e e e e e e e e e seems Seems exciting there Doug I was
here and I had a okay should over to you um welcome to the August 20th select board meeting um this meeting is being recorded and if you could all join us to say the pledge pledge allei to the of the United
States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation under godible with liy and justice for all uh we're going to start our meeting with public comment if you could please come to the mic and give your name and
your address um and then your comments we'd appreciate it good evening uh Brian twist 65 Nason Road I just wanted to uh make a comment on the parking situation for n Road uh somehow we were omitted as a whole
street for the parking permits and we have three access points that are really concerning with a middle school back entrance a uh side street entrance to the back of the new school and also a cut through from Humphrey Street out to neighborhood and onto n that many kids
use and a lot of people una aware of so um I took it upon myself to start a petition amongst the residents of our street and so far I've been in touch with 24 of the 36 residences and each and every one of those 24 is in favor of
us getting parking uh restrictions for n Road uh the other 12 just haven't been home but I still plan on trying to meet up with them in the next week or so and just getting everybody's opinion but in no case has anybody ever had a negative thought about parking permits being
issued for our road so we're just hoping that you take some consideration uh looking into that and hopefully we can figure out something for the safety of not only the kids but there's a lot of bicyclists there's a lot of people walking their dogs and we know it's going to be a lot so we just want to try
to prepare ourselves so appreciate any assistance thank you thank you Mr twist anyone else Mrs patz hi there um my name is jeie patz I live at 29 n Road um I didn't know Brian was coming tonight I just wanted to make
sure that I um expressed my concern for the safety on of pedestrians and cyclists on n Road um with the added traffic I think because of um like all of the traffic that'll be obviously at pick up and drop off times for both the middle school and elementary schools um
couple that with cars parked on the streets I think visibility will be very limited um I'm sure there are ways to work around it um if you know if St if no parking or resident parking only isn't a possibility I feel like there are ways to play with that a little bit
but I do think safety is the number one concern I'm worried about we've lived in our house for 10 years and when Stanley was like a 400 person or kid school um there were issues then it gets very congested right we live right at the intersection of Orchard roads and N so
there's crosswalks there and really right at that turn um both ways there's you know safety issues and then also the end of nayet neighborhood and um Laurel are both kind of blind intersections uh
when you come down the road from like the busier roads that connect with n so I just think it's really important think about like how cars drive drivers will not be able to see if there's tons of cars there so thank you for your time I appreciate it thank you
jeie is there anyone else here for a public comment Marth hi my name is Martha Schmidt uh 105 brockland Street uh Precinct 4 um I'm also the chair of the uh climate action residence committee and the renewable energy committee but I'm not
speaking on behalf of those committees I'm just speaking as a as a private citizen so I'd like to comment on the uh peer project status presented at the recent meeting on August 8th um of the harbor and Waterfront advisory committee my concern was that
the meeting was depicted as a community meeting but I'm not sure it was or not was it a committee meeting because I didn't see it advertised I checked the newsletter I checked the website there were no push messages sent so perhaps it was just a committee meeting but um
apparently the public was invited to comment on the status of the plan and um as for members of the general public it would have been difficult to find out about that meeting so um I'm just wondering about the lack of transparency
with respect to the peer project design process and um kind of the assumption that it's presented as a done deal um and to understand how we got here I went back and I reviewed the harbor and Waterfront plan completed in 2020 um I
do appreciate that it took a great deal of effort that that committee put into it um but as I reviewed the reviewed the plan there was um pretty much a good description of the threats to our Coast from flooding you know storm surge
events but uh the solution the only solution that was presented in that plan was to create a what's called a living reef or really a Breakwater um and there was no other solution in that plan as opposed to the Klein Felder plan which
was a very um detailed plan with multiple Solutions uh presented so I'm just wondering whether that plan should be Revisited or the priorities should be Revisited in that plan um basically the
goals the main goals or takeaways in that plan is that we need to build a living reef but it was sort of conflated with okay that will help increase boat presence perhaps allow bigger boats to be you know mored in the harbor as
opposed to really solving the coastal flooding issue so um you know as I look at the harbor harbor and Waterfront committee members they talk strongly about the living reef as being the solution and I think that
um we've heard from multiple sources including kleinfelder I think we heard from Office of coastal zone management Woods Hole that that's really not a solution to coastal flooding so just wanted to kind of make you aware of
that um so in in summary i' just like to see if we have can get more transparency if there are public meetings to especially large projects um in town so thank you thank you Mar
is there anyone else rep public comment okay seeing are there any hands up yeah I just it seems like the icons I'm not sure if they're working or are they working if someone has their hand up we would see right
right thank okay so seeing none we're going to move on to um Item B and that is the showing of The High School documentary opening Mind through ART we have a uh Premiere coming on
Wednesday that's tomorrow the 21st from 11 to 12 at the where is this going to be at the swamp Scott high school media department so Heidi are you presenting
that um hi ID we director of Aging Services in Swampscott and I have with me Sabrina kton who is the assistant director at the senior center and if we can just take two minutes to share our um our extreme gratitude for all of the
work that the swampit high school put into this project um this is a a program that collaborates between the senior center and the students at the swampkat high school and those students are working directly oneon-one with our residents who are living with dementia
at some certain level and so the documentary was made by Danielle and Joe and Sammy they put it together and so do we have a citation can we just give them really quick oh please do thank you thank you um Joe and Danel Daniel want
to come down for a quick sec so um I'm just gonna read this with many thanks and much appreciation this certificate is presented for your dedicated work on the ma film advocating for Quality programming education and
enrichment for our community Joe duette [Applause] and Daniel [Applause]
meretsky so as Mary Allen just explained that we will be doing the debut tomorrow at the senior center it actually will be at 5:00 so we're doing an open show um art show from 5 to 6 and the video will be shown in full tomorrow afternoon at
around probably 5:30 so um do you want to I just wanted to highlight um that this summer we had uh 20 swamp Scott high school students who volunteered their time to either some of them had been trained during the school year um but about half of them volunteered their time to come for some pretty extensive
training to be a part of this program and participated in six weeks of programming so this is all voluntary um just wanted to just Express that that these kids really took a lot away from this and and did good things all summer so
yeah great this is just minutes in the middle of the video really well to De with them it was definitely a comfort I think to all of us my favorite part was probably my partner Ken I forget what the art
project was but she was it was one with like stamps and she just kept doing it and then by the end of it she was like wow this looks like like a bee of some sort so I thought I really liked that one I think she titled it like insect or something I really like that one because she was just having fun with it and she
really was enjoying that art project and it turned out to be like an actual picture she was wonderful we we talked about a lot of things and and uh she was constantly getting me my different things that I needed to paint and she was very sweet Chloe was absolutely
wonderful who was a s I was very much surprised very pleased um and I enjoyed working with Chloe she was really a a joy to work with and and I enjoyed it very much he
actually does some art and it was good art and what of them was made into a birthday card and so I think that I was very surprised that he loosen up to do that that Chloe was able to help him do
that he made one called like I think it was he titled it like the day after a party night and it was cool he like I don't know it looked like d it was just like random like designs all over but it ended up being cool I think one of them I think that was the one that was
featured on like a car or something at the final reception looking forward to something um with people of my age and even you know older and younger it was I don't have that opportunity very often and the program
um brought out the fact that talent doesn't depend on age and it was a unique experience to the rest of the people because it was a friendship both between the artists and the volunteers and see that kind of match was a wonderful thing and I think it did show
like really an impact like art can have and on people who struggle with these diseases and I think like it was cool to see like how social interaction and like art and just like like quality time can like help [Music]
them the biggest takeway I had was just helping other people out it was just good to talk to them cuz it might be hard for them cuz sometimes they have like nothing to do and just helping them make art and stuff we make them have fun I thought it was an opportunity to bring
the learning that I try to preach and teach every day inside of the classroom outside of the classroom and give them like an opportunity for real hands-on experience throughout the program I just want to say really quick that um Hadley who you just saw the
teacher was um very taken by the whole program and so instrumental that now this class will be part of the high school curriculum in the health class and so brain health and gerentology and all those things that come along with it is is being something that swamp Scot is
as way out in the far forward thinking so thank you awesome [Applause] great Heidi can you just stay up there just one second does anybody have any questions or comments
