e e e everybody ready y okay uh welcome to the September 4th select board meeting um this is a great meeting tonight because we have special
guests from the Girl Scouts getting their Awards um and we're going to start off with them leading Us in the Pledge of Allegiance we are being recorded and we are being recorded so you girls can keep playing this over and
over okay so if you could join us in standing up for pledge allegiance and Girl Scouts if you can lead us anytime go ahead to the flag of the United States of America and to the for stand one
nation under God indivisible with liy and jce for all okay so we're going to start our meeting first with public comments if anyone has a public comment please come to the microphone and if you could give us your name and your address and your
Precinct if you know it and if you could keep it limited to 3 minutes that would be appreciated okay um my name is Michelle Becker um actually m Michelle Goslin I just recently got married so the name changes still um I've been a resident in Swampscott since 2020 um and
I live on the Readington Street and I'm very nervous so I apologize if I slip over I'm not very good at public speaking but I just I I wrote it out so it'll be clear and concise hopefully um this year my husband and I decided to offer our pool for use with the
community um our guests that we have are primarily moms and dads and their children but we've also hosted special needs children for swimming lessons with mother um older adults for rehabilitation and Mom and kid play dates we don't allow large groups parties or commercial events we use the
swimly platform to offer this to our community for those who don't know what the S swimly platform is it's a short-term rental property share platform that is equivalent to that of vbo Airbnb there's no legal difference between the three
platforms when we were advised that the town when we heard that the town does of Swampscott does not have issues for short-term rentals and that there's active Airbnb and vbos there I decided to further confirm prior
to initiating my profile on swim plate I searched the bylaws and I could not find any bylaw that restricted the use of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and vbo and swimly not saying that my research is end all Beall but I could
not find it in anywhere looking in July 2024 we received a letter from the town stating I was in violation of the swamp Scott Law if I would not take and if I would not take down my swimly profile they will find me $300 per day this letter also stated that if I was agreed by the letter I can
appeal the letter did not include pertinent information about what bylaw I was reportedly in violation of nor did it include details for the appeal process without proper information provided by the time I do not have the ability to ensure my own due process and
gain understanding of what the actual issue is I was shocked to receive this letter because there have been no complaints by the neighbors to me and my husband no reports to the police we have always been present and at home and sometimes even out in the pool with our
guests to ensure they are respectful of our neighbors and the noise limit limitations that we have I followed up with Mr Cummings via email and by phone to request more information regarding the letter i wanted to understand what
Swampscott bylaw I was supposedly in violation of as well as the appeal process the appeal process was not well defined on the web the swamp Scott web page so I couldn't start process without the additional information Mr Cummings was unable to share with me the specific
bylaw and he also shared that he did not know what the appeal process was on the phone at the end of our phone call we agreed that Mr Cummings would provide additional information to me since the letter was lacking as such and I also requested him to provide me with a formal with the formal complaint so I
can understand what's going on he committed that he would follow up with me within the next week and a half there was no followup a month until a month later when I received an email stating that I didn't comply with his original
letter this baffles me there were no emails or phone records that showed he ever followed up and honestly there's no evidence to his claim within the next week I received a letter from the town's external Council this letter did not provide the the law that they claimed I'm in
violation of and also stated I did not appeal immediately and threaded additional Court action why should I be subject to receiving threatening letters from the town and lawyers when my request for additional information is to ensure my own due process is not
compromised how can a town Sate residents letter claiming they are violating a bylaw but refus to share necessary information to assert their claim the town has stripped me of my own due process right as a citizen as the town's taxpayer and as your
neighbor is it too much to to ask the town to operate with transparency and within the law while respecting the rights of their residents all I want is to better understand what the issue is and why the law or and what law the town feels like
I'm violating there's there's no need for further legal action threats by the town lawyer let's have a conversation and refrain from unnecessary lawyer fi fees at the taxpayer's expense I encourage the select board to reach out to me directly meet me at the table for a fair
and unbiased conversation I feel it's important or it's appropriate I don't feel it's appropriate to deny the resident's ability to ensure their own due process and involve lawyers prior to any Fair unbiased conversation
I have a voice I feel deserves to be heard not ignored by the town I truly felt I was trying to resolve things with Mr Cummings but it was clear there's no effort on his end to answer the outstanding questions we had regarding the claim as simple as just providing
what bylaw I'm in violation of thank you thank you here's my contact information I encourage you guys to reach out to me and have a fair conversation about this thank Youk [Music]
sure do we have anyone else for public comment Miss Pats hi there um my name is Jeanie patz I live at 29 n Road um and I'm just I'm back I just wanted I saw on the agenda that there is a possible there's a
discussion and possible vote on the n Road resident only parking possibility and I just wanted to express my hope that uh we have the board support on that I speak on behalf of my husband and I and many of our neighbors as I
previously stated and I'll stop after I say this just that we're concerned about visibility and safety of pedestrians and um cyclists and congestion on the street particularly at pickup um with ability for people to pass safely and also
emergency vehicles so that's that's all I have to say I appreciate your time and hope we have your support thank you thank you is there anyone else here for public comment did I see one of those Girl Scout here public
comment okay um I I did but I think they checked all right so we are finished with public comment and now we will move to presentation of awards to girl scale troop 67141 and and way we do this
is we call out your name you come down and you pick it up would anybody like to hand these out first sure I'll call up first you know what actually let me just show you show the public what it's what they look like um this is what the official
citation looks like can't see that well from here but it is beautiful and this is in recognition of your hard work and dedication to your Bronze award project raising awareness about water pollution at Kings Beach with girl scel troop
67141 and but before we actually start to present them out I think how about if you do we have some Girl Scouts would like to tell us what your what your project was is that okay back can call
okay our troop made a uh a beach bag for King's Beach to teach families and Neighbors about how our beach is covered in pollution from hold on a second come down over here because we
need to get you on TV okay come on come on right in front of me stand right in front of me and then you could face and then face the audience there you go um all right there you go no pressure yeah yeah so the storm
drain from Stacy's Brook is broken and um uh the pipes are made out of clay so over time they have cracked uh we are
one of the last towns that cut up got cut off from where they redid all the pipes so we were trying to raise awareness on uh how to like clean the beach we made a
public we made a public bag for families to have uh fun activities to do at the beach Beach probably not Kings but like Fisherman's and we also made a bag for adults or older kids to learn about how
the beach is being polluted and that's all I know it's at the library it's not quite in yet but you can check it out in like a week couple of weeks oh we also made a
public service service announcement uh to describe and tell you give you more information about King's spee very good do you want to you want to sing a
song or anything can you tell us where we can view the public service announcement is there a place we can see it yeah uh the website do you know what bit bit bit do
Le slash slash swim safe swamp SC swamp Scot very good maybe we can put that up for people to see good job okay
so do we have may Delano did she come here with it Nora ly May why don't you stay down here come on right down here stay here we're going to take a picture do we have Nora
[Applause] Lin May Mancini angelene Marshall Brianna Roy eeve Remis Emerson Rose Emme
schuls sad Spencer Han and Grace zanowski great job br okay we're just going to take one minute and take a picture with all the kids if you all don't mind
H oh yes so we have shaa Delano is the troop leader and you know what we also have amandaa oh really Amanda Grant Rose didn't know aanda was a girl Skout leader too that's great
great open your so we can thank you right great job girl sh what is the next what's the next level it's the silver so next they going come Jets and they'll go for their Sil watch out all right so when are they
coming back for the silver in three years three years okay we'll put you on the calendar okay sh I may have I may have mixed up some of the uh good job girls nice work all right thank you girls congrats thank you do you like those that's okay I think there's some
more over there good job girls good job okay let them exit guys are leaving get S crazy okay so now we're going to move to the town administrator's
report okay tough act to follow but um really pleased uh to just recognize uh some extraordinary um acts of of
heroism uh this past week uh Sergeant luck officer Kenyan and officer Caruso the swamps police department and number of uh swamp of firefighters uh responded to a individual that uh was in need of help these individuals uh worked to Save
a Life and really uh special um recognition for our Public Safety um staff uh like to schedule some time over the next uh few weeks to bring them in and just recognize them publicly um it's been a while since we've had uh
an award ceremony for some of the public safety officials and it's it's time to really highlight just this extraordinary um Act of heroism uh past week I did meet with Bob Powell Heidi Weir and Danielle Strauss to uh
coordinate um some of the work uh to move forward with the Community Life Center $100,000 feasibility study this is an important uh process certainly um looking forward to advancing uh this effort this was approved the town
meeting and discuss at our last select board meeting fire department is busy with their next hiring round um you know we had interviews today and number of individuals who took the exam in August um you know will be pulled in for
interviews over the next week and we expect to have some conditional offers um over the next month I'm really uh really want to thank everybody that worked uh so hard to move forward with our new elementary school we uh opened it up this week and by accounts it's
been a wonderful success uh police fire facilities school department uh volunteers all came together to help support uh you know a number of of changes in the neighborhood I want to thank the neighborhood again um this has
been a a really difficult process building a new uh Elementary School is always difficult but uh many of the neighbors have been absolutely wonderful to work with there are some changes that we're going to be recommending uh we're seeing traffic patterns evolve we're
seeing uh pedestrian Behavior evolve and over the next few weeks and months we'll continue to look at ways that we can help ensure that uh we uh support optimal um investment pedestrian safety
uh our police and uh Public Safety teams will be making recommendations uh to help support changes uh this week but also uh we anticipate that we'll need uh more Community forums and meetings just to continue to listen to folks about you
know some of these changes um there's been a lot of conversations happening uh around Kings Beach really pleased to see the Girl Scouts talking about this um we've been complaining about the water quality at Kings Beach for the better part of the
last century it's interesting to look at news reports from the 1960s the L item you know did stories in the 60s of how awful the water quality was then seems like every generation can't seem to figure it out uh we have worked hard
over the last two years to really pull together stakeholders from uh the city of Lynn and Congressman Molt's office Senator Warren's office and um you know our state delegation um last week I met
with mayor Nicholson representative armeni and representative from um senator Bri's office and Congressman Molton office and Senator Warren's office to go over a number of technologies that we've explored over the last year we looked at ozone
technology we've looked at ultraviolet light we've looked at uh parasitic acid all of these Technologies to address bacteria have been evaluated by D they feel as though all of these uh Technologies
would be harmful to the microbiology the microbiome of the shellfish and uh potentially uh would be uh problematic in terms of implementation um ultraviolet light isn't problematic to
the microbiome but it's been looked at as being uh problematic uh it's clear that we've got to continue to evaluate some strategies uh we have talked about doing a few more tests for the ultraviolet light but we're coming to the end of exploring uh
these Alternatives we do have uh additional work to do to evaluate uh an outfall and uh certainly uh I'm eager to help Advance a solution that ultimately will uh help this
younger generation get beyond the conversation about why Kings Beach is uh continually uh closed due to bacteria this past week I worked with uh Chris uh jiti uh the vice president of
