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can everyone hear me yes you can if everyone could start to take their seats please we have quorum everyone could take their seats thank you ladies and gentlemen Madam clerk do we have a quorum yes we do very good uh with that I announce that the meeting will come to
order my name is Bob hiss and I'm proud to be your town moderator welcome to town this special town meeting in keeping with our tradition we'll uh start our meeting with the pledge of allegiance to the flag if the members would please stand and join me I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all and now if you'll remain standing for a moment we have some guests these are members of the Milton High School chorus who are going to lead us in our national anthem ladies and gentlemen
[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] do that star [Applause] [Music]
for please be seated so I'll proceed by reminding the that we're still operating under the rules of our May uh 2024 town meeting and uh before proceeding with the business of the meeting uh there's certain preliminary matters to be taken
up first permission has been requested for certain members and Personnel of the school committee planning board board of health and other boards committees and departments who are not town meeting members to sit on the floor with other members of their respective boards committees and departments upon the understanding of course that they will not vote hearing no objection from the
body such permission will be and hereby is accorded second commissions granted to Milton cable vision to televise these proceedings also please note that there are two side aisle microphones one here and one over here uh each with the seats in front reserved for those waiting to
be recognized to speak hearing no uh objection then uh certain matters uh coming before the town meeting require a 2third vote this year we have several articles that will require a two-third vote I'll inform you of those before we
we uh vote on those motions uh we'll begin with just some introductory remarks if Mr John Leonard would come up uh to the podium here please if you don't know John Leonard uh John has been a member of the board of appeal since uh 1997 he was our chair since
1999 and he's just decided to retire uh within this past year so that I take that is uh um a long and uh illustrious career on a volunteer basis helping the town of M Milton if we could offer Mr Leonard a warm round of bre thank
you thank you John I'm sad to announce this we've had some uh sad passings uh of some elected officials in town uh since our last meeting uh Miss Kate Middleton who was an active town meeting member of Precinct 2 from 23 to
24 uh Miss Laura kahill who was a past member from 1984 to 2002 for 18 years and from 2017 to 2021 for four years and uh most sadly um
announced that uh a member of our Tucker school um a 10 a 10th grader in fifth grade pardon me fifth 10-year-old fifth grader pardon me passed away uh M uh Pierre Louie and
I just thought I'd offer something we say in uh in my church uh for the death of a young child so oh God whose most dear son did take little children into his arms and bless them give us Grace we beseech thee to entrust the soul of this child to thy
never-failing care and love and bring us all into thy Heavenly Kingdom amen if you join me in a moment of silence please thank you very much uh with that um I'd like to uh ask that we proceed to a presentation by our chair of the warrant committee Mr Tom
calwell who will provide us with some opening remarks so Mr calwell you're recognized hello Tom Caldwell town meeting member of Precinct 6 and your chair of the warrant committee for this year just my opening a remark s I'd like to make I'd
like to ask to the members of the select board our school committee our planning board all the other boards committees and Departments of the Town town meeting members and all those present and watching at home the warrant committee
welcomes you to the 2025 special town meeting as indicated in the warrant uh was was is to the town there are a wide variety of matters uh for your consideration this evening there are Appropriations requested zoning matters bylaw
amendments and additions and also two citizens petitions a little bit of everything similar to what we're going to be doing here uh in about two or three short months uh back again dealing with
business of the town in our special warrant this evening there were eight articles submitted and discussed by the warrant Committee of which each was commented on in the printed warrant mailed to each town meeting member however the remaining seven articles due
to timing and complexity of subject matter addition uh they those all required additional work and thus the warrant committee comments are on the green sheets that you picked up as you walked in and they were also made available on the town
website uh the comments provided in this special warrant are the results of personal research and knowledge discussion as a committee presentations by Town officials and the daily
observations and experiences of 15 unelected citizens representing the various precincts of our great town some are town meeting members others are not some are deeply knowledgeable about the
Affairs of our town and some are not and some FR and frankly some are probably sitting here as they were earlier and saying what did I sign myself up for um now in the warrant committee we
asked difficult questions of people if you've been for before us before you could uh agree with this and sometimes strong comments are made but that is our charge and is what is expected of us however one thing is certain and I want to leave the the body with this the
warrant committee examines all matters of concern to the town with the knowledge and un understanding of human fallibility again I'd like to welcome you to the 20125 town meeting let's get to work thank
you so before we proceed to article one we typically do a test of your uh voting uh clicking devices here to make sure that everybody is able to communicate every device can communicate with our uh antenna so here we have a test do you own a
pet one for yes two for no three for abstain please don't press any other buttons or you could affect the operation of your device by the way we're letting this go for uh 60 seconds because we did have one member who petitioned for uh an ADA
accommodation which was granted uh that member is uh at home and unable to attend due to this uh disability so we have uh a proxy of the town clerk the town clerk I think is operating as a um a proxy for this voter so because of the
delay in uh in broadcast this member needs some time to be able to see what happens on TV and then submit their vote into uh the clerk so we can record it that's our accommodation approach for ADA requirements H our town is divided on pets my
goodness so and someone abstain from owning a pet I'm not sure how to what to make of that um so uh Rob could you put up the results let's have everybody scan through and see if your name is missing up here if it's missing just make your way
up to the gentleman in the white shirt and he will test your device set you by the way in a first this year I had three members actually send in uh a decline RSVP with their regret they would not be able to attend now meeting town meeting
these people were clearly raised right I think thought that was great spe by the way before every town meeting Our IT team over here they do test the devices they swap out the batteries in order to make sure this is going to
operate smoothly for everybody e e e e e I come e Mr Mallet are you good to go
ch leave Rob is everyone uh connected now e all [Music] e e oh okay Mr Mallet are we all good all right we'll proceed to uh
article one recomended that the town vote to appropriate $60,000 from the peg access Enterprise fund to npeg access Inc for the purposes of equipping the meeting room in the former fire headquarters building to support public educational and government access Cable Television
services and to act on anything relating there to anyone wish to speak to this motion if I see by the way if I see people seated in the front row I assume you want to speak in those first two rows there if you wouldn't mind moving
back um a couple rows otherwise uh I'll think we still have speakers all right no one uh this just requires a majority vote all in favor if you could put the question up Mr Mallet all in favor please signify by
pressing one oppose press no three press abstain e the vote passes with a vote of 22421 um article two uh to keep things moving if this is if an article recommendation is more than a paragraph I'm going to wave the reading knowing
that uh you have all prepared and read in advance uh so on this recommendation uh the war committee post a favorable recommendation what I'd like to do is first uh recognize chairman uh Richard I think you may have some slides on this you're going to pass on the slides tonight going to pass on the slides
tonight okay with that does anyone wish to speak to uh article two seeing none will up for a vote Mr Mallet all those in favor of article two please sign signify by pressing one for yes two for no three for obstain for
uh the article passes with a vote of 220 to4 um article three uh this is a favorable recommendation to allow um the expansion of uh alcoholic beverages um I know I do have uh a member that has uh
proposed an amendment uh warrant Committee Member if we could uh put up that Amendment for article three and Mr Zulus you're recognized thank you Mr moderator Mike suus Precinct 3 town meeting member uh
good evening everyone um the proposed amended article has three aspects to it uh the first I'm going to start at the bottom if you could SC scroll down to the bottom because I think that may be the easiest one to explain um the fine
associated with this um the uh the use of the use sale and possession drinking of alcoholic beverages as best I can tell the fines were set back in 1934 at $25 uh with a maximum of $100 we've had
a bit of inflation uh since 19 1934 in fact um I think $1 in 1934 is about $23.55 now and so that gets you up to about $588 from $25 and then
$2,500 I understand just from just today that there is a Massachusetts statute that limits the fines uh for violation of a bylaw at $300 so I don't know if you can change this on the fly but I'd like to change the amendment to say
whoever VI Ates any provision of this section shall be shall be fined in an amount of $300 for each offense it's your Amendment you can do that what's that it's your Amendment so you can do that if we can do it then let's do it so
that's the purpose that the purpose of this is really just to recognize inflation and and if we're going to have a fine let's have a fine $5 really doesn't strike me as much of a fine for violation of um of this uh of this bylaw
that's number one one um all right shall we move ahead oh do you want to do it or do you want me to wait go ahead okay um all right so the second aspect of the amendment is really the large part in
the red there and that puts in four requirements for um allowing the permit for uh alcoholic beverages on Town property now these four requirements were in the warrant committee's were in the warrant committee's comment all of
these were and these are really as they were in the warrant committee's uh comment and I think they're very good ideas and I think in order to give them Force we should put them in the bylaw in the uh the first one is to say that all the requirements of Massachusetts
general laws shall be met if we're going to allow some of these permits this was in the warrant committee comment and the warrant committee um comment states that the the select board intended to do this and the select board stated that it would do this and it would require this
um two Roman at 2 which is um insurance and indemnity so we would require that um all applicants for these licenses would obtain amounts of insurance and indemnity as determined by the select board in consultation with Town Council
and the town's insur that's in the warrant committee's comment and it says that the select board intends to do that um but again if we're going to have any Force here um and if it's going to be um if it's going to be applicable it needs to be in the bylaw the warrant
committee's the warrant committee's comment States um that the select board States and the select board will require I'm not quite sure how the select board did that as we all know the select board can only act by votes um now the select
board may have taken all of those votes to say that they stated it and required it not sure that they did um but regardless um select boards change I I'm living proof of that select boards
change so uh in order for these good ideas to have the force of a bylaw we should include them in the in the bylaw the third one is that the alcohol be served by bartenders who have completed appropriate training for that to limit
underage drinking and overc consumption again a good idea that we were told in the comment that the select board intends to do we should have it in the bylaw and finally that the select board would work with the Milton Police Department to reduce potential impacts
adjacent neighborhoods again it says in the comment that the select board will do this um this is something that we should have in the bylaw as a requirement so that's the second aspect of of this amendment the final aspect of
this amendment is um whether the um the permitted use sale and possession of alcohol would be in town buildings or on Town land in other words outside specifically at in Manning park for the
Halloween stroll and the Christmas tree lighting that's what's laid out in the in the in the warrant committee comment as to of the primary intentions of having it outside now we've talked for a long time about allowing the um use of
alcohol in town buildings for certain adult events um the um the idea of allowing it and permitting it in Manning park for Halloween stroll and for the Christmas tree lighting that's new and I
think that deserves discussion and I think it deserves discussion for a couple of reasons there was no mention in the warrant committee's uh uh warrant committee's comment about a statement or a position of the Board of Health or the
co Coalition on the potential Public Health a impact of having um uh the sale and the use and the and the possession of open containers of alcohol in the in Manning Park uh during the Halloween
stroll and and for the Christmas tree lighting now we all know this is a very confined space uh and it is surrounded by a very dangerous uh rotary so it seems to me um there we need to hear about whether there are are any public
health aspects to this um for many years we have uh gone to Great Lengths to try to curb teenage substance abuse and teenage drinking in this town and the Coalition has done great work and made
great strides this it seems to me um is a step backward when we are saying let's permit the use of alcohol for familyfriendly children events in Manning Park seems to me that that is a step that we may not want to take Mr
Zulus three minutes three minutes all right I'll I'll finish up the second aspect of this is Public Safety there was no mention in the Warr committee um comment about whether the chief of police had been consulted about uh enforcement of of this in Manning park
or in outside spaces um so I presume it wasn't seems to me there is an issue here um the warrant committee recognized that public consumption without authorization remains criminal activity so if I'm sitting in Manning Park uh
during the Christmas tree um lighting and I have my hot water and whiskey with my little cinnamon stick and my cloves and I'm standing there on the edge of the park if I stand one step to the side now I'm on the sidewalk if I stand two
steps to the side now I'm in the crosswalk is that criminal activity that's going to be enforced by the police department is it going to be selectively enforced by the police department how are they going to enforcement so it seems to me there are public health and Public Safety uh
issues with this step that may want us to uh may want us to uh act with a little Caution here I will leave you with this um for a long time I've represented um about 25 years I've represented startup businesses and
Technology businesses and when when when when people come up with a great idea and a great technology um the most important question question is what problem are we trying to solve and I'm not sure what problem we're trying to solve to allow alcohol at family
friendly children events in Manning Park uh specifically the Halloween stroll and the and the um the Christmas tree lighting and so um I think when you balance the fact that not really sure there's a problem the warrant committee says well we're trying to have community
building and increased participation seems to me the participation in those events is outstanding so I think when you balance the potential public health and public safety concerns uh against the benefits here it weighs in favor of allowing and permitting alcohol use in
public buildings but not extending it to the use in public lands specifically in Manning park for these familyfriendly children events thank you for your time thank you for your Indulgence thank you Mr moner thank you Mrs motion has been made is there a
second does anyone wish to speak to this uh article ma'am I believe you were first Miss Munger will get to you yes you recognized if you wouldn't mind just standing right at the side Mike unless you have a presentation you do okay thank you will you be moving the
slide okay okay thank you while they get ready um my name's Margaret Carol I'm from Precinct 4 and I'm also the director of the Milton Coalition we're dressing substance use and promoting mental health but tonight I'm here as a
resident and a town meeting member and your Precinct ma'am Precinct four pring four there we go uh I support all three changes to this amendment but I wanted to speak about the removal of lands in this
article I have a very short slid show I've been a town meeting member for 15 years I know the value of brevity um and it explains the support my support of amendment this amendment to article three so article three would
give the select board a vehicle for approving one-day liquor licenses for events on town-owned property currently the sale and consumption of alcohol is not allowed on town-owned property next slide this would allow events where
alcohol is available and consumed in town-owned buildings such as perhaps the library where the the friends of the library might do a fundraiser or Gala event or renting out the Council on Aging for a party or community building events similar to those that we see at the Milton Art Center I am all in favor
of bringing people together fundraisers and revenue generators for our great town institutions next slide however this article without the amendment would also allow for one-day liquor licenses for outdoor public spaces like Manning park on the deck
Kelly field Andrews Park or any of the other great outdoor spaces we have unlike buildings these spaces are open to all and the events that are mentioned in the comments of the warrant committee specifically call out next Slide the great family-friendly events
that occur in East Milton Square like the Halloween stroll and the the tree lighting ceremony I strongly argue that there is no good reason to add alcohol to these events or any outdoor event that's accessible by children and teens why is it not recommended that the town allow alcohol sales and consumption
on Town land next slide adult alcohol use can increase underage drinking adolescents whose parents drink five or more days per month were significantly more likely to drink alcohol than adolescence whose parents don't drink because we cannot
ignore the impact of adult alcohol use has on the rates of underage drinking parents and communities influence the behavior of Youth adults you using alcohol in front of children and teens normalize that behavior it sends the
message that it's okay and it increases the risk of underage drinking next slide alcohol policies impact Community culture and that influences the alcohol attitudes perceptions and behaviors of Youth research has shown that exposure
to alcohol ads can fuel underage drinking Milton has been working hard to change the culture around alcohol this is hard work takes a long time adopting this policy would be going in the wrong
direction next slide I'm sure that you all know the social academic legal physical and mental impact using alcohol has on young people I just want to to emphasize this last Point people who start drinking
earlier in life have a higher risk of using alcohol excessively or developing an alcohol use disorder later in life this is what we're trying to prevent science has shown that children and teens even young adults are not just
little adults they are not fully developed and their brains are different alcohol impacts them differently next slide if you want to think about it in terms of money look at the costs of excessive alcohol use in 2010 the
country spent $249 billion that's $87 per person in Massachusetts it was 5.6 billion do and $861,000 PS We Now know that alcohol causes seven different kinds of cancer
deaths per year in 2020 and 2021 caused by excessive alcohol use was 178,000 perhaps most importantly is the impact on families and communities alcohol use leads to violence depression suicides and IND individual and family
trauma decreasing alcohol availability and its influence is a good thing for everyone I would like to see these these numbers decrease by the time our kids are grown up as a community that means we have to pass smart alcohol policy that considers
Health next slide Milton is not immune to the impacts of alcohol as this data shows alcohol is the most commonly used drug among youth in Milton Milton adults consider alcohol to be a top Health
Challenge 14% of older adults in Milton drink excessively compared to 9% in Massachusetts in Massachusetts in 2019 there were five 55,000 ER visits that were alcohol rated in 2019 alcohol rated
disorders were among the top 10 most commonly common primary diagnosis in the state alcohol is a big issue in Milton Massachusetts and our country from teens all the way to our seniors imagine how many fewer patients we would have at
Milton Hospital if we could erase the impact of alcohol that being said I want to let you know that Milton teens are doing great because prevention works next slide over the last 10 years youth
alcohol use in Milton has decreased by 54% the longer yeah the longer you delay alcohol use among teens and young adults the lower the chances of developing an alcohol use disorder disorder in the future look
alcohol is pretty much available everywhere adults are free to use alcohol in a lot of places but we can decide as a community that we want fun safe familyfriendly alcohol freak celebrations that put the health and
safety of our community first uh next slide please vote Yes on this amendment to article three thank you uh just an introduction briefly uh citizen thank you Mr um a citizen named Margie skier of Precinct 7 asked for
permission to speak tonight and was granted her schedule prevented her from coming and so she asked the following town meeting member to speak on her behalf so ma'am you recognized thank you uh Jackie Munger uh from Precinct 7 so like Bob said I'm reading this testimony
on behalf of my neighbor and friend Margie skier um resident of Precinct 7 who was planning to be here but not able to because of travel issues so this is her speaking not me she's more eloquent uh dear members of the Milton Town Meeting thank you so much for the
opportunity to speak on the topic of article 3 I sincerely apologize that I'm not present physically this evening but I'm very appreciative that my voice is able to be heard and Jackie is sharing my perspectives on my behalf my name is Margie skier and I reside in Precinct 7 I have lived in Milton for over 10 years
I'm also a professor and interim department chair at the tub University School of Medicine in the Department of Public Health and Community medicine for the past two decades my research has focused on designing interventions around adolescent substance use prevention in addition to having a
vested interest in youth in our town I am also recognized nationally as an expert in my field the majority of my research focuses on the family environment and the role that adults play in adolescent substance therefore I feel particularly equipped to provide context and recommendations for article
3 as originally written article 3 would allow for day permits to allow the sale possession or consumption of alcohol on public town property including both indoor and outdoor spaces some examples as view had seen in the original article include the Halloween stroll and the
tree lighting ceremony events that are more generally geared towards families and youth should not have alcohol as a primary focus not only does this detract from the purpose of the event but it teaches young people that alcohol is a a key ingredient of enjoyment and social events and that we cannot socialize
without alcohol whether we realize it or not we are also training them as young people and teens model behaviors of adults that they engage with the most research has demonstrated that family socialization around alcohol which includes not only when parents approve
or are permissive of their CH child drinking alcohol but also how how often parents drink in front of their children and research also shows that there are stronger impacts of Parental socialization of alcohol on younger compared to older teens this also is
extended to other adults in kids lives for example their parents friends their friends parents Etc which we significantly see in outdoor events in my expert opinion extending article 3 to outdoor spaces increases the risk of Youth drinking in our town we have come
so far and seeing incredible reductions in youth drinking in Milton over the past decade and we should do everything we can to continue this trend young people have so much Social socialization around alcohol in Milton and I strongly recommend that we do not include outdoor spaces in this article therefore I ask
that you vote Yes on this amendment to article 3 thank you very much for your time thank you ma'am does anyone wish to speak to this motion to amend yes ma'am uh my name is Christine hland from
Precinct 2 town meeting member um and I have a quick question I I think it's for the select board um the event that's held up on Adam Street every June with the fireworks I believe has alcohol um I know that's not town-owned property so I
was just curious who allows that license if they do have alcohol serving especially the public health and the public safety of police you know monitoring what's going on there because it's a pretty outdoor um space and is it allowed just there and also other public
spaces thank you thank you ma'am chairman uh Wells you recognized good evening Richard Wells chair of the select board time meeting M Precinct 7 I think I heard the question was the question relative to Milt Music Festival
so just a followup the select board an answer to your question does issue one day liquor licenses to a multitude of locations similar to this all in private property that's where they to include Milt Music Fest which is owned by the trust reservation the Wakefield estate
which is owned by the Wakefield trust um eustus estate which is now historic Milton Kye College Milton Academy nearly every private entity that is privately owned in this town already applies for seeks and has granted one day liqu a
license under the same premise that we have opted to place to the town of land exact same Mana just the law does not the Restriction does not apply to those it only applies to the town property I hope that answers your question okay thank you does anyone else wish to speak
to this motion to amend yes ma'am Miss milbauer yes hi de milbauer uh precinct for Town meting member obviously um a this is a
little repetitive from What U Mr Zulus and Miss Carol said uh so I will read quickly uh I am speaking on behalf of myself as in my role as a public health professional I teach Public Health at North Easter I Rise to support the
amendment to article three there is much public health research that documents the association between uh parent Behavior and the influence you have on your child's Behavior it might feel innocuous and overblown to consider not drinking in front of them but think
about this example did you know that during the Super Bowl children watch an average of one hour of alcohol commercials sometimes paired with a room of drinking adults this happens yearly coupled with all the other events during the year black parties Halloween summer
cookouts birthday parties graduation parties and the like this is how this is how social norms are established you watch what others are doing you watch what others are doing and the research tells us that children are especially impressionable by the environments they
are raised in both in the home and out in the world not one event or moment Changes Everything But the accumulation of small events over the course of a child's lifetime influences their attitudes and behaviors towards underage drinking in
other words shaping social norms this article came to the select board and the warrant committee primarily as a business proposition and a legal issue about permitting events as Mr Zuul has pointed out however the point of me rising to
support this amendment is to share the public health perspective alcohol is a cross-disciplinary issue Milton's Public Health bodies are the Board of Health Who oversee the Milton Health Department who in turn oversees the Milton
Coalition formerly called the Milton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition as you heard Miss Carol say it would have been a great opportunity for our Public Health folks in town to weigh in on this alcohol Rel ated article unfortunately the board of Health's next meeting is
March 3rd after um tonight's vote so they didn't have an opportunity to uh this article is a reminder that future decisions about um across town should consider and include public health for examp uh sorry public health is embedded
in all of our town decisions transportation is public health housing is public health and alcohol is public health collaboration with those in town with expertise should become standard practice moving forward and as I dare say it should become the social Norm to
do so thank you for supporting this amendment thank you ma'am does anyone else wish to speak to this motion to amend in that case we'll check in with our boards so uh when we have a motion to amend we check in with the submitting board and the warant committee yes Mr
first I'm going to speak to it first I'm going to speak to the motion first you're recognized Mr Wells thank you Mr moderator Richard Wells chair of the SL board Tom meeting member Precinct 7 so a little bit historical fact how do
we get to this how did this amendment come um for the record I agree with much of what has been said about the public health issues and I clearly understand from my life the public safety issues as others doing this s they been in the same business when East Milton when the deck
was built in East Milton for those of you who remember it was initially intended to be 37 parking spaces through much dialogue and discussion was determined that it was a park and one of the most important things that was said from the residents of East Milton the citizens people in
the Milton Art Center the churches the schools around there the Chamber of Commerce everyone that I can think of was that if we were going to build the new Manning Park please bring it to life the time I was police chief I thought about it
and I could see that when this was being done that there would be events would want to take place and one of the biggest Advocates was the milnot center which has become one of the gifts of our community and way more than the Halloween stroll and the Christmas tree
lighting we've had several musical events there we had a great welcome back to school event put on by the chamber on the art center which was well attended which had a one day liqu a license funnel through the uh Center and it was in this that we realized that the bylaw existed and as I mentioned previous from
the previous question the select board does issue liquor licenses weekly or regularly when liquor licenses are granted under chapter 138 of the statute there are criteria that goes with it anyone who in the room who's been on the selectboard knows that they approved not just by the Town Administrator they were approved by the
police chief they have a safety plan a detail plan all that goes with it it's all codified under chapter 138 with regard to fines under the found fines all fines under chapter 138 are mandated by Statute I can tell you that in 40
years in policing I don't think I have ever recalled an incident where we've charged someone under the town BW on an alcohol violation they're all codified in charge by Statute which gives a various discretion on fines and penalties so I I'm I'm not really that
concerned about the town part of it Mr Zulus is correct and how it's been so long as it's been quot ified because it's I can't think of an instance where it's ever been used in all the events that have taken place already at the park since it's been built and if you think about the movie Field of Dreams and one of the
people from Howard Stein Hudson one of the designers said to the town early on if you build it in people will come and from the time it was first built and it's going back to the people in the mac and the residents and the Chamber everything that they've held there people have come there been no
violations in every aspect of it it's been safety has been the priority and I think for everyone in this room that's been there knows how special these events have been Milton W Park in in the landing is about to go through a similar similar
transformation to create a new asset for the citizens of the town and in giving that in mind this bylaw the change in this bylaw also came into reality we should we change the bylaw as many other communities have to give people who want to host event in a town
venue such as Manning park or the WF Park have the same ability to do that I paused you at uh 3 minutes and 57 seconds so I forgot where I was you're at ten Road in thank chett
yeah I know where I am oh I know where I thank you still a couple of glitches here so my final point on this is um we'll make our recommendation in a second but on my final point on this
that you know places like w Park Manning Park and there's probably other locations as well outside deserve the same right to have the same type public events supervis license legal just as all the private venues do in this town and for that reason that is the reason
we created and submitted this article thank you thank you um before we go back to a rebuttal so to speak um does anyone else wish any first Speaker wish to speak to this motion to amend we allow a second bite at the Apple if there's no other first speakers
seeing none M Carell you're recognized thank you very much Margaret carols Precinct 4 pardon me carols um I respectfully disagree um I think the town condoning such events on town-owned land is very
different than a private person or private nonprofit holding an event it sends a different message uh and it's not it's not the kind of town I want live in honestly and then I think you know what you described
all these great events that we have they've you know most of them have been alcohol free and they will still be great events without alcohol um we don't need alcohol to have fun so I I strongly urge a yes vote on
this amendment thank you thank you ma'am seeing no other speakers do I have a speaker oh yes we do yes sir thank you for running sorry about that uh before the power goes out ke Scher time meeting member precinct
number four I agree with speaker Wells that we should have the availability to have these events if people want them I'm not saying we need to have a keg at the
Christmas stroll however I think having the availability if someone says you know what I really want to have a wedding over the highway in Manning Park can I have some champagne there I think they should be allowed to do that I don't want to belittle what other people are doing but I think there's also
people here that maybe don't have young children that do want to be with other adults on a town park for a a sanctioned event and be allowed to do that so that's just what I want to say thank you thank you does anyone else wish to speak to this
motion I see no one else running in that case this just requires uh a majority vote if we could put up the poll please pardon me oh sorry I let me check so School uh pardon me select board your opinion on this motion to