you don't included these in the pack Dian nothing other than thank you thank you I was great thanks a lot okay so moving along to um the town administrator's
report all right so um just seeking uh the board's um approval for an application for energy and efficiency and conservation block grant uh upon the hiring of a new
energy manager um we continue to look at opportunities to see where we can be more efficient uh this energy manager position has been discussed for years uh we have a excellent facilities Department uh certainly looking to
integrate a energy manager into that function sorry ch um uh certainly um you know something that uh a lot of communities are are looking to advance um pleased to report that we
have uh new police officers uh working in swampit officer harl officer McGee and officer Noble finished to a field training academy um six months worth of rigorous training and are out working in our community uh anticipate that we'll have a swearing in ceremony at one of
our next board meetings we have a number of uh fire promotions that we've had over the last uh few weeks as well that uh would like to cele Cate publicly uh library has been busy uh we have an excellent adult reading program um we've
increased uh from 12 participants to over 80 uh these are great ways to make connections and meet folks and and really um see all the wonderful programs we have at our library Senior Center is doing wonderful things I'm really proud
of the work with opening uh Minds through ART um these are programs that really do help Connect into generational uh groups uh it is so important when we address issues of social isolation happens with our young citizens and our
older citizens uh one of the most critical health issues that we often ignore and I'm glad that swampit is dialing into this um fire department had uh a uh uh a hiring exam on August 10th
uh we had 56 candidates uh turn out uh we have uh four vacancies that will be filling this is a significant uh opportunity for folks to uh engage in uh Public Service uh we have three vacancies but we expect another one in
September um certainly want to thank um Chief Archer but also number of our firefighters for uh working with an open house and and really doing their best to get out there and recruit uh individuals uh we are rolling up to our new school
um uh starting date uh Max Casper and uh a number of the department heads uh have worked closely uh with uh the neighborhood to address traffic concerns certainly I want to thank the neighbors uh who came out last week to attend a
community meeting um look I've said it previously um we need a lot of help and support um to make this project successful no neighborhood has been better at at really helping us and uh the individuals living around the school
uh but we're at the end of it it's $101 million Elementary School Consolidated elementary school that will be a state-of-the-art um school for this and future Generations so really proud of swampit but we will have to Circle back around in in four to six weeks with
another community meeting um traffic patterns will evolve we'll have to think about rainy days and snowy days and other changes that happen and and we'll have to have frequent meetings over the next U few months to really see where the
pressure points um build up uh in neighborhoods certainly hearing comments about n Road tonight uh are helpful and I think we can continue to flex to see where we can be supportive uh our uh Community Development Department's been busy uh we
have a number of projects we had a four-hour planning uh board meeting last week we have a proposal for six tow houses on Eastman AV um certainly uh number of concerns from the neighbors uh with that project uh we are looking to
apply for a tourism Grant we have a lot of busy things happening in swamp not only with the opportunity to put a hotel on Humphrey Street or um Readington have um we're looking at um a number of of opportunities to to really celebrate
swamps good s and Marblehead ders and Beverly um in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War more so lots of activity around this swamp is looking to take a lead in in helping to support some of these efforts
regionally uh uh Jeff and ni are are uh the first in the region to have a a public health um podcast our Public Health team is really looking to talk about opioid use um and uh issues that we've faced in swampit swamp's not
immune folks uh have stories about opioid uh use and the challenges that have um faced swamped families please reach out to Jeff vaugh uh our health director and share those stories so that we can actually help other families uh I
have met with uh several of our Board of Health members over the last two weeks we have talked about really having a Regional Board of Health meeting talking with sent Marvel head ha and really thinking about where are we seeing
hospitalizations um in at Northshore Medical Center or at hospitals in the region we need to see more of that data so we can actually come up with some Public Health um programs that will address um the risks that our residents are facing veteran services uh has been
busy we have conversations happening right now for uh Veterans Day but um we are thinking about uh Partnerships with military friends foundation and the Boston Food Bank um we have uh a number of veterans veterans um that have been
supported um through the heroes program and uh number of veterans have joined us at Cafe avalino and um you know reaching out for breakfast um and different uh Community programs I'm uh Recreation has
been busy with our uh second annual Humphrey Street block party huge success want to thank DPW but also um denelle and uh our recck department Jackie for all of the work that went into uh that plan um so October Fest is busy uh
David's been busy um you know helping to lead another uh big party seems like uh it gets better and better every year and we have our townwide yard sale coming up on September 14th so go into your basement and get rid of a lot of that stuff and make sure it doesn't wind up
in our Solid Waste stream lots of stuff to be cleaner and Greener about my report any questions Danielle um I just had a couple a couple of questions um how are we notifying people
that attended the the entrance exam open house for the fire department how do we notify those candidates at what point we are in the process or what stage they can expect to hear from us or timeline how we have a testing company that we work with and they um send out some
notifications I can get the specifics um out to the board I just don't have that available but I I do know that that you know we are in communication just like the police department you know they do get you know emails and they do get um you know uh notifications from the fire
department and just a question on the the Energy Efficiency grant for the position that we're looking at so have we already submitted that Grant or is that what stage are we at with that we haven't submitted it but you know we're we're looking at that I would anticipate
I'll be back at a next meeting for a vote of the board so wanted it's on it's it's in our it's in our packet tonight we're looking to vote on it tonight okay um I I think it's a great there is definitely a great need I'm just concerned because I if I read it
correctly so it would be Grant funded for the first year and then FY 26 somehow will absorb it into the operating budget um I have concerns about that just because I really think that at some point we need to stop and
look at the total FTE at Town Hall before we decide what can be added what can be absorbed so I'm just a little concerned about that P I don't know if that's been worked out or if there's a a great conversation Danielle I think every year
we look at the FTE do an analysis uh year to year and I can come back and and kind of present some of that data I'm always worried about not just the impact in the operating budget with the salaries it's the soft cost it's retirement cost and so you you have to look at at a number of different lines
but when I look at an energy position as opposed to any other position I I actually I think about the efficiencies that are going to be baked in with a position like this this position if if we hire it right is going to look at
every one of the line items in our budget that expend money on energy and they're going to think about ways to build efficiencies and and I anticipate that this position will help pay for itself early on and help us really
identify short and long range efficiencies with how we use energy this is really um a position that I think we can't afford not to look at I agree as opposed to looking at at all the other ftes and kind of thinking
about where could we be more efficient and where could we actually have Regional um relationships that actually would help us be that much more effective Ive with the FTE because if if we can reduce an FTE from 1.0
to6 and we can reduce the soft Cost U to6 as well we can actually do more I think there's number of opportunities with regional um you know relationships that we could actually continue to be more efficient great because that that was my
only concern I just want to make sure I know we have some open positions I think DPW assessors I I think that at some point we have to do a real deep dive in what you know what position requires X number of hours right does this job really get the job done if we're if it's
a part-time position right or do we should this be a 32 or a 34-hour sure all of those are are important conversations we typically do a vacancy review anytime there's a vacancy we we look at the job description we look at you know what is the position doing is
there a different way to do it is there a different opportunity to help um you know reorganize and and see where we can make uh better alignments there's been an extensive amount of that work down over the last few years at
Town Hall you know and and certainly happy to you know follow up and and have more conversations about how we how we really look at building more sustainable budgets but this position just getting back to the energy manager is is part of that
overall approach to be just more efficient I think it's great my other question um did we have an update from the health department on the rat situation the road imp situation yes um you know I don't have an update for tonight but we're working on it I had a
meeting today with uh a resident that is working on a a presentation and is working with our Board of Health and our um suggested that we we combine some of the uh work that we're doing we we need
a broader um CommunityWide approach to um the rodent um prevention um certainly at the next meeting we can have an agenda item that can update the the board and the community on on some initiatives that
we're going to take to address rodents even if it's just like a one-pager FAQ from the health department out to all of our res email just what they can do what something but to you know we'll get that up this week but I think you know there's there's
more um there's more steps that we have to take both commercially both um residentially and and as a a town that will help us uh have a a little bit more of a better practice when it comes to Road and control thank
you Doug nothing thanks David nopee I'm good thank you um so I just have a couple questions on the fire department we're going to have we have four vacancies uh if they've taken a test in mid August test results will be back in
