Town Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. Thank you.

Good evening. Seeing a presence of a quorum, I am calling the February 2nd, 2026 regular meeting of the town council to order at 6:31 p.m. Please be advised that this meeting is being held in person and that the remote access option for members of the public is provided as a courtesy only in the event of technology issues with the remote connection. The meeting will continue in person as scheduled as long as there is a quorum of the council present in the town room or through technological means. Chapter two of the acts of 2025 extended through June 30, 2027 gives the ability of the public bodies to meet with a without a quorum in the council of the council physically present at a meeting location although a quorum of the council is present in the town room. This meeting is being recorded and is accessible in real time via Zoom, phone, and as a live broadcast on Ammeris Media Channel 9 and at amorismedia.org. I will call upon each counselor by the name they have indicated that they would like to be addressed. This will indicate that we can hear you and you can hear us. Councelor Brevik,

present. Councelor Ko Martin, present. Andy Churchill, present. Anna Devon Gothier, present. Lynn Greamer, present. Mandy Joe Hanicki is present. Present. Councelor Lord present. Uh Sam Mloud present. Pam Rooney here. Councelor Ryan present. Kathy Shane here. Jennifer Tob here. Councelor Walker

here. If counselors have technical issues, please let either the council clerk or um Sean over here know or call a point of personal privilege. There will be one public comment period during the general public comment. If you are in the town room, please sign up with Sean um to make public comment. If you are attending remotely, I will ask for you to raise your hand in the Zoom application when we reach the time for public comment. Okay. So, we are going to, as stated on our agenda, move directly from now to the legislative update number seven on our agenda and then we go we'll go back and take the rest of the agenda in order. I want to thank Senator Kmerford and Representative Dom for taking the time to be here tonight to present this update and answer questions from the counselors. We have approximately one hour for this agenda item. Senator and Representative, if you can come up and sit here. I think the mic is on. Um, and Athena, you should have the presentation if you could share that for everyone to see. I think it's you'll have to speak close to it, but

good evening everybody. It's great to be here. I'm Mindy Dom. I'm the state rep for the third Hampshire district. I have the honor and privilege of representing the town of Ammerst in the state house in the Massachusetts legislature. And before we begin, I and before I give this to my unbelievable partner in um legislating and representing Ammerst, I just want to thank you for inviting us to participate in tonight's um presentation. We're available for a repeat if you need it before the before a year is up, but we're really grateful to be here to give you this update.

Thank you, Repdom. Hi everybody. I'm Joe Cmerford. I represent the Hampshire Franklin Worcester district uh which includes the beautiful community of Amorest which I get to work in with Rep. Dom. Um in addition to thanking us uh for thanking you for allowing us to come and speak um to you this evening, I just want to start by thanking you for your service. what you Mindy and I believe that what you do is the hardest job in government. Um and we know it at the local level um is just hard work and our job is to try to make what you do easier and sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don't uh and tonight is about a little bit of both I imagine right getting to hear from you where we could do better. I'm going to start. I just want to say so how we're going to um present this for those of you who were on the council before it's going to it may sound a little familiar in the beginning part. We're going to review just the legislative process and the budgetary process and then get into the issues that are relevant to Ammeris just so that there's context for our work in Boston. That's not our work here. That's our work there and then we'll bring it back to Ammerst Senator.

All right, let's get uh we can move to the next slide if that's okay. All right. So, we are uh a two-year session. We are in the 2526 legislative session. And over that two-year session, we do one set of bills. We do one set of bills and two budgets. And we're going to talk first about the set of bills. Um thanks to great advocacy statewide, our rules have become much more in the on the side of transparency, accountability, productivity, accessibility. That's the good work. many of you have done in local communities and we're very grateful. Um so you can see that uh if we were here um in any other year we wouldn't have yet re reached what's called joint rule 10 which is the day by which all legislation has to be disposed of. Um we wouldn't have reached it because you wouldn't have demanded that we work a little quicker. Um so you did demand that we are working more quickly. Um and now we are committees have finished their work largely and bills are moving into their destination committees and that could be into a ways and means or a rules or into a destination committee like healthcare finance. Um, so we are we are dispo it's called disposing of bills quickly um efficiently uh and there's as a result a lot more opportunity for you and for us to do good work that benefits Ammerst. Um, I want to underscore here the hearing piece that's up there because one of the modifications that were made in this past session and as a result of COVID is that we now have virtual participation in all hearings. And that means that you don't need to find a vehicle, pay for gas, drive two hours, find parking, pay for parking, lose a day of work to be able to testify for some random three minute period in the course of a day. This is huge for

Western Massachusetts and for Ammerst. Um, and a lot of folks from our community have taken advantage of it. I can't stress it to you enough. I know in the past people have asked, um, Lynn has asked in the past, you know, does it matter if we're there in person or if it's virtual? And from the legislaturator's perspective, they're both equally as powerful. So, you don't lose anything by doing virtual. And in fact, I would say it sort of under it'll help to underscore the importance of that option for the legislature. the more people use it. Um, but that is really critical. Bill committees accept testimony on bills up until the time they leave the committee. So even if you missed a hearing, generally speaking, unless the committee has said a different rule, there's still time to submit um comments in writing. So for all for those of you who are looking at bills that may still be in their committee, whether it's on energy or education, if it's still in the committee and you want an opportunity to testify, you can. And if you're not sure what to do, you should reach out to Joe and I and we can help direct you.

Absolutely. And I will say kudos to Ammerst. Um you show up and you have since we were elected and it what you're saying and doing is critical to making Boston more receptive. We can go to the next slide. Next slide please. Do you want to go?

So we are starting well starting by the calendar year but not really starting in terms of the work. The budget for this coming fiscal year right now. So as Joe mentioned though the session is two years and the legislative session is two years. As you know, we're responsible for creating a budget every year. And it actually the work starts before January when the administration starts to look at what they can um uh what their needs are, what their priorities are. then the administration and the legislature and you meant gonna jump in on this because Joe's assist um vice chair of Senate Ways and Means so she'll have great insight into this um process but the legislature both the House the Senate and the administration have to come up with a number that they believe is going to be the amount of revenue that we collect as a state. It's called the consensus revenue. And as you know from writing budgets, you need the revenue number so that you know what your and what the maximum is that you can spend. We can't deficit spend either. We're not the federal government. So the legislature and the administration comes up with a consensus revenue. The governor creates a budget based on that consensus revenue and what her administration, her departments are saying and her secretariates are saying they need. and she presents this to us at the end of January, which she did last week. And so we have her budget that kicks off a series of hearings for ways and means on each topic area. Each secretariat gets an opportunity to have a hearing where they get to defend the the governor's budget before the legislature. And when I say defend, I mean defend. Because sometimes the legislature will say, "Why'd you pick that number and not this number? Why are you going with this program and not that program?" If you have ever seen Joe at the education hearing at UMass Ammeris, you've seen her sort of interrogate um the secretary of education in terms of chapter 70 funding and other um needs of

our communities. And so that kind of back and forth happens. And then because it's a money bill, the House goes first in the budget. So we start to do our budget in April. We finish at the end of April. We pass it on to the Senate. They do their budget by the end of May. It'll be different than ours. We have to come together and agree on a unified identical budget. We do that through a conference committee. And once we do that, we send that to the governor. Then she has an opportunity to say, "I love it. I'm signing the whole thing." Never happens. Or she says, "Well, I love it, but I don't really love this part." So, she might veto a couple of pieces. And then we still have an opportunity to override her veto. And then by August, end of July, hopefully by the end of July, there'll be a firm budget in place.

Um, just like uh the the legislation flowchart, Mindy and I want you to see this as a a chart of where you're powerful. Um, you're powerful at every step of the way, especially duly elected colleagues, right? Our our constituents are all powerful, right? They tell us what they like and what they don't like, but the legislature listens particularly to duly elected colleagues when you speak on behalf of the town. So, for example, in the fall, I I bet you many of you um weighed in with critical agencies, right? Or weighed in through advocacy groups like MMA or STAM to these agencies that are putting their budgets before the governor, right? every step of the way, we really want to invite you to raise your hand and say, "Hey, put in an idea for me here." Or, "I just put in an idea and I want you to echo it, Joe and Mindy." So, this is, you know, the more we work inside outside, the more we work with your power um you know, shoulder-to-shoulder with us, we are better. So Mindy mentioned the consensus revenue that's always in December and this year uh all the experts plus the administration and the House and Senate figure that the the state is revenue is going to grow about 2.4%. And that may sound okay to you at least we're growing a little bit right in a very tough time. Um, but when you add inflation to that, when you add the fact that health care is growing much much more quickly than that, when you add federal cuts um to critical programs like Medicaid, um, SNAP, um, and when you add a potential loss of federal revenue, um, along with those cuts, we start to look like a budget that isn't um, going to grow just a little bit, and we'll figure it vote. So what we have right now

before us in the governor's proposal and she's done, you know, her first pass, but like Congress, you know, the president's budget comes out and everybody goes, "Oh, okay. All right." And then the House does their thing and the Senate does their thing. But what the governor's done is you see that she's fighting back on some of the revenue loss um that is in the big brutal bill. Um so she's trying to shield Massachusetts from some of those losses. They can be as high as $665 million. Um, and she's also trying to figure out how we allow health care to rise, like it must in part for un un uh people no longer covered by mass health, but in part because the whole sector is getting more expensive. Um, and then how do we keep some programs going? Again, this is her shot as Mindy said. Um, the held by topic areas. This is a place where you're particularly powerful. one because you get to come to a hearing if you want to and uh you know you can certainly come to the Western Mass hearing but really also you can tell us what you want us to ask at these hearings. Hey, I don't like that. That's not going to be good for Ammerst. I want you to press on this particular issue, housing, chapter 90, you you name it. We can ask questions on it on your behalf and get you answers. And these hearings are real. This isn't um this isn't like a polished little performance. Budgets change as a result of us raising questions and cautions, talking to our colleagues, pressing the administration, and all of the stuff you that isn't in front of the cameras behind the scenes. Um we've seen dramatic uh changes in budgets and that's good. That's how it as they should be, right? We should hear from the people. The legislature hears from the people. Um and I think we'll stop there. Yeah,

just one more thing I want to underscore that your advocacy becomes our advocacy. So, you know, we your stories, your experiences, the impact on Ammeris through your eyes becomes how we frame our advocacy in Boston. And so, I can't really underscore enough when it comes to the budget because especially this year, there's going to be a lot of pulls. There's going to be a lot of people not happy all but Yes. Yes. Yes, but we need to know what's the most important thing for Amoris. What are the priorities for Amoris so that we can advocate? We may not win, but we can try. Um, but our trying is really tied to what we hear from you. Next slide. So, in Massachusetts, we have a funny little quirky little government thing that's called home rule petitions. I'm not going to get into do I support or oppose home rule petitions. They're just a thing. Um there are some issues that towns need to go to the state to get permission to do. And so the way they get permission to do it is they do a home rule. Um some towns and cities do home rules like a lot of them. A lot of rural communities actually seem to have a lot of home rules because they have fewer people to make up all the jobs I think that have to happen. Um you'll you might have heard about some of the home rules that Boston has wanted to have that they have not been so successful in. We have three home rules. Home rules start with you. The town council decides it wants to do something. It needs permission from the state. It has to develop a home rule. And we've gone through the process with Amoris. You know, you create the legislation because it becomes a bill. You pass it on to me. The home rule starts in the house. I actually pass it to the clerk and council. They review it to make sure the eyes are dotted and the tees are crossed. As soon as that happens, it gets filed and then it goes through the

legislative process. It'll get a hearing at the h um in a joint committee if that's what it's needed and then the House and the House will vote on it and if it passes, it goes on to the Senate. We have three home rules. We have an act relative to the implementation of the charter for the city known as the town of Ammerst. This is the rank choice voting home rule. Um we're waiting to see what happens. I'm not hopeful that it's going to advance, but I'm letting you know that we're waiting for it. You can still put in comments since we're waiting for the report. Um, we also have an act establishing a real estate transfer fee upon the transfer of property in Ammerst. The decision that the committee is going to make on that bill has been extended to February 20th. Senator Cford has the bill in the legislature that makes this a local option where local towns don't have to go in for a rule. there would automatically be a local option. That is not yet passed. So, these home rules are needed, but but the home rules are necessary until that happens. And the third one is an act authorizing extending local voting rights um for lawful permanent residents residing in Ammerst and that has been sent to study and study is the euphemism that the legislature uses for not going anywhere this session. Um and there were several there were a couple of other towns that had this. I think Northampton had one. They were all put to study. Next slide. One.

So, um, we don't have to spend too much time because you'll hear us reiterate all of these things, but so your stories are important. Your voice, your organized voice together is important. Your voice as individuals are important. Um, and that is what we take. So, you directly go to the legislature. you can go through us to stories we tell our colleagues what we say on the floor um and then together we affect policies and budget um and we communicate the concerns of the region. I also want to pause and just note that Ammerst has also led a successful most recently a successful statewide advocacy. Lynn, you worked with folks in Deerfield and then created um a statewide coalition that actually led to and never seen before in the state. I Mindy and I certainly worked inside hard but um extra funding for the library, right? It wouldn't have happened, right? We needed to build a state. It couldn't have happened if it was just for Amoris or Deerfield. Um and so Ammerst said, "Well, you know, all right, we'll just do it." And organized all the libraries um in partnership with Deerfield. And then the legislators did the same, legislators did the same inside. And we went to our leadership and we went to the MBLC and MBLC felt the pressure inside and out. They were willing good people, too. Um but we did this thing as a result of the COVID pandemic. It it sparked here and that's the kind of stuff we have to do. We have to build people power. We have to build structures and initiatives that are bigger than individual towns if we are going to win. Um you did this again um Lynn and town council members and school committee members came to testify at a recent education hearing and showed up and pounded it out. Made people very uncomfortable. It was very good work.

Um and around education funding, right? Yeah. and and it's it was taken very seriously. Ammerst's participation was noted um by the people at Desi and the administration because it was so pointed and so effective. Um so you you have you have a history of doing this. We say yes to you doing it.

I want I want to stress this piece that Joe mentioned about organized voice as individual council members, as a council. Um, and this other piece with other towns that are in a like in a similar situation, I cannot reinforce this enough as we approach because I know this is one of the issues that folks have wanted to talk about. as we approach um looking at the end of this the end of the implementation period for the student opportunity act and the potential for looking at chapter 70 and what it needs to happen to it so that towns like Ammerst start to get what they need. It is going to be more important to link arms with other towns in similar situations so that becomes a statewide movement just like the statewide movement for the student opportunity act. this needs to be a statewide movement. So, I want to kind of foreshadow this, you know, kind of sew the seeds a little bit that your leadership doing this kind of organizing is going to be even more important in the coming years. Next slide. So, we just thought we'd take a moment and just say like what committees we have, which is interesting and kind of funny because you'll see this is mine, but Joe's is like, you know, three slides long. Um so um but I am very honored that this session I was appointed to be the house chair of the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery. These are issues that I've worked on before I went um before I got elected and they're really complicated, hard issues, but they really impact individuals, their families, providers, institutions, towns. Um, and so any bill that the clerk that the house clerk has determined should be in mental health, substance use, and recovery gets sort of shifted there. Clerks are like traffic cops when it comes to bills. They sort of direct them into individual

committees. And so we'll deal with anything from involuntary commitment to harm reduction um to psychedelics um and to prov you know par issues around insurance. You are a most we can go to the next slide. Oh, this is your bill. I forgot.

Oh, okay. So, it's um have I have a many different bills, but these are just sort of um kind of identified sort of the maybe the top ones. You can see on my website my leg the legislation that I filed. I try very hard to support my colleagues who have wonderful bills to go through. So, I do work hard on my bills, but I work just as hard on other people's bills. Um, but some of the bills up here are HIPP to put it into statute. As for many of you know, this is the program that matches um SNAP when people buy fresh produce um from vendors like farmers, food pantry support, hunger-free campus. Um, we're fighting to get livable wages for human service workers, not only because they deserve it, um, but because it's a real worker hiring and retention issue for services that many of our residents need. I work on climate environment issues because I represent Ammerst and Ammerst is a leader on climate and environment. Um, I have some bills on public health, transportation for the disabled, and education and college affordability. Um those are just some there are some that connect to immigration which we'll talk about later but just wanted to give you some facts.

Perfect. Um these are the committees that I'm on currently. Again, different chamber. Stop it. Stop it. Different chamber uh different com committee load. Right. Um so I am the Senate chair of the joint committee on higher education. I asked to go back uh this year to this session to this committee because the legislature thanks to the fair share amendment and a willing house and senate is really making some transformative investments but also policy changes in the higher education space. I think it's really a moment for us. Um I am also the vice chair of ways and means and I'll just say that I'm also on steering and policy. That is the Senate's uh response to the current federal administration committee. It was a sleeper committee. Um the Senate President sort of brought it up out of the ashes and it's what she is calling protecting our people, defending our values. And so that's where I've been working on things like reproductive care, gender affirming care. We passed a data privacy act. We passed a book ban ban um and we will pass immigration reform and then a bunch of other things um are coming out of that committee so we can and then and then like Mindy I I ask for the I ask for committee assignments based on who I work for right so you know we know am climate is a huge thing in Ammerst of course I asked to be on a climate committee of course I file climate bills education healthcare um it's because of the people I represent We can go to the next thing. And here are some of my bills. Um, uh, we're going to talk some some about the municipal building bill. We talked about the transfer fee pilot is on the agenda this evening. And of course, education, right? Everything from rural schools, chap, you know, chapter 70 reform, special education, and then um, a number of climate bills, health care in the health care space. I'm more in the primary care and the funding and for affordability. And of course I represent

hundreds of farmers and so I do a lot with Mindy on food security and then for farms. Next one. Next slide.

So Joe and I are both very um committed not only to representing our districts in the town of Ammeris, but recognizing that we that we have to link arms in Western Massachusetts that our voice needs to be louder and more insistent. It has to go further. It has to go all the way to Boston. And so we work a lot on regional efforts because we realize, especially regional efforts that lift all boats because we know it's also going to positively impact our community, but it also is good for the region. And what's good for the region is good for Ammerst. The more we can bring economic development to the region, the more we can bring population to the region, that's good for us. So these are some of the regional efforts that we've been involved in. And this is really this is just a smidge to tell you the truth. So education funding, I'm going to let Joe talk a little bit more about that. I'm just going to jot down a couple of things here. So we're both involved in bringing rail to western Massachusetts, not only the north south, but particularly the west east. And so there, as many of you know, there are two routes. There's a northern route and there's a southern route. One goes from Boston, Greenfield, North Adams. The other one goes Boston, Wester, Springfield, Pittsfield. We want both. Um, and people have said to me a lot of times, which one do you want more? And I say, whichever one goes first. As far as I'm concerned, we're a little different this way. As far as I'm concerned in Ammerst, it's equidistant. Greenfield, Springfield, as long as it gets people to Boston, I'm good. Um, and so we work really hard to get rail and it's it's um it's an uphill battle. um especially now because the the federal government um is not a willing partner in anything and we need them to be a partner when it comes to rail because it's very expensive. But we've been tracking it and monitoring it and pushing um state department of transportation and they're doing their work. They're they're working hard. Joe has really been leading the effort on both but particularly on the Northern

Rail. So I want to leave a little space for you to talk about that. We're also very um strong advocates for regional transit authorities and bringing more money into the community. And if you noticed recently the PBTA has now started some pilot programs with cross county routes really important and microtransit really important for people in Ammeris particularly people in Ammeris who work in Greenfield or people who work in Northampton and people who work in Franklin County. So this is I think huge. Um I'm gonna and I'm going to stop there and let you pick up and then I'll do tourism, arts and culture. You do that because I Yeah.

So last session I happened to be the house chair in tourism, arts and culture. Um which was a wonderful experience because it opened my eyes to how Amoris plays a really critical role in this space and how tourism, arts and culture bring its own revenue stream into our town. It not only brings visitors, but those visitor visitors sometime become permanent residents. Those permanent residents bring kids. They go to our schools. So, it's all a great cycle, but they're also particularly important in this day and age to be supporting arts and culture. And Ammeris, in fact, gets a pretty significant chunk of funds through the local cultural council, a little bit more than some other small towns, I just want to point out, which is great. They have an excellent track record distributing the funds as well as our museums and galleries.

I want to focus on naming and transforming structural equities just to give um some visibility to some of this sort of behind the scenes work. So Mindy and I and some of our other colleagues are pretty active with the Healey Driscoll administration really calling out what we call sort of fossilized inequities. Right? When we both got elected, we heard, you know, oh, those people in Boston, they're never going to pay attention to us in Western Mass. You know, there's nothing we can do. Um, and both of us, I think, share this that of course there's things we should do. I mean, really, you should send us packing if we're not trying to shake up the status quo. Um, and I will say the status quo is getting shaken up. And so, we've with together with colleagues directly with the governor and lieutenant governor, we're naming problems with formula funding. um that really um disproportionately does not see a smaller population and um resource it equitably. We're naming barriers to being having competitive advantages with grant formulas. We're naming um the lack of voice from Western Massachusetts on boards and commissions or the vacancies, say for example, in our courts. And we're naming the disproportionately lack of access to some services like mass hire which doesn't get a fair enough u slice of the pie and grant by grant, line item by line item, service by service, we are going for it. Um and it can be weedy and it can take too long. But these things are changing as a result. It's not just Mindy and I. We have another, you know, we have a a circle of really good colleagues and we have a willing administration and we have town government telling us to do better. Um, but we have to imagine together that the status quo must be shattered. It is not working for us in western Massachusetts. And if the Healey Driscoll administration says it wants to

govern 351 cities and towns, we have to help them. So we see this as a service. They don't always receive it like a service like but but but you should know that this is we're going at we're going for these inequities that have too long held us back and you know some of them seem like nothing burgers like appointments to boards and commissions. However, there wasn't anybody from Western Mass on the board of education. Now there is. Recently there was an Amoris resident who was appointed a judge. Western Massachusetts on the bench. So it there it matters. It's sort of that matters. Making sure that funding comes, you know, formulas sort of take into account our unique situation, all of it matters.

Next one.

So, in addition to budget um the budgets and the um line items that we will be voting on in the past, I don't know what will happen this year because the budget is going to be so hard. um legisl individual legislators have the opportunity to put in local investments otherwise known as earmarks and we both have brought earmarks to Ammerst over the um since we've been elected since 2019. We do everything in partnership. So when an earmark comes into Ammerst from the budget, it reflects both Joe and I. Um, and so that could be anything from, you know, a new piece of equipment to the fire department, money to the Ammer Survival Center food pantry, money to Crest, which isn't quite in their mark, but um, it's it's in the second piece. So, it's it's all partnership in order to get more money to Amoris with the belief that not only is that money going to serve the public and serve a need, but if that money is going into serving a need, it frees up other money in the budget to deal with a different and like we were saying before the structural inequities that are baked into some of these direct formulas like UGGA, unrestricted general government aid, there is no formula to UGGA that makes any sense at All we're calling that out. We have to redo it. Right. Chapter 90. Uh it used to go out with a formula that was road miles plus economic activity um plus people some combination in that algorithm. Well, you know, we don't have the economic activity like Boston. Um we don't have um the population, but we sure as hell have the miles, right? And so now a hefty portion of that, it was a third last year. to be 50% this year are going out road miles only. So that's the way in which I and terribly boring maybe to hear about but I feel like but um but it

is the way we can change inequity. Um same thing uh mass work um mass work didn't have a rural carveout. It had a match that our towns couldn't have. MVP municipal vulnerability program there was no rural program. The scoring for the grant didn't work for our communities. And so little by little in the gut of these we're getting to that. And then the program funding you see here are just some of the things that we've talked about with Ammerst over time that are also in what are called some of them are in cherry sheets that you look at some of them are in grant programs that you know benefit nicely benefit ammer. So a large part of what I think we both think is a priority is not only representing Ammerst in legislation, representing Ammerst in the budget, but really trying to secure funding for Ammerst in what Ammerst has decided is their priorities. So sometimes if someone would come up to me and say, um, an individual, a resident, you know, I don't want you to fund X, Y, or Z, but the town council has agreed that it's a priority. I'm following the town council because you're the elected body. So, it's my job to try to get funding for the kinds of priorities that you have set. So, in that respect, I think we're both pretty proud that we were able to get such a significant amount of money for the new elementary school. And Kathy, your leadership on this is just,

you know, thank you. Um, but um and as well as the library and I want to tip to Joe on the equitable approaches to public safety and crust. These are just examples that we you know just me want to go to the next slide get to questions. Um you want me to do this quick? Go for it. Um so you all I'm I'm many of you care about what's happening na I say venture every cares about what's happening nationally. Um so the legislature has before us bills that are important. Um, Mindy should talk about the Protect Act, which was just filed by the House, but let me just say that the governor's acting executive order and legislation. The House has already acted. Mindy will talk about, the Senate is acting. And so, um, those of us who have been feeling the urgency to do more of a line of defense to protect our people um, and curtail ICE, you'll see some good movement from the legislators. I don't think it's a question of if anymore the Lord.

I think the main um thing we have to work on is expedited action on the part of the legislature which is going to be challenging. Um so these are the bills that are kind of being considered. I just want to point out the immigration legal defense act is to make sure that there is legal um representation for immigrants who are being um arrested or detained by ICE. Even though that act has not passed, last year the legislature um funded it at $5 million. I expect we're going to fund it again this year. In the governor's budget that she just submitted, it was there for another 5 million. It may need to be more. We'll have to see, but I sus I strongly suspect we're going to continue to fund that. The Protect Act is a bill that was just filed by the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, which really looks to protect courts and justice systems. Um, so it makes courts a safe space where ICE cannot come um and arrest anybody without a judicial warrant, but it also standardizes some detention um kind of characteristics. Governor Healey's executive order and bill seems to take the um dignity not deportations act and the safe communities act and part of the protect act and a couple of other things and wraps it all up in one big bill. It was it's really quite substantial. Um it also makes protected spaces not just the courts but it includes houses of worship, schools, daycare um and hospitals and medical care settings. Um, and it includes a provision that I'm particularly fond of, which is would require um outofstate National Guard deployments to have governor's consent before they come into the um Commonwealth. It's

your bill.

It's my bill, but it's it's a provision in her bill. I'm happy to give it to her. Um, and so and she also has like so the Safe Communities Act is really about not um creating contracts or agreements between ICE and local police departments. They're called 287G agreements. Her bill, her executive order puts that into effect immediately. Um, and so doesn't wait for does so and so like it, does so and so not like it. Done. The executive order went into effect immediately last week. The legislation is attached to a supplemental, which is actually kind of clever because we have to do a supplemental. Um and so that's making its way questions.

Um we'll start with pilot. Um so when when we when I talk about pilot often with Amorest we're talking about stateowned land um and we're talking about more of a natural and working land. So I have a a bill which the governor put she she enacted as well. Um she is a gutsy proactive governor and there is now a state there is now a pilot commission set up. The pilot formula is just like chapter 90 just like chapter 70. Um it is wildly inequitable for western mass communities. It's wrong in two ways. One is it basically compares our land value to the land value of Nantucket. Ridiculous. Um, and it penalizes us for not having um, land value that's growing at the same kind of rate the state average would. Um, and then it doesn't say anything. It's silent on ecosystem services um, which is the land, the work our land is doing here, our streams, our forests, our farms. And so this commission and I get to have a seat on it is going to look at that. Um, and I'm really delighted by it. I know Ammerst wants to talk about pilot when it comes to higher education as well. Um, but that I will say that, you know, you'll see pilot on your cherry sheet. That number has to be much higher and that's the commission that I'm on and we'll need your advocacy, frankly. There'll be there'll be western mass hearings and I would imagine Ammer should bring it um loudly um and pointedly um to this commission. I'll be cheering you. Can I before we go on I just want to say this is a list that's taken from a list that Mandy Joe gave us. Um but I don't know do we want to go through this or do we want to open it up to questions?

Yeah, let's go through it first and then we'll open everything up to questions.

So I'm going to start with chapter 70 but then I'm going to give it to you. Um so chapter 70 as you know is the formula that's used to fund public education and to give money to towns to fund public education. We have a lot of issues and concerns with chapter 70. It's not good for Ammerst. It's actually bad for Ammerst. Um it's not that it's not doing good things, it's doing bad things. And so it needs to be fixed. And one of there's lots of little pieces to it. Here's the context for looking at fixing it. And the reason why before I talked about um the student opportunity act when we first came into uh office at that point the the controversy or the issue around school funding in Massachusetts was that the kind of education you got depended on what your zip code was. That there was a real racial equity piece to education funding that needed to be corrected and it needed to be corrected fast. And so the student opportunity act was sort of developed to try to shift funds to to districts that were resource poor to be able to lift up their schools. And we did that. It's five year five year I yeah fiveyear implementation period. The legislature doesn't like to do doesn't like to have too many plates in the air at the same time. And so when we bring up when I bring up I'll you know chapter 70 needs to be reformed. We need to look at it. We need to open it up and review it. What I hear from colleagues is we need to let the Student Opportunity Act run its course and then we'll go back and see what else we can do. That happens next year. Okay, listen. So this is so we have a year we have a year to organize and I really want to stress this to Ammerst. This isn't like oh so they're not doing anything. It's like we have to connect with other communities

that are in a likewise situation and we need to start to strategize. There are pieces to the chapter 70 formula that are being sort of adopt, changed, modified. Joe's had a very big hand in trying to look at the local contribution piece. That's what Amoris um testified in um recently. Each piece right now has to be dealt with as its own piece because of the reluctance to deal with the whole piece. But we have not lost sort of our vision on that it's a systemic problem that needs a systemic solution even if in the next year we have to continue to chisel away at the pieces of it. Did you want to disagree?

No, I think certainly we have to organize right now. I have some hope that we are going to be able to nail this in the budget but we'll see right um so this is you know different perspectives different chambers right different chamber

um so um I you know uh there is so chapter 70 is basically like a clamshell and so we're doing the bottom of the clamshell and that's the local target local contribution that's how much state says to ammer ammeris this is how much you have to pay that hasn't been opened up in 18 years a lot has changed changed in 18 years. Um and and so the the commission again, Ammerst is influencing this is looking at things like the impact of education spending on Ammerst's overall fiscal picture. It's having an outside very painful impact, right? That's what the commission is looking at. Chapter 70 is what we sort of more think of when we think of education spending and that's what the the state sends Ammerst. Um now the truth is we've put in tens of millions of dollars more into education spending in the last seven years. They have not disproportionately uh benefited Amoris because um as Mindy said it is rewarding um high poverty locations, communities of color, immigrant communities because we're trying to level the playing field, right? That's a good thing and I think we all can agree. Um but Ammerst has a particular situation you we have declining enrollment um and we are rural in some of our sending districts and nei neither one of those things and we have like everybody else we have special education numbers everywhere. So these things were not taken up in the last foundation budget review commission. That's why they're not Amorest is not being seen because if you're in hold harmless which is a static payment because you we have declining enrollment um again like about 85% of the district statewide um right so that that's the truth of this ammer is not unique um in

this we we have to look at the formula so that it can see the problems and the opportunities we have here um and that's what we're trying to do um and so uh you know we are going to keep pushing as hard as we can on this and I think we should be wholly intolerant in action and I know you are so I think maybe we could go to questions. Yeah, I think so. Thank you. Um, counselors, any questions?

Kathy, on the line that said, uh, chapter 70 and school funding, the charter formula is devastating to us and anyone who looks at it says it was never fair. It's not just not fair to Amoris. you when we lose a kid, we don't you lose uh $30,000 worth of expenditures and you can just look at it. Is there any hope and this is a building coalitions with other towns because now that Esser's gone away and the things that bolstered us up a little bit so you didn't see it, you can really see the drain in our resources. So Mindy and I filed a charter bill that took a long time to put together because it is to find the right way to upend the formula and try to be fairer to Ammerst um just took some time. So we filed it. It has been reported favorably not in the same state that we put it in. Um but it would have gone directly to addressing the formula. So when Ammerst send the child to charter as you know you send also the money that Ammerst spends above foundation. So that's sending state money. It's a pass through plus Ammerst town money. We think that's wrong. We think that the charter school should not get Ammerst money. If the charter school need that the state should um uh so that that provision did not make it out of um committee. Um but there are a number of provisions to try to curtail also the governance um make it more transparent and accountable and certainly the funding. I will say this space organizing wise is very churny. Um there's lots of different ideas there. I I don't think there's an out coalesed outside public pressure campaign that um and I'd love to work on this. I'm sure we both would um with the group. So, we've been meeting with a lot of groups,

a lot of people trying to, you know, it doesn't have to be our bill, but it has to be a bill um to work on charters. Um, you know, I we always say both of us, we don't have any right to tell a family or a student where they go. Our business is to try to make it work for uh both the schools in all locations and the communities that send the students. And right now, it's just not right. So, we're fighting the it out over the frozen aisle. Um, and you know, shame on the state and I'm really bummed our bill is not going to go further. Um, so we do need, you know, we're in we're in the space. Um, and we just have to keep pushing.

Thank you, Councelor Kel Martin.

Hi. Thank you so much for your presentation and for coming here. Um, I have a few questions, so I'm just going to say them all so I don't have to keep raising my hand. Um so my first question was just really quick and it was to ask you if the home rule um petition about rank choice voting um 4189 did you say that that was kind of hopeless because I couldn't quite hear you and then and if so why is it hopeless? And then um my other questions are about um immigration and protecting immigrants. Um so I did see that um Governor Healey filed some legislation and you said that um that process takes a long time. So, when you say long time, can you explain like how much longer it might take considering how urgent it is and if you think that um that there are things that we can do locally in the meantime, things that we can pass that are similar protections um while we're waiting for that to pass at the state level. And then just another quick question about the Safe Communities Act. Um can we So, that means that we won't have any more 287g agreements, but can we do something to get rid of the agreements already in existence? I I'll just take that last one. There's only one agreement statewide and that's one person at the DOC. That's it. Um so this would it would prevent any new agreements.

Thank you. But men, you may want to talk about it.

Um, so I didn't mean to say that it was hopeless, the home rule, but it hasn't advanced from committee for the past couple of sessions and the circumstances have not changed either the way it's been presented to the legislature or what the legislaturator has done to to change the outcome. Um, so and rank choice voting legislation has not come out of that committee this session. And I think part of um what we're up against here is that there was a statewide referendum on rank choice voting early on and it didn't pass. And so the legislature looks at that as well. They don't look at it as but Ammeris wants it. Can we do it for Ammeris? They look at as residents in the state don't want it. Um, and we've talked about strategies for changing that and maybe if this doesn't advance this session, we can revisit those strategies for next session. It may not hurt, right? I mean, if we if we find out what we've been doing um, in terms of immigration legislation taking a long time, the good thing about the governor putting her legislation on a supplemental is it can't just not do anything. She needs to get that. She's indicated that she needs the supplemental budget by April. She needs the money to cover expenses. So that's the time frame and I think it's going to be faster. In the House, they've set up meetings with members this week. I'm going in on Wednesday for the one that I'll be in to talk about what we want to see with immigration legislation. and I'll be reporting what my constituents have told me, which I agree with, is they want all protections as quickly as possible. Um, so I think it's not going to be a long time.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it'll definitely be this session. Oh, nice. Absolutely.

Yeah. And the Senate has indicated since the governor filed the it's in a supplemental for the Senate that that means we'll go second because it's a money bill and the Senate President's on record in front of a whole lot of people. um you know saying we're gonna take it from the house you know so the house will add its stuff the governor put out a bill the house will add its stuff the senate will add its stuff we'll smush them together and that's it you know the despicable outrageous horrific behavior of ICE in Minneapolis has been just um the incentive to move the legislation fast

thank you Anna okay I was just trying to put start to differentiate my questions from my notes. So if I start just not going with the question. Um and I have several if that's okay. So the first is because of when we think about chapter 70 because of hold harmless we would need to see chapter 70 shift by over $3 million in order to impact Ammerst. You mentioned charter a little bit. Is there anything else that could shift that would change the picture for Ammerst and education funding beyond just chapter 70? And do you want me to just go through all my question? Okay. So on that same vein, when you say to connect with other towns to advocate and you talk about the Jones Library as an example where that that advocacy happened, could you go a bit deeper on what that looks like in its most effective form? So is it telling our story and where our challenges are? Is it coming in with proposed changes that would meet our needs? Is it coming in with numbers? You know, where where is the most effective route there? Um, and then dup dup sort of branching off of that similar question. As we think and support our community members in engaging with you all and engaging with these bills as they go through, sometimes it can be intimidating to make a comment at a legislative hearing or even email legislators that aren't the two of you. Some folks might feel like they don't know how to advocate. And Mindy, I think I'm I'm recalling in the past you talked about the importance of telling your own story. Um, and I'm wondering if you could share kind of what are some effective ways that folks who might not feel like they have every single piece of data on the entire conversation can still engage effectively and get do something and help do something kind of what is the best way for them to reach out? Petitions, stories, data again, kind of what what do you recommend there? I have two more and

then I'm done. I promise. So, the next one's about pilot. A couple years ago at the Mass Municipal Association conference, I sat in on a presentation from the state auditor about pilot formulas and the state auditor was proposing a shift in the pilot formula that would actually lower the contribution that Ammerst would get and it was in an effort to do what you talked about which is very valiant and to you know support some of these more rural towns and I think this is a bit of a question bit of advocacy but when we think about the benefits of land and we think about stateowned and education is a benefit. Education is a public good. So, how are we considering that along with preserving natural resources and I I hope that that comes in and I'm curious how you're framing that when you go into these discussions. And then lastly, hopefully this is a small one. Right now, the council is talking a lot about our charter and talking a whole lot as we received recommendations from the charter commission. I heard your answer about rank choice voting. Do you think that if the language of our of the way that it's written in our charter is what's throwing it, is it worth us really picking apart that one and revisiting that particular language and submitting a new home rule on that?

I may say something not popular. Um, I do think it's worth looking and seeing if the legislation should be changed, if the home rule should be changed based on other home rules that have gone through that have also addressed rank choice voting. Um, and I think that my recommendation to the charter, although I don't think this is a slam dunk in terms of getting what the town wants, would be to make a section in the charter, the new charter around rank choice voting that is very affirmative. um like we will do rank choice voting um we or participatory balloting however you want to call it um as an affirmation I think in the uh the first charter it was we'll set up a commission and study and investigate doing it and that's not we're doing it so and I'm just saying there may be a difference because the legislature has to approve a new charter so the legislature approves a new charter that says we will do it. There might be an argument that go for it.

And to clarify, we're not submitting a new charter to the legislature fully. We're just doing the the changes within the community that we're allowed to do. So, this would be a separate home.

I think changing the language to be more affirmative would be important. And I also think at the same time, and I'm more than happy to help identify what other places may have gotten bills that have moved, so we can work with their legislators in their towns to see if there's certain language that should be um done differently. I just want to talk a little bit about what you said about the intimidated and around advocacy. Um, I just want to share with you that like I think last year, last session, two fifth graders from Crocker Farm came to the state house to testify on a plastic bag ban. And they just spoke about their experience and their interest in doing it. And it was really quite moving, not just because of their age, but because they had some data and they had some, you know, research that they had done in their classroom. But really, it was about their feeling about what they thought um they would lose if they didn't have the ban. And my feeling in talking to um folks, and I I'm going to speak for Joe and I here. We obviously didn't know you were going to ask that. I know that we both would be interested in coming to anything that the town council wanted to sponsor to help people identify how to be advocates at the state house. Um but the thing to remember is the most compelling advocacy is stories and personal impact. There are academics who will come and present data and there are researchers that will come and present data but I think that with legislators it's really the thing that moves us is empathy and that's people's stories. Um and so I'm happy to talk with anybody. I'm happy to to meet with anybody to sort of go over how it's going to be. If we know in advance that somebody's coming in to testify, I'll accompany them. Um, and so hopefully trying to make it comfortable, but it can be intimidating when you're in a

room sitting at the table for sure. May also be a reason to do it virtually.

The the sweet spot undeniably is one fact, one story, head heart. um legislators can't resist it, right? Like we're we're like butter. It's just true. It's it's absolutely always been true and it's the same everywhere. Um you asked about advocacy. What I mean by advocacy is public pressure, sustained, pointed public and social pressure. And that is part of what we are on the hook for out in Western Massachusetts. Um and what does that look like? I don't know. I think it looks like standing in a field with 2,000 people saying SOS um and having a drone snap a picture and sending it to the globe. I think it looks like um throwing up uh videos of town counselors and kids in schools reading statements on the wall of desi um in effort and and inviting the globe. I think it looks like real organizing. Um that's what I think that's what I think that's what we have to do if we really want to break through. You asked about um hold harmless. Ammerst has one of the largest hold harmless buffers in the state as you know, right? And that's a sustained decrease in population. It doesn't have to be your population is is a separate thing. But what the formula sees is a whole other one. So, a reook, an opening of chapter 70 would allow us to look at the construct of hold armless would also allow us to look at special education funding um which is a real thing statewide. We could look at everything that we are out here. Again, the last foundation budget review commission in 2015 looked at a set of things that I think we all believe are really important, but they didn't look at um what we are. And so therefore the formula is not who we are. It doesn't see us in the same way. So we have all

these add and stir kind of stuff, right? We have rural aid and we have some more money for literacy and we have all these pots and of course we've got to fight for the pots of money, but it's not the systemic solution. That's what we need and that's what we'll get when we open the formula. The target local contribution is going to be it's going to look at systemic fixes. But if you think about like a percentage, it's about 25% of Ammeris paying, maybe 30%. Um, but we we could do better, right? We have to do we have to go for the rest of the 70. And that's the foundation budget review. Um, and the foundation budget review could also act on charter on on charter schools, right? It could act on all of the things that it didn't act on before that are still part, you know, are very much present for schools like ours. thing

and then pilot the auditor has an idea about pilot but remember this commission is not going to it's not going to take auditor Daglio's idea um I mean maybe she'll she'll maybe she'll come testify but it's it's going to have to work for 351 cities Thank you. Thank you so much. And I just I just mentioned because you're facing a way that a lot of folks have come into the room to advocate behind you um as you've been sitting here. So, just as a heads up because I know you can't see them, we talking on buses like this is what it's going to be, friends. Um, we're going to have to build muscle together. Um, thank you.

It's us together. Western Mass Pass. So Anna, you asked though about what does it look like when other towns uh joining other towns and I just want to say I think what it looks like is you know counselor to counselor calling up and saying I understand you have this issue we have this issue can we talk about this issue have you talked to your and then have and then start organizing with them seeing if they've notified their legislators and once you tell us they've notified their legislators and we go to their legislators in the state house and we sort of say, "We understand that we're getting calls from our constituents. How can we move this forward?" That to me would be the best way to be effective.

Thank you. Um, councelor Ryan, just want to follow up briefly on uh, Councelor Kenna Martin's question related to immigration. Um it was very heartening to hear that the governor's executive order hear about legislative actions that are taking place um at your end. Um what advice, if any, could you give us? What can we do as a council effectively uh in response to what's going on? Do you have any thoughts about how we could be effective or help?

There's a couple of things that I have on this. Um, and I appreciate the I appreciate not just the question, but the motivation for the question. Um, because I think it's a difficult one because we want to be able to be effective without putting our neighbors at risk. And, you know, so that sometimes means we may want to shout from the rooftops how we feel about it, but that may also put pe threaten people. And um I'm aware for myself of trying to avoid that whatever puts somebody else at risk like and being aware that it may not put me at risk but it's going to put somebody else at risk. I think that there's two things that are available to tell you the truth. One is and I'm a it's going to sound a little hokey but I am a big believer in them right now. Joe's heard me say this. One of the most important weapons we have is unity and caring for each other. unity and caring for each other and the council has an opportunity to model both and to be active on both and I think that's really super important. Um, but I also think the training Hello. the training.

Oh, sorry. I thought maybe, you know, somebody else was listening. Um, but there is a training on Wednesday night at First Church and I think there's a overflow training happening a couple weeks later at Grace of Pit. Um, that's going to talk about how to be a witness and how to, you know, how to be an observer. And I think that's something that we all could be um that's a good opportunity for all of us to do something proactive um is to be ready to be a witness and to be ready to support our neighbors and show them that we care about them without putting them at risk. I think that's super important. Um but you know I'm also I mean I personally I think food drives are a way to do things now accompanying people to the survival center food pantry. Um if we I heard that some families weren't comfortable going and so people are going to chaperone them directly to the survi survival center. Those are important things right now. You know for me ICE feeds on division and hate. So our weapons of choice are unity and love.

And I would just say not every community is ammer statewide. So our leadership is not hearing yay um from every community. So the extent to which the council wanted to affirm the protections, you know, and send it to the governor, send it to the lieutenant governor, send it to the uh senate president, I'll speak only for the senate president, but speaker. Um you know that that's you're an elected body. We take you really seriously. And then I go, "Hey, these are the people I work for. I can't go home, friends, unless we do this quickly. Let's go." Um so that is one of the ways in which we channel you to make our point that we share we happen to share your urgency um desperately. Um and so you tell us to do it, you tell our leadership to do it.

Okay. So that would translate to supporting the legislation that was on that slide or the governor's bill or any anything you said anything. The governor's bill is now legislation before us. So act protect immigrants and curtail ICE. If you said that sentence and sent it, that's all you really like, you know, you don't have to you don't have to be experts at it.

Thank you, Councelor Breick. So, I just want to quickly acknowledge that in addition to all the wonderful advocates for education who are out tonight, there are also a lot of folks in our community who have been working and organizing uh to try to put together real concrete action around immigration to and ICE and protecting our communities. Um, and so I just wanted to I have a f one follow-up question on that front and then I have a a question on education. I'll circle back to that. Um and I'll ask both together here. Uh so according to the guidance on executive order 650, the governor's executive order, the department of corrections, the 287g agreement with ICE that you also mentioned, this remains intact and unchanged by this executive order. Um, so I'm wondering if you both support continuing this agreement and why you think the Healey administration is not ending this agreement with that executive order. Um and and you know I ask that to the sentiment of a lot of the folks in our community who feel like some of these uh bills and actions on the state level or legislation on the state level is not really going far enough or not targeting the real you know some of the real actionable pieces of you know what could really really protect us and protect the folks in our community. Um, and then I'll just just on education quickly. Um, it's my understanding that releasing funds from the fair share amendment would be incredibly impactful for our local public schools. So, I'm wondering what is stopping the legislature from releasing these funds and or at least if you could just share from your perspective where this is at, that would be great. Thank you. Um, so I think the legislation safer communities is all 287g agreements, not

just future ones. Um, I can't speak for the governor on why she chose to limit it, although it seems to me that by limiting it, she's also saying we're not going to have any 28 any more 287g agreements. Um, but you I can't speak for her. Um, I can speak, but the safer communities act includes all. So, um, you we're both co-sponsors and hoping that that becomes the leverage that we then can modify the governor's bill. Um, I'm just trying to see if there was another one on immigration, fair share. So as you know fair share has to be um spent on both transportation and education and the division of that is something that can vary from year to year. Um and I can't tell you now how we'll spend that fair share because that becomes part of the budget process but I can tell you a lot of us will be talking about using that to help municipalities pay for K through 12. Um, I think I can speak for myself. That's going to be one of my avenues for advocacy is we're going to want some of that funds to come back to K. Um, on fair share, it's really important that we understand that fair share is flowing. Hundreds of millions of dollars, billions actually, um, are flowing and Ammerst is benefiting from fair share. It's it's with transportation and with education. Um, you know, the universal school meals, that's fair share money. The free RTA, crosscount RTA, that's fair share money. The work on rail is fair share money. Early education is fair share. Um, UMass is getting a ton of fair share. Um, the the issue that we have to focus on is

that the foundation funding formula does not work. And so, Ammerst is losing and this is really important and it's it's weedy and it can be hard to understand but to say that Ammerst isn't getting um fair share is actually not to recognize that in fact in the state's eyes because of something called a hold harmless buffer um which Anna referenced um before Ammerst is actually getting $3 million more than if you were just going to get a per person formula. because you've been held harmless, which means you don't get less last year than you get the year coming. And it's really important to understand that you have to change the formula so that it rewards the communities that we are. Um, and that could be maybe it's a really super frustrating thing to hear, but I want I really this is why we uh last year, two years ago, we supported the school committee in bringing Tracy Novik, who I hope this is just my pitch. I hope that the council again, if you will, um I wouldn't presume, but the school committee and the council because knowing where to push and what how sharp you can get in there will make your advocacy stronger. Um and and we need the razor sharpest advocacy. So fair share is coming, right? It's it's going to be part of the special education circuit breaker in the governor's budget. special educ as special education circuit breaker is getting a huge B boost that's fair share that will help Ammerst so is it enough to forestall the pain no it is not um that's why we have to change the formulas but the issue is that that chapter 70 am emerst on a scale of 1 to 12 is always around a five or a six and

that's measured by things like poverty by the number of um English learn learners um and and the formula that is rewarding a higher density of those um has ammerstead a five or a six. So instead of going up meteorically like some of the gateway cities are um it's a gradual and so you're this is like takes more than we can do. I I need like a dry erase board. This is your hold harmless buffer. again, three million more um than the state thinks you would get if they were counting your students and and chapter 70 is making its way up. So, in fact, you're getting more than chapter 70. It's not enough because hold harmless goes up one or two or 3% every year and your expenses are going up much higher than that. So, it's like death by a thousand cuts and that's not okay. which is why we're really going to the mat again and again to change open up chapter 70 and change the formula. Remember that clam shell. So one part of the clam shell is open. This part of the clam that's 18 years old. This part of the clam and that was by legislation. We did this um this part of the clamshell is not open yet. And so we're doing all this constellation of stuff. More money for rural, more money for special education, more money for transportation. and we're trying to do it so that we can keep our schools alive, but we need a systemic fix and that's what it is. And then in terms of this uh the executive order um there my understanding I'm not the governor but my understanding is there what there's one person in the DOC um and that and we have to remember that person is facing toward the department of corrections. Now, Mindy and I have a similar belief in decarceration and you know, root causes of incarceration. So, but it's it's really one person facing

the cadre of folks who are incarcerated currently. That's that person where that person is facing. They are not facing toward the community. Now, again, these are our family members who are incarcerated. So, I care about them deeply and I understand about over incarceration. I understand about all of that stuff. But it's just really important for us to understand where the person is looking. Um they're not they're not they're not a police department looking in communities which is now going to be prevented. And again none of our communities have 287g agreements. Um in western mass they don't even threaten to do them right. We are not the issue statewide. It's much more of a conservative approach. So and as Mindy said the legislature gets to act now. the governor gave us something and we'll see what we can do.

Thank you, Lynn.

First of all, thank you for being here and your um comments and what you've shared with us, I think, is absolutely the best example of the fact that you hear us and how you work with us and that has been true since both of you were sworn into office uh and we started the council. Uh I also want to recognize that the chair of our right re our elementary school committee is in the audience as well as all of the other advocates here for education which will be one of the major focuses of this council and of our schools committee. Um I'm also just want to not repeat questions that have been asked by other people and especially around immigration so forth. Not that I'm not interested, but you they've done it.

Um, there are two different pilot programs that exist. The one that you're looking at on the commission is the public one, the one that has

the stateowned land. Exactly. And you know my position on this about higher education, 29 public higher education institutions. People come to them literally every day. They use our roads. They use our facilities. and we they don't pay taxes. So, we'll be talking more about that. I promise. Uh the second thing is though, the pilot formula that has always been dead on arrival in the legislature is around nonprofits. And I don't mean small nonprofits. I mean large nonprofits. Most of which are either public uh excuse me, they're either private higher education institutions or they're healthc care institutions. And in fact, every time it comes up, the healthc care lobby in Boston stops any conversation that we're going to have about it. Even though Massachusetts is a very, very big public, I mean, private higher education institution as well. And I have to say in our town of Ammerst, we probably would say, well, one institution might be able to afford something, but the other one might not. Nevertheless, in Ammerst alone, over 25 plus% of our land is owned by higher ed institutions and we have no leverage. And we need the legislature to help us have that leverage. And yes, you do know that I know how to form a co a coalition of people and we will. Okay, just letting you know. Good.

Any response? I mean, that's a mic drop.

Then I will move on to Andy. Yeah, just echo the thanks for being here and um I was going to raise the same uh issue about stateowned land and the fact that there are 29 different uh institutions across the state that face the same thing as we do, which is having land that's off the tax roles and uh demands on services. So that seems like a potential coalition that that would be out there. Um school funding formula. Um it it's seemed to me for years that Northampton and Ammerst have been in similar boats where we're we're of a certain size and a certain demographic that we don't benefit from the formulas um that that other communities might. So maybe maybe we should be teaming up with them to start a a nucleus of um uh storytelling on state funding because certainly there's activity in both towns that is based on the recognition that we don't have enough funding for for what we want to do. And then finally um you know I'm really interested in finding new revenue sources. H housing is a big source of tax revenue in this town. Um, and the governor has a priority of developing more housing and supporting more housing and economic development. I don't know if you have any thoughts about what resources might be coming our way that would or that could come our way to support more development of taxable housing um whether it's for students or seniors or uh workforce housing. And uh I guess that's my question. Just I just want to just comment a little bit on it, Andy. I think that um I think first of all our ears are always open for anything that's happening in Boston around resources and support around economic development and housing. Me for Ammerst and Ramby Joe for Harold. Um I do think that

the last thing they mentioned I forgot to write because I was listening so intently I was writing all these notes for it about um let me just think for a moment housing economic development workforce housing um so one of the things that we've talked with both uh with UMass about which the chancellor has seemed this chancellor has seemed very eager to do is workforce housing on un nonacademically used UMass Amoris land that doesn't necessarily have to be like right in our backyard. It could just wherever you put just as for two reasons. One, not only because it's housing, but because it's housing, it relieves pressure on the Ammeris market. And that's actually the main concern here is trying to sort of allow the Ammeris housing market to breathe a little bit by putting workforce housing on campus. And I think we're going to see some of that happening in the next couple years.

Yeah. um if there's some way that we could make that taxable at the same time that it's because that we there's a housing piece and there's a revenue piece.

I think this is a it's an inside outside but we're not both of us aren't inside or outside we're just here. Um so there's us working with the university to try to make that happen and then I think there's the town to make sure that happens whether it's through strategic partnership agreements other kinds of conversations so that it's kind of a dual one two And then on housing um specifically, the governor filed a 5.1 billion and we passed a $5.1 billion um affordable housing bill. And um two things since then. One is uh we worked together um to put into law now a dashboard so we can track every single dollar that is spent from that 5.1 billion dollars. Every single dollar. And that's down to the town and down to the county. And why do we do that? Because we have no reason to trust and you have no reason to trust us that we're going to get our fair share. That's part of the work. Number one, that's number one. Number two, there is a housing choice program. That's like the overarching program that then drives all these other housing programs. At the top of that is um basically an algorithm. We're going to talk a lot about algorithms that value certain things. We changed the algorithm at the top and it now says that it has to equitably resource geographic and also population equity. That's for the first time. It's never had that before. And we changed the housing choice program. It didn't work for our communities. Um Ammerst was way ahead of it. But because Ammerst was pushing, we saw the the the gulf actually between Ammerst and the rest of our our region. So what we tried to do is make it easier for all communities in Western Mass to come in and make it easier for Ammerst and then score it appropriately so that not only

can you get into the program but you can win. Um and Ammerst has done an excellent job in in housing both courting housing development um and actually getting money public money. Can we do better and can you know we meaning us as your servants? Sure. And we're I think we're all in. Um this governor Kristen Elico for Western Mass director, they want to they actually have to build. And I think we know that out either here we build or we die. Right. That's that's our that's what we're looking at in Western Mass. We either build population or some of parts of our uh region will go actually out of business in about 50 to 100 years. That's all studies, right? This is existential. Um the governor has is facing a lot of pressure out east people in out east they do do not want to build land right she has to take them to court and they don't want to build housing like we want to build so it makes us good partners we also value a good intersection between climate readiness and housing we value open land and housing so I trust us to get it right for Ammerst again we will never say to Ammerst what you should do. Ammerst says to us, "We'd like to get some housing grants." And we then go get them. We're trying to set up the structure so that Ammerst wins when Ammerst is ready.

Thank you, Jennifer.

And thank you both for being here. This is been one of the most riveting council meetings in my more than four years on the council. So, thank you. Um but so I did want to just pick up on what Andy said is you we're not as you know well know an amorous challenge for housing that caters to the student housing market to be built. We don't have to court that about we are very challenged to have housing to serve our non- studentent population and I think because we have built we have not been able to build that kind of housing um a lot of workforce housing that we have seen our non- studentent population decline pretty precipitously. Um, so we have a community of it's getting to be under 14,000 non- studentent residents and we have to support our K through2 schools which we would love to have more families living here and sending students to those schools. Um, we have infrastructure and services yet our three, you know, we all know largest employers don't pay taxes. Um, so as we look to work with other our peers, you know, on the municipal level, uh, I'm wondering if you also look to other states and like in Connecticut, they have a statewide pilot program where the state actually has a formula and they they take a certain percentage of the tax revenue that's lost from public and private nonprofit institutions, but very much private colleges and the state colleges and they actually pay those municipalities for public institutions communities that host them get 43% of what they would pay those institutions would pay in taxes from the state and if

we had anywhere near that from UMass I would we could fund our schools so you know I don't know many of us happy work with you on that, but that's something that's been in place in Connecticut for a number of years. Do you have that legislation or do you have that statute? I will get it and get it to you. I'd be super Okay. Yeah. I didn't know that.

And then based on what No, I didn't. But then based on what we said earlier and then it would be not only us working together with you but maybe you reaching out to the other 28 host communities to also engage them in it. Right? This has to be a statewide coalition because the first thing that we're going to hear from our colleagues is but people move there because it is a college town, right? As almost dismissing an opportunity to help. So, we need to sort of reach out to the network of other host communities that may also be feeling that crunch to be able to work with us. Wasn't there just an article, I think, in the Boston Globe that northeastern Yes. Yeah.

They reached an agreement with the city of Boston. So, they're the city of Boston would be a very good place to do it. New Mass has a Boston campus as well as private institution as would Cambridge. Y Cambridge has it, I think. So Sam, uh, yeah, thank you. Uh, I'd like to thank both our representatives. Sam, can you pause for a second? Sean, is there a way we can get that louder? He wants to start talking. I'll bring the volume up as he talks. Okay, Sam. Sam, go ahead. It's just very faint in here, so we just want to make sure we can hear you. Uh, I can shout. Can you hear me now? Yes.

I'd like to thank both our representatives. Uh I found the presentation quite informative. Uh learned some things that I might not have known. And uh it's very apparent to me that uh both of you have demonstrated uh uh aside from great knowledge and advocacy uh approachability and relatability uh for not just our council but for our community. Uh and I'd like to uh thank you for taking the time and coming here and uh being in front of uh our town and our committee. I think it has made a difference. Thank you so much. Thank you.

That is all our hands. So it's Thank you for giving us for well more than the hour. Um that was very ambitious to to get everything done, but I want to thank you for being here tonight um to give us this update and all. Um, as Sam just said, it was extremely helpful to all of us. Um, for the public, um, we will be moving on to the rest of the agenda, which is two quick things and then public comment. For the counselors, we would normally take a break, but our public has been waiting a very long time. So, I would like to move without a break to that so that we can get to the the public comment portion. Um, the representatives and senators will try to remain for the public comment, but they may not be able to due to their schedules. So, I just want to make that clear to the public that it is not that they don't want to hear you. It is all based on schedules. Um, but um, there are contact information for the senator and the representative in that presentation they gave that is in our packet. Um so we will make sure that it it can be found for everyone to see and so that anyone that wishes to contact them may do so um through that contact information that they have provided and that we will make sure it should be in the packet. Yes. Um it's the last two slides I think of that presentation. So again, thank you to the senator and the representative for your presentation. We really appreciate the time you took to come here tonight. Thank you so much and thank you to the town of Ammeris for hosting my office hours of me.

And I just want to say before we go um I really want to extend appreciation through you to your town staff. Um Ammerst really has really dedicated dedicated um public staff. we ask a lot of Paul Buckleman um in terms of the questions we ask and our our regular meetings with him and with council members and then everyone we interact with is just remarkable. So, thank you um very very much. And Kristen Elico here is here as a silent partner, the governor's western mass director. She really cares a great deal. So, every minute spent building relationships with Kristen is a a moment spent well. Thank you so much. Thank you.

We have technically announcements on our agenda. They are on the agenda. I am not going to read them. And we have no hearings which makes us moving to public comment. Anyone wishing to make general public comment who is attending remotely, please raise your hand in the Zoom application. Now, if you are present in the town room and have not yet signed up over by the table, Sean's raising it up. Um, please do so now. Residents are welcome to make public comments on matters within the jurisdiction of the council. The council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during general public comment. Public comments are not reflective of the opinions of the council. The first amendment broadly protects individuals rights to address the government, to speak, and to express themselves, including their right to say hateful and offensive things. I am generally unable to shut those commenters down under the first amendment to the US Constitution unless their level of speech falls within an exception articulated by the courts such as fighting words, true threats to a particular individual, harassment of a particular individual or incitement of imminent lawless activity. If a question exists as to whether a particular speaker speaker is engaging in unprotected speech, I must defer to the principle of freedom of speech. There are four hands raised on Zoom of people who wish to make public comment. Sean, how many people in the town room have signed up for public comment?

10. 10. With 14 commenters, uh, each commenter will have two minutes to make their comment. Um, we will start with people in the room at this point. Um, so Sean, the first name is Andrew Brace. Andrew, please come on up. State your name and where you live and make your comment.

Hi, my name is Andrew Brace. I'm the president of the Amoris DPW Associations. I'm here to make town council and public aware that contract negotiations between the town and DPW have been going on for over one year now. Negotiations began in November of 2024 with an opening meeting. Following the opening meeting, there were seven more meeting sessions. At the seventh meeting, the town's legal council suggested mediation as the next step. We are now 7 months past the expiration of the last contract which expired July 1st, 2025 2025 and we are entering our fourth and supposedly final mediation meeting scheduled for next week. The town states in its personnel procedure manual that the town seeks to provide a friendly, respectful, healthy, and rewarding place to work for its employees while maintaining employment practices that create safe, fair, equitable, equitable, and positive environment for staff to achieve their workplace goals. We take pride in assembling and retaining high performing and motivated individuals who are dedicated to serving community members in an innovative and responsive ways. and we continually strive to be the public employer of choice in Western Massachusetts. Unfortunately, our experience in negotiations does not reflect the town's stated values. DPW staff provide essential services that keep the town running every day, including providing and distributing clean drinking water, collecting and treating sewage, handling solid waste, providing engineering services, and maintaining numerous parks, cemeteries, roads, street lights, traffic controls, pools, and numerous trucks and pieces of heavy machinery. There are numerous challenges that the DPW has faced for the past several years, including an ongoing high level of turnover, difficulty retaining staff, regular vacancies and understaffing, and a

significant loss of institutional knowledge. Lengthy negotiations contribute to uncertainty and make it hard to retain employees. These issues affect staff morale and impact service delivery to the town. Please finish up, Andrew. Okay. We are not asking for special treatment, but for a fair and respectful contract that reflects the work that we do and aligns with the town stated values. I'm asking that the town negotiators align their actions with the town stated values and work towards a timely and equitable resolution. Thank you. Thank you for your comment, Andrew. We will move on to an online uh Zoom signup. Andrew Milnchuk, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live.

Hello. Actually, this is Josea Reggae, Andrew's wife. I'm sorry that the it says the wrong name. Um, I live in Far on Farview Way in Amherst. Heartfelt thanks to Senator Kmerford and Representative Dome for the work they do every day to support our communities. State support is especially important in the current climate where federal agents are terrorizing peaceful residents with no criminal records. Amherst is home to people from all over the world and this diversity is one of the things that make it such a dynamic place. But I know firsthand that many towns people, no matter what their citizenship status, are living in a heightened state of anxiety. I appreciate the steps that the governor has taken to limit ICE activities and to restrict out of town national guard deployment in our state, but they aren't strong enough. Many members of the council will already be aware of a resolution that will still soon come before you calling for federal immigration agents to be held accountable for violations of Massachusetts criminal law. It calls upon our state attorney general, our county DA, and our town police chief to take affirmative steps to protect the residents of the Commonwealth, Hampshire County, and the town of Amherst from the unlawful actions of federal forces. It asked them to investigate the incidents in which masked ICE agents have attacked, unlawfully discriminated against, and violated the constitutional rights of Massachusetts residents. And when appropriate, it asks them to initiate criminal charges against these agents. The resolution will give Amherst an opportunity to do something actionable, not merely symbolic, in calling upon the town to give teeth to their promises to protect us. when it comes before you, I hope you will consider it with all due seriousness. Thank you.

Thank you, Josea. Um, next one, Sean. The next name is Vincent Okconor. Vincent, please come up, state your name and where you live, and then make your comment.

You want me to use myself? Yes, you needed.

Um, my name is Vincent Okconor. I live at 175 Summer Street, apartment 12. Um, we know ISIS's tactics. We don't need uh to learn anything a new. We've seen enough on television to understand what is likely to happen if they visit us. two components are necessary to successfully frustrate them. One, first is prior knowledge. Um there are local uh safe houses and one by groups that can hide people. The Jews of Denmark did not all sailed to Sweden u the night after they found out what the Nazis were to do. Some of them were head held hidden for days, others were hidden for weeks and some were hidden for months. So we need to know and we need town employees who find out and university employees who find out to tell their union representatives to make sure the information gets out. Um uh we need to have uh we have snow days. We need to have ICE days called by unions. What's the second thing we need to have is a local government plan of action. If the only use of local police is to dispo dispersers parents of schools, school children who have been uh terrorized, teachers and children who have been kidnapped or the neighbors of residents whose homes or apartments have been broken into. Um despite the fact that

the DA says he will prosecute people who are arrested, um we need to have a plan that that will arrest people who engage in these criminal activities even if they claim to be federal employees in cla instead of the thugs, the armed and mass thugs that they really are. Vincent, please finish up. Um yeah, if your time is up. If the use of police uh as I've described happens, the administrative and political leaders of this town will be gone quickly as will a police department who refuses to protect and defend the people who pay their salaries.

Thank you, Vincent, for your comments. Nina M, please unmute yourself. Uh state your name and where you live and make your comment. Hi, my name is Nina Manin. I live in North Ammerst and I want to start by thanking you all for your uh your advocacy, particularly our state representatives and for all of you for your difficult work. Um my I have a child in 8th grade at arms. My family's been in Amorest for nearly 60 years for multiple generations and I have watched our school district go from being the absolute best in the state to barely being above average. I know that catastrophic cuts are are not just something that we as a community are facing. But I do ask you um as town leadership to work out of the box and to think creatively to help defay these catastrophic cuts. Um, and I am asking you to look deeply at the concept of par across departments and question if this is in fact a formula for equity for our community. And I again thank you for all your work and your your advocacy. Thank you.

Thank you, Nina, for your comment. Sean, next is Daniel Shapiro. Daniel, please come up and then state your name and where you live and make your comment. Hi, my name is Daniel Shapiro. I live at 51 Rolling Green Drive. Uh, and I am a UMass student. Can you speak closer to the mic maybe? Yes. Hello.

Uh, hello Emmeris Town Council and thank you for this opportunity. Like I said, my name is Daniel Shapiro and I am here not only as a UMass student, but as a representative of the Sunrise Movement at UMass. Uh for those of you who don't know, we are an activist and advocacy movement aimed at social environmental justice focused on making UMass a better place for all of its students and faculty both to work and live and for it to be better for the town that hosts it. And that is why I'm here today to ask you to make a formal statement pressuring UMass Ammerst to construct more onampus universityowned housing for students. I asked this because the situation for students is untenable and the pressure it places on the town is untenable. In January of 2025, UMass put out a request for proposal seeking a developer to renovate existing dorms and to construct new public private housing. As December 2025, almost a full year later, there's been no updates with the 2025 update to our campus master plan declaring the procurement process was still ongoing. There has been no progress and we need more housing on our campus that doesn't put pressure on the local housing market. Our school needs to pull its weight and their current plan for that is to build more public private housing such as the Fieldstone Apartments, which their cheapest room at the moment runs $1,63, which is $46 up from just March of last year. This is unacceptable. So, we are hoping as a movement to get the town to put pressure on our school because it would give it would give us a further mandate to make sure that our school actually pulls its weight in this community. Thank you so much and uh have a great evening.

Thank you Daniel for your comment. Margaret, please unmute yourself, state your name and where you live and make your comment.

Hello. Um this is Margaret Sawyer. I live in South Ammerst and um it was really exciting to see this talk tonight. Thank you Mindy and Joe for being there. Um Jennifer Tab, I got very excited about the Connecticut formula. That was exciting to hear about. Let's do that. Um, I just wanted to come because um, so many of these years that I've been living here in Ammerst, we start the year with budget negotiations and we hear about how there's going to be this shortfall for the schools and how it's inevitable and how there's nothing to be done and h and sometimes I've also heard that the schools ask for a lot of money that the schools are the department that you know has the highest increases and it's not fair that the schools are asking for so much money and um you know as a teacher now in the schools as of recently um I do feel the pinch and the the worry about money. Um we especially hearing that there's going to be this huge shortfall and people worrying about their jobs. Um, also thinking about the new school building coming and all the logistics that it's going to take to make that work and how inevitably there's going to be unexpected expenses that come with change. Um, I just hope that this year we can really try to do this together in a different way where there's not as much like why is this happening? Oh, the schools like how can we do it where we're listening to each other better, we're having a little more openness with each other. if we have to cut things, we're doing it all as a team because we are all each other has right now. We're not feeling that backing from the town, from the federal government anymore. Um the state, we're lucky to have such good representatives, but it's, you know, we're a small town and we have to stick together and I just want to feel that

better in this budget hear process coming up. Thank you, Margaret, for your comments. Sean, next is Angelica Bernal. Angelica, please come up, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Uh, good evening, Angelica Bernal, District 2. So, I'm speaking here on behalf of the steering committee of the Special Education Parent Advisory Council, CPAC, to voice our deep concern over this year's projected school budget deficits. We are living in unprecedented dark times. A year ago, when we came to speak to you, we flagged concerns about the Trump administration and their attacks on our most vulnerable in society, focusing our concerns on individuals with disabilities. We raised our concerns about dismantling of the gains that disability advocates have fought so tirelessly and the infrastructure in the Department of Education that provides for the funding and right guarantees under the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act or IDEA. We are now a year into this fullscale attack on our educational system and particularly on special education. Thousands who have upheld IDEA have been fired and federal funding that our schools depend on is gone. We have been speaking before you for four years in a row now. Each year asking and pleading that you prioritize public school spending. But I hope this year the stakes are clearer than ever as to why public education in Amherst must be our number one priority. Our school local school system uh public education, particularly special education, is in crisis. Years of cuts have left us hanging by a thread. We feel it directly as families of students with IEPs and 504s. We see it in the ways in which positions that are critical to our students are the first to face cuts. And after being the first on chopping blocks for four years, we have nothing left to give. Last year alone, we lost a significant number of teachers and pair professionals. We have long been out of compliance with federal and state laws. But along with the legal liabilities of these system failures and the financial waste they cause as we resolve these crisis through litigation, we ask that

you take heart of what is most important here, our students who are Amherst residents and deserve a quality education. We are now a nation in crisis, a crisis on the backs of our most vulnerable members of society. And I hope this year you will dispense with the old rationale because frankly we can no longer afford that. And we ask instead that you follow the moral imperative. Please follow up on their schools. Thank you. Thank you, Angelica. Ellen JG, please unmute yourself, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Hello. Um, I am Ellen Jedriera and I live in South Ammerst. I'm a parent of two elementary age kids. Um, and we have family roots here. Thank you very much to Representative Dom and Senator Commerford for being here tonight and so for working so hard for our western Massachusetts communities. And thank you for the town council to the town council for listening. The financial situation facing our public schools in Ammerst and across the state is dire. In Ammerst and Ammerst Pelum, we are facing a 4 to5 million budget shortfall. By some estimates, this could result in more than 40 staff loss this year alone between these districts. Our schools cannot sustain these losses. Our children cannot sustain these losses. And we as a community cannot sustain these losses. School funding needs to be the high priority in this year's budget. The town of Ammerst has had a recorded surplus of between four and six million over the past eight years or so. Yet, our schools make cut after cut after cut. We know the town cannot fix the problem alone, and we need the Commonwealth to change the way it funds our public schools. But Ammerst does have the ability to provide more funding and to save some of our critical teaching positions and incredibly valuable programming. In 1749, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter that an investment in education pays the best interest, or as it has been paraphrased, the only thing more expensive than education is ignorance. Education is expensive. But it's also critical to our community and to our country. And public school systems like Ammerst are an investment in our future, our children's future, and the future of our country. And today we need this investment more than ever. Thank you for listening.

Thank you Ellen for your comments. Sean, next we have Leila. Leila, please come up. State your name where you live and make your comment.

Hi, my name is Leila Mashbeck. I live in district 1. Um, and like many families, I moved my trinational family to Ammerst for its bilingual public school, its reputation for inclusivity, and for its legacy of activism against apartheid, fascism, and discriminatory structures both locally, nationally, and abroad. Um, I understood this town to be small but mighty and somewhere I wanted to raise my kids. Um, I understood this would be a place that recognizes how systems of oppression are connected and that global policies impact us locally, that protecting our most vulnerable populations protects us all.

And just to respond to a point made earlier um, by our reps, while I really appreciate your work at the state level, I'd like to both acknowledge as someone who has been protesting and using my voice that our stories often fall on deaf ears. And many of us have experienced a government that is extremely selective and limited in how it responds to overwhelming public pressure. So, I'd like to urge each of you on the council to use the power that is already vested in you uh to protect our community, our values, and our civil rights here by advocating at the state level. Absolutely. um and we will have your backs. But also by using surplus funds to respond to the funding crisis in our public schools and by using every measure at our disposal locally to protect our public spaces, our students, and every member of our community against ICE and government suppression of descent.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments, Ila. Jennifer Courio, please unmute yourself, state your name where you live, and make your comment. Hi, thank you. Uh, my name is Jennifer Curiali and I live on Woodlot Road, District 5 in Ammerst. Um, I have a fifth grade student at Fort River. I'm here tonight to ask you to do whatever you can to fully fund our schools at level services. As you know, the schools are facing unprecedented budget cuts this year. Um, since moving here about 10 years ago, we moved here because my husband um, got a job as a professor at UMass. Um, I have watched in that time our school system suffer and decline year after year. I personally have watched family after family, neighbor after neighbor choice out of our school system into neighboring public schools or charter schools or private schools. As our schools decline, those who can leave leave. And this is utterly unsustainable and wrong. Each student who leaves takes district money with them. Our schools need to be robust and attractive to attract families and to stem the flow of people leaving and to give our children what they deserve. We cannot afford any more budget cuts. As as we all know, these are very dark times and what is happening in our country is terrifying. My only hope is in a town like Amoris, Massachusetts, where we profess to value equity and education, that we take the steps necessary to ensure that our children inherit and create a better world than we have right now. And I think the only way to do that is through education. I ask that you please allocate some of the town surplus to save our schools. I understand that this is not how it's usually done, but we cannot proceed with business as usual. We can't do it the way we've always done it. We are in different times. We have to think outside the box. We have to make hard decisions. We have to do things that are difficult but necessary, even if it's not the way we normally do them. We need to fully fund our public schools. Please do what is necessary and

ethical even if it is difficult and I thank you so much for your time and for your service to our community. Thank you Jennifer for your comment Sean. Next is Lisa.

Lisa please come up state your name where you live and make your comment. Hello, my name is Lisa Pierce Bonnie Fuss and I have lived at 30 Harris Street in Amoris for almost 20 years. I appreciate the presence of our representatives in in the Senate and Congress and um I just want to say that I have been a longlasting uh participant in the public schools here. My daughter graduated from Ammeris Regional last May and is now studying in New York City. I urge the council to prioritize educational funding at this critical moment. I have been an English as a second language teacher in the Kaminantes dual language program at Fort River for four years. Each year I find more demands piled on because of cuts from the previous year's budget. With the cuts to paraprofessionals, librarian assistants, permanent substitutes, and essential specialists, the teachers and administrators who remain must cover the loss. The new era of Trump policies has posed additional burdens on our families and school personnel. Teachers and school administrators are becoming first responders to families at risk of deportation. Reports coming from the National Association of Educators describe Minneapolis public school teachers as reaching out to the immigrant community in unprecedented ways. Amoris educators do much of the same and must get ready to do even more. Currently, we gather groceries for vulnerable families. We collect outerwear for chilly conditions and we keep a careful eye on families who are absent from school. In the process, we are learning that many

families do not receive SNAP benefits and so we are encouraging students to eat more breakfast and lunch at school. The news of family members being taken away from ICE is a reality in Ammerst and I fear we are not preparing a well for the same challenges that Minneapolis faces. The heightened level of anxiety discourages families to be involved in our schools activities. I want to urge the town council to prioritize the work educators extend beyond the school and into our communities. We are stretched too thin and I fear we will snap under the thumb of ice.

Thank you, Lisa, for your comments. Jason Dornney, please unmute yourself, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Hello, my name is Jason Dornney. I live in District 2. I want to start by thanking our state representatives for their presentation tonight and for their hard work over the years supporting our town and our region. Um I'm a father of two elementary school students and once again uh we've come to this time of year where the school funding battle starts and uh these funding shortfalls are projected to be even worse this year than previous years for both the elementary district and the regional district. And I am just asking I'm imploring the town council to um at a minimum fund our schools at level services. And while that's not ideal, I do think it is much better than actually cutting positions. I'd also like to ask that um rather than just funding at level services, you designate surplus funds to be used for closing the funding gaps for our schools. Um, our schools are one of the most important resources that we have as a town and we need to commit to providing them the resources that they need so that our children can get that great education that they deserve and that we want them to have. For too long, we've been resting on our laurels regarding the great schools that we used to have while we spent way more money on them while simultaneously reducing their budgets. uh the state funding mechanisms they need to be revised but our own town funding mechanisms also need to be revised. We need to show that we value education in this town that we value our children and that we are willing to pay for it. So please do whatever you have to do to allocate some of this surplus funding to closing the gaps that our schools are facing. Thank you. Thank you for your hard work and uh please thank you for considering u reallocating some of the surplus budget.

Thank you Jason for your comments. Next we have Alex Lopez. Alex, please come up, state your name, where you live and make your comment.

So my name is Alex Lopez. I live on Potwine. Um, really unfortunately named Street if you're trying to sound serious. Um, there's so much to be said about the presentations today and I appreciate the little glimpse of hope in a world that doesn't offer much of it right now. Um, and it also seems honestly somewhat disillusioned to be hoping right now. Um, we're not talking about a rounding error when it comes to our school budgets. Um, we're not talking about an extra shift when it comes to fully staffing our fire department. Um, I think everyone in this room is strongly for educating kids and not having burning buildings. Um, I just don't think a lot of people on the other side of this are have taken accountability for the ways in which they've led us here. This isn't a new problem. This is an annual tradition in Ammerst at this point where we come back and we talk about the fact that we don't have enough money for our schools. We don't have enough money for our DPW, for our fire departments, and also by the way the ribbon cutting for the next building is going to be at what date? And so until we start putting money into the people here, there are no buildings in town that are going to protect us from ICE, there are no construction projects which are going to stop fascism. There are people who do that on a daily basis. There are educators who do that on a daily basis. There are kids who are standing up and going all the way to Boston to fight for their future and their ability to survive in a town that won't even give them the stability to graduate with the same opportunities that they entered school with. Their schools are shrinking. Their opportunities are shrinking and they are still finding hope to try and move the

needle forwards. So, in a town where we live in the shadow of a $4 billion endowment, well, we're talking about private nonprofits, um, where we live, where 25% of our tax base is taken up and held hostage by higher ed institutions which we can't touch, um, that's not us moving forwards in a collaboration. That's us moving forwards as other people are making decisions for us. And so I don't want to hand over my kid's future to the chancellor, right, or the provost at another private institution. I trust the people in this room to come up with a solution and move us forwards. And part of that is acknowledging the fact that historically we have been making decisions which have led us here. We need to start investing in people if we want to have a future in Emerst.

Thank thank you for your comment, Alex. Casey Maloney, please unmute yourself, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Hi there. Um, I'm Casey Maloney. I live on South Pleasant Street in District 5. Um, I'll keep it short because many of my fellow caregivers have already made outstanding comments about our schools and our plea to think of creative ways to get us to level services for next year. So instead I'm I have a very specific ask that the town think of ways of sharing specialized trades contracts so electricians, plumbers, etc. Um when we think about ways to save money for the town overall, please look at where we can break down silos between these various sectors in the town because I think that could be cost-saving for for the schools in particular. Um, I also ask that uh you please prioritize developing a newou between the school district and the town and DPW on the building property and parking lot maintenance. Um, last week I put in a cclick fix for a sidewalk at the mouth of Crocker Farm School. Um, and the DPW was extremely responsive, so thank you for that. Um, but it was obvious that the Crocker property and the sidewalks directly abuing the school are in this gray zone of responsibility. Um, and so watching kids struggle through like snowbanks at the mouth of the entrance of the school arriving at school wet just feels unacceptable to me. So if we can prioritize getting there with um some type of memorandum of understanding between the school and DPW, that would be great. Thank you. Thank you, Casey, for your comments.

Next, we have Kathleen Mitchell. Kathleen, please come up, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Kathleen Mitchell. I'm a District 5 resident. Um, I'm here also to talk about the schools and I'm so appreciative of all the work that our state reps and some of you have been doing to advocate for state change, but that is not going to help my kids next year. Um, they only get one chance to be in 8th grade and in ninth grade and I don't know what that year now looks like given the budget that we're looking at. Um, my ask would be that we try to figure out where the town of Ammerst and our schools, including our regional schools, can find efficiencies that would help the town budget and the schools budget. You look in the Northampton budget, there are many more shared services. They share IT departments, they share HR departments, they share facilities departments. Some of that is then build back to the school department. You know, Casey was talking about theus. Theouou between the schools and the town has been seems languishing for for at least a year. Um, you know, there's there's efficiencies to be found. There's there's things in the school buildings that the town needs and and the reverse. Um, so I just think in such a budget such a difficult budget year, we owe it to everybody to try to see where we can work together. And I'll echo Margaret Sawyer's comment that we I would like to hear a more sort of collaborative um tone and a collaborative working together because at the end of the day as kids choice out of our schools increasingly we don't stop paying for them. They just get an education somewhere else in a charter school, a more privileged education I would call it with our money. So, it's not really helping us long term to not fund our schools. And we hear the word death spiral and it it it feels

like that's where we are. It feels like that's what's starting. Um, so I appreciate appreciate the opportunity to voice that. Thank you. Thank you, Kathleen, for your comments. Milan Clark, please unmute yourself, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Uh, my name is Milan Clark. I live on Main Street in Town Center and I am making my comment to ask uh for the council to support at the state level um S41, H51 or H91 which is an act to modernize funding for community media programming. Uh the administration has cut funding for the corporation uh for public broadcasting and they're trying to kill PBS. So PEG stations, we do have a um an opportunity to fill some gap from some of the gap that is made by that. So, um if I believe it's a 5% assessment of streaming services, it's a fee that would be um charged to the services themselves since a lot of uh people are not getting cable anymore. So, our services are being reduced um or the amount of funding is threatened. So, with that is a it's at the state level. So I just ask that we could get some advocacy from the town to be able to fund our operations at Amoris Media. That's all.

Thank you Milan for your comments. Next we have Deb Leonard. Deb, please come up, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Hi. Uh my name is Deb Leonard. I live in District 5. um speaking on behalf of myself. Um I had a bunch of things I wanted to tell you about chapter 70 and I think I'm going to stick with that. Um one of the things that I learned and I'm always learning stuff about uh school funding is in a uh Desi statement uh Desi white pages attached to a chapter 70 document. It says after a district's foundation enrollment is calculated, it is applied to a specific cost rate in 11 functional areas to arrive at the upcoming year's foundation budget. That's not the relevant point. These cost rates are based on a model school budget developed by a group of superintendants and an economist in the early 1990s. Our state is using a model developed by a handful of people a long time ago and I think it's really not working. How we are not I rateate right. So we have we have money in this state and we are not I rateate that we are using a Mickey Mouse formula to fund the future of our country. It is beyond I don't understand how people cannot go to can go to sleep at night and not have that discontinuity that bubble through in their minds. It's it's it's bizarre. special education formula. The ex the existing chapter 70 formula assumes that 4% of our students have special education needs across the state. It's well over 20%. So in Ammerst it's well over 20%. It's over 20% everywhere. It is really hard for me to sit and

listen to the discussion of fixing a formula that never really made sense in the first place using this what everybody learns in math. Yals mx plus b, right? A linear graph with b is the intercept, m is the slope. So we have a whole bunch of m's that correspond to different categories of students. X is the populations of those students in those categories. There's no B, right? So we have this kind of student, this kind of student, this kind of student. There's no like you have a school, this is what you start with. So this formula, it's not even linear. I mean, it's because there's a lot of M's and a lot of X's. It's not a line. But when X is zero, B is not is zero. That makes zero sense. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Deb, for your comments. Sean,

last we have Esther Azar. Esther, please come up, state your name, where you live, and make your comment.

Hi, I'm Esther Aar and I live in district one. Um, I am a public speaker. I'm a rabbi. This is what I do. And every time I come to sit before you all, I have no freaking clue what to say because I I I spent since I lost the election, which I was very happy about. I have spent the past two months looking over the town budget, looking over the school budget, grappling with what we can do to save our schools. And and I I keep coming before you and speaking and I really I'm struggling because I spend all day, literally I spent all day trying to come up with the words to convince you to make different decisions. And I know that you're all working so freaking hard. I know. And I hear about the pie and then at the same moment I hear about $10 million or $6 million in surplus and I don't really know what to do about that. I don't really know how to how to think about that. I I I I'm know that we were all children once and I know that we all had good and bad experiences in school and I know that there were teachers that saved us that got us here to this spot today. And without those teachers, we wouldn't be able to do the fantastic work that we do in this world. And I know that the fascism that we see in this country grows from shame that is developed as as as young children. I know that fascism grows from being harmed and no one being there to hold us and see us in our pain. And if we really want to change this world, we need to start with our youngest people. They are the most vulnerable in this system. They are the ones that don't they they can't speak up for themselves. And you all sit here with with an immense responsibility. And I know that

I'm begging you to think out of the box. Just find new ways. There are new ways we can find them together. I'm happy to help. I definitely want to help you with Connecticut. Thank you, Esther, for your comments. Sean, uh, she is the last person on the list. Thank you. That is concludes public comment. Um, at this time, we are going to take a 10-minut break. We will reconvene around 8:55. Please turn off mics and videos as we break.

Getting there. Sat down and did the mic first. Okay. No one stayed. So is did do we know where Andy is? And Sam, are you still continue with our agenda. Um we are on to the consent agenda and so there are a couple of changes I believe. Um, so the following items were selected because they were considered to be routine and it was reasonable to expect they would pass with no controversy. To remove an item from the consent agenda for discussion later in the meeting, ask that it be removed when the when I list the consent agenda items. The request to remove an item from consent does not require a second. Before I read the items, Athena, can I just confirm that we are we do not have the January 12th meeting minutes?

Correct.

Okay. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't wrong on that. Okay. So, I'll read the items and if anyone wants to remove, please let me know. The consent agenda includes the following items and the motions printed there under to approve them in a single unit. Waiver of council rules of procedure rule 8.6 for agenda items 6A and 9A 1 to2. 6A, adoption of the 2026 spring festival and lunar new year celebration proclamation. 8, acceptance of public way Paley Village Place. 8B authorization of town manager to issue and proceed with a request for proposals for a ground lease at the Ruxton site. 8 Dation of Governance Organization and Legislation Committee to recommend appointments to the bylaw review committee. 9 A1 and two, I believe. Um, approval of town manager appointments to the Council on Aging as amended by removing Jolene Fong from that motion and approval of town manager appointments to the Public Art Commission. and 11A a approval of minutes January 10th 2026 special meeting that is the four towns. So, the difference from what is in the motion sheet is the January 12th minutes are not ready yet. So, they are pulled from consent and from tonight's agenda. And the town manager has informed me that Miss Fong has withdrawn her her potential appointment. Um, so that he has asked that we remove her appointment from approval tonight. So that is why I said that a motion would be approved as amended by removing her name from the motion. Um is there anyone

that would like to remove anything from the consent agenda or has a question about those changes? Um councelor Kennel Martin. Um yes I would like to remove item 8D from the consent agenda please. The designation of go for Okay. I see no other hands. Oh, councelor's hands up. Oh, I'm on the wrong page. That's why. Sorry about that, Pam.

I I do not want to remove anything, but I I I believe it's an opportunity just to ask a quick question um and get it answered before we vote. that is on our

So, this is a question for the town manager and andor slash the planning board uh for the Paley Village um place acceptance. I had to ask myself, is there a special permit um I mean a a site plan review permit issued for that development? And if yes, which I would assume, but if yes, was there a waiver on the planting of street trees? Typically, they asked to remove the construction of a sidewalk. They asked to remove or they asked for a waiver um on a a walkway. And I did not see anything about asking for a waiver to plant street trees. There are no street trees on that development. I think Nate Mallay would be the appropriate person.

Nate,

sure. Thanks. Hi everyone. Nate Mallaloy with the planning department. Uh Pam, I heard your question. I I don't have an answer uh ready right now. So I know that every there was it was a cluster subdivision, so it needed uh site plan review and then there was also a special permit for setbacks because it is a cluster. So, it's smaller lots in terms of the setbacks of the structures. My understanding is all the conditions of the permit were satisfied and the subdivision plan was met in, you know, matches the asbuilt plan. And so, I don't I'm not aware that, you know, there was requirements for street trees and they weren't planted. Um, they may just not have been part of the plan. And so, um, you know, typically if there if the in a cluster, it's because it is smaller lots and we still have a normal roadway width, it may be that the trees were intended to be on private property, but those aren't typically part of the permitting. Um, it's whatever is in the right of way and under control of um, say the planning board or the town. And so, I can look into that, but as far as I know, there was no requirement and that and you know, it wasn't missed. And so when this was looked at previously over a year ago, we found that all conditions of the permit were satisfied and no one no one discussed that as something that was missing.

I'll I'll have to accept that. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other hands, is there a second motion? Thank you, Lynn. We will move to a vote. This is on the consent agenda. Councelor Brevik, yes. Councelor Kennel Martin, yes. Andy Churchill, yes. Anna Deon Gothier, hi. Lynn Greamer, hi. Mandy Johannicki is an I. Councelor Lord, hi. Sam Mloud, hi. Pam, yes. Councelor Ryan, hi. Kathy Shane, yes. Jennifer Tob, yes.

And I don't believe councelor Walker has joined us yet. Not yet. Okay. So, she will be marked absent for the vote. It is unanimous 12 to zero. um with one absent. So, we move on to reading the um resolution and proclamation. Um I am happy to let either Lynn or Pam read it if they would like to. Otherwise, I will the three of us are sponsors. Would either of you like to? Okay. Pam. Thank you. It reads, "Now therefore, we, the town council of the town of Ammerst, do hereby proclaim February 17, 2026 as the beginning of the spring festival slash new lunar new year and encourage all residents to join in the 16-day celebration of the year of the horse, beginning with a community celebration on February 8, 2026 at 2 p.m. when the UMass Ammeris lion dragon dancers will be performing traditional lion dancing dances throughout downtown businesses to bring luck, fortune, and prosperity to Amoris businesses in the new year. Thank you, Pam. Um, I believe I see Nate still there. Thank you for hanging around for the consent agenda. That agenda item, I believe, just passed on consent, so I don't believe we need Nate anymore for the evening. So, thank you, Nate. Um, we are moving on to as I figure out what all we've done now. Um, public way passed on consent. The Ruxton property ground lease passed on consent. So, we

are moving on to um item 8 C, which is a request for information under charter section 2.8, residential rental inspection program. Um, so I I'm going to do an introduction and then I will then I will go to Pam and Kathy. Um, two meetings ago, Pam Rooney requested an update from the manager on the residential rental program and Kathy Shane requested an agenda item for that update in an attempt to standardizeformational requests from the manager that are desired under presentations and discussion section of the council agenda. As opposed to the more simple update under a manager's report, I requested that the counselors make a formal request under charter section 2.8C, 8C, the section that allows the council to request information in the form of a memo or by appearance at a council meeting. As I explained to the counselors, using this section for these more in-depth updates ensures that a majority of the council desires to receive the more in-depth update at a coun uh and that the manager knows the scope of the update and the exact information requested so that the information that is sought is presented and ready to be presented. Since I believe that this is the first time the council is being asked to use this section of the charter in such a formal manner, I expect there may be some kinks to be worked out as we figure out how this works. So, uh, one thing I wanted to say is the question before the council tonight is whether it wants to receive the information requested, not to discuss the residential rental program. It is simply to determine whether it wants to receive the information requested and if so, in what manner. The council has options though all of them must per the charter identify the specific information it seeks. So the council can request the information in a memo. It can request an appearance before the council. It can ask for both of those or it could

designate a committee to be the place the manager appears or sends the memo or both. Um, I will attempt to answer any questions related to the use of this section after Pam and Kathy have a chance to speak to their memo and if they desire to make a motion immediately to make that motion. Um, so now I'm going to move to Kathy and Pam. Do you want to start or should I?

I I'll start. Okay. So I don't know whether everyone had a chance to read it and I and maybe Athena or someone could put it up on the screen but the motivation of this this is a new program that we instituted on inspections and and then we changed the way permitting works a bit as well including fees. So we will be in the sixmonth plus status in a few months. So this is after six months operation and uh asking for in the memo you'll see we've laid out why to ask. It's a new program. We've added inspectors. So we've expanded staff. We we're assuming it will break at least even with revenues at least equaling or or more than equaling expenses with some UMass money. So the memo lays out what has been the experience and both how many inspections, how is that going? um are they minor are they major kinds of issues that are found that require reinspection. So we laid out a series of questions for an update information and the way this is framed it would be be both a memo to us as the council and a presentation. And the idea of the presentation is to the extent there are property owners out there that have had experience, we could get be getting public comments at the point we get the presentation. Both of us had assumed this memo would be from the council to the town manager. You know, right now it's from two counselors to the council. So it we we just changed that. Mandy asked us to change it. So, right now we've drafted it, but we fully intended if anyone said, "You've missed something or I have no idea what you're talking about when you're asking for this," it wasn't going to be written in stone. But we drafted this in the format. And at first, my first reaction was this was

awfully bureaucratic as a way to ask for information. Then my second reaction is we have had some presentations in the past several years where we asked for information but we didn't say what we wanted and then we didn't get the information we wanted you know we were we were said send some questions in advance but don't send them to each other so no one knew what had been sent in so formalizing a bit if we really want information I think is a good idea and after the first reaction of oh my gosh Pam and I did this. It wasn't that hard to do is is what I would say.

Kathy covered it. So, I'm happy to take discussion before we make a motion unless you guys This memo was in the packet. It It I thought I checked the It should be It was 8 C was under 8C. Yeah. And I double checked the public packet on Friday and it was there. That's why I asked to have it put up because I wasn't sure people would even I wasn't even sure that people would realize what it was and why it was in the packet. Um but if people have not seen it, I'm happy to take another five minute break for people to to read it. Would people like It is in the packet.

Yeah. Thank you for confirming that. I'm seeing some by mistake some people would like to read it. So, we will take another 5m minute recess so people can can read the read the memo. Councelor Walker's back. Oh, thank you. Councelor Walker, while we do that, can you just confirm that we can hear you and you can hear us? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. So, we're on a fivem minute recess to read um the memo related to item 8 C.

Yeah. Uh, Athena, could you just leave that up on the screen while we recess so that if they haven't seen it, it can be read or at least seen. I I just thought the public might be interested into to any if people are still watching us. Yeah, maybe just to the questions the second page, Athena, so people can see what was requested. That's good.

Athena, could you scroll past four to the next set? That's past four. Thank you. I believe everyone is ready to discuss has a chance to read it. So we will move back into discussion on this topic. We do not have a motion on the floor yet. Um I'm happy to hear discussion on thoughts of decision on hearing this information and if so where and in what format. Uh councelor Ryan.

So I appreciate this. I think this is important. Um I'm happy to make a motion. I don't know whatever perhaps the two of you have already figured this out. But my only concrete question beyond saying I support it and I hope we act on it. Is is there a time frame here? Did I miss that? Is there how long are we giving the manager to do this? Is that something that we've determined or can determine? Do you want me to answer Kathy?

It's written right now. It's it's we'd want at least a full six months of operation. So when I looked at when the inspections actually started, it said fall. So I don't know whether fall was like November. So I I don't think we put a date specific, but the idea was enough time that we would have some of this information. So it wasn't it we we've left it at this. So you want to make sure you have six months complete set of information. That makes sense. The thing six months if there's more than that great but but not trying to get it at you know just a startup pace you know. Does it make sense for us then to suggest that by such and such a date we'd like to have this report?

So the draft motion that is in the packet says March or April. I will say that. But I am going to ask Paul given what what Kathy just said, would that give six months of data since we're not sure when the inspection started? Yeah. So I think it I think the April date would most likely we'd be able to meet that one.

Okay. So you'd be looking at April. Okay. So maybe we would change that to April or May. I'm trying to give a large frame because we have so much on our plate. Um Anna and my first question was answered. Okay. So question number two was about costs to operate the program. Monthly annual cost to operate the program including salary, health insurance, pension, and any other benefits and non-personnel costs such as cars. I'm I'm curious if we're able to break that out given the relatively small size of the of the program or kind of what data are we getting there? Um or if we are happy to accept a lump kind of figure here. I'm curious. I think this is a question both for Paul and for Pam and Kathy kind of what are you looking for from that because it feels a bit uh nitpicky isn't the right word because I don't think it's inappropriate in the sense of trying to figure it out but I'm curious about the purpose.

I will go to Pam first and then Paul. Uh it's a lump number just you know basically what is the cost to the to the town of for this program. Okay. Thank you. I'm more comfortable with that. And Anna, it wasn't meant to be we want to know precisely person costs and it was just I've always worried we only see um personnel costs. We never see the fringes and if we're buying vehicles and we're paying for gas and operate, you know, so it was some sense of a full fully the way the enterprises funds kind of do theirs. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I was concerned that you were seeking each of those things as a line item. Thanks. And Paul, is that possible? Yes. Okay. Thank you.

I see no other hands. Um, I will therefore make the motion that is in the packet with the change we just discussed. Um, pursuant to charter section 2.8C, 8C. Um that the manager provide the information requested in the memo from councilors Rooney and Shane dated January 26th, 2026 regarding the residential rental program at a council meeting in April or May date to be determined by the council president and submit to the council a memo regarding the information one week prior to the meeting at which the manager or designated staff will appear. Is there a second? Second.

Any further discussion? Seeing none, councelor Cano Martin. Oh, we're voting. I Andy Churchill I. Anna Delgavier. I L Greamemer. Hi. Mandy Johanni is an I. Councelor Lord. Hi. Sam Mloud. Abstain. Pam Maroon. Yes. Councelor Ryan. Hi. Kathy Shane. Yes. Jennifer Tob. Yes. Councelor Walker. Yes. And councelor Breick. Yes,

that is unanimous with one abstension. Um, we are moving on to item D, designation of governance, organization and legislation committee for recommendations of appointments to the bylaw review committee. Um, the motion is to designate the governance organization and legislation committee as the council committee responsible for recommending appointments to the council for the bylaw review committee. Is there a second? Second. Gothier, it was pulled from consent.

Thank you, Anna, for seconding. I I did hear the second for confirming it so our clerk could hear it. Um, is there discussion? Um, I don't want to put counselor Keno Martin on the spot, but you did remove it. So, I I will give you if you want to hear reasons for doing this before you want to speak, that's fine. And I can give reasons, but

No, I just I I guess I had some questions about it. I wasn't sure um what the bylaw review committee was and who is is it just counselors or is it also going to be residents? Um is I don't know. I just don't have much information about it. I don't know what I'm voting on. So the bylaw review committee charge is sitting in go right now for discussion. Um the bylaw review committee is a committee that needs formed and started and instituted in years ending in six according to our charter. Um, and so at the last meeting, we referred a charge for the bylaw review committee to go to determine and bring back a recommendation on on the charge. So that would include who can be on it. What I will say is the charter prohibits an elected official from being on it. Um, so so um that is in the charter in in the section. So it will not have counselor current counselors on it. it it could potentially have former so I think the original proposal um was residents um seven or nine I'm not sure what number um but we have not adopted the charge yet um but this is this is sort of I guess in some sense then getting ready for adopting the charge so that things like um the uh calf the citizen the community activity form can be changed to have an item so that people could click it. Um so that you know even though so we can get some of those things in motion so that go as a committee can start planning for the process that goes into appointments and all. So it's sort of a a proactive motion even though we have not adopted the charge yet. Uh Lynn,

yeah just a little further background. Um this was done prior to the council uh well it was done based when the charter was adopted and there was a very excellent committee of three people. They made recommendations. I think it took us almost two or three years to work through all of their recommendations. So I I think it's important to know that the uh existing set of bylaws have been scrubbed very very carefully once already. Uh but this is now required with the charter. So it's um but it it is a process. It did require a lot of expertise. Fortunately, we had a lawyer on there who was used who knew town law and who knew governance and so forth. And so it was very a very good committee, but they did a lot of work. And then the council had to follow through on the recommendations. Hope that helps. And before I recognize Andy, one thing I forgot to say is um CR the council has a policy on making recommendations to multiple member bodies that the council appoints. Um CRC follows that policy for making recommendations for the ZBA and the planning board. GO follows that party policy for making recommendations for appointment to the finance committee. But we don't in those charges have any designated body to make those recommendations for these sort of ad hoc once a decade committees. So we have to designate a committee to do so or the council does it on its own including all of the interviews and all and it is more efficient to designate a committee in many people think that. So that's the decision. So Andy,

I guess uh I'm just trying to get a sense of what the scope of the work is. Is it cleaning up to make sure that it's is it mostly sort of um you know making sure that the bylaws are clean because setting policy you know new bylaws or whatever would be our job, right? So so what exactly are they doing when they're reviewing the bylaws? So that would depend on when the charge is adopted, what the charge says, which we have not adopted the charge yet. So um as Lynn said, the previous one which was mandated by a different provision of the charter really was mandated to look at um making sure the bylaws complied with the new form of government. So there was a lot of proposed changes to from select board to either town manager or or town council depending on where the authority should lie. But there was a lot of that last time. Um they did not make they did not have the power to adopt them. So it was a very extensive report that then the council had to make decisions on do we make those changes or not. And some of them were done in big bulk if they were really just select board to something else and others were not. The proposed the charter says that um that all members of the committees are voters holding elective and not holding elective office and the committee files a report within one year of recom year recommending any changes to the bylaws which it deems necessary or desirable unless an extension is given. So that's that's a very vague what the charter says. Um the proposed charge which go will be reviewing and prep proposing a recommendation to the council for um is things like raising public awareness of the review process. Um developing and

feedback mechanisms, analyzing feedback prior to producing preliminary and final reports. reviewing, proposing, and reporting on processes, deliberations, and drafts, consulting with appropriate staff, and reviewing the bylaws to determine whether they're serving their intended purpes, and making recommendations to the town council. So, it can it's a very broad charge. I suspect go will have comments on that when they discuss it. So, at this point,

the point of order, the the motion on the floor pertains to designating go for the appointment process, not the charge itself. the the proposed charge with those changes are in the go folder for tomorrow evening and they're posted on the website. Thank you for that, Athena. Um Jennifer, two questions. So go this is we're Can you speak another So this motion is for the charge. This motion is to designate go to make recommendations on appointing the people who would serve on the committee. I did. Okay. Um, next question was, are these to review general bylaws and zoning or just general?

Just general is what the committee would do, not zoning bylaws. And that's per the charter. That one can't change. Any questions on whether go the council wants to designate go to make those recommend to make the recommendations on who to appoint to this committee even though we don't quite have the charge for the committee yet. I know it can be hard to make that determination as to whether they're the right committee or not. Um Jennifer your hand is still up now. Andy,

given that that's that the job the task at hand is just to give the task of how to of who's going to nominate the people, it seems like an appropriate committee to do that. Thank you. I've made a motion and it was seconded by Anna. Seeing no other hands, we will begin voting. Andy I. Anna I Lynn I Mandy is an I councelor Lord I Sam I Pam yes councelor Ryan I Kathy Shane yes Jennifer yes councelor Walker yes councelor Brevik yes councelor Kennel Martin

yes

that is unanimous appointments we made the appointments under the consent agenda so they have been done we are moving on to committee and the Aison reports um budget coordinating group. Um I will there's not really a report because it hasn't met but my intention is to begin and talking to Paul. Paul normally is the one since there is no chair right now that under the charter is tasked with calling the BCG and so I will be discussing it with him because of the budget guidelines update on budgets coming out in midFebruary. The hope is that we would have a BCG meeting sometime in mid to late February after that comes out. So I will be working with him to call that meeting. That's my update on budget coordinating group community resources committee. Um actually before I go to community resources committee I had on my list of things to congratulate people haven't heard congratulate the two chairs and vice chairs that have been elected um so far so for community resources committee it is Pam Maroon as chair and Andy Churchill as vice chair and for finance it's Kathy Shane as chair and Lyn Greimemer as vice chair. So, Community Resources Committee, Pam.

Well, let me start out by saying the meeting was convened by President Hanaki for the first meeting of the term. Um, she also opened the floor for nominations. Pam Rooney was nominated. I'm not going to go into details, and accepted and won. Andy Churchill was nominated, accepted, and won. Um and then we moved to business which is Stephanie Chicarella, director of sustainability spoke to us about the work that was done by the staff, a number of staff who worked very hard uh since December to meet and review the draft uh clean energy solar bylaw that was um uh requested for review um back in December. and we acknowledged that the town staff had worked very hard on this document. Um the current document then now has been sent back to CRC and it reflects integration of the original work of the solar bylaw working group, the CRC's earlier drafting efforts and finally the integration with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Clean Energy Template. Um, I will be putting forward a schedule, a draft schedule on how the CRC meetings, the planning board meetings, the council meetings, the go meetings, all will uh interface to get this bylaw done by October 1. And that's going to be the primary task of the CRC for this year.

Thank you. Um, DPW building committee, I believe that's you, Pam, and there was a meeting, I believe. Right. DBW building committee met on January 21. Um and the the next step is to ask the the previous consultant to sort of finish up their the work that they did in a um schematic proposal and feasibility study. They will come back and say here's what might have have changed in the how many years? Um seven seven or eight or something. I can't do the math on my feet. Um to come back and say these are the some of the things, these are some of the trends that may have happened in the meantime. Um but it's going to be a committee that meets probably every two weeks and we will bring a DPW to fruition.

Thank you. Elementary school building committee.

Happy. Um, we I was just looking at dates to try to figure out whether I already re-reported this at the last council meeting, but we met um in the second week of January and the building continues to be on schedule. Um there there were no major issues. One, there was one change that ended up being identified for the solar canopies that because of the soil condition, they need more steel and more cement than had originally been uh uh described in the geotechnical drawings and engineering. So that is going to be that change has already gone in. There was some concern. One one member from the schools said there were rumors out there that it wasn't on time, that the building wasn't going to open in September. And right now it is going to open in September. We we are on schedule and there's some initial work thinking through a way of before the school officially opens for the students doing a walkthrough of teachers and community to celebrate the opening of the school. So that that's being worked on with the town staff and the school staff. So no dates are set. The next meeting is uh February 13th, but right now the meetings really are construction updates for the for the most part and they're short.

Thank you. Um finance committee

finance committee met uh I guess two weeks ago. We did some reviews. We got the second quarter report. We did some reviews of what are in the guidelines. And in the course of doing that, one of the things we flagged was we uh the middle school auditorium roof where we had put in that we would like to see that we would welcome a proposal from the regional school to include that section of the roof under the understanding that the roof was in poor condition. At the point we were meeting, the regional school had said they weren't going to take any action on it. And the reason was that the other three towns would have had to convene town meetings to vote their part and there wasn't going to be enough time before it had to be posted and voted out. So, the finance committee wrote a memo asking for information on what the condition of the roof is, how dire is it, and what the price tag was with the opportunity to say Ammeris might be willing to pay for the whole amount. The difference is 1.6 is the whole amount, 1.2 would be the share, so that the roof could be done at the same time as the rest of the roof, providing it's urgent. We just got that memo. um at what about 4:30 or 5:00 this afternoon from the chair of the regional school committee that they voted unanimously to respond to us and get us the information uh and ask for it. So we now have that memo from them with documentation on the scale at the roof. One of the issues I wanted to raise tonight is the timeline of when they're going out to bid doesn't match our timeline and when we might consider this because it would have to come out of our certified free cash unless we want to take it out of the capital

reserve right now and the next meeting we have on the 9th is just a discussion a working session on the charter. Um, so the only way I could see at least starting a conversation, getting a sense of the council would be if we had a special section of that meeting or a separate meeting that said, is there interest in this or not? So that we could convey that to the town manager and then we could have a fuller discussion on it. But otherwise, it won't come up. the the certified pre-cash and how much we have and what it could be used for and financial orders doesn't come up to the council until the 23rd of February. Finance would then get it referred on the 24th. We're changing a meeting so we'll be there and then reporting back to the council and meanwhile they're going out to bid for the rest of the roof. So, we've got a two the two timelines don't. So, one of the things that might be possible if we think we might be interested is there could be a conditional that we might be asking for another bid for the rest of the roof if the first part of the roof goes out in full force. But I have no idea on how that might work in a procurement process. So this is we opened the door with the finance committee asking for the information and we got it back today. They had done a thorough look at this roof. The only reason it wasn't included is MSBA had a very strict it had to be more than 25 years old. It will be more than 25 years old next year. And the report we just got back is it's actively leaking onto the stage and actively dripping down the wall of the auditorium. So, it's not just potentially leaking, it is leaking. And they're spending a certain amount of money each year on temporary repairs. And they gave us they documented those repairs in the memo they just sent us

back. And as I said, we just got this this afternoon. I sent it to the finance committee meeting members so we can see it tomorrow. But the question I want to have the council address under this 48 hour rule, are we interested in this? And how do we um confront the timeline? Know whether that was clear in what I was asking, you know, but this this we we would have to know that we are interested in being asked for Paul to come with a financial order on it for us to have a vote on it. We don't have anything like that in front of us right now other than the price tag is around 1.6. So before I see there's hands up on this, I want to make a few comments. I will address any timing of scheduling agendas during the future agenda items, including what Kathy just spoke to as I talk to what our future agenda items are and what our restrictions on them are and potential timings of anything. Um, the manager may also talk about some of that during his report. I don't know. Um but I will talk about future agenda items including this possible agenda item during that time. This is a finance committee report. We do not have on this agenda anything related to discussing the substantive nature of any appropriation. I do not want us to get into that because it would be a violation of open meeting law because it is also not something that I could not have reasonably anticipated. 48 hours in advance. Um so I will rule out of order and any discussion on that at this time but I am will talk about the timing of the agenda when we get to future agenda items. Given that councelor Ryan

I don't know what's left for me to talk about here. Um you can ask questions future agenda items and ask questions out of order. Um, it sounds like Kathy, the question to Kathy is that she's looking for a sense of the council as to whether we are in support of moving ahead. Is that a fair?

Yes. And given actually I had asked to get it on the agenda for tonight and was told it didn't fit. So just people know I I I knew I knew if the region came back with us we might be able to discuss it. So my question was twofold. George is the next meeting we have is the 9th and would there be any way of having a special meeting an half hour before that so we could discuss this because otherwise we're not going to have an opportunity to discuss it till February 23rd so it's a timing issue on it so again I will talk about the timing address that during the meeting agenda item so I guess I will just stop speaking

Kathy your hand is still Okay. The only other thing I can say is the charter does give the right for any three counselors to ask for a special meeting of the council to ju to not just go into whatever the plan is. So I understand this is a unusual request and it's purely on the timing. The regional school for whatever reasons I think because of other things they were dealing with they didn't take this up in the fall. They knew we were interested in the auditorium roof and they didn't take it up till the second week in January. So, it's put us under this timeline issue which is unfortunate.

Seeing no other hands, go meets tomorrow. Um so, we'll wait till next meeting for G's report and and an announcement of a chair and vice chair amongst whatever else is on their agenda for tomorrow. Um I believe they'll have two meetings before our next regular meeting too. Um Jones Library Building Committee George. So this committee has not met since we last since I gave my last report. We will meet again on the 9th of February.

Thank you. Town services and outreach meets on Thursday to elect their chair and vice chair and whatever else is on their agenda um updates on carryover items and all. So we will hear from them at the next regular council meeting. The transportation parking commission is on there just to keep track of because there will be counselors on it. It has not been appointed yet. So there is not any report from there but I working on putting everything in that we're going to regularly hear reports from on that and we don't technically have liaison yet. But I was wondering if the regional school committees fiscal sustainability subcommittee has met and if our counselors has been there yet because I forgot to add that one to our council committee updates. M

yes we did meet um and all the design from the other three towns were there and we basically talked about the mission of the committee and what it does and does not do which one of the interesting things at least I discovered is it doesn't do the budget and it doesn't do audit it thinks about larger policy issues so we particularly legislative issues around the state budget um so we raised a series of questions that we might want to explore, including uh an issue of should should the four towns start to think about potential regionalization again. Uh the Pelum representative talked about potentially not have well not potentially doesn't have enough students in Pelum to support the Pelum school and the rest of the students are choice in so the economics aren't working but there was some interest in thinking about what would if we revisited the regional side of the elementary school world and there was some interest in that in the other towns

and the thought of rethinking the sixth through 8th grade as a sixth through eighth grade middle school rather than a sixth grade sitting alone with the seventh and eighth grade middle school. So there was some very interesting uh from Lever Shootsbury and Pelum saying oh we could be thinking about this differently. So that was just one of the topics rather than in any depth and all of this is future thinking not current thinking. Thank you. Uh Pam,

thank you. This actually goes back to town services and outreach. Uh I didn't know if there was any material um officially. There's nothing in the packet. I mean in the in the SharePoint folder that would give any indication of carryover items. It is in the public. Please, please use a mic. I'm sorry. It was in the packet either for the last meeting that we had or the very first meeting we had in January. Yeah.

Okay. And it's in the public. And Jennifer is saying it's in the the website packet, not SharePoint for tomorrow's meeting, too. Um, right. Thursday's meeting. Sorry, Thursday's meeting. I'm still trying to get in my head which one goes when so it should be there. We'll try and get the carryover memo. The carryover memo is in the SharePoint packet. Pam, thank you. Athena

Kathy. Yes. In my reporting about the last council meeting, I forgot to tell you what's on the agenda for tomorrow's council that finance committee meeting. We are getting a basic primer but also update on budget numbers of what are our um stabilization fund or capital shape how do how do they work and how much money is in them and a discussion of the ambulance fund what is it how much money is in it and how does that work so it's a the finance director th those dollar numbers are in the packet for anyone wants to see where we are at the most current dates And it it will be uh walking through what the purpose of them now are, how they can be used. And at this point, I will put in the packet tomorrow morning the response from the regional school committee so everyone on the committee knows where we are. But that was not on the agenda.

That response was received late. So I haven't I I know it's in my email. It will get forwarded to the whole council when I finally get to my email later today, too. like I put the letter from finance into the packet. It's just I haven't gotten my email with the meeting tonight. Um so the whole council will receive it. Um seeing no other hands, we're moving on to the town manager report. Paul,

thank you. Um so first I want to um give thanks to the DPW for just really heroic work that they did during the snowstorm. 30 hours straight work for many of them. Uh they continue to work though. They've worked overnight. So, they're going to be working overnight again starting tomorrow night uh to help clear the snow from intersections and from downtown to create more parking. Um the the amount of snow is 17 in to 20 inches depending on where you were in town. Plus, the fact that it stayed cold and the snow stayed there created a real challenge for our DPW crews. And then there are all things that happen um along the way as when you're plowing snow, you you hit things, you pieces of equipment fail. I provided you with sort of a sort of a tick tock on how we approach these snowstorms uh because an event like this really generates a lot of questions to you as counselors. So I want you to have some basic information on how our crews um uh approach things. I had one one mistake in it and I think I said 110 lane miles. It wasn't lane miles is actually road. So if you have to multiply by two if it's a two-lane road or four if it's a four-lane road. So it's actually at least twice as many miles of lanes that they have to plow. Um and about 35 miles of sidewalks that the town takes care of as well. So, just I just want to give a lot of credit for our our DPW crews who really worked a lot um to meet the needs of the snowstorm. Um and on top of that, so we can, you know, once the weather starts to warm up and uh snow does starts to disappear and starts to smell starts to melt, you'll start to see a lot of potholes. Don't be surprised because the way potholes are formed is when water gets into cracks or fissures in the in the roadway and then freezes again at night. It pops it open because it

expands and breaks open the pavement. And so we have a lot of potholes already. We'll probably have a lot more. Um our crews will be out uh as soon as they can. They can't fill wet potholes, but it we're going we're in for a bit of a rough road literally um for a while here. So again, they'll be out there fixing them as best they can. Um, I just want to remind you that there is an event at Ammeris College tomorrow morning. You're all welcome to attend if you haven't, you know, think we sent out a reminder. Uh, if not, it's a very informal, no expectations. Um, but we s little breakfast goods. It's a way to start to build relationships with people at Ammerst College. And so town staff and town counselors are are invited to attend and others. I'm not sure exactly who they all invited. Um just a note that wanted to mention uh this the high school has really um started to be more aggressive about not allowing parking in the fire lane in front of the high school has become a real issue. People tend to park there and um when there's an emergency really we really need that area cleared especially with snow it's become an issue. So the schools are have decided that's it's really important for them to keep that clear. It's a it's going to be we have to ask people to break a habit that we've gotten into. So just so you're aware of that. Don't want you to get towed or anything like that. Um and the big news for us is that um you know at the MMA meeting uh Maya announced that the we've been built u budgeting about 18% increase for health insurance. At the MMA meeting uh they announced that it would be the range that Maya would be giving out is between 2.9 and 14.4. 4%. Today, this afternoon, we got our actual rates. So, our actual rates are 8.3%. Which is a huge increase, huge benefit to our town, to the schools, everybody's libraries. So,

um we haven't really calculated that impact, but that once we are able to do that, that will give release a lot of money for us to do the the core services that we're really trying to fund. Um could you repeat that number again? Eight. Um 8 8.3 I think it's 8 I think it's 8.3 8.5 something like that. So less than half what we were budgeting so it's a

yeah so it's really good news. Um we um and so I think we'll we'll see how that helps us. It will definitely help us but we can talk a little bit more at finance committee. Sean's been sick the last couple days as well. Everybody's a little bit sick lately. So, um, not sure how much analysis we've done with that, but because I just came in this afternoon. So, that's great news for us. That's huge. Yeah. Yeah. Um, thank you, uh, Council Ryan.

I was going to ask how that happens, how that comes about. Is this like divine intervention? There must be some explanation. I'm not That's just an idle question. The good news is it's 8.3%. But part of me wonders, you know, how that actually comes. I could I would like to answer that actually. So, thank you.

The way I'm actually, you know, full disclosure, I'm on the Maya trust. So, I have different roles. Um, so Maya um looks at all their claims. Uh they make some and then they group them together as a as a body and then they sort of say how much money do we have to raise and they try to shield the people who have the biggest increases so there's it doesn't hit too hard. Um this year the the the the pivotal decision that we made was not to cover GLP1 drugs for weight loss anymore and that was four to 5% reduced reduction. That is an incredible hit on on the health insurance right now. Um I think our some of our our people who are um employed who really have benefited from it will not be happy about that change of benefits but it's important for us to make that benefits given our financial condition at this point in time. JLP1s which are the Ozmpic and things like that that still will be available for diab diabetes treatment and things like that. But probably the the biggest decision um that's that was faced by Maya in probably in many years. Blue Cross Blue Shield has already decided decided that they were not going to cover it anymore. The group insurance commission um which covers state employees in many municipalities. They're deciding whether to cover it on February 12th when they meet. So, uh there's a lot of pressure from the governor to for them not to cover it, but I think there's they're I'm not sure how they're going to vote. Um so that was a major major um major impact on on it. And then they also look at our experience. Our we had a big increase last year and so I think we sort of like rightize what we were paying uh last year and so we didn't have to have as big an increase this year and so it's based on our experience as of I think goes back to October.

Councelor Ryan question. One other quick thing. There's another bit of good news. I think you've already shared it. Probably most of my colleagues know, but for anyone who's watching and for those who don't know, um the town received an award and I wonder if you'd mentioned that.

Yes. Uh so so the MMA meeting also is where the governor released her her or she released her budget after the MMA meeting. So that's another point of clarity for the finance committee. So we now know what the governor's number is. Usually we really go to the houseways and means number is the one that we're more reliable. Um but the town you know the morning movement mentoring program specifically received the innovation award from the master municipal association and we had a number of people who went to to the meeting on uh in J at the end of January uh seal crouch who is the person who started he worked with the the parent information center at the schools it was his idea he came up with it he recruited people to participate it's been a wild success um just the number of students who for participating. And if you haven't had a chance, you know, I think I hope I think everybody knows what it is. It's an early before school starts. Middle a middle school students come to the high school and um participate in sports, weightlifting. They get mentoring from people. People are checking in with them. I think the thing that draws them is the ability to use the big gym and to use the weight room, the varsity weight room under supervision. Um it when it first started several years ago, people kids were just getting there on their own. Their their parents were like, "Why are you getting up so early to be there at 7 a.m.?" Because school doesn't start till 8:50 or something like that in middle school. 9. So, um it was sort of stunning. Um so any of you who'd like to visit, they it goes Monday, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. It's incredibly popular. They have about 55 kids, I think, who are who are there. They've sort of capped it at that right now. Um, you know, I I can give you a lot more. I think we put some of that in town manager report. Over half the kids are have IEPs. Um, it's they get a lot of guidance. There's a lot of um athletes from UMass and from Ammeris College who come regularly to interact with the

kids, play volleyball, play basketball. Um, police officers, um, crests. Um, the fire department had somebody coming for a while. Um, recreation is major. Uh, Becky Demling really big on it. So, um, it's just one of those programs that you just got. This is a real success and I think the the MMA recognized that and that's why it got the innovation award. Thank you, Council Kendall Martin.

Hi. I just wanted to ask um I know that you had asked the the various town departments to present a budget that would either be level services and then what would the 10% um you know cut look like if they had to do that and I just wondered um when that information will come to us as a council or in what way or will it go to finance first or just

so what we ask the uh departments to do is to give us a level services budget like what would it cost to do the services that you truly need what would be a level funded budget meaning that you are you have the same money you had last year. What would you would that take? And then also to implement a 10% cut. What would that look like? So, we're collecting that information. We haven't begun our um meetings with the departments yet, but we will soon. Uh we will gather that information and that will be part of our budget presentation to the council. But, you know, we're going to revisit all that because we'll have new information based on the health insurance. Sam?

Yeah. I uh want to take a moment to uh based on Paul's report to commend the town staff and the DPW for their phenomenal response to the storm. I saw them out in a few different places. I talked to one of the employees. I was just so impressed. After the guy was up 24 hours, I was he was chipper. He was I I'm just like, "Are you kidding me? How much Mountain Dew are you drinking?" U phenomenal response. and they don't always get a lot of kudos, but uh uh they really serve us well and they really came through uh without a lot of fanfare. Uh so I just want to say that publicly. Thank you.

Thank you.

We're going to move on to the town council comments section of the agenda. First is the president's report. Um I already congratulated the chairs and vice chairs of finance and CRC that have been elected. Um the four towns meeting, the notice came out today. Um, so it was tentative as of last week, but it sounds like they're happening February 28th at 9:00 a.m. in the middle school for the next four towns meeting. We received the notice from the regional school committee chair today. So, please mark your calendars for that. Um, I want to just do a reminder that as chairs get elected per our rules of procedure, reports from committees are due to Athena, our clerk, by Wednesday before a council meeting. uh for committees that meet on a Thursday right before a council meeting. The report is due by Friday morning so it can be in the packet. So I'm going to remind all chairs and then once every chair is elected, Athena and I are going to be convening a meeting of chairs to go over the rules of procedures for chairs, expectations, procedures, how to ensure that our an item that is out of a committee is put on an agenda in a timely manner. um because we're going to need notice of when things get done and some of that's going to be by report. Um so it's going to look a little different than it has in the past, but just look for an email once all the chairs are elected from myself and Athena trying to get together a meeting to talk about sort of expectations for chairs. Um that's my one rules reminder for the the meeting. I do want to want a meeting. So we're going to work our way through them. Future agenda items. So, next week is our work session. It starts at 6:30 and will end around 10 unless the council wants to move it to go later. By our rules of procedure, it is required to be on one topic only. So, this is why I wanted to address

this. So, I cannot during the work session or as part of that agenda add any other topic to the work session. That does not mean another meeting could be called, but we need all three and a half hours for that work session. And we're going to need another hour on February 23rd at a minimum given how I'm seeing things come through and working through timings. So, I'm just going to talk about that for the work session. Prior to the work session, our town attorney will be here to be a meet and greet from 5:30 to 6:30 for the work session. Um there will be some some selection of sandwiches available because we know it's hard for counselors to get here and also eat. So the town attorney really wants to meet the counselors that she and the rest of the KP law is working with. And so we thought that would be a good time for people to come and talk to the town attorney. That's 5:30 to 6:30. Um has been on the schedule for a couple weeks. believe I told the council about that about two weeks ago. Um February 23rd, there is a hearing already noticed for an Eversource petition for a pole relocation. Um I think it's been noticed for 6:35 probably. But for the first item on the agenda, uh there are two proclamations. One proclamation already here that we expect to be on February 23rd and one that is expected to arrive and get referred to go for consideration as soon as I receive it. I have not received it yet. And that is the typical March 10th Tibet Day proclamation, but it has not been received yet. But it is on my radar. um presentations, a road improvement plan, and continued discussion of the charter review recommendations that because I don't expect to finish the conversation on the 9th, financial orders as action items and approval of the Eversource petition.

Those are things that are on the agenda that I do not want to move for timing purposes. Kathy is right that she approached me a week or so ago asking for an agenda item tonight for um regarding the middle school roof. Um I went to the manager and asked if all the financial orders could be ready in time for tonight's meeting given our rules of procedure. They could not. Our rules of procedure require that they be ready by Wednesday of the week before a meeting. The vice president and I determined that all financial orders related to the use of free cash after being certified by the state should be presented at once so that the council gets an entire view of the potential money and appropriations available in this fiscal year for various projects. And because the vice president and I made that determination and because they could not be available tonight, I told the finance committee chair Kathy that they would continue to be scheduled for February 23rd. So that is the reason they are on that agenda and I do not want to move them off that agenda. Um, we did just receive the formal request from the school committee today um for a potential request to appropriate full funding. It is my understanding, although I have not spoken to the school committee. It's just from reading memos that the bid that is going out for the roof is including an alt add option for the auditorium part. My understanding of that means that if it includes that alt ad, any money funded if the council were to choose to potentially gift something

to the region would need to be done before a contract is signed, not before bids go out because it is already included in the bid. That is from my reading of memos and the meeting that the school committee had at one point. I could be wrong. I will work on confirming that but that gives if that is accurate that gives more time. Um finan any financial order that comes to us requires a hearing under the charter because it is a supplemental appropriation. Those hearings are being scheduled for the March 9th meeting. So So there is a plan. I will say that. um other items that might be on the February 23rd agenda if they are ready and if there are time if there is time I'm not sure there will be time but we'll see how how we can fit things in ready for this list the CPA recommendations the bylaw review committee charge a university drive easement and potentially other easements from the DPW to clean up some other public way matters uh naming the town, a Purple Heart Town, and public way requests from the Amoris Farmers Market, Ammerst Feminist Generation, and the Purple Heart Town for signs, as well as potentially council appointments for liaison to town boards and committees, the council liaison, and potentially appointments for the reparations committee and the t cable TV committee. Those are we don't know if all of them will be ready. I will just say that. and some of them probably will not be ready, but that is sort of the near-term list to try and get done. Um, so it's going to be busy. I'm going to be trying to figure out what can be moved off that agenda. But keep in mind the two March agendas have the

charter review committee's 22 amendments to address too by the end of March. So it will be a very busy next three meet four meetings if you count the working the work session questions on future agenda items or requests for others. Councelor Ko Martin. Oh sure you were going to raise your hand Kathy. Yeah. Oh there's Oh my gosh. Look at all those. Okay. Sorry. I'll go in order. I didn't even see all those hands. Anna Amber, you're not Oh, Amber has a Oh, sorry. Councelor Kel Martin has a councelor comment, not a future agenda. My bad. Um,

brain is starting to fail me. With the conversations with chairs a couple of minutes ago, is it possible to include vice chairs if it's strictly a logistical and information sharing session? We will work on doing that. Yes. Thank you. We'll do. Andy Churchill.

Yeah. I just um feel like Kathy's request is seems pretty important and um if you're right that the alt add uh clause or whatever is is in effect and that buys us time then then great but um I would I'd like to make sure that that's the case and if it's not the case then I would say maybe we ask if the law firm could move dinner a half an hour earlier and we could have a half hour to to get a sense of the committee. I I I don't know exactly how that would work, but I I understand the need to or the desiraability of having the whole financial picture and knowing what the impact of, you know, putting an extra 400,000 toward toward the school roof um from Ammerst. But um you know, the it seems like it's a pretty dire need. So, I will work on trying to confirm that. Um, I have not read the memo that came in tonight. So, that memo may actually address timing. I don't know. Um, but I will work on trying to confirm that. Um, to try and do that. I do not know about town attorneys or anything. Um, and I would be really hesitant to call a meeting before the town attorney. Many of us have problems getting to meetings before 6:30. Um but I I understand the importance of it. Um a public forum of the council needs heard no matter what and we cannot act without a financial order from the manager either. It is not something we can do without a financial order. Um the manager has to produce one of them. So I've been in contact with him too. Um, and we did not get a formal request from the regional school committee until today at 4:35 p.m. another thing. And so, um, trying to

manage it all. I I will just say that. Um, Kathy Shane,

just quickly building on what Andy said, if you could confirm the adult, I did read the memo. They don't have any mention of it. They just have their timeline. So if the timeline has first they have to advertise it then they put out the bid. If it could be advertised with the adult and the bid then the timing is not as urgent as I did it. They just they didn't identify that. I know we did that with bangs and we did it with the uh track and field where we had a couple things that in that case it was if the bid came in under a certain amount of money we'd want to spend the extra money on something but if you could confirm that because otherwise you know the I realize you can't put it in the same agenda as a work thing but I was think could we carve out a half hour as a special meeting and I understand what you're saying we're going to need the whole time but a half an an hour on this called special meeting might still be warranted. So whatever you can do Mandy to if that can be the case then what I described as a timing collision is less less of a concern.

Like I said I will work to do it. I I I watched the meeting where they declined to I don't know when it was but declined to pursue the option. And so that was about four or five weeks ago now. Um, and my memory is that that Shannon in that meeting mentioned that it was an adult on the bid, but but I could be misunderstanding that too, but I will work on confirming that. Councelor Brevik,

just want to share my support for a special meeting if that is so yeah, looking forward to hearing what you come back with. If it does come back that the timeline doesn't add up and the 23rd would be an issue, I think it should take priority over other things that we have. I think it would be nice to meet with the lawyers and but if that's not related to something that we really need right in this moment, I would be in support of a special meeting preceding the next meeting. Thank you for the feedback. Um, Councelor Kel Martin, we're moving on to councelor comments. Did you want to make

Yeah, I do. Um, yeah, I So, this is partially um I guess well, mostly in reaction to the public comment we received from Andrew Brace from the president who's the president of the DPW Association. And I just I find it really alarming that they've been in contract negotiations for over a year and are in mediation. They've been seven months without a contract. And as someone who's worked in the labor movement for almost 20 years now, um that's a really bad situation to be in for any worker to be working without a contract and especially um everyone's recognized the good work that they've done recently with snow removal and has praised them. But workers can't live on praise alone and you know we need to be giving them a fair and living wage and we need to make sure that they have good working conditions and the benefits that they need. Um, and I for one, to the extent it's possible, would like to hear a further report about why the negotiations are going so poorly and what we can do to help those workers because it's really unfair for them to be in that situation.

Thank you. Any other councelor comments? Seeing none, um, I make a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconds. Um, we start with I believe Anna Devongier. I Lynn Greamer. I Mandy Johanni is an I councelor Lord. Hi Sam Mloud. I am Cam Rooney. Yes. Councelor Ryan. Hi. Kathy Shane. