 --> 02:38:42.080
and maybe not through the actual article language because that it just seems like there's a couple things in flux >> to try to accomplish that in the article is my instinct. Is that sort of where upserted or where you landed in not trying to write? >> That's why I left it as just a regular

541
02:38:42.080 --> 02:39:02.280
appropriation that >> we wouldn't spend $2.7 million designing it. We would spend one appropriation or the other. >> I think we just need to do some communication do something crazy.

542
02:39:05.200 --> 02:39:22.880
some kind of presentation language. >> So we would work on how we would actually present the article at >> I I just I mean to get to there's some nuance here in terms of the timing in

543
02:39:22.880 --> 02:39:38.319
which this would be spent. I think like if you just read it, it might suggest like at any point like this this spending will occur when in reality I think it would be

544
02:39:38.319 --> 02:39:58.560
we need the appropriation but it's something might trigger that to happen. Um I I don't know. I mean my guts is lean towards word smithing something in here >> is this doesn't this doesn't

545
02:39:58.560 --> 02:40:16.080
>> oh >> reference current for that >> yes it references library obviously by address the money can only be spent to design something at that location so that is one kind of set of parameters on

546
02:40:16.080 --> 02:40:33.359
But otherwise it doesn't matter. >> I I just worry we get into a point where people are like wanting to get upith like that could take days. So, so what I could anticipate, right, or the question I would have to try to anticipate any

547
02:40:33.359 --> 02:40:49.280
language restricting the expenditure against road, right? Can would it be question or off the top of your head? Can you can you insert language

548
02:40:49.280 --> 02:41:03.760
in an article authorizing appropriation that also hibits the actual um I'm I'm getting tired so I'm losing

549
02:41:03.760 --> 02:41:22.399
words that can you can you like halt or clue the incumbrance of funds appropriated that that have already been appropriated in another can you reference reference the road so the article

550
02:41:22.399 --> 02:41:37.520
>> it might be >> the article is for labor But we would reference the existing appropriation for local road. >> Yeah. >> I'm I think okay with that and hoping that we don't confuse folks, >> right?

551
02:41:37.520 --> 02:41:53.040
>> Right now we're only talking about one just one. >> So the G road appropriation had provided that no money shall be expended until the town is been approved by the MSBA. Broadly language of that. So it could I

552
02:41:53.040 --> 02:42:09.520
can work with council. I I should also note that that it's just a draft motion that this is the warm committee's motion. So we can prepare and submit to them proposed language. We don't need that now. The article which was the nonfolded portion was sufficient for submitting an article

553
02:42:09.520 --> 02:42:32.240
>> and we can work proposed language. >> I'm not proposing the language [laughter] >> right now. >> I'll let the attorney All right. On our list would be the Athens fire station. So, as I noted in an email to the select board, the fire

554
02:42:32.240 --> 02:42:47.840
station building committee met last week and um just in terms of their overall progress on the design is not at a place where they would be prepared to have a cost estimate and uh and a wellprepared design for the town meetings

555
02:42:47.840 --> 02:43:04.160
deliberation at the at the fall town meeting. I think we should have I think we raised expectations a little bit higher than we perhaps should have that they would have been able to turn around from you know approval in May to come back and not in the fall. Um it was a lot of work to be proposing done in a short amount of time. We're just not

556
02:43:04.160 --> 02:43:21.680
there. Um so where they landed was that is a project that will require question. Um so the timeline that they discussed that again would be the sub court's decision but you know February and March special town meeting to take up the

557
02:43:21.680 --> 02:43:38.720
appropriation for a followed by including the ball town election to avoid special election cost. We would incur you know the expense of the time related to the special town meeting. Um but if we able to hit that kind of threshold and timeline the project

558
02:43:38.720 --> 02:43:56.479
should be able to start at around time started to fall. So there is a significant delay um around the project at all. Um but it does mean a revised timeline to be ready. The other benefit is depending on when that town meeting

559
02:43:56.479 --> 02:44:11.200
would be called they would be able to put the project up to bid have a contractor's bid to say this is what the cost to be the construction contract ready to be signed up. very clear specificities

560
02:44:11.200 --> 02:44:27.680
but just is not ready for the fall. >> Is the readiness just due is that just design timing? >> Yeah, the design process didn't really kick off until um >> it was aggressive. It was an aggressive design timeline.

561
02:44:27.680 --> 02:44:43.760
>> You have contracts done, amendments approved, it's work start. Um it just it was a fast turnaround and we probably should message out a little bit carefully. Um but um so they are nonf.

