##VIDEO ID:K-yNztgCTHE## e [Music] she so all right 7 o' I am calling the select board to order uh anyone would like to speak please sign in if you haven't done so already move the agenda uh we're on Zoom YouTube Verizon Comcast we have public comment uh Le on Tom man reports update from a permanent building committee and discussion on potential vote for Center of active living uh volunteer appointment subcommittee appointments vote on select board design for Ace discuss and vote on Simon's Wayland for pickle ball discuss section 1.5 on select board policies discuss and vote on um oper funds for the health department agenda item future future of Pleasant Street Center future agendas and approval of M meeting minutes U Mark is on his way but I thought we'd start and um hope he'll get here for Le on reports but we'll do public comment first oh wait who would like to speak public comment two okay just try to keep it at two minutes P will come up yeah sure if you're running along I'll say something but should be I'll be quick this time uh Patrick Egan 8 O Ridge Road here actually on behalf of uh the library trustees regarding the ace committee um I want to thank the good work done uh by the select board as far as uh getting a lot of names and information uh the library and bolt have uh one design and as of right now it is um we're leaning towards a similar process of the select board meaning pointing somebody outside of our board or outside of the library to be the designate so you've got a lot of um I'm very happy to see so many people step forward you have more candidates than you have spots so I would encourage anyone who is interested who maybe does not make the initial cut tonight of the six to send a message to the library we have our own email RPL trustee noblenet.org it's on the library's website and um I just thank everybody for stepping up and volunteering and again if you don't make it tonight please email us and we were happy to consider the applications that are already in the public record thank you youw there's a question for the public anyone watching when are you what's your um our next meeting is uh December 9th so our plan was we've we've looked at everything in the public record here we'll obviously see what happens tonight and uh again we would encourage anybody to to reach out to us who is interested okay so they have until what date to apply um I if if I'm right that uh December 9th is a Monday I would say ideally by the 6th okay or 5th all right thanks thank you saw hand up over here hello I'm Edward D from 24 Linea Lane uh and I'm here in support of the ace uh committee and um I'm also in in favor of more pickle ball so I don't know if you have any questions but uh uh I'm hoping to get on that committee uh I am I am a native resident I was here during the years that the Russell were here um I had interaction with the family remote you know slight degree um but I was such a fan okay thank you thank you and I like your shirt yes thank you I participated in this as well anyone else have a comment in the [Music] Room Linda thank you nothing like racing in the last moment sorry Linda snow do or Beaver Road um I wanted to thank you all for moving the ad hoc the ace committee ahead for the time that you invested in I think it was 15 interviews are close to that for this um and I also wanted to thank all of the volunteers that step forward to be active on this committee because what we did hear and what we know is this is a real investment of time and heart so we really um thank everybody for stepping forward um I also wanted to remind everybody that um whether you applied or not this is a committee that's going to need all Voices All opinions all perspectives um and that these contributions are intrinsic to the success sorry of the ad hoc committee um it's it's vital that we invite and here as many perspectives and ideas as possible um so all people are welcome to every meeting as with other ad hoc committees I hope that this committee invites participation throughout the discussions not just at designated public comment times this is how we did it with the human relations advisory committee I know it's been done with other committees that way um it's important that this committee will establish a welcoming inclusive and courageous space where all who attend can be introspective honest and focused on how reading can achieve Bill Russell's vision and work towards living up to his legacy of civil and human rights on and off the sports courts I'd also like to reiterate what I've said in the past about how our town runs on the efforts of volunteers ostracizing attacking and accusing volunteers should not come from this board I for one am extremely grateful for the contributions of all of the volunteers with whom I have worked over my 30 years of volunteering in this town um and I won't go into all the all the different ways um so we need volunteers like each of you to build and sustain our inclusive community I would like to speak out in support of one such VI volunteer who is um on the docket tonight Ashley gross is one of the people who steps up when needed listens shares and engages her family and making our community a caring place to live I hope that you will all unanimously appoint her to the reading cultural Council and trails committee I know she will do the work I know she will be thoughtful and she goes above and beyond to make sure it's the right work reading will be a better place if you do I also want to um just say that and there are six spaces open on the cultural Council so to me she just will be an an awesome Edition um I also wanted to let you and the town know and give you a personal invitation to the community reading Community manora lighting that is going to happen on December 8th at 5:00 that's a Sunday um and this year we have a designated um inclement weather space last year we had torrential rains and we were scrambling but we still had 150 people come the First Congregational Church of reading has been amazing working with us and opening their doors and so even if it rains snows whatever this bringing of light to our community and um sharing our faiths and and celebration will happen on December 8th and after the actual ceremony we will have dancing and lies and Treats in the First Congregational Church so I hope everybody will come thank you very much anyone else for public comment in the room thank you vess alado uh pring five uh at town meeting last week on November 14th select for chair Carlo Bachi who is also a town meeting member attempted to change a proposed zoning bylaw to personally benefit him uh town meeting was discussing the multifamily zoning changes proposed to comply with the MBTA communities act which is a state law the cpdc and town staff had proposed Lots in a certain area be larger than 6,000 square ft because anything smaller would unfairly burden a handful of residential streets that have several smaller Lots Mr Bachi attempted to decrease the threshold to 5,000 square ft um what he neglected to voluntarily disclose is that the property he owns is 5,662 Ft making it too small to qualify as a multif family property under the original proposal now the Lots over 6,000 square fet because of the vote of at town meeting in this area will now be appealing to developers and will likely increase in value as a result Mr Bachi who is a real estate agent tried to make this change so he could financially benefit from it without disclosing his personal interest this was an appalling and self-serving action by a sitting select board member and a town meeting member thankfully a fellow town meeting member asked Mr botch to disclose the size of his lot which he then gave a vague answer to stating that he did not know the lot his lot size but that it was under 6,000 square feet Mr bot's amendment was overwhelmingly voted down by town meeting members now I want to note that Mr Bachi also voted against both proposals that would have put the town in compliance with state law but not before he attempted to ensure that when they passed without his support he would personally benefit now to those of you at home I know politics can be tedious and boring but these are the types of unethical behaviors that can happen when elected officials choose to represent their own Financial interests instead of those of the town we hear a lot about Personalities in local politics we hear about Petty things like being late for me meetings or texting during meetings are being root but that kind of talk is just noise to distract residents from these kinds of self-serving stuns you can watch the clip for yourself town meeting November 14th it's about 5 to 10 minutes it starts at 2 hours and 14 minutes thank you very much anyone else in the room anyone on Zoom Kaylin uh yes um Reginal Nichols would like to speak good evening do you hear me okay y okay um Reginal Nichols West Street um I know you have business before um um before the board tonight um I am one of those individuals who um had initially applied for the ad hoc committee um I did I did speak with the vast um committee you know thank you Karen and Melissa I just wanted to formally um I am withdrawing um for consideration at at this at this time time it this to give but we have so many great um individuals so um I for for personal professional reason I'm choosing to withdraw but I do stand I do plan to continue to be active as they used to say my old neighborhood I'm get in where I can fit in so um I just want to put that on the record and thank you for your time thank you anyone else kayin um no one else raising their hand nope okay I'll start with Chris please thanks Carla um the town Charter uh committee is going to be meeting uh next week to uh for the most part finalize our plans for the the town Charter um just update everyone Phil from rmld got replaced um by what's his name again the other I should have wrote it down uh the newest member of uh rmld over there um I'll remember it after we done talking but um in any event uh the recommendations from rmld got voted down by their uh full board so that's kind of what has been not holding up the charter but you know taking a brunt of the load for our last couple meetings um and then moving on to the k School building committee they will be meeting uh tomorrow night uh to go over the long awaited uh different plans for the different uh energy options there's five different ones proposed uh the numbers are in the packet um that's posted online now so everyone can go there and see the various options um for themselves but as of uh now it looks like it will be voted on tomorrow night um and then lastly in the uh spirit of town meeting I just wanted to thank uh Nancy doctor for her um uh Praise of Bill Brown and his long dedication to the town I think when other people that you don't expect to say things that they did I think that you know someone has to point it out and uh if that's someone's me then so be it but I really appreciate Nancy what she said um and I know Bill Brown did as well so so thank you thanks Karen going to ask a question um could you elaborate on the changes that were put forward before the charter committee that were um voted down um we haven't had any formal votes on the charter committee at all it's more been a consensus of the board which way we felt but not a single item has been voted down yet okay so I'm I'm I'm confused because you talked about some changes requested by rmld I'm I'm looking to just understand what those changes were yes so there some chapter 4A or whatever the rmld governs by with the state that's in conflict with our Charter yet we can still keep it and ia uh has G given her opinion on things as has rld's lawyers um but apparently it wasn't done with the will of the whole rmld board or something like that the ultimate decision rests with the charter anyway how the committee would feel and we were kind of just waiting till um the rmld portion got hatched out okay I I just I I have been attending rmld meetings but not the charter committee meetings and I understand that there's not a lot of detail in the meeting minutes so I understood that the concern of the Board of Commissioners was that um the changes being proposed were to um eliminate specific references to their responsibilities so correct me if I'm wrong um that they appoint um councel for rmld they appoint an accountant for rmld and they appoint the general manager I think that we do but they currently do it's a it goes one way or the other but yes okay I just think it's really important to to have specifics I mean it's great that you're doing meeting I mean just but you could like bring more specifics that's why I'm asking we haven't voted on it or been formal on anything so when we do I'll I'll bring it up but it's kind of been up in the air for the last couple meetings and like I said IA and their Town Council have been weighing in on it and then the curveball of rmld disagreeing with the changes being proposed in the first place so now it's up to the Charter committee to make its own mind up regardless okay so everything that you've discussed even if the consensus of the charter committee is that we're probably not going to recommend this change is still being tracked oh yeah and it's is it has been updating yep it's right on the charter page she's been redlining it every single time okay good so even any of the proposed changes that haven't been voted on um are all in there so great thanks that's your Le on report nope I'll go before you go I'm good I just called on you to go yep I'll go before you go oh okay Mark um thanks Carlo so um most of my activity at meeting has related to the permanent building committee um and we're about to get a a presentation which is also in the packet but the focus really was on evaluating sites and a very strong consensus behind Simon's way after all the activities that have been taking place so I look forward to that uh robust discussion here tonight um and that's really been the focus so I'll leave it at that thanks Melissa um yep there was a school committee on school committee meeting I'm sorry on November 7th um during that meeting each of the principles from all schools presented their school Improvement plans to the school committee um the Athletic Facility naming advisory also voted to name the gymnasium at the Fieldhouse after Phil varo and turf 2 after Charlie Hardy at that meeting um on November 11th I attended the Veterans Day ceremony at om roal Park um the six service flag polls were that were donated to the town by the Good Samaritan U Masonic Lodge were officially dedicated um it was a great turnout the weather is beautiful and then town meeting uh actually Karen and I did two days of askas interviews um the last two weeks um I think we interviewed approximately 15 people for various boards and committees and we'll make those recommendations tonight and then Tom meeting um was November 12th and 14th and I think the biggest outcome for biggest vote of Tom meeting for this fall town meeting was our MBTA communities law and town meeting supported article 7 what's 17 sorry I can't read Because I wrote 17 is it yeah that's it I went oh you did okay I missed it okay so um thanks Melissa uh you did a lot of the great updating we did meet for at least four hours over the last um two weeks interviewing a lot of terrific candidates and um you know I Concur and thank everyone for coming forward it's amazing the talent we have in this town um so um the veterans Day celebration it was amazing the um our U veteran service officer does an amazing job thank you um will valer and um the day cooperated just nicely um um the only other thing I want to mention from um so rmld there was a disconnect with recommendations to the Charter committee and they were brought to the Charter committee before they were discussed with a full board and then when they were finally discussed the full board did not agree with them at all um so so thank you for providing that context Chris and the other thing that has come up um is that um rmld has been diligently applying for Grants of All Sorts to support our move to electrification and um unfortunately not having a great not having as much success as the town of reading has been having so I have been doing some Outreach to our delegation to try to um as one of them said shake the trees and see if we can get a better hit rate on that that's it thank you thanks yeah I was lucky enough