e e e e good evening good evening I don't know about the rest of you but I'm freezing down here wait a minute you live in way down south right South
shuberry yeah I'm designated to the basement for my uh Zoom [Laughter] meetings warmer weather's coming yeah right I got we got our uh sugar sap stuff out so we're going to start
tapping trees this weekend because nice start to reach the point where things will flow yep yep so that's hopeful is this the weekend to tap I I I'm thinking it is just looking at the the temperature change I mean it's a little hard to say because last
year was so weird we started I know last year we completely missed it we only have a few trees and we we were so late because it started so early we just so this year I want to be on top of it yeah yes I I heard talk of uh getting up to
40 yeah so that's yes get those bikes out yes let's get [Laughter] going we're gonna beat you this year not a chance huh
but combined mileage all right it is s o'clock and I think uh inclusive of Beth's cat we have a quorum she been to so many meetings lately like she just um so I believe Rita cannot make it
um I have not heard from Allan but we do have a quorum so I think we should get started since it's now 7:01 I'll call this meeting to order uh this meeting is being recorded and I'll members are participating remotely all right the first item on our agenda is to review and vote on the
minutes of January 13th is there a motion I make a motion we approve the minutes of January 13th as written I'll second that all right I have I have two I just have two small
revisions um in item 3B where you say the ad minutes say the committee would like to use the remaining that should read the commission or the Conservation Commission Reb Reb for the southp the commission
okay yeah I just want to make sure it doesn't sound like the CPC is asking to use it um and the other the other change is under under item five just a clarification that what I was asking asking for at the meeting was um if
anybody objected to including a blank version of the grant agreement in the community preservation plan um which I've done I I did put that in now um okay so I'll put that will
include the grant agreement form in our documentation on our website yeah do or do you want me to just not say after town meeting I mean I guess you could say just you could just remove after town meeting okay I wanted I wanted to
get it in there as soon as possible just before people start getting the applications in those are so we we're including how about that okay got it are there any other
revisions or changes all right seeing them we'll take a vote Reed hi poo hi Gettys hi Wilson hi pangallo
I all right thank you QA sure okay so the next item on the agenda the sort of meet of the meeting is questions for Grant applicants uh this is a chance really for us to ask any questions we might have of those who're
submitting applications uh we're not sort of deliberating among ourselves right now really uh I mean obviously we can talk to each other um and we're certainly not taking a vote at this point we're just gathering information and I I guess the best way to do this would be to go in the order in which we receive them which is the order that
post it up on the CPC website um starting with the gravestone project um Susan hi thanks for joining us thank you for having me and I'll just open the floor up to any members of the um committee who
might have questions about the uh West Cemetery restoration project as describing the application so Walter is still the uh contact person yes Walter may try to come to this meeting but he is in Hawaii too bad yeah
he really suffer there it's a so dry there and warm so I Susan I saw this is the same this is the same person who did the previous work right there's no change just adding more stones to what they
were doing yes and they were stones that were she originally included in the project that's a two season project or two Grant project do you do you happen to know how
much of the uh cemetery is left sort of to to Target or that would be in future years or is this kind of the the final stage Mato that's a really good question and you asked it before so I should have tried find an answer but I I don't have
an answer for you because we really depend on her expertise in terms of pointing out which Stones need help but I would say we've Pro I would just guess that we're dealing with the bulk of them now and this section of the cemetery um
from I think what I read somewhere is the oldest um uh group of headstones that are there and probably the the ones that are um have sustained the greatest
damage um well they certainly include a lot of old ones the very old ones oldest ones are of graves that came down from the cemetery that was where pretty much where town hall is now and I think those have pretty much been taken care of so
these are we're getting into um what 19th century gravestones now first half the probably mostly pre pre and post Civil War so they're pretty old 40 43 Stones total yeah but only 22 or 23
should be done for this this second project yeah there any other questions from anybody no um I think I mean one one thing I would ask about and I think it came up last time the commission came for CPA
money was um whether there's been any consideration of publicizing this work a little more um even if it's like just on the on the AR commission web page or some kind of photo documentation for people to see the kind of because the
transformation that happens for these Stones is pretty incredible I think might be impressed by by learning about that and maybe hearing some of the stories behind some of the stones um I don't know I mean that's not the kind of thing I think you can use CPA money for
but even just something on the website um there might be some interest in town for that yeah we did talk about at one point in time about including some stories in the town our town newsletter which we didn't
do but I think that's an excellent idea Mato and I'm making a note of that for us to talk about at our next meeting well I was certainly struck by the um uh two photos that you provided for
the a couple of the stones that were worked on and just the transformation on that is is pretty amazing and so that's I think is uh supporting what Mato has said that it it really is very impactful and so
good story to tell you know these are these are so neat I uh I took some a young person who is about n years old over to see the old uh gravestones in Leverett over by the
um the up there and I think young kids just are amazed by looking at this and looking at their the people's ages and you know where they were in history and then you know it it it's a great project
for the elementary school and it's walkable distance for them and you know gives them a sense of what their town is are you thinking that we should reach out to somebody in particular at the at the elementary school who might be interested in doing that I I would
suggest you reach out to uh the principal and see if there's anybody there that would be interested I mean they do history in all the different classes it would be a great thing for them to to walk through there and to do
some rubbings and stuff that might be a really cool thing for one of the classes yeah or or a site visit during the work itself I mean it checks history and science you know conservation work yeah I don't
know anyway are there other questions uh for the applicant no all right thank you very much Susan yeah thank you all very much all right we're gonna move right along uh to our next application which
we received from the lake wola advis committee for phase one I guess is the best way to describe it of the Lake wola Dam preservation and repairs this sort of study portion uh hello Mark hey thanks for joining us my
pleasure um all right are there any questions for members of the committee or Beth's cat she's just too much um okay um I had a question um when um you put the funding down um
it had a major portion of the um expenses to be covered by Grant from the mass office of dam safety and um just curious where things stand with that is it um the chicken and egg waiting until
the um decision is made on the the CPC funding before that application is made or that's in process and also um just with uh this day and age and hearing about lots of funding cuts and is it
anticipated that there would be any impacts to funding um given uh cuts on the federal level that might uh impact us at the the state level those are outstanding questions
that I don't have the answer to um um we up until recently we believe that um the office of D Dam safety would provide 75% matching uh but um you know that's not a
given and that so one of my questions for you guys is you know what happens and where if that doesn't come through we're also looking at other funding options you know so there's there's um there's at least two funding options through the state plus a couple of other funding options federally
that um that we're looking at uh but there it is entirely possible that these funds don't come through uh we're hoping they are we're anticipating they are um you know but you know there's no
guarantee you know and U you know it's just a matter of you know they're they're really the CPC funding is independent of the office of dam safety funding you um and one is not contingent upon the other but there's nothing that you can do with
our funding without theirs correct that's absolutely correct well unless we you know unless you know the design work for the uh the re the dam restoration is $55,000 you we're asking for 25% from
CPC uh or CPA and on the assumption that we'll get you know the 75% from the state um you know there is a chance that that doesn't come through and if it doesn't come through I'm not sure what to do at that point the the that 75% or
or the the Grant from the office of dam safety is itself contingent on having the 25% match right yeah it is okay I mean well I mean this normally I think normally with applicants we look for
them to have the matching funding in place in advance but because this essentially we're providing the match to leverage this State funding I don't think that there's any problem with you know as long as it's articulated in the in the warn article you know if it goes
to town meeting and in the grant agreement that the funding is contingent on this other 75% you know Grant coming um I don't know that that's really an issue obviously we would want to check with Donna about that but
um yeah I guess the question is what happens with the dam if if the gr if that larger Grant doesn't come through and they uh sort of hold on to the CP CPA funds for a future Grant