swamp Little League they're putting a new storage shed on the field at the middle school they've gone through the process of working with a concom and uh building department Gino crester is working with them really want to thank the little league for all that they're doing for our young citizens health
department has launched a new podcast looking for guests to that have been affected by opioid use if you uh have a loved one that has been struggling with uh opioid uh abuse and and use uh please contact Jeff Von we really want to get stories out that would help families that are
dealing with some of these challenges um we are having a meeting next week uh with the Department of Conservation Recreation here in swampit uh the Department of Conservation Recreation does visit regions where they have uh state parks and um this is their
Stewardship Council uh Ted duly a member of our planning board serves as a representative on the Stewardship Council it's good opportunity for us to talk uh more about um the seaw wall at Kings Beach and some of the other priorities that we've identified uh for
swamp skip uh Recreation Department is is really firing on all cylinders we have parties and events almost every weekend um we've had uh a wonderful first ever back to school event uh we uh
had an event last week with a lot of our um young students on the first day of school town hall lawn was packed I want to thank thank Jackie cameringo and Danielle Strauss and and frankly U Diane maresi and a lot of the staff at town hall for helping to coordinate uh this
wonderful event uh David is is busy coordinating his annual bash uh swampt toer Fest uh this Saturday September 7th uh from 4 to 8 we're going to have um Brian Mays and and the guitarist from
the band Boston Gary gdo um who uh is a resident this is a lowcost uh event and um certainly our townwide yard sale is Saturday September 4th so get rid of all your stuff in your basement and don't
throw it away recycle it help make the plant a little cleaner and Greener uh I do want to invite uh Town residents to join us on uh September 11th um for a uh an event at the swampit fire department
um where uh meeting as we do every year just to commemorate swamp's losses in that event um the VFW is also has a September 11th breakfast at U 8:30 in the morning
um you can RSP uh with uh the DAV Commander uh Jeff wander um at 617 96768 N2 by September 8th that's my report thank you Sean any questions from
the board on a report lot of nice stuff going on all agreed and what what day is porch Fest Sunday it's 14th believe it's uh
14th 14th y busy dad Joe duette is uh performing the lead uh band at the Gazebo uh Joe did you want to come down and talk a little bit about portess
sure I'm sorry I I'm I'm always trying to plug the no cost lowcost events what will be the first song Joe It'll be such sweet thunder so if you missed our concert in the spring you'll hear a little taste of that it's a Duke Ellington mix um but porchfest is a
fantastic event so um kudos to swamp Scott for embracing the culture um the desire for people to come out and share music together and to get people into different neighborhoods uh so the blue big band which is swamp Scots Community Jazz Orchestra Phil BR asked if we would
open up at the Gazebo at noon so that's a community band that'll be playing um Duke Ellington music and then wander through town have some fun there'll be some some great stuff so yeah thank you to swamp Scott for making it happen thank you Joe my SAT the the thing thing that makes me most sad is that I probably won't be able to go around to
the yard sales that morning because I'll be too busy setting what so all right got to schedule those two saying anything for us tonight or is that all trombone no okay okay so um next we're just going to go over we have uh two proclamations
that Katie is going to read for us uh the first Proclamation is suicide prevention okay whereas September is known globally as Suicide Prevention and action month the National Suicide Prevention and action month Proclamation was created to raise the visibility of
Mental Health Resources and Suicide Prevention Services available in our community the goal is to start the conversation about mental health and the impact of suicide to help destigmatize the conversation and help connect people with the appropriate support services and whereas according to the American
Foundation For Suicide Prevention suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34 with more than 48,000 people dying by Suicide annually in the United States with a daily rate of
132 in 2023 more than 626 Massachusetts residents died by Suicide and whereas every suicide directly impacts a minimum of 100 additional people including friends family co-workers neighbors and community members and whereas the town
of Swampscott publicly places its full support behind those who work in the fields of mental health education and law enforcement and whereas Global organizations like hope for the day as well as the town's local Mental Health Partners serve on the front lines of a
war that still that many still refuse to discuss as stigma regarding suicide and mental health issues is far too prevalent and whereas we encourage all residents to take the time to understand the importance of mental health education and recognize that taking care of ourselves and others include taking
care of our mental health now therefore on behalf of the entire select board we do hereby Proclaim September 2024 as National Suicide Prevention and action month in the town of Swampscott Massachusetts and encourag all citizens to join us in this worthy
observation and our second Proclamation National senior month Proclamation whereas since 2007 National Senior Center month is celebrated every year in September as recognized by the National Council on Aging and institutional I'm sorry and National
Institute of senior centers to celebrate senior centers across the country and the incredible work they do to enrich and extend the lives of older adults and whereas the Swampscott Senior Center is committed to be an inclusive community and welcoming of all people regardless
of their race religion sexual orientation and gender identity and recognizes that we are a diverse community and whereas the town of Swampscott supports the rights of every citizen to experience equality and freedom from discrimination and whereas the origin of
national Senior Center month can be found in the National Senior Center week which was first celebrated annually in May 1979 to recognize the more than 10,000 senior centers throughout the nation and gain wide support through organizations such as the National
Council on Aging the US Conference of Mayor mayor's aging task force and the full Senate and House select committee on aging and whereas in 1985 President Ronald Reagan signed the first Senior Center week presidential Proclamation
with the support of the National Institute of senior centers and by 2007 the idea behind the national Senior Center week became so popular that nisc expanded the celebration of senior centers to an entire month by Des uh by
designating each September to be the month of Celebration and whereas in 2021 the town of swampa appointed a full-time director to lead the senior center and has doubled its budget and whereas the town of Swampscott has a senior center that focuses on social educational and
wellness programs by providing seniors with a wide variety of enriching programming nutritious meals and lowcost transportation and whereas the town of swamps Scot is proud of our expanding senior community and understands that senior centers are Paramount to the
overall health of our senior citizens particularly as the center strives to engage with isolated seniors bringing them into the community and whereas Swampscott is embarking on an Endeavor to create a state-of-the-art center for all ages designated to address the needs of seniors together with all generations
in one Community Center and now therefore by virtue of the authority vested in the Town Administrator and each of the below select board members in the town of Swampscott we hereby proclaim the month of September as National Senior Center month in the town of Swampscott Massachusetts and encourage all faith-based and nonprofit
organizations residents businesses and public institutions to acknowledge honor and value and celebrate older adults contributions to our community and to recognize the importance of those who serve them daily hooray thank you
[Applause] Katie um okay so if if the board would allow would you mind if I just jump to number three and then back to number two only because it's very quick and um we
have some people online that might not be able to stay online too long so Diane who who did you say we had online Brian okay so um we did bring this up this is the um this is the conversation about a
policy regarding the placement of Art and uh memorials on Town property and we started the conversation at our last meeting meeting we're going to have a little bit more conversation at this meeting and then once open space has their meeting we'll we will come back
and give a final vote so um sorry is is it Brian and Tanya or just Brian I only see Brian Brian you can speak yes you can okay so can you hear me we we y
Brian congratul congratulations on are in order for you right yes thank you uh trying to sneak away for a couple minutes wasn't easy but happy to be here well I'm just here to support uh this policy it's a been on the mission
of the open space and Recreation committee and I'm here on their behalf and I'm a volunteer for that committee um it's been a goal of ours ever since uh we created the plan uh so we've tried to research some other towns
who have similar policies um and an attempt to develop a a bit more of a systematic approach into placing art and memorials in town and even leading towards hopefully more diverse art in memorials in town especially as we look to develop
a rail trail and or school areas uh there's a real opportunity to uh follow other towns like Newberry ports rail trail and have you know interactive um and interesting um um installations so uh to
make it a little more systematic we tried to pull the best parts of policies from around Massachusetts and developed one for you all to take a look at uh we even received some feedback from you guys in your last meeting that we tried to incorporate a little bit more into this policy so we urge you to maybe take
a read of it uh we don't find it to be very controversial but maybe it will be um really just looking to get people in town uh to come together and decide on on what's really appropriate for locations uh and and we attached an
appendix to the policy just as a uh inspiration for the board and for the town to consider other areas besides um Memorial AV for for placement so happy to talk about it a little bit with you guys happy to to um receive feedback
from you guys at another time I know the open space committee is meeting on Tuesday uh and we' be happy to revise this even you know with more feedback but um no sorry um but that's all that's all
I really have uh you know open to your suggestions as well do we I just yeah hey Brian uh thank you for joining us well he's there he's back okay uh just a quick quick question uh do we have any you know just in the in in your opinion and in the
opinion of the open space and recommission do we have any uh any art installations or um stat statues or anything that you know where a a movement within town would be recommended I'm sorry to to move is there is there is yeah is there anything
that no I think that recently though we had um statues and storage or public art pieces in storage you know that went up at at uh King's Beach or at uh Philips Beach you know the fisherman's pier and
the football field um you know there was no real deliberation on where those would go I don't necessarily want to side on anybody's you know I don't really want to you know say it was done poorly but it just didn't necessarily have transparency and the town didn't have necessary input towards uh where
those locations might be and moving forward when there's such a situation it might be interesting or you know transparent and ethical to bring together some representatives from committees and determining you know okay a you have a good idea here go for it or B you know consider you know some other
Alternatives before finalizing the plan uh and not only the committee but you know bringing in some of the public safety officials and or architects in town to assure that you know uh a the placement of another Memorial wouldn't be outshining another you know one
that's already there or um it it doesn't NE necessarily blend in with the Aesthetics of of the neighborhood or whatever it is um there's no real you know I'm not sure the town goes out and purchases uh Memorial and art all that often so it's
really about when um somebody wants to donate something or the town is able to acquire something you know cost effectively um what do we do at that point I certainly don't want this to become a burden I don't think anybody in the committee wants this to become a burden for anybody in the town but for
us to at least you know assemble a group of you know interested interested citizens and uh add add some value to this process transparency to this process thanks Danielle do you have any questions or Doug uh no I I I think it's
wonderful what Brian was just saying and I think it makes a lot of sense and I think that um I would just request more clarification on the process which I think I got the gist of by reading through the material but I think it makes
sense yeah and I I I I don't think you I I urge you not to vote on it we revised it and gave you guys a new copy tonight so please take a read uh let us know what you're thinking if you want changes or amendments we're certainly open to that um but this is really just a blend
of some of the other towns and and where it's been successful and you know there hasn't been any real push back in in those areas so Brian just just one more question this may be for you or this may be for Sean do we have in do we have an idea inventory of of what we have in
storage from from an art perspective are we art collectors Sean uh we generally do not collect art we have a lot of folks that like to donate stuff I'm looking out in the audience and I I see some folks that have have been very generous they'd like to make donations
to the town I generally don't uh I I'm very careful about what we accept because it comes with a commitment to maintain it ensure it protect it and and frankly having a committee that can help us determine its appropriateness
aesthetically everybody's got a an opinion about art you know and you know we probably need you know a few folks to act as a sounding board um we could go out and inventory some of the art some of the art is actually monuments some of