amend oh I Mr I'm going to hand this over to Mr Milano for a sec Mr malau do you wish to speak okay sidebar this adult you're to yeah e
uh ladies and gentlemen the select board has an idea that uh chair Wells would like to uh propose to you thank you Mr moderator uh Mr Mo moderator Richard Wells chair of the select board time meeting member Precinct 7 um I'd like to make a motion
to split the question into two questions any a second thank you um Mr moderator what I would propose doing is that the first question will begin after the word and beginning with
the word entity and we will accept everything in paragraph I think it's line number the line that begins with from the select board the we will accept everything from the word entity all the way to the bottom so that would
include everything on that paragraph and including the final three paragraphs for the purposes of the requirements and whoever violates with the fines so you your intent is to accept the insurance Mr uh Zulus kindly broke it up into three sections you're willing to accept
the uh you'd like to have the body think about the insurance and the fine as one part of this of Mr Z's Amendment and then I assume the second portion would be the concept of only allowing uh Town buildings not Town land as the second
part of this amendment cor that's correct that is your motion that's been made and seconded thank you okay is everyone clear the intent of the select boards motion to divide the question um M Mr Mr moderator if I may Mr moderator
Mr moderator for me yes we have a point of order just for a moment Well mine's probably the same go oh well okay you're raising the point of order then we'll get to miss agustino point of go ahead go ahead go ahead well not quite because in town meeting time on page
113 it is allowed to divide a motion that's on the floor and an amendment is a motion on the floor so procedurally it's allowed but the the the body has to vote on the on splitting this as am well we're we're voting on splitting
the amendment into two parts into two amendments that's we're voting on no I don't um we're doing a procedural motion called dividing the question so Mr Zulus has put a motion before the body and uh Mr Wells has said I want to
split that Amendment into two and it's been seconded so now Mr Zulus now has there's two parts of this amendment procedurally this is allowed under town meeting time page 113 division of a question now Mr Zulus yes sir oh so so uh Mr moderator Mike Zulus preing three
time meeting members so the the question is do we support the amendment to divide the question yes okay um and I Rise to oppose the motion to divide the question I would like a vote on the amendment as stated thank you like the whole thing
together okay very good understood so is it clear right now what we're trying to do div we're voting on dividing it only prize for that woman right there with the with the scarf yes does anyone want to speak to uh Mr
um uh Walker do you want to speak to the motion to divide the question or you going back to the something else I think I do I'll I'll take it one at the the time uh just a little closer to the mic please thanks looy Walker town meeting member Precinct 10 I I want to press you a little bit more Mr
moderator on the point of order there is um there was an amendment proposed which stops discussion on the main motion until that amendment is either voted up or
down so I'm not sure we get to the question of dividing the motion until we vote vote on the motion on the floor the amendment up or down I believe that's uh would be the wrong procedure because then we would
have an amendment that had failed in its entirety and we' then have a have to have a motion to reconsider we'd have to vote on that then we'd have a have to have a motion to divide it and vote on that so this I'll I'll read the language specifically so it's clear it says when
and only when a question is susceptible of division a motion to divide it and vote on the part separately is in order so we can take Mr Zulus Amendment split it in two if you CH so choose and
vote on splitting it if you choose not to split it we'll go back and consider it as a single Amendment so if Mr Well's amendment is simply to divide the question without changing any language is that correct that's correct okay I'm good with that thank
you now does anyone else wish to speak to the motion to divide the question it only requires a majority to vote to do so uh if we could put up a poll all those in favor of dividing the question only please signify by praying
playing pressing one for yes two for no three for obain uh the motion to divide the question passes by a majority vote of 125 to 104 very very good in that case uh Mr Wells since you addressed it I think by
voting on the second part first that's the insurance portion and the fine we'll vote on your proposal is to vote on that first okay so what we have now before us is voting on The Language starting with the word if we could put
the uh Amendment back up Miss bosor can we expand that sum good question thank you is that better okay can we Zoom one more time sounds like that was the magic okay
150% so we're going to consider the portion that starts with um you see the words entity with care custody and control that's um uh slashed out down to the end all those changes we're going to if you want to discuss we'll discuss
otherwise we'll go to a vote does anyone wish to discuss this the portion starting with entity down to the the in only the text in blue and down to the $300 fine if so please come to the four and and speak
okay I see no one wishing to come down to the floor again so we're now voting on this actual bylaw change since it's a bylaw it only requires uh a 50% majority vote everyone clear what we're
doing okay sorry so on on this select board you're in support warrant committee what's your opinion okay warrant committee's weighing in I'm Sorry Miss Odin what's that sure uh Miss BOS could you just
scroll to the top and show the top of the word dock as well please by the way while they're voting the facilities director said a Transformer blew on Canton AV and that's what caused us in part of the town to go dark we
Miss moderator yes ma'am Deborah Felton uh Precinct 2 could we have an opinion from the police chief on this article if he's here is Chief King here yes while the warrant committee is voting Chief King you're
recognized hi everybody John King police chief uh honestly Deb I don't really have an opinion I have kind of conflicting roles I sit on the Coalition we've discussed this at length from a coalition perspective I also sign off on the one day liquor licenses so I really have no personal opinion I think the
Coalition comes under the health department it would be inappropriate for me to speak to that uh police chief I'm pretty neutral on it to be honest with you thank you sir warrant committee do we have a
vote Yes Mr Caldwell um the warrant committee has voted and uh we appreciate the uh amendments and the speakers from the floor um however we accept the uh select board's motion as to part two uh concerning the insurance and fines and the warrant
committee uh proposes a um a yes vote as to that section if you could speak right into the mics everybody could hear you sorry the the warrant committee um the warrant committee um has taken a vote on the matter and we're requesting uh a yes vote as to part two of the select
board's Amendment to the article very clear thank you thank you okay up let me repeat again we're talking about the second part is the insurance regulation so to speak as Mr zul spoke about it and the $300 offense fine for the offense we're voting on
that right now only we're not voting on whether it should be on town land that'll come next uh it's a majority vote uh if we could open the poll all those in favor of the motion before the body please signify by
pressing one for yes two for no three for abstain part two okay this hey Rob if you could we'll pause and do it we do it again so we're right for the record if you could uh change that to say part two I will again and if we could go put
up the amendment again miss warrant committee clerk so we're voting on if you see about the start with the word entity see the word entity there entity down to the fine that has the last two sections as
Mr Zulus phrased it of the insurance portion which is the bulk of that blue text in the center and then the fine down at the bottom you're voting on accepting that portion is that clear okay now we'll go back to the poll we'll Wipe Out the prior votes we'll
start again all those in favor of uh accepting the motion to amend with this second part one for yes two for no three for obstain for uh the motion carries with a vote of 219 in favor to 13 opposed all right so
we've accepted uh that second portion of Mr Zulus is motion to amend now we uh per Mr Well's uh motion to divide the question that's still on the table uh we now have an opportunity anyone want to
speak to the first part of the amendment which in summary is about whether to uh allow the consumption on Town buildings but prevent it on Town land if I understood that correctly Mr Zulus that's a summary of your motion or would you like to clarify the for the body
then yes it allows it on in town buildings but not on town but not on Town land does anyone now we're in a we're in a new motion yes ma'am you recognize Susan K vaser Precinct 4 um another one of those Public Health
people that lives here in Milton and I'd like to speak to this um in the remarks from the chair of the select board it was discussed about the deck and about uh potentially Milton Landing after that um revitalized um as places where we
might want to have events with alcohol and for which one day licenses would make sense for some of those events um I am concerned that this is so broad this is Town lands I know there's a movie night at Kelly field there's uh the
children's concerts on the CBO um I know when my kids were little a beer from some kind of a beer truck might have been nice but I'm not so sure I need to do that or we need to do we we heard from Margaret uh carols exactly why that doesn't make a lot of sense from a
public health perspective um so I would urge us not to pass this now in this way so broadly um because select boards do change and there's a Clear Vision of exactly what this would be for but I think that's what the bylaw should be and not
something as broad as this um and then I was also you know I'm part of the Coalition and we really wanted to know what the Board of Health had thought about this and if can I can ask if the Board of Health has an opinion on this from a public health perspective thank
you yes um Miss canella are you here with us tonight I think I saw you I don't think Miss is she speaking for the board or is she the Board of Health are you Board of Health ma'am or uh Health director perhaps you can come down to
the mic and uh do we have any members of the Board of Health here tonight or is the chair of the Board of Health here tonight looks like not M canella I'm sorry board of Health chair no the chair is not here okay hi um Caroline canella
um Precinct 8 I am the health director I'm also a member um chair of the Milton Coalition the Board of Health could not meet to discuss this before the special town meeting and the Milton Coalition
was aware of that that they did not meet so the Board of Health had no opinion correct opportunity to make an opinion I should say correct very good that answer the member's question okay thank you Miss canella
thank you Mr cello thank you Tony chello precinct for town meeting member I wasn't really going to speak to this but the more I think about it I I'm not a a Kill but I I just for the life of me can't
understand why we're fighting to have alcohol rated events at Manning Park in the middle of a phenomenally busy series of intersections all I hear about is all the complaints about the traffic in East
Milton and and and in in the middle essentially in the middle of a highway we're talking about Focus focusing on having alcohol rated events there and again you know I go to a lot of U different occasions with friends
family where we have alcohol I I just don't think it's a great idea especially for the town I think the thing that's missing from this really is if we're going to have alcohol they should be at on Town property in town buildings it