three weeks does that mean that we that these positions would be filled by October 1 I think there's every reason to believe that they could be filled by October one yep okay once they get in you know they because they don't have to go to the acad they can start work right away
versus the police department has to go through the academy okay um the next question I had was uh on the veterans we have a program that's going on with having banners we're going to have banners hanging out
I'm just wondering how is that being advertised out there you know we're uh I met with the veterans agent yesterday and we're putting together uh a program for that we're going to reach out to uh swampit veterans and ask them to send in
pictures of their uh service if they're a veteran um you know or if there're a family that has a veteran we want to get a picture and we're going to put them on a a banner uh obviously um we've got to go out and raise some funds to support this we've
got some limited funds in the town budget but the cost associated with this program will be up to $115,000 so it's my hope that we can raise about $10,000 to help defay uh the cost of this but um we've seen this program inh
um and we've seen it in other communities uh this will be banners that will be on um light poles and telephone polls throughout the town that will just celebrate the service of swamps uh veterans
so that is an initiative that Mary Ellen has asked us to uh advance but certainly something that we have talked about for the last couple of years so I'm glad that um you know this is coming to fruition so if you are are a swamp Scout
resident or you have been a swamp Scout resident and you served in the military please um contact Diane are you contact Diane um at Town Hall and we need your photograph and your service time and
we're going to make a banner up there and we're also going to have some serious fundraising so that we can have this town covered with um photos of our of our veterans okay um all right with that said nobody
has any other questions and I'm done with my questions we can move to New and Old business um let's go right to the second reading of the proposed policy regarding Memorial and memorials and
monuments uh so this is a a policy that's being uh recommended um we have a lot of uh uh historic properties uh and uh this policy is uh aimed at at helping
to ensure that you know we keep these properties um wellmaintained uh sometimes you know uh a lot of things can pop up uh because of good intentions but you know we really want to keep the
board um in a position to help manage and um approve certain monuments or public art uh for uh the town as under the town Charter the Town Administrator is
responsible for all public properties but I I do think having a policy for memorials is appropriately before the board and this is some this is a responsibility that the Town Administrator and the select board share
and um this policy I think is a good start I think it it adds a due process and it adds some uh simple standards uh but certainly open to the board's uh thoughts about how to add
more rigor to it you can find policies that are 10 20 Pages or you can keep it relatively simple and just ensure that you know we have a a public process for these types of of uh public art and
public memorials I have to admit when when did we first this is the second reading when was the first reading was it recently it wasn't it was a while ago a while ago after the acquisition of some art it came into a
conversation that we should have a policy okay yeah no it sounds like a great idea I'm just feeling embarrassed that it was I in the okay I don't know I don't think he was he there's no have too have to vot PR which means it's I don't
think we yeah we should vote on this tonight but I think we should just address any questions because two of you and we also really didn't have a presentation of a policy we just had a need for policy right so by Stanley School site I assume they mean swamp
Scott Elementary School site that's correct yes and also there's a reference to the board of Selectmen that we should update to the select board um I have a couple of comments that's okay yeah okay um
so the art The Monuments the donations that become part of our community um I see that there that we're sort of the idea is that we would create this sort of committee where there' be different representation on it um but
what I don't see is a public representation so just a normal Joe off The Street having an opinion about or a public uh anywhere for the public to have input on this so you want to add in um I mean I public
earing I didn't really like flush out what my idea is I sort of just wanted to bounce it around since I thought this might not be the last reading but I would like to have some sort of public input um as to location appropriateness um I mean art is subjective so I don't
really need people to say whether or not they like it but more so like for example example I know we have a beautiful piece that was donated to us and um recently it's like caused some issue regarding like how the public interacts
with it right because it's in a public space and kids are climbing on it and things like that and so the appropriate of the location appropriateness of the location maybe it would be great to have some more public input that way sure I
think there's a there's a due process that you can build in here whether it's public or perhaps other boards or committees that might be jurisdictionally more uh helpful you have a number of open space uh Recreation uh committees that I I think
you know could also you know be leaned on to you know weigh in so you'd like to have at least one public hearing the way I was thinking about it is that those that Committee of representatives from other committees would sort of maybe create suggested locations and then the
public would have opinion about those suggested locations not that they could just you know have open rain over everything but that there would be specific reasons as to the fitness of particular locations for particular pieces and then people could say yes or
no I think that makes a lot of sense I'm thinking maybe even a form if if or an application form that says hey look if you want a piece of public Art here's the description give us a a location and then maybe we have a few of the boards
or committees or departments sign off on it or perhaps recommend we do that for a number of different events and different things maybe there's a maybe there's a reasonable right um you know application process that makes the bar a little bit
more um you know driven by a a thoughtful process I think that makes sense I mean you're talking some of these are neighborhoods and certainly neighbors are going to have concerns maybe suggestions interests you know so to
engage the public absolutely there's no reason not to I would agree with that anybody else no no issues all right so let's just call this the first reading and we'll uh bring this back in case somebody has a uh an idea I I had
one okay back to Katie um the cost related to the objects right so I know we this um the objectives talk a little bit about like maintenance and um like so what is a gift may eventually become
a taxpayer burden small B not to be uh aggressive with that but could end up costing a little bit of funds right whether to make it safe or secure or to upkeep it so having um it would be good to know that projection or estimate and advence
right when we're having the conversation to know what like to understand the cost that it may end up costing us to keep it in the condition it's in or protect it or ensure it or things like that sure absolutely I think that's
um life cycle value um actually just where did this uh Draft come from this is a brand new policy or an update brand new we do not new right like created from Whole cloth other communities have
to look into worked on it y that' be great does marzy want to speak Mar you don't want to speak should be able to if she wants to maybe not and while while you're getting her hooked up the other question is yeah
in terms of like you know the the the grid here um where did do Mary is this your kind of first draft of yes Mars you did okay well I can clarify that a little bit maybe um this really resonated from
the open space and planning committee um as you know the open space committee is tasked with um uh looking at Open Spaces throughout Town um so they definitely have some concerns about preserving and
um have an appropriate um art or fixtures in any of the open space uh so that uh recommendation and the draft that's in front of you was done by the open space committee okay great thank you and that's a great point
because I mean not and this is not a critique on anyone at all but who decided you know which location would be appropriate for for what so was is it open space that came up with this grid and it is yeah Brian longan and Tanya
lilick were the individuals that I think primarily worked on drafting this okay great so the only concerns that I do have is just any issues that we would have with freedom of speech someone
wanting to donate something and it not being approved and then it coming back that's you know so always those constitutional issues are always out there and we just have to navigate through those as carefully as possible
and then my other uh just a question that that popped up for me was the last one it shall be the policy of the board of selectman that the placement of memorials for deceased Town residents or to commemorate significant Regional or national event or to commemorate the
history and contributions of any group within the town of Swampscott shall be done very sparingly for compelling Reasons I'm not really sure we would even need to have that in there but that's the only thing that really kind of caught my eye I think the critique was that Monument a was
becoming uh that could become very saturated and that maybe that uh that we should be thoughtful going forward about what ends up on Monument app since it may both enhance the
community but also deter from the significance of the things that are already on Monument app so I think that was sort of the thought process of that conversation um and I think that's sort of the idea where this came from for the meeting correctly okay got it okay
that's it so we will move this to a a further meeting in the near future marsy do you have anything else to say is that all right with you we move it to a another meeting it's really our first viewing absolutely and what I like to do is is bring in all the
comments and recommendations that you have um to the open space committee maybe we can provide you with an updated draft that would include um the the comments that you made this evening okay do you have those comments or do you need them from tomorrow okay all right thank you yes I have I'll
coate I'll make sure that Diana and I both have check notes together that coms thank you great thank you Mary at at the risk of extending this um but I know this does end up being quite an issue for people um I think we're going to be in a chicken and egg situation here
because we have the recommendation from one committee right um and then we're going to be putting in a position to like are we approving this or not this exhibit a in particular um it really feels like you really should have the committee that's
the Coordinating Committee get together and actually fill this out because right now you have just one perspective on this how to fill out exhibit a you don't have the cultural Council you don't have this you don't have that right kind of weighing in on this so may maybe as I'm
thinking out loud maybe we approve the policy in general but maybe we don't get so specific about actually right this grid maybe this is just a this will just be a ref that's their template to fill in once they get together and actually work it out this is just like a recommendation whereas
we're just focusing on the policy I think the conversation has been very helpful I think the an application process I think would help Channel everything into a a form that could come back to the board and answer a lot of the questions that the board might have
for a uh an action and I do think you know some of the language in there I think it can get tweaked so it's not offensive to anybody and and we can just make sure that we do uh our best job being careful with public properties and
making sure that we're good custodians and things don't get too okay busy y okay we're all set okay now we're moving to uh item number two discussion possible vote on early pool rentals Yep
this is a uh ministerial responsibility uh Steve Cummings our Building Commissioner is here he's our uh code enforcement officer um Steve has uh asked me to uh seek the board's uh support for a uh authorizing the building commissioner or our code
enforcement officer to file an action in court uh seeking some uh zoning enforcement for a property located at 127 Readington Street um this is something that is just a a ministerial responsibility of the town and I need
the board's vote for this so could I have a motion um authorizing the Town Administrator and the Building Commissioner uh to file an action in court uh seeking zoning enforcement uh for a property located at 127 Readington street so moved Katie
second sure second can we discuss that yeah sure um I just want to make sure that whatever we are enforcing we're enforcing across the board to all residents absolutely this is uh an action that we've already
enforced zoning compliance for uh and um at this point we have uh non U conformance and we are seeking to get conformance okay all any other questions good all in
favor hey uh so moved um now we're going to item number three discussion and possible vote on creation of feasibility study committee for Community Life Center this is a project that Katie maybe you want to
address because been in your wheelhouse so basically um the request is for a feasibility study committee um which uh we would seek
individuals who are looking to exert their passion about this community and have a diverse background experiences and perspectives um in order to develop the idea of a um Community Life Center
and uh we've been in this discussion on a community Life Center for a little bit of time now in Heidi and a bunch of other very passionate folks about um our community have been engaging in this conversation
um for a while we we spoke to all at town meeting and we funded um the feasibility study so this is the next step in that um funding process now we're looking to create the committee and um put together the documentation
needed to decide if and when we can build a community life center in town so um I'm going to comment on this first uh couple things I don't think that the select board did have enough conversations about this however it was
passed through the capital um line item um this is $100,000 that I would like I would like to see a committee I think we have amazing people in this town that can do really great work but I would rather I'd
like to see a committee formed and do enormous amount of work before any dime is spent um on a consultant or I would just like to see the spending of money be the very last resort I'm sure you're going to have to spend money but that's
my opinion on there I'd like to see that happen last I'd like to just um you know just suggest you know I I agree with you Mariel need more committees but you know we appropriated $100,000 at town meeting to help support A needs assessment and
and really get a consultant on board similar to what we did with uh you know the feasibility for an elementary school or any kind of feasibility uh for a project and and we've waited uh months now to try to really Kickstart this and
and putting uh um this project forward I think allows us to build build some excitement and get people uh excited about really working we our all ages committee is the biggest committee that we have in town we have we have literally more people eager to help
support our seniors uh and serving on committees to help Advance uh all ages responsibilities and just by any other committee that we have in in swampit and so I would urge the board to move forward right now and and really use
this time to really uh get those dollars working and and help us bring a consultant on board to identify the weaknesses Identify some of the strengths and and really think about how do we move forward with a feasibility for a a really bold vision
for helping swamps get U all ages be as successful as as we need it to be I guess I have a oh I was just going to respond to Mary Allen's comment what I don't disagree that more time should be allotted to this that's absolutely
what will happen here but there there actually has been quite a bit of time and research already put into um the idea of a community life center I know that we've engaged multiple communities and what they've developed as their Community Life Center what worked what
didn't work sort of if people thought the that need was present in town um collecting ideas of what a Community Life Center could be not just what we envision it to be but what other communities around us have don't have so that other communities would be coming
in and enjoying the center that we have if it's having um if it's giving something to our region that the region doesn't already possess um so a lot of time energy and effort has already gone into this and we will continue to do
that um but uh we don't have all the answers but this will certainly put us on the track of knowing what additional question questions are out there and how we can go forward to answer them right so I'm just going to go back to where my reservations are we're
talking about a community life center what are we talking about building a $10 million facility or we talking about $3 million $6 million like what is the long-term thought process in here because I don't I don't see where the long-term thought process because this
has not been discussed at the select board meetings I have heard uh members of the high school construction um committee come in here and say that this building was actually built for the purpose of having more Community usage
here so I'm just I'm concerned about what is our longterm vision of what is it we really need and what is it we're actually able to do in our small town and as far as building something regionally so that the region could help
I'm looking at Big Ticket items that we're looking at in the future I'm not super concerned about our region I'm concerned about what we can afford here right now what's feasible especially with what we've got going with uh the money that's got to go into our Middle School next let should be right up your
alley then because as I promised at town meeting we would look at our existing part of this RFP will request that the consultant look at our existing assets and see how they could be better utilized or further utiliz or can't be utilized for the needs that
that we will discover during the RFP process this is a not to borrow the line from Doug but chicken in the egg situation if you come out and say this is what the town needs and then you put forth an RFP to show what the town needs then the community doesn't feel HT because they don't feel like they got to say what their needs were so the whole
point of this process is that the consultant comes in has a com looks at what we have in our infrastructure looks at what we have available to us figures out how we can utilize what we have to fit our needs what needs we have that we don't have a way to fit in what we have
currently how we can manipulate it all to work together to one spend an appropriate amount of funds to fulfill the needs that the whole Community has not just a group who came forward and thought a need was there and how we interpret that need I
mean that's why I think it's so important to do the feasibility study early because I don't want to get we no none of us want to get into a situation where a lot of people spend time amount a lot of time and energy on an idea that isn't really there can I yeah offer
maybe some support to both of you um I I guess on one hand I have a little bit different concern I'm not really sure with all these volunteers that we have on swanscott for all ages etc etc why we need a separate Committee in order to do this um those people already
understand exactly what's happening and it is all ages um so why do we need a separate committee to do it maybe there's a good reason that's just a question um but on the money thing um you know I think several of us I think marielen and I have often asked about
kind of an overall planning for um assets that we have right now and understanding exactly where things are going we kind of even I think I kind of kind of hear about how various assets are going to be deployed but I'm not
really sure um so you know I understand and I at first blanched at the cost of this um but was assured that this unfortunately is like the going rate for doing this type of work um you know I'm sure we'll do an RFP and we'll find out whether or not it can be less expensive
or whatever um but I do wonder if you know now that Max is gonna have so much time on his hands um that you know how much he can help with this um whether or not not there's a phased approach to this or it's like an All or Nothing is
Soup To Nuts or is there like a first phase that kind of assesses you know just big dots like oh you've got four other kind of community life centers you know within two miles of you and you really should you know it's a no-brainer you really should form a partnership
with this why or whatever and make it you know I don't know just like totally spitballing here right and instead of going all the way to the end you basically find out $30,000 in that there's a you know Plan B um I don't
know I have no idea but maybe just I guess I'm I'm up for this you all did a presentation at town meeting town meeting supported this you know I I feel like that that question's been asked and answered um but doesn't hurt to continue
to be you know scrupulous with the way that we do this um so both in terms of people's time in terms of another committee and kind of is is there a way to kind of you know phase this um that really makes sense that would be great if that's crazy when you get in the
details which I can imagine maybe it is then I'm all for it so I had sorry I'm gonna raise my hand because I never good job Daniel gold star I just opened my mouth sorry it's her birthday this