the art is um it's it's things that are out on our open space or you know around the town and and I often hear people come people do come and complain about it or they'll Express their uh opinion
about why it can't look more Grandeur or why it looks so aesthetically displeasing um as a Town Administrator not having a background in art I'm I'm at a loss at times to always opinion about you know
what the right aesthetic is but um David if it if if the board would like an inventory or perhaps if we could ask our open space committee to uh put an inventory together and determine the appropriateness of some of
the public art you know we can certainly do that as an exercise I was I was really referring to things that may be in storage or are out or you know not on public display currently that's that that was really the intent of at this point I don't believe we have anything in storage uh I can check with Gino I
know that we had a piece of art in storage for a couple of years that we recently put out and it has has attracted quite a bit of conversation and we had talked about perhaps putting it back in storage so um
we're in the process of trying to figure out what to do with that I'm thrilled that a committee has decided to show up and and help us with it yeah I'd like to just add one more thing sorry you know the impetus for this also you know rose with uh a former Committee Member Richard Smith and you
know desire that you know memorials have really just been placed in Memorial D in Memorial Avenue by Town Center um so we we initially wanted you yall to put a moratorium on that and consider placing morial memorials out in other places in
town and you know not that there aren't other places in town with memorials but that you know when you clutter this Central area with many memorials it can detract from one of you know other memorials so just also encouraging the town to consider and not diminishing at all what what veterans are and how
important they are and what Wars are and how important Wars are to memorialize but there are other things to memorialize in town whether it's swamp Scott's history or interesting people and and and just for us to consider that with such a you know a committee so
that's all okay so we um we are do you did you want to say something I have two cents okay hold on gonna add two cents here yeah um I think it looks great um I'd be prepared to vote on it tonight but it sounds like we're not going to do that um except that I
uh again I my comment from last time the appendix a feels like that's one version one committee's version and we need the whole committee as the whole point of this right this would be a standing committee that would be kind of ad hoc when there's a reason for them to come in to rise up right um but I think you
know it's great that there's this structure as a draft but I don't think that should be part of the policy okay so we could yeah may I please um the p the appendix does say potential art and Memorial locations so
I feel like it's it's not saying this is it the end all be all and I think as you know Town evolves and changes and maybe Central locations shift a little or things are built or you know we we'd
like to see residents pulled to you know certain things like Archer Street and you know places to hike or walk or the rail trail as that gets built I think the list will get only get longer and maybe um maybe to Brian's comment
certain groups might agree that some of these places should not be considered any longer because they're fully memorializing already and we should move on to other locations so um yeah all right so this will be coming
back um for a quick vote later on okay so thanks Brian thank you Brian thank you everyone have a have a nice evening um so now we're going to um do for the board of assessors do you have
to open a meeting do you have to take a vote motion openting so now we're going to a discussion or presentation of the overview of the assessing function in response the comments made by a select board
member at the last meeting just say sorry um okay so first of all thank you for having us tonight um not sure if you're all familiar with our board as I wanted to do some introductions my name ISO I'm the board
um the chairperson of the board of professors I've been on the board for seven years and I am um here with Neil Sheen who is the vice chair he has been on the board for 25 years and our newest member Charlie
Patos who got on the board board for 25 days um but has been a great addition to this point so um just came to respond to some comments that were made and I'm going to
respond directly to you Mr gishan during the August 20th select board meeting you made very serious accusations that I'm corrupt and politically motivated you further alleged that our board completes business which does not align with Mass
General law that I solicited abatements granted abatements to my neighbors and that we treat taxpayers unfairly on August 27th you made statements on social media repeating the same outrageous
claims I'm here to say that your statements are 100% false and unsubstantiated the facts are whether intentionally or unintentionally your property was misrepresented to our board through an
abatement application that you initiated and upon review I noticed the error I approach this elected and voluntary position with integrity you and everyone should know that I do my
research you are not currently paying taxes for your B finished basement area it is assessed as an unfinished area when I asked for the error to be corrected I was told it had been updated over a year later it is still not
correct furthermore Our Town staff has been including you in the matter which is entirely inappropriate because as a select board member it suggests that you are receiving preferential treatment from our town staff any other taxpayer would not
receive that same level of involvement every abatement we process as a board meets Mass general laws and we have Market data to support our actions no letters were sent by any
member of our board my neighbors did not receive abatements the addresses and assessed values of assessors are submitted to and scrutinized by the Department of Revenue every year I have asked you to be recused from
assessing business due to conflict of interest and yet you continue to be included while at times our actual select board liaison has been excluded additionally I specifically feel that I
have been targeted and harassed by you Our Town Administrator and former assessing staff I have been told that the recent article abatement debate in the Lin item was written because you Our Town Administrator and our former
director of assessing contacted the newspaper I have documents that I've obtained through a public records EST that show you and our former director of assessment shared non-public information with the reporter some of that information violates Mass general
laws I interpret this to be a hostile act from all of you I have abundant evidence that supports our work decisions refutes your allegations and shows that our board has
been treated with hostility for trying to do our job to be perfectly clear I absolutely do not want to be doing here this tonight and it's incredibly unfortunate that we all have to
be I have been trying to handle this respectfully and discreetly however your false and defamatory public statements have left me no choice but to respond to them here tonight I'm a professional and certified
by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to appraise real estate your claims are slanderous they put my Integrity into question and threaten my livelihood this is not a joke my integrity means everything to me
I cannot and will not walk away from this please stop slandering us I'm asking you to retract your statements and provide me and our board members both current and former with an a ol ology tonight and to the rest of the select
board I'd like to request that moving forward the Town Administrator be removed from the processing of any and all assessing business while we fill the open position for a new assessing agent we have not been able to complete any meaningful work this year and with the
value approvals quickly approaching we need better Town support thank you do anyone have anything to add yeah Neil Sheen 24 years on the board um thank you for the opportunity I normally we only
get to see each other in November or December I would much rather keep it that way um it's the assesses of kind of a silent thing that provides information that sets a tax rate and it is what it
is but just a brief history um with the assess is in my 24 years I've served with seven board members seven um assistant assesses one executive secretary I
worked under and three town administrators when I first started we had one full-time assistant assessor two full-time clerks an assistant clerk today we have no one cuz she was left
the for the job we only have an assistant that's 15 hours that is not enough and a assistant um clerk in the office um properties and value Well
Properties and values haven't changed in the town but the office has and we've been given tied our hands behind our backs blindfold on and do your job it's impossible and we're seeing today what's going on
why there's issues look at we we're in much better shape than mble head and thank God we have a current board that watches over things look at valuations and and is involved and this comes back to Shan saying hey I'd like you guys to
be more aggressively involved we've done that and it really hasn't worked I can tell you that and to see her to her credit she does y Woman's Work looks at every valuation that I've never done in 24
years I I just you know shame on me cuz it's my job but she looks at it she researches it she backs it up and it's not picking anyone out it's a Cod we look at we don't look at the name we look at the address and look at the
valuation that's all it is never in my 24 years have we ever done picked on anyone singled anyone out we look at the card if there's something wrong with it we fix it it's been like that for all in my eight years in the town of Burlington
I've never had the back and forth and the stuff that's gone on in this town in 24 years and it's sad to say there's no reason for it the assesses are a silent job we do our job get it done we got to
put everything to the do and follow their regulations and there should be no other input from anyone else but the board the assistant assessor that were following the do I've saw some things that we try to change and it's a fight
and there's no reason for it there's no reason to be here there's certain things should be done they should be taken care of there shouldn't be back and forth emails no you can't do this go into a law cop them in and Page saying no they they're not allowed to do that which
turns out to be untrue we are aboard we know what we do we have have to be certified we sign documents that is on our name and no one else so I I just have some
issues that we're not singling anyone out it's a property if it needs to be adjusted get it adjusted it shouldn't be this difficult and I don't know why all these years it has been and I can tell you this I ran I guess in 1990 and I I
don't think I'm that old but go that seems like a long time ago yeah public service is a public trust I've always followed through on that and always will and I wish everyone would do the same thing that's what we're here for that's
what we serve the taxpayers that's what we serve the community and if you can look at yourself in the mirror and you follow that then you can smile and put your head down and have a good night's sleep thank
you uh my name is Charles pathio um I'm not I'm I don't want to discuss anything specifically in regards to the topic at hand but everything that surrounds it before and after um I am passionate about serving
in the town I'm passionate about serving on this board there's a tremendous amount of of preparation that goes into it and I spent several hours today on the the website taking those courses that allow me to do the best job that I possibly can do for the town and I
believe that everybody that's here tonight wants what's best for the town and I know that sometimes our emotions can can get ahead of us I certainly am a prime example of of that and though I disagree many times with Shan there was a statement that he had
made could have been a few years ago now Shan and he said something to the effect and and and this is the way I remember it he said if you have an issue with something if you have a problem with a board member or a committee or or anything
that has to do with the town before we take it to the level of where we're publicly and our emotions get ahead of us and we can say things that we might regret later he said just bring it to me or bring it to a board member bring it to whoever is he goes and if you don't
get satisfaction there bring it to who's around and if that doesn't work then bring it public I can just tell you from I took that hron and the reason I find myself today serving on a few different committees and the chair of the housing authority
and also elected uh Board of uh on the board of assessors and the governor's appointee to the Housing Authority is because the commitment to put my emotions behind my intellect hopefully I have more of that than emo motion
um this this event tonight is avoidable it should be avoidable and I can just tell you that before anybody else speaks after us as the ass set Board of assessors concludes his statement I ask that you
take a look at something that's as sensitive of what as what the board of assessors does which is to look at property cards and to make the correct decisions and to look at abatements and to make the right decisions as they are allowed by law and it's not popular when
you raise someone 's taxes or what they need to pay whatever the correct terminology is we all the result of how we spend our money is what this board does and it's not popular but it's needed and it needs to be done fairly
and equitably and with no outside influence especially from people like me my past where I would throw a bomb I was really good at I thought I entertained people and maybe I even said things that people
wanted to say but wouldn't say because maybe they shouldn't have said it but I did I regret that I don't regret tonight saying that these things that are occurring they're beneath the town then we can do so much
better as a community and I implore everybody thank you for working for free by the way everyone here is working for free and getting criticized for it so I would just ask that everybody think about that and consider consider they
you might have had a bad night that night who knows but I humbly if I've offended anybody in the past I humbly apologize tonight to anybody that I offended and I say that sincerely I didn't mean it my emotions got the best
of me but I can promise you one thing my Integrity has me now and I want to do what's best for this community and I want to do it even if it's it's not popular and I would do it and I ask respectfully if you have something bad to say say it behind my back or not to my face so we don't hurt my feelings
thank you thank you set select board I I just have a couple kind of initial clarifying questions um so and I don't actually know the question the answer to
this so was there a posted Board of assessors meeting tonight yes yes okay um because I I had no idea I think usually when we have these agendas we know that we're having kind of like a joint meeting I didn't know that we were having a joint meeting literally until
I'm not sure if you would refer to this as a joint meeting because they're speaking on their own but just in case they had to they also posted a meeting too so okay and then um
so when I came in here because we don't have any material on this it says we have going to have a presentation uh of the assessing function I I don't I'm not really sure I got a presentation of the assessing function um here I think it says in
response to comments made by select board member by select board member so I think the assessing function in response is the key right I What I Hear I've heard a response to the comments but I haven't really heard an
overview of the assessing function um and I think this goes back to our last kind of Kur fuffle from my perspective which is that I'm not really sure what we're doing here um are we trying to actually
come to a conclusion about good management of town government in which case we're having a real sincere convers ation about the management of the assessing function which would be great and I think would be nice and that would
include the board of assessors and it would include the assessor and maybe patriate properties I don't know maybe other pieces to make sure that we really understand all of that because they'll
be educational for me um but I feel like what instead we're having here is kind of a mostly kind of personal back and forth that is doing a
little bit to Mr pso's comments is kind of dragging us down as opposed to raising us up um and so I again you know I understand that comments were made and you know we we I'm sure different
parties can go yes but that person said this and yet that person did that and we can kind of go back and back and back and people have different ideas of where the starting point was to this um but what I don't feel like we're set
up to do here is actually get resolution on good management of the assessing function and instead we're set up for a tit fortat back and forth about people going to start bringing out you
know deeper and deeper personal things and everyone's going to have a different version of who got slighted when and who did what thing wrong um and I just don't see how this is really we're I just don't feel like we're set up for Success
here um so I I'm disappointed in that U I'd love to have a conversation a real conversation about whether or not other towns you know have a part-time assessor f function and is that right for this size Town that's a factual thing we
could get other data we could like make a good budget decision about what the implications are for that and how has that hampered us um etc etc but I feel like um you know when we're talking about in response to comments made I
mean you know uh the chair of the board of assessors has had previous opportunities in public comment to make responses um and could continue to do that so and that's what you know that that would kind of make sense to me um
but I I just I don't I'm not Madam chair when I'm not really so I can I can clarify that for you at our last meeting the chair of the board of assessors was called corrupt and political to make an accusation like
that is pretty serious so if there is a request to come to the select board meeting and to respond to that accusation that is her right to come and if anybody on the board of assessors has something to say so that is what the
line item is to call someone corrupt and political in my opinion is just over the top and for me to say no you cannot come here and speak to us I can't do that so as far as having
additional meetings to discuss the function of the board of assessors to be really honest with you I'm not sure that's in our purview we'd have to really look into that I know the board of assessors is working with the do currently um to look at look at the
entire way in which assessing is handled in swamp Scott and whether or not the amount of Labor that's going towards assessing is the right amount of Labor so to answer your question why are they here tonight it's to answer it's to answer the accusation
okay I I'm I'm left still public comment could do that then the seems like we're not really talking about an overview of the assessing function I don't feel like the title is correct I I I I don't really I don't understand um you know what
okay Daniel so to your point Doug yes I think it's clear that we have some concerns in the assessor's office um party partly what Neil said that they're short staffed to say the least right so that's
something that we definitely need to address and we need to work through um my feeling on this and I've said this to David directly I'll say this to TSA to anybody else who's listening I Echo what Charlie said this should have never
got to this point um and it got to this point because you brought it here David and I said this to you directly that this wasn't the appropriate form and I still don't think it is the appropriate form for this if you had made these claims as a
resident in public comment I could understand that but once you sit on at that seat at the seat that we all sit at um you then can't use that to make your comments and then not have someone respond to them that's just human nature
right we we can't let you do that and then not let the response come in as well so I have nothing but respect for the board the entire board your background the length of time you guys have worked here done been elected to do this job
which is a job that nobody wants right nobody wants to tax people nobody wants to increase tax or tell people that their property cards are incorrect so I would never want to do it and I commend you for doing it for free as you know Charlie said we all do this for free
right and it it is Yan's work so I I am just I'm disgusted that we're here discussing this to be honest and that is not a slight on on you to see I unfortunately David I have to place the blame at your feet this is a personal
individual resident matter that could have been handled outside of this body none of us want to deal with this none of us on the select board want to deal with this now I want to deal with it because now I'm hearing that things are inaccurate and that there's interference
that shouldn't exist maybe from the Town Administrator maybe from this board so now yes now like like a dog with a bone I want to know about it okay but it didn't have to be in this very public in appropriate Forum we could have done this
differently right so now we're all here and everybody has to waste their time to be quite honest we we all have day jobs and things to do and we come here and we have our meetings to get things done to better this town we are not bettering this town with this
discussion okay this is not drop a bomb as Charlie said and run away because that is what happened when you made those comments the last time and it wasn't appropriate and I've told you that that's just my opinion I'm speaking as I always do like this is how I feel
right so I apologize to you and and every member of this board for David because I don't know if David will do it but I will okay because I don't feel it's appropriate I really thank you for what you do I know it's not easy I am not questioning your ethics I would
never do that that is not my wheelhouse I leave that stuff to The Experts I trust you people to do what you do I've never heard anybody in this town claim that there is a problem or that the assessors are corrupt I would never make a claim like that without facts I don't feel like there are facts here to back
that up so I apologize that you've had to do this I really wish this could have been done a different way that is all I have to say is there an option for a question or clarifying question here no the board is still speaking oh
apologies I thought you were finished I am I I am just a little confused I'm trying to understand I'm trying to follow sorry David David before you speak and I know this is out of term so I I ask that your
Indulgence what's happening right now is going to be a reflection when we vote on the CPA because this is this is beneath the CPA and our and our taxation for CPA rides on our real estate tax I I implore
everybody to find a dignified solution with with I practice humility I do a lousy job but I never stop trying to hit the Bulls I I implore everybody tonight to find a way to back us back
down to a point where I know humility tastes pretty good after a while it's very freeing for me all I can just say is please think carefully because the town our reputation is is is being defined or another chapter is being
defined tonight please take the high road everybody okay so does that mean the board is done you was asking no I'm I'm I'm no we so this is I was just trying to forgive me
I don't know thank you all the ins and outs I was just trying to figure it out that's all I just figured thank you for the transparency tonight that's all I wanted to add but I don't understand the certifications and the the lengths of certifications what makes someone
certified it was just a clarifying question because I don't feel like this is a waste of time I actually think this is great in terms of transparency with the town and I was trying to understand what is involved with being a quote expert in
field given it's been brought up a number of times I'm just trying to understand from someone in the audience thank you someone from the town thank you all right so there's a there's a few pieces of information that I have um you know the the fact that the fact that I
would make these accusations without any without any proof is is is is absolutely ridiculous um so just kind of walking through a timeline a letter that was sent by the Town Administrator I'll read some excerpts from this letter dated no November 15
2023 dear chairperson vasiliu this letter is to inform you there are serious concerns regarding the board of assessors discussions regarding possible reclassification of certain properties owned by members of the board of assessors as you know swamp Scott's currently building a new elementary school which is anticipated to be
completed sometime in late summer early fall 2024 as two of the three current board members live in the immediate neighborhood of the school construction project there appears to be a conflict of interest in reclassification of these properties as swamp Scott's Board of assessors is a three- member elected
board there are serious implications related to Mass General Law chapter 268a the conflict of interest law that the Board needs to consider after a discussion with Town Council in my opinion the board's discussions on this matter May violate section 19 of chapter 268a for either board member to
participate in the reclassification discussion and vote I do not believe there are exceptions to State ethics commission that would allow the board of assessors to participate in these deliberations goes on I do believe that the SEC that the SEC State ethics
commission would find any discussion Vote or other action by the conflicted Board of assessors members regarding the proposed reclassification that would violate section 19 and subject them to enforcement by the ethics commission potential monetary fines so I recommend that the board not take this issue up
please reach out with any questions sincerely Sean Cheryl toown administrator that's that's one piece of evidence that was that was uh that was provided on no November 15th 2023 okay can I respond to that no no I'm I'm scoping please he's going to finish um there was a there was then a meeting
that was held on Monday January 8th 2024 present was chair to vilu Vice chair Neil shien secretary Laura Goodman uh Town officials present uh Cheryl michella select board liaison Mary Ellen Fletcher acting human resources director
Pete Kane page two of these minutes under other business LG Laura Goodman questioned why letters enclosing the abatement applications that the board voted to send to Residents in specific neighborhoods around the school were not mailed Sher michella said there was no
concrete Direction provided as to who would be mailing these letters that it was her understanding that the board voted for the board to send the letters she added that she discussed this with the Town Administrator and P Kane PK who stressed that specific audiences cannot be targeted for providing abatement
applications they would need to be sent to the entire town at this point LG Laura Goodman recused herself from the discussion and left the meeting at 12:53 per the meeting minutes of 1824 Laura Goodman asked a question regarding
an abatement application that the board voted to send it's clearly a conflict of interest and clearly an Ethics violation Laura Goodman had been notified by Town Council in Q4 of 2023 that she had a conflict she asked this question in a public meeting anyway and
then recused herself in my opinion too little too late I also have information that was provided to me by uh Cheryl michella it just kind of goes through the timeline she started keeping a diary uh of these events um she started in
Fall of 2023 so I'm going to skip around I have a few things so fall of 2023 the board of assessors started having conversations about giving residents to the Stanley School neighborhood a discount on their assessed value because of construction noise taking place with the construction of the new school board
members thought that when the swamp Scott high school was built those residents received a discount or an abatement Mark harell of Patriot Properties and I Cheryl michella both did research and no one in the high school neighborhood received a discount or an
abatement I informed the board of assessors that a temporary nuisance does not meet the criteria for an abatement or assessment discount assessment values are based on market value which I would include a permanent negative influence such as a house next to a gas station I