to speak at the Veterans Day ceremony the town did a great job um it was a well attended event and uh thank you to the Good Samaritans Masonic Lodge uh they donated the flag poles and uh Recreation committee met last night uh very very light agenda basically going over programming and Board of Health is meeting tomorrow night I'll try to attend that and that is it for me in town meeting again you know agree with my colleague Melissa on uh the success of uh approving article 17 and getting it done in two nights and I'll give him that okay thanks so I Echo the sentiments on Veterans Day it was a great celebration thanks to uh will and his team for putting that together and of course thanks to our veterans for their service um while the town clerk is here tonight I wanted to thank her and her team uh for running a very busy election a couple weeks ago um it was much appreciated a lot of hard work went into that so thank you GL it's definitely a team effort thank you um also town meeting as mentioned went very well finished in two nights and dealt with some very complicated topics so thank you to town meeting members for your time and patience through that process I really appreciate it some events coming up reading shop the block is coming uh December 5th from 5: to 9: right in the downtown so I urge everybody to go downtown support their local businesses that night that's an annual um thing that we we've been doing for I think at least 10 or 15 years and it's always very popular so um the tree lighting on the common this year again sponsored by the chamber is December 1st um from 2: p.m. to 4:30 so I urge people to come to that and celebrate that and as was mentioned prior the manora lighting will take place on the common as well on December 8th so a busy time coming up in reading but much to look forward to so thank you K anything to add I can add a little a little something sure um today we were speaking of Grants we were notified that we received a grant in the amount of $947 192 from Maya uh we participate in a it's our insurer we participate in a grant program with them uh for Fleet Maintenance software and for communication equipment for the Forestry Department um in our DPW which is really important to have when they're doing things like cutting down trees that are on fire um and having headsets and and other communication equipment so um so we're grateful to have that Grant from Maya and we were just notified this morning so sure that among many other things right before I I I just thanks Carlo cork Mac can we just get an update on the leaf situation because I know a lot of people have been complaining about their leaves not being picked up and I know it was delayed and they were going to have an extra truck Etc but even my own leaves haven't been picked up I only have five bags uh compared to my neighbor that's got like 500 so right what is the deal with our Leaf situation yeah I know there's been there's been a delay on that um we have gotten some calls on that um but we are working hard to catch up um it's much like you know the trash issue um sometimes for reasons Beyond ey control they get behind on that stuff but we are we are working hard to catch up I have gotten a few calls on it I don't think it's as widespread as it was with the with the trash pickup uh over the summer but it's certainly concern and something we're working on so but that's the responsibility of Republic It's Republic It's Republic again I didn't want to you know go too deep down the but it is but go ahead no I can sorry sorry I can add a little bit of color to this so um this is a problem not unique to reading at all it's happening in all of the Republic towns and and part of the part of the issue is they're sending in basically one maybe two trucks they're trying to do more but it's in all of the communities and it's not a stop at one house it's it's 30 bags in front of a house and so it just then the truck fills up and they have to go you know dump it and come back so it's um it's just taking taking extra time and so they are on it they're adding more people we are in communication with them we are trying to be responsive to the C click fixes we see coming and I'm sure you see them as well um so yeah it's it's frustrating but um this is not something that we can charge um uh liquidated damages on it's not a component of the contract uh we do we will charge liquidated damages for missed trash pickups that we can verify that are in excess of 24 hours um since we have in ited that policy there hasn't been a reported incident of a trash pickup that's been delayed if you maybe have noticed that hasn't been an issue so um but the leaf pickup is um is not something in the contract that we can do but they are being very responsive with us when we're bringing it up so it's not being forgotten I guess I would just note that for the future contract oh we have we sure have like list for sure thank yes thank you Qui question yeah I'm I'm on the charter Review Committee page and I see the charter review working document which just has like a bunch of select men crossed out I don't see a document that says here's everything that people have brought forward as proposed changes that you all have discussed could why don't we take that offline I think that's we're to discuss it now anyway laara is here but it's up there correct Laura so the charter that's posted is just the charter the changes that the committee has agreed on the proposed changes have not been updated in that document um we can post that yeah so maybe I wasn't clear because what I'm hearing is residents are calling me and they're a bit concerned about meeting minutes being not specific about actual proposed changes that are being discussed Chris alluded or someone alluded to a document where everything that hasn't been voted on is at least categorized somewhere and all I on there is a charter with a bunch of red lines through it so so what I see is it on there as Chris said nothing has been voted on and what's posted is what the uh consensus of the committee has agreed on um I would like to go back to the committee and talk to them before I post anything but we can post if the committee agrees um proposed changes that has not been agreed upon and the reason I'm asking for this is because residents are saying the details not in the minutes so I think without having a I'm not even sure if the committee's filmed so um the details don't necessarily need to be in the minutes and here's and here's why before you mind coming up sorry I was just kind of s sorry I know sorry stick your head and you got to work sorry okay so before any changes can be made to the Charter that it goes to the voters and when be when it when it becomes an agreement as to what and the committee makes it uh takes a vote and agrees what changes we're going to make that information will be sent to the voters so everything will be out in the front open front at that point before it before any changes can be made okay there's I mean this committee is going on for a couple of years and we there they were not significant changes requested from rmld which you know the committee discussed but at the minutes it could be you know these are specific requests so there's no way for anybody in the community to find out what specific requests have already been made if they're considering making some of their own have already been discussed so I'm I'm not asking for anything that committee decided on but I have no visibility as to what changes have been discussed so I thought it was on the website that's why I'm bringing up I don't see it I would say a majority of everything that's been discussed has been included in the packet as well unless somebody randomly came and gave public comment regarding what they wanted to do okay so somebody can go to the packet like if you go to the packet for on when uh next uh next week's meeting there is lots of items that are in there that are being discussed my work okay so the other thing that I'd like to make make a comment on is I'm not real sure it would be be appropriate to post the changes that been requested with rmld because of the fact that it hadn't gone to the board yet and because of the fact that the board's not in agreement that could create confusion when it gets to the point where it goes to the board and the board takes a vote and they bring it to us that's a different story but as Chris mentioned they are in the packet well you can't unring a bell so they were brought to a public meeting so they're in the packet yeah so that's fine so if they're the packet so if somebody calls me and says how do I find out what this committee's been talking about what changes have already been brought forward for consideration so I don't ask them to reconsider it I will say take a look at the packets not the meeting minutes got it all right thank you well I have your attention nomination papers are ready for April's election whenever you're ready to pick them up already already thank you all right I'll get mine I'm I'm going right before I hand it off to the next agenda I have one Le aison adjacent uh I guess comment I was in the CVS parking lot today and I saw Bridget and I pulled over and I chatted with her and guess what employees are still parking over four hours in the CVS parking lot so and if you are listening or watching we're watching thank you uh next item of the agenda update from the permanent building committee discussion blah blah blah potential vote evening everyone so I'm going to try to share here on Zoom let hope that works okay [Applause] you think it'll be under a half hour hopefully yes I'm going to be pretty quick all right thanks so uh some of you I know others I haven't been had the opportunity to meet but my name is Brian ratka I'm a senior project manager with in Townsen herei and happy to be working as the owner project manager for the center for active living project so I'll be providing just a brief update on that project um as many of you know the town of reading has done significant work in identifying Community needs you know based on the changing demographics and putting plans together to make the necessary adjustments uh to those needs those really go back uh nearly a decade when the initial needs were established and um they've been studied by research groups by Community committees Architects and Engineers so we've been brought on just this fall uh really not that long ago and we were brought on to review the work that's been done over the past 10 years or so and put together um our feedback on that and then help the committee as they move forward to see this project through so during this short period we've been involved in over 10 meetings we've conducted a multiple site visits uh We've scoured through all the records that were available and then submitted our report which was in your packet since that time we also got environmental results back on Simon's way and we brought all that information to the permanent building committee um the feasibility study that was done evaluated the three most promising sites in Greater depth and looked at a lot of the pros and cons for those uh so these included the current downtown location The oakand Road Site across from the high school and Simon's way U over by the recreational areas in the ice rink so all that information was brought forward to to the permanent building committee to really dive in and understand it for themselves so the permanent building committee took their own approach they modified the previous evaluations Matrix to suit their priorities for their site evaluation and there was significant debate over many aspects of the sites and the values of each particular Factor so after reviewing the past project documents uh the PBC members submitted their own written evaluations these initial responses were then further discussed in a subsequent meeting until the permanent building committee was ready to place a vote and they voted unanimously in favor of the Simon Way location so their conclusion aligned with evaluations that had previously been committed by by recal by the council and aent by separate evaluations from BH plusa and our own feedback and the truth is that there really is not a perfect site each site has its own merits um it's pros and cons but when all the factors were combined one site consistently came out on top and that was uh Simon's way so even when we dissected the results and we took out individual categories from the results that's kind of what that chart shows in the middle Simon's way still had the highest number of points uh we also looked at taking out the highest scores and the lowest scores and once again Simon's way was the leader so as you can see in the upper right hand corner you know it didn't have the best conditions for every single category on the list but over well overall it stood out um on the top so as I mentioned you know we've heard from five separate groups that have selected the Simon Way location as the preferred site and we're now at that point where it's up to the board to make the decision about how this project will move forward I would like to note that we are take we are faced with a pretty tight schedule um in order to complete this work for the April town meeting so it would be advantageous for if possible for the architect to have that additional time to be able to work on the design and have more time for Community involvement as we move forward but that's uh a brief synopsis of what's been going on I'm happy to answer any questions uh it's a lot of work and I would congratulate the town of reading for all the work that they've done so far uh we were impressed with the dedication and the thoroughness um of the the work leading up to where we are today that was great are there any questions yet oh we have plenty I think we're going to have plenty uh I'll start with one real quick can Kaylin can you go back to the I can go back oh sorry you have you control to the not the yeah that one thanks no other one that one no that stop stop stop so never mind the pictures the biggest chart where did all those where did all that come from like without psychic construction cost without operational costs so we did have costs yeah I know I'm trying to why why those categories are worded that way I'm sorry I don't understand the question it says without operational cost this oper I don't know oh okay yes so that's where we took okay so these were all the different categories that were evaluated for the site they all were scored for three s all three sites all three sites yes and so when we took out one category so we just took that one factor out of the equation did it change the overall values for the preferred site gotcha and it didn't okay because there was no explanation of that chart okay gotcha yep that's the explanation that was my first question um I think I'm good so anyone else no no Chris not even you don't stop good no one guys no one okay good well thank you great job yeah didn't expect that good Mark we have so question there's a second aspect to this agenda item correct correct so uh was there a motion prepared for this in advance or we could just do a simple well let me ask since there weren't any questions I guess we can go to vote right because okay I'm good with that okay Chris I think that uh if we're being consistent with the discuss one meeting and vote the next then we should be voting next meeting on this topic but if we're also being consistent with the way that things have been done in the past we've been hearing about this just like pickle ball for an at least a year uh and I am ready to vote on this as well I know it goes against what we do it is what it is it happens from time to time but you know I I just think it's it's time to just keep this going and it's pretty much it plus we got all these nice little cards with ducks on them saying to support Simon's world so I like that yep um I just have a question mark or any of the other um folks in the room um so the pite consideration slide um where does transportation fit in this is it we haven't like lost there were five key things we wanted to accomplish with this have we lost any of them because this doesn't specifically say transportation and now we are strongly advocating or the community is asking us to advocate for a um a site that may need Transportation more as much as at least one of the other ones unless than it hasn't fallen off the to-do list has it has not fallen off the to-do list okay so um a lot of the information to this point has focused really on the site more so than other things however operational cost operations um have been here and the select board did say to recal and recal did report back that there is a need for let's call it different and better transportation um to provide access for more people to the site and that was a consideration in terms of an understanding that we need to look into that um but the focus here has again been on site so we didn't look into what those options are I would note that a number of other communities are putting together different Transportation Systems they're hiring out thirdparty companies to do it that could be part of the consideration I think when rout did its report it did um come back and share some information about how important transportation is but not not providing the solutions we don't know the solution Sol should yet other than to know that we need to dig into it cuz if the select board um agrees with the recommendation um we want to take a look at transportation and traffic impacts for both major capital projects that will be happening within a Stones Throw of each other and that and that should be good for the community you know we'll be able to share and consolidate our resources and be very focused and not be distracted if one was happening at one place and one was happening at another but I just just want to make clear that what we heard from the kilum traffic meeting they're very concerned about just another 200 children there so the neighbors will absolutely be concerned about this even though we're all excited or a lot of us will be excited about the the positive benefits for the community thanks yeah just a clarifying uh question I guess for matter Chris if he wants to answer so we currently have transportation with two driers or one driver how is that handled and what will make that different to the next Center I assume there's going to be an increase in people wanting to go there but what is what's going to end up changing from what we have um Chris is here too and he runs the day-to-day down there Chris if you can Enlighten us that'd be great just like La we do have two Vans One driver and replacement driver but so right now we currently have two Vans um we have one full-time driver um Joe he's our transportation coordinator we have two uh backup drivers behind him um and then the fourth one a fourth person is myself um so we have a total of four um we use Joe the most the second backup um when Joe's not around the second second amount um right now the majority of the people drive to the center I know we've done some surveys and we've kind of looked at that we're keeping a very close eye on Transportation um because I know it's a concern and it's something that continues to be brought up um like I said um as of right now the majority of the people do drive to the center um we do not um if someone needs a ride we make sure they get a ride um in the two and two and a quarter years that I've been there um I don't think we've missed someone who has called and um gotten ride we're very fortunate um unlike a lot of other communities we have ATS alternative transportation that does our Medical Transportation whereas in a lot of other centers they have to De with operational Transportation such as grocery Shores uh stores shopping and everything else but then they have to um think about medical transportation on top of that we're very fortunate to have ATS and the funding to be able to utilize their system for all our Medical Transportation so that alleviates a lot of uh not all of it a lot of it um I should say just just a good amount of our stress for transportation um we're always ready to put the second band on um and as we continue to grow um our numbers continue to grow we're keeping a very close eye on what our transportation needs are um and like Mark said I know it's been brought up a lot of times we're keeping an eye on what other communities are doing what type what options are out there um I know Salem has the uh something Clipper Skipper um you know that goes around town you know so it's um we're keeping a CL a close eye on what Innovative Transportation um things are going on out there um you know and we're ready we're trying to be ready for if there is a shift within this community especially as we get closer if we get a community or um ready incenter for active living um you know the closer we get we want to make sure we keep an eye on that especially if you uh vote tonight and we move forward with the Simon away because that is a little bit different from the center of town um and we just want to make sure we're ready for it any other questions on Transportation the well just a technical question what are the age and condition of the two Vans age and conditions um I don't know the age and I can get that to you I'd have to look I don't know up top of my head they both are functioning pretty well um I have to say DPW has done a tremendous job on taking care of them if there is any issues with our vans they are on top of right away I know they took one yesterday actually uh to fix I think one of the doors um but the DPW does an amazing job on keeping the maintenance up preventative maintenance oil changes and any issues that come up so they're running they are a little old um but I can give you the dates you got the dates I have the fleet schedule yeah uh one of them is 2016 the other one is 2018 2018 and I know we got a 15 pass Aerotech that's 2007 and I know we got funding for one I know a lot of State reps um got us funding for one of them which is great and we really appreciate it and I know whenever I see them they always ask me about that so it's something to keep an ear out on um you know especially if as we as these uh as one of the older one continues to get older um one's larger than the other um it's kind of nice to have one larger one for um and then one smaller one we do manyi trips into Boston in an area so it's nice to have one that's a little bit smaller to get into Boston but they're running really well thanks to DPW they've been on top of taking care of them thanks and this is a question for you guys I I think I'm I'm not sure but are the Vans limited to I'm going to call it 60 plus activities or there are Vans we can use for any purpose they are go ahead well didn't we I think we just use them to shuttle um election workers uh to the polls is that the same was it the rec van okay okay I we have a Rec van as well 14 14 but if an organization is it available or not available these vehicles may only be driven by staff okay no I know I can take it purpose though I think I as long as staff it's an insurance issue okay um but staff drives them and you know I guess we could drive them for whatever reason we want within you know business purposes I know there's been a few times over the past I don't know 5 10 years they have been used maybe to the high school with you know certified staff driver driving it um you know I know the they helped out Medco I think at one point and a few other things so we do um I mean we're a big fan of teamwork so if someone in the town another town department or something calls up and they need to use it as long as you know um I'm okay with it I always check with Town Hall and Jane Jenna to make sure but I'm always open to let an other um departments and everyone else kind of utilize them as long as um they're available all right thanks any other questions for Chris while is here no right thank you very much thank you appreciate it thanks Chris uh so now now that we're about to pick a site I think it's going to be unanimous I I think I'll talk to Matt I think we should reach out to Edge Sports again to see if there's any interest uh like you know give them a week yes or no and then to explore that because they did express interest probably over a year ago now that they would be willing to work with us uh once a site is picked for space for um Senior Center active Living Center so that's something I can do we have information would we not have to do another request how does the procurement work when we ask for people to comment like that I don't think it's a procurement question right now so we have a there was like I think an RFQ that went out before they were the only response so we can have a we could call them and ask a question so we're not engaging them service Chris before you do that K just can I respond to that for a second too um I think if we're going to do that I I I think it's fine but I would encourage that we um see what their level of Interest would be if they have interest we got to see if others have interest too so that always like two to three quotes better than one exactly yeah we only got one last time but that was yeah it's a different location maybe our appetite is different about different things I'm not I'm not opposed that obviously no okay that's that's the site where there's available space opportunity so right okay uh move to select Simon's way as the preferred site for the future Reading Center for active living second second any discussion any discussion seeing none Chris yeah oh yeah I'm sorry sorry my bad that's you all those in favor job all right 5 [Music] zero thank you for that where did that come from I don't know where that came from thank you you could have just said what they said all right next is uh volunteer appointment subc commmittee appointments I guess I could start off with Karen and Melissa give us you you in the packet give us an update or not or it's up to you guys I mean I think everything in the packet decate except we will have to discuss a additional member for Ras um for a the ad hoc commemoration establishment committee because Reginal pull his um application so we will have to discuss an additional person we have more people that we interviewed it's just that um we had him listed as one of our six okay so just pointing that out I think that everything in there was after can anything to add nope all right I'm trying to scroll here scratch that let me um so I didn't we did discuss the school committee school committee had does have two appointments so we understand they probably have one applicant already the student applicant they have will have a non-student um designate for this committee and then we heard tonight that the library Board of Trustees still has a spot they're looking to fill so we did get more application then we can fill with just our select board appointments but we you know we don't want to lose any of those and we're still we still have Open Spaces beyond what we're able to accomplish tonight okay uh anything else you guys no all right typically um we do a consensus vote with you know this everything that's been recommended but I don't know if anyone has any questions before anything Mark so um I feel like I'm I'm probably the one who's not understanding this is there an indication of who you folks supported here yes so is it the page before page oh it's page uh pack is it the end of the um at at the very end of the reading active living thing there was 45 45 it's just one page that she typed up with Karen and I's recommendations in the packet just page 45 of the packet yeah it doesn't give me Pages I'm sorry right after the act of living yeah I see 18 and 19 is Right open up for you if you open up in a oh you're looking at it up there if you like download it and open up as a PDF it will give you like pages but um yeah okay so we could propose to um um bring forward one of the other applicants to um replace Reginald Nicholls Mr D is already in here mark look at C right [Music] here so it's all the other go scool down so all the other um non a is up here got it and then the recommendations here but but what I don't see is associate versus full is that going to be up to the five of us or do you guys have recommendations I don't think that this committee has associate inold it does yes we did not two fold three associate okay do you w to no threefold three associate One Design which is a full yes yeah so sorry in total three full yes sry and three associate but for appointment wise because we haven't voted on the design yet it's two full and three associate design a separate vote okay that is still a full member yes I believe so yeah it's a full member yeah and the sorry I was going to say the school person will be a full member and the library trustees person will be a phone member got it corre um and for the select board design that that's for five of us to discuss right correct okay that's on the agenda okay got it right um and then I just was wondering um saw Janetta in the room um just thinking about so I think it' be great to have aan on the committee if she's not here might be interested in having her as the board design so I go ahead I think she pulled her I I withdrew she withdrew I've been appointed by the office of equity and social justice sorry I'm just welcome to the committee so thank you equity and social justice is on top of things thank you yeah um I think it it's um it's a shame when you pulled out but they did so that's where we are um their daughters also applying there's some consideration that there's no way he can't be involved anyway got it got it got it cut it yeah again I'm I'm behind this this was not easy um there kind of a lot of mov so it's okay behind for some reason this is a little hard to coordinate thank you thanks for bearing with me all right so do do you guys want to add someone now point of order to yeah can we recommend someone to you that we already interviewed really yeah yes I'd rather have it come from the vast members to be honest with you cu did the interviews and I don't I don't have any perspective on the applicants other than anyone I know personally which I don't know a lot of these people no it was just someone that did did not get um wasn't on the well did not get selected but expressed that they were still interested so that was the reason right no thank you I I'm going to entrust my two colleagues here to put someone else forward or anyone else for that matter that knows someone does have to be them but because they might have a tally sheet or they might have someone if someone doesn't okay you know so these were all great candidates this wasn't easy I'm not opposed to hearing a little help because what we were grappling with are some folks have already been doing a lot of work behind the scenes and they will not be uh like a support group for the ace committee so they couldn't be on the ace committee and be part of the support group for the ace committee so um we were also you know not wanting to torpedo all of the work that has already been done by picking the wrong people if I phrase that correctly Melissa do you have any ideas um idea I mean I agree with Karen everyone that um stepped up and volunteered was great and I think would be a great asset to the committee um I the one concern that we did talk about is the overlap of some of the committee's friends of Ace uh KO and pair I just do wonder if we have too many people that are on Ace and that are on those committees that that could be a problem with open meeting law I don't I tried to write down what other committees everyone was on but I think I might have missed some um well KO is not a town committee yeah you're right I'm sorry but I had written that down as well um I Greg is standing out to me just because I don't believe he was on Friends of a just there wasn't an issue with that overlap and nothing against honestly anyone else that was that is on Friends of but just want to prevent any open meting law violations so is Miss Hum do I see Miss humph is in the back of room no sorry yes Miss no okay sorry okay um and Mr um thas thank you yeah she's here thank you sorry okay yeah I missed the question Miss humph was just one of the ones that is also been a huge supporter of the VRA and how do we say this gentleman's name Sandy matathia also a great candidate like great so I I would love to know I mean honestly I would take all of these candidates are awesome I don't want to lose any of them so I would you know I could hold on Chris well first I'm very disheartened that Reginal uh ended up with drawing only because I spoke to him at the new Resident open house for at least a half hour and he's uh super engaged with the town even though we met not see him every single meeting but he's very engaged with the town and was up on all current events and just rifled off everything for a half hour with me so uh it's very unfortunate because if if I could have had uh anybody represent this board it would have been him no disrespect to anybody else I just I spoke to him for a half hour which is 25 minutes longer than everyone else we would have spoken with um so uh but I also agree with uh Karen and I would like to hear whoever she was who her recommendation was going to be you want to come to the podium and just help us out please sure just so the people on Zoom can hear you okay hi I'm a Janetta Stith um I just wanted to advocate for Greg selli I think he would be an excellent choice as you uh mentioned he is not a member of ko peir or any of the other organizations that are um affiliated with the town he also has been a member of town meeting for quite a bit so I think he would be an excellent choice and he has definitely expressed interest in being um on this committee he is a strong advocate of everything that we're trying to push forward so that's that's who I would like to support thank you thanks does that help guys inser they were all great insert that are you okay inserting that name what I'm asking yeah and I don't want to lose these other candidates so all right so Kaitlin we're putting Greg in and number six got it for Reginal um so we have I guess two kind of like votes is so uh before we do a consensus vote I would like to take Tara Gregory and vote on her separately and then Chris asked me to take out Ashley gross so we could vote on that separately so we can do a consensus vote for everything else unless anyone else wants to take up out anyone separately but that's what I'd like to do so hold on listen quick um consensus vote do we have to point up first on the East do we have to figure out who's full on yeah I think we do to do a consensus vote I mean any kind of vote on that committee we need to put you got I thought you guys would have did that sorry no we didn't sorry because we ALS oh and the select board doign need as a separate vote a separate vote tonight separate vote okay so would I think the three of us would look to you two first who to make full unless anyone else has a I have no inclination of who to make full who make associate I would I would be fine with um Tara David and Edward being the full members two two please just two yes design is separate okay so we we'll go with the first two can you say them again terara Gregory Dave Manan all right Melissa what are your thoughts on that um I just want to make sure I'm thinking of people correctly so can you just give me one second I'm sorry I we should have done this before but um I was gonna say um Monique and Edward D is the full members the two full members Monique and who Edward D and Edward so those are two different names okay um yes all right does anyone know any of these people because I don't the other three I know I know Tara Gregory obviously but I don't know the three people no but all their applications are in the package no no I know but I'm to speak on we have four different names to speak on who should be full because it's up to all the five of us even though you guys interviewed them uh M I agree they're all fabulous and okay you know we could we could toss a coin and we'd be fine I'm trying to think of how we did it um the last committee we had to do I think we put votes on the board and we kind of went back around a couple times and it wound up was it the uh Town manager appointment committee uh search committee Town manager search committee because we all had different recommendations and we just narrowed it I yeah I wish we had one name in common but we you that make it easier but these are all wonderful people and if we've explained that if people aren't enough people aren't there for a quorum then the associates are going to be promoted anyway to be to make sure the voting gets done so so if we just like go like this to our computer and stop it that's pi can I ask a question so David I see you in the audience did I understand that um you might be willing to take on a leadership position if you you were elected to that um I'll do I'll serve however um I can best serve the board you know so I I was going to suggest Monique and David as the two fols make David our do but we can't talk about it right now can we that was kind of my thought we're not talking about that right now in the background it's in the background I had said Edward and Monique for that reason that was my so I'm thinking about what the town moderator did where we said we were going to vote on one motion at a time but he said we could discuss both at the same time because yeah yeah I'm not I'm just saying yeah I know we can but I just want to kind of like not get too convoluted all right so Mark said Dave and Monique okay so um I love Mo'Nique and I thought she was also on on the library Board of Trustees I didn't realize she had stepped down you know I'm fine with that too as a per a full member looks like she'll have a little more time all right so that that make thank am I getting that no wait yeah thought she said she might still be currently on it but I could have missed not okay thank you yeah I'm just looking at the website okay I didn't realize she had retired okay okay yeah make sure she's locked in so so can we add Caitlyn to line item two and four uh full members pull that page up again I'm sorry I can't access that page for and then we can I'm writing it down under yeah okay the Motions yeah sorry y so what are we doing Mark is that tonight I got it Mark you want you want to see yeah I could I just yeah yeah ver I have doesn't go ahead yeah what we doing daveid Monique is full okay and the other names on there as Associates not quite correct because we still have to pick one as a um we we don't have we only have six appointees if we include our designat right now there's not five on this list we add sorry we added thank you we repl yeah so conceivably there are six on the list so personally I I would say we should vote our design first and do the rest of them whatever you would like to do actually not a bad idea thank you K I think that's a better idea all right is the board okay with that do I design first I haven't got to that point but I David and Monique I think it's that's a valid point that's a valid point bearing with us we're we're experts and highly paid you know so are you guys on the P are you guys okay with taking this out of order yes okay okay all right I think it would make it easier the agenda item is now select board design for the ad hoc committee and now it's not coming up on anything is the oh here it is sorry would you entertain a motion for a nominee to be that person how do you want to I guess we should discuss amongst ourselves if any of us want to do it again even though last time we discussed it we were kind of like yeah with so is anyone any one of us want to be the design would like to be the design not want would like to beate seeing No Hands okay so now I would nominate David monan as the select board design second second any discussion saying none all those in favor okay that takes that care of that okay back to our other agenda item that we were just discussing so now we have to pick another name to to Dave is no longer in that pool of six [Music] I'm going to stick with my two names Edward and Monique Edward Edward and Monique is full okay you have any objection to that nope all right so Caitlyn if you're paying attention um gotcha David is now our select board design Y and we are having Monique and Ed Edward D as our full associate members okay and uh Tara Ryan and who do we replace Reginal with GRE Greg Greg Greg as Associates Greg got it okay so now to the vote you just want to vote on the ones because they're indiv they're all a lot different one by one or just pull Ashley gross out and do consensus or is it just as easy to do line by line in the first grouping the the boards and committees this grouping I think we should finish Ace first and then do okay okay I finish a all right so I think we need a a vote to not do a consensus vote right no can just I could do move to a point Edward D and Mo'Nique G I guess but I think it's that's closer but iiz butchered her name but she's been on the library so second as full members to the ad hoc commemorative establishment committee until the committee sunsets second L of a second any discussion seeing none all those in favor right did you oh yeah okay all right so now y so now we have so we do a a a vote on Edward and Greg no three right three no we just did Edward oh oh I'm sorry the last the the last three names would be Greg Tara and Ryan yes from recommendation for associates okay but then I think because I want to pull it out don't we just do it individually or no because then it would it would affect the other vot why don't we just have a discussion because we're trying to fill this committee now and it sounds like you have something you want to say okay sure thank you um yeah good point good point so this town is run by Volunteers in town staff and we all do our best up here we make mistakes we try to fix them we hopefully apologize we make mistakes and recently uh I've been singled out saying I have conflicts and I don't but people continue to say I'm a pickle ball instructor in reading and I'm not I can't vote in the split tax because I own a home just like the five of us so I I I I all I have is my name I don't get paid for this and I really take it personally unfortunately when people call me out and they want to be on boards and committees because people on boards and committees represent us so I know every board is different when we vote on these appointees but for me I cannot support Tara Gregory because she is making false accusations about me that unsubstantiated and it's it's really dis Discerning because we all get attacked I'm not saying we don't get attacked we don't get called names but these are unfounded untrue accusations that keep getting brought up I voted on the split tax five times I've never been called off for a conflict so all of a sudden I'm getting called off for a conflict so prove it so that's why I'm not supporting Tara Gregory for this committee thanks Carlo so um I think it's very important that we encourage dialogue of different voices and I think we're all all very sensitive to to being called out on different things we're here as volunteers we're doing our best right completely agree um but people if they have a concern they should bring it up um you know I I agree with you with better you know things should be you know proven we shouldn't have wild allegations that doesn't really serve any purpose at all and it doesn't move us ahead um but we also need to recognize that there are going to be different opinions in the room and I want to make sure we don't try to sculch opinions that we encourage different opinions um and that's that's hard we we on the board are are not of one mind on this topic ourselves so it's kind of hard to to say hey well Community you're different than us so I I have a problem using that as kind of the reason for saying no no no can't have tar on the board um I I think she's a strong voice I think that she represents the community well she's been involved in lots of stuff she attends most of our meetings in fact I I don't I think that's a plus I don't see that as a minus and and would I love that people would be um more reflective with their comments yes but they're not so would I but out and out lying is I'm not going to tolerate it that's all so I think there are many examples of that having taken place this is what's in front of us now I'm not Mark I am not going to debate that you are right and that's not on the agenda but you're right but what's in front of us now is someone boldfaced lying about me and people are watching it on TV so I think this if this becomes about us we're going to get stuck I don't think we want to go there I think we want to be really careful about that I think we need to go forward to saying this committee is meant to represent aspects of this community and can this person do a good job doing that or not if they can't I agree with you that's a stopping point if they can and you got two representatives of vasque who came in and said they can then I think that's a reason to approve that person we have entrusted them to review the candidates look at their qualifications compare them Tara came up in one of the top six I'm happy to go along with that recommendation no I I appreciate your opinion I'm not gonna that's you're entit to your opinion anyone else Karen um I hear where you're coming from I have been the target of angry residents things that I felt were unfair um what I saw in this particular candidate was that they have demonstrated their commitment to this initiative they presented to us along with others in the room and really made sure that we stayed focused on this and F followed through in our commitment and um I I for that reason that is why Tara made it to the top six so are they going to hold you accountable if they feel you're not behaving like they would like you to yes however I will say in sitting there listening to it there are some folks who regularly visit us and stand at that Podium and call individuals or all of us out and are respectful and don't personally attack dos so I think to what Mark's saying there is a difference between being unhappy with what they perceive we're doing um versus personally personal character assassination so um and there's a reason that Tara is on this list and I think the committee would benefit from the work that Tara's been doing and um I understand that it's not fun being on the receiving end of somebody who's not happy with you well there's fact and fiction I agree we we we we've all had things said about us over the years on our votes what we say in public what we do things we try to fix tent gate this gate whatever gate but fact and fiction is two different things to me I hope it is to you guys so for two years I've been told I have a conflict for something silly as pickle ball and it's ridiculous and it was only a few months ago they got called out again so and that's just you know among other things but so i' I've said my peace you guys have said your peace I don't know if you two want to weigh in or not I saw Chris first thanks Carlo it's about to me it's about sorry it's about character code of conduct all that stuff and if if when the shoe is on the other foot we can all make our own decisions I I I I'm just it's been four plus years of certain things and everyone has a Breaking Point and I've reached mine thank you Carlo um for me the it's it's twofold first a couple months ago um we all agreed to move on in the spirit of the town did we not and then Dan and Angela were up here Etc we all agreed to move on and it just seems as if some people aren't willing to move on and put things behind them and just decide to say whatever someone is telling them to say or perhaps they're doing it on their own um but secondarily the these have real life repercussions I haven't brought this up to Carlo yet but during the veterans um during this veterans phase ceremony I spoke with a resident afterwards um that thanked me for recording it Etc but then also mentioned they uh don't understand why Carlo gets to vote on all this pickle ball stuff when he's a pickle ball instructor in reading and I had to sit there and explain to them for 5 minutes that he's not he's got a long-term lease in wuber indoor outdoor Etc so these kind of things have consequences this person was influenced because of something that was said um and that's just a random person that I had run into otherwise they just continued believing it and it's as pointless as Carlo having a conflict with pickleball like there's obviously other more pressing and concerning things out here but these are the things that people make comments that you know it's a free country do whatever you want but but you know if if the goal was to get Carlo to look conflicted uh mission accomplished at least with one person and I don't think that's fair at all either I mean we all agreed to move on a couple months ago and and I just don't see it so thanks mosa oh thank you Carlo um so I agree with Mark in the sense that I don't want to squash any residents opinions on topics um whether you would disagree with one of us disagree with anyone um I think as we all can sit here and say at some point we've been the target of misinformation or just blatant lies and I really um have a it it I'm the first person to say I want to hear your opinion but when they become when they're lies and you just continuously spread them that's when it it's a line for me um so I really hope that all of us residents everyone listening to this realizes there needs to be a line drawn about opinions and just blatant lies okay uh Mark so um we are in danger of going very far back very fast and I really don't think it's a good idea but I am not going to sit here quietly well this board can't handle itself and it claims it's going to try to do it with residents that's not going to happen or if it is it's going to get messy and fast so we need to make a decision here we either are going to say that we we encourage discussion descent if things are are not true then you know frankly it'd be great if people kind of recanted and said okay not true but we don't have a history of that we don't have a current history of that that so I am not going to sit here and watch that happen say no it's not okay for that person but it's okay for others uh-uh so decision time folks we can move forward we can get into the mud and go either way yeah not happy about it but I'll go I'm not happy either mark so that makes two of us thank you I think we should go to a vote unless there's any other discussion point of order can we make are we allowed to make any comments not really no it's no public comment public comment's over I'm sorry okay thank you though so should we do the motion I have moved to a point XXX as associate members to the ad hoc establishment committee Ace until the committee sunsets so I can put all three names in or whatever you want I think should put all three names in that the vasque brought forward see where we go which if you want to make it one motion so I have Ryan Tara and Greg the new Greg uh so move to appoint Greg Sal Z savelli Tara Gregory and Ryan Johnston to associate members of the ad hoc command M of establishment committee Ace until the committee sunsets second so give it the camera gu all those in favor all those opposed all right all set next agenda item okay so we have a have a quorum for this committee now so that they could go to be clear they can go you're off and running congratulations all right want to discuss well the rest of the appointments yes of course yes h of myself so I have a couple I can make are you ready yeah I'm ready okay uh move to Appo Jean Paul plof uh to a current associate to a full position on the board of cessors with the term expiring June 30th 2026 second Melissa first all those in favor 5 Z move to appoint Tim Mitchell Michelle to an associate position on the Conservation Commission with the term expiring June 30th 2026 second camon seconded all those in favor Z move to appoint John Federico to an associate position on the recreation committee with the term expiring June 30th 2025 Melissa discussion sorry discussion no I was in favor zero uh move to appoint uh Brandy Hopkins to a full position on the Town Forest committee with the term expiring June 30th 2027 and to an associate position on the trails committee with the term expiring June 30th 2026 second second any discussion seeing none those in favor 5 z uh move to approve Frank aone current associate to a full position on the zoning board of appeals with the term beginning January 1st 2025 and expiring June 30th 2025 second C seconded any discussion seeing none all those in favor zero thank you move to approve Ashley gross to a full position on the cultural council with the term expiring June 30th 2027 [Music] um and to an associate position on the trails committee with the term expiring June 30th 2026 second second second any discussion Chris uh thank you Carla um I appreciate the the the previous comments because I did give Ashley an opportunity I reached out to her um and informed her that I would be voting no on the cultural Council position tonight just to give her an opportunity to speak unfortunately she going to be here um and it looks as if uh she let Linda know that um so Linda gave her comments on that um but for me uh this becomes a a really difficult decision because I'm conflicted in in multiple angles on this um and I I I had referenced this back in 2021 in the library uh for anybody who wants a history lesson on that they can watch the meeting but um you know uh I have no issue with her being on um the the trails committee but with uh with the cultural Council uh when it comes to money there needs to be an unbiased hand in this there needs to be a completely uh even playing field for the recipients there were a lot of groups that asked for this money that don't end up receiving it so uh in past public situations where bias has been displayed I feel like it compromises this Pres uh and for that reason I will be no voting no on her tonight for that um I will just say that she would be replacing Brian uh Kilmer that's been on there for nine years I think there's term limits um and uh I I don't believe anyone would hold a candle to Brian the devotion that he's put on here but in terms of uh a candidate that I would like to see replace him unfortunately this is not it so uh as for the trails committee I'm I'm fine uh with with approving that but not when it comes to the cultural Council so that's kind of where I stand any other discussion Mark so um I have not known Ashley weal but I've known her for many years I have never had a problem or issue I found it to be trustworthy um I have not felt strong bias I I don't see any reason why I would think that that's the case um and I think that there's an opportunity here on the cultural Council um that's important we there are term limits there are five people and a committee of seven five fulls I guess one associate existing uh one associate existing so they're going to have trouble toward Quorum um I think it's important that we support the council and and I guess on the question of you know different opinions apparently there are as it relates to Ashley so again you know if I don't know specific issues or or even that's appropriate here but I found her to be um fully trustworthy and a capable person with no no issues in fact if if she came to me specifically and said I want to volunteer for something I'd encourage her I'd say that's great so I I'll be supporting her thank you any other comments okay um I'd also like to say that um so it's interesting that we're now worried about Quorum again because the first time um that I believe Ashley applied for a committee was when we desperately needed volunteers on our human relations advisory committee um because they could not get a quorum so Ashley stepped forward and um she's not um an outspoken or an outgoing person like some of us sitting here or some of us naturally are so it wasn't an easy thing um but Ashley was is a valuable member of the committee and I am fully confident that um she will also be present and be a valuable member of the cultural Council and I we are sad to see term Li it's forcing great volunteers to to get off the committee but we're filling a spot we're not trying to replace Brian Brian did a great job no one can replace Brian so I just want to be clear on that but we do need to fill the positions on this committee on the council and I think Ashley um would be an excellent candidate miss any comments can I ask a question that's um what does the cultural Council give money to just any um program or usually usually the Arts usually the Arts the Arts the Arts thank you yes or it could be used for art related Science Education there's the Massachusetts cultural Council and then we have our own cultural Council got it and they get fund funds from Massachusetts and they get funds from us got it so like just our groups people apply the schools are applying even school PTO do apply and that is my major sticking point in all of this I'm just trying to understand who applies for the money that they T all different groups in read individuals this could be individual artist yeah individuals as well artists yeah just a question no yeah no I'm sorry that was my only question okay and the term limits are set by the state not us so the state sets that term oh okay yeah okay yeah um yeah we can go to a vote all right so uh move to appoint Ashley gross to a full position on the cultural council with the term expiring June 30th 2027 second M second any further discussion no see a none uh all those in favor all those opposed and move to approve Ashley gross to an associate position on the trails committee with the term expiring June 30th 2026 second second any other discussion seeing none all those in favor all those opposed all right now we're done with that okay all right we did we did me all right discuss and vote on Simon's way land for pickle ball no we did not we discussed it go ahead yeah sure so uh I put a memo in the packet to you um recognizing that um select board member herck had requested more information the last time we spoke about so we have also some new information here for you um and it was previously noted that the um limited substrate um surface investigation sub service investigation was uh those results came out so they they're included here as well um as the uh fee proposal for the design work that you had already previously voted on uh using the remaining Hara funds for um so it will be um the the wish for tonight our request is that you will um officially designate the land at Simon's way for the design work so they everybody can feel like yes now we have the authority to go forward and start working the portion of the land yes sir yep the portion of the land um so we included a map as well um everybody understands the the scope of of what we're looking for um we have an internal team it's um and look at the room's filled up hello Jenna wood is here and um she's been um in part of our internal along with um Ryan pel Our Town engineer and we've been working with bhna um and you can see their free proposal um the intention is that bhna will keep the same civil engineer for both the recal and the the pickle ball project so the design will be integrated that there will be efficiencies obtained for you know Geo uh technical borings you know about you know the surface um uh testing um for the construction portion not for contamination as you saw all of those results came back and um were negative for any finding so we're in good shape um so yeah we think that this is a very this is a good plan the pickle ball Community has come forward as previously noted um very strongly to um ask that this project be able to proceed on a somewhat different um time frame and then bring this forward to town meeting at some point in the future um the design work is to tell us what would this cost um you know because we don't know what that would cost for eight courts um with or without lighting and and and what kinds of materials would be used and so forth so the um bhna will work with activitas it's a firm they've been using for the civil engineering and the uh landscape work as well and we're familiar with that firm um and so they'll work together to to design um the courts using these funds so it's all here uh we hope you will uh vote to uh designate that land for the purpose of pickle ball this evening then once that's done we can go through and finalize the the scope of the work with bhna and secure that contract by December 31st thank you any questions does anyone feel I have a conflict oh okay that's nice thank you motion I really thought we voted on this last time but we didn't just the arpa funds not the land information yeah we did okay uh move to select Simon's way as the preferred site for pickle ball second any discussion seeing none all those in favor 5 Z thank you very much thank a long road folks thanks for hanging in there thank you all right next select board policies uh discuss uh not vote guys just discuss uh Caitlyn put it in our packet with the track changes so it's not a PDF problem I'll tell you I went back to the email email try that I hav't tried that I this particular one okay really okay I I have to go with the web mail cuz this is my work said that my work take oh sure we'll take a five minute recess guys thank thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e no disagree all right we're back from recess we on select board policies packet yeah oh yeah sorry so I um I think this represents most of what we talked about I think we need to clear up the language on this issue of the term length 1.5.1 sentence one P members shall be appointed I thought we left it I thought we figured it out that it's a staggered two-year term so that one expires each year if it's a one-year term um they both expir right it's not staggered yet corre that's we were discussing last time yeah so I think that so I I would suggest that the wording the cross out two I think is actually correct the one is wrong and I think that that accomplishes what we talked about so then that's how it was written and I thought that you guys talked about doing one year terms but then only but you could do two years in a row and then you couldn't do any more than that I could be wrong of course but so two was originally written in there so you just want to go back to the way it was I think two is right I think we it maybe that we weren't doing it quite right we haven't no we weren we hav we have not been doing it right yeah I think that's where it was but I think if our mission is to say each year one person comes off I think if if that's what we agree we need to figure out how to say it exactly I think that would be a staggered two-year term arrange so that one expires each year what if no one wants to step off well we're going to have to I'll take a vote on so you only had a two-year term yeah so you have but we're resetting the clock now AR we resetting the clock both of them were appointed at the same time that is the issue so why don't we for the first time through just agree that one person will be appointed for two years and the other person for one for the first time and then starting next starting next next one so next year would be Melissa and Haren still I no next year one of us will step down yes no it's I'm saying Melissa and Karen still one of you have to step down one of us or both of us will decide that we're good yeah but I'm saying for this to work one of you has to step down yes yes correct as long we're on the same page yep that's the only way it's going to work or if they both step down then I think we would agree that we'd appoint two people one of whom would have a two-year term the other a one-year term for that one time I would agree and then everything should be clean after that unless somebody needs to yeah we always interpret this wrong I think so and then but it wasn't a big issue because we always had two people on vask so should we have a little thing in there that says if both positions become vacant two select board members shall be appointed one shall have a two-year term the other she have a one-year charm should we just go ahead and Sprite it in there it Mak it cleaner and clearer I think if we did you get that number five okay so we're going to change this to two back to two yeah please yep and then do you want me to add it into the first bullet point or add a new bullet point add a new bullet five five four five six two it should be directly underneath four five hold on no member of the you want to add it to the end please okay so if both positions become vacated yeah if both positions are vacant the select board shall appoint one member for two years and a second member for a one-year term yeah just be really clear so we remember someone doesn't run again someone loses whatever and and it makes it cleaner I think and just clearer to understand any other comments on these uh updates that we cleaned up I think that one is good and it does take that into consideration that um interview all incumbents yeah and also the courtly meeting a courtly review of candidates is that in there 1.5.3 oh sorry no it isn't it's not sorry it's a comment whoops yeah I guess I wasn't sure how you wanted to word that because this is written very differently well you already have highlighted so she has so this was this was just where I put in the comment because you guys talked about doing quarterly meetings but this says you know if someone applies