week anyway um so I think what I'm hearing from Katie and this is where my concern lies to Echo what Doug said a little bit and I don't know if this is what you actually said but we seem to have an abundance of committees in this town and maybe a little bit too many
committees um so I am concerned and this is this goes back to the peer kind of what what Mrs Schmidt was speaking about um we seem to get an idea in our head we create a committee and then they kind of
take it and run with it without a lot of input from the community so if I'm listening to what Katie said we wouldn't necessarily be using this money to go ahead and build a A New Life Center right for all maybe we're going to look at how we can use our high school our
Middle School our new elementary school and that would be part of it so by us signing off on this committee doesn't is not us signing off on a new community center that we might not be able to afford right and this money was already allocated through town meetings so that's why I would be comfortable
spending it for that purpose but I really do think that this is the same recurring theme that we have we create committees with with an idea Without Really checking in to see if it's on the priority list of the people that live here right and getting their feedback
and kind of measuring that and we kind of do that at town meeting but that's not really representative of every single person in this town this is a bigger piece anytime we're building a building or thinking about building a building that's a big conversation with the town for me just like when we're thinking about building a peer that's
$10 million that's a big conversation that's a bigger part than just people on a committee I I'm I'm kind of concerned with how we who we have on the committee because I think that um we'd need Partners in different areas right I mean
I think the schools would need some representation here because if we're talking about using school buildings we're talking about a lot of things so I would just be kind of concerned with how we how we staff committees in general that's a big concern for me and making sure that it's a big cross-section not everyone in this town is going to think
that they want to spend money on a community life center right so we need to hear those voices too um that would be my only concern but I I think that you know I wouldn't be opposed to it and I certainly think a consultant the way that you stated it would be helpful so we can understand what we have that we
might be able to use already right right so my objection is I don't think we need a consultant right away if it was phased I don't think we need a consultant right away I think we could have a committee identify what the needs are what the wants are have that really clear and at
that point decide H do we need to have a consultant then send out your RFP and bring in a consultant but um I see that point that's my only point just to go go here there and and even though $100,000 was in the capital budget that means we have to go out and borrow the
$100,000 at at a later date and it doesn't mean we have to spend a 100,000 but and I am I don't have a problem with with having a committee or use an ex I don't think an existing committee is really going to do it I think and I don't think you even this is really more
like a task force you know it has which should have an end date um but putting people together so that you do have background I I actually I do support that I just don't support spending the money right away with as many smart people we have in town David no I I agree I think we have a I think we have
many smart uh people in town um we certainly have up to 3 24 elected town meeting members who did vote to allocate you know this $100,000 so I do think that it that it is it is in our purview to really to really get
going on this I think you know I think it's important that we look at our existing infrastructure and how it can be used I think that that's smart and that gives me confidence to move forward with with the allocation of those funds I I don't think anybody here at this
table is saying let's let's go and let's let's look at building a building at any price I think we're we're saying we want to allocate the funds that were voted on by our representative town meeting members um and really get get to work I I don't know if we need a another
committee uh to do this or not um I think I that's just my opinion but I do think that we need to we need to be moving forward and and engaging and and moving forward with with uh with with engaging a consultant because you know again we're not going to know what we
have and what you know what tools are in our respective toolbox until we get to until we get to work with this consultant so can we just do you have anything else or does Heidi any I think I think it would be in my mind there's two questions on the table one is why the separate
committee um and the other is um now I forgotten it let start with that before you you go because I think you'll have oh oh I know the other one was like to a little bit Mary Allen's question about the what work has already been done and why are we at this phase now it's not
like and Katy mentioned this too there's been a lot of talk a lot of work for many years in certain smaller groups and I think they feel they're at this stage not at the stage of big question mark oh was the first idea thinking about it like it's been cooking for a while sure
so um just to give you a little bit of a background Heidi came to me uh years ago and said Sean we we don't have enough for our seniors and I said well uh much like uh maryi Allen I said well we got
to build a a new Consolidated Elementary School we got to fix the I started thinking like we have a lot of things to do and so I suggested we need a feasibility Heidi I need to really I need a team of folks to actually look at all of our existing properties and kind
of figure out what can we do in the most responsible feasible way to help address the needs that that she sees every single day the sense of the
committee is it's because we we change a an all ages committee that's really an all-encompassing advocacy committee that deals with the Sun the moon the stars of of all ages it's complicated responsibility to a brass
tax task force and this is a it's instead of a a committee think of a task force where they're going to visit just like our school building committee near and far sites they're going to bring Consultants with them they're going to look at space needs they're going to
look at Innovative uh uses of of nonprofit space and religious space and uh community space and they're going to take all of that on behalf of this board and behalf of the all AES committee and come back and say here's what we learned
here's what we have here's what we think we can achieve and it's $100,000 and that's a lot of money Mary Ellen's right to be wary of just you know sending everybody off of the checkbook and that's why I think you have a Town Administrator and you have people that
are in positions to negotiate the scope of work for a contract that will help us get a deliverable and a report probably inches thick just like a feasibility report for an elementary school that
will help you answer the questions that you've asked hey sorry I wanted to just give the backdrop but you know you you your passion and your energy and Bob Powell and the uh work of of our all ages and
Cheryl uh you're here tonight too I like there's an army of people that are behind um these um ideas and and you're here to kind of share some of those um yes thank you and
and it it honors me that you are spending so much time talking about this and trying to figure out where where we should go with this um I will say to start um Daniel we we did A needs assessment back in 2019 for all ages and it was found in
that study that we really do need more space for our seniors specifically um Danielle Strauss has been working with us very closely uh as well and we really feel strongly that a community life center that is an intergenerational place for people to come and be together
and share both young sharing teaching um teaching older people who have dementia as well as older people teaching young people how to read Etc would be a wonderful space for us all to have and so when we talked about this committee or task force we talked about seeing if
we could find some someone from the select board that would be a liaison someone from the swamps good for all ages committee from Parks and wreck from the COA from the PTO maybe the veterans and disabilities and and a whole bunch of different maybe nine people on this
committee to like like Sean suggested go and and visit other places around the state and see what's going on and see how we can create something here in swamp Scott and and I also um should say that we ALS o feel strongly that someone
like Mary Dillo who spoke strongly and was on the board here in the swamps High School to say that hey this was supposed to be community space well let's invite Mary in on it and and share and see how we can use this space more effectively if that's the answer so I'm sorry that still isn't
that's great is it that the people that have already been baked into this idea already just don't have the Cycles to be able to be part of this committee it just feels like we're kind of like restarting you got all these people in swampa for all ages they've been kind of thinking about this for a long time like
why why do we need another group that well I think that swamps for all ages might not um have representation from Danielle Strauss and right the rec committee so what what so why don't we you're you're saying you need nine you want
nine people or you want 11 people the suggestion is nine we'd take 11 if you want to give us 11 we'll find 11 people passionate about Community Life centers but I think the other point is Doug when you think about the commitment that you make to a
committee um it's almost endless right so um there's a resignation or something that happens for you to leave but like you're almost signing you know signing away a little bit how long you plan to
be there whereas if it's a task force or a feasibility study committee there's an end in sight so you may have people who have maybe a little less time or a little more interest in the specific topic or against the specific topic for that matter raising their hand and
saying hey I'd like to be part of that conversation that they might not be part of a more broader conversation so I don't to me the idea of a committee or a task force it seems like that is a good direction to go and I get your point like are we recreating the wheel not necessarily but are you bringing more
people along for the ride absolutely it sounds to me kind like what you're saying is you're looking for people too that might not that are you know might have opposing views right they might not necessarily think that a you know that this is something that we should build right maybe it's something
we look at a different avenue for and maybe the Council on Aging or or the all ages committee is really comprised of people that think that we do need to build something yes but the other thing that swans ages um committee has are folks who are just interested in housing
