##VIDEO ID:Jy0hVqwwTjw## and hereby call the order this regular schedle meeting of sun board the time is 6:30 p.m. uh we do not have minutes to approve today so we're going to move right into new business our first item today um is to designate a c representative to the union 38 contract negotiations which we have actually already done so we're going to ship right over that one our next item is to designate a s board member to the frontier Capital committee uh I did this the last two years um I have a lot on my this year with the con negotiations for the school um and the Sunland Capital committee so I would very much like one of the other members to take that if that's possible I can check it wonderful um all right well in that case um I nominate Crystal for the capital planning committee negotiations I can second it second motion made and seconded to point Crystal as the board member to the frer capital committee all those hi I nothing okay I'll let I'll let Darius know Wonderful all right our next new business is um the police memorandum of agreement for Community Support options Grant uh we have a Community Support options CSO grant that allows for a um I apologize I'm not getting video well we're not getting video on the on the I'm not sure why it's set for video but I'm not getting I don't know okay oh well long as we have audio one um the we have a a grant that we uh we got last year and we got another version of this year that allows for a police officer and a social worker to do ride alongs um for mental health issues in not just our town but also Deerfield um Conway and we we um the 3 PBS four sorry um and this is a um basically an amendment to contract with the police Union allowing for those duties um to be performed within the confines of our contract with yeah um we've already negoti this out with the union and uh they signed it yeah very uh very little change um we're specifying the private duty detail rate for the current year this is only a one-year memorandum of agreement so it would be renewed for next fiscal year y any questions from Crystal no all right in that case I would entertain a motion to accept and sign the memorandum of agreement for Community Support op Grant I motion we accept the memorandum of agreement for the community support with the police department all right seconded we have a motion made in seconded all those in favor I I to nothing okay wonderful our last piece of new business will be to discuss the shared use pack visibility study um with our kick off be right before we have Matt Chase and Jim Zach Zack sorry about that Jim no worries can you hear us I can hear you fine yes yeah I can hear you fine you can hear me okay I apologize we're having some video technical issues here tonight um before um before VHB starts um Frontier uh Regional uh the frontier Regional School Superintendent also asked for a select board rep uh one select board rep from the four towns to participate in Frontier Regional negotiations does the board have anything you'd like to direct me to pass along to the other towns regarding um a designated select board rep so for the past two years she's it's sundland has been the rep is that correct two out of three years Su two out of three so I was request that you know if one of the other towns has availability to send somebody else um you know from their select board that would be great I don't know what you know if historically whether weight ley's done it recently Conway's done it recently okay um but that would be great if one of the other towns had somebody available all right I I would Che it that okay all right all right so I'll just go by the board's consensus and I'll reach out to the other Town administrators just to pass along the the board's request yeah and you know if they just absolutely can't you know talk to us and we'll see if somebody has availability right now we've you know but I definitely feel like Sunderland has done our due in the last decade in that respect okay all right wonderful right all right Jim and Matt yes beautiful okay all right I think the board is ready for you now to discuss the project unfortunately Dan Murphy couldn't isn't here yet um okay you can share um Dan Murphy is here at the moment but we are recording this on Zoom so he'll be able to view it um when when he's able to okay and can you see my screen I just requested to share I I said accept um hopefully we will be able to okay it says multiple the problem having is with our video um you have here again yeah go ahead can you request to share again I sure can hopefully that it works let's see oh we got it we got it got it excellent there we go all right well well thank you for having us tonight um as you know my name is Jim Zach I'm a professional engineer with the firm VHB and my supervisor Matt Chase is in this meeting as well uh we're excited tonight this is the kickoff for um a great shared use path study that'll expand the regional bicycle pedestrian Network um that we're really excited to get started on so with that I will go through see so tonight there's a few things I'd like to cover uh first the tasks that we're going to be performing as part of this study the products that you'd be you'll be seeing at the end and the general time frame as far as when these projects will be ready okay uh I'll go over the project area map uh give a little background and overview of the project and some of the local history uh I'll go over Route 116 existing conditions that's a corridor that this shared use path um is going to follow we'll go over the design standards and the parameters that we'll be using to do this feasibility study uh and one of the important ones that's going to be one of our first tasks is to decide is it going to go on the east or west side of Route 116 um that's an important one because we'd like to keep the share juice path consistent on one side and not have to cross the road one Route 116 obviously for safety reasons yeah and then we'll have a little discussion at the end so tasks well this is our kickoff meeting tonight as I mentioned we're really excited to get going on this um first thing we're going to do is put together plans for an alignment so we need to sketch out the alignment on some on