562
02:44:43.760 --> 02:45:04.720
>> Let's revisit later. Uh the next three on the agenda are short-term rentals and related articles. Um as it was alluded to in public comment, um the planning board feels more time is is necessary to work on that article. Um related to how

563
02:45:04.720 --> 02:45:21.040
short-term rental would be regulated um what kind of level that would work on staff and various departments that would be responsible for implementation that regulatory regime. Um so that is not necessarily a zoning article that

564
02:45:21.040 --> 02:45:40.479
needs to come from a plan but they feel that more work is necessary to have that >> can I ask a question on that one >> we don't that's a planning board so we don't have any >> for them to put it forward or language

565
02:45:40.479 --> 02:45:56.080
>> um >> so it's a nonzoning it's not an amendment to the zoning So it could come from >> anywhere. >> It could come from citizens petition. It could come from the select board. It could come from from the board of health. So it could be submitted by any

566
02:45:56.080 --> 02:46:12.319
um authority. But any board has taken the lead on trying to work on it and spent a decent amount of time on it to this point. But it doesn't necessarily have >> I'm not saying we should do it. It's just >> I do I do think the reason that they've surfaced for why they think it's not

567
02:46:12.319 --> 02:46:30.319
ready is is a good reason for them to take it back and share it because there are a lot of town departments that they need to have buy in and input from for this to be an effective. >> Well,

568
02:46:30.319 --> 02:46:48.000
so I think the two town departments are being called on to weigh in on this and practically speaking they would bear some of the operational burden being the inction department and the board of health.

569
02:46:48.000 --> 02:47:05.120
Um it's t it's it's pretty tricky in government getting um what concerns me is there's like two separate departments with two separate leads and it's like

570
02:47:05.120 --> 02:47:20.800
who are we having mitigate and manage and ensure that um something is going to get to us by the next because I think it's it's it's fun. It's

571
02:47:20.800 --> 02:47:39.279
it's um it makes sense that they're we have to think about implementation, but like we can't we can't we need to prioritize getting this done because people are concerned about it. And it

572
02:47:39.279 --> 02:47:57.840
also supports, you know, our our goals for um maintaining housing stock for residents and impacts affordability like I I don't I don't want this to turn into people not doing anything because

573
02:47:57.840 --> 02:48:14.080
it got complicated to think of implementation >> and these two departments report to you not the planning board. I think one element here is we're trying to get to a regulatory regime that authorizes this

574
02:48:14.080 --> 02:48:30.880
for owner occupants. So as a policy choice there's a policy choice to just say no these are not permitted at all and that would be a cleaner easier to prepare bylaw but if we are going to

575
02:48:30.880 --> 02:48:47.680
regulate then it becomes a bit more challenging. So, but I guess my question to this board is do you want to just prohibit them or are you more comfortable with uh a regulatory that will that should limit them and cut down a number of them and only allow them in

576
02:48:47.680 --> 02:49:05.840
certain circumstances. But the other alternative would be say as a policy option in the town we actually don't want these >> in the town at all. >> I don't know that we really talked about that as an option. I don't know if the board's interested in that, but that would be easier pathway from a bylaw

577
02:49:05.840 --> 02:49:23.920
perspective. >> What have other towns done in our position, right? Like we're not the only I mean it's definitely it's potentially a revenue source for us. I think people are going to do it anyway whether it's

578
02:49:23.920 --> 02:49:41.359
it's legal but whether it's regulated or not and you know these things have been around for you know definitely over a decade right like other municipalities in the state have figured out how to do

579
02:49:41.359 --> 02:49:57.279
this >> and they've done it with requiring annual inspections or alternatively >> they passed a bylaw and given the regulatory authority to the board of health. It's like you go to regulations now. So it's >> it's doing kind of half the work and

580
02:49:57.279 --> 02:50:12.479
getting a bylaw in place that authorizes regulations that then turns that to another board to do a future process. >> So uh we've looked at both versions of kind of slim down that says some other board will write regulations once this by alternatively kind of putting more

581
02:50:12.479 --> 02:50:26.720
into the crux of the bylaw and less into future regulations. Um but that's kind of mixed across the board in terms of across different citizens in terms of their draft. But >> I I to try to give you feedback to your

582
02:50:26.720 --> 02:50:42.479
question. Um my view would you know I haven't studied what draft was kicking around like deeply. I was sort of waiting for it to come to us. But my view and the view I've heard from residents is um

583
02:50:42.479 --> 02:51:00.319
to would be to proceed under like a regulated framework. Um and you know my instinct was the bylaw was pretty far along and seemed like um you know Hal Munger did a fair amount of

584
02:51:00.319 --> 02:51:17.279
like engagement on it too which was nice to see. Um so you know, just want to answer your question. I I think it's if that, you know, I think it's worth whatever effort we're having to do here to try to like, you know, push that

585
02:51:17.279 --> 02:51:36.800
along. >> So, what would be next steps to push it along? Like, is is there still a way to try to keep this for fall? Could we meet with planning board? And how can we I hope in fall.

586
02:51:36.800 --> 02:51:52.319
>> My understanding of the timeline is that um warrant committee needs in early September drafts of articles to hit you know >> articles now sorry articles now in order

587
02:51:52.319 --> 02:52:08.080
to hit their to finish their review by >> they would need to submit asis which they're not comfortable with and I don't know if they have the partnership will buy it or whatever that they need from the health or

588
02:52:08.080 --> 02:52:26.680
department to make this work. >> Yeah. >> Um but >> as long as I just want to keep some tension on this back to Megan's point. >> Yeah. So I think we're talking about making this very clear that we let this act.

589
02:52:28.399 --> 02:52:50.640
I don't think we want to as a board just say, >> right? >> No, no, I think there's a lot of reasons to make money while we have our we already talked about the multi-

590
02:52:50.640 --> 02:53:06.479
village local historic district and um the last article which we talked about prior meeting is the one related to communities to amend the affordability from 10% to 50%. Now that we have a economic feasibility

591
02:53:06.479 --> 02:53:24.640
analysis that 50% so again more of a housekeeping more article um to do that so we have one two three four five six seven articles assuming that

592
02:53:24.640 --> 02:53:51.080
the two relate to are needed so the action from the board tonight will be to submissions by questions. I'll take motion. >> Um,

593
02:53:52.720 --> 02:54:08.880
>> I was just seeing if I had the right tally of which one go. >> That's what I was trying to figure out. The math is a math thing here. started >> A through F on the agenda and the additional article related to

594
02:54:08.880 --> 02:54:32.880
so A through F and L A through F and L >> L is not listed >> but that's K >> I just count six >> am I wrong A B C and then add L D. There

595
02:54:32.880 --> 02:54:49.200
it is. I got it. >> I can do it. You want help me do it? >> Uh move to approve the following warrant articles for inclusion in the special town meeting warrant A, B, C, D, E, F, and O.

596
02:54:49.200 --> 02:55:06.520
>> Sounds soious on YouTube. Motion made. >> Second. >> Motion seconded. Uh Mr. Driscoll. >> Yes. So, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> And myself, yes.

597
02:55:06.720 --> 02:55:21.840
>> Uh, I think we're skipping item nine validot questions. Have any of those? Uh, yes. Now, item 10. Um, this is not much for us to discuss. It's more an idea of process. Uh, we

598
02:55:21.840 --> 02:55:38.160
have received the responses for the RFP uh tonight for the East Milton Fire Station RFP. We're not going to be having further discuss. Just want to discuss the process of it. So uh we have a rubric that was sent around by Mr. Milano with the scoring system. Uh we

599
02:55:38.160 --> 02:55:54.000
are all to take the RFPs back, review, score the rubric for ourselves, submit it to Mr. Milano and then at our next meeting we will discuss those scores and also our next steps whether it's to award whether we like that more

600
02:55:54.000 --> 02:56:09.920
information um whatever the selector feels uh should at the Eastwood fire station. It's not necessarily the last um item on that, but it is the next step for us in the process >> by when

601
02:56:09.920 --> 02:56:25.439
possible. I guess >> before the next meeting >> before the next meeting >> prior to a week before at least a week before >> that will work that would work well. September 1st. >> Got it. The only other thing I would mention is if the board was interested in

602
02:56:25.439 --> 02:56:42.800
conducting interviews with each of the proposers prior to doing evaluations. Um if yes, then we should schedule that to take place prior to conducting evaluations. So that is we allowed for it in the RFP. We did not require it. Was not required

603
02:56:42.800 --> 02:57:06.720
to do it. You can based on >> um can we request interviews for the evaluations. I will do if we did now that would require us

604
02:57:06.720 --> 02:57:24.080
doing it within vacation time a couple very limited spots before the next meeting. >> And why why does it need to happen before next meeting? Just to stay on track. We'll be sharing >> okay >> our scores

605
02:57:24.080 --> 02:57:44.080
>> or you can push that back as well accommodate interviews that >> do the members feel that we need interviews or are we comfortable with viewing the applications and scoring? I don't want to go with someone on that

606
02:57:44.080 --> 02:58:01.520
site without like having a conversation. >> One for >> It's a manageable number too, you know. >> Yeah. >> For [laughter] I can go either way. >> On the fence. John, how do you feel?

607
02:58:01.520 --> 02:58:17.279
>> I'll go for the interviews. >> All right. It's three for interviews. So, yes. Can we still individually look at the applications? >> Yes. And the um just for anybody interested, the all the proposals are provided on the town. It's it's on our

608
02:58:17.279 --> 02:58:36.000
bid page, which may be a bit tricky to find. So we'll we'll send out a news announcement as to where they are, but all three proposals are available online. >> Um can we right now select a week where we feel we can do the

609
02:58:36.000 --> 02:58:52.160
interviews? >> Not sure there is one in August, but we can try. I can't do it. >> I can Yeah. >> I know, right? As usual, [laughter] right? I can do I can do the week after

610
02:58:52.160 --> 02:59:10.880
September 1st >> or the week of September 1st. Can you >> Can you do August like August Monday, August 31st, the week of that? >> Oh, yeah. I can do Monday, August 31st. >> Okay. So that last week of August, first week of September.

611
02:59:10.880 --> 02:59:26.880
>> Yeah. Those days. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> That just like September I mean August 24th year. >> All right. So do we we would need to have a this open >> regular meeting.

612
02:59:26.880 --> 02:59:42.720
September 1st. >> Sure. Keep it a Tuesday night. >> September 1st is okay. >> Yeah. John, is September 1st okay for you? >> Yes. >> All right. September 1st interviews.

613
02:59:42.720 --> 02:59:58.800
>> Okay. So, we will reach out to them to schedule that. We'll give them 15 minutes for a presentation and 20 to 30 minutes for questions. >> Um, for the questions for us as a board, do we want to craft specific questions

614
02:59:58.800 --> 03:00:16.080
so that we are asking each candidate the same questions and not doing this So >> questions which we will create unless we have those >> we can draft some but if any specific question that members would like to include on the list for consideration

615
03:00:16.080 --> 03:00:39.920
just shoot them to us >> craft questions for from the first meeting of the east fire station candidates for >> exciting >> oh Sorry. Good catch. That's that we can't do that night. Sorry. >> What? >> September 1st of the state primary.

616
03:00:39.920 --> 03:00:56.160
>> Son of a I mean >> so you could do it the night before or the night after but it is a conflict and we shouldn't meet that night. >> We try to >> August 31st. >> Yeah. >> John August 31st. >> Yes.

617
03:00:56.160 --> 03:01:27.760
>> All right. Monday. 7 p.m. Uh item 11 vote to determine a maximum useful life of capital equipment approved at 2026 annual town meeting. Mr.

618
03:01:27.760 --> 03:01:43.359
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh so for capital equipment when we go to issue debt for it the [snorts] maximum useful life is five years unless the select board votes to set a longer useful life. Um we already do this process through the capital process

619
03:01:43.359 --> 03:01:58.319
where anytime we take capital requests in we request for departments to submit their useful life and then the capital committee makes recommendation of a useful life town meeting which is then voted by the town meeting. Um so we're really looking for a ratification

620
03:01:58.319 --> 03:02:14.000
essentially what the capital done now to set the following useful life following capital equipment as displayed on the screen. Um so this is bus um front end motors skid steers um network hardware any kind of cap

621
03:02:14.000 --> 03:02:29.680
equipment item. So this is the maximum length that we can issue for these with and we do try to to trim that down where possible. Um the idea is you don't want to borrow um money for a friend and lo for 20 years if it's only going to last you 10 years

622
03:02:29.680 --> 03:02:45.680
and then you're paying debt on something that maybe doesn't last full the full 20. In that case a front end load should last 20. It's just an example. You want to keep those bond terms roughly in line with the equipment will last. Um so we we try to keep it below what the actual

623
03:02:45.680 --> 03:03:06.640
useful will be so that we're not carrying that cost too long. And these are in place until they get changed again. >> Correct. >> If no further questions, I'll take a

624
03:03:06.640 --> 03:03:28.080
motion. Um, I would like to move uh that the select board determines the maximum useful capital equipment approved at the 2026 annual town meetings shall be displayed. >> Yeah. Shall be displayed

625
03:03:28.080 --> 03:03:45.800
on the chart in the column labeled useful life at town. >> Motion made. >> Second. >> Motion seconded. John. Yes. >> Pete. >> Yes. >> Megan. >> Yes. >> Megan. >> Yes. >> Amy. Yes.

626
03:03:45.840 --> 03:04:01.359
>> All right. Item 12, committee reports. I feel like we heard from the school building committee, but there's anything >> I think we've covered it. >> All right. John, airplane noise. >> Yes. Uh, we met a week or two ago. It

627
03:04:01.359 --> 03:04:17.120
was very productive. people they're looking for some uh instrument reading right Nick uh that they need try to put something together uh this year

628
03:04:17.120 --> 03:04:32.000
massport FAA they said the the devices have been around the town so they're just looking for the readings on them and they'd like to appoint another member for the airplane

629
03:04:32.000 --> 03:04:54.279
if you have anybody applying All right. Thank you, John. Item 13, special election one. I think we can skip this. >> Uh, no, this would be to approve the special warrant as the top.

630
03:04:55.040 --> 03:05:10.479
>> I'm sorry. It says special it should say state election. Sorry. State election. Yes, sorry. Excuse me. That would be the confusion. The state election warrant for All right. >> So, move to approve the state election warrant dated Tuesday, September 1st, 2026.

631
03:05:10.479 --> 03:05:25.680
>> Motion made. >> Second. >> Second. John >> yes. >> Pete, >> yes. >> Megan, >> yes. >> Yes. >> And me? Yes. >> All right. Discussion approval of boards and committees. I think we'll take these

632
03:05:25.680 --> 03:05:46.240
uh one by one. Um, so anything to discuss or move to approve the bicycle advisory committee. Oh, wait. Sorry, we haven't discussed the composition in charge, right? Um,

633
03:05:46.240 --> 03:06:07.240
are we ready to vote on this for bicycle committee? >> I believe so. This is only five, but charge. I'll just give it a minute and then I'll I'll give the motion so people can read it. >> Just make that seven.

634
03:06:13.920 --> 03:06:31.520
>> Um we have no existing bicycle advisory committee members are present. Correct. >> Correct. There are we did receive an application in the last day or two from Sony who had served on it previously. >> Okay. >> Um but

635
03:06:31.520 --> 03:06:49.479
>> I don't believe any of the applicants are past members of the three agenda. >> Okay. So So we're approving the charge first and then the three members three. Okay.

636
03:06:50.000 --> 03:07:09.680
>> I'll take a motion question. Any questions? You want me to break this up? >> Um, move to approve the bicycle advisory committee charge. >> Second. >> Motion made second. John,

637
03:07:09.680 --> 03:07:26.240
>> yes. >> Yes. >> Megan, >> yes. >> Megan, >> yes. >> Myself, yes. >> Move to approve the bicycle advisory committee. um move to appoint the following individuals for one-year terms. Um Echo

638
03:07:26.240 --> 03:07:49.279
Burquist, Richard Bourke, and Shelley Wolf. >> Seconded, John. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yep. >> Thanks for >> Thanks for doing the charge, Nick. [snorts] And thanks for those members to

639
03:07:49.279 --> 03:08:06.479
um you know get this re relaunched. >> We will have two more applicants on the next meeting. We receive two more applications over the weekend. >> Looks like John Driscoll has >> John you got your hand raised. >> No, I did that by mistake.

640
03:08:06.479 --> 03:08:20.720
>> All right. All right. Uh so for the conservation commission appointment, we are only appointing one. So we will need to select one of the three candidates. Is there anyone that members would like to

641
03:08:20.720 --> 03:08:37.600
put forth and make support? >> While we get organized on that, I just wanted to thank um Dr. Ingred Bey for 19 years of service on this committee which

642
03:08:37.600 --> 03:09:01.040
created this vacancy. Um candidates. >> Go ahead, John. >> I'd like to put forward George worked very hard for the Futter Scale

643
03:09:01.040 --> 03:09:16.720
Garden. She's been on the woman's club flowers. She's a very nice lady and uh I I really support her in this role. >> Questions from others.

644
03:09:16.720 --> 03:09:32.640
>> Um I mean this is a competitive set of applicants here. Impressive group and I I hope that you know we we can find places on on positions for all three of them because

645
03:09:32.640 --> 03:09:51.439
this is a tough one. Um, so, um, I was respectfully going to, um, nominate and advocate for another candidate, um, procedurally. Do we

646
03:09:51.439 --> 03:10:07.279
discuss John's motion first or do we discuss this all at once? >> Yeah, it doesn't matter. I'll just I I I I think that um I mean they all very strong um I I don't know how to pronounce your

647
03:10:07.279 --> 03:10:26.479
last name, but I thought uh Mary Reich showed what jumped out at me among three very qualified candidates was what you know from the application sort of a unique um interest in this particular committee

648
03:10:26.479 --> 03:10:42.640
um including sort of you know meeting with prior members to you know make sure it was the right committee to sign up for and you know that just was the one differentiating factor I thought between the three applications

649
03:10:42.640 --> 03:11:00.720
um so that would be my hope so Milan guidance here um with two candidates put forth is the best way for us to receive this procedural reference. I apologize

650
03:11:00.720 --> 03:11:17.200
to the board. Um, >> you probably have to do one by one. >> Seeking a second for Mr. Driscoll's nomination first. >> Um, >> second >> seconding Mr. Driscoll's nomination for second candidate as well.