and so their focus is on housing or their focus is on transportation and how we provide more transportation for our seniors as we age um and not necessarily looking to specifically at creating another Center so it does it me makes sense to me that we would look for
different you know I didn't initially think that that would make sense but the way that you present it and the way that Katie was explaining it it really makes sense right we really do want a cross-section of the community you know and we want to hear people from all areas with all opinions and all input
right so why not see if we can assemble and I think a task force is really a better word for it so that we understand that it you know has a finite end point it's not a committee in perpetuity right for La I think this task force has the advantage of some uh recent Reflections
right from Le lessons learned that that we can sort of okay we don't want to put the cart before the horse we don't want to say what we want before we understand the need of the community the we being the community need so I think that's really the important part that we create
a cross-section of the community that feels like they can come forward and have good discussion and good information from Consultants when necessary and put together something that's really meaningful so that when it comes back to the table that one inch
thick report for us all to look at it will have the weight of something behind it and people won't feel like what do we do with this now because we've already done done the a little bit of the community dig we've already done a little bit of understanding our what we
have um for assets how the assets work and don't work and then we could really push it once we've gotten that information on what we feel like the next step is so what could you just read off the people that that you were recommending well the we were not the
people you're recommending the for the Committees your so so when um we talked about it we talked about a liaison from the board someone from the swamps good for all ages committee someone from Recreation is it commission I
think um the COA Council on Aging um PTO veterans disability commission maybe someone with a background in building I don't know you'll have the technical support
from from our so you would probably want a representative of the finance committee okay somebody with the schools school department schools you say school committee or schools okay so that gets us nine and
then we have 10 and 11 just Public public yeah Community yeah Community Partners who don't are not sitting on a yeah maybe an architect or uh you know somebody that has a technical um background in Elders Affairs or you know
know student Community yep student okay so are we looking for a motion to have um a task force to have a fe feasibility study task force well actually you take out the select board member as a voting member and just add them as a
liaison how does that sound and then you have three people from the public so you'd have three members of the public you'd have swam Scout for all ages Recreation Council and aging uh veterans disability finance committee um
school committee and then you have the three um wild cards so can we have a motion on that so moved second I all in favor I I so moved all right so we'll post uh this and
we'll be back in a month with uh three um Community uh representatives for the task force thank you Heidi thank you thank you and it should uh marelen if it if it's okay I would like to throw my hand up for the select board leaz on
unless somebody wants to we might have to do a lottery all right well we might have to do rock paper scissors you have the select board you can add another select board member to this committee okay um all right so that uh motion has passed now moving
on to number four uh discussion possible vote to reappoint or appoint members on the following boards and committees and what we'll do is we'll start with uh affordable housing um can I have a motion to
appoint uh Kimberly Martin Epstein to affordable housing trust going do one by can we just consolidate or you want um do each one we can okay we do the whole affordable housing trust okay so we'll just do affordable housing
trust can a motion to appoint Kimberly Mart Epstein Joan honog Aaron bof and Douglas Thompson to the affordable housing trust so moved second second I have to recuse myself I believe you do
de okay it's fine I support the other three sure all right all in favor I I Against I am an against I'm a no um Andrews Chapel oversight committee uh Dana
Anderson Barbara Depetro can I have a motion to for uh Dana Anderson and Barbara dietro for the and moved second all in favor I I I five um Commission on disability Jill susri dick baker has
gone to a different committee so it's just Jill suser motion to approve Jill suser for the commission on disability second second all in favor I so moved Council on Aging Barbara [Music] Depetro motion to approve Barber barbert
Depetro Council on agent second all in favor I culture Council uh Laura Lynn motion to approve Laura Lynn for cultural councel second all in favor I historic district commission Anthony
Sanchez Stacy ring so moved second favor I short commission uh kimberry Nancy Schultz Mary Shapiro so moved second second all in favor I so move open space
and Recreation committee uh Tony bandt all in favor I oh hold on so moved second second all in favor I okay renewable energy commission Joe Roman George Allen so moved second George is
in front of us say hi oh hi George thanks for coming George did you want to say anything sure just make sure people can see your shirt when they're when you're talking I'm living this commission uh George Allen 27 bav uh
40-year resident of swamp Scott uh my day job I'm the chief scientist at a small nonprofit company in Boston I've been working in the environmental science field for 48 years that's a long time and uh I don't know I my goal here
is to basically it's all here building and vehicle electrification that's probably the most effective way to get to lower emissions so that's uh what I'd hope to do some work on and there is some news on the funding I just told Martha this yesterday um there is a
hundred million for heat bumps money on the street that just got awarded on the IRA program that it's $100 100,000 sorry 100 million for the state of Massachusetts there's uh five other New England states that also got money under the same uh same Grant so there is some
work to be done and I hope to be able to do some of it what does that mean there's 100 million I'm sorry what is it what does that mean does that mean that there's going to be grants or yes it's it's a grant that's correct yes okay Mary is on yeah so we need to figure out how we can
get some that here in swamp Scott great excellent thank thank you thank you for thanks George sounds like George is pay for himself already George if I could vote for you twice I would 100 million times thank you George um all right so
did we we motion do we have a motion for okay motion second second all in favor I okay Solid Waste advisory committee we have Jason Hagen Stephanie noyman and Matthew uh pin he's going to be uh
staying with the infrastructure committee two Committees of this serious committee uh two committees at this level um he wants to focus just on one so we are going to have an opening for a solid waste advisory committee Diane okay all right so um
motion have a motion motion motion second second all in favor I I so I have a followup question and I don't know if this uh requires even a vote of this committee but people want to swap on a committee between being a member and an
alternate does that require a vote of this board can it does okay then I would like to add something I'm not sure if we can add it if it wasn't on the agenda okay well I mean this I mean it's this level I mean basically there's two people on the
historic commission okay that want to switch roles um so why we do it and then just if the lawyers call us in the morning okay that be fantastic I'd appreciate that um so uh got their first names let me get you their full names for the
record oh Diane do we have their full names uh yes I have them so uh we want to swap Ryan Judkins hold on is this historic district commission no just historic commission historic commission historical commission historical
commission hysterical watch Brian and Brendan Bradley are uh Brendan is the uh become the alternate and Ryan would become the full
member okay uh wait a second that's how it is already is yep switch that switch that sorry reverse stri that reverse it y Brendan would be the full member and Ryan would be the alternate Doan you have that yes I
do and then at risk of oh you want Oh do we need to vote on that sorry right so we do but I have a question okay I'd like to make that motion second okay now question yeah um so when they switch
like that we don't review other applicants well I don't think we' red other applicants in any of these have we I did well for historic commission that's yes I did fully review everyone that was available Doug AA on them agree to that last time right yeah that's how
we were doing it but this whole this list came before that process was put in place right so it's okay that you did that great right right um but this list has been lingering for right a while now really these specific people yeah I mean we this was on an agenda and was taken
off the agenda to talk about that process right yeah yeah you're right before the I just want to make sure because I don't think any of my um boards are committees have alternates so I don't really know how to handle the idea of switching like does it make sense that that that they could
just switch roles or should we be looking at people who also applied for the current role well it's the opinion of the chair and the liais on that these are appropriate people to switch these roles okay so but what you're saying is in the future yes maybe in the in the
future you want to I mean I would think that if somebody is an alternate that they best situated to become the member okay that's what I'm asking that's the intention right that's why they're that be the intention however if there is somebody with more experience I would
think that person that could be a possibility yeah there would be a possibility but it seems like it's the recommendation on the Lea Zone excellent okay and then I have another question for hold on a minute okay so we did have a motion we had a second discussion now all in favor
I okay one other question and God I almost I almost don't really want to engender a conversation right here but I do feel like we need to be clear about whether or not people who do not live in town can still be on committees and I think we need a consistent policy about
that or if there's we have room for exceptions or whatever so uh don't want to open a can of worms about there's no one specific here but there are people on legal issues y totally agree we're not going to discuss this tonight we're discuss but I'm gonna I'm going to put
it on my to-do list okay all right I second that I'm I'll put it on my to-do list too I I have I have talked about it years before and I have legal opinions that I can share and okay oh okay great just want to be k- sure about it cool thanks all right um we had people
that lived down town okay so we're all set with uh we're all set right we can Katie did you have another comment no okay you just throw them at the last minute I want to make jum oh you're right I do love last minute comment but I don't have one right now sorry so now