design plans so we will have typical 24 by 36 plans at 40 scale where we'll have back ground information from aerial images and right of way um that we'll use for sketching in the shared use path alignment so once we have that we're going to start looking at the preferred alignment um this winter and with that is as I mentioned earlier the first step we're going to need to do is decide which side of the roadway we'd like to have that on um but during the fall and winter we're going to look at different features you utilities um destinations and a variety of other things to help us um navigate that Corridor during the winter spring we'll do some environmental due diligence and that's essentially we'll be looking at are there environmental resources adjacent to the Route 116 Corridor that um that we need to you know take into account such as Wetlands um so we'll see what is in the area and what's in close proximity to where we're proposing this share juice path we'll also do some structural due diligence uh there's areas along the corridor where we might need a a retaining wall a small pedestrian bridge or a boardwalk um so we'll be looking at you know what type of structural features might be necessary for this path and final deliverables June 30th of next year um this is part of a mass Trails grant that the community received and everything needs to be completed by June 30th so that's our deadline and as part of the deliverables you'll get plans with the preferred alignment that comes out of this study we'll also prepare an order of magnitude construction cost estimate so you'll have an idea of what type of dollars you're you're looking at to build this project so it can be planned in the near future and we will have a feasibility memorandum to go along with it um to discuss how we how we got to this preferred alignment and some of the things that drove us and made us make our decisions and going with the alignment and this is uh just a basic area plan of the corridor uh the Northerly or Westerly limit is the weightly park and ride lot and it will continue along Route 116 for about 6.6 miles and intersect with meow Street in the town of ammer and that will eventually connect to a planned path from UMass headed north a little bit of the background the town was awarded the mass Trails Grant of at $195,900 and that's why we're here tonight um we're here to perform and get started on this feasibility study uh we understand the town has a vision to revitalize that Village Center um and I believe stantech is working on that and this path will go through that area so we want to make sure that improvements that are planned for the Village Center are going to marry up with what we're proposing with the Sher juice path uh any the intent of the path is to really provide safe and encourage safe alternative multimotor commuter and recreational travel options so we're trying to make the corridor more attractive to bicycling walking and Intermodal connection connections as well because Transit is serviced along there so making better accommodations for people to access the Transit routes and let's see and the connection's going to go through multiple communities weightly South Deerfield and eventually connect up with UMass and ammer and then go to Hadley where the mass Central rail trail is so that's that's the ultimate goal is to get down to that mass Central rail trail as well as UMass so what we're going to be doing is following the Route 116 State layout for this shared juuse path so so some of the general conditions of the roadway now uh it's a two-lane roadway and it is owned by the state and mass doot is the one that oversees it uh it's functional classification it's a there's it's primarily an urban principal arterial but there are portions that are a rural minor arterial and that's because the corridor straddles the urban and rural area uh it's an important Road it's part of the national highway system and that is an important network of Roads throughout the nation um that supports you know the nation's economy defense mobility and connects to various uh public transportation facilities Intermodal facilities airports it's kind of the backbone of Transportation throughout the country so so the Route 116 State layout the width varies um most of the corridor is about 100 foot right away and that's from the East side to the west side it's not just the the paved area But it includes those tree belt areas as well um you'll see I have 55t to 300 feet there's a small pinch point where it's about 55t but it's a very short area the section where it's 300 feet and that's at the southernly portion in ammer where it's uh partially a limited access highway but the majority of that Corridor is about a 100 foot right of away where's the 55 foot part that part is that's a good question bear with me one second I'm just going to pull up my notes here it's at one of the intersections see [Music] just let me pull I'm gonna pull up a map here it makes me wonder if it's near Plum Tree I can yeah bear with me one second I'm just pulling it up on a map so you can see it as well see but I believe you are correct I believe it is near pal plum tree let's see sorry my computer is a little little slow [Music] here while you're looking that up it's hard to believe that any part of 116 is considered or classified as rural minor it's a very busy road yes it's a small portion in the middle area it just the roadway straddles off into the um the rur area just for a very short section see and I am just trying to find it I apologize it's taking me a minute here I should have had that ready let's see my computer a little slow let's see so Jim yeah sorry it's taking a second here the F loading pretty big is here just so you're aware oh okay hello Dan let's see it's a small area where there's just a notch in in the right of way is it Bill Hill Road I think maybe next down about 60 yeah we're wondering if it's near pal tree yeah it's it's bull hill just before the ride y just before the parking ride thanks let's see I can bring it up here thanks man I appreciate it I'm gonna slide it over here a little bit it's this area right here near P Hill oh Jim you just you still have the presentation I think you're sharing the