651
03:11:17.200 --> 03:11:32.160
>> I would say deal with the motion on the floor which is a judge motion. Motion has been made and seconded to appoint Georgia Lee Sher

652
03:11:32.160 --> 03:11:52.399
Lee. Um and take it to a vote. John, >> yes. >> Um just just because I I was offering the other candidate. So I'll go um no for this.

653
03:11:52.399 --> 03:12:25.680
>> No. And for myself, um I will say yes uh because Miss Lee has applied I think a couple of times for this uh commission. So, George Lee will be appointed. >> I That's great. You know, I mean, they

654
03:12:25.680 --> 03:12:52.120
all seem very strong. So, >> and I will um I I think we'll reach out to both Mary and Tom and see if they're Tom had expressed interest in several committees. Um and Pete and I had spoken about checked out traffic. Thank you. We'll move to the next.

655
03:12:53.680 --> 03:13:14.000
>> These are reappointments for the capital planning committee. Uh >> move to appoint um the list as written to the conservation commission. >> Right. What happened to >> We just did that.

656
03:13:14.000 --> 03:13:29.120
>> We did consultations online. >> I think it's a slow tight. >> Oh, I see. I got you. I I see. I I'm I got Yes. I I'm just not I'm tired. >> Move to reappoint the following individuals to the capital improvement

657
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planning committee for a one-year term as written. >> Second. >> Which mean? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Myself. Yes. >> Okay. Move to fire station building

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committee. >> We historically had a selective order liaison to the fire station building committee. Um should have flag this uh in the spring. Apologize for that. But uh the board does not have to appoint a leazison but um could and ask that

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member. Are there any members that'd like to volunteer? >> What's the what's the runway on that committee? So, it will be through what what through the completion of the project. >> Correct. Uh they meet they've been

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meeting monthly. Um they pretty much stick to a monthly schedule. They'll meet monthly until is built and closed out. So, um that committee will last about another to three years. Um, and then right now they're they're have a some like a working group planned around

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just some of the issues that might meet more often than the full committee, but the full committee meets monthly additional meetings on a case by case basis. >> John, I see your hand up. >> Pete wants this, he can have it, but if

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he doesn't want it, I'll take it. I was interested, but John, you should take it. I've got um some busy committees on my plate, so um by all means, John. Thank you. >> So, I guess

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have some further discussion. I'll nominate John. >> Motion made a second. >> Second. >> Motion made and seconded. Um just right. Yes. >> Megan.

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>> Yes. >> Megan. >> Yes. >> And myself. Yes. John, congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Move to the affordable housing trust. Take a motion. Move um to appoint Levita Johnson to the

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trustees of the affordable housing trust for a one-year term. >> Second. >> Seconded. John. >> Yes. >> Pete. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Megan. >> Yes. >> Myself. Yes. Congratulations, M. Uh our our next is the Milton Housing

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Authority. Um this is also we are to select one of the candidates I I would like to put forth Mary Kirby. Reason being um Miss Kirby lives at the Miller A residence which I believe Mr. Driscoll spoke of um getting some funding

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recently and I know there's going to be some work done at that address and I think a resident there would be a great value ad to the affordable housing trust. So I will put Mary Curtain forward for

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the appointments. >> John, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Myself. Yes. All right. Item 16, discussion approval of our election officer appointments.

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Anything you'd like to share, Mr. >> Oh, sorry, Mr. Uh we got we got to [laughter] the select board makes regular appointments uh confirming the election officers, the wardens and clerks and all the other poll workers

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who do yman's works in managing and running and um working all elections. So we appreciate their efforts and I'm sure um could use more bodies. If anybody else is interested to all of our very hardworking election

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officers, I'll take a motion to appoint and reappoint the election officers maintained by town's office. >> Seconded John. >> Yes. >> Yes. Megan. >> Yes. >> Megan. >> Yes. And

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>> myself. Yes. Item 17, discussion approval of one day liquor licenses. Who would like to read those? >> Move to approve the one day liquor license to the Milton Chamber of Commerce, Milton Art Center, Vance

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Welsh. Let me cut you up. I just wanted to see >> Oh, sorry. >> Walk us through this kind of a site map. This one. Uh this is in addition to everyone remembers the town meeting discussion about the um beer garden sort

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of setup that was passed. I believe those are identified. >> I don't know if I printed the right one. Is it marked up there? Maybe not. So we'll we'll pass this one around. So uh if members will recall last year there was debate over adding

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um >> Oh, it is. Okay, good. So there were a couple versions, so I apologize for confusion. Uh town meeting voted to change the town's bio to allow for alcohol on town land with a number of requirements. Um the applicants have

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said and have stated that um they're working to complete all the requirements. They're aware of them related to insurance certificate insurance looking at those levels. Um they'll either use a beer garden um or not. So they'll they'll set up a

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dedicated for um alcohol service. Um or they would be open to not having like a more limited space and allowing it throughout the deck, but they're open to whatever preferences around that. The dialogue does allow to demarcate a

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specific area where alcohol will be allowed. um and they're prepared to deal with their clients again like I said related to insurance related to tip certified servers related to wristbands um and so the the two questions are

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big picture does want to issue an alcohol license for this event the back to business event for the chamber and at the deck and if yes do you want what do you want to set as the location where service and consumption would be Can I

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ask a quick question? I feel like I remember when we were discussing this by meeting that we weren't going to sign this like

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specifically like we weren't going to be drawing on maps because we're not necessarily like the experts in setting boundaries for consuming alcohol. >> Did I not remember that correctly? I

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could not I could have misremembered that. But >> it specifically says ultimately it's up to the board to decide. They submitted a proposed location. Yeah. >> That said locations on this map the restricted

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access garden that's in dollar. So we have police department and fire department and whoever else is qualify to comment on this qualified

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>> I mean comment on it. Sorry, >> not on a specific location in this case in terms of having restricted or not. um than previous events um where obviously prior one day licenses before they fully issued what she will sign off on but in

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this case it was the first so we really I was thinking the board might have a strong preference so I was seeking your first generally >> kind of >> because for example you could limit it

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to the you could limit it to the park or you could use what they proposes their district. So it would be so we have the ability to say either the space is bigger, the space is larger or we can

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move the area but the garden only exists. >> Yes. >> Are there sales and area of consumption of restricted so we have We have you have a really

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strong feeling about where it should be. >> I want to know if Chief King has a strong opinion of where it should be. >> No, sorry. I I went in the reverse order. >> Okay. >> So, I think what we can do is we can inform the applicants that generally the board is is comfortable with this and um

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however is going to seek input on from the chief and others in terms of a specific location on the public safety >> and we can see that up for the first prior to >> I don't know if anyone else feels the same way. I I realize I had a strong

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opinion about it. >> It's it's a good it's a good process. >> It's not it's a good process to start the others first. >> That's yeah with our first >> but we can still approve it. >> I would hold it. We'll tell them.

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>> Okay. where there's no not no we don't expect to not allow it but we're pull some additional details and we'll let them know >> but that's good it's very good uh so move to the second

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>> move to the next one >> uh move to approve the one day liquor license to James Southfield of Break Rock Brewing of 534 Victory Road, Quinzy for the White Pine Vintage Market on

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October 17th, 2026, 10:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. at Governor Hutchinson Field. >> Motion made. >> Second. >> Seconded. John, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Megan, >> yes. >> Megan, >> yes. >> Yes. All right. Moving to item 18.

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Discussion approval of the meeting minutes July 14th, 2026 and July 21st, 2026. >> I would like to move to approve the amended meeting minutes for July 14th, 2026 and July 21st, 2026.

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>> Second motion made seconded. John, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Megan, >> yes. >> Megan, >> yes. >> And myself, yes. And we're on to number 19, the town administrator's report. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll just do quickly two parks updates. First, um

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Everly Park on Summer Street is coming together. All the playground equipment is fully installed and preparing to install the new um rubber surface. So, that project is coming on quickly there. Um and then in terms of the lower turf fields, um appeals on that project were

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due on Mass DP's approval of the project um by the end of the day yesterday. As far as we can tell from the court's office, um no appeal has been filed. We have not considered an appeal. We have not found an appeal file court. So um

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that project is able to proceed um under the prior approval from conservation commission. So it's been delayed for several years. Um but we'll be working with the landscape architects of that project and starting a

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construction schedule that makes sense likely. excuse me, sometime next month. >> It's good news on >> D. Uh this will be in future agenda items, but uh we should expect to speak with Clarks. I know they have their master

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plan that we just um learn more about, but also with parks for how we move forward with this project um four years later. Great. John, do you have your hands raised? >> Yes. For Megan's report.

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>> Uh, no, not yet. I thought you just I thought you put your hand up for the um parts for Nick's report. >> All right. I'm sorry. >> That's all right. I'll go quickly through the chair's report. Uh, not much um here and it's already late. I would just like to congratulate uh JD and Dan

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Carrian and opening of two pence. If you have not been uh you should. It's a great little market and I think it will become even over time. Um, anytime I've been in there, it's been packed. So, traffic has been great. Uh, with the discussion we've had today about Milton

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Village and also the creation of new businesses and new amenities and new resources for um, our residents. It is a great place to visit, a great place to finally have. So, congratulations to members reports. Anyone? John?

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>> Yes. Thank you. I want to apologize if I have to believe. So, thank you for letting me. I just wanted the town people to know and I'm a culpate of this. I was on the capital committee uh a year ago. We voted for a generator for

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the library about four weeks ago. I found out the generators going in front of the library. going in front of the building and to this day it's still got got me infuriated that I even voted for this.

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I'm a culprit of this. I only knew that it was going to go in front of the building would have voted no. Then liies on a the hospital neighborhood and they don't let the hospital stay out of electricity very long. So, this

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generator is costing $380,000. It's going in front of the building. So, you come down the driveway. It's right there. They need the transformer cuz they didn't want to spend another 280 to put it behind the building off to the

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side for the piping. And this is a scenic roadway. It's a scenic roadway. And I don't think the generator should be in front of this building. Well, I just want to bring that to all the town people's attention that that's

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coming to the front of that building. Thank you. >> Thank you, John. >> All right. Uh public comment response. Um we've shared a little bit from uh Mrs. Felton's

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uh view on short-term rentals. We've had an update there that we'll continue to work on that to get it ready for spring. Um for the 138 and Mass relationship. I think that is more to come. Um we have

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been in communication with Mass. We've not been as specific about researching the overflow to 138 um and Kent Nav, but that is something that we will um raise forward. Can we talk just one or two comments on

712
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that? First, I think Nick's been doing a great job to try to convey to Mass DOT the views and information provided from Mr. Corey and other can't have

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03:29:25.200 --> 03:29:42.000
residents. Um, the part about the comments that I'm beyond that that caught my attention is is there anything the select board can do to be helpful there? Because it does seem to me like,

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you know, if we're going to secure any kind of help from Mass there, like strike while the iron's hot, you know, in the wake of their presentation in May. Um, so either now or soon, you

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know, I'd be interested in like, you know, so so his suggestion was invite them back. Um, I I don't know what the right sort of move could be there to kind of show our interest. I'm sure you're conveying

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that. Um, whether it's like um could one of us like join a call call just to like reinforce the views or something like that. But, you know, I'm open to trying to try to make the most of this, you know, post window right here, which, you

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know, I think if it's two years after, probably don't have a lot of momentum. I can um we can reach out to the team again. They've obviously been very responsive and helpful throughout this process. Um, and that's kind of outstanding item. I can reach out and

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said something, you know, asking me for the next meeting. response that way and report back and if that doesn't get respons >> okay >> and I don't think that they have good data on the upper canton piece right

719
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it's all from um shoot I don't but not in the upper canon piece and I you know right they measured from yes >> right they measured from but I don't

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think they captured I'd like to see them capture that right there. I you know I hear Mr. Cory's point about people are there's a lot more traffic there. >> What is the data? >> Yeah. And we are doing some homework to try to pull any counts and data that we

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have but everything that we have is all templates from 2018. So it's it's pretty pretty old at this point. Um but we were pulling that to share as well. So I can follow up on that and um as I mentioned just reach out Are any

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03:31:57.840 --> 03:32:17.359
masked up? >> Yes, we the town can >> Yes. Not 138 yet. >> If we're talking, yes, that would be our street um that we could grab coign with our internal equipment.

723
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the challenge. We that would be the present condition. We just don't we missed the opportunity to do but we could at least see what was carrying in terms of capacity volume. >> You said you had 28 pounds, right?

724
03:32:35.920 --> 03:32:52.000
Well, that doesn't capture like the that's like, but we're also kind of I think I mean I'm not an engineer, but I think 2018 >> and those are more stretch

725
03:32:52.000 --> 03:33:17.920
>> because some something >> someone may Yeah. argue, but It's also where it >> Okay. Future meeting schedule. Um we just added September 1st. >> August. >> August 31st.

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August 31st. August 31st. Uh September 8th and still September 22nd. All right. Future agenda items. Anyone? With that, I will move to enter executive session to consider the

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purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property, Labor Day College, 303 Adams Street. Based on my belief that discussion of this matter in open session may have a detrimental effect in negotiating position of the select board. The select board will return to open session. I also move to enter into

728
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executive session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining. Milton Clerical Unit of the Southeastern Public Employees Association, Milton Professional Management Association, Milton Public Employee Association, Milton Firefighters, Local 1116, Milton Police Association, Milton Superior Officers, Milton Library Association.

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Based on my belief in discussion of this matter, an open session may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the select board. Michael will not return to possession. >> Seconded. John, >> yes. >> Yes.

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>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Myself. Yes. >> And I'll take a motion to motion. >> Move to adjourn. >> Second. Motion made second. John. >> Yes. Pete. >> Yes.

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03:34:46.640 --> 03:34:51.080
>> Yes. Yes. Myself. Yes.