you're supposed to um basically meet as soon as possible no no no that's a that's an no that to me I read this is that the town is making the advertisement advertisement yes to advertise this yes that's bullet point one should remain but under 1.5.3 which is the process for filling vacancies on board of committees during the year yes we should call out that vasque meets quarterly if needed in that language whatever yeah you could just add that as another one so um if we take a look at point three just for a second following the receipt of all applications in expiration of required number of days vas chair and town shall schedule vasque interviews but when though it doesn't say when so maybe we should clean it maybe we should clean that up a little bit and we also want to take out bass's chair because we're taking out that there's a chair and a vice chair a two person subcommittee so remove the words just anywhere anywhere that it says vast chair it actually says it in several spots I think I just start just take out the word shair yeah just just to make it consistent throughout fact that I think Chris's point I think we need something in here that states an expectation of courtly meetings yeah so someone's not waiting six months to get on the board Comm correct yeah I agree you want that to be like vol.5 under this I think we we can add it to three we can keep on right I was thinking it goes to the top oh whatever it says the board's going to be quarterly and that's it no if you got to go through below but but now it's unclear because now it says okay you know when's it going to get scheduled so I take your point on three talks about kind of the when so what come back to your point car what if we said on three um the expectation expectation Vas will meet on a quarterly basis unless requested to meet Rec on request of the board yeah obviously we all agreed in in theory that there's a quorum issue we're not going to wait for like know three months right right but I I I think I mean does that need to be stated that's kind of a given but do you need to state that too are we even meeting are we meeting quarterly or not because like needed it's if necessary if needed whatever the word Nash shall meet importantly or as needed yeah we're trying to get away from that like if you can't me a quorum you're only going to not make a quorum for two meetings like it's not like well what boards have if it's a big board like cpdc or zba conservation yeah that's very important so they're only waiting like 60 days maybe or maybe we have a quarterly meeting early I mean I just so have accordly meeting probably means there less backup less yeah which is probably good thing and it and town staff to know it is going to be March 31st June 30th yeah we do it isn't we have to publish when it is we have to take the sub committee members Mee are only going to happen at most because it's quarterly yeah this is the cut off for here this is the cut off for there so you've been doing this for a long time the whole Quorum thing doesn't come up very often I I I it does always with zba right has was a problem now it's good but it was a problem y it doesn't happen like every year like but yeah the zba we can't predict the future Karen we can't predict the future I know we want I want the onee term I don't have time for this this is too much I I need volunteers who are going to stick around for a year and like not be like moving on and off every two months it could be 20 minutes out of your day that's AR it's never less than an hour or two no for quarterly meetings it could be two applicants so the last quarterly but it isn't so we just went through our first interation and it was two sessions and I think it was four hours was it longer than four hours for new special one was a new and that was in addition to like 16 hours that we just did so you it was this happened close to the annual so that's why you had to Big E and and you had 14 applicants I also think our from my understanding our June ones were excessive because they kind of sat there for a while I think we had a lot of applicants that had been sitting for like a year even so that is absolutely correct yeah I think that was a little maybe not the norm I think when January 1 hits because we meet every two weeks other than the summer when January 1 hits by March 31st on or about if there's applicants and they want to be in particular border of committee I think they should be interviewed I think we all agree on that we agreed on quarterly meetings it's the add on or on demand part that's for the onesie to I didn't say on demand I'm not you guys can do whatever you want I'm not on demand no one said on demanding you need 48 hours notice yeah that's still kind of I was teing you no you're right but it's still kind of saying the quarterly I'm not clearing my schedule because somebody can't hang on to their committee appointment for like another 60 days no one said on Dem I have a job no one said on Dem I have bills we have big tax bills the the flip side is that if someone wants to volunteer we learn this the hard way and then you don't get back to them for a long period of time it's kind of like year was intolerable the vast last year met once like that wasn't okay is a non inaccurate statement at all we did not meet once you met for the annual appointments and it was on multiple days multiple days that's different than let's decide what we want right I think we've agreed makes sense yeah we already that and then the issue would be if there is a reason that the board in its opinion says I'd like to get this done sooner then the board would take a vote and say let's let's do something sooner yeah and we can always do the interviews at a meeting if needed thank you put that in there no no not put that no see that the board can do that any any board I'm not going to put that in for future boards I think we're there we we're there I we're there so Caitlyn do you have we're done so is this going to go into three at the end right kind of where the cursor is right now I think that's where I think that's where we should go let's do it okay so just at the end Bas shall meet quarterly yes if needed yep if they're open yeah whatever if needed yeah they're not going to meet with no appointments anyway thank you I think we need to spell that out yeah if needed yes it's not 100% CL but it's so much better yeah a little maybe it'll maybe it'll work we'll see what happens next year all right guys are we good I think that's it for it right yep we'll vote on it at a future meeting okay good all right good okay so ad day sent us uh on to the next agenda item ad day sent us an update that he has requested the funds for V mitigation Y and he's on the zoom any questions so but he's reallocated it um to 100% roaded mitigation the full $21,000 in change all right um good evening everyone my name Isen Public Health director for the town of Ren for a while now the health department has been receiving calls related to rat sightings within the town of Ren the town currently does not have a townwide rent management plan and the health department is looking to implement one we've been shoving around to find a partner who can work with us to implement a radent management plan which in turn would help mitigate the explosion in radent sidings the town has been experiencing while we at the health department understand that radent control is a concern we also understand that the method of control and prevention we use is critical to the survival of other animals Studies have shown that the second generation anti-coagulant renti sites biomagnify across the food chain and adversely affect Wildlife including Birds of Prey and other predatory species these toxic substances used in rodent control are causing secondary poisoning in our wildlife thereby undermining ecological balance and unintentionally worsening the very rent problem they are intended to solve in other words each bird of prey lost due to rodenticide consumption leads to more rodents left unchecked as a result we have carefully selected not show Wildlife to be our partner in our rodent mitigation efforts not Wildlife is willing and able to help provide and Implement a safe and Humane load and control program for our town Robert linot the subject matter expert and the owner of not show Wildlife is here tonight to answer questions just in case you have any my main priority tonight is to respectfully request the select board approve the reallocation of the remaining APPA funds in the amount of 21,00 35991 to go toward our rent mitigation efforts thank you very much thank you a day board any M just a quick question um how long will These funds last us to manage this and do we think that this amount will eradicate our problem or is it going to be an ongoing maintenance that we're going to have to continue to fund so this uh amount is uh pretty much a third of what we actually need um I I plan on you know having a conversation with Matt and you know um the Board of Health and they're trying to see if we can come to the you know town meeting to request additional funding but um in the meantime if we have uh 21,000 um you know waiting to be reallocated I would rather have that reallocated to uh Ren mitigation so that um if we do go before the town we'll be um requesting um around $40,000 not the entire amount got it and that $40,000 is that like a year is that several years is that until we no longer have an issue how long does that get like so we're looking at um around $660,000 annually annually correct wow a day are you done yeah a day is this targeted control targeted okay so it's not so to Melissa's point and it's up the town meeting not to us but if we have a major we have a major problem we want to address it obviously but is there any way or any way possible to control you know the non H not the nonpr I'm trying to word it try to get a ahead of what can be a problem or is that too hard because we have so many Wetlands of conservation is that I guess sounds as I'm talking is too challenging so uh we have a Roden map um I believe robot is on this Zoom Rober would you be able to share the uh map that you have so we have a a road map we've been working on and pretty much robt hi how's it going good so pretty much we we're trying to start at the you know the areas with high radent sidings and then we Branch out to um areas that have less stings you see my screen not yet does this typically cut the problem in half I can't I can't say it it's eradicating them what's the success rate just you know not exact but like are we going to always be at 50% 50% every every year which is better than 100% but we're always chasing it right we're always gonna be chasing it yeah you're always I mean there's no you can't really fully we're just not going to fully eradicate rats that's just not um not possible yeah but the idea is to minimize the infestation and to get on it quick because they just populate so quickly um so uh it's typically an ongoing thing but our plan is to hit it hard especially in the in the problem area if I can get to the map I'll show you but there's a there's a centralized point where um uh the calls and the sightings are are are strong if I can get over there I can show you but yeah to to to your question um yeah there's not there's no way to fully eradicate them you guys can't see my screen no corre Kaitlyn have to she said he's he's not locked just tell us where the problem isone oh it's coming coming movie how's that there you go there it is all right so this is my presentation but we'll get right to the the map here we go oh boy yeah so as you can see so the black diamonds are where a day has received the calls and the sightings where the problem areas are but right here like this up a little maybe not right here is where it's conc OB yeah what is that self reading is self reading yeah it's just it's seems that way if the map is correct yeah so that's where the majority of the issue is and then if you guys were to move forward and and have us come on board this is where I would start and then of course we would address areas but so we'd hit hard here and then as you know things change and shift you know if there were other areas that become more problematic then we would you know we just shift gears but right as of right now that's where the the majority of the issue is I see a black diamond right on top of my house that Chate yeah happy to answer any other questions yeah Melissa has one so this this initial 21,000 I mean we don't have town meeting until April like how far are we getting with 21,000 can we do how far does that get us a third of it yeah that's up third so that that's starts the program so would you guys like me to go through the um presentation just to give you an idea about what we're doing do we have time for that this evening or should we wait for tomorrow so I would love to hear a little bit about safety safety in terms of so everything everything that we do is non-toxic so a few of the things that we employ are borrow RX which is a carbon monoxide so we we I identify the tunnel systems and then we essentially just put smoke in the tunnel systems and it doesn't affect the soil or the root systems and it puts the rats right to sleep right underground which is perfect is then they just go right back into the Earth uh we also use a rat action tunnel system which I invented and patented and that gets them above the ground and it's a contained unit contained system so it's safe for like cats and dogs and domestic animals sometimes we catch some Chipmunks but uh there it's it's it's just big enough for rats so we emplo we put those by dumpsters anywhere activi is heavy behind restaurants G where the grease traps are behind restaurants that's sort of thing um and I also have an organic bait that I've been working on and the main ingredient is uh baking soda rats can't burp right so uh if they eat enough baking soda they uh they just pop goes the rat but it's using it you call it ratom so the safety part of it is you know we're not using you know like a day mentioned you know we're not using poisons escar is a huge problem right now a lot of communities are pushing back against it Newbury just uh just got the town to stop using it there and there's a few other community zip switch uh they're just really it's a problem it's affecting birds of pre I'm sure you guys have heard about the owl eating the rat and the owl or the hawk dying because uh it had ingested escorts so uh We've what what we're doing and we do it at we do it at people's homes we've done it for the town of Melrose uh and uh and it works you know it takes a little bit more time we're not using poison uh but it but it's been effective we also employ uh we do exclusion work too so if there are any buildings say we're working around uh uh uh where there are restaurants if rats are running in and out of buildings we can do exclusion work which is essentially just fogging up the holes using things like steel galvanized mesh and foam and clear epoxy uh sealant and we just stop them from running you know uh in and out of buildings and that's when that rad action T system typically works really well quick question so as it would relate to doing work near dumpsters at schools I would assume that that sometimes is a is a problem location um can be yeah hospitals yeah so Hospital not a worry in the town of reading but schools yes um yeah so do you do that like when there are a few people there I I hear you some of it's underground so that shouldn't be an access issue but just is what precautions do you take to make sure it's a a safe application absolutely so it's a you know case- by casee basis so if it's there's a lot of activity kids are near like dumpster area you know that's just conversation with the staff there you know is it something we can put down there uh the kids shouldn't be able to access that uh everything's capped and locked off except for the ends so there shouldn't be they shouldn't be able to get into it but you know again it depends on where it is and how far away the dumpster is and did schools have their own Pest management companies that service the schools oh okay so you wouldn't be going there issue anyway okay thank you feel better and I'm sure a day you'd talk to them anyway if there were if were encroaching right any of that Chris en roaching thanks Carlo um other than I think rctv should follow you you around with a camera crew and create your own Billy the Exterminator Annie spin-off in this scenario you don't want the rats to see where he's G yeah I have a few of those videos on YouTube do they not quite Billy but you know they're fun I didn't like hearing those tunnels and Burrows under reading so uh no thanks uh I guess my concern is to what Mark just brought up is the school is doing their own thing and we did receive an email in regards to a notice that was sent out to the schools uh regarding the SAR you know what you just mentioned toxin toxins the pesticides Etc so what are we going to do about not having that happen and have this happen going forward because if a day ask for 60 Grand a town meeting what is the school getting why aren't they in concert like there's more moving Parts in this you can speak to that maybe that's something for you a day to coordinate well the uh the schools are bound by the state to have their own test management um plan um so this is more of like a townwide plan schools exploded um if if the town wants to include the schools and have uh you know the schools switch their IPM to uh not sure not sure wild life's IPM they're welcome to do that so what are we currently spending on your on your end for radent mitigation in the town of reading is it zero currently zero dollar correct so only moso muskito uh you know budget about 46 $447,000 a year and you know we only use the budget during the you know the summer months three four months so I I think you definitely have to reach out to to the school P portion and see what you can do because to me I mean you're already in these neighborhoods I don't see why they couldn't do XYZ especially with people having concerns over Road insides and you know I don't want to see all this stuff happening where animals are eating it and killing other ones and like nobody wants that stuff to happen especially around schools so I think if offline you can just work with whoever you're going to work with over at the school and see what you can come up with maybe it's cheaper maybe it isn't maybe there's a rule they have to do this I don't know but just offline if you can square that away with them and you know maybe come up with a plan or something in the future and then Matt and and you can update us like yeah a month or two or whenever it comes up [Music] again okay are we good you have a motion uh yes uh move to allocate $2,359 191 of arpa funds to the rodent mitigation as presented was a second any further discussion saying none I'll in favor 5 Z thank you next agenda item folks thanks go get future of pleasantry Center building uh we sell it next agenda item future agendas okay so thanks car um so first of all thanks colleagues for supporting moving forward um in Simon's way and and moving that project to the next phase one of the things that has come up at various meetings and discussions has been hey if this does happen then what would happen to the Pleasant Street Center and I think they're asking from a number of different perspectives I think you clearly from our perspective I think what's the value to the community what's its best use um and or is there some offset of cost that could result offset of cost for the new center that could result from utilizing the existing Center so I think that at town meeting in April there's a reasonable expectation from town meeting members from residents from us that we need to think about this I don't know that we need to have it resolved although obviously that's a discussion but I think we have to have it thought out as to what some of the options might be um you know we haven't done that yet right none of us have really done that so I think there are lots of potential uses some of them could be kind of an exclusive activity some of it could be sharing I think you've got so I I scribbled some notes and I'm happy to to share what they are but I think there there at least kind of five constituencies we probably need to think about there's the community the there's the historic building historic commission housing Town activities and development and again I don't know that they're exclusive but those are different categories so for example the town needs space for people for offices for activities there's a lack of space today we know that rctv is could really use some space um it's possible that food pantry could benefit from some space I know that the there's been discussion I've heard discussion about an Arts Center a community- based Arts Center um we could talk about moderate or lower income housing or veterans housing conceivably in downtown location or we know that there's development potential we know that there was I think a year ago just more than a year ago year and a half two years ago there was an unsolicited bid that was kind of I'll call it mixed use in the sense of allowing the town to maintain some existing space and then have development take place I think it was residential development that they were talking about again unsolicited we didn't ask for anything they just threw it in over the over the front so um I think we need to do I would recommend we we think about two things one I think we have the resources to talk to Victor and say hey Victor and we did this two years ago but we should do it again um what's the commercial value of that property as a restaurant as housing as other commercial whatever it would be and I believe two years ago he kind of gave us an estimate just so we kind of know that kind of a number in the back of our heads whatever the number was and and you know it's not unfortunately it's not $10 million but it's something right then I know Carlo you you are had said to me you're less inclined this way at a public meeting but I think this might be a committee that needs to get formed to have this discussion Community historic um some developer I would say for background but not someone who might develop it obviously staff to get together and talk about it maybe putting out a survey encouraging some citizen input short duration um I think want to get the thinking of the members so having members that could kind of participate strongly would be great have some public hearings present back to the select board for the target of mid-February I'm thinking of the world as we're already you know next meeting is December so they get started mid-February allows them to have probably three or four meetings and a survey so that's kind of what I was I just want to kind of initiate that as kind of the start of thinking and and see what colleagues you might have for for thoughts I I think that there are strong opinions on what to do I think that it would become kind of an additional building an additional resource and you can decide use it for Town stuff or sell it lease it share it and get income from it those are kind of the extremes as I see them and probably there's plenty of space in between uh I am in the camp of uh we're no hurry um I'm I put it on the agenda your request and I I I think we should discuss it but I I don't see the urgency before April town meeting I think that if there's to be a vote at April town meeting plus or minus on recal I think the expectation of the community is that we have talked about what to do with what would become open space open town-owned space open in the sense of available not the Pleasant Street Center thank you better available space I think not having that begs the question basically saying hey you haven't really thought this through because what about the Pleasant Street Center and I think we need to come back to them and say we we've started discussions we have some ideas it's not definitive but we've already gone pretty far down the process of saying here here are kind of where where people are leaning here's what it could bring to the to the community and then people walk it aside but I think not having an answer in time for that town meeting just basically says to folks hey you weren't serious about this you haven't thought about that open building that that's not okay with me no that's not what that say we're talking about right now I I I think for me the town should have first crack at it as far as their ideas not a committee the town should come to us let's say in a month by the end of the year say gee we could really use this for XYZ and then maybe the schools maybe not just throwing ideas out right because a lot of things you mentioned food pantry Arts housing those are all goals are things we should talk about but I don't want to me personally I don't want to rush this I get your point but we always have November town meeting we have a lot of Runway uh to me these are two separate topics as far as are we approving XYZ millions of dollars to this project and then we have a lot of runway on what to do with the building and let's start the conversation see what the town needs see what the school needs but you know we're priority see police and fire need etc etc and then Matt gives us a report and we say okay well those are great ideas and those ideas are out there I I I don't know I I I just I I I I think it's premature is my opinion for another committee to to ask that much in a couple months okay just want to say I'm not asking that it would be solved and this this is what we're going to do I'm asking that we've thought about some things so that frankly town meeting members and residents say hey I get it you're starting to think about what to do we don't have to resolve what we're going to do you just listed five things we can present that um I think that I don't know anything about the potential of any of them right their ideas this my list that I generated in 30 minutes so okay good start what else is out there what what are people thinking and I think we need There's an opportunity cost to that building even if the town gets it or whatever there's an opportunity cost so some people are going to say why should I spend x million when you now have this open space and I want I would want to say to them I think we would want to say to them hey here are some potential ideas if it were to be sold leased shared whatever the town could get some income as one option the town could use it for activities or the schools I'm not discriminating between um but it's There's an opportunity cost in in what's going on and I think I what I think we need to do is is explore it and come back with some ideas and that would be it wouldn't be a recommendation of the committee you should do X it would be we've explored some ideas here's what they look like CH thanks Carlo uh for me it's it's very simple everything marked just said is very expensive uh you cannot go down this route I understand that town hall might need some room Etc the schools I don't think so because if rise does get moved over they can have more space at the high school Etc so I think they're out uh but maybe I'm wrong but I think they would be out um I just think that coming up in the Horizon with the new center being 30 million or something unless we can ax this off and be like this is going to be we can sell it for five a developer wants to buy and do whatever they want for it for five now the new uh Community Center is 25 million it's a lot easier to swallow than 30 and with keeping this building the added expense of whatever we're going to do over there staff cleaning Etc it just gets compounded because the new building is going to have obviously a little bit more staff more cleaning more everything I just don't see how we could keep to I'd love to keep it believe me because I like I just said Town staff there's people you know it is what it is but I don't think that that we can go ahead and and and just keep this instead of exploring the selling or leasing or renting having something you know put a feeler out of I don't know if we can put rfqs whatever scenarios just to see so we can say town meeting senior Cent Community Center is going to be 30 million but we're going to be getting x amount from this you know year-over-year this is the plan that we are going to see about going ahead with it's going to be easier to swallow the number is going to come down for everything that's a good idea the RFI RFQ R possibly and just I just think we have to do it that way I would love to keep it believe me I agree but in keeping it the cost is just going to balloon with everything else and that is another uh uh X in the wrong column that you do not want so I'll leave it at that ter um I agree with you that how meeting is going to want to ask that same question they're going to ask what are your plans for the plans for the existing building um I would prefer if we got a commercial appraisal of that building as is um I don't think Victor's going to be able to really give us a sense of this and and potentially we could ask them to outline rental commercial space rental but um so I would recommend we could do that for short money I don't disagree with that idea that we might want to go to the market and do an RFI um I'm I'm I'm not sure how far into it we should go before we presented to town meeting um I I'm not sure a committee um is going to get that far before t meia or get far enough and um I would also say that the schools are asking us the schools are building a very large Elementary School and freeing up space and I am not interested in asking them what else they need at this point no offense because there are and I'm sure staff does have some ideas so I think you mentioned that as one of yours and um you know that would be we we do need to present something to town meeting what are are options to do with this and I think town meeting will respect the fact that we didn't want to spend too much diving into this but but realistically this is we've spent a lot of time and energy on this project the community wants it we need it so um in general the concept makes a lot of sense M anything um I agree with Chris and Karen I think we the building needs to generate Revenue in some form for us I believe to make this work with the new centor productive living whether it's selling it whether it's leasing it I am concerned it seems like there's a lot of Maintenance that needs to be done over there heating system I think we talked about at one point those aren't going to be inexpensive you know Replacements or fixes so I do think that we whatever we do whether it's assessing it for selling assessing it for commercial lease it needs to bring Revenue in in whatever we do with it I think it needs to generate some revenue for us try to yeah I was just joking I me I I would not support at this time selling it because we've kicked ourselves in the butt by closing schools in the past and then oh guess what and so as as a town asset I think we should keep it but as far as generating income yes to offset because to Chris's Point anything that doesn't gener income adds to the budget exponentially where we don't collect taxes on it we're still not going to collect taxes on it I think that's my only concern with it being I know commercial leases are a little different than obviously residential leases but um I do I am concerned with the maintenance that needs to be done with that to that building to even yes as a forever yeah right yeah obviously yeah yeah could could we ask could you find out how long the RCT the new rctv le es to see if that's realistic I don't know if they signed a couple year Le I tend to think they signed a longer one time frame frame was 2 years but I can double check on okay then maybe that is a viable and they would pay us rent oh I know okay I know that okay so that might be helpful to okay I guess my only concern with that is is they're not going to maintain like the heating system there and the the anything else that goes wrong with that building I'm not sure that that would out you know you can negotiate all that it's the wild west for commercial you can I know it does I just I'm not sure that they're in that position to be able to and they couldn't afford the rent that they had so they downsized to they w't be able to pay us they were paying $100,000 a year yeah they're paying a lot less now so they I don't think they want they' pay and you don't have to give them the whole Space exactly yeah you have to give the whole Space yeah it's a big space it's not a big space but I think for their needs they might have multiple bigger than maybe necessary for one particular so maybe you could do a bunch of things as a possibility too so so excellent this is exactly what I was