slide am I sharing the slide oh okay let's see that's right we probably yeah I'd have to like cut I'd have to cut the slideshow and and go into the but I have it up so when I finish the slides I can bring it up and show you the exact little notch see pavement width the pavement width varies anywhere between about 40 and 50 feet uh there's two travel Lanes as I mentioned earlier uh typically 12 feet in width there's a few areas that are 19 ft and that's at the area of the Sunderland Bridge shoulder widths they vary from 2 to 10t with 8 ft as typical um the twoot also is in the area of the bridges the Sunderland bridge and postage speeds range from 30 to 50 miles per hour and the area is serviced by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority so so some of the design standards and parameters that we'll be looking at are the state Federal design requirements so um since it's a Mass DOT roadway we're going to be following Mass DOT design standards as well as their directives um state has a separated bicycle facility design gu so will be adhering to those design standards and ashto has the guide for development of bicycle facilities which is somewhat of the national Bible for um the design standards for shared use path and related facilities uh so the goal is to lay this shared use path out as I mentioned earlier within that State Highway layout of Route 116 so for the shared use path the minimum width we're looking at is 10 feet um that is the minimum that mass do looks at and allows for their shared use pass within their right of way uh we're looking for a twoot minimum buffer to obstructions and that's if you're along the path if there's a utility pole or similar structure you need to have a buffer from that for the for the Walkers and bicyclists um and also a five- foot buffer to the paved area of Route 116 and as I mentioned earlier we want to minimize any new Crossings or have any new Crossings on Route 116 for safety so we're looking to tie into existing Crossings if at all possible along the corridor okay and this is a small little cross-section of what I just went over with some of the design standards um typically for an an HS National highway system roadway you have 12T Lanes 8T shoulders and that little section shows that right there which is which is similar to what is along most of that Corridor uh you'll see a little 5 foot green buffer area a little tree belt area and then the 10ft sheared use path and then a small twoot buffer to that utility pole on the right so that's just to give you an idea of you know in general what we're going to be looking at or what the corridor we look at um in the future so in doing so there's some things we want to consider while doing this study um and one is the right of way uh we want to keep this path within the state right of way for Route 116 to so we don't have any type of RightWay takings uh utilities and drainage uh one of those are two big things we're going to be looking at um there's a overhead utility poles and wires that go and crisscross the corridor at various locations so we're going to make sure we navigate those and there's also drainage for the roadway that is in the tree belt area um and in a variety of areas along the corridor so we have to make sure we maintain that safe roadway drainage for storm water and that we navigate utilities connectivity you know we want to connect to as many features that are viable destinations and parking lots along the corridor you know there there's parking at uh the Mount Sugarloaf area there's the pulloff area along Route 116 so we're going to look at what we can connect to along that quarter to make it more attractive to people to use for travel so here's one is intersection Crossings we're going to look at driveway Crossings midblock Crossings and those are the the the main things we're going to look at as far as when we're laying this out you know how many sections do we have to cross how many driveways are we Crossing depending on the side we're on and where those midblock crosswalks are now um as I mentioned earlier we're going to look at environmentally sensitive areas um those are primarily Wetlands that might be along the corridor that we want to make sure we don't impact um parking and Trail heads are a big part of this study as well um anytime you build one of these facili ities uh arking is definitely um a major factor and we obviously want to have the the path um logical Trail heads where people get on and off the path destinations as I mentioned you know places along the corridor that people will want to to go to so we want to make sure that we have connections to those and make it easy for people to get off the path and transition to the roadway if needed to get to them embankments so along that Corridor it's areas there's a lot of areas that are flat but there are some areas where along that roadway there's some sloped areas that and those are the areas that we're going to look at um if we need some type of retaining wall or um or if we have to do some extensive grading in order to fit the Sher juice path in um and the biggest thing this is a 6.6 mile feasibility study um that's very that's a large project so we're looking at how this could possibly be segmented into multiple projects that could go for different types of state and federal funding uh the the chances of this getting funded as one 6.6 mile project is um it the chances aren't very likely however if you segment the project into um logical sections um you can build this project over time don't CH impossible though what was that Dan don't say it's impossible it's not impossible I said it's it's it's a difficult so um you know it's challenging but I I I play the Powerball here and there so you never know so um but that is a big one the construction funding is is securing that and having the and having the project in section so depending on when when funding becomes available or you know funding is becoming available you can plan around that in order to get this path build um independent utility uh you know we want to make sure we demonstrate to the state that this is a viable Transportation project that will be a benefit to the community and once constructed will be used by the the