we will move to uh votes of the board where'll approve the consent agenda um Danielle before you went on vacation you had asked me to take off item number one are we good to leave item number one in there you can leave it in okay so uh our
consent agenda we have discussion possible vote on the energy Grant on the $100,000 on the mass tourism the one-day liquor license for the VFW and uh the vote on our minutes I just have one question on the VFW the um
application that we have here it didn't have the checklist off uh it didn't have the little checks where is it I'll double check with get that from Matt oh the application checklist was not all checked off the application
checklist wasn't checked off at all okay I'll I'll double check I'll talk to Matt about that tomorrow okay I just don't really want these presented to the select board without all that information so actually let's just um pull that out of the consent and then uh
let's pull that out on consent and just vote on that separate saying uh if we want to approve this just approve it based on all the subject to subject subject to all the things that have to be checked off all right so can we have a
motion to pull that one out and vote on that so move second second all in favor I okay and then and then for the rest of the consent agenda can I have a question Katie I have a question on item number
one I don't want to remove it I just want the question answered before I okay I thought we just voted on the consent no we voted it number we took out item number three and voted on number three oh yes okay so now we're back into the consent gr
agenda on one two and four um so I just want to understand because I know this um energy manager the way that it's listed it's going to be like a 10mon period of time that this manager would
be employed and the grant is for $50,000 so that's enough money uh it may not doesn't feel like enough yeah it may not be enough money but it's it will help uh support a portion of a year or if we can budget for that and
make that work you know we'll use that to help um offset $50,000 of of that opinion I I believe it will be worth it to hire a full-time energy manager I think it'll pay for itself but I we can come back when we
put the budget together and we can have that debate if we get a $50,000 subsidy for this position these positions typically they run in the $25 to $150,000 range so you know a good energy manager you know it's it can be
a also not I don't I don't see the 10 months I see six months is it six months it's the it was the task start in January and only goes through June yeah we're looking at more you
weigh in no on one second but regardless I I I think it's enough to cover 25 and I don't this doesn't commit us to keeping that person on right I mean right no uh but you know certainly helps incentivize you know moving forward all
for doing that but you know yep there's going to be a you know a it's a grant they're going to be on a grant oh yeah January to June you're correct but no it says to staff of position from October 24 to June 25 that's what I saw that that doesn't seem
to comport with the tasks right okay yes right I agree so I just didn't feel like $50,000 was enough money to cover but in might just be a part-time super part-time position or okay so the idea is I just want to be like very transparent about what we're doing here
because I want to get a grant and I want to hire an energy manager but I also don't want to say that the grant is going to cover the cost of an energy manager if we're actually going to have to fund it additionally some other way y I fully anticipate we're going to have to we're going to have to find some
efficiencies within the existing operating budget to ensure that this position is fully funded and then when we hire somebody we're gonna we're going to use this money to help offset the cost of a full-time position you know is this is an energy because we did approve
some money Ina funds or but does that have a different title has a different title and a that's resiliency right uh well it was a climate and resiliency resiliency manager which but we can't hire someone with those dollars because
there are first of all so we're using us for very targeted Consulting so this puts us more on the road I think where generally we want to go this is going to build out your facilities Department add a a a really big important piece to um
that facility function yes so I want to say I'm supportive of it but I just like Danielle was saying earlier about FTE and making sure that we're just being very conscious about the language we're using this will not fund a full position for this time frame that we will
hopefully we will be using this to subsidize a position and we will find efficiencies to pay for the other it's not a benefit level position right we also share the facilities director position with the school department so you know there's a a shared um cost so
6040 60 on the school 40 in the town so if this position is going to help the school with energy and efficiencies the largest energy user in the town is the school um then and they can also help share some of those um we would need to
engage in a convers conversation well no they're going to call in the morning right but look we're not going to have we're not going to have that conversation unless we're fortunate enough to get the Grant Your Action tonight will trigger the phone call that
will say hey we're going to apply and we'd like to be a partner I think if we look at what has been truly successful um the facilities department has been an absolute huge success in terms of shared uh town and school functions this will
only uh continue to advance some of those um successes okay so can I have a motion to uh motion to support the rest of the consent some items second second all in favor I so moved okay select board time
Danielle um so great block party it was an absolute smashing success I was able to attend um Jackie and Danielle fabulous Sean your idea really like for the past couple years great idea their it's their hard work I appreciate you
recognizing um they're a small group but they they're a mighty group yeah yeah they're they're doing great things and it's so great to hear um it was it was awesome it's a nice idea and businesses were really great it is an impact to the number of the small businesses it's
worth us recognizing that yes you know they're they've been so helpful and supportive I think this will get better and better every year and I think um we have to think about ways to help our small businesses Mariel and you you've talked about that maybe we can have a
small business weekend uh in the fall that so I I hate being the skunk at this party but the fact is you have a number of business businesses on that day on a Saturday that have to close down and you're not going to make that business back up being from retail Mrs Fletcher
okay I was going to say maybe in the future we could have it on a Sunday so that the businesses that are you know affected negatively by having it on a Saturday we will not have to De good idea I think I think we can PIV to a Sunday I think um you know there's there's opportunities for us to flex on
that schedule but all the same was it's a great event and and nicely done um the for for the neighborhood residents for the new school was really well done big thanks to Max Casper he handled it beautifully um thanks to Pam angelakis
for coming in and sitting and giving people reassurance and really I think making the neighbors feel comfortable um Chief Casada Chief Archer everybody um it was a stark comparison it was a it was a stark difference from the first meeting so you know great job because
we're getting there to that point I do think we need to look at n Road um for Resident parking it's obviously the residents are here saying it people were saying it that night I don't know why it was not included um I'll ask I'll ask our Public Safety team to head down
there and take a look at it and come back at our next meeting for a recommendation I think I think you I bet they've already done that because it was brought up at yeah I I I I think we can come back and I think that would be a good idea address it my other point was the um Harbor Waterfront meeting last
week that Katie and I and marelen were able to go to um was very eye openening and I really think that the conversation we had tonight about committees and Direction and all of it is really something we need to revisit in in a in
a bigger for um you know I I appreciate the work done on that committee they've done a lot of work and a lot of hard work um but I do think we need to make sure that our committees are representative of various viewpoints and the community in general and we heard a
lot of that that that they people don't feel that that is the case so that's something I know for my committees I will look to see that we can address um but I think that that was very eye opening last week that's all I have
dog um couple things one um we were going to talk about selectboard handbook but I think we thought Danielle wasn't going to be here correct but you made a surprise appearance I did okay
um so she doesn't want to be here get back on our next agenda okay right um and then uh I do think um I don't have the answer to this um but given you know
our last select board meeting and then the harbor and Waterfront committee meeting SL community meeting were you know were unbalanced in terms of exactly kind of where we're going I think um I think a lot of people
have various Impressions uh so I don't know if that means we need to kind of bring all parties back to a meeting here if we need to have Harbor and water uh give you
know the biggest uh advanced notice meeting with stuff on the road and you know uh you know uh notifications to everybody you know like a wholesale community meeting to make sure we got
everybody and no one has really much of an excuse to say I didn't know about it or whatever I I don't know exactly but somehow um and and it's not just harboring water because I do think that a big missing piece for people is that people keep grabbing one part of the
elephant um and they're not necessarily kind of putting it all together I know Danielle and I had a little exchange about you know trying to think about what the big picture is here between Harbor and water and you know the fishermen and climate and all these
different pieces and I think I think a lot of people are working in good faith from their perspective but not int seeing the whole picture and US putting together a whole plan about the order of things um people have various good
criticisms um but somehow we need to kind of whether it's a select board meeting or a different community meeting we need to find the right path so that people don't feel like we're just lurching or not listening or whatever it
is so that's just an expression of Desire without a clear plan David uh yeah a few things um I just want to add my voice uh to support the uh the parking controls on uh on n Road um I think it uh I think I think certainly
some residents in Miss Pats uh this evening and Mr twist made some uh some very uh Salient points so I I think uh I would be I would be supportive of uh residential parking control for safety purposes uh there um I'm really excited