hoping we'd start to discuss a little bit because you their ideas the notion of income seems to be a strong one offset how about getting an idea bit the gas boilers date to the 90s they're not efficient could we get an idea from facilities as to you know what kind of Maintenance what kind of you know when we were negotiating the Walgreens building though we were taking on all of that so the tenant was going to take on all of it so it really may not be our issue yeah no and I I understand that commercial I just don't know that rctv is in that position to correct yeah they're they're going the opposite direction maybe I'm there are other um yeah potential uses for things that we might otherwise have to get space and other activities for that we would conly have to spend on and maybe this is where so an art center has come up multiple times we talked about that at the the the tower building in rmld even as a possibility at one point we did yes so I mean again awesome discussion I don't know if you want to take it further but that's what I was hoping to kind of just generate and I think town meeting will appreciate I think will appreciate having started to to think it through get some ideas pulled together seeing what it could look like seeing what our expectations might be you know make sure they're not too high and certainly not too low and I think that just helps the process I agree I think I I I think we could uh direct Town staff to uh give us their needs and wants and I don't know if we're ready for a commercial appraisal yet or do we wait till the new year I mean oh get we have plenty of time I think I think that's on the horizon you know Victor's help as well but commercial appraisal square footage and how old the building is blah blah blah so I think these are good First Steps okay cuz we did that for the um the building on middle sex remember that we oh yeah we had an appra that it didn't it didn't take that long days just contracts and get up there yeah I see eight luxurious Pleasant Street condos coming in 2028 yeah got 1.5 million each so this town gets one of them I don't remember the details of the unsolicited bid but I think was a low inome I think yeah so I think the notion was that some of the building would remain Town owned and essentially they'd be paying us for the ability to do things Beyond develop the parking lot like develop yeah that's what I remember yeah again I think an RFI is in our future um and that's a good segue to Future agendas can I ask before just to close on that topic so it sounds like asking the town to do some stuff potentially thinking about a an evaluation if you guys think that start of the year is the right time frame to do that there may be other activities that we're not aware of I think starting with the town is is great um I think that historic would want to say hello to us about things historic commission um certainly I mean regardless of what's going to happen because I think there are restrictions on what you can do I excuse me I know there are restrictions on what you can do historic building so yeah it's building correct um and I'd love to be able to to have a couple of kind of ideas is as to what it could be so so we've talked about two or three we' talked about a way to think about development potentially RFI um and Commercial um leasing leasing kinds of things um Town needs we talked a little bit about um the other thing I think in the town needs is if you folks can solicit more information from those kind of town oriented groups for example I don't know what the food pantry situation was I do know that when they approached us last year it was much dire I think that they work something out with the church but I'm not sure that um but you know those are the kinds of things that might pop up I think the Arts Community might want to chime in a little talking about it for sure so yeah yeah so it's not like no one's thought of this it it's kind of like everybody's waiting and and I think we want we want to manage it not have it be an attempted free-for-all well we just picked a site tonight so slow your all okay all right I got it I'm thinking 25 already man election okay thank you lots of things going on in 25 yeah okay all right I have one future agenda I want to get out there before I forget um if possible in January when they they're on break uh we have a lot of new Eagle Scouts okay if we could do something at one of our probably early January meetings a lot of kids yes go back to school around MLK weekend and so I just want to put that on the books for our probably our first meeting in January I had Sergeant Nelson reach out to me to give me that good news and that's all I have right now but anyone else for I think the only thing that I saw is I think we were asked to add executive session to our December 4th meeting third December third meeting yeah two ex I thought he said the fourth uh I'm sorry I mean third we have won the third and third the fourth is the meeting the third is your regular business meeting yeah oh okay so he I thought he said the fourth who we talking about in our email oh yeah yeah yeah right right yes yes maybe he said four but executive session correct right correct um but the third is I mean third is the regular business meeting so I I can correct him on that but there's two matters one not um on the December 3rd we can take off vote on site selection for directive Living Center we can that's good got freeze up two hours good uh 30 minutes I have uh so annual liquor licenses that's standard procedure uh Chris Co and DPW and town staff wanted to know you know was we're going to try to work it in tonight but on the second meter pilot program we should have some policies to discuss not not vote and work that out hopefully and stop putting a stamp on that um can I make a suggestion yeah um we at different points we asked different town groups to kind of present what's going on it kind of feels like DPW this would be a good time talk about trash barrel update okay and anything else that's kind of I call it you know imminent that perspective that would be great winter parking win paring like is that something we just in case it snows again that's not DPW that's they can touch on a little of this in their budget presentations that are coming up in December but you know if you want a full night with just departments we can we can schedule those too I wasn't thinking that the way we had done it in the past was to kind of one one Department per meeting kind of thing one Department per meeting yes and they don't necessarily have to be sequential but the notion that they come kind of present see what's going on yeah share with us see if they have questions yeah be good to get a barrel update and uh we're going to be going we're going to be talking about our contract next year yes right that's right okay that's already on the list and we maybe I think we're ready uh Caitlyn can present a clean um vast policy and just vote on that real quick sounds good if you can add that Kaitlyn to the third yep and I and I see U thankfully kaiton did Caitlyn n Caitlyn to put our potential first quarter meetings on there so we do have a meeting on the 7th in the 21st so I would have the Eagle Scouts on the 7th okay we obviously need to have our reviews in by the 7th kids uh from thatt uh that process will be starting uh December 3rd we'll have an agenda item to uh Sean will uh join us and and talk about our 360 review process and how uh it can either be me or Town Council or someone else or Sean to handle an aspect of that I don't have the exact wording but we have to vote on that who's going to take care of that or oversee that process compile I think was the right word compile all the reports so that'll be on the agenda for the 3D okay typically it's been HR yeah yeah I'm just saying we have to vote on it so that'll be at the beginning of the meeting so Sean can get to work um a question so uh Matt fourth and 10th um those are lined up your department heads planning they're all lined up I'll send you the um the agenda on which night is which for the Departments but they L up to give the budget presentations just like in the past so yeah great yeah should good go ahead Chris thanks Carla uh the only thing I would add is I mentioned it earlier in the year but Robert Lee with mandarin I think broke 100,000 donated so I'd like to have him come in and because I mean I'm surprised they're probably running some event tonight for some organ organization in town recognize him at a meeeting yeah so he he came in what like five 10 years ago something like that um but just breaking 100 Grand is pretty significant yeah so that's a great idea put them on for the 21st for now well did you I guess I can reach out and just give them these various board dates yeah yeah yeah see yeah exactly it's a good a good idea in January or February yeah anyone else for the third do we do we I think this is pretty locked and loaded I don't know if we have to add anything other than vote on the a vas thing and um I asked Kevin to join us for a quick update Kevin hasn't been here so I'll probably move him to the beginning he's on the end but I'll have Kevin come and then on January obviously we'll be discussing our favorite topic of kios in January um and like I said my comments earlier were are something that I was worried about that I think is not going to stop unfortunately um so I will say I was in that lot CVS today around 11 o'clock there was a lot of spots open oh there was spots when I was there as well talking to Bridget don't get me wrong it was just no I got it all right I don't want to well the new building that's going in downtown um the contractors are parking in all the public spots they're 2hour parking so you know I was in one of the businesses today when they meet want to get rise yeah so um yeah so I just told the business owner I'm like call the business line and they will come down and enforce it and they did you know people feel a little bad about that but I you shouldn't you know what they I explained that we have one parking enforcement officer she can't be everywhere and it's true and so um anyway I just wanted to let you know so it's it's going to be an ongoing is issue every time we have a construction project yeah yeah yeah yeah they don't want to go spend the nextra five minutes to find they don't think about it I think piece of equipment blocking three spots not to not to say anything against other businesses but the chocolate truffle is right there so and once we hit Thanksgiving yeah it's their busiest month it's probably 40 50% of their sales okay so that really needs to be uh uh know the whole area not just the chocolate I know I I'm saying clear I know what you meant that's you know I don't think Mathnasium is seasonal all those parking spots all along Main Street are two hours on so they could be I don't know there's some 30 minutes some but the other ones are two hours only yeah they me in and out I understand I don't think I ever it myself that I've never sat there for two hours either but I don't think I've ever done two hour spots well I've heard tell sometimes the students down there and the parents are are pushing that limit um but I also drove behind the dcka donuts and there's another six or eight spots they're all empty so it's kind of an people just need to be educated partly there's plenty of spots you just need to look a little further I know they're there I think with this agenda topic as well in the future we have to talk about double ticketing again because I will take a $25 ticket to park at the chocolate truffle and ruin their time there I'm not doing that that's what they're going to do so there has to be uh some way to rectify that okay and I've been parking on the street you're welcome thank you Chris thank you other than that one day the other future agenda are we good oh we need do minutes all right is something comes up obviously it'll be on there but I don't anticipate anything and then executive session is highly likely or I think necessary so yes from what I read y okay minutes I read them I'm good I'm good I have no changes I had some um minor changes um did you send them nope I emailed them I mean sorry I highlighted them hang on one second there um so we're looking at the eighth okay uh so the update on the parking kiosks um I I by the way let me just say both of these sets of minutes love the summary thank you Caitlyn appreciate it there's less to edit but in the kios um phrases like board members felt like the kios are a total disaster I think over States what was discussed because I I I didn't ever say that and I didn't feel that way so I was wondering if we could just reel that in a little bit I think a couple of places in both sets of minutes had mentioned negative feedback I might just take out the negative we discussed the feedback a lot of it was negative I got some positive feedback um so those were um the board members felt the chaos were a total disaster I think that's a little hyperbolic and we I would like to edit that back I would assume she put it in because of the comments that I made yeah you know you're taking minutes you're doing the best you can that's fine I don't know it I don't I don't agree with that statement I didn't say that so I don't want to reflect that all Bo MERS MERS felt like the kios are total disaster I just think it's too hyperball I would all fairness I I said that they're not a disaster you could call it a smooth roll out was like you could was not you could say the kiosk didn't was a rough r i come up with something else I implementation okay that the implementation needs to be in there okay the kiosk implementation I was always Le than perfect left um had some issues had some issues no less than perfect is a minor detail no I I'm willing to go somewhere between less than perfect and total disaster the kiosk implementation um didn't meet the town's needs but we didn't say that I think it's again I said it was a total disaster yeah say Murphy said it was a can say that that's why I think it's some board members felt yeah yeah you can put some board members that's fine yep Mark no sorry it was a thumb oh yeah anything else you made out of Winks today Carlo what he's only got two Winks per meeting right eye or left eye left can we change most board members um would like to put a pause in the kiosk and also change that to sum and we did take the vote in the next meeting after that one practice one yeah we don't see the minutes Caitlyn but y I got you pull them up if you want um some board members felt the kiosk were a disaster and some board members want a pause yeah and then I think then in the 15th it says the board discussed under the kiosk the board discussed all the negative feedback I really just think that should be feedback because that's more reflective of what we did uh no tons of I every comment that stood up was not good yeah it's yeah I don't I don't need the board discuss the feedback describes what we did I I just don't think we need to put extra in this instance I agree with Karen I agree with you great oh my God I agree thanks all right thank you just make it more Su but why it was negative feedback I guess I don't still not all feedback I remember specifically one individual was happy but we did our job we discussed the feedback all of it that we had access in that instance it is warranted great thank you um You can disagree you can push back I mean you don't have to agree okay right thank you appreciate that okay that's it I I don't want to um these minutes to reflect to forget all of the work and effort that went into this and we do not have the staff to vet fully vet everything and I used to be in the software business and they have people on staff to go down there and push all the buttons and make sure things don't work so if we want to hire people like that then we'll have smoother roll outs Chris mea emotions emotions Jee Chris you are not on the ball roll call roll call Chris out here uh yes yes that's okay uh move to approve the meeting minutes from October 8th 2024 as amended second any discussion seeing none all in favor zero move to approve the meeting minutes from October 15 2024 as amended second they amended we did sorry change the one word yeah who seconded second Melissa seconded any discussion none all those in favor 5 Z motion to adour second second that's a tie all those in favor I did it that means before1 oh my God e