communities um and that is presentation I have if it's okay I'd like to close out of this I'd like to share my my other screen so I can show you that pinch point and some of the areas we're looking at um possibly breaking into segments and we're just scratching the surface so these by no means are set in stone so let's see get out of this and then here we go see let me know when you can see the aerial imagery yeah yeah okay great thank you so the pinch point is right here this is Brush Hill Road bullhill bull hill road I apologize it's right here this is the pinch point it's a jog in the right of way right at the intersection and for some reason when it was laid out you can see this is the The Wider 100 foot right away it Narrows in to accommodate the roadway coming in and then it transitions back out to 100 right of way so that is the one pinch point in the the corridor um other than that it's primarily as I mentioned 100 foot right away and um to the south in ammer it's a 300 foot right of way where it's a limited access Highway and as I mentioned it's a 6.6 mile project um so segmenting it is is something that's you're going to need to do in order to get this built over time um so this is just a quick little sketch here of you know how we were potentially looking at sections um this is the weightly park and ride lot you know and we were looking at a section that travels along here and goes up to the Sunderland Bridge um it's got the Mount Sugarloaf area here um we're treating potentially the bridge as its own segment and getting over that um and then as as I mentioned we're going to be going through the Village Center um so that will be a SE could be a segment as well um and as I mentioned we were looking at areas where the destinations and Trail heads have some type of parking or some area where people can pull off the park in order to access the Sher juice path so this segment here from The Village Center area this is garage Road and heading down to the pulloff area we were looking as a potential segment and then another segment picking up from there heading further south and to the area of Plum Tree and East Plum Tree Road where there's the bus pull offs and the um Crossing and then potentially another segment heading further south into ammer down to the intersection with Meadow Street where the project ends to the South um that would be its own segment as well and again the this is really conceptual we're just kind of getting into the project these are not set in stone but we were looking at you know how can we break this down into logical pieces that can be designed and built over time and function um and obviously the goal is to connect into a a path coming from the University of Massachusetts up to Meadow Street and connecting obviously to the the university as well um and then the mass Central Trail is is to the South so that is a general overview of what we're going to be doing um as I mentioned the first thing we're looking at now is um you know which side of the street should we lay out the shared use path which is the most logical side uh what what we'd like to do is is kind of solidify that early now so that when we March forward we we're marching forward on on the side we're going to be we're going to be doing the entire study on um and tonight we're here I'm here to you know I want to hear some feedback from um yourselves this if there's you know anything particular you you you would like to see is there a particular side that you think is more advantageous um right now we're we just did a quick look through and the east side is looking to be a little bit more favorable um reason being is some of the areas are a little bit more level so we're not working with slopes as much um the overhead utilities and the utility poles there's there seems to be fewer of those on the east side and you know some of the vegetation um on the west side is actually seems closer to the roadway um whereas on the east side it's a little bit more clear um so yeah the Meadow Street intersection in ammer can be pretty hazardous in vehicles so I think if you know with safety in mind for pedestrians and bicyclists it might make a little it might make more sense to not have to cross 116 there but also most of the the points the trail heads you're looking at are on that side also so side is the side yes so mean the the The Parking Place the um suar Mountain the um the the bridge already has the pedestrians on that side of the bridge you know one side that doesn't that is like screaming better because that side right near palum tree is pretty State that's true yeah that's true but there's also there on both sides so one way the other we're to cross some stuff right and then then again obviously I'm sure they know it there's that little giant culbert bridgy thing across from down here where the where the water is um past Plum Tree going towards the O H's old house Bridge couple Bridges I mean some spots challeng if we keep in theory we make it so that the pedestrians never have to cross 116 that's big thing like I don't care if they cross the road or B Hill or whatever but they have to cross 1 that's a real Hazard if we keep it all East Side meow Street the entrance is going to be on that side as I said Sugar Sugar Mountain is on that side all of the other spots are on that side so I would certainly lean towards right because even there that's a nice little you don't even have to cross to go up to the water tower find Cliff Side Y right you've got you know quite a bit off that side of it you just do have some you have more steep stuff on that side like across from LA's Farm stands kind of steep but again you know that's what retaining Wells and stuff are for y the other side seems more level you don't have the steepness on the other side but again utilities are going to be tough and there are established Crossings there are a number of established Crossings um that are along 116 so if you know if these people have real destinations There Are Places along the way that they could I just would prefer people who are trying to go end to end and prefer to stay on one side the entire time for sure at least now at no those are those are excellent points not having to cross 116 is is definitely a goal and utilizing those existing Crossings and not having to have new ones um you know that that's that's definitely a great goal um for safety um now the only sort of Flip Side to that is we currently have the little bit of sidewalk we do have currently is mostly on the other side of the road between like the the um the sun markets and down to um so it seems like we might also be working against our there some I think there some that even has a little more on the east side that comes South a little there's definitely more to go up to am old ammer road by no means complete or or even the majority of the road has had yet so if you end up having to sort of undo some of the the past prodct we've done or great some some parts of might have sidewalk on both sides of the road you know you might make recommendations of where Crossings would we may need to may want crossing right conceivably conceivably yes absolutely yeah and I'm just looking at some of the existing sidewalk here and here you know you've got a crossing here now so obviously if we came up through here we'd want to obviously take advantage of that um so if there's an area that you know is ideal for crossing it can it can be done safely you know yeah absolutely absolutely and I think the over tone here is is safety along this Corridor um is kind is Pinnacle so and there may be areas where you know if do is taking on some of this they may want um a shad's path on both sides we've been seeing that request coming from them depending on depending on where Village centers are where there's housing you know so um we C we can never really predict how do is going to view that they kind of hit us with some curve balls every once in a while but I think you know in areas where there's dense housing it might be the Village Center where you need to sh's path on both sides um from Cliff side all the way to the Village wow yeah yeah yeah yep but at least that's we already have yeah you have a sidewalk on that side right yeah we already have a sidewalk on that side for that chunk so if we we putting on the east side of the road for there we would end up with both siid so yeah yeah I don't think that's necessarily a bad so have you have you done schedule already when what the schedule is yeah they all good y I was just going to say what are the things you're looking for from us I know we've got a match we got a CPA match did you to go through all that too and we track no we we didn't touch on the CPA match or I think you have an inine match as well Dan from a hourly perspective so we basic have to keep keep track go ahead go ahead d i I was just going to say so in order to I know and we'll work with you on the invoicing we did see that email um so we can we can coordinate that when we get a little more further along um but I I'm assuming that as part of that through Mass Trails you have to you know provide documentation of the Hours worked for those who are um you know engaging with us and going through and tracking that time Dan like we talked about you know as the when the grant went in so we want to make sure that um whatever that process is is your end I Know Dan and I talked at one point about putting a committee together on your end or having a few people that might you know meet with us or on a zoom or walk the corridor or what have you um that we're at least doing that in a fashion that fits your schedule and then it's not all crammed in at the end um so that you get your match and I don't remember what the monetary in kind matches versus the CPA funds but um you know there's some hours there that need to be put in by by Town staff so we just want go I was we one thing we did get an okay on was that we could use uh other Town staff so and I know you're probably going to want to reach out to the wetlands folks conservation folks in all the towns maybe and get some feedback there but we're allowed to use other towns time for the match which is good sure yep the one thing that I would ask and I I probably won't be here at that time the one thing that I would ask is when BHB is ready to reach out to the other towns I think that's when we want to actually inform the other towns of this and send them the the logs uh to to track time I I think it's too early to to do it right now but we'll want to do that when VHB is ready to reach out to them definitely and who else are you thinking you you you like input from well we already reached out to do to try to get some record information right Jim so I mean I think I think um once we do a little more fact finding and um and hone in on the impacts there might be certain aspects we need to talk about with either DPW or um you know concom or anybody else uh that sort of thing um whether it's whether it's maintenance or you know locations of you know mailboxes utility poles what those kinds of things those little things so we have some sort of standard that we're assuming for our the project as a whole but we we'll come up with that kind of list of of folks that we think you might want to pull in emergency you know might want to have a meeting with some emergency staff um you know when we get into some of the crossings and things like that but just to get some overall support and buy in so then we'll more more widely share that log sheet to everybody who's involved yes um I have reached out that one of the grant requirements was reaching out to um uh natural heritage and endangered species program so I've reached out to them they asked for some information and I think we're going to be having some sort of preliminary discussion about the project I've made it clear to them that there is no construction in this project so I'm hoping we can uh you know minimize uh communication with them uh because there's no construction but does VHB want to be copied on any correspondence between the town and them yes are you interested in that okay then I'll forward you the email I sent today and we'll keep you um we'll keep you in the loop on further Communications okay that's great okay so I guess is there any other questions or any other um you know anything else you want to discuss related to that as I mentioned the first thing we're going to do is um try to make the case for which side of the road to go on which is obviously going towards the east and that's something that we want to um document um you know in detail just because we have we're going to have to share that with the state as well so when we go to mass do they're going to say well why did you want it on the East side and we're going to have that that documentation on the reasons why or if we decide on the West Side um so that's going to be our first um overall task um it sounds like the group is in favor of the east side we're going to further evaluate it because as I mentioned we're just kind of starting the project um is this something that you want us to to share once we have everything you know you want us to speak to Dan or who who would you like us to coordinate with um once we get that or if you want us to come back for a quick um you know quick meeting just to show you what we found I'm comfortable with either you sharing that with Dan and Dan able to around or emailing the Town Administrator or New Town Administrator start and they can to the three of us I think one of those all right y one one thing I want to mention don't anybody mention the Village Center Committee just about to wrap up their report um so we'll definitely get you a copy of that uh to look at particularly when you're looking at the The Village Center piece okay sure and and and Dan just a little more info on you know we're going to put the together I think a very just quick summary Matrix or something East versus West Side and pros and cons something very high level um I'm just envisioning anything that goes to dot we come out hard with the East Side they say well did you look at the west side at least that way we can say we looked at it and here's why we chose to stay on the east side um and that'll be documented so would it would it give the project a little extra backbone that um UMass already has the priority trail system uh future priority Trail mark out from the Mullen Center up to Meadow Street would that would that help our argument to keep it on the East side I think I think that helps I think that was noted in the mass Trails Grant I think there was some documentation in there as well so but we'll that's a that's something we can incorporate as part of the reasons why that are in here along with the bridges and where the sidewalk is now and things like that when you're looking at that right away is there anywhere on the east side where there isn't enough room and different considerations will have to be made I know sometimes those rways aren't even they're you know pretty heavy on one side or the other right I know we saw that Ro it was like some places it was like almost up to the pavement and then the other side it was huge sure so one one of the things I think we'll look at when we get into this is you know is the roadway centered in the right way and if it's not and I think it's some it may not be and we'll see some utility poles might need to be relocated and if it becomes uh too many poles to relocate then we might show an alternative to say well you know what if we adjusted the shoulder can we petition a waiver to dot when the time comes to reduce the shoulder width you know and I'm only talking if we can buy you know another couple feet or something to that effect um but that's that's that's some of the things that I think we'll look at if there's a pinch Point area we might look at options of either you know potentially Shifting the roadway if if needed only in short segments um to accommodate something Less in the impacts and it will depend on what the impact is um permitting is going to be one of the things that we'll look at from a high level is what the permitting impacts would be you can't have more than 5,000 squ feet of wetland impacts because that's a a variance through D and those aren't granted for shared use paths and they're hard to get in any case so we'll want to make sure that we stay under that that threshold um but there's you know it's things like that that we'll have to consider but that's a good point on the on the roadway and whether it's centered in pinch points we haven't gotten there yet but we will so would be a fair thing to say that the the concern there is the overall Road width at those pinch points not necessarily which side of the road has the space because we can always repaint the lines a little bit to the left to the right a little bit to give ourselves the steal from one side to the other side it's more just about the overall right away in those things points that that fav I I think so I was trying kind of Follow You There was a little echo on my end when you were speaking just just saying that like the concern seems to be more that the the pinch points is that the overall width of the road not necessarily whether that that road has that extra width on the right or the left because we can always change where the road is correct within that right way it's it's that from the left and the rightmost parts of that right way do we have enough room for the for the two that's really the real question correct correct okay yeah and I know Jim mentioned 8T for NHS roadways and that is a requirement so you know is there a way that we can petition dot to narrow some of the shoulders to get away and and do maybe some kind of traffic calming for 116 if there is a constraint somewhere um I know this Corridor has a history of high speeds and crossings are not you know H haven't been always safe in in a lot of areas so maybe if there's a way to if there's a way to justify that there's a pinch Point like we're going to whatever Phil Wetlands or move 20 utility poles or whatever it is and I'm just hypothetically throwing out things like that um you know are there other Alternatives that do would be willing to consider to minimize impacts um you know could we go to an 8ot shared use path instead of a 10- foot shared use path for 500 feet to lessen impacts to Wetlands um and I think that would be something that do would consider so we'll we'll we'll locate where those are and provide you know some information on that so things to consider when uh survey is performed at some point in the future to further the design and move the design forward at least it's things that cons consider for D can consider before you know things get moved further into design yeah one one thing i' suggest when you do that is uh I mean one thing you can call out when you talk about the two different sides is note those places where we might want to add a Crossing because if you got you got to sh use path on one side people are going to come up to the end of they're not going to want to go 600 feet down the road to get to it exactly yeah we we'll look at end old am jumps out of me just because maybe that's a good place we're talking about the Village Center commit talked a ton about calling and crossings and all sorts for the for the immediate area of the village but any place where you think we might need something like that no matter what side we on uh that would make sense that'd be good good D you know as a reason as a justification if you needed three to three big upgrades if you put on one side but you only need one or two on the other kind of thing is there um I don't think there is but there's um an elementary school behind the solar field and I don't I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the the school but there go there's no um I guess there's no we want to pass through there somay well I was gonna say is there any way that is there's no direct access from from 116 to that right they're all coming in on the North side there you could sneak true if we had a good path up to it yeah there there there's a way to get through there but okay yeah okay that for sure well that's what I was I was just asking I mean there's you know it looks like there's a little little Wetland there maybe you got to cross it but we could we could easily note that as a future you know connection um things like that yep and then obviously once you get further like down closer to ammer you have a lot of the you know strip businesses and the apartment complex and you know that might be I think that's the area that always is uh subject of pedestrian Crossing so it might be we talked about a shed use path on both sides of the road you know there might be just like you were saying Dan you might have to provide a shed use path to get to a Crossing so the people aren't just mid block Crossing in the middle of nowhere jaywalking or whatever call it to get to the other side so there'll be some thought to that and we might have to you know highlight some of those areas to consider how how that connect connectivity happens yeah and know the other thing I see just think about the bus service too because I know we' get the parking launch south of H yeah um and I talked to pbta about bus service to there's no there's no stop on the other side of the road so it's a little bit strange but just think think about those things too yeah wonderful yeah great thank you okay anything else from the I'm good all right I think we're good on our end okay great and we'll we'll be in touch shortly with that summary for the east and west side so we can um make a final decision and March forward with it Wonder okay apprciate work a great all right great thank you excellent all right thank you thank you bye bye bye bye by now all right that was our last piece of new business um under old business for board updates um Dan want to I did like one and it's a little the sou County seni Center uh we had basically a meeting and they basically going through the report for the where to put where to study the two Lo two locations they had three and another narrow town of two and they had they had a public meeting uh I didn't attend it but they had a public meeting and a lot of the comments came in and there was a general feeling that sad as I to say it but the Plum Tree Road site is just a little bit out of the way and uh way it's down the end of the cor so they only we did kick around maybe trying to raise some more money to look at all three but hearing all the feedback that was given from the meetings and from basically everything I heard I didn't have a big problem saying well it probably doesn't make sense the other two weightly weightly the W and the old church in in dear field okay yeah so those those are the two they going to look forward to they isue issue price TOS out a little bit more that makes sense those are a lot more close lot closer to the center of population mass than our y so obviously always that yes as much as I hated to let it go yeah it made the most sense so that's my only update and we're still thinking about consort Consortium Consortium which would kind of give instead of instead of being like the select board reps uh the board would have more power I guess they would be able to Manage Property and and actually uh buy property I guess Su so still kicking that around I'm talking about if there's desire to make a change but I think this still the same point will still be with the buildings you're looking at would be you know public one of the towns or the three towns would pitch in to buy it or one town would do it so we still trying to figure it all out because it's it's a lot of money it's a big really is but they're trying to put some numbers to sites and see where we go nor so I just want Dan just in case you have a huge desire to do this um prior to you getting here I got voted in as the um rep for capital for Frontier sure if you just have this really heartfelt need to be on that committee for Frontier for Frontier cap yeah not not for our town one but for the FR Frontier yeah when do they meet no like I said I said I would do it but if you want to do it step back this no for myself um I did have an opport so for everyone's knowledge we did make an offer to Becky Torres our new Town Administrator that offer was conditionally accepted which is very exed for town I did have an opportunity to discuss her contract with her um the end of last week um I guess my question to the board is do we want to discuss that do you want we have uh executive session on the schedule do we want to go into executive session discuss that I think tonight would probably be a good time to go into executive session I do think this is going to be a fairly seamless um contract negotiation but for the purposes of of discussing strategy with respect to it you might want to go into executive session and then reconvene an