application like if this year's Grant to the office of dam safety fails but they still well we've already we've awarded them the money from CPA can they hold that for you know say next year's round of uh Grant applications with the office
of dam safety so the the language in the in the sort of template Grant agreement is that work on the project must commence within one year from the first day of the fiscal year following the town meeting vote to appropriate funds um So within one year of the first
day of the fiscal year so that of this coming fiscal year um and then it must be completed within three years from the commencement date you know as far as what constitutes commencing work um yeah it could be submitting the Grant
application to the office of damn safety I mean I I don't I mean we're not super specific there and also that's we're going to be loose with that yeah this this is language that we put into the grant agreement so it's language that you know we would you know we would be able to shape you know I don't know I don't think that's something we would
have to present the town meeting town meeting is just voting to appropriate it the grant agreement is something that comes from us and the select board um to the grantee so if we wanted to Pat it and say two years um must commence two years the first day I think there's no
reason we you know we couldn't do that yeah well because it sounds like Mark's saying they're looking at a variety of Grants so if the State Office of damn safety one doesn't work they might be looking at others within the next year that the CPC money could also
you know be used towards as match I guess you know it's not committed to that particular grant program Mark have you guys are you working on the uh Grant application um and submitting it yeah we're not doing it actually the our dam
engineering company GZA is they have a grant specialist who's working on who's working on it and um uh there's a new one that just came out from the office the executive office of something something um that they're applying for
but that may be not applicable for publicly owned dams and may be only applicable for privately owned dams but it's still an option that we're looking at and and there's a few other potential sources um you know so you know yeah I don't know what to say you know this is
all new because kind of all new to me and uh um I'm just uh hoping things pan out I mean we we've got money for the state in the past have have to rebuild the dam um and uh we may need to you know Flex some political muscle to get
some funding to start repairing the dam and so there's this year's funding which is to do the statement of work and design work to rebuild it and then there's another phase next year to actually do the work which is the $150,000 work or expense um so you'll be
back in front of the CP CPC oh without without without doubt yeah that second phase under the same sort of 75% 25% match rules we're hoping so U you know um it's like yeah you know it's again
it's you know we're I'm guessing a lot of this stuff here I know I know that that right now it's really the goal is to get the you know the money now for the design part and then the next year get the money to do the implementation part from the office of damn safety um
and we everyone seems optimistic but you know um you never know sounds good I mean it's the GC the engineering company it's to their benefit that they are successful in getting grant money and so there's a
financial interest in uh for them to be successful so that's always helpful and they were also working on other aspects of the dam so they they're become effectively our dam engineering company and so they're looking at a
bunch of other things to the dam and related to the lake um are they doing the are you guys paying them they doing the phase one another phase one inspection right like a update yeah the phase one inspection
has has to be done every two years yeah and uh our previous Dam engineering engineer Morris root retired um GC U has taken on that responsibility and that they're scheduling this summar I think
summer fall to do the the fa the the 2025 phase one invest uh examination they'll also do a 2027 and 2029 so it's every two years we do these things yeah that'll be good to have if
they're the ones sort of doing the grants and and possibly moving forward with the con the actual repairs for them to do the phase one they may the list of repairs may change up a little bit between GC and root so that's all
good well hopefully it won't change hopefully the scope won't increase and I don't think they will most of it is cos not cosmetic most of it the work on a dam is you know the primary one is the leak that's in the in the out flow valve um that needs to be repaired um and but
that the more important one in my perspective is the is concrete work on the top of the dam uh the idea is the the way the dam is designed is that there's a Spillway and if we have a a microburst or hurricane or like a huge
rainfall if the spillway overflows it then the top of the dam becomes a Spillway and right now the top of the dam needs to be recemented you know needs to be restored back to its original condition so that if it get if we ever get to that point you know the
dam won't you know essentially wash itself out yeah which in which case we have a much more serious problem but uh um you know so it's it's you know it's a low probability event uh
but it's a you know but with climate change it's a you know it happened the last time it got to that point it was in 98 and uh and hopefully it won't get that point again so it's really just just making sure the dam is ready for
whatever happens yeah it's important there other questions from members of the committee all right seeing none thank you Mark that was very helpful thank you guys I appreciate that appreciate the
consideration and appreciate the help and and uh getting the application get together y looks great thank you um all right moving right along historic town guide board uh Town common
guide board Foundation which I realize makes it sound like we're starting a nonprofit organization or something cend Foundation uh I guess Henry you can speak to this and I I can speak to it as well since I wrote the application um if there are questions
from anybody else on the committee about what it is we're doing and why and one question I I had was um with the location uh where it was previously um is it proposed to go back
in that same location or set back a little bit further back from the road so it's not um being subject to spray from uh plow uh debris being um uh
during winter storms being um thrown into the area um Henry you want to you talked to the select board about this right did yes um we ran it by the select board essentially to move it slightly four to
eight feet uh they were get as long as it does not interfere with the other monuments on on the common and as long as it can be seen from both roads yeah okay and it's been moved
before it was moved in like I think it was like 1938 it was put on a tractor and moved off the moved away from the the very corner you can actually still see the stone that it sat on um I mean you can't see it right now because it's under 12 in of snow but the stone the original stone is still there and you
can see it was it was right at the corner of the intersection um and it was then moved back to where it is now where it was and put on um four or really three and 3/4 pavers because one of them was broken uh just sitting on the on the
ground and and even that location is you know as you said Cliff um prone to I mean there's a pile of snow in that spot now if you go down there so moving we felt moving it back a little ways we you know all Aid in preserving it
good we we did ask the highway department about doing the foundation and they they took a pass on it so we put out quotes and I contacted a bunch of local concrete companies which is where we got the amount so the town would not do
it would not do it it would be great if they would I imagine it would be more affordable yeah I'm surprised and uh what one other question I had was um the base itself will it be
um at ground level or slightly elevated I know that sign board itself will be up um a little bit but will the actual surface of the foundation be flush with the ground or
um I just wonder with it being more um encouraging of vegetative creep on the side uh coming in if it is flush that it's so yeah the so the the the plan um
that went out for the to uh to the companies for bid was based off the feedback we got from Steve smolski and from um the building committee which was that the pad should that that there should be a gravel should we should excavate down level it put down gravel
it's going to be floating above the frost line though and the pad is going to then stick up above ground um several inches and the concrete itself will be sloped away from the center point so the moisture will will um uh Flow Away from
the board instead of towards it um but so it'll it'll be up a little ways it's not going to be as high I think it's Henry where was that other guide board that the commission was looking at the photos of the was it um New Salem was the one in New Salem that one's pretty
high up right it's not going to be like that um but it will be several you know several inches up above ground MH all right if there no other questions we can move on to the second guideboard
Grant uh this one is for phase two of the restoration project itself which if you recall um Williamstown um provided uh the you know the phase one project um was basically just the
the main structure and we decided to punt on the question of the roof piece that became the phase 2 portion of the project which is what this is for if there are any questions I guess Henry and I can answer them at one point uh I remember there
was a design for a structure that would be constructed over the sign board itself um is that still in play and if so how does that interact with with this
proposal not at all we started that option um and opted for um having it on the grounds as it was before okay thanks
so it'll basically look I'm looking at the pictures it'll look like the first picture that's this is what we're looking for this is this is from 1911 or the um the Koopa that that you're familiar with was added in the
60s or 70s um Williamstown and smolski both said it's not historically original to the piece or or in keeping with its original um configuration smolski also said it was not actually doing anything in the way
of preventing water or snow from uh protecting the the roof of it um So based on the fact that the commission felt it was important to go back to the what was historically authent as historically authentic as possible it was