should be adult only events that's really the guts of it but I think we you know I I support this amendment at at a minimum to to keep a LD on things so thank you thank you
sir does anyone else wish to speak to this portion of the motion to amend yes uh we have a member Mr Wells I'll recognize you next okay and if you could state your name slowly sir I heard Keith last time
but Keith schleker Precinct four the select board can determine who or what gets the permit it would be a shame to take away all that power to have a blanket no out there and not let them do
their job and say you know what it doesn't make sense to have a Booze Fest at the Christmas troll however if we want to do a fundraiser and have a men's soccer league play on the bottom portion of a field and allow a beer tent over there for adults I think that that's
appropriate I don't want see I I think a little bit less oversight and maybe some trust in our elected officials might work out for everybody thank [Applause]
you thank you Mr Wells you recognized thank you Richard WS chair of the selectboard time meting Amendment Precinct 7 so just a point of order what this would do to the events if this would have pass as is so just to take the Mac for exchange
which in the summer has events outside in their backyard this would preclude that because this amendment as written only applies to buildings not to mention any of the other places that I've um made mention of and while select
boards do change the authority and the statutes and the faith you put in them does stay the same um to Mr 's point I thought the same my friend Mr Chell when I first saw an event there and it wasn't until I saw with my own eyes that I
realized the reality of what could be done when it's controlled licensed and policed and it was a very they've been very effective for this community finally the last thing I do want and I I really want to mention this because I know Mr McKay is here and his committee on the WF has done a
tremendous job of trying to create a similar vision for w Park that could really be something and to the previous speaker who talked about an adult or a family event which is supervised and license it' be a shame for us to limit
the use of that place we're not talking about Friday or Saturday nights we're not talking about we're talking about a few events a year that enhance the overall quality of life for the community that we all call home thank you thank you sir uh before I go to the warrant
committee uh uh select board zo you in uh opposed to this or portion oppose this yes you oppose okay and anyone else wish to speak to this while the war committee is voting I see none okay Mr cwell do you
have an opinion thank you Mr moderator uh as to uh the motion to amend uh the article the warrant committee recommends a no vote for the issues articulated by our select board thank
you with that we'll proceed now to uh a vote on this first part is everyone clear what we're voting on now okay I'll restate it in short right now um you can't um issue
licenses to town buildings in town land this is now going to pre uh allow it in town buildings and prevent it in town land so we're voting on that in summary so that's the language you see um if you read from the um paragraph
a you can see that it says uh if I go down to the third line um while in a building owned by the town of Milton or upon land owned by the town land owned by the town of Milton is prohibited except and this is when the change comes in that one-day licenses for the
drinking sale or possession of alcoholic beverages in a town building May be authorized since we're silent on the land that means the land is still prohibited from receiving an alcoholic um license but the buildings are
permitted now with the controls you have just authorized in that second part we voted on the insurance controls let me call it that and with the fine does that help clarify it okay did I get that right Mr Zulus the essence of your yes I think so okay
very good uh War committee use your vote stands all right um with that we'll go to a vote again it's a majority vote all those in favor of uh accepting the motion to amend please signify by voting one for yes two for no three for
abstain for uh the motion passes by a vote of 117 to [Applause] 114 with that we'll proceed to Article 4 point of okay point of order yes
Mr Mullins Peter Mullen Precinct two I think we just voted on a motion to amend it was defeated now we have to move on the whole article um I'm not sure that's
true actually you're right I paused you're right my mistake we have to vote on the whole article you're right jump too fast so what we've done is we amended the language that was uh published in the warrant partially
actually in whole by the language with Mr Zulus is uh um language including the $300 fine now we need to vote on article three overall so let's go back if you look at this article three as you see printed up here you're now going to vote on this
whole thing and again this is a bylaw it only requires a majority vote is that clear yes okay select board do you have any uh Mr Wells
any commentary or conferring okay while they're conferring Mr Zulus do you wish to speak to this no you're just sitting okay need to speak Mr no still talking what your body want to do V so Mr Wells does the select board have
an opinion now on this article as completely amended thank you Mr moderator um Richard WS chair of the select board Tom meeting man Precinct 7 um with great reluctance we voted unanimously yes to accept this for the
benefits of buildings like the Council on Aging the library and those buildings but we realized that our friends in the Mac just got screwed in that vote and please don't lose sight of that so that is our vote thank you so I just had a question I don't
think a lot of people Kish ler Precinct 4 I don't think a lot of people knew what they were voting for with the yes or no vote and with such a close margin can we reopen the vote I'm asking it I'm asking a question to the moderator
um we can have a motion to reconsider um that vote I mean because basically what we just did is told the Mac they can't have outdoor events anymore but I can have a keg party at Tucker school if it gets
approved hang hang on folks hang on folks so the idea of reconsidering a vote let me just uh check my rules briefly um yes you can make a motion to reconsider that part one we just voted
on it would require a second and it would require yes sir I was understandings that actually The Winning Side of the vote Yes we could uh we could check that's
your fair point so we need someone that voted yes to reconsider that's right if they want to that wasn't me so if someone did they want to do it great if not sit down and we can continue so we don't have a motion to reconsider unless someone that voted yes
on the prior Amendment wishes to do so okay warrant committee do you pardon me yeah the those Lowe's lost War committee do you have an opinion on this entire article
now probably should introduce more committee yes sir do you have a question yes I do comment a comment okay com please yes God this person must have been tall hi Mark croninger Precinct 7 town meeting member um I'm really disappointed that that this is being
really miscast as that I think what Mr Wells was actually saying was like I live in East Milton I've watched walked through those places many times many days I don't think there's any notion here that they're trying to create you know keg party beer Laden events by any
means with these things what they're trying to do is keep the option open for the appropriate events and quite frankly uh my kids are grown up I don't really go down to the Christmas tree lighting and if whether or not there's wine there maybe it's not appropriate to be but to tie the hands and handcuff the select
board's ability to do the right thing in some new properties for instance the landing that we haven't even seen yet just wipe it out I understand the the the evils of alcohol and all the things we've heard in our lectures here this evening however there should be some discretion for the board to figure out
what's appropriate and as somebody who's been very involved and whose uh family's been very involved with the Milton Art Center for a long time to handcuff what they do there I don't know how many of you guys have gone there there's alcohol served there and my last recollection is no was staggering around cursing or
anything like that that's not what it's about it's having alcohol available at the appropriate events not making alcohol driven bashes uh that that's not what this is about but by adopting that first part of the amendment you have just handcuffed going forward the
ability for the Milton Art Center or the new Landing that Mr Wells spoke about or anything else with one blanket statement yes and I'll I'll make I'm speaking thank you thank you very much I'm speaking excuse me sir just yes sir your point of order is recognized why we deba
would debating whether we're voting I'm not talking to you okay yes sir um I thought you were going to offer a brief comment but now you're kind of we were going to a vote of the war committee overall overall so if you could just uh um please have a seat because I think
we're done with a debate so thank you uh Mr calwell you're recognized Tom Caldwell uh town meeting member Precinct 6 and chair of the warrant committee uh the warrant committee uh votes uh yes that you approve the article as
amended okay now we'll go to a vote again it's a majority vote on the entire article as amended with the text you saw up there in blue with the two parts all in F uh no one came down to um speak other
than the one member and we the two bodies so I close the debate so I'm sorry sir I believe we've debated this enough I think that was on the Amendments you split the amendment I did and I believe I asked if anyone wanted
to speak to this article to come down you did on the Amendments the Amendments went through now you're voting on the question yes sir that's correct but I believe I offered everyone an opportunity to come down and speak to this overall article and then we heard
from the two bodies they are in faize I'd like to just speak on the question sir I'd rather wrap this up because we've heard just a very quick Point that's all if I do that I have to do it for everyone sir I'm sorry was such a close vote I just want to get it on the record please sir um I just shut this
gentleman down because I'm trying to get to a vote so we can just move on because I think that's all be on the record please sir have a seat please sir I'd like to just go to a vote now all right just on the record James coin town meeting member Preen 8 thank you thank you
okay we'll now proceed to a vote on the article as amended all those in favor of the article as amended please signify one for yes two for no three for abstain e the article as amended passes with a
vote of 173 to 54 with seven abstentions Now with uh we'll go to article four recommended that the sum of $1.7 million be appropriated for the purpose of financing the town's lead service line investigations and Replacements
including cost incidental and related theto that to meet this appropriation the treasurer with the approval of the select board is authorized to borrow $1.7 million under in pursuant to chapter 44 section 85 of the general laws as amended or any other enabling Authority and to issue bonds or notes of the Town therefore and that the select
board being hereby is authorized to accept and expend in addition to the foregoing appropriation one or more grants or gifts from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority lead replacement program or any other public or private funding Source um Mr Wells you wish to uh speak to this or you
going to wave you'll wave very good um with that this requires a two-thirds vote does anyone wish to speak to this article yes Mr fahe you're recognized thank you Mr moderator Sean Fahy Precinct 9 I just have a question
it's actually uh I I'm I'm in support of this article but my question is we read down through the the warrant committee's comments this program will be on going and may require additional funding in future years to fully inventory and
replace the lead service lines in town do we have any understanding of how much for 100% replacement throughout the town uh that it might cost us in future Years thank you um Mr