open session just to adjourn okay so we'll we'll do that but before we do that um time bre updates oh yes I have several okay I was going to touch on the New Town Administrator as well um I do have a request for the board um Becky um the finance committee is meeting tomorrow night Becky has offered to come to the finance committee meeting I think it's important for her to be there actually because we do have current budget um current year budget issues and we're going to start talking about next budget cycle as well so for her to get in on the very start of this is important she's going to be there my question to the board and I have talked to her is would the board allow Becky to come on as a part-time non-benefited employee just for this transition period before she officially starts under her contract on November 12th so she and I can can go over things going on in the office she can attend a finance committee meeting here and there she could attend a select board meeting um I just I I think it's fair to pay her for her time that she's that she's doing this um the the rate would be 4350 the same as me um and I I I don't believe we'd go over 30 hours a week in any of the given weeks so we'd still be um we'd still you and her combined went there combined yeah yeah combined yeah okay so um absolutely from my perspective makes a lot of sense I want to get her is you know in as fast as possible and getting up to speed as soon as possible um and I fully believe that people should pay for the work they do so that makes sense to me um any other discussion from the members of the board that's fine at this time I would entertain a motion to bring Becky on as a non-benefit part-time employee for the transitional period at the rate of $43 an hour is that correct 43 43 4350 4350 so mov second all right we have a motion made and Ed all those in favor nothing thank you all right the next thing is that I have spoken with David the chair of the energy committee um they have a couple of items that they would like to bring to the select board as appointment as an appointment on November 12th of the first is um to discuss the possibility of a level um sorry one or possibly two level three EV charging stations to town they'd like to get the board's feedback on that um there is a company that is willing to donate the EV charging stations and obviously there's a lot of there are a lot of things to consider with this you know what's going to be the cost to the town as opposed to the cost um to the individuals that are charging their vehicles um you know what are the pros and con so they want to discuss that now I know that Northampton recently just changed from a free charging scheme to a charging the users to um I'm assuming there would be a a budget control way of doing that the town you be able to the select board would approve the rates to be charged and you're going to be the town would be going the energy committee will be able to discuss with you in much more detail but yeah but um yeah there there would be some um there would be a company that the town would be dealing with that would be charging for the electricity so it's it's going to be up to the board to to set the rates great um and then uh they also want to discuss um their work on exploring sighting uh for a transfer station on Town owned land and um they they've exhausted um their efforts um on reservation Road and I filled David in on the issues that we're having up at reservation road so that's that's going to be a no-o but they're still talking about the possibility of a transfer station on town on land on bull hill road or doing some sort of regional agreement to share a transfer station with another neighboring community so they'd like to come on November 12th so I told him that I'd bring that to you um finance committee name tomorrow night I already talked about it we're going to be talking about um current year budget issues uh developing a budget memo for fy2 um and um the the committee is going to organize because the committee has lost its chair Sarah smoski has sadly resigned um after giving after giving much consideration um yeah she's so we're going to the committee is going to um reorganize tomorrow night as well so we'll be going through a number of things tomorrow night and I'll report to the board on the 28th um and the last thing is that I'm going to pass these little stickers around the town clerk had a little contest um for the elementary school kids um the contest was an art contest for I voted stickers for the coming election this one um this one and I we don't have video unfortunately you'll have to go see Wendy for the things you can pass those around though this one is first and second grade the winner that's third and fourth and that's fifth and sixth these are the winners of the three so those will be the I voted stickers on state election day yeah I saw these online they're adorable what a great idea and then this is really I think something that you know every year we should prob even you know just for local oh it's wonderful I think they're just so cute it really is and it gets the kids involved at a young age which is which is great um the deadline to register to vote for the state election if a person is not already registered to vote in Sunderland is um 5:00 p.m. on October 26th uh in the town clerk's office so that's going to be the deadline to register to vote um 17 year olds who are going to be 18 onor before November 5th must also register to vote by the October 26th deadline and if they are 18 on November 5th Lucky them they get to vote um and then early voting begins on Saturday October 19th and the hours that day will be from 8:00 a.m to noon and all other early voting dates and hours are going to be on the town's website that's all I've got wonderful great all right at this time I would entertain a motion to go into executive so um the motion will be right here motion to move to uh motion to to go to mgl for mgl 383 21A to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-un Personnel motion exective session hi Crystal have a good night guys thank you all right take care all right nothing is 7:33 and the board will reconvene only to an open session only to adjourn exactly than let's