about the swamp toober Fest uh September Saturday September 7th 4 to 800m um we tried a few years ago to get Barry godo uh to play uh in 20121 uh it was what band did he play in played in Boston it was it was it was really my dream to have him play long
time and the fireworks show go off so we didn't get fireworks this year but maybe next year we can uh for uh for swampt toer Fest and just and and just one more thing um you know I've discussed the board of assessors previously I'm going to do so again this evening especially in light of the article published in the
item on the 14th of uh of August uh there's certainly good things happening in town but in my view not around the board of assessors and per the article you know our director of assessment Cheryl M Cheryl michella her interpretation of the board of assessors approval of abatements didn't
align with Mass General law typically abatements are provided if the actual value of real estate can be shown to be less than the assessed value however as her Memo indicated home prices in the Stanley School New Elementary School area had actually risen in line with the
increase in market value for the town if the values have risen along with the values around the entire town why are abatements necessary it's been widely alleged the chair of the board of assessors Miss vilu solicited new since related abatement applications from those in the
Stanley School New Elementary School neighborhood her neighborhood this is extremely unusual and highly irregular for a sitting member of the board of assessors to solicit abatement applications to her neighbors in Precinct 5 additionally a former Board of assessors member filed for and was
granted an abatement on her personal residence again highly irregular and highly unusual indeed today the board of assessors met at 11:00 a.m. on their posted agenda the second agenda item number two singled
out my primary residence at 55 Samson Avenue of all the 6,500 properties in town there was a focus to increase my valuation after two directors of assessing and patrion properties felt otherwise however the board of assessors knows best my family and I have been
targeted by the chair of the board of assessors because I dared speak out against her and her increasingly corrupt and politically motivated actions the corruption and politically motivated actions of the chair needs to stop for residents in my neighborhood in Precinct
one who were not provided the same level of service that Miss Vil's neighbors were I look forward to many abatement applications from residents of Precinct one and the areas surrounding the Quarry who deal with 50 Quarry blasts per year and have done so for decades these
residents live with a permanent impairment a permanent impairment of their land valuation not a temporary nuisance I want to thank Cheryl michella for her work with the town especially under these incredibly difficult circumstances I also want to highlight the last three
directors of assessing Ben Strait dick Simmons and Cheryl michella had issues working with the current chair of the board of assessors so I strongly believe this is not a specific Town staff issue I Believe Miss michella was retaliated against for bringing what I believe was a whistleblower complaint against the
board of Assessors for granting abatements when abatements were unsubstantiated I also believe I was retaliated against by Miss failu and the board of assessors assessing is an incredibly important fiduciary function of this town there has never been a more pressing need to make the board of
assessors more professional and less political failure to act and absent significant changes these actions will undermine the financial Cornerstone of this town this function is broken and needs to be addressed and needs to be addressed
immediately thank you Katie well I had a couple of things to say but now I can't remember any of um can you come back to me you go okay so first um I want to thank Nate
Bine Daniel mesy and Joel dlet for bringing the select board meeting to the masses um next I want to point out that um having that meeting for the residents over um by the new school is really
important and I'm glad that we took care of that and just want to reiterate what um Danielle has said and it looks like we'll have our next meeting in October um I also want to point out that we had um a little bit of a hiccup last week
uh when it came to the new school we needed some help on Sunday to get some contractors in there and um they're not allowed to work on Sundays but we received a phone call at the last minute and said hey could we help out we said sure we can help out
however they can't start before 9: and they have to be really quiet and um someone from town hall needs to be there so I want to point out that marzy gaska was there at
6:45 on Sunday morning and um I told her I would be there a little after which I was but marsy was there at 6:45 and she worked with a number of the contractors to help them understand they couldn't start until 9:00 but luckily the weather was bad and they left anyway but I just
want to point out and really thank Mary for her hard work she is just an exceptional exceptional hardworking person so thank you marsy I think you're still on but um thanks for getting up that early and and um covering for us um
the second thing I want to say is I don't I don't even know how to say how incredibly disappointed I am with Mr grishman's comments I am the liaison to the board of assessors and I think they
are one of the best boards in this town and I am not going to discuss Personnel issues of town employees but I do not think that Mr grishman has given actual facts and I think this should not be aired in public
but it's going to be aired now um I'm just very disappointed I'm really really disappointed um it was also brought to my attention that information was sent to the Lin item from select board members show trying to show that things
um were a little a Miss with the with the board of assessors the board of assessors meetings are televised they are recorded anyone can pull them they are constantly being charged with um trying to Target a
select board member I did look into this myself and I found that those charges were false so Mr grishman and I completely are in completely opposite ends of the planet with those accusations and that's all I have to say
and I I'm very sorry that uh we're even we're talking like this at a meeting I'm this just is really disturbing to me Katie yes um I wanted to visit one of the comments that was made during um the
new elementary school um conversation which was um sort of the elementary school culture of the kids coming out of school and getting to play in the playground and um at Hadley that was a very big deal right the boys would run out and play soccer and the girls would run off and be all at the playground and
there would be kids from all age groups coming together to play throwing together a kickball team or whatever it was best one of the best parts of school amazing it I mean grandparents and parents chatting in the on the school grounds kids running away for playdates
afterwards alt together it's one of the things that a rolling drop off sort of prevents and one of the comments that came up was if we still want to see that exist how can we make it happen so I have sort of been sitting thinking about
that for a long time because it's one of the things that my kids really love to do after school and I know if we could figure out a way whether it's we encourage people to park at that um extra lot across from shurat because I know they have offered us
usage there that if if that's sort of the plan that we want to see happen parents park there and walk to pick up and then grab their kids and then they play and then walk back and have um come out of that parking lot if that's possible if um the partnership works
that way that way they're not parking on the surrounding areas and it's not a time constraint for them to get out they won't be affecting the Middle School traffic once they do leave or they'll be affecting it less I should say um maybe that is one of the ideas that I was sort of thinking about but perfectly open to
other ideas because I think that piece of community that we see at the elementary school level is so important for parents and caregivers um and kids and even teachers coming out of school you know saying goodbye to their kids they get to run into parents it's
wonderful and we should so we'll reach out um we all work with the superintendent I do think you know we we've already had a few conversations about you know where can we have some overflow parking so that it doesn't impact the neighborhood and so and then if we could just then discuss how as
parents and caregivers we go about doing that because rolling drop off is set up a specific way and there um specific instructions on how to grab your kids and so now it will be a little bit different if you want to do it this way it would just be great if we could flush it out be before or in the early um days
of school so we don't lose that sort of fall window of being outside Sean at the next select board meeting um you we have to have on the agenda the approval of changing not the traffic pattern but I think resident
Park working over by the school that's going to be on there so can you just make sure that Mason Road is covered on there so that we don't have to make a motion to make a change absolutely thank you one other thing I forgot to say very excited for
the new school opening next week kids going back to school I'm excited that the kids are going back to school we have of every parent I'm very excited but I'm very excited as a community member to see this brand new beautiful school and it looks phenomenal so kudos to the school
building committee Max Casper Pam angelakis Suzanne Wright everybody that brought this here it's just it's long overdue and it looks fabulous well I think especially that neighborhood and of course that neighborhood that's been in convenience for a good year I mean it's been um it's been a real effort but
I'm very excited I'm excited for Lori sandborne she's going to kill it she's fabulous professional I've heard that so I one way oh my god well I I just have to get I I I got still in Jack on I know they're they're still on are they not yeah still is on um the second comment I
wanted to make was a word I've used many times before here which is Grace and I ask for the the residents of that neighborhood have been extremely graceful in allowing this process to live and breathe and uh sort of evolve and it was promised at that
meeting and I just want to Echo the evolution will continue there there's another meeting in October and if things don't work we'll pivot yes I mean Hadley had rolling drop off for 3 weeks and then it didn't work and we just threw it all out and scrapped it and started over
and that's the flexibility we will need during these first weeks of opening so it will be stressful and there will be instances where you know you're at your Wits End email us email to it we'll do the best we can to fix it
but don't take it out on our teachers or our kids let's just you know work together to get a solution that works for everyone okay motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor