##VIDEO ID:0whGgLBCgHI## e e e good yep all right it's 7 o' and call order uh I'm on Zoom I think everyone else is in the room I apologize for that I'm go over the meeting the public comment re on to reports trash cart roll out and general DPW updates downtown park and kiosk update discuss options for future pleasantry Center uh brief discussion on the mvta comeb back tracks it's been uh going back and forth and future agenda approved meeting minutes and then we have executive session and with returning to open session at the end so ask is there a lot of people in the room that want to do public comment you show do a show of hands please three three all right so I'll let Karen run the public comment so because she can pick on people um as they raise their hand a signing sheet um who would like to go first the comment thank you good evening I would like to provide a shot could you tell us oh I'm sorry my name thank you Pat Crawley 71 Vine Street and I'd like to provide a short update on what we have been doing to both the Selectmen and to the people at home who could not come out tonight because of the weather um but are very interested in this uh we've been working very hard writing plans contacting people doing research and coming up with some what I think or what we think are some exciting Alternatives while we are trying to protect the residents of reading from all the pollution emissions diesel fumes and also the conservation we are also very um we wish to have the MBTA continue to enhance the service so we're not against the MBTA doing the service but we do not want to be a freight rail so we have handed out some everybody has should have a handout on what we are doing as far as the health and the well-being part of it which I will speak to Lucas is going to speak to some of the Alternatives we have come up with and Jim is going to talk about some of the concessions that we have talked about the reality is if you could visualize a distance of 4500 ft which is not long with trains idling from 500 a.m. to to 11:00 at night that's what we learned about at the last conservation meeting this is 18 hours of trains idling in that short distance this is at the same time trains are going back and forth from havil all day long including freight trains at night on this track right beside this new track now think of all the health issues and we have documented in our report we have them from John Hopkins we have them from Anderson we have them from another places of all the studies that have been done on the emissions all the cancer brain asthma everything you can think of has been attributed to these deadly admissions if at the same time you could picture with these trains running for 18 hours a day picture the location I mean 4500 ft sounds like a lot if it was in a freight yard it wouldn't matter this is in an area where there is a soccer field practices are there games are there Parker school is there 600 students all day long the tannerville unit of 80 units of elderly and disabled residents they're protected by the environmental justice designation they should have had a say in this they are in a protected area the hundreds of residents in neighborhoods of babies young children families and residents with disabilities and then you add conservation land where $2 million was just done to enhance the trails and this is going to be sitting in the heart of the conservation land when it stops there is the EPA the Environmental Protection Agency then in 2003 23 they empowered the state and local government to protect residents from the emissions along with that is the consent decree in the core case of United States versus the MBTA 2010 10 and that was because of train idling now you say Miss crley I just want to let you know you're at 3 minutes and usually we allow two minutes per person oh okay I'll I'll wrap it up okay um what can officials do we found out in brain Tre officials listen to the mayor listened to the residents and as a result of them listening he worked with the MTA and he moved the idling trains to an industrial place we just want to protect all the residents and still have Solutions thank [Music] you thank you Karen and for for people in the room and uh just before the next public speaker comes we are going to have the MBTA at our February 4th meeting is that correct Matt yes that's correct I've confirmed that so we're going to have uh representatives from the NBTA at the February 4th meeting that'll be an official agenda item and even though it's on a public hearing I will open it up to Residents uh as long as not repeating the same thing over and over again so we can have a productive meeting I know this is a Hot Topic these days I don't want to disrespect any of the residents I know this is a major issue and they appreciate the public comment but just keep in mind that we are going to have an agenda item in early February in all the resid a welcome to attend thank you good evening my name is Jim Riley I live at 87 Hancock Street writing uh I've been there in the same location for over 60 years I'm going to keep this short I'm here tonight to discuss the NBTA proposed second rail turnback track our issues and concerns and opposition as residents in reading and our proposed list of concessions which I would like to provide which I provided you and make it part of next week's agenda but that's a discussion point the first concerning issue I have and I think a lot of people has is that the MBTA has not provided the town of reading any in-depth document only a brief document to our Conservation Commission so we have we residents the select board has has no information as to what is going on an in-depth document would discuss things as actual start and stop times on this heavily used track amount of trains used daily amount of commuted its services in reading and actual cost of the turn backt trck because another person getting up here is going to have Alternatives which seem cost cost effective we've been in touch with the town management we've been in touch with state representatives we heard only bits and pieces from the MBTA residents we res we residents do not want a diesel locomotive staging rail area behind our houses or in front of our houses and usually you use that term for a big industrial complex this will end up being an industrial complex in my opinion reading residents health and well-being must take precedence over MBTA issues and that's why we're here it's for you to help us do that and the list the agenda for next week I would appreciate it if we could put our list of concessions on that agenda thank [Music] you hi good evening uh Lucas PR with 85 Hancock Street um of reading um so I'm similar to Jim live right next door to him um and we abut the train track and I believe him and I and only a few others I'm not 100% on this are the only ones that got a letter from the Conservation Commission because we actually AB but the tracks and we AB but the conservation land so that's a little bit concerning like Jim said I don't think other abutters were even notified of this information so that's what we're ultimately looking for is a voice in this situation and and once again Matt appreciate it we've been sending you information great replies and everything communication Mark we had discussed it the other day we're just looking for a voice and some guidance on how do we have a voice in this situation so just to kind of get to what I wanted to talk about so as I was getting involved with this last week um I started to do some research a neighbor friend of mine sent me a document and this document was put together by um Transit matters and I would highly recommend that you put there's a link in the um document that I put together um and that's where I just started reading and reading and reading and it kind of started to build my argument and it's not even an argument it's once again propos alternatives for the whole scenario um but one thing I forgot the main reason why I'm here just to reiterate what Pat and Jim said is to Pro protect my family of five my friends my neighbors and everybody along the neighborhoods of Vine and Hancock Street and also too to quote Governor uh morah from her um state of the Commonwealth address the other night she quoted or I quote her to protect and strengthen the things we love can't stress that enough that is the reason why we all here to protect the things we love um so this document just to get to that I want to try and Breeze over it quickly but I'd like to also if you want me to discuss this more if we can bring it to the agenda I know the meeting in February 4th is going to also have the MBTA but once again to get our voice out there as well too um but so just to get to say the first page here um the ter backt trck in the uh diesel locomotives which I I don't want to reiterate but once again they have a 30 minute Max maximum of idle time otherwise they exceed an EPA law um so just simply flipping to the next page I want to go through this pretty quickly uh because it's fairly lengthy document but once again reiterating the transit matters document from 2021 what they propose and they recommend in that document is there's a wildcat branch in the Wilmington area which the hail line currently sometimes uses and what the document States and once again I'm done using their information I didn't do any of this Arch myself but they say they actually recommend pushing the ha line over to the low line it's may be potentially a little bit more efficient and the infrastructure is there ready to go for that and what they ultimately propose if they do do that you see that figure one there they propose closing service from Reading up to this Wildcat trap so in other words think of it you have potentially I counted on Google Maps there's 10 Road crossings that could be closed in reading and Wilmington so once again as you start to read this document and once again like I said as I read this um Transit matters document it just kept the the bigger picture of this Alternatives that I put in here it's not just reading it's Wilmington it's lynfield it's stonum so the further you get in the document I think you'll start to see that a little bit more um so just kind of moving on to the the next page excuse me skipping to page four so alternative 1A um is there's current infrastructure right now south of the station so just south of Ash Street so anywhere pretty much between be behind Market Basket all the way down underneath um Interstate 95 there's currently double track and triple track in switches to make this actual um uh turnback situation happen south of the station so just moving on um page five shows you some figures of that current infrastructure um but then once again I know I'm short for time um another solution alternative B on page six uh you could install potentially this turn this the um you're at three minutes what's that if you're at three minutes at three minutes may I get one more minute or no no you coming to your conclusion um well I'll just once again if I you will read this it's okay all I ask is that the um the select board read it and if we could be put on and we could actually talk about a little bit more because if you read it in in full detail and especially on the last few pages is where the benefits of not just reading but other communities there's a lot to be had in that situation instead of just the current turn back track that's proposed behind our houses thank you appreciate it um we don't have any more public comment requests here in the select board I don't know if there's any online Carla anything online kayn there is no one raising their hand nope no thank you all right and and just thank you for everyone speaking uh we've been getting all your emails and they're very helpful and our state delegation is well aware of this um I'll go over next week the agenda for that meeting with Matt and Jane and normally we don't put public about citizen input into the agenda so I I will discuss that with Matt and Jane but we all want to hear from the NBTA the board uh we they have not come before us unfortunately for the guidelines uh they don't need quote unquote our permission but they're going in front of conservation but we're all well aware of this representative Jones representative Hagerty and uh Senator Lewis are all aware of this you've made them aware and they're involved so I think benefit all of us to hear from the NBTA hear about their plans why they want to do this why they can't do it uh by the DPW because I don't have all the answers so I I we'll put that agenda together next week and we'll allow you know public comment as if you within reason as if it's a hearing even though it won't be a public hearing but I don't want to Discount anything that's going on in that neighborhood and what they're trying to propose but I'm hoping there some kind of reason they need to do it there or they want to do it there but again I don't know but I again thank you and we'll have a broader discussion on the FL so next we have uh I just on reports could I just ask one question sure Jim Riley again if they're going to come here and they're going to speak to this group of people can they we ask them to put what the going to propose in writing so we all understand it I'm hoping to get that in the packet yes uh we will Matt has been corresponding with the representative from the NBTA and I'm hoping they have some kind of slideshow and presentation and the reasons that this is needed not wanted those are two big distinctions so uh you know if that's not on the agenda uh any kind of uh presentation I don't know why they'd be coming uh unless they're just going to tell us we're going to do this anyway um but obviously we'll try to fight that as much as we can but we will work on that and I am hoping to see as sure as my colleagues to see some kind of presentation on why the NBTA wants to do this and why it has to be in that specific location given all the concerns um from the emissions from the noise from Just A disruption so we all want to know what you want to know trust me but thank you thank you next we have razon and town manager reports I'll start with Melissa please sure um the school committee met on uh January 16th to review their FY 26 budget uh two big takeaways from that meeting is that there will be free full day kindergarten starting in 2026 which completes the commitment they made um four years ago to make this happen um they will also be adding a kindergarten teacher position to their budget due to higher than um higher enrollment in recent Trends I zoomed into the conservation meeting on January to listen um to what the MBTA had to propos at that meeting for this track um I was able to briefly attend and speak at the land Summit um which was last Sunday at Mata cabin um um this is their second year having this meeting it's a meeting that brings together Conservation Commission Trails committee Town Forest committee and open land trust to collaborate around their common goals and how to support each other throughout the year and I was just asked to speak about how their boards can work with the select board and how they should use Liaisons to um give us information and if they need to you know get on our agenda for any of their issues how that process should happen um on January 13 I attended the Town Forest meeting which or I zoomed in I should say I didn't attend which they were talking about some incidents they're having in the town forest with dog walkers um they're still having an issue of who they can um have as their phone number for their signs although town meeting did approve their new bylaw I don't think it's been approved by the state yet so there is still a little hold up on that few a few more weeks on that one got it um and then I helped and attended at the MLK event yesterday at the high school it was a great event with a fabulous keynote speaker Ralph bledo um just wanted to thank all the town staff who made the event happen including facilities DPW who's had to clean up and get all the snow removed um for everyone to make it to the high school also Food Service who arrived at 6:15 to make all the fabulous food for the event and all the boards and committees that volunteered their time to make the event happen that's it for me all right thanks Mark please thanks Carlo um so a couple of quick things one I'm sorry that the the folks from hanock Street and Bine Street have left I just wanted to compliment them on their very proactive and reasoned and calm approach to trying to find Alternatives I think that it's a model for how how we should be doing things um to reate some of the things that that Melissa said the um MLK event yesterday was great it was nice to see folks come out and it was great that we're able to get in and out without any problems so thank you folks for for getting that done um the PBC the permanent building committee has been meeting very regularly about the ring Center for active living or recal um including as we speak maybe or maybe they just adjourned I had to sneak out of that one the committee has been reviewing the latest designs um in this process which is called schematic design right now that will allow for cost estimation to be as accurate as possible we're on a very frequent meeting Pace right now to address questions and feedback from the committee and I've got to say the work is very impressive um built from the extensive expertise of The Architects of the owner's project manager and frankly the very talented permanent building committee itself and the folks in town have a lot of expertise here um the plan is to share updated information with the select board at the Feb 4 uh meeting I believe we're scheduled for that um I believe that the town has two key priorities to address for its residents right now the creation of the center for active living recal and the new kilum school and you're going to be hearing more about both projects over the next few months I encourage folks to attend meetings and learn more about these two key projects that should be coming to town meeting in April and if successful at town meeting to come forward to a special election with separate ballot questions I strongly believe these are the two most important things we can do as a community back to recal um we will be having a public forum next Tuesday January 28th at 7 pm at the Pleasant Street Center and that'll also be over Zoom the focus of this meeting is to take a look at the design updates which I mentioned the the uh permanent building committee has been working on now and providing feedback on um that'll all be shared there also on Thursday January 30th at 1 o'clock at the Pleasant Street Center will be a smaller meeting um to share basically what went on at the Forum the town manager led a discussion last week um about these two priorities the center for active living the new kilum school um with the leaders of the projects the chair of the select board of the school committee so that we can work together to share our priorities and plans with the taxpayers of the community as many of you know I've been actively involved uh with the recal project for many years it's very gratifying seeing it move ahead for consideration uh over the next few months which is great um I also have decided that I will not be seeking reelection to the select board this April I've enjoyed my time serving the community on the board over the last six years I plan to stay very active in town through town meeting if I get reelected uh and in some new roles going forward I hope to Shepherd the center for active living project through with the community in the coming months and to remain actively involved in the reading community that both my wife Linda and I love so much whoops jumped to the next page um thanks reting for allowing me to serve you and to work with balance to move the community forward I hope this board and future boards will work to to reestablish some of this balance and make reading an even more welcoming community that prioritizes its citizens in their needs respects its volunteers and serves our growing age 60 plus population as well as our students and families thank you Mr chair fellow board members Town staff the entire community and uh you all will continue to be hearing from me thank you thanks I just want to pause for a second Mark uh you really caught me off guard there and uh sorry I appreciate is a colleague I appreciate your service and um you know I I wish you nothing but wellness and you know obviously we'll see each other soon but um I'm I'm I'm sorry to see you not running but um but thank you for everything and uh we we will we will Forge ahead thank you absolutely thanks car I can't see the I guess just going on order I think Karen's next in CD order so I'm gonna go with karon next please usually go with the secretary next that's how go so Mark it's been a pleasure serving with you and I'm really happy to here you're going to continue to stay involved um but we this community depends on both you and Linda and and we're we're better for it thank you um so I also um attended the uh conservation hearing with the which the MBTA um attended and I I want to commend um Brian Bo I believe was conducting the meeting and um Chuck chrone was facilitating and you know it it was a great it was a good discourse there's a lot of genuine concerns around this initiative and um it was good that the topic of the um economic Justice area of writing was finally raised it appeared that the NB was una aware of it but um I appreciate that they were listening I appreciate they had answers and um I look forward to uh continuing productive discussions and and I think I I think it's great that they're going to come and and talk to us more and hopefully we can find a way to achieve both things keeping our residents safe and healthy and also um taking the steps to um improve the service in this community because that is that is an important Initiative for this community we we need that as well so um MLK day that was fabulous um in addition to everyone who Melissa thanked um there's a whole host of volunteers including um folks who just came into the room here I see Miss doar I I don't want to be remiss in trying to name them all but they've been working really hard and um they're in the background and it was an amazing event the students the IP switch River chorus the speaker just you know Kudos again one of my favorite community events um and I also um Linda and I have been updated and and Matt is as well that the initiative that the select board started a number of years ago to um update the portraits in this room is moving forward and um we should have um Miss Harriet Tubman joining this joining our collection very very shortly and our office of equity and social justice is in the process of planning an event along with the select board to make sure that um we do a great job of presenting that and and thanking the artist um so next week I look forward to attending the MMA annual meeting um this year I will be serving as a member of wio I've been um appointed to the committee which is um a committee of women elected Municipal officers and um you know everything from Finance to you know I'm sure I'll hear updates on MBTA communities and there's always um climate Law related It's a Wonderful conference and I know we'll see Matt there maybe we'll see Jane and I and look forward to seeing others there Chris Co too Chris Cole and I do believe um M Albert plus is going I've seen Laura there in the past it's very worthwhile so it'll be great it'll be good writing presence that's it thank you thanks Chris please thanks Carlo um and thank you Mark I know differences aside you've devoted decades to the town between here finance committee Etc um I can only hope to be able to compete with that amount of time that you've done um you know you you've stepped up you've you've volunteered a lot of things in this town would not be happening because of you and obviously Linda as well but um I don't know you caught me off guard too and you know I it it might be different than than last year Etc but but listen you've you've you've committed a lot and um you know I appreciate it um and yeah I mean it's almost like we need a recess but you know uh I guess thank you Mark um and like everyone else has mentioned the uh MLK event um I attended that as well Albert was on crutches which seems to be the reoccurring theme for every event now last two three years so good to see he's continuing with that U but it wouldn't have been possible like Melissa mentioned without facilities and DBW I know Chris is here the last two snowstorms or this one and the baby one before that have been phenomenal um just driving around as if uh it never even snowed after this last one um was pretty incredible so uh thank you Chris and DPW and Facilities um for taking care of that um I also attended the Frozen musical uh from kolge uh stevenh McDonald runs an excellent program over there uh we're very lucky to have him uh as well as all the parents inv volunteers that put that set together it seemed um I was there for a hot minute helping take it apart uh compared to the you know hundreds of hours other people put into this but uh if an earthquake happened in in that set would still have been standing that's how well they put this together there's a couple good qualified people that built that thing to to last um so it's good to see uh the parents and volunteers just devoting their time to that um so I really appreciate it um and that's all I got thanks thanks um unfortunately for me the CPA meeting was was the same night uh as our meeting uh previous meeting and which I was late but I did get an update um from Mr conahan and the board decided to formally vote on having to bring CPA forward in November 2026 and to bring it to town meeting as soon as possible and uh that was the major theme for that meeting there was other things discussed about you know what we're going to prepare and present and um hopefully I can attend the next meeting I'm having conflicts for a couple more Tuesdays with my daughter unfortunately she's a senior so there's some stuff going on that I want to attend for her and I'm hoping I can make that next meeting which is next week um and that's really it for me I've been I've been watching some meetings I haven't really attended uh any in person lately unfortunately and um that's it for me and I'm I'm sure the MLK was a great event I was not there I'm glad my colleagues were there and I Echo all the sentiments uh that my colleague stated about that event and uh how they got that off during the snowstorm so I thank everybody for that and Matt I'll hand it off to you okay thank you Mr chair um I'll Echo what everybody said about the MLK breakfast it was a great event it is every year I wanted to thank Elbert DPW facilities for clearing it out we were texting the whole day before making sure it was going to happen and getting word out um on Facebook and and whatnot and I was so happy to hear that it could happen you know without a without a glitch so um great speakers and I look forward to it next year um the as you know the police sorry the fire chief is retiring um and we have posted that vacancy so it has been posted far and wide we putting together a steering committee um the screening committee to review the res resumés and and also we're in the process of engaging a um a vendor for an assessment center this is an important position we want to make sure we get the right person to fill big shoes for chief Burns um so we're going all out with an assessment center I'll have more on a schedule soon uh but Chief Burns says I tried to change his mind but he is going to retire in May so no turning back now so we're into the year of of retirement for Mr Burns um I also was notified last week that we're receiving uh $119,000 State grant for firefighter safety equipment staying on the fire department um I worked with assistant uh Chief Nelson on this grant so I was happy to hear we got what we asked for on that Grant so more State money coming to reading always a good thing um we did I I I told you before we were going to tour the dance school SL uh church next door we did have that tour on the 16th um we met afterward we decided at this point not to recommend a sale at this time um given condition of the building and other projects we have going on we're going to still monitor what's going on there but it didn't seem to be the correct fit right now after we we toured the building I had Joe Huggins there with me facilities person Jane came um Kevin a lot of people from our staff came with with me and I think it's it's a good opportunity for maybe someone um but at this point I don't see a great fit for the town um purchasing the building and we could talk more about that at a future meeting if you'd like um the police department asked me to remind people that there's another car seat inspection event this Saturday the 25th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. it's a free service you don't need an appointment you just show up and they'll inspect and install your car seat for the for the toddlers um that need that so that's always a nice service that the town has for people um and we are continue to work on the the budget the warrant and Mark gave a great overview of what recal is looking like kilum is right on the same track we'll have an update there I I agree those are the two major projects leading into the spring and Beyond so we have a great team on both sides and we're working very hard on those projects and I look forward to continue to work with you mark on that project going forward thank you for your service I remember when I first started 10 years ago I think you were the the chair of the fincom back then and just had consistent service since then and I know before then and I hope we could still have coffee at Nero like we like to do so I'll be you up for that fairly soon so so that's it one one thing Melissa you brought up um an issue regarding the dog signs and we do have a solution to that maybe Jane if you wanted to say anything about that thanks we had we had a meeting on this uh last week so yeah we met with um police the police chief the town forest with Phil solvent um DPW and with health to uh figure out how we could manage the solution we have a our Animal Control contract is through Wakefield and we pay them for particular services and what's not included in that service contract is response to dog calls stuff like that's not included in that so there's a lot of kind of f fine-tuning of details um we do have a plan in place for a phone number and an email address uh for people to uh call in dog related complaints so that we can track those complaints and respond to them uh we won't necessarily even police can't show up in but by the time they get there in the moment things happen when there are incidences of assault or whatever uh the police department will investigate those and have right yeah so we want we're also going the town Force committee is putting up a sign at the location which will have that information there'll be a QR code um it'll also have some sort of you know good manners policy like do not confront people about the local bylaws log the issue with the town so on our website we'll have a dog log that we're working to develop so people can say this is an incident that I had and then we will be able to collect data which may inform future policy decisions for Town meating and in various boards um so we'll be able to get a lot of data so that's so we'll have the Dog Log we'll have a phone number and a voicemail that will be monitored as the Ombudsman I will call people back if they if that needs to happen that's sort of separate from an animal control issue um we do want to be really responsive I have a dog I I get it I get I also don't like my dog to be approached by dogs off Le so I get both sides I'm into it um so we had a great meeting I think that there was a lot of satisfaction I got thank you note from U Mr sullan after the meeting um so we will be seeing that as we work through the IT issues and getting everything pulled together we're still waiting also of course to make sure that the bylaw is approved right so once that's happened then we will kind of we can still do the Dog Log we can still do the phone number and the animal control those aren't dependent on whether or not that rule is in place because we still have dog issues throughout the town so we will continue to to look at that everywhere and we have the capability to um I think