Wells Marina Miss Fernandez then yep if you could introduce yourself ma'am thank you you recognized hi my name is Marina Fernandez I'm the director of Public Works so that's a great question thank you um there is approximately 2,300 don't quote me
because it is a spinning wheel we're always finding out more information about everyone's Services encountering information through historical um data as well as through fieldwork that our staff are doing a daily basis so right now we are at approximately 2,300
unknowns so we don't know what we we don't know what we don't know right so of those 2,300 there could be still some lead Services left of them uh the trend right now is that a little less than 2%
close to 1% of the services are currently LED um I do have some slides not sure if we well perhaps instead of slides Mr F did was your question answered you think
I guess my my uh my concern is for what it might cost the town right now we're taking advantage of some financing that's available to us and my my question is you know what are we going to accomplish with this 1.7 million is that going to accomplish half of what we
need to do and in future years will the town be paying for the balance of The Replacements that's really where I'm going and and how much might that be M Fernandez is that question more the the unknowns represent 25% of our residences right we now know
9,844 residences so 20 that that uh number is about only 25% is unknown so that's my question and my concern how much might we face in the future Mr moderator that's my question okay M Fernandez is that more clear yes so um starting 2027 the
federal mandate is that we as a community are are are um responsible for replacing all services laterals that are LED or galvanized um services at a 10% rate for in so in 2027 the clock starts
uh on a 10-year out so we will have to make those Replacements at at 10% of the services and the 10% will be calculated not only based on what we know but also of what we don't know uh even if we are never reach the 10% after the 10 years
if that makes sense um yeah I'm not sure I quite understood that as well Mr moderator uh all I'm trying to find out is um what way what might the town face for cost is this a potential $2 million $3 million
down the road I'm in favor of having 100% of the services in town not be led right replace all the lead in the town we should do that my question is simply this 1.7 million is available to us now when that's exhausted are there any more public funds or is it on the town of
Milton to replace the balance and if so do we have any idea at all any idea what it might be what it might cost in dollars that's my question okay I'll go to the select board chair for that thank you thank you good evening um Richard Wells chair of the select board Tom
meeting member Precinct 7 so the funding system that comes from the state the zero based loans just like our annual budgets are funded on annual basis particularly on the state level something I'm going learn a little bit
about um so it will be determined how much the the state is already talking a lot about this so we will have to compete each year and I don't know how much you accomplish but the question will be how many years the state carries out this program for it sounds
preliminarily like they know how significant this this is way more more than just us the state of the water on the Commonwealth is a significant issue these pipes are post Civil War that's when they were made that's when they were first installed um so that's it's a
it really it's an annual question each year and so I don't think that you could answer any of us could answer it long term hopeful but um understanding the magnitude of the problem I I would be confident that this will continue I hope that answers
it thank you sir does anyone else wish to to speak to this yes Miss Felton Deborah Felton town meeting member Precinct 2 I have a question uh the lead pipes is that in the roadways or
sidewalks and does this uh project also include then Paving our roads or repairing our sidewalks because we've on our street and I'm sure many streets in Milton you've had gas
lines replaced or water lines replaced and now your roads are a mess and so I would like some information on that thank you ma'am you mean repaving them after the lines are repaired repaving to smoo understood yes Ms Fernandez if you
could answer that so the great majority of those lead services that are currently known are within the private property so are they at the curb stop to the homeowner's
property um and then there is a minority that is within the pressure side of the water services so that is from the curb stop which usually at most of your properties uh the back of your sidewalk uh and for those of you that do not have
sidewalks they are in the property line so they're within the property line to the main um so they will not be um we will not be interfering with the roadway and that will not require curb
to curb um restoration of the of the uh roadway it will just be a spot repair a repair to the sidewalk and the and the great news the good news is that uh services are usually pulled um so even when they are on private property it
doesn't require a lot of um digging because we're not trenching it we're pulling that uh that Sur service and and and inserting a new one sounds like that answered the question very good anyone else wish to speak to this
article uh seeing none will go to a vote uh it requires a 2/3 vote since it is a bonding issue all in favor of article V four please signify by voting one for yes two for no three for abstain I declare a 2/3 vote a vote of 227 to3
with zero abstentions um it's 9:40 would any anyone like to stand up and stretch for a minute we've been here for two hours just for a minute or are you all if Miss Gan carsky were here she'd say we should stretch just for a
bit hey how are you what's up Cheryl yeah give me the track e all all right folks if everyone's had a chance to stretch we could
[Applause] reconvene folks if we can come to order thank [Music] you I'll continue on with Article Five it's lengthy article I'll just read the first couple sentences to give everyone a reminder of what it is recommended that the town vote to
authorize select board to petition the general court for special legislation establishing a means tested senior citizens property tax exemption to provide property tax relief for certain eligible Property Owners as set forth below so this is a property tax relief
for uh certain property tax owners we with that uh Mr Wells would you like to speak to this uh article and I believe you had some slides or not we're going to wave that let's see what happens how's that Mr monor very good we'll Reserve our right thank
you then I think I saw um ma'am were you first here or uh sure yes okay then you're recognized hi my name is Megan Hagerty and I'm a town meeting member in Precinct 2 um I wanted to speak in
support report of the article um I think that right now with um the pending um the upcoming override vote um we are going to need um a lot of support for our senior
citizens um I actually I have a I have a question um sure may I ask so I noticed in the in the discussion in the um warrant committee's discussion there was some debate around um expanding the um if you can stay close
to the mic so I noticed that there was um some debate around expanding the eligibility to uh folks who had rented for um quite some time and then maybe more recently
bought um and my question is do we understand you know what the universe of those individuals is and is there a projected um increase what What's the magnitude of the projected increase to the town of including those individuals so the
question is how many renters in town and what the rate of increase might be just what's the difference you know what what would have been the difference of the cost to add those folks in I'm sorry what was that last part again what would have been the difference in the cost to have added those rers in yes okay y uh
warrant committee is that a known item warrant committee no yes it only pass the property so there be no way to tabulate that that question as posed sorry you you said you don't know
could you say that again Mr Wells how would you there's no way to tabulate that how would you tabulate that you're talking about renters how would you maybe one part do you know how many renters we have in town is that first part how would we tabulate who rents and who owns it's not a question that anyone
answers so I think it's so I think the discussion was potentially including folks who um had rented in Milton for a short period of time and then became homeowners with the total amount of time equaling at least 10
years I just didn't my question was is you know was was the magnitude of that population analyzed in the debate like was that was that factored in and it doesn't have to be precise I mean was there a
range uh Mr Milano you recognized thank you Mr moderate Nicholas Milano Town Administrator um it's we did discuss it with the Warren committee it's hard to put a number on that what we know for certain is that in tax year 2022 which is the year we have data for there are about 415 filers in
miss Ma in Milton who qualified for this exemption now what percent of those people may have rented before they owned we can't put a number on that um and was drafted to um to require that they have been homeowners um so that is the
requirement that they're domiciled and have owned a home um there's no real way to kind of parse through those numbers to get to what you're looking for um thank thank you okay thank you Mr Milano um with that uh Mr F you
recognized thank you Brian f i rise to support this article but I do have a couple of quick questions for clarification uh one is uh regarding the quote here about the $30 per year just curious about from the 400 and some odd
uh potential filers how many were assumed to be filing was that 400 or was that half of them uh so how do we come up with that that $30 number um and my second uh question was just around the uh balance of the Town covering um was
there any consideration given and at some point could there be consideration given to um having these properties pay that difference at some point perhaps at sale uh or transfer in the future uh through some sort of lean um those are my two questions
thanks thank you Mr Wells Mr Milano are you recognized thank you uh so we had looked at how this is utilized in other communities to your first question um there are a number of communities that have implemented it some more
recently than others they have seen that it sometimes has about a 30% um uptake in the first year and then as the program um you know gets people get more familiar with it um those can increase you know Milton obviously has um a higher than most other communities share
of homeowners um so we might be on the higher end of that threshold but we had um run a scenario at so basically it was 200 um local applications at a 50% match which is what the number the selectboard had talked about uh which is what the
basis of the $30 approximate increase uh per taxpayer would be um so that would be of the 415 filers about half of them would have applied have been deemed eligible and have gotten um basically a 50% match on um their tax break through
the senior circuit breaker tax break there was a second part to the question about oh yes uh I guess a recoup perhaps upon sale of the taxes that had been waved had that been considered it had not been considered hadn't been really been contemplated something we can do some more homework on um it hadn't come
up in conversation so I don't have a good answer for you I apologize okay thank you does anyone else wish to speak to this article okay seeing none we will go to a vote it just requires a majority
vote all in favor please signify by pressing one for yes two for no three for abstain for uh this passes by majority vote of 218 yes five no one abstain uh thank you just a minute please
okay um article six recommended that the town vote to amend article 6 of the 2019 February special town meeting by adding the following positions of the school building committee established by set article 6 superintendent of schools non- voting Town Administrator non- voting director of Consolidated facilities non-
voting individual of mcpo certification appointed by the school committee non- voting School principal appointed by the school committee non- voting local budget official appointed by the Town Administrator non voting does anyone wish to speak to this article seeing none just requires a majority
vote all in favor of article six please signify by voting one for yes two for no three for abstain for the motion carries by a vote of 217 yes 5 No One abstained um when we go to article 7 I would like to entertain you're going to
speak about motion to um defer Mr Zulus yes thank you Mr thank you Mr moderator Mike sullus Precinct 3 town meeting member Mr moderator I would move to um uh move I would move to move article 7 to the end of the warrant because the chair of the school building committee
is out of town tonight and we'll be back this tomorrow right is there a second this just requires a uh majority vote me just be confirm that uh yes I think we can dispense with
uh the electronic voting all in favor of moving moving article 7 to after Article 15 please signify by saying I I oppose no it's unanimous thank you we will go to article 8 article 8 recommended that the town of
appropriate the amount of $3,500,000 for a renovation project for the third and fourth floors of the Cunningham School 44 EDG Hill Road Milton Mass and that meet that appropriation the treasur of the approval the select board is authorized to sell and issue bonds or notes of the Town Etc this requires a
two-thirds vote um I'd like to recognize the chair of the school committee um ma'am are you ready okay just getting your slides ready I Think We snuck up on you by skipping ahead good evening Lizzie Caroll uh town
meeting member Precinct 3 chair of the school committee and yeah those last couple articles moved quickly and I have to um unlock my computer here um we do have a brief presentation but I think I'll
just off some framing remarks and then see where the questions take us and if we need to pull up slides um we can do that if that's okay
um my computer is locking me out can I look I'm sorry I know I just I did spend time preparing the remarks that I wanted to share on behalf of my committee and so I want to make sure that I say that
um sorry sorry everybody so um OMG thank you thank you Dr Miranda okay um thank you okay all right so um first I just want to start by
appreciating the support of the warrant committee the capital Improvement planning committee and the select board um for this article which has been the result of a lot of hard work over the past two years I I want to acknowledge a lot of
effort by our former chair of the facilities advisory committee Mark luring our current chair of that advisory committee Anna vares our super superintendent Dr Peter Burrows and um Tom McCarthy um director of Consolidated
facilities for the town um the excellent comment from the warrant committee really provides a very thorough summary of how we arrived at this point coming before town meeting now to request this $3.5 million that would allow us to begin the work on um the renovations at
Cunningham this coming summer uh that would provide much needed classroom space beginning next fall um and so by bringing this article forward here at the February town meeting we are able to expedite the helpful impact of this investment in our Town's facilities and
um support our students and Educators immediately with some relief of the overcrowding um in the first place we began exploring this option of renovating the third and fourth floor at Cunningham and cicott um to respond to feedback that we
had heard from our Ed Educators and our school leaders throughout all of our elementary schools but specifically at Cunningham and cicott about the negative effects of the what has by now been well documented severe overcrowding in those school buildings I do want to
acknowledge the nuanced context that caused the school committee to actually reconsider this article before ultimately bringing it Forward tonight um we originally approved the request in October
and then voted to officially submit this article in January we then reconsidered it as recently as today um as we're all surely aware Milton is in dire need of an operational override
and the work to prepare for that has already been underway per the select board's decision last week we will be voting on our April 29th election day and then at our annual town meeting in May on this operation override and there will be much more information
forthcoming over these next two months the school committee's number one priority is to work toward passing the override that we need to maintain services for our students and to protect Milton employees jobs we're actively
working to close the projected budget gap for this current fisal year and are finalizing our FY 26 budget request in cooperation with the select board we want to ensure the public understands along with obviously all of town meeting
that like all capital funding requests this funding request is completely separate from the operational budget it would be paid for through bonding that would not impact the town's budget until FY 27 and it could not otherwise be used
to cover operational costs within the town even though this capital request and the pending override request address different needs of the schools and come from different funding sources the school committee would like to emphasize
that if any town meeting member feels like you can only support one funding request for the schools this year we would ask you to please reserve your support for the operational override this
spring as vital as these overcrowd crowding Solutions are to ensure the quality of our children's education and the quality of our schools which impacts the quality of life for all of us in Milton our ability to sustain operations as a school district in town must be the
top priority that said we know that the existing space issues within our schools are Urgent and longstanding they are damaging our kids education every day making life more
challenging for Educators every day and we believe this request is our best short-term solution to helping provide some relief to our students and our teachers as I mentioned we do have a brief presentation we'll hold it for right now if you have questions about
more details of the project um we can answer those thank you does anyone wish to speak to this article yes ma'am you recognized um Sheila verella uh town meeting member Precinct 8 so I'm I'm a
bit confused because it's my understanding that this money for the renovation of the Cunningham is capital so why are you saying that you don't want to go forth with it if it's Capital because Capital doesn't add to
operational M car thank you let me be Crystal Clear um we are going forth with the the recommendation we appreciate the support of the warrant committee the select board um what I trying to explain on
behalf of the school committee is that we take very seriously the um concern that we need to stay focused on the operational override in this
moment um and so we are sticking with with this request which is why we are here seeking your support of it the point I was trying to make is that
um if anyone out there is feeling like you know um our schools have too many needs at this time which is the truth we have needs we have a variety of needs um we have overcrowding that we
need to address we have a structural deficit built into our Town's budget which is also impacting our school's budget that we need to address so um we are just trying to acknowledge
the complexity of this moment for our town and for our schools and so having paused to really make sure that we
should and would still seek this funding this $3.5 million in capital funding to support this renovation project we did consider that and we have chosen to move forward with this request
which is what we're here um to talk about so does that answer your question does anyone was that clear Miss Vera did that answer your question yeah just for a brief followup the only I I appreciate and I um understand it but for people at
home and and in the town um who are already you know all of a sudden starting to pay attention to the operational override unito I think it's going to be confusing because capital and operational are different and I I
respect what you're doing but I think it might be confusing to them that they might think that Capital can be used for operational so I just just clarify that yeah thank you that's why I did say the reason we're proceeding with this request is based on that clear
understanding so people know which is important as I said for both the public and obviously town meeting you know and some of our newer town meeting members may have less experience navigating the difference
between capital requests versus operational okay um and so yes it can't be underscored enough so thank you for thank you thank you following up on it but yes okay two separate buckets of money two separate sets of
needs um for our for our district thank you ma'am uh Miss winon you're recognized yes I just had a comment is that okay yes please um I wanted to support this article um can you hear me okay Denny SW
town meeting Precinct 5 I just wanted to stand in support of this article you know I've heard about space issues for many many years um this is This falls under the capital column so it's really okay to support this it provides needed
space for our youngest children um and it does so quickly so please join me in supporting this article thank you thank you sir you're recognized yes David Cornish uh Precinct
10 town meeting member I just had a question for the school board um I am concerned about the the overcrowding right now and I'm I was a middle school classroom teacher for 47 years I'll B it
not in the Milton Public Schools so I I'm very empathetic towards the students and the teachers and their and their parents but I'm wondering if you've considered uh putting renting and putting up a modular temporary modular
classroom building on the property that you've acquired from from the late I mean I I I worked at an independent school uh many years ago and they put up a a a temporary modular building that
that really lasted quite a few years before they got the funding to to to build a permanent building so I'm just wondering rather than spend three and a half million on renovating Cunningham you get a a modu of building that would
that would accommodate all the schools and hopefully at a much less price and if and if it turns out that um a u permanent building is not needed
uh or can't be done uh that that modular building could be used uh for a number of years until the uh overcrowding um uh declines thank you sir um M yes Mr luring
yeah hi uh Mark luring town meeting member preing to 8 school committee member on the school building committee and the facility advisory committee um the facility advisory committee has looked at modular we've not looked at the lamb estate the lamb estate is the
um land uh that's been identified for the new school Construction ruction through the school building as approved by the town meeting uh so that has not been looked at for development to like clear it and then put Modell on that that would create some programmatic concerns given you would need to pull
programming from all the other schools where the overcrowding currently exists put them in there and so you'd essentially have to create almost a new school temporarily on the site then if you then move forward with building a new school what do you do with those kids on site so it creates some complications in terms of using Lam
State we have had discussions of using modular construction at the current buildings the issue there again is is just land at Tucker at Cunningham cicott especially has a little bit more but that would only uh support Glover what
as the facility advisory we really looked at was that the Cunningham fourth floor is current space permanent space within the building already that is not being maximized so our goal was to utilize uh how do we best maximize current facilities the fourth floor is
not developed could be developed through this plan and so the goal is that it both addresses kind of the short-term facility needs we can move forward on that this summer as well as provide a long-term capital asset to to the school district to the town uh to utilize kind
of imp perpetuity uh and it would do so at a site that has the most severe overcrowding issue right now which is the Cunningham Cod given it houses uh the most students uh and across kind of the the elementary school buildings so that is why this this project was
prioritized thank you hope that answers that answer your question Mr cor I'm I just want to make sure what you're saying is it it it's not um efficient to do this to have a modu building that you you you've both cost
wise and and um um functionalized yes as compared to the Cunningham fourth floor option we find the Cunningham fourth floor option provides us the the quickest most efficient way of addressing it without creating programmatic challenges to the
the school department because obviously the kids are already within the building we don't have to then transport them to some other place off site uh so it's kind of the quickest and and best and again it provides us a long-term asset modulars can last a little while but certainly not as long as a permanent facility uh which obviously the fourth
floor is a part of so would this make the uh the the permanent building you wouldn't have to build as biger a building because of because of the renovation at at cunning no so this is not a substitute for I mean this builds
for classrooms and some offices this is not a subit for a full school project uh so and again that is under the purview of the school building committee um and not the facility advisory committee or the school committee so we are not uh we are hoping to address a shortterm uh and
provide long-term assets kind of at the same time to maximize the the you know limited resources of the town uh and make sure we're kind of getting the biggest bang for the buck okay cuz I thought I thought that Mr corers if you could bundle up all your questions at once I I thought that the the PO the point of the new building was because of
the overcrowding yes the point of the new building is the overcrowding this does not this is a separate project from that project because the new building through the msba process would be several years away kind of best case scenario if the town decides to support it at the time thanks a lot okay thank
you uh Mr doler recognized thank you Mr moderator Arthur Doyle Precinct 7 member there are some of us in this room who uh attended this building when it was marier Cunningham Junior High School remember the fourth floor very well because it was our favorite
cafeteria I have a question for clarification I'd be very interested in knowing if the classrooms are going to be on the third floor or the fourth floor or both floors and if so what school grade levels will be on on each
of those floors thank you yes Mr luring uh yes the fourth floor uh given kind of its open nature would actually become the library uh the current Library which has already been segmented up into a couple classroom spaces and
some offices things like that would be uh kind of revamped and would become four classrooms and kind of multiple offices so the classrooms be on the third floor Library would be on the top floor there'd be a couple offices staff offices on the top floor for Staffing such as Community Schools programming uh
and then there'd be additional offices on the third floor in terms of the exact uh grades that would go in those rooms that is yet to be determined that's something that we we defer to the School District staff kind of determine at that point in time I know right now I believe there's a second grade um French
classroom in there uh and another second grade or maybe fourth grade classroom so that that's approximately the age that's kind of on that third floor right now thank you Mr fur I think you're next and then Mr Kelly hi uh Brian F preaching 10 town
meeting member I have a um I support uh fixing our problems in our overcrowding I have a quick question and it's because we moved article 7 um I am just curious about what the study for article 7 is and how it would impact the work that's
being done for eight I just don't I I'm just trying to connect the two so if you could just detail that I would appreciate it thanks thank you yes Mr luren uh yeah the funding for article 7 is related to uh funding for the msba feasibility study so that is separate
from this msba is aware of this project uh they the two are connected and they're both related to the overcrowding issues we have within the schools but doing the work here um would does not necessarily change anything around article 7 article 7 is the required
funding that the town needs to allocate in order to have funding for uh feasibility and schematic design through uh that phase of the uh msba process and then at the conclusion of that we will the school building committee uh along with the msba will do evaluations of
different uh designs and again I think um Sean oor can speak to this even better than I when he he comes uh but do different evaluations and Designs um and then you know eventually present to the town a plan for New School uh
construction at that point but that is separate from the the fourth floor project do you have a followup sir yeah quick totally understand that the chap article 7 specifically references a study for uh an elementary or middle school project for the Cunningham school
yeah so my question is is the study whatever you're studying yeah will it eliminate what you're doing is it going to eradicate what we're spending this $ three and half million dollars on eventually no it's not going again the the hope is that the study helps address the overall overcrowding issue that
exists within Cunningham and cicott and Tucker and Pierce and Glover uh in the high school everywhere so uh that's the hope the reason Cunningham is specifically cited is because in our statement of interest to the msba you have to select a particular School Cunningham was selected because of the
overcrowding that is existing at cicott Cunningham and that's the site that the msba came and and walked through with the select board and school committee and school building committee thank you uh Mr Kelly Brian Brian Kelly Precinct 7 I'm a
little confused I've heard of burn thebat theories before and showing commitment about what you want to do but I don't understand I think you have a wonderful opportunity here we don't know what the future holds
we don't know if the override will pass wouldn't it make sense to at least get something this year if that doesn't work are you telling me to vote for this or you telling me not to vote for this I'm really
confused you want me to vote for it okay but but she's saying if if there's town meeting members that are concerned about the override then they shouldn't vote I don't know how that has any impact uh it's already public it's already out there you got it on the on the menu
tonight wouldn't you be tell us to embrace this it's like a it's like a spare tire okay if we if you get a flight you get something I don't know I'm just I'm just perplexed at the comments of I don't know whether you're
asking us people are saying what you're asking us to vote Yes on this I'm fine with that but I didn't get that message from what you said okay thank you sir m is uh Carol you were to clarify position of the school committee again I think
that has been clarified I appreciate your feedback and I do apologize for any confusion um the point was quite honestly to try to demonstrate some
humility And to clarify our focus in this really challenging moment that we face as a town so I apologize that my attempt to do that on behalf of my colleagues
did not um convey that clearly for for you Mr Kelly and miss verella and others um I I
think I'll leave it there um I I I do believe at this point the position is clear um is that true okay okay thank you Mr Neely you
recognized thank you Mr moderator Richard Neely town mayor pring three what I'd like to hear is the benefits to the students in the written material and the verbal material tonight we've not heard about the students I like to know how many students will benefit I'd like to know whether there'll be any increase
in the number of students that will be added to the building but we should be speaking in all of our materials about the benefits to the clients and the clients are our students thank you thank you Mr burough Dr burrow pardon me great question uh Peter Bros hello
good evening um yeah I mean the the impact to students would be very significant um we have 12 over 12200 students going into the library SP space every every day so that space would see every student in
kic Cott and Cunningham would be in a real library right now on the third floor our library is cut up into many many different spaces those of you who have spent time in there know um when we brought msba to look at our schools and
to look at Cunningham and cicott that was the the place that they went into and we're kind of like eyes wide open this is a problem that needs to be fixed so um this would have a real impact it would also have a real impact longterm for students um in looking at the msba
process which is roughly a 5ye long process um we've talked about this project being important for the the life of Cunningham and cicott not it's not it's a shortterm solution but it's a long-term investment
meaning if and when a new school is built th this space will be used in perpetu and will make it a a learning space that is is highly impactful and meaningful to students so I think it's it's um an
investment that's going to pay huge dividends thank you Mr Walker do you wish to speak to this looy walker town meeting member Precinct 10 uh to miss Carol I understood the point you were making
quite clearly no apology needed there is um something that something that we need to always be cognizant of and in this case it is that if we are doing a bonding project for
$3.5 million those bonds ultimately raise your tax rate for a period of time if we're doing an operational override that raises your tax rate permanently so the
point was if you can support both great I hope you do I support the $3.5 million project but her point was if you have to choose the school committee's view is that they need the override more than
they need that $3.5 million project that was the point I get it vote your conscience thank [Applause] you does anyone else wish to speak to this article question no one wish to speak so we'll
do that uh this requires a two3 vote as it is a bonding item we'll put up the poll all in favor of article 8 please sign press one for yes oppose no two abstain three for
I declare a 2/3 vote of 220 to wa uh folks I have 1025 uh I've been told this is largely a housekeeping article arle on nine if you're up for one more or you're up for
one more okay then with that we have a green sheet the first of the green sheets tonight is uh article 9ine everyone have that I won't read it but basically we're adding a map to come in compliance with the
law yes so um Miss Hall you're recognized great good evening Meredith Hall chair of the plan board committee and uh town meeting member uh Precinct 3 this really is a um a housekeeping item
we have um in recent years passed multiple zoning articles mixed use zoning articles which now allows for residential um development in commercial zones so what you're looking at is assumed this is one parcel here but
there's another map also yes the larger map so this is you're looking from uh sort of east to west um everything from the Lower Mills um business district all the way over to Central Avenue um this zoning is going to allow for some really
exciting projects which you'll soon be hearing about um but when the zoning articles were passed the map was not included so we are simply tonight voting to update that mixed use overlay um overlay um zoning map so and the Brook
Road parcel was also never included so we're just up updating those Maps so that they um coincide with the zoning articles that we've already passed at town meeting very good thank you ma'am does anyone wish to speak to this article I see people standing but I
think not okay um this requires a 2third vote as it is zoning if we could put up the poll all in favor of this article please one for yes two for no three four abens name it's what I declare a 2/3 vote
Entertainer motion to adjourn until 7:30 tomorrow night second all in favor signify by saying I please I oppose no it's unanimous thank you we'll see you 7:30 tomorrow night Tuesday thank you
[Music] he he