also caution this would be setting precedence in a town that would be in direct contrast to Mass General Law chapter 59 Cheryl also spoke with other Town assessors the president of the maao and they all agreed that a temporary nuisance simply does not meet
the criteria for an abatement January 2024 Lisa Taylor and I were both informed separately by a few residents who came to the office that a board of assessing member informed them they were entitled to an abatement because of the Stanley School construction nuisance and they came into
the office for an abatement application and asked for assistance in filling out the application the office ended up with 32 applications for abatements which were based on the construction nuisance of the school several applications cited very similar reasons for the abatement in February this is confidential
information it's nonpublic it's very general you're breaking it's very general no it's not I sent I sent a letter to the board of assessors recommending they deny the abatement applications related to the school nuisance because they did not meet abatement criteria as stated in Mass General law 59 and there was no Market
support that the value of the properties declined as a result of the noise and that since two of the three Board of assessing members live in the neighborhood there was also a potential conflict of interest and bias I've spoken to the do that maao
president and the assessors of several towns and quite simply abatements are not granted for a temporary nuisance there was no response from the board of assessors David can you clarify are you speaking for yourself these are these are notes these are notes from Cheryl michella thank you um oh no longer works
for the town it was removed from town hall correct I don't find it wait wait wait wait wait wait wait hope please hope please I'm I'm I'm speaking when he's finished you can re additionally so I'm looking at a letter from from February 21st 2024 uh Miss failu had
mentioned uh in her uh remarks that there were uh there there was information that substantiated these abatements uh being given in the Stanley School neighborhood this is a letter from Cheryl michella from February of 2024 please note the Stanley School
construction project that began in thec of 22 fiscal year 24 property assessments are as of January 1 2023 property assessments are based on market value the result of the market analysis for property sold within2 mies of the Stanley School located at 10 Whitman
Road during the time period 11122 and 12 3122 shows the average list price at $99,800 and an average sale price of 8541 167 there were six sales during the
period all but one sold at or above the list price and so for those of you who aren't you know who want to follow along average sales price was 6.75% above ask in expanding the sales search to3 mi from the school and narrowing the time
frame to 6122 to the end of the year in 22 the average list price was $919,900 impacted the market value of the neighborhood and in fact the market value of the neighborhood has risen in line with the increase in market value for the entire town none of the
applications received have included data that shows the value of their property has been impacted additionally there's no methodology and assessment practice to show the impact of a temporary project the school construction project is temporary proper assessment and Appraisal methodologies consider
permanent Neighborhood Market influences only Additionally the role of the board of assessors is to be an unbiased board it is not the role of the board of assessors to encourage residents to file an abatement which we already know they did because the question was asked by
Laura Goodman um 1824 it's in the minutes um so it's not the role of the board of assessors to encourage residents to file an abatement to tell them ahead of time that they're entitled to an abatement without following the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts it's my
understanding from several residents that a neighborhood WI Emil and Word of Mouth has been communicated across the neighborhood two of the three Board of assessors live in the immediate neighborhood of the school and this is a conflict of interest and additionally may be seen as biased I would urge the board of
assessors to review the mass conflict of interest law specifically the code of conduct session I mean this is why I brought this to the attention of the board this this this is not a waste of time this is this is it's not David you did it for your own
personal Su situation and now you're trying to Target them and tarnish them with this stuff about the ass this has nothing to do with anything that she just spoke of nothing and you know it and I know it this is way bigger than that this is David this is this is way
bigger it's not but do do you do you think so you believe so for the for the few at the expens for the your property card is wrong is your property card wrong it's not it is my property card your basement is finished it says it's not that's simple she's trying to fix it
end it on look look you're trying to you're you're trying to sweep this under rug I'm not isar think it's a conspiracy larger issue order order order please just did you want to answer any
of his um I do there that was a lot of information and it's hard to go back and respond to all of it sure so walk me through this okay yeah um that letter from Sean that was
spurred because I went to the assessing office and I was trying to do research to see how lasting impacts property values we have a quarry in Swampscott
with properties that are continuously impacted by blasting the property values there for land are not the same as they are in other parts of town I asked a question to do some
research the next thing I know nobody calls me nobody asks me any questions I get this very passive aggressively threatening letter from
Shan which you read and after the fact months later I asked for the communication with Town Council and I see this lengthy discussion back and forth where it looked like somebody
filed an S uh section 22 or something like that and that it was recorded with the Town Clerk and sent to the state ethics commission there should have been a response from that within 30 days I never heard
anything that entire letter was was based on just it was imaginary it was created I was just doing research and it became this whole thing that I was going to give myself an abatement that Lara was
going to give herself an abatement suddenly we live in the immediate neighborhood Laura does I do not I stood before this board when the blasting permit was being voted on and my first words to you were I do not live in the
immediate neighborhood but I am on the same block of ledge if you look at where baitman and town were granted and I have a map and I could show you they are not anywhere near me okay what was
next you live 600 feet away from the school that is the immediate neighborhood I'm sorry no it isn't there's seven acres of woods between me and the school this is the immediate neighborhood but continue did did you receive an
abatement did you receive any money did you app can I just show you the is there can I get on this scen she didn't file an abat she didn't file an abatement right okay so no no I want to show you this map you live on Lewis Road 600 ft away from the scho you're a neighbor saying anything
to the contrary is simply untrue and misleading okay let's go back you talked about the sales mhm in the neighborhood I did you did and a lot of what you said is correct the one piece that you're
missing is that one sale that didn't sell for asking price and it sold below was directly located across the street from the school it sold it was listed at a time when the school had closed and construction was just about to
begin the listing agent who listed that property is incredibly professional and reputable she fully disclosed the construction project that was happening directly across the street
there was a link to the school building project website which talked about the blasting impact it showed the traffic pattern changes it showed that the number of trips that we're going to go right in front of that house increased
from 900 900 car trips a day to 2700 I took that sale and I compared it to other sales and it should have sold for more I am a certified real estate appraiser I know what I'm doing when I do that that property should have sold
for more it was impacted by the temporary external obsolescence of that school construction project which was just about to begin six property sold all but one at or above the list
price and when you look at the map of where all of those are many of them are not within eyesight of the school there's a property on Humphrey Street almost every property in town was in a bidding war at that time there's a
property on Humphrey Street you can't see the school from it the properties are within 0 2 miles a lot of them you you can't they're not influenced by the school they couldn't even see it the ones that are
immediately there were definitely impacted 6 6.75% above ask 7.7% above ask all right so we've G I would like to be plugged in if I can be you can teams you can share give me a second let me see if I
invite one if you could send me the invite and here um can I ask a process question go for it um it's my
experience that in situations like this it's extremely difficult to come to a resolution even if two mutually Desiring adults wish to sit down in a mature fashion and figure fure
out the facts that's challenging enough but to try to do this in a fishbowl um seems challenging challenging I don't wish to in any way
shape or form minimize the facts and Impressions and perceptions of anybody involved I'm not to adjudicate that I'm not prepared to do that I know that there are facts and
Impressions Etc that might weigh on either side as it typically is when there's a dispute right um and I don't want to in any way shape or form take away from you know your uh
prerogative David um but I I I would I would like to propose that we figure out a different path out of this um and you know the parties can decide you can decide as chair you know whether or not we take the offramp now or we take a risk that
we have a crash um even worse than 10 minutes um but um I I do feel as though I had hoped and I had thought maybe we were actually going to have this meeting in an executive session and that was the way we were going to adjudicate the situation actually we we couldn't have
the meeting in executive session I I checked what legal counil okay so um but subsets of this board you know maybe so it's not oneon-one or whatever um although that's a little bit complicated for the assessor board since there's only three of them um in terms of having
a little subgroup or something there should be some way that we could resolve this at least pieces of it offline um and I would sincerely like to make sure that we have a discussion truly about
the assessing function um so that because now I think the public may be much more aware or worried or concerned about the basics of the assessing function rightly or wrongly uh based on things that have been said here tonight
um so um that's my request um to see it honestly I I I feel the need to respond to what he just said so
I there there has been so much h hostility it has been so difficult this year for us we are trying to do a good job we are trying to be fair to all taxpayers in town we identify
opportunities regularly where we find people are not being treated fairly there is nothing wrong with researching and seeing if people are impacted and if they are trying to
adjust their values because they're supposed to be taxed on their Fair cash value we're doing our job and when I just ask a simple question in the assessing office from our assessing
director and it turns into a report to the SEC with a threatening letter to me without a phone call without any nobody called nobody picked up the phone to say hey to see I just heard this are you you planning on doing
this nobody did that this is how it's been for several months now and it has to stop there is no collaboration there have been so many
times that town staff will run to town Council to try to find something we're doing wrong we don't have the ability to reach out to Town Council and ask if we're taking a correct route when
they find out that Town Council told them that we're within our rights to do what we do they don't share it with us until we demand to know it is not the way you treat people it is not collaborative it is not
it is not about working together here I don't know why it has to be this way it is incredibly Petty um it's it's ridiculous I've never worked in an environment like this ever it's we are constantly under attack
they are constantly going to Town Council they are constantly trying to entrap us we're not told about it I mean it is absolutely unacceptable just I'm not trying to take away your right to to adjudicate that he said some things but you're now you're
now this is what's happens right is now now you're starting to make allegations about other people to respond right see this is what happens I'd like to hear your response let me just say this well I'm not done responding I Sean I'm not done
responding okay we were on the letters those notes confirm that a letter wasn't sent that's what they confirm you show me that someone on our board sent a letter and you can say it again you were soliciting we were we're
not soliciting you are we were not then I'm sorry seea the minutes don't reflect what you're saying and that's the minutes say the minutes say that a letter could not be sent they do not say that we sent a letter the minutes reflect the fact that there was
a desire to there absolutely was and let me explain why because when we were approving the values at the end of the year for the for f for fiscal year 24 our plan plan was to look at the
neighborhood find out what the impact was and address it which is what we should have done we had so much conversation back and forth about this and it was in an open meeting and everyone was telling us you can't do that you can't do that you
can't do that well we didn't have the votes to do it that way so we were told that this had been done in this through the abatement process in the past we were specifically told it was done that way at the high school we were
specifically told it was done that way over at the field when some new lights went up that's what we were told I have a recording of it I was at I was at the meeting in Patriot Patriot Properties brought that up are you are you are you
we decided not to we decided not to do that we we didn't have the votes to do it we didn't agree on it so we couldn't do it that way we wanted we wanted to address the people that were impacted so somebody suggested a