it's really good when people can just take pictures like that I think I've been told that that's helpful um from the police or whoever sure and they can email that in it'll be like animal control read.gov or they can because we can do that c click fix they can put it in C click fix right now they can send it to this particular email address they can put it in the dog log we've got lots of options and we will continue to pull all that data together as well as we go but we do want people to report it we also want people to know if they're having an issue in the Moment Like a barking dog that's going on for a long time they should call the the business line at the police department so it's not an emergency it's not a 911 call but it's a business line call and they will go out and respond to that in the moment they can't respond if you post it on Facebook or you know you even and when you put it into C click fix you'll get a message immediately if it's happening now call the non call the business line the non-emergency line so that people kind of you know we know that some folks aren't they don't want to call the police department over certain things but they want people to know and so we're trying to say this is something you should call about this is not an emergency you should call I think that's great Etc and so guide people that so those are some of the things that we've done but we we did have a good meeting on that yeah great thank you okay thank you Carlo if I could real quick sure thanks um Mark had me frazz so I forgot about the uh uh kum's uh total project update is going to be at tomorrow night's meeting um so people want to tune in to see what the project budget is going to be it is tomorrow night that's correct and that's all I got back to be friend thank you yeah I think we all caught off guard Mark I have so many questions I'm so annoyed that I'm on Zoom right now out I wonder how though I'm going to ask one very controversial question of you just one chocolate vanilla or marble o chocolate all right done certain things I guess I wear pretty pretty openly all right next I heard Chris is in the room so we have uh Chris Cole I guess assistant DBW director I don't know yes Chris will introduce Mike kesman as our assistant wanted he's going to be the main presentation by people had said they didn't know we had an assistant DPW so we thought it was a good time to bring out Mike so Mike is here tonight to present you with and I've know you've seen you know quite a bit of me over the past few months so I figured I'd take the night off and turn the podium over to Mike tonight to um the assistant DPW director talk to you about the um where we are with the trash and recycling car rollup so M oh hello my name is Michael kman I'm the assistant DPW director here and like Chris said I'm here to give you guys an update on the rubbish and recycling cart program um worth noting here is that these images you're looking at are accurate in terms of the color and the hot stamp logo on the side and you can't really read the top but I believe it says um trash only um Street side and recycling only um so this is what the carts are going to look like next slide um so this is a new slide here I I added it today it's not in your packet but I wanted to kind of mention what the six there's six main components to this roll out here um or the I'm sorry the program as a whole we have the purchase of the carts we have the distribution locally overflow bags smaller carts and second carts the disposal of the old barrels and storage of extra carts as we do intend to purchase uh pretty ample supply of extra carts next slide um so what is involved here with all of that um we have three vendors we're working with um we have waste quip we are actually purchasing the carts the todor brand carts from waste equp um worth noting is they have a 10-year warranty on the components and a 12year warranty on the body we're working with another vendor called container Pros on the roll out which is the assembly and local distribution of the carts um they're going to be delivered on assembled in um big box trucks um tractor trailers I'm sorry and these folks are going to assemble them and roll them out um we're working with waste zero for a supply of overflow bags which is another key component if you have excess trash there'll be two ways you can dispose of that either through a second cart or through roll out bags um I mentioned that we're purchasing extra carts so the storage of the extra carts is kind of an issue we don't really have room at the DPW Yard to store all of these things um we have identified uh the end of stout a as where we'd like to store them um there is a vacant garage over there it's not being used for anything right now um the site is going to require excavation and prep to put the containers um on a on a foundation of some sort so that um required conservation approval as it's within 100 foot buffer of the Wetland so that's been completed we have a approval from conservation to put these containers down there um so that's a check off the list um we're going to be helping you guys dispose of your old barrels so after the new barrels are rolled out we're going to be um providing you three different ways to get rid of your old barrels um and we'll be offering where we are offering smaller carts and second carts and there's been a lot of Outreach going on related to the smaller carts and the second cards next slide please um so where are we at with all of this here um as you guys know town meeting approved $900,000 in funding for the supply and delivery of the carts um we have placed the order the purchase order has been cut so the money's in cumbered and we working with the vendors I mentioned earlier to uh to make all of this happen here and we are continuing uh our Outreach regarding the smaller carts focusing mainly on that priority population um but we are offering that option to all residents next slide um so the roll out is going to be staged out of the gravel parking lot uh behind the Burbank ice rink on Simon's way and we have scheduled this to begin the delivery is going to begin on Tuesday April 8th um we are actually going to be starting our prep work the day before um but the delivery of the carts two households will be starting on Tuesday April 8th as I mentioned the storage sites for the extra carts have been secured and we are going to be putting two storage containers down there to store all of the extra carts next slide please this is a list of all of the communications and Outreach we have completed to date um Chris has given several presentations um including a uh lunch and learn at the Pleasant Street Center um he also held a uh open kind of office hours uh event here um we've put notice in the pleasantries we've put notice in the water bills Facebook posts etc etc so we've really tried to get the word out to everybody that this is happening that there are options for smaller carts and second carts uh we've spoken to Public Safety fire and police um and Alo also worth mentioning is I met with uh the owners of Little Treasure Schoolhouse over there so they're aware it's coming um there's going to be a slight increase you know to traffic um while this is going on and we know that that's a pretty busy area um in in the morning and in the afternoons here so I made sure to to reach out to them uh next slide please so we have smaller carts and second carts uh as you guys know the priority is being given to um the 60 plus and disabled resident population here and there's been a tremendous amount of interest in the smaller carts the DPW admins are U taking phone calls we have a shared spreadsheet that we're all adding information to we have 366 entries in that spreadsheet right now and um residents are um calling in on the dedicated phone number there um the cart hotline just to uh put in the requests for the smaller carts so of those 366 entries the numbers up there show uh how many requests for 48 gallon and 64 gallon carts have come in here um which is significant and um in terms of the second carts um we are going to be providing second carts through a use agreement um folks are going to go in on open gov and sign up for that use agreement it's going to be $200 a year for the second trash cart we are going to be offering second recycling carts at no fee but residents will still need to use open gov to put in that request and as of today that portal is live and I believe Chris how many people did you say so signed up had like six in the first hour six in the first hour for folks who want second carts um so if you have uh next slide please so if you have um excess trash but you don't want a second cart all year long you'll have overflow bags as your other option to dispose of um extra trash we are working with waste zero on a proposal um we're working with waste zero to manage the financial portion there's a little bit um a little bit of back and forth there about how the finances are going to work but ultimately these bags will be available at retailers bigger retailers like Stop and Shop and Market Basket CVS and we're also speaking to some smaller retailers to try to have them um available in different locations all around town so folks don't have to just go to Market Basket Etc and one great thing about waste zero here is that they coordinate directly with the vendors kind of taking us out of the loop we're not going to offer them at the counter downstairs in DPW they're only going to be available through the vendors um and they handle all the money and everything so that's the best solution for us um next slide please so this is a summary of the order quantities here so we started with our Baseline order um from assessor's office data and these numbers reflect um locations that are currently served under our existing contract with Republic we have the quantities from the small cart signup sheet and then the last column shows extra cart quantities uh we have until um February 1st to make any adjustments to these quantities that at that point the vendor has said you know no more changes final numbers by November 1st um February 1st I'm sorry so the total number here we're looking at 448 gallon rubbish 448 gallon recycling um 7872 64 gallon rubbish 364 gallon Recycling and 7,765 96 gallon recycling next slide please so the order budget um this slide summarizes the cost includ including delivery for all of these carts we are up to just shy of $880,000 so we do have $220,000 left if we feel we want to add more carts to this order uh we still have the ability to do that uh I do want to mention that the um the roll out is about $90,000 and that's being funded separately from the 900 and the storage containers are also being funded separately out of the trash account um so the 900 ,000 just couldn't absorb those items so we're funding them differently uh next slide please so the rollout is going to be staged out of that gravel parking lot behind the Burbank Ice Arena um the reading ice Authority was very willing to work with us very happy to help um I've been talking to Ed down there he's been great um so beginning on Monday the DPW is going to install a temporary chain link fence to secure the area um to protect from theft and vandalism but also just to separate the public that will still be using the ice rink during this time from the roll out to keep everybody safe the way the roll out is going to work here tractor trailers are going to be arriving overnight and be delivering the unassembled carts to the staging area next slide please and then there will be two daytime Crews on site that will be working to assemble the carts and load them onto smaller box trucks for local delivery they're going to be U-Haul kind of style moving trucks you know reasonably reasonably sized smaller trucks and these Crews um like to work seven uh six days a week I'm sorry Monday through Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 7: p.m. to get this done as quickly as possible um they're telling us they can deliver about 2,000 carts a day so it's a th000 per crew we're saying the roll out is going to take two to three weeks to complete if everything goes smoothly it might take less but we're telling everybody two to three weeks and DPW staff including myself the highway supervisor Jeff Cummings um we will be on site um to make sure everything goes smoothly next slide please all right so now the carts have been rolled out and you're looking at your old barrels wondering what the heck do I do with these things so we're going to help out in three ways we are planning a special curbside collection of old barrels it's looking like every Saturday in June um Republic is going to be doing curbside collection of those barrels as a special collection event we are also going to have a rolloff dumpster at the DPW Yard that you'll be welcome to go at your own convenience and dispose of your old barrels and then we have our annual Spring Recycling event um sometime in May or June final date to be determined there'll be a rigid plastics event you're welcome to come and drop your barrels off then if that's convenient for you um we're urging folks to try to figure out how to repurpose these things if you can um opposed to disposing of them but if you do need to dispose of them we're going to be there to help next slide please and storage of the extra carts so as I mentioned we just do not have room at the yard to store these store these extra carts but we are going to be ordering extra carts and extra parts of all sizes and types uh we want to be able to respond quickly to resident requests and future needs and we want to position ourselves to be ready for the future as new requests come in and everything like that um and as I mentioned the conservation end of this is approved and the containers are scheduled to arrive on Friday February 21st that date is flexible we have a little bit of prep work to do so if we're not ready um they'll let us push it back but I feel we're in great shape to have all that in place for when the roll out occurs um the extra carts are going to be assembled uh at the staging site and then they're going to deliver them to stav for us so when this is all done everybody will have their carts we're going to have containers full of extra parts and carts and we're going to be well positioned here uh next slide please and then we have the future of the rubbish and recycling um here in reading so after this roll out is complete we are going to work um and look ahead to our next uh main contract here which is the uh the the next rubbish and recycling collection contract as you guys know our current contract expires June of 2026 um so we're already working um looking ahead working with a group at Mass D with Jane Wellman and other folks here um um so our goal is to um put out an RFP to get competitive pricing and by rolling out these trash carts we are going to be uh prepared for a switch to automated collections which is where the industry is going now um so this roll out is key to um have a successful next rubbish and recycling contract so that sums it up for me uh if you guys have any questions uh we're here to answer any questions you might have thank you karon can you um I'm sure we all have questions I know I do but maybe the mark raised his hand first Mr chair yeah so you can just handle the room and I'll go last or I'll just you know comment uh but yeah thank you Mark thank you um nice to meet you Mike thanks for you was well Mar it went really well um so few questions here first delivery details will they be dropped off in people's driveways during those dates where will they be dropped they are going to be I believe they're going to be dropped off um either like in your driveway apron or at the side of the road right where you would typically drop uh put your your trash out I don't think they're going to be like going up to your house and putting them the yeah no no so um yeah they'll be left down down by the road in front of your house okay um and just thinking about the communications I know that as we talk about about Recycling and getting the most competitive quotes there might even be consideration of recycling every two weeks as opposed to every week are the folks that are requesting smaller recycling barrels made aware that that might happen just to beware yeah we're making sure to let everybody know that part of the new contract is going to be likely bi-weekly Recycling and um you know most of the folks I've spoken to personally say oh it's just me or you know um we only have one small red bin a week so we're fine um we're making sure to to bring that to everybody's attention great um is the expectation when the new ones come you can start using them immediately right yes we're asking folks to start using the new barrels immediately once they arrive great CS um is there going to be some kind of training I guess videos and things just to make sure that people realize that street side out means stre Street side out there is going to be um some information distributed with the carts um some pamphlets on the carts care how to care for the cart some information on our end as well um so yeah there will be will be some information it's going to be somehow attached to the cart while they're distributed um with information like that cool and I saw your list of communication which is great is there already or might there be a video coming that will kind of be instructions on just one two three here's what you do that's a very good idea I think we'll start talking about that awesome thank you thank you okay other questions Chris thanks Ken um so uh I have existing barrels that I know would work and we've already beli at that point um but my existing Barrels have raccoons or something have eaten the tops Etc so what are we doing in that case with these new barrels like I know you're ordering extra parts um like am I just going to call up my top Barrel is destroyed then I pick it up from DPW a week later or something or how are we going to handle um we have the dedicated cart hotline phone number I see that turning into longterm the hotline for folks to call if they have any problems with their carts email address what and an email address too and an email address um which we'll be monitoring uh haven't quite figured out the logistics um in terms of are we going to bring a new lid to to your house and install it there or are we going to bring a whole new barrel and install it there and take your old one with you um so we're still working on that but but we are certainly going to be responsive um to any requests folks bring our and I think there has to be not like a tire tread gauge but some form of knowing that you're not going to qualify if a raccoon bites a corner as opposed to like the whole thing being destroyed so like it's going to be realistic yeah I think we'll have to um do a little bit of figuring out you know I can give you an example of one that needs to be replaced and then you can go from there again yeah I mean if animals are getting in it or rodents are getting in the card I think at that point you know that's a problem that we want to avoid yeah that's I've been trying um tough and then what are we doing if somebody steals the barrels are these assigned numbers to houses how are we going to know that I didn't take Mark's Barrel to my house and now Mark doesn't have Barrel they do have some type of a serial number on them that is going to be logged by the Rollout Company um and we will have that information um um are we recommending to people that they write their address on them or something like that no no we are not recommending that you write your address or name on the card or anything like that um and these cards do not have RFID chips other communities have the RFID chip that's scanned when it's dropped off um container Pros has told us they are going to note the serial number and we will get that information all back so so as long as as long as there's some differentiating factor which if it's a ser number yes then I can't steal my neighbor's barrel and then don't pay $200 every year because now I got my second barrel for free you just ratted yourself out Chris so we get enough people that are going to pay attention to it so um yeah no we're uh there'll be ways to prevent that um and then in terms of the extra carts that people are going to order are those going to be done after the initial roll out or at the same time or you haven't picked a way to do it the um open go portal is lo live as of today so folks can actually start putting in and um agreeing to that user agreement and ordering the extra carts as of right now my question is if I do order the extra cart and then you guys come and deliver the cart I assume you're doing one per house but now I got my extra one is it going to do the two at that time I'm just saving you the headache of the phone call and people saying I give you 200 bucks and you didn't give me my extra cart you're going to be Fielding 300 something phone calls if if there if it isn't communicated that these are coming after the initial roll out you'll receive your extra ones or at the same time you know what I mean uh can I look to Jade to answer that question please uh sure um so that's a great question uh it's Our intention to have everything that we know of by a certain date we're not sure what that is yet container Pros will tell us um then those will be the ones that are included in that initial drop off container Pros looks at every single address through Google Earth every single one to know where they're putting every single cart in our order so it is a it is a multi-week process that they take on once we send them all the documents from the assessor's office they look at every single one on a very granular level and then we discuss with them questions right if they have questions about certain things so um so it's it's it's very very detailed and so that's part of the reason why we've done all of this prep work in advance to get all of the um non regular orders in line and so that we are that's why the priority group um now we've opened up the the second carts and there will be a certain date when okay everybody who is in by this time we can accommodate them in April and then after that we have uh Mike and and Chris have put together a number of extra cards that we'll have so people who come in later we can do those on our own can add them later um and then if we run out um of what we've ordered we don't anticipate that will happen but say it does um then come July one with our new budget We'll order extra cards so we have no reason to think that we won't be able to accommodate anybody with a special request um but we there are certain dates like we have to get the order in we can't change the dates um after February 1 so we're trying to get ahead of those things with the quantities and then we should be all set um to come people who have made the smaller cart Choice the extra cart choice at a certain point but I think your point is well taken Mr Haley that um setting expectations is important yeah I was going to say as long as it's communicated that everyone has to get this in by February 1st if you want to be in the initial uh round of delivery then um that's going to cause people like me who wait till the last minute to not actually wait till the last minute if I if I want to get this so sure I I it's open today go rent out we don't it's not necessarily February 1st because we have extra orders in the quantities if you look through the the so we should be fine for a bit and then and then we'll let people know Chris just don't steal your neighbors [Music] okay you'll know they have cereal I'm still on marks he's not on the board anymore I know I'm still here don't me taking marks uh my last question is um the the trash bag scenarios so I think something like quick stop I assume they need to have some um inventory kind of program in order for these bags and things to work so I mean obviously like a a convenience store kind of thing seems like an easy jump for somebody else um I'm not it's centrally located I'm sure there's a couple other ones that you guys can think of um other than the supermarkets Etc because you don't want to keep them here I understand you want to handle cash and Logistics and all that um so it's just an option yeah I think we put together about 10 different locations that and um waste um zero they act they do all the Outreach for us so we tell them who we we want to Target and then they go and talk to them and they handle all the inventory I think we have to buy like 40,000 bags and um all those are stored at an off-site warehouse and then waste zero deals with the vendors and ships uh delivers the bags directly to them and uh just lastly on that point the the the whole reason is the town is not making money off of this scenario it's all the increase in the tonnage of the trash that is the issue that's why these extra bags that's why you have to lease the carts um it's you know I'd love to keep the status quo of what we've had uh that is not going to continue unfortunately or it could but we just have to pay up the wazo at the next contract and then no one's going to want to uh go ahead and do that so which is why we're going with the rfps for that week yep can analyze the most competitive pricing and that gives us the ability to spell out everything that we want within the contract and thank you you're welcome um no I don't think I actually have any questions I think you did a great job so thank you Mike and it's nice to meet you excellent here as well great um I thought the presentation was terrific good job I can tell you really thought about this and it's a 360 degree plan good for you and um and I'm really happy to hear really happy here you're gonna deliver and pick up that's awesome and I appreciate all the work that went into the flexibility on the sizes I've definitely signed up and I don't quite meet the cut off but my husband does um and I think that's really going to help resident so I really appreciate this this is a great really great service um you know not the most exciting thing in the world but I am pretty excited because I have horrible barrels and I've just been like waiting um one thing that occurs to me as um I appreciate that the ice arena was willing to help out with this initiative and um so the norshore skating show is April 4th to the 6th did that come up in your discussions y because they really depend on all that parking yep so I didn't know and then and then I've heard from residents they then right immediately after it's springtime and they're down there for parking for games all the time yeah so um you are correct about that event um that ends on Sunday and um you know we want to get these things rolled out in the spring here so we're working with them uh with that window and um I communicated with parks and recck that a portion of this parking lot will be occupied during that time and we're hopeful that there will be ample parking um for all the other needs that will be going on um during that time okay well good good um it's GNA I didn't mention it's going to take up about half of the gravel parking lot yeah so that's a lot it is yeah so you're not going to set up the fencing until after the skating show correct the skating show ends Sunday y Monday we're going to be out there setting up the fencing they're going to start showing up with the tractor trailers Monday night into Tuesday mon uh Tuesday morning with the unassembled carts the uh distribution crew is going to show up 7: a.m. on Tuesday and start putting these things together and delivering them on Tuesday okay great one question now what about soccer how you said three weeks this might come over overlap spring soccer and spring soccer just depends on what the weather looks like so that's a little tricky but that could be interesting for games on that sat on those Saturdays back there we're hoping for less than three weeks if things go well they could be out of there in under two weeks I think the earliest they've ever started was like mid April and they was Saturday only um games no uh yeah Saturday I guess most of them are on Saturdays or Sunday typically typically Saturday Sundays but be interesting it could be yeah we'll have to keep our eyes on that talk with our vendor Jane do you have something any else in the room I have a few questions go for it car all right thanks the uh did I see in the slides that these are getting delivered in February somewhere no they're getting oh um storage containers the storage containers yeah the storage containers storage containers are coming in February yeah the carts arriv out you Stout off correct and those are going to be permanent fixtures there yes and so we're purchasing them we are okay and the garage how big is the garage over there it's a two-car garage um it's probably about half the size of this room okay so not big okay not too big all right and you mentioned that you know fencing in that area which makes sense are there any other fenced in areas in town that we could use that would be more efficient are you talking about the the roll out site yeah we were not able to identify another site um to fit these needs here we tossed around a few other ideas like Camp Curtis is one we kicked around a little bit um it's just the I also actually we spoke to um property managers um for the medical building down on new Crossing Road there that's very close to the DPW Yard I thought that was a great site and they um told us they have new tenants coming in and they don't expect the parking lot to be empty um so we really came to that site behind the Burbank is kind of our only option um and the the fencing is just going to be temporary fencing um that construction style fence um with the the weighted base and um it'll be gone the day after the roll out's done we'll we'll break it down and get it out of there right I was just thinking of some of the par s that have pced in areas that maybe they're not as accessible no um there's also requirements in terms of the surface they want it to be a hardscaped surface you know that you can roll the carts on and drive the vehicles on and then we certainly wouldn't want to take up you know any of the parks and take away um residents use of those facilities all right and if I have some questions about other DPW related items but if we're done with the trash cards does anyone else have any questions on the the trash cards all good all right can can someone give us an update on when um thank you guys people can thank you when people can apply for second meters so that's not on the agenda tonight so it's General DPW updates yeah it's it's on there I can give you just a brief update um those the letters went out last week to any residential property that had these second meters already and they're being given until February 24th um to sign up um and start the process for that um after the 24th um we're going to put um you know advertisement out there that it's going to be open up to um all residential um that that may want that after it through the open uh through the open go site so by our meeting on the 25th will'll be good to announce yeah yep okay any other questions for Chris or for Mike I just had one kment Carlo to the to the uh second meter situation so all of the meters that we're putting in the the the new ones are all these smart meters so that when we had the discussion before before and I mentioned that we're going to be moving to them in the future all the people that get second meters going forward are going to be the smart meters for um monitoring the water usage Etc leaks all that so I just wanted to um reiterate that point because that's definitely better for anybody who's getting them and we're not wasting money and people's time by putting in basic stuff and with the smart me is you know you'll be able to know immediately if you a leak in your system or um access usage whatever it may be you'll be able to monitor whatever the usage is and is that an app that the resident's going to be able to get like do we already have I don't know what the app is but when they install the second meter they will be given uh like a welcome package if you will that'll explain everything in it so it's hands off from the DPW side it's on the manufacturer or sorry what was it like is it hands off from the DPW it's it's basically from the manufacturer is how this is going to get set up like who's going to I have a problem with my thing who am I contacting it's not you the water Rod the meter meter division okay DPW okay thank you do a quick followup Carlo yeah sure I think you shared with us that there's a bigger plan for smart meters for the community over time what's the timeline I believe it's two years out two years out um so maybe 27 or 28 I think okay thank you Carlo I have a quick different topic general question um so these last two little snow events um and and people were going by my house and doing my sidewalk and I was just like it's not even an inch so like thank you anyway it's like really good and I was like oh we owe some big sidewalk equipment these days and um and and the job was great I'm just wondering about budgets and overtime um as compared two private private events the way it was done the last two times can you comment on that as far as like what we spent they did yeah um I don't have the number off the top of my head you know the yester the last event was just yesterday so I don't have those numbers yet um but um you know we'll can we'll monitor this the the snow and ice budget and you know if if need be we'll ask you know town meeting in April for additional funds for that if we if we need to but well um we'll keep an eye on everything and make sure it's okay okay thanks thanks Chris any other questions for Crystal Mike I think we're good right right all right thank you gentlemen thanks nice to meet all you guys thanks I I can't see the room so I don't know who's going to be doing our um Deputy amola is here to talk about parking all right deputy chief deputy chief that Deputy Deputy hi Carlo hi everybody um tonight we know you wanted some parking updates we thought we'd focus more on um most of our concerns you know with you guys have been either the 2hour or 4H hour in the two parking lots so we tried to provide some data of How It's been looking over almost like the last 10 years and any changes to help you make any decisions um and just some of that so if you ever want more of a breakdown of what all these citations are about we can give that to you but tonight we wanted to focus on Two And 4our overtime parkings so if you want to do the next slide and um this 2016 17 and 18 are pretty uh comparable I just wanted to show you guys like in 2016 there was a total of 2838 citations for parking um that includes overnight and Olive uh Runing but for the down town area um the overtime parking was 350 citations out of those 28 or so 100 so that was 12% of our citations back in 2016 uh violations of not having the correct permit was about 18% of our violations back in 2016 and then when I say all other at the 1980 that's everything blocking a crosswalk blocking a sidewalk hydrants and those numbers are just scattered all over the place um the permit um is usually one of the higher ones back in those years and we can go through 2017 as well at the next slide sorry oh yeah uh the two and again at sorry 2016 17 and 18 it is all only 2hour parking just so you're aware the 4our parking lots did not change until 2019 so this is all if I say overtime parking it's over just two hours um we only issued 270 citations back then for that and that was about 11% of our citations um 2018 next slide roughly the same a little increase 362 overtime parking tickets which took up about 14% of our overall citations um at that time um I skipped 2019 2021 um due to co obviously very different we also did not have a parking enforcement officer um especially a full-time one until uh about 2022 we got a part-time one back um so we can skip to 2022 um here you can notice things start changing again now we have a 4 Hour uh rule for both parking lots and uh the 2hour on the streets um sry I can't see my walk up here uh so we issued 371 citations uh for overtime which equal 21% uh 855 for the various and uh 512 for the no parking permits that year and then you see in 2023 is where the biggest jump starts taking place um for overtime violations that is now our number one violation we had 8810 citations for either being over 2 hours or over 4 hours which is 48% of our traffic tickets uh we issued 223 no parking permit violations which is only 133% and then 650 other tickets which equal 39% of our traffic citations that year um next slide um in 2024 and we also changed over to IPS enforcement at that time so I can give better breakdowns of places locations rather than our old uh company didn't really track much data for us um last year we issued 758 tickets for either being over two or four hours um 648 of the various I just wanted to throw in that 71 the 4% is just those two to three weeks that we had paid parking and those were the failures to pay um and then now uh very big decrease in the no permit violations uh only issued 77 uh with that only being 5% of our tickets so then I wanted to break down in 2024 to you the twoh hour tickets first 4 Hour just so you can have an idea of what's going on more 60% of the violations are actually from the 4H hour two parking lots um 40% is just all the on Street 2hour violations and then if you want to do the next slide just to some people always wonder which lot does what um it's very even it's they're about 49.99% um even one Brandy Court had 228 citations and upper Municipal lot had 229 so that was just last year so they're very equal even though sometimes it might not look it for enforcement of being over the 4 hours okay next slide I know you guys all know this but just talking with um Economic Development we just wanted to show why we believe the overtime parking has increased so much or sorry the violations of overtime parking our reading has seen 205 residential units um in the last 10 years which include 398 bedrooms and Sal just downtown uh 39 more residential units are currently being built there's been an additional 44,500 ft of commercial space across seven projects we have another 5200 s ft of commercial space currently being built um with all these new things there's been no additional public parking added anywhere um changes to permits and such but not actual parking uh with all those buildings came 200 sorry 281 private parking spaces um which you guys know is uh 1.4 spaces per unit um just going over you can see but the numbers have doubled since 2018 in our overtime citation um which is why you know we looked at the kiosk for the turnover um the parking lots were chosen because of the design turnover and those were obviously what people most wanted to park at so we wanted the biggest turnover there um and I already told you the up lot changed in February uh to 4-Hour lot so sorry both lots and uh just the next slide is just a quick little version of how January is going so far um overall and this was as of January 15th 79 parking violations in the downtown um 60 of just of the 79 60 are overtime violations 19 in the outre municipal lot 18 in the Brandy Court lot so those are your four R ones so just if you look at uh mathematically what Bridget works it could increase another 40 to 50% of last year's citations um just to go over two the employe uh past permits we think the programs were working very well as of last week we already had sold 150 passes so I think we have ample employee parking passes um it's just a matter of them utilizing the space I think just like you all know we have plenty of parking it's just not where some people want to park um I think the permit uh violations have gone down as we've encouraged many businesses to park at the Depot I've asked our parking enforcement officer not to be there right at 9:30 looking for every sticker give people a little time um so if they need to use the depot obviously it's there so we want them to use it so I think that's why of our permits have gone way down in violations that was just a brief overview to break down kind of where our 2hour and 4 Hour stands um I'm not sure what if you want to hear any updates on things we've done with kios or IPS in the past couple months I'd love to okay um IPS did come in and switch out all of our tap readers they all currently working we checked again today so the tap feature works though they've told us like other companies that's the first thing sometimes that gets it's very finicky but the strip part should always work the inserting the credit card um they know that the system can be um adjusted or manipulated if for the one hour free you could keep doing that possibly so they're putting some backends that that can't happen that they would protect a car from only getting one license plate one time a day can get a free hour um we've talked a lot about that free hour you know I'm not somebody that likes to do things based off of one business location but I get CVS has been there a long time and people are running in and out because we would really recommend the 1 hour makes it harder for us the 1 hour free but I understand what you're dealing with and making that decision um so with that I've talked to the DPW we went out there we created some signs if you were to implement it back making some larger signs to really explain everybody just needs to enter their vehicle even if you're staying up to one hour to hopefully pass on that message um to really put your plate in so you don't get CIT by citation by accident um again more signage um some of the ways it setup wasn't so great so we want to move the signs right to where each meter would be uh well especially in the upper CVS lot right with the two kiosk are the signs won't be four feet over it be right there I did speak with the DPW about moving the one that's under the tree um it's very complicated they said we could move it probably in front of um the little walkway but it's that's only like a 3T move and then we'd be a little worried about people being more in the uh driveway but um so it's there's not a lot of great space until they can really put some money into reconstruct that parking lot so that's the problem with moving that one chios it kind of could be in a better location we all know um am I missing anything for the IPS there's only one thing I trying to which is um when we were testing the um Kos today as it happens we were we were all [Music] out um we uh we sort of independently the three of us I think ran down and tested the Kos today just to make sure they were working in um I tested with American Express which was one of the bug Bears I it's not very widely used but it's annoying for someone if it doesn't work and I also tested using my iPhone so you can tap and pay or tap the card um so we know that those work uh but I will say on the topic of the uh the positioning of that um kiosk outside CVS um uh it having uncovered it having uncovered the top of it where this where the uh photo Volt take uh uh panel is um the battery was fine today powered right up so if this is this is January and we've been having low light in the Low Winter Sun of you know aru November December January we're kind of in the depths of winter in terms of the shortest days so I think it's probably safe to say that it's it's not doesn't appear to be a concern for the battery life in the position because that was one of the issues that we weren't sure about so I think we probably hope knock on would we've put that to bed if that's if that was a concern and we also uh we've been meeting as a group uh even larger group more Town Hall staff we heard your concerns with you know better instructions so if you do plan to go forward we do have a plan we would make the videos that have been asked and you know what we just don't want to put a lot of time until we know if you want to move forward or any money into it until you want to move forward but we did listen to all the concerns and we have a plan if those were to ever get reimplemented anything just the same for the app pay by phone app all of the mechanisms are hopefully being put in place for either no manipulation the payment scheme everything's up and working there as well so so just to be clear because um so do you feel like you've been able to I think you had a list of all the type of misfunction complaints or dysfunctional complaints you think you've been able to work through that whole list cool thanks it's great news wish have a couple questions Carla yeah go ahead I mean me yeah okay please thanks so it's interesting to me that when the parking lots Chang from two hours to 4 hours we had more violations why do you think that is so what I my opinion and what vgen SE to is that once you stretched it to four employees thought oh I can get away with kind of like staying there like an hour before hour after so they're in there now that two hours really kept them out like that's not enough time for them to switch their cars around but four hours I think Ena some people to stay more all longer that's interesting um so I've been down there various times various days for you know and I try to pop in just if I'm driving through it's not pulled back there which lot uh CVS right yeah so it's I think I think there was a big issue with all the construction I think that was one of the issues that that lot was full and you were getting the constant phone calls from businesses I think that was one part of it um it is very interesting to me though that we when we changed it to longer it became more of an issue and I think Kevin you said that if we changed it back to two hours that would be the only spot in town I mean we wouldn't have anything more than two hours right anywhere right as far as I can tell that's that's true just and if we do that that's fine just to be aware of it yeah no no and that was a great Point 100% no very valid point um just very interesting that when we Chang I the goal that we heard back then when we changed is well what if I'd like to get my hair done and go to a restaurant so it was like okay hours and now that has caused and and I'm not saying there isn't any parking but there wasn't for a little while construction yet that comes and goes so it probably was a big pain for that anybody in that area and are you seeing that the violations of the overtime parking are the same people so I started looking that up real quick like I said our new system it's definitely the same cars have at least like two or three um a year that I see but I I can break it up to a little more um if with more time we can see how many people are and correct me if I'm wrong but by state law we cannot increase the violation after like say they do it once you can't increase it a second time so we can incre we can give them a double citation if let's say I'm in a two-hour spot you've given me a ticket for two hours and I stay another two we can give you a new citation got like we can't up our fee anymore because the penalties will go over $50 if they don't pay and that's the state limit okay all right thank you I appreciate all this this was great very helpful anyone else in the [Music] room I guess I'll go Carlo um only because you just so how does Cambridge and stuff get away with it their tickets are like 00 red Boston's and they're higher too I don't know but we did check with our Town Council last year and they backed up all the law town as opposed to a city or what's like I don't know if they're just not following the law I don't understand it either no I don't know want to say that but I I've read Boston's and theirs is higher but I've read the law myself and we asked Our Town Council and they said that is the limit so I'm not sure either I you got me on that one um because I've had to pay some Cambridge tickets before and it's ridiculous um so a couple things uh if we do Institute kios scenario back have we given any thought to the elderly sticker scenario where we could someone could apply it would be free or whatever they have to approve XYZ like have we given any thought to that on how many we didn't put much into it but I mean I think that would be something you would tell us you would want we we can do it I mean we can obviously do any sticker thing you guys would like um so I haven't seen it used by anybody else that doesn't mean anything we we'd be willing to we Branch some creative ideas with both IPS and pay by phone and they're beta testing this coupon based system that either businesses or the town or others can kind of subsidize paid parking for their users and customers um and kind of cover the cost almost like a permit um but it's not super relevant maybe to the senior discussion or senior only um but I think that's a program we can easily build and kind of implement if desired and yeah the other thing I wrote down was the double ticket scenario that um would seem to kind of solidify the problem like $20 or 25 is nothing but when it's 50 right and that day after day then that like really adds up doubling and you'd be surprised when people do not pay their tickets on time that end up paying a lot of fees then they have to run to our station to pay us you know over $60 of each ticket just to get their car back registered somebody downtown just had to pay I think 257 old parking citations 257 yep the total I won't say who somebody that works out there I just want to thank you this is like again this is like a second great presentation I love the data I hope you not to spend hours but I love the data thank you and I would say that last slide we don't necessarily know all of that stuff so thank you about the you know the units that have been built um I'm thinking about the shoot Street project which has gone nowhere if it goes somewhere that also puts pressure on the downtown but so that's a great thank you for bringing all that dat to our attention help me with that all right well thank you very much great spot on my last thing is to help me make a decision at maybe the next meeting whatever it is I would like to know um if we are able to if there is a secondhand market for kiosk if we did decide to go ahead and sell them or if you can investigate if this exists if you know gently what I'm going to do but that's not my does it generate Revenue noasb I'm not I don't know anything about that um we could look into that yeah we could I mean they could be Surplus like any other government property I I don't want to I mean if if I don't want to give them away I I understand that I was obviously directly responsible plus this board kind of thing but meeting plus town meeting I understand um and it's hard to swallow the amount of money that we spent uh nobody wants to say that they were wrong or right or whatever in this thing transpires but if we're able to recoup 80% which is impossible but I'm just throwing that number out there it would minimize the the risk that we put ourselves to or if we get nothing and you're saying you're going to write them off or whatever then that that's a different scenario we get something for them for sure and some of it still goes to our enforcement that we're not going to we can look at other uh vendors if we leave IPS but some of that money is still going to be used it was used for the enforcement part of it too so it's not all and I did speak to Bridget uh on a walk uh like a week ago and she wanted to remain in Switzerland so she did not have she does about everything now she she's very happy that she has a job and and is very eager to stay employed Etc so I appreciate her honesty of wanting to remain neutral um I guess I don't know if you have an opinion one way or the other if you would want to get rid of them or not um I really believed from the beginning that they would help a lot of the parking complaints I think that they would have I see them work in other towns so I don't I understand our businesses don't like them I I do I'm not saying that that's an easy pill to swallow for them um but I do think it would help their customers in the long run make sure that they have parking to go there whether they they don't want to walk from the depot up to up here they just don't even though there's parking so I really do think that um eventually people would get used to it and feel okay using it I know personally I'd rather just spend a dollar and have a parking spot close to where I want that's me um I've talked to my friends in Andover py that went through the same thing and now they have kiosks everywhere and every lot is back fully functioning um from the beginning when it was a little upsetting to everybody I would agree with that I would just to that I would just see if we can investigate the the elderly portion because CVS is was a hot button issue regarding that and I don't want to turn back to start giving North Reading money again and in that whole Spiel um so if we can make it a little bit easier for some for some people that are obviously only going there for 10 15 minutes running in doing whatever I don't see it being somebody uh you know kind of trying to gain the system just that so they can go there you know what I mean so and I think it was asked like can we add some short-term parking in that lot it's very hard for the police to keep up with any other more short term we already have the 12 and people call us right away so that's really not something we would like to see have it yeah rather do it what you said that way with a so if you can investigate see uh plus the uh resale kind of scenario and we'll see how it goes just a couple of questions car um yeah so with the kiio in place how do you do enfor how would enforcement change I make sure Bridget still has a job because I see oh yeah she will it will just it's not for the in the parking lot the the citation will just be failure to pay instead of over four hours so nothing changes will still lead her very much so okay so she still got a oh we have plenty of parking I swear to problems okay and then kind of back to the beginning and why we did it in the first place was to kind of manage the whole flow process um to to ensure that it's happening if we continue to have folks that decide they want to play for four hours I I think Melissa you you were maybe going down the same path I'm starting to think of that we we um we gave away too much to people so that they figured yeah so maybe the again back to the employee permit program is just St folks to employee permit parking come on yeah and I think we've asked you you know we show people the map they come upstairs we give them a map we say if you happen to be in reading for the week cuz you're meeting with a lawyer just park over here you can walk from two streets over there's no permits so we do try to encourage people you know if you need longterm but shortterm but longterm There Are Places um so yeah I I I think that you know we had a really bad start we had a bad time had a bad start and if we really have addressed most of the issues and if this vendor is is going to work with us cuz it felt like they weren't if they are and and maybe there are a couple pieces that can can get addressed separately with coupons or stickers or or whatever it feels like we knew what we were trying to do we really have the things in place to do it and I was just an endover too same thing just you know went to caffer or whatever and endover to meet somebody and I I kind of pull in and you know the lot's quiet it's quarter of8 in the morning and I'm trying to just figure it out I see ah is the kiosk I got it now the little slight thing that that peeved me sorry um there's nothing I could do till 8 oh okay it basically is like yeah nothing you can do till eight oh an answer for this Kevin that that has been um one of the veins uh one of pet peeves at a meure when you went up to a meure that that that you get there at 7:30 meet us on start till 8 what are you supposed to do I have an 8 a.m. meeting I'm going to be late um I believe you can use the app pay starting at 88 and uh the clock will start and you will be paid when when the paid parking comes in at 8: a.m. you have you are you're golden um so I don't know that there's another way around it on the kiosk but I know that it came up in the app we can investigate and see because obviously there two different vendors so it's it's uh how they handle it might be diff might be slightly different um also I just learned uh in our meetings with with those vendors that um the U the coupon their coupons each has a coupon solution that would be attractive to retailers would allow them to pay pay for their customers parking or offset some of the costs for their customers parking one of them the mechanism would allow them to uh give them a coupon which effectively would let them take a get a discount the next time they paid uh whereas the other one it would uh in a sense they would prepaid they would come in they would pay for their parking but the payment wouldn't actually go through it would look like their their card was charged um and if the retailer were to give them a coupon it would give them a certain amount off and then then that would come back onto that the discount when when the charge went through to their car the discount would be reflected so it's kind of a su suspended payment for some period to allow them to do it so it was quite thought that was quite clever and um glad we found out about it um and they do seem to have um faced with the with the prospect of them uh not having any business from us um I think they sort of were were were responsive which is a good thing good thank you all right I get to go last um so for me so I I I equate this to when I go visit my brother in Medford they have meters and I'm assuming there's an app process to that but you can put coins right into the meter so when I go visit my brother in Medford and they have meters everywhere I know where to park prer free I know if I can park right in front I can see my car from the window I don't pay anything or I'll put a few quarters in to go grab a slice or we'll talk to my brother when I go to Brook line when I know I'm going there I bring quarters with me I know they have meters I don't have to download an app maybe I'm showing my age but I am anti-app I don't like downloading apps I think it's a big inconvenience and from what I heard and I think what Chris and Melissa heard particularly in the CVS lot is that they get out of the car oh excuse me do you know we have a new chios thing oh you know can you help me sure what's your plate number I don't know they have to go walk back to the car take a picture of the plate have very good memory come back it's so for me it's a convenience thing and I know I am one of many and I know a lot of people have adapted to the app system um certain age group and others so I'm I was never in favor of the kios I understood why they would benefit and had had the roll out been better maybe i' be more Pro kiosk but maybe Kevin or or tell Chief can answer this have any of the businesses I think I know the answer complained about employees not being able to park I don't know about recently that's what we used to deal with at the PD but that's why we opened up all those employee but we do take coins K I'm not sure if you know that we do take Co we do take coins at our kiosk and I think that it's just either you know your plate when you walk over there or you would print a receipt and walk back to your car and put the ticket in the window so those are the only two options um for these systems so once you know your plate you're good you never have to walk back yeah and sorry for the kiosk the app saves your plate and card are here um for the kiosk what we've learned recently too is that they're building another tool that if you use the same credit card you can kind of pre-program with them your plate into that card and now if you just go to the kiosk and put your card in it's tied to your plate and that can somehow synchronize and work together so you don't have to remember your plate every single time as long as you use that card that's tied to the plate and that comes with Logistics too right you got in the same car you got to have your same credit card every time but is somewhat of an improvement on that end to not have to run back and forth every single day if you can't remember 5p or P5 what was it and um so there are those tools being built to try to kind of alleviate those concerns I think kly you had the perfect solution though which is step one take a picture of your of your plate I will say I just yeah I only used an app for the first time two weeks ago and it like it's a timer on my phone so it shows me right there and then a message went off when I was 10 minutes um to go so I do I understand the app might be different but it's actually really good and helpful of keeping track of your time two but it is helpful that's three I'm anti app as well you're in good company caros I'm yeah no I I mean I guess maybe I should better stated what I said at those two locations memph and Brook line I was parking in a spot where I could put a coin you know right there sorry a little bit different but the whole credit card sinking up scares me even more I know I wanted to stop right there security goes I mean listen I think everyone knows where I stand we're not voting tonight it's a great presentation a lot of data is exactly what we needed to help us and I know Bridget's job is safe I times too um over the past few months and and we know there's going to be people who are going to you know push the envelope and and do what they do but overall I think it's fine but again I I'm just I'm not sure um when we go to vote um I'm not saying I'm locked in but I I I I I just it was bad timing um it was post all the construction the park committee was maybe it would have been better now served but you they covered everything anyway but I hate to Discount what the park committee did and all the work that you know even Julie did and Andrew and town staff all these years it's been going on for years and years and years and parking management it's not a parking solution so I'm not a big fan uh in any Community for the businesses I know people adapt and Brook Line's not going out of business Boston's not going out of business there's other issues in the city that they have to deal with the parking um but well it was a great presentation and uh I thank you for all the effort and um and you know thank you thank you thank hey car could we take five before moving on with the agenda oh of course yeah um so it's I have on my computer 8:48 we'll come back at um 8 53 53 thank you very much thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e packet so uh we were asked the board asked us to find some potential uses talk about the potential future of the present Street Center if you know we go the way of the recal and a new center is built and it's not the pant Street Center so we did have a meeting I consulted with with Victor and um a lot of the other people that know a lot of the nitty-gritty about what a building like that may be worth with the finished area is and so we have you can go to the next slide I can go look around and see so so we put together uh that first slide which just says some quick facts about the finished area of the building the current assessment and that came directly from Victor um we talked about what would it take to get a commercial appraisal done um I guess those are expensive costly and take a while not not saying that we wouldn't do it but at this point just for discussion purposes um that's what we're able to find out from Victor and we did get the current assess value um we checked the zoning um it is in a multif family A40 Zone um but the square footage of the lot is smaller than what what you would need so we checked that to see if that could be people saying would would it be a good apartment multif family use place for the Pleasant Street Center um there would be a hurdle there and the other thing that I think everybody knows is it's on the historic registry so that's um of local importance and maybe a little bit of a hurdle for us but those are just some facts as we enter into the discussion um you can go to the next slide Caitlyn so we we kicked around some ideas about what would be the best use what do we do for new life with the Pleasant Street Center um you know it is a historic building and one that the town already controls so um selling Town buildings you know may not be the most popular Avenue you know at least from the beginning but you know at this point we're open to all avenues so we've talked about uh keeping it for future Town use leasing leasing it to nonprofit selling the property outright or you we could even do a gift to the housing authority and they may be able to put for affordable units in there so that's you know those are some of the options just to look look into if you go to the next slide Caitlyn we have uh potential uses so the slide on the left if we look at commercial leasing on that if we were to lease it out um we're thinking $20 per square foot it could bring in $85,000 a year which is significant um it's it's a money maker if we need it to be and some things that that might be a good fit there you know coffee shop could be a small grocery um food pantry could be a restaurant use art and culture is always talked about for that building um training programs maybe even some preschool uh use there if the town were to keep it you know we we are short on office space um as people know we're also short on storage especially in this building there could be an educational use there or additional meeting space and we we do have meetings there as it is so those are just some of the use and some of the revenues that we'd be able to generate hopefully if we go to the next slide um we put together some examples of nonprofit uses that have worked in other communities so there's a place called Inspire in Wakefield that's sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club um it may be nice if we did not want to use the the building for municipal use to use it for nonprofit use um rather than sell it off commercially or or lease it commercially um breaking grounds in peid was something that was recommended um it's run by the Northeast Arc um which is a nonprofit and provides employment and training to people with disabilities autism and whatnot and then the the one of the final slides if we talked about repurposing and what's done in other communities um there are older firehouses and I have a couple of examples here NAIC and Newburyport that were turned into performance venues theaters Music Gallery space um I've personally been to the one in Newberry Port and it's very nice and if you look at the one in NAC it almost looks like our Pleasant Street Center a little on the outside which is kind of interesting um so there you know there's plenty that we could we could do there as well so I think you know I just wanted to put these slides together to generate a little discussion maybe get some feedback um at least we know you know what in terms of the assessment what that is with the square footages and if if we go down that road a little further we could do a commercial appra on that and find out how much that would would bring in the commercial market so U but with that I can open it up to any questions and again it's early on in the process but I agreed with Mark since this is going to be a town meeting there'll be questions about what are you going to do with the with the building and and we have some answers here or at least some things to think about so okay than lot of help thanks y Carlo yeah thank you um so uh uh in the short time on the commercial and the appraisal part I'm really not comfortable going with what we're comfortable appraising it and and you know you just went to the building next door and they're asking 2 and a half million and we all saw Walgreens and they were asking 4 million so I want to be careful not to mislead our residents we don't collect taxes on this building it really doesn't matter what we say it's appraised for it's not we're not saying what the value of the building I just thought it was a good place to start to get that information that we controlled to talk about but I I understand what you're saying that's not you know anything that's assessed is is lower than the actual value anyway yeah I think I think we just want to be really clear about that okay I love um Point thank you for bringing these examples forward um yeah it is kind of neat how that other fire department looks like ours so so that's my comment at this time thank you okay thank you yeah any else in the room yep couple of quick questions if I could so I can go ahead Mark um so first just to to understand when costly and timec consuming for an appraisal just what's the order of magnitude of cost and time um I I I mean I'll try to nail Victor down on a little bit more on that um to in terms of an actual price and time he said it would be a long wait um to get to get it done um I don't know we just have to call Commercial appraiser yeah I I don't know if if there's a shortage of people that do that kind of work or done over on the middle sex a okay well you're more in real estate than I am you would know better wor a couple calls but this was the information we got for the assessor's office so yeah no it's great I just I think it would be good to know sure no that that's why we're doing it follow that up $5,000 is it I no it's not $50,000 but yeah what is it how much time we talking about so if there suddenly was a desire to explore that we we know what it would be as opposed to just costly that would be great yep um second is for and maybe for those other communities where they um made the decisions on the repurposing um kind of how they how they went through their process might be really interesting to find out just to get a little history on kind of what they went through because I I can imagine it was exactly the same process that we're sort of outlining what are the different uses that could be there how much could we get for lease uh money what what else could we turn it into how much would we have to to do there I know that there would have to be some upgrades to hbac and things like that that would have to take place um so just need to kind of understand you know what what are the the different pieces and parts I know that there was also some discussion so we have you know kind of rctv a little bit in in space limbo yeah so there are some Municipal um uses I'll call them if I could Town uses that are Beyond just let's say office space and storage space sure that probably ought to be you know just thought about as possibilities okay and you know this is great this I think accomplishes some some of what I had in mind is to be able to be ahead of this to be able to respond to town meeting um to have us thinking about it so that if things are moving ahead quickly then we know kind of okay we going we shift to high gear we've got to start we've got some ideas on what it might be um I keep looking at this one in in ad to tell you the truth yeah really interesting we should have a tour there yeah yeah it might be a lot of fun so thank you appreciate it okay thank youis thanks Carlo um yeah the way that I sit on this is I think that we have to make it a revenue Source because if we keep it no matter what we're going to use it for and then we're going to take on the other Senior Center scenario over there uh our budget is just going to keep going up up up it's I understand the need for space Etc so maybe there's a quasi we keep the top floor the downstairs gets repurposed for something else that we can make money off or something just I think if if we're going to end up saying that this is going to be a revenue Source it makes the senior center project passing more likely knowing that we're going to be getting funding on the other end from the prior building I think it's an easier easier pathway forward if that's the case um I agree with Karen the 869 thing is ridiculous like my house should not be worth more than this thing uh it's it's easily Millions no like I'm sure uh yeah I W I won't belor that point but easily at that location Etc it's got parking over there um yeah like way more than that um so that's kind of where I'm at I think we have to make some form of Revenue off this that I don't even know who would go in there how we would do it Etc like you mentioned at least it's a good start to be talking about right I'm not opposed to Performance venue screenings Etc as long as we're making money off of it Etc and then if you want to have the top four for storage or offices or something fine yeah I I just think that something's going to get used no I I agree we want to show that we're making some money and that makes everything more palatable corre you know is the least situation that we could do even with a nonprofit but it could be commercial as well so yeah yeah okay thank you okay I agree with Chris I just think that we do have to get some Revenue out of it especially because it is going to need some updates but we don't want to lose it as a town asset either so right exactly yeah but this was great and thank you for the ideas I appreciate it okay thank you yeah thanks think this is the slide presentation that you should present the town meeting is part of sure AR article my opinion and yes I agree with Chris and I love the the uh partnering idea uh with with Arc or something like Arc um they're a great organization and and I don't think they would need the whole Space don't forget we have three floors there we have the basement the main floor and the top floor right so I I think there's you know dual tenant could be possible there whether it's partly us for a few offices and and partly for Revenue but I agree if it would be I just agree with ch it' be a lot easier to digest if we said you know the the building is worth this as a rental income or if we sell it um it's worth millions we all know that and I'd rather not sell a town asset like that but is an option but I'd rather see us keep it because you know we regretted selling Town buildings in the past so yeah that's what usually happens okay thank you Carl it's too small for a Trader Joe's it looks like so next time Trader Joe's Next Time Kevin will'll find one somewhere to bring you right Trader Joe's yeah working on it on so Matt we did an appraisal on 59 middle sex okay prior to April 28th 2021 and we covered it in an executive meeting select board an executive session a good that report should be out there the name should be out there it took like a couple weeks mhm okay if he's still in business I mean find some other names was only a coule okay that's good to know um next on the agenda is um I put the word brief in there for a reason um we all know they're uh scheduled to come on the fourth we've all been getting the emails um from the residents and from the public comment at least twice Matt's been you know replying to everybody and uh so I I think that the fourth is really going to be helpful I I I hope the NBTA has good reasons for for this and not just jamming it down our throats but um I I heard from a neighbor that works for kis uh why they want to do this but again he he couldn't confirm it definitively so I'm not going to mention it but um I'm guessing there's a valid reason and why it has to be there so I'm looking forward to the fourth and I hope they bring everything they need to bring because I I expect that room to be pretty full on the 4th and I'm I'm hoping prepared to answer all the residents questions and our questions so and that's all I have to say on that and anyone else can go ahead could I just add Carlo too so they're coming to our meeting on the 4th we we had a meeting just today with the MBTA and the entire reading delegation um and Jane was there as well so they're they're committed to doing that meeting and we also asked them to do a separate public engagement meeting possibly at the library to take it sort of out of the select board meeting after that and and still have more public input and engagement because that was something they realize now that that was something that should have been done at the beginning and it wasn't and they they apologize for it but you know it's too little too late in my book you know it should have been done it it wasn't done it it caused quite a commotion um the Reps and Senators felt the same way as I did on it and probably hearing from the Reps and the Senators meant a little more to the NBTA because they sort of you know report to them on the state level um the other bit of news is that the the Conservation Commission it was scheduled to be on tomorrow night they are going to uh request a continuance to February 12th so there they won't be taking any public input tomorrow night um February 12th conservation they'll take the public input and most likely make a decision that night I would say so there's a lot of uh a lot of work yet to be done but I we've heard you'll hear in a in a couple weeks and I don't want to you know prejudge all that you'll hear some of the explanation from the the MB MBTA and they're not doing it just to be a pain to reading they have a they have a plan um but I brought up the issue of mitigation right away they seemed open to some ideas they were going to take a few things back they they're going to give us some more information we thought maybe a onepage one page or FAQs would be good so we can share those with the residents and the neighbors so they have been responsive now now um which is good uh so that's that's my brief update on that is it possible to share with them some of the information that's being shared with us in terms of options yes and then that would help them be prepared also yes yeah I was going to share that with them and I think they've already that's already been sent to the Conservation Commission um and the Conservation Commission send it to them too but we'll send them directly that that information that's a good idea thank you so yeah thank you yes Carlo real quick yep um I guess my biggest concern is is when I heard that the idling was going to be an hour and then they knock it down to 30 minutes once they find out the EPA thing ends up being 30 minutes or whatever MH my concern is they're going to say okay it's 30 minutes and then in the future it's 45 50 we're not going to have people down there reporting them to the EPA on a consistent basis you know what I mean they're just going to say one thing and then do another we got to know for sure it is 30 minutes and this is why it's going to be 30 minutes right you know they're actually saying that the ID idling in the future with this track is going to be less than the idling now and they can explain that because the trains are going to be moving more and not idling as much as they do now with the station but that's you know that's something they brought up today I want to see more information on that for sure because I definitely see them idling there like well they do ID sometimes like cuz it's uh I'm immune to it now I just hear it non-stop so like it's as of nothing but sometimes I break the habit and I'm like you know this train has been out here forever I don't know what is going on like so I'm sure some of these times they're breaking this 30 minute thing but it's not like I'm sitting there timing people or I even knew to report it or whatever my concern is I want to know that it's going to be 30 or under and this is why it's going to be because to leak an hour earlier doesn't sit well with me and then to just pivot back down any of us yeah you're right you're absolutely right so okay Carlo yeah okay y so at the initial hearing with the Conservation Commission um we were told that the Board of Health has to enforce it so I am all in favor of holding them to their promises um it is really important that we improve service to reading for anyone who commutes and we need more people to commute so um yeah mitigation um working with us is all good um but I definitely have U personal concerns about excess idling and I and I think they've been really good about reminding everybody that it's a Depot they idle all day long I didn't I'd like to hear some I'd like to start hearing some promises when the electric vehicles are coming I haven't heard any be great they it's coming years but that's that's yeah some of these items which I haven't read thoroughly are are interesting so I think that's a good suggestion bringing it to them okay okay thanks yeah quick question um Karen when we were on the conservation Zoom uh two weeks ago you brought up something that I didn't um know about but it was some like the economic just they got it in there now oh it is and they kind of blew it off they missed it yeah you brought it up and I was like oh what is that so do we think that that could come into play or no or it it may trigger more study if anything I don't think it's anything that would block the project but but it may trigger more study okay they need to um so that came up like Springfield people love to build um factories in in places where people have no money or resources to fight back so I I I I'm not a lawyer but this was put in place and the when these areas are identified they need to make sure they're not placing hardship an additional hardship to continue the wrongs that have been done for years for all the same reasons like asthma and poor EG qualities yeah to just piggyback up Karen's comment of the enforcement being the Board of Health my only concern is is we have a lot of rules and regulations here in reading that have zero teeth to them literally and uh I think that's a problem so we can't just rely on it's it's up to XYZ uh it's a Feelgood this is why it happened kind of said we need actually something to happen if XYZ is broken you know what I mean like that's why I I I want to see how they're going to come up to this number uh what they're doing because I don't want to leave it up to other people to enforce if it's not enforceable in the end other than we said that it's going to be that way so yeah that makes sense for sure that's all if I could just before close so one other part of Ken Point to so to the extent that their goal is in fact to improve service um to commuters that's a laudable goal and figuring out what's the best way to accomplish that with the least impact I think is what we're trying to figure out right um and again you you summarized it really nicely Matt they they kind of jumped the gun yeah so now let's let's peel it back let's see what can be done let's see what how we can do it right I agree I agree okay so that was my update on it all right everybody good that was that was good I'm glad we talked about that because the first time we talked about as a group fourth should be uh very interesting yes and enlightening so next we have future agendas uh Kaitlyn has put the fourth um in our packet and if the board is ready I will add uh vote discuss and vote on the kiosks or do we need more time what whatever you decide guys or we're ready at the next meeting I just have to hear if Matt and Christine or whatever can get back with my two things that I had so if they can get them within a week or something then I'm good to do with I mean I'll put her as a placeholder and then if we don't have time we can always do at the second meeting and Mark you're comfortable with the fourth or for the the design update design up yes yeah yeah we're squeaking in but I think it's the right time so let's do it okay and and Chris have you reached out to anybody at the Mandarin to see if they can come yeah so Robert couldn't make this meeting he was having tonight I guess so good luck Robert um so uh I sent him an email about the fourth I haven't heard back yet uh but I'll keep you updated by the end of this week whether or not it's going to happen I'll follow up with it again yeah we can we can always always do it when I don't know what kind of surgery it is but it could always do it another time but I'll leave it there for now and then I'll take any other feedback I I think uh Kaitlyn put uh I forget what meaning she put the um Capital plan on where is that I'm looking for it K did we put that somewhere in the future meeting uh yes that's in March March um 18th meeting master plan discussion oh that's there we discussed that last time um I'll take any other suggestions so one quick one Carlo so the um the Council on Aging is meeting um on Monday nights and I'm not able to attend most of those so it might make sense to reassign see if someone else might be willing to cover that so maybe if we could have that on the next agenda on yeah yeah or or informally people listening might interpret this one okay I have to on so I can try to fit in my schedule but it it's it's been hard for us both so yeah well Mondays I just can't so I was releasing my duties so I might actually have more time now um okay we can we can we can add that yeah cool for the fourth y yep all right I have a couple items Carlo y okay so um under under the same night we're going to uh discuss and vote on kiosks um I understand that so you all remember we voted to allow Austin prep to park down at the the train depot and I understand from staff that they went in a different direction so just as a housekeeping matter I I think it would be a good idea for the select board to just revoke that permission um it's unnecessary um the reason it came to my attention the reason I asked staff is because it's very empty so it's very available and in Winter people want to park as close as they can it's fine but as the winter as it gets warmer um we can continue encourage employees and people and whoever's allowed that is a lot of parking down there and I am happy to see that the mvt lots are filling up like people are going back to the trains or or being forced to go back to the office so anyway it's uh just a little item to revoke permission for Austin prep to park there um it's not needed it's housekeeping um I've gotten a couple of requests I don't know if other members have to really take up whether um we could have a reading disability Council am I saying that correctly Council on disabilities I understand uh Fidel discussed it with the resident um so it's more than just it wouldn't just be seniors but I could see it being yeah it needs to be throughout the ages um age groups age brackets in town but I don't know know that much of how other communities have done it so yeah it's a it's another it' be another committee we could add another committee for that so right now you can either have a committee or you can designate a person as the Ada coordinator and right now Laura Gem's designated as the Ada um and she works with Brett who's the building inspector um this this did come up I remember some sometime in the last 10 years um I looked into it pretty early on um as something that the select board at the time was interested in but didn't do so yeah and where now we have 30% of the population is in that 60 plus and it's growing um that's my first go-to but obviously it's not just seniors um and sometimes I think um and you've gone to more meetings than me I is the council an agent too big like I don't know whatever but anyway maybe maybe there are volunteers that are willing to step up especially like the resident who keeps emailing me okay you can pass that as well so yeah um okay could we plan to have a discussion on how we are going to facilitate um one or two special Town votes to take care of the two very important capital projects we talked about um and how that's going to work I I would like us to even if it's just a preliminary discussion about what we're thinking same time two different initiatives um that would be great and um um I uh based on some new developments and and the fact that it's ongoing I I would like this board to have another executive session on the Davenport litigation I think it's really important and it's it's been over two weeks okay all right so the the the right now I think it was mentioned I wanton even talk about yeah the the well it was mentioned so I think the election is is set in May so we can do an update for the board probably uh you know I'll try for the 18th um I think the fourth is going to be very robust with the MBTA if they come so I I can I can do an update on our two main projects you know discuss our two projects for for a timeline uh on the on the 18th there was a meeting of uh opm's chairs of various committees and that and and we could do that same presentation or not not all of it so I think that's a good idea uh yes K are you looking to actually discuss form making committee or you want Matt to look into it for what the disability Council yeah like so Matt GNA pick somebody to help him out with us I think I think it would be nice for the select board to be more educated so at least we can I can can respond to that Resident and and invite her and let her come and help us as well and it and that's not like in the next four four to six weeks if things get tight yeah great okay all right just so okay so Carl a couple other things if we could could we um block out some time on both 218 and 34 um for um let's call it recal project information I think you had requested cost information and I think our schedule the PBC schedule I think would allow for that to be on 218 I think that's right so if we can block out some time for that and then on 34 probably um a vote and then the last piece Karen mentioned in terms of um election kinds of things just as you mentioned Carlo just thinking about when that might be a discussion for that yeah where that would fit all right so okay I I I think you're right I forget when the yeah the 18th I I thought that was going to be tight but if that works I I'll definitely put it on there yeah I think it's both I think it's it's tight and it'll work okay all right and then a vote on the 4th yes of March okay got it and um and and someone just just mentioned Austin prep and Karen you think we have to vote on that well we took a vote to give them permission again it's just housekeeping okay all right that's fine and not no no one no reason for anyone to discuss but Matt did anybody from Aradia have reach out to you about complaints of the students um not recently no no did any no I asked um Deputy Imola that question the other day and she said they have not received any complaints from residents since they've instituted the one side of the street and they will be coming back to this board looking to make that temporary order a permanent order so it seems to have been successful okay I've heard otherwise but again nothing ofici okay hear more okay anything else guys I think that that's pretty full for the next three weeks but three meetings I mean okay because I I honestly think uh February 4th is going to be over an hour NBTA at least well maybe you could think about some parameters for that since Matt has told us they are going to new a public community outreach I would agree because the conservation meeting hearing was pretty long and and they tried to keep yeah so how much of how much of our meeting do you want to be taken up we well it's a big issue for these for this neighborhood so yeah I think it is and they're giving us good info but we've already heard it so like do we want like I guess it's like balancing do we have to sit through it again at our meeting or is it an opportunity for us to hear new information and the residents to hear new information I guess and that gets to your point presentation is needed hopefully Matt and Jane will work on that so in our packet and then I I I think it's just that we discuss it and maybe one or two representatives from the neighborhood not everybody I think we'll have to put some God rails in so it's not a free-for-all because a lot of people are upset and rightfully s and just reminding them that there will whenever this other community meeting is so if not everything things answered you know they it's not the end of the line correct but yeah conservation I hope they wouldn't vote before the community meeting takes place but again that's not up to me I think Matt said February 12th February 12th there is there will be the next meeting that they discuss it and I would say they could vote but even if even if conservation votes in talking to the te they won't do anything until we have our select board meeting in the community great and I'll take them at their work for that but that's what they told me with the Reps and Senator is right there so I wouldn't all right um I think we'll go on future agendas for now um what is I think are we on minutes next I think next right yep I have noedit any edits okay we have two se minutes yep I did not receive any in advance so I got none I have no adits nothing I think I had one small comment can just one sec on the fourth um on the fourth in the second and last paragraph where it talks about public services and then it has in all caps m nrhs o we probably should just explain what that is oh the yeah yeah I I went I know I got you know housing I got I mean but I play M hso okay for that one guys yep and in the previous meeting we is that one okay good all right Chris so second one is amended so we can do the first one as written you want yep move to approve the meeting minutes from December 3rd 2024 as presented second second okay I'll do a roll call Melissa yes Chris yes Mark yes Karen yes Carlo yes on to the next one move to approve the meeting minutes from December 4th 2024 as amended second second I forgot to say any discussion sorry on the other one I think there would be any any discussion seeing none roll call vote Melissa yes Chris yes Mark yes Karen yes Carlo yes thank you I think we have um scrolling sorry the executive session is next correct yep okay uh move to enter executive session under purpose two to conduct a strategy session in preparation for negotiations with the town manager to invite Town Council to attend the executive session and to return to open session second second thank you any discussion no I don't see any hands okay roll call vote uh Melissa yes Chris yes Mark yes Karen yes Karen yes sorry sorry didn't say that Karen yes Carlo yes and um do we need to read the second part e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e right Carlo okay we're good yeah y all right everyone everyone who's awake we have come back from executive session we are now back in Open Session and Matt has rejoined us and we have IA on Zoom as well as myself and we um discuss the town manager contract and uh give it to Chris um move to enter an employment agreement between the town of reading and Matthew cornelis for service as Town manager uh through June 30th 2026 as reflected in the contract presented today second second for mark thank you any discussion amongst the board seeing none now a roll call vote Melissa yes Mark yes Chris yes Karen yes Carlo is a yes all right and now I am going to just say a brief statement so we had um two executive sessions on this and I'm not going to discuss what happened in the executive session but we we shared our feedback in Open Session uh with Matt and we want to look forward and Matt has responded uh positively over the past several weeks to our feedback and we wanted to extend his contract until June 30th 2026 and we all look forward to that we're all on the same page and we want Matt to stay as long he as he's willing to stay and show us that he can uh lead the town and um do the job that is before him motion to adjourn okay sorry r trct that um no if I could just follow up on what Carlos said um because it was too short it was too short um and plus this has to be happy and joyous and not awkward and ridiculous at the moment um no I I I really appreciate um the last couple weeks Matt and uh I'm really truly looking forward to working with you in the future and Beyond regardless of what lawyers may say Etc MH um that's that's my feeling I think it's the board's feeling it's up to everyone else but um uh just continue on the path that you're on and you know it'll be a long relationship that you have here so I appreciate it okay thank you thank thank everybody for thanks Matt for extending I look forward to working as I have for the last 10 years and continuing that work in reading and giving it all I have so great thank you awesome so I have the contract for Matt to sign um and then we can all sign it yeah we're going to formalize it tonight and I will sign it when I get back think we got to put a date on it okay today it's today anyway I don't even know 2st it still the 21st y y want to remind everybody a timely tonight thank youbody it's cuz you're a remote car thank you m okay thank you I appreciate oh you think that's the key I didn't say that Karen did key unfortunately it's not that much warmer in Florida believe it or not right now least where I am it's snow in New Orleans yeah yeah Texas got snow yeah it's uh some are in Florida did too there we go will you sign when you get back Carlo or should we use the stamp on it or does it matter I would like to form me sign it if you don't mind I mean I don't mind the stamp if it's needed on Monday yeah we'll hold it for you yeah I I just want to make sure before we circulate it that we redact your personal info Matt okay sure but other than that you know it's it's a public record okay okay motion to adj Second thank you second and no discussion on motion to adjourn roll call vote Melissa yes Mark yes Chris yes Karen yes Carlo yes thank you and thank you Matt thank you thank you thank you e