cheaper and um more in keeping we felt with the um Secretary of the Interior standards for how um restoration funding should be spent um to restore it to its original appearance which is this um sort of hip roof structure as opposed to the Koopa
Cedar shingled yeah the cedar shingled just didn't looked like it was holding up I mean that's yeah okay makes sense one of the other things about the
shingling is um in smk's report he had some suggestions for treatment I I suspect that the the the shingles that were put on previously on the koua piece and the lower roof piece um might not have been treated with a water repellent
um so he had some suggestions for um specific product to put on the shingles to help them last as well as um a sort of a plastic mesh product that goes underneath them um that helps them dry from underneath as well so they don't
like you know cop and crack just by way of context um one of the reasons things changed over the last couple months is that uh we got input from Steve smolski Wood scientist
PhD um who you know had some input on the the materials that would be appropriate uh for preserving it outside um and so that that's basically what we're following he gives very very detailed description of the kinds of
materials that would be useful So when you say you're going to be putting shingles on it I'm looking at at the the contrast of the pictures from the early ones to the to what it was now
so it doesn't look like there are shingles on the earlier one to maybe that's just the picture um looking at it it looks almost like a a solid yeah
top that so I I think you're right I I when I look at that image and the one in the the unfortunately the image is in the Grant application is not quite as um you know I'll pull this one up again so you can see um I think you're right elae I think that the top of it
is um you know four pieces for the lower hip and then and then that top piece is probably just a single piece originally was probably copper or lead right both of which are are are
good you know to avoid any water damage so and again what the what's reflected in the application is again following the guidance that we got from um from smolski and that is to put shingles on
yeah so it would be the same profile the same structure with that the flat top and the hip roof but with shingling h we're still waiting to hear from the um the folks doing the actual repair as
to the material for that pad the score pad on the on the top there I mean one of the other frustrating things is we don't know um I mean we know fairly well through anecdote about the recent
history of the guide boards repair and constant upkeep and repainting um but we don't know the sort of earlier history of that right short of we know roughly when it was moved but other than that we don't know how often
somebody from town was going out there and touching up the paint replacing boards like changing anything on it and unfortunately there just aren't early photos sort of you know before at least this one before the 1911 one
um oh okay okay so I I I tried to be careful and and not say like this is the structure as it was when it was built it's simply the earliest documented version that we have but yeah I think you're right about
the um the shingles not being evident in that picture and that kind of come up at the Historical commission meeting at the last one yeah it would be nice to put like a copper top on it and leave it at
that instead of shingles would that be terribly expensive to do I don't think so H I don't think so we're actually waiting to hear back on on that that portion of itena are you talking about just that that little flat
cap or you talking about the no no I'm I'm talking about the whole thing the whole thing because it looks like the whole thing is is One Piece versus shingles which in the in the later ones you can see the shingles are
are warping and you know coming off each other and probably that's where some of the leakage is coming in from the the only thing I mean I think my primary concern about copper I guess
not knowing how you know it would change the price is whether that would be a target for vandalism and theft um I mean copper is I mean folks have the top of their copper fence posts
taken a lot and wow it's a it's a different world might be putting a Target out on Town common maybe I'm just paranoid but uh you know sm's recommendations and and the work that they're doing
on it actually is um is about reinforcing the the the under structure of the roof itself so there's going to be lots of um protection on the inside um
and yeah I mean I I think maybe it's not a bad idea for for Henry or I to reach out to Williamstown and ask about you know ask about that about you know if it if if it wasn't what would it be obviously
we don't want just whole pieces of wood because that's going to be it's not going to last long well the difference between you know shingles on our houses and metal roofs it's a big
difference so I'd be interested in in hearing that but other than that I'm fine with this um are there other questions in the committee all right let's move on to um I guess we can kind of take the
next two together as one right Beth which is the Southbrook uh Conservation Area Trail repair we have kind of a um option a option b before
us yeah it's really one one application is for all the money for the uh repairs to the trails and the new blazing and the new Bridges and all and all and then the other is just an idea that that might be
asking a bit from the CPA budget um so we split the construction work into two years um that that application the amount of money that's being asked for would
include design for everything that is going to happen but the actual construction costs would be split between two years so we'd be I guess the idea is to come back and ask for more money um next fiscal year for the
continuation of the uh the actual Bridge work that's why we did that thinking that the first one was a little too much money to ask for considering there's uh that Lake wyola Dam application that's also open space um and
Recreation so but yeah the work is basically based on um an assessment of the trails that was done using CPA funds a few years ago ago um and we took that and uh Scott KH is he's a member of the Conservation Commission and he's kind of
taking this on he got a quote from a a fellow that I actually know Pete West over he used to be the conservation director in ammer long time ago uh so he got a quote a updated quote from Pete for um doing
the bog bridging doing some larger Bridges I think that's why it ended up being uh pretty expensive is there's some areas like if you go into Southbrook from um the dirt part of Wendell Road and you head kind of downhill there there's
there's an area there where um it's really a real stream coming through and so it needs more than just Bob bridging it it it needs some real Bridge work done and and that's what Pete's company does a lot of that and uh so he gave us
that that quote for 72,000 I think it is for the actual actual work and then the match would be the comcom doing a lot of the Blazing I think a lot of the uh eventual sort of painting possibly of the bridges
um the some of the Wetland permitting is going to be um just concom we would we'd pay a consultant to do a delineation but then we would we would be putting forward some of the labor hours to get the permit applications in and things
like that so that's what it is so a question that um and I appreciate this um two-prong approach that just having options depending on what other projects are potentially um in in the pipeline and um
so I I do appreciate it being kind of a a two-phase option is um with with this um obviously if it's all done as one it probably is more efficient than it being
broken in into to two different parts of the project but um probably not extraordinarily uh more difficult and uh expensive problematic that breaking it
into two is is is that um a fair assessment of of situation I think so yeah I think Scott was trying to kind of set up a design build type contract with with Pete um
and yeah I think he we did talk a little bit about how if we did it all as one the overall cost might be a little cheaper because you've you've got people there you got a mo you got to mobilize people to a site like this to do this
kind of work um and if we divide it into two you got to do that two times um if we go with the same company which we you know probably would try to do and and because he'll do the whole design if we split it he'll do the design the first
year um you know I think it it might cost a little bit more constructionwise mostly just because of of mobilization that kind of thing but um but I think as long as we stick with the same company and do design build approach I don't
think it's that much more money if we split it um that's what I understood from Scott talked to Pete I didn't talk to Pete but that was what I understood was was was there an actual application um yep a CPA application
yeah I I just couldn't find it in my mail I know just I just out TR yeah there there there are there's two of them there's one for the one year and one for the split over two um I'm also getting in the habit of putting our grant applications on the
CPC website I really appreciate that by the way and Le and whichever ones we this is based off of some um very helpful feedback I got from a citizen of shutesbury uh leaving them up there uh through town meeting for any of the any
of the applications that we're presenting so that people can can read the full thing um but yeah so if youve if you ever can't find an email for me with them then that's where I'm I'm always going to put them up on the website so be these are identical except for one of them being one year and the
other one being two years right yep yeah like the work the work is the same yeah okay yep this doesn't include um signage or parking correct this is just the Trails
um we've got some sign signs um well blazing which is kind of a a sign signing and that would be part of the match done by members of concom and then we do have signs would be purchased and installed in year
two uh under separate Grant application so this I'm looking at the one that's split between the two years but yeah we are s this this costing includes um signage yeah there's
$3,000 for purchase new signs um in the uh the larger of the oh yeah applications yep that's coming from the concom yeah but no
parking no nope and where would people Park when they come there um people can park down by the boat ramp that's kind of you know one end of
of Southbrook um and then on the on the wendle road and I know there's sort of like a pull off there with room for maybe one or two is cars a little bit but yeah um
so the only parking would really be at one end there on the lock Pond roads side there's a full on the on the opposite side of the road right yeah is yeah is
that one or two cars there too probably not yeah Cliff you bu by there right yes yes no there you can fit a number of cars there kind of right across from the where the sign is the South can okay
fine yeah yeah and yeah you can um pull well off the road so so would you be improving that parking or and or um kind of highlighting
it um I think dam is tough yeah yeah there's no there's no funding or anything in this Trail Improvement for parking but if we're
doing signage um I think that uh that usually kind of goes along with um even though you know maybe some signage saying where people can park
um I don't know we haven't thought thinking if all this work gets done um doing some kind of informational thing on maybe the Conservation Commission web page just talking about you know look at all the all the work
that all the improvements that were done and here's where you can park um that kind of thing but yeah there's no money in here specifically to improve the parking at all um signage though is in it and that
could include something having to say you know you can park over here okay yeah yeah I've I've been there uh a couple times at least two maybe more and it definitely needs something I got I
got lost in there did you well there are very few signs and the trails are there's some really nice trails in there there's no trail map on the website is there is
there website know the towns there's a lot of little side trails in there and part of what uh Liam had recommended in his assessment that was done a few years ago was to kind of
um really designate what is a trail where people should be walking and where people really shouldn't so that's that is with signage and also possibly you know you put bog bridging and and new Bridges and even and blazing certainly
kind of will help us to direct people onto where they really should be and where they really shouldn't be and maybe then you know it'll be easier to not get lost but it'll also actually protect the environment better you know if we really can keep people on major trails and stop
the use of little side trails that go off um It's all better for people to not get lost and also just better for the uh the environment there and I mean there's spots there that are just so muddy that you can't get through
unless you've got really good boots on and people tend to not like that after a while you know I think it's an important project and I've been aware of of this this this
particular area for a while and I guess one question for you what is the difference decides the cost between the two applications I read them through quickly um it's it's really the same work so the two applications are the
same it's just trying to split the cost up um so that we're not asking for as much money this this fiscal year okay yeah okay it's the same work all right well there are no other questions from the committee
move to uh the last one which is the top of the lake invasive plant management application also from the are there any questions committee members about this one no no no yeah again something
that previous CPA money went towards making improvements to that little Conservation area which is such a cute little Conservation Area I love it um and this just is a continuation of that
so you this is I guess kind of jumping subject a little bit but do you know if there's uh are there problems with invasives in Southbrook Conservation Area I mean is that something that might be a future need
um there is definitely some um yeah it could potentially um I would say it's such it's a much larger Conservation Area um the invasives are different it's not not Buckthorn
um I don't see it as much of a problem there as as it is right by the lake you know the shore there at Top of the Lake really has an invasive issue going on so possibly down the road
but any other questions from the committee no right well thank you Beth sure all right so the next item on our agenda is um the grant agement so it
occurred to me that um we were trying to always Implement a grant agreement when we award funding and we didn't actually issue one yet for the uh High School track and field project um which is proceeding without us issuing them a
grant agreement of course um I think that it's important you know that we that we do this because it's the expectation that we have for all of the applicants so the draft that um that I sent you is it's basically taking the one that we've used um not last year we
had no applicants last year but but the year before that um and decided that we want to keep using going forward so I wanted to get any um responses to it any um changes that you'd like to see made um and uh and a formal vote on allowing
me to send it to uh the powers that be enamor I thought it looked good me too no questions yes that looks good all right I will entertain a motion I make a motion to issue the
grant what was it Grant approval grant grant agreement Grant agreement Grant agreement with h the town of ammer Arps for the track second it any other
discussion no none we'll vote um Reed hi Leo hi Edy hi Wilson hi Gallow I right put that on my to-do
list um unanticipated business um I will say I don't want to get too much into this because Rita is not here and this is kind of her B alwick but um uh Barbara Kuli who's the chair of the lever affordable housing trust has been reaching out to Rita and
I about um this has been something they've been talking about for a while about some kind of uh partnership between Leverett and shutesbury and possibly also seeing if um pelum or Wendell or some of the other small towns might be interested in getting involved um
to um basically pull resources to have furog hire a designated affordable housing advisor to serve our community specifically um and this came about
because we're all in kind of the same boat in that the CPA funding that we have for affordable housing projects is really not enough to make a difference given the cost of housing um and so this is an an alternative so Barbara has sent
me some information about it and arita uh including some sort of sample job descriptions for who the person might be um and the idea is that each town would basically pitch in some of that affordable housing CPA money each year and that would go towards furog hiring a
full-time staff member just for our towns um I can share those sample job descriptions with the rest of the committee if you guys would like what would this person be I'm sorry I'm trying to take minutes on this designate
a historical what this person would be in a affordable housing coordinator affordable housing coordinator thank you um serving three or four towns not more than that because then they would be spread too thin and the idea was that since no one town has the resources to
hire someone to do that really by by putting it at furog they can hire somebody full-time salary benefits and all that um and we would all get to kind of share them and and their job would basically be tracking legislation
advising on spefic specific issues grant writing things like that um so the only problem would be if we talk to pelum they're not in Franklin County so it would have to be Wendell or New
Salem um and also do are Wendell and New Salem CPA communities I mean I guess they they could fund it through other mechanisms that's their that's their business um I I can send to the rest of you what
it is that she has sent to me and Rita so you can see what it is we're looking at and would this qualify for um CPA funding would it uh the position
they I I mean I I think that it would I I can do some research into that and find out um you mean hiring the person yeah so wouldn't that be fcog having
that person so we would basically be pulling paying money to furog and furog would be hiring that person and they would be hand like all of the HR stuff benefits insurance and all of that um but each
would be putting in some money got it I can that's a good question Cliff about whether this would actually qualify for CPA money because it's different in lever because they have the trust the CPA their CPA money goes into
the trust and then the trust gets to do whatever they want with it um not whatever they want with it but you know whatever they want within the remit of their of their trust agreement but I suppose you're right Cliff this is kind of the first question because if the answer is no
then yeah yeah I think we go to town meeting for another position that'll be fun yeah all right that's the only thing I had I wanted to make you aware of I'm going to find out about the reservation what what the Coalition says about the funding question before I bombard you
with all the other stuff okay right it's a great idea if it if it's doable I think it's a good idea it would be nice to start doing something along those lines I had hoped that maybe we could do something similar to lever and set up a trust fund and do like down payment assistance and rental assistance and
those kinds of things and even you know I would prefer to to do a little bit to help a lot of people than to just build like one house you know which I think is great but that helps one person like doesn't really like unless we're building a lot of houses to fix the
supply and demand problem we're really not going to be impacting house prices so yeah yeah has anyone talked about organizing a trust in shury um there so
Rita and I talked about it a little bit last year um and the idea kind of didn't didn't really go anywhere it kind of turned into this conversation about turning to furog for for help instead yeah I'm not entirely sure how it would work I don't I don't think it
could actually come from the CPC I think it would have to be effectively the select board setting up a new committee um an affordable housing committee or trust trust fund committee and then opening and then what we would do is periodically we would vote as a
committee to put money from the CPA accounts into well to ask the town to put CPA money into that trust fund um so I don't know I think maybe there's a great conversation to have with Rita when she comes back yep yeah yeah we all
rested up and ready for this she's volunteered to do it by not being all right there's no other is there any other anticipative business I'll entertain a motion to
adjourn I motion we adjourn for the evening second any discussion seeing none Reed hi Leo hi hi Wilson hi yellow I we are
adjourned today one have a great night everybody stay warm you too bye bye right