letter and you know what it was wrong okay to send a letter would have been wrong and we are grateful that we were protected in that way but it doesn't make us bad people those properties were
impacted we have data and it was about being proactive great can can I just say a few things yeah go ahead go ahead to and Neil Laura Charlie thank you you're volunteers as well this is difficult we're all
passionate about trying to support good government I I want to figure this out but I also I want to just say I have a responsibility to protect employees and every one of the employees that we've
had have been good people they've worked hard and they're certified they're experts in um assessing and they also many of them have served on on Boards of assessors as well and I have to listen
to my staff and when they come to me because I don't I can't attend every board meeting and every um committee meeting in town and they say hey I've had conversations time and time again that are concerning me and are
problematic um I have to kind of listen to my department heads and say all right how do we address this I knew that the board was talking about trying to figure out how to address some concerns that have been brought to your attention from
that neighborhood that was impacted by the new school uh I had a number of conversations with Town Council because it is a nuanced discretionary authority of a board of assessors to Grant certain abatements but the four corners of that are really
difficult because there's a lot of past practice and a lot of different uh protocols after discussing it with Town Council and a number of assessors it was clear that this concept of a a courtesy
abatement for whatever you want to call it whether it's some Market condition just isn't a standard that is in the Massachusetts General law in any regulation from from do these aren't definitions of best
practice and I sent that letter to caution the board and to protect you from doing things that ultimately may have put you in a position to get a complaint Laura I'm glad you recused yourself because you did file for an
abatement and you did appropriately step away and let your board make the decision but the appearance is troubling and and I know that that may be frustrating to hear but it did upset my assessor agent and and
what I was trying to do to say it and maybe a phone call to you would have been more helpful and I'm certainly you know uh I've been invited to attend meetings by not one uh assessor agent not two but three three of them have
come to me at different times and said and have said Sean I'm having a hard time communicating and working with uh the chair of the board and and you know I'm I'm having a hard time getting the timeline for the tax classification done
because we have statutory obligations to get classification done and we're we're a busy town we just became a AAA Community because we've been recognized as as having strong financial management
strong financial standards and the assessing function is is the core of that and I know we have a good handle on on most of the assessing but this has been concerning and and again I'm not I
don't want to get into the you went on wild goose chase over a rumor that you never questioned yeah I I will tell you you have said some things as well all right that are unfair and I'm not going to get into it okay but Mariel let me just finish a few points all right dick
Simmons is sitting in the back row here he's he's been a professional accessor he's worked for municipalities he has shared with me numerous times he went into Dave grishman's house and inspected it m have you ever been in Dave grishman's house
no I'm just telling you like for me no I have not so for me but Dave grishman has shared very publicly understood but but I'm going you know with an individual that has an impactable concerning to me that is
actually very concerning he the person that established the property tax record card and it's your prerogative to kind of question it and push back and look at it but it just appears appears someone has someone denied that the basement is
finished please can we please so listen in the end if you don't believe me you don't have to believe me you don't have to believe dick Simmons you don't have to believe uh Cheryl um she's not even here tonight and frankly I I don't think anybody should be you know saying anything about you know the professional
competencies of the people that we've employed because they all have been solid employees they all have expressed concern about the dynamic here and so it's not just um the fact that somehow town hall is leaning in I haven't leaned
into the I've never asked an assessor agent to change a value to suppress a value I I've looked at every value I've gone over it with you and with the board because I think we should look at every value and discuss the importance of of
getting those properties right but you know for me it's just it's the wrong environment for us to have these conversations I I think you know these conversations may be appealing from a transparency perspective but we've got
to clean some of this stuff up and and frankly I the comments you made and frankly the comments you made Danielle about me interfering or investigating me for doing my job what did I make Sean you said that maybe the Town Administrator that's what she said I
know and I'm if that's the case then I'm concerned and that's me being honest I'm concerned that those types of aspersions sound like they're retaliatory because I sent a letter to protect the Integrity of the town's function I get the chair
of the board kind of coming here and saying oh the town administrators um sending this hostile letter this whole thing could be said about everybody here right retaliatory like we don't want to go okay because it it everybody's going there right now all right now may I may
I speak I got one have you patri property sh many times okay y Mark harol can I just I just asked if you talk to Patriot Properties that's all I ask and that was regarding valuation I just wanted to say one thing um I think that the the topic
of this was this was about a property card this was about a basement and I think the question is that's that's where this began um and so I think the question is is your basement
finished is your basement finished David I mean what why do we have to make this personal I mean because not personal this was about correcting this was about making a correction claiming that we're tar started the whole thing off is the basement finished and have you been T
paying taxes on it that's my only question I mean that's all I wanted to ask our integrity yet the the abatement the abatement request the abatement request started started being discussed in 2022 that you have a beautiful finished basement your
per your field card does not reflect any permits were pulled and it doesn't reflect that it's being valued with a finished basement our interim director of assessment inspected your property you state in your own words that he was
on site for an hour hour M and inspected the entire house so please tell us is your basement finished after after the inspection that's it's out of it's outside of my hands this whole thing you're pivoting to you're you're like
look at look here look a batement requests started being discuss a batement request in the Stanley neighborhood started being discussed in 22 minutes from October 11th of 22 state state this you're changing just listen no no no I'm I'm speaking hold on you
asked are you are you 100% sure that Patriot Properties has has offered um has offered abatements in in neighborhoods such as uh Precinct one around the high school are you 100% sure at no no she made a statement earlier about the fact that I wasn't on
the board then she was told that is what I have a recording where they do say that okay well I did a little research I called Mark Harrell I talked to him on August 28th see I have him on record saying Mark okay that he did I asked him about the abatements in the in the
Stanley School neighborhood offered to the neighbors of uh swamp Scott Elementary School he said he was adamant Capital that this was wrong it should have never happened period he never said that he never said that I have the recording how you know that your paper is
right Mark har has worked in the town since David I I have to be honest with you I was in the meeting that did not happen that did not happen in a meeting the meetings are the meetings are actually recorded Rec so they can go back and you can go back and look at it
so Katie Katie feeling so I would like to debate a totally different point that was made here tonight which is that we're all here doing this for free because what this has cost us is far
greater um than any any monetary amount quite frankly and I mean Doug very graciously tried to give us an out to go down this road Charlie echoed that and
yet we're still now we've gone I think perhaps too far down the road what the the question I ask is what is the resolution right I think the issue is that there are too many issues to be
resolved right so if the issue is David is your field card wrong then this I don't know that this is the appropriate forum for that conversation right however if the issue is uh whether
or not we should have elected or appointed assessors whether or not we should have a full-time assessor whether or not we should be regionalizing assessment so we're working with other towns to afford to have more assessing function for the board of
assessors if if that's the conversation all day every day let's have it because that's what we're that's what we are here for the the five of us but you can't open the door and let it all fall out and then
not take care of it right so unfortunately that's what happened during the selectboard time last week we open the door I mean we we open door well the door's been open for some time time there's been articles there's been now select board time and so then this
conversation started it doesn't feel like I'm very glad to be wrong but I don't think I am that this is going to go anywhere this evening that we are going to come to any factual conclusions to the many issues that are at
hand I Echo what Doug said that if there is an appropriate Forum that we could resolve some of this whether it be another meeting that is just dedicated to this conversation a public meeting I don't really care at this point because now we've pretty much I think aired most
of the dirty laundry so let's get it in the wash cycle and let's figure it out I agree when being when I'm constantly being attacked publicly I don't disagree you could just wait if you could just wait one second I don't disagree with you but what I would like to happen is
to understand what the plan is to go forward to identify the issues and to resolve them in a meaningful way because I don't think this is it and I think that this if it continues it will only cost us more and
more we can ask the do do is do is coming in we did we asked them and they're coming okay I didn't know if we had to do it through the chairman and the board of slman and what is go of that what are they doing they have a team that comes in and helps you clarify
rules and set policy yeah so at that time I AP can I ask I had reached out to them in like in March okay because things were escalating and we needed help and we couldn't get
clarification people wanted nobody would tell us what their role what they believed their role to be so when uh just to be clear when do comes and you meet with them and you ask questions is it an open meeting or is it a separate conversation or do we not it's a separate it's a separate conversation
can we be part of that conversation is that appropriate or allowable we have to double check on that okay if we can't all be perhaps some of us should be and we should be just absorbing some of the information and making sure
that all of the issues are resolved and not just some of the issues are resolved right I ju I I hope that everybody agrees that this is not going to resolve anything
except the fact that there are facts being thrown around on both sides that none of the five of four of us can corroborate or understand because we don't have the we don't have the information so it would be irresponsible
to come to a conclusion because I don't I I don't I I understand what you're saying and I understand what he's saying but I don't know the accuracy and the time frame and the context and all these things that are important for truth so I just Echo
Doug sentiments that we table this discussion going forward unless there is a particularly egregious thing that needs to come out this evening to be resolved this evening it sounds like we've been dealing with this at least since November so I don't know what two or three or four weeks going forward is
going to be detrimental but happy to understand that if it is and let's find a better Forum with a direction towards resolution because this is not that this
is just back and forth hearsay or information that we cannot corroborate basically can we work on that yeah I just want to say one more thing people need to walk into that conversation with the right attitude and what I see is a
lot of smirking and a lot of giggling and I have been trying to do things respectfully and discreetly and really working hard to get problems solved without making
this but people need to walk into this with the right attitude and they need to be receptive to hearing both sides yeah I think when people are sitting at a board and you're smirking and giggling I do think it gives people the the thought process that they're
being disrespected so I I am sorry for that it's not the first time I've heard it but tonight the reason why um I did put this on the agenda at your request was to give you the opportunity to address the comments that were made by
Mr grishman so we will turn around and we'll put something together and we'll make a plan to go forward and to get some resolution here I thank you for that thank you for coming Mar I have it before you ohz I'm sorry I I need to have this Diane please I want to make
sure that we have on record what the issues are I want David's issues I want toa's issues so that we know exactly what we're resolving right and we can get this somehow eventually with do whoever close this Loop okay I want to
hear what the just so we note it and it's in the minutes what exactly the issues are that we need to resolve or that needs to that need to be resolved and so Davids is the I'll I'll I'll send you a comprehensive list okay you as
meeting and and he it out of the comments I'm sure we can get there no see I don't want to do that I don't want to I don't want to piece it together I want to actually know what the issues are to resolve so we can fix them Sean instead of ignoring them and pretending they don't exist no I want them fixed
all right I want I want to wrap this our problem this is why we don't fix things understood but we also but we also have we also have with us our former director of assessing uh dick Simmons in the audience I would I would love to hear I would love to hear from him should he
should he wish to speak and address he would have had the opportunity comment I don't want I don't want to honestly I don't want to hear from anybody anymore I just want a list of I want this that's all this topic is going to be closed now I have a list this topic is closed to see it you have your list David you have
your list yep and we're going to move on to the to the uh next line on the agenda I believe oh I was they have to close your meeting oh you have to close your meeting we're just closing our meeting
you're being recorded hi yeah have uhhuh but I don't want it to be misconstrued as I'm storming away from um I have I just need to excuse myself for one minute so you know we'll jump down to consent agenda do you need help
no thank you um yeah why don't we uh well yes why don't we jump over to uh discussion and possible vote to alter parking on Forest and n Road Chief that's the
editting in forest good evening so I'll make this somewhat brief and allow questions uh regarding the swamp Scott Elementary School first off I want to Echo what Sean uh reiterated
and talked about earlier this this evening uh I want to thank the residents I want to thank the neighbors I want to thank our entire staff who have done tremendous work to put this together to Ure that it's been an an all Hands-On
deck approach to ensure the safety uh and security of uh swamp Scott Elementary School so I was asked here to come tonight to talk about a couple uh recommendations specifically uh to apply resident only
parking restrictions along n road from neighborhood to Laurel we are asking for those restrictions to be from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and 1 to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday uh also to apply resident only
parking restrictions along lower Forest Avenue from Laurel Road to Sergeant Road the same times 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 1: p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday that will coincide with pickup
and drop off every day while we're out there that's uh that we uh you may have already heard that uh um the first day there was a couple first first couple days there were a couple hiccups um I want to commend the
schools I want to commend uh the fire department DPW uh being out there and listening to the residents and seeing what was going on uh as you know the first day there was uh some communication issues uh with
uh cell phones when it came to drop off where parents cell phones were not working with the school staff and and there therefore there was no Communications it took uh uh drop off was very efficient pickup uh was chaos
and that took uh about an hour the first day after those two days the team got together and re rectified that by ensuring that uh teachers had iPads and they were uh using the Wi-Fi to
communicate the um uh the pickups so additionally while we're out there we've had no less than six officers out there and approximately nine crossing guards I can give you those locations uh if you'd like uh one thing that we did
see out there was uh a couple issues uh one of the things at um we ended up having an officer stationed at Laurel uh Road at the near The UU uh it was uh I
was out there myself and it was there was a lot of people uh parents walking their kids at school uh there were a lot of congestion issues in the morning so we also uh stationed an officer out there to assist with traffic control and
to assure that there was no um uh drop off and walk your walk your kid to school um additionally we had a crossing guard in that area we have an officer station right in front of the school at one Whitman uh
there's no issues there also alongside a Crossing yard and then uh we have two officers Officer rain and officer Wilson who have been instrumental in this entire plan uh they are there to assist with any uh any needs any evolving needs
at the school uh We've also stationed an officer at um Forest AV extension and Humphrey uh I I David you and I were talking about that's that's a an a horrible intersection and I just call
that the Kill Zone uh I'm being factious but uh being out there there's just traffic everywhere and so one of the recommendations and one of the things that we saw was uh if there's any residents or anybody who happens to go
through uh lower Forest a EXT or I'm sorry Forest a extension onto Humphrey that there are no left turns allowed uh because you have uh traffic coming from Marblehead on Atlantic and also traffic coming from um tadesco on Humphrey and
it makes it very difficult for anyone trying to turn left so those are one of the things that we are suggesting uh a no left turn sign and we are working with uh Gino to ensure that that's put up uh right away also uh do we one of the things that I
saw that while I was out there was uh the island right there at Atlantic and Humphrey there's a small little island that uh if we are able to uh shave down some of the trees clear some of the brush that'll help with any obstruction
issues uh from anyone coming from the Tedesco area uh traveling on to Humphrey the team is currently working Brian and Kevin RR Brian Wilson officer Wilson and officer Rene are working with
Gino to ensure that there is a uh rapid flashing be Beacon right at Atlantic in Humphrey so that so uh motorists are aware that they're will be a stop sign because that was one of the changes that was that was uh that was
made I think uh that's you know that's a lot of it one of the things that we're we're going to work with the Department of Transportation is Atlantic and Humphrey if you're trying to head towards Marblehead that is a horrible left turn because you also have uh
traffic coming from from town uh traveling either uh onto Atlantic or Humphrey so that is also at least from you know pickup and drop off areas it is very congested uh and that is uh we we just want to ensure that the the public
is safe in that those are most of the issues that we've seen uh I will say that it it has been pretty seamless as of late because we are constantly meeting and involved and if there's any issues
um we're we're going to address it and one last thing was n and Orchard that also is very congested during um pickup and so uh that's one of the reasons that we asked that there are be restrictive
parking because it's very difficult what happens is uh vehicles coming from neighborhood on n and then vehicles coming from from the other opposite direction from Laurel uh to Orchard are
everyone gets stuck right there it it's only a about a 15minute time period but it's it's it's a parking lot for that 15 minutes and so that's where it has it creates a hazard for any First Responders or anybody actually traveling through the neighborhood and so that's
uh that is the primary reason uh to ask for the restricted parking and I'm I'm open I don't want to take too long but uh I'm open to any questions that you may have regarding traffic where's neighborhood neighborhood so I have a I have some questions Ruben um one of the
areas that you were just speaking about the intersection of Atlantic and Humphrey um definitely needs something I mean it is it it is the most dangerous intersection I think we have in town um is there any plan and this might not be you this is more of a Gino Sean question
um to paint crosswalks in that area because there is only one cross walk as of right now and it goes straight on K yeah so we I mean there are people that could potentially kids would be potentially Crossing from forest have extension onto Atlantic nebor um on that
side of the street through that island and there are no crosswalks there so that's one of my concerns and I know that you said the beacon they're putting one of those flashing beacons at Atlantic Crossing Orchard it's it's right from Orchard Road around Orchard
Road to uh the stop sign where you're almost where you're meeting Foresta extension where you're making that turn because I have spoken to a couple of residents in Atlantic Crossing that are you know really concerned about the speed of cars these past couple of days and it's really like a racetrack out
there so they were concerned for the crossing guard because the cars weren't stopping for the crossing guard so that was something so that Beacon would be helpful in that respect and then the intersection of Orchard and N um where I don't think there was originally going to be a crossing guard but there is now
we are yes we have uh moved one crossing guard and we've also uh stationed an officer there uh in the interim we've had that since uh I I was literally walking that area and I I was saw that and uh I was concerned as well
immediately so you have people trying to turn into they're within the crosswalks because they're you know you got to get be next in in line to pick up your kid and so that's was that was what was occurring so uh we have officers out there to to ensure that either stop at
the crosswalk to allow that that free flow of a pedestrian uh crosswalk um or you know being out there uh has also made a difference yes absolutely yeah uh being out there uh with our lights and uh
being very visible has truly made a difference and so it really is a matter of slowing Vehicles down uh as well as uh being visible out there right now and they did say that the first day issues were really primarily because of the
lack of cell phone coverage so they're trying to text um child numbers to the people inside to get the kids out so that was causing the delay the walkie-talkies weren't working correct so I think that that is you know schools are doing a great job trying to get that
fixed but okay so I have something Katie um was there any conversation about exiting from the U and not turning on to Laurel and having people who need to access uh cuz the way I understood the flow of traffic was if you were exiting
towards Forest you got a certain color and if you were exiting out in the opposite direction towards you were exiting out Whitman and you got another basically color color placard right corre and so that would help the flow of traffic so that you wouldn't be circumnavigating the way you're supposed
to be going and help prevent because they so when you come out of the uyu and you're walking um to have to have the cars turn on Laurel or go straight across I find to be a distraction for the crossing guard to figure out which way people are going they don't use a
blinker and I just wondered if there was any conversation about just saying if you exit out The UU you have to go down forest you can't turn onto Laurel and if you need to access Laurel then you need to go out Whitman that has not been discussed but I was out there with you and I did see that as well um it you're
you're talking about the the green side and the yellow side so anybody coming into the school who uh heads through the green side uh will go out right back out through Orchard Orchard Road Orchard Circle anybody coming in the yellow side
uh to coincide with the grades uh they will hand out the uu uh that there is typically less traffic on that yellow side towards the the uyu uh that's why we're still kind of
but I do agree there's uh traveling you know just crossing the street uh Into The UU lot there's still a lot of traffic in that area and it's uh I think that it's uh it's manageable now because there's a lot of walking a lot of biking
and then as you know uh we transition to Colder Weather and people start using vehicular traffic more in that area that uh it will be difficult for the kids that are walking and biking to to manage that intersection and the and the cross
crossing guard to be honest because when when you're coming out of The UU um the traffic is going in two directions rather than in One Direction so I just something to think about going forward if one of the things I uh that I've been told as well as the first couple days
the first few days of school there was a lot of foot traffic and then not so much it kind of tapered off we believe that you know everybody wants to take their their child to school take the pictures and walk them to school it hasn't been as busy uh but that's not you know it
could change because it's excellent weather right now yeah right so I'd like to make a motion that's going to be my question can I have a motion Doug and a second I'd like to make a motion uh to support the
recommendation to uh provide for uh resident only parking on Foster AV and n road as described Forest second what say it's for for I'm reading it says forest and we're also we're also
looking to change the traffic pattern back to a two-way configuration for the correct voted on that oh oh okay I'm sorry it was just on the didn't couple months ago a couple weeks ago Readington yeah it's just it's just on the it's just on the wanted to we put all of
these recommendations together uh but yes that is to uh that was absolutely separate done okay so motion okay so the motion is for forest and N yep second hold on a minute and then are you making a second
motion for Laurel and Sergeant no that's Forest lower Forest Avenue from Laurel to Sergeant he's making a motion reflective of the suggestion yeah reflective of theend so we have a first and a second yeah all in favor I I okay so I have motion carries Thank you very
very much I have uh the the specific directions for Diane uh it is it is from on N from neighborhood to Laurel is what we're we're referring to I just want to make sure that follow up tomorrow we have um basically Street the
neighborhood dropped so that they are aware that this has been approved by the board we'll just make sure everybody gets the right um we and we don't have to approve when you're making something just strictly left turn right yes you're the you're in
charge we do have to do that too all right so that you'll you'll come later on for that we we need another week to kind of figure otherwise we'll be voting every week and oh good great okay but there's the you're concerned about the crosswalks are legitimate
there are a number of other locations as the traffic patterns evolve you know we want more students biking and walking to school but they're not going to do it if we don't make it safe and we've got to give the parents confidence that you know we are in in key intersections
where you know folks want to walk that we have the right pedestrian safety Investments Public Safety teams will be working with school um staff and we'll be making those uh recommendations over the next couple of
weeks can I say one thing before the chief please um I know it's been said multiple times I personally texted you the second day of school but it is important that we recognize how amazingly supportive our Public Safety um folks have been in
town to the transition to the school not only are they showing up but they're showing up with a smile and kindness and politeness to teachers and staff and kids and I've have said this in meetings before positive interaction with Public Safety officers is so important for kids
cuz they're here to facilitate the laws but they're also here to protect and serve us and they need to and kids need to understand they're a safe space and so again I just want to say thank you very much and please make sure your team and all you
know even the volunteers who showed up with their say yes shirts so proud to be on the first opening day of school I mean they were there giving everything and it's just it's acknowledged and it's noticed and it's appreciated thank you
thank Youk you CH tell you what I've seen for being a neighbor oh boy quickly in one minute yep school's been doing a very good job getting the kids in and out yep they've
really the police been there the crossing guards have watched them all excellent the resident parking isn't really going to do much because there's still parking there when you're not there and they're not there like the school pick up after they're blocking
all they're parking in front of all the neighbors and things like that in front of my house it's been great because the kids seven cars are coming out at once and the traffic hasn't been going down Orchard farest of the neighbors told me
Forest St going out that way and a lot of cars going out that way um the parking hardest part about this is going to be n and Orchard getting the 600 cars into there my only real resolve looking at the whole thing
is you need to bring them in from forest extension and have them come out Orchard and you need to bring them in orch and go out farab that way for stab extension is for the school buses only I know I
the wayed that has 700 cars into that one inter was one minute thank you Doug and I'm sure the chief would love to have you take him out for lunch and have these we he already has my number
walking around the whole school is going we are going to be moving to our next line item which is a review of Select board handbook I would like to make a motion I don't know what I'm doing but I want to make a
motion I've lost my mind tonight um don't know what I'm I would like to create a task force is that what I'm asking for where Katie and I will work on Redline revisions of the handbook and present it at the next meeting is it your plan to look at other towns and
things like that just to see and to tweak it and yes okay and what's your time frame looking like the next meeting we will have it for the next meeting with revisions okay so so we will take our existing handbook you'll be emailing that to us yes and I will email the red
line to all of us ahead of time okay so that we can look at it but that's all right so that's your motion is there a second my motion we're going to have a discussion is that second that okay so now we're have a discussion no I just I I think that's fantastic um I just want to make sure that you're we're setting
you up for Success right is two is two weeks really enough time I I've been looking at it I know that Katie kind of glanced at it I don't think there's a lot that needs to be tweaked there's just a couple of things it it doesn't have like a recommendation about social
media it doesn't have it there's just wording of some things that I think we could do a little bit better but I think with what David is saying and I would agree with him that maybe you want to go a little bit more than two weeks my goal would be not to so that we can actually implement it okay so that's kind of the
reason for wanting to do it quickly thank you no I just you know I just feel like we need something I hear you I think um I don't want it to be longer uh to redline it to open discussion it's not likely that we would open discussion and just everybody's going to agree with
everything in Redline right or that people won't have input in that um hope you know there there's a couple of things that I just see missing now having sort of lived it a little bit longer than the um last time we looked at it um that I think might be helpful
or pertinent and um adding some of that and then getting input and then maybe doing it again and then coming back and voting on it is probably a realistic timeline but I don't have an an issue with two weeks time period for an initial Red Line
okay so you're saying that we would have a so we would have something to look at next meeting we'd review it and then we would take a final vote in our first October we can tweak it okay like what we would have a discussion post that red line so it's not just you know I'm sure people will have thoughts and feelings
right if there are things that you guys think might be missing I want to know so we can okay so it's comfortable for everybody okay so can we have a vote on this all in favor I I I okay motion carries
this will be moved over all right um discussion possible vote to reappoint or appoint members on the following boards and commissions um can I have a motion for Recreation Commission motion Janelle Cameron second
uh all in favor I I I have a motion for swamp Scott for all ages Su susman Claire Regan so moved second um all in favor I I okay and a motion for zoning board of appeals uh Su
sinrich associate so moved second discussion um I just want to make sure we got a uh email from our resident um uh for resid appointment uh Zar um and I
just want to make sure that we're kind of all super Square on this both this one and the one in the consent agenda um which we're not necessarily talking about right now now but it is I I think we're all square about this but I I I don't understand what you know
the esteemed Mr Demento as concerns are here but we have five full members have fiveyear terms three uh what's their title is it associate or alternate uh I think ass associate members three associate three
associate yeah um have threeyear terms um all we're doing with this one is this person happen to be appointed just for one year right and now we're kind of reuping them right it's a new term yeah it's a new term um but it
says is it for for two years is that correct talking about Susan yes Susan talking about both of them yes that is correct yep twoyear term that's what it says on the website and everything else so I
okay anyone else other questions no I I think we're right yeah okay so Daniel because you're the Le you're the liaison and you looked into this I did okay thank yeah and I actually talked to Marissa Mei and the Roman the chair um and we went back and they gave me the
timeline so as Diane presented it is correct excellent great thank you I should have just asked that sorry okay so are you good I'm good okay so can I are you good I'm great okay so can I have a motion for zoning board of
appeals Susan syri motion all in favor we already did the motion and we seconded it we just oh good okay I I I and I'm a no all right um so now we have six seven special town meeting discussion to
change the off for voting members for Conservation Commission this is sort of housekeeping it's a uh uh update in Master General law that has Municipal acceptance allows the Conservation Commission members to vote on adjudicatory members the Conservation
Commission like uh planning board adjudicate on certain uh applications before them and so this is just a section of the mgls that the chair of the committee would like um to adance I don't think there's action by the board
tonight other than to just be aware that this is something we're going to want we if if um you know the commission would like to advance this it would either be on a special town meeting warrant or a um the annual time me warant is this to
have the alternate member have the ability because right now we have an Al an Al we would have an alternate member that has no voting rights so what's the point in being an alternate member so the alterate member may not be at every one of the meetings and and they still want them to be able to have the right
to vote have the right to participate in a judicatory matter without being in violation of NLS right without accepting this we have that right possibility risk right okay so we don't have to take a motion or anything like that but that's
a good to the board that you're okay with advancing this I'm I'll P it off to Town Council and we'll does anybody have an opinion on that if if you do banditz would love to talk to you about it um I don't hold on hold on a second but oh
she is on oh Tony did you want to say anything because I have a funny feeling that the board is in favor of this is the board in favor of this happy okay so we're happy to um so can I have a motion in favor for she does have her hand up she does have her hand up yeah oh okay yep she should be good to talk okay
Tony you have to unmute yourself though Tony got are you there could just vote all right just saying she also is in favor I think it's she's in FA she's in favor too she wants to withdraw draw all right so can we have a motion so moved
second all in favor I what did um could you clarify what exactly we voted on to give to give SE our support yes okay I if we should have a special town meeting this will be on no surprises this is will be no Sur I just figured out how to
unmute myself so if you I could give you my interpretation of what's going on okay even though actually there's actually two things one is a Mass General law that allows um if a member
is absent from a meeting that they can still go to the next meeting and vote as long as they uh review the record from the meeting they missed uh that's uh General Law chapter 39
23d um and I did run this by KP law which indicated that it would have to go to town meeting uh to be approved the second one uh concerns um the uh an
having an alternate that can vote uh we do have and I mistakenly called him an alternate he's an associate member a nonvoting associate member and to have an alternate which means he can vote if the chair decides that there's an
absence and we need another uh member uh in order to have a quorum which is always a problem with um uh committees and the commission is making sure we have a a quorum uh this one uh is actually even a little more difficult
but also we'll have to go to town meeting but it also has to get approved by the state legislature and I did run this by KP law and in both cases KP law has given us um a draft warrant article
uh which can be circulated to the board to look at uh and I'm happy to answer any questions uh you may have Tony I have one question and it's just regarding how frequently do you reach out to KP law and is that done
through the town Town staff I always I always ask uh Sean uh if I have a question if it would be okay if I could ask K and when it's something like this which would necessitate going to town
meeting I certainly don't want to take it upon the commission to to do that ourself without having some legal guidance right no I I complet no border Committee Member can expend money and essentially reaching out to Town Council is spending money that's my concern
without my authorization just because at the end of the day if the town budget is overexpanded you're looking for me you're not looking for a boorder committee um I generally you know if it's a question that we can answer going to the MMA or
getting going to another source I typically we go down that path if it's something that we have dealt with before you know that we have a legal response we don't go back and ask Town Council again but right right I usually you know I I rarely ever have said no we can't
talk to legal council I just try to that makes me nervous from a financial standpoint but that's I know but I know you're saying I just want to make sure it's you know you wind up in a a situation all right we're all set yeah okay um so now we're going to move to
Tony you're all set right yes okay thank you um now we're going to uh move to our consent agenda and I would like to pull out the minutes for 820 I didn't get a chance to finish those up um so I'd like
to uh have a motion to approve the consent agenda minus item number three vote to approve minutes so move uh wait a minute okay sorry I'd like to pull out number one so we're uh typo I don't know you want to pull out number one yeah
just Dian that shouldn't be alternate right that should be associate oh I don't know maybe it came through as alterate when I was talking to Marissa so yeah it should be associate but that's all yeah so
we'll just okay so to ass okay so um change that to associate okay so can we have a motion to approve um the consent agenda minus number three
so mooved second Katie Daniel just seconded oh good uh all in favor I I so moved select board time I'm good Daniel's good Doug I think I'm good swaptober Fest
this weekend 4 to8 town hall hope to see everybody there this is the fifth swampt toer Fest yeah congrats Dave Katy townwide yard sale same day yeah it's the 7th isn't it or it's the 14th it's
the 14th oh back you should start getting ready for yeah you should be cleaning out your um closets and basements there you go for the town white yard sale which is the 14th so uh I have one thing to say for select board
time we talk about yard sales we talk about concerts we talk about beer gardens we talk about a lot of things and the importance of community the most important thing about Community is being respectful to each other and I don't think that throwing
bombs at each other is a sign of community so I would really like in the future if people have issues go to the source first um I'm disappointed in what's happened at the last two meetings and I'm I'm hopeful that we can just
move on and and do better and that's my time I bet I bet we can make some progress I think they were good people and I think we just need to sit down and have some careful conversations I think there's stuff on both sides that people have to be there always is you know so reasonable we will
do better thank you Board of Assessors for coming thank you and we will be back wait wait wait no no it's down a motion to adjourn I also want to thank Joel duette and Nate Bim for handling the media tonight thank you gentlemen Doug
got I got one more sent housing series uh swamp Scott senior senator has put together this amazing series about affordable housing Pathways to housing as we age etc etc the moderator um starts September 16th despite the
moderator uh it's going to be a great great um uh series of events starting September 6:30 to 8 thanks D okay thank you David do you want to say it again motion to adjourn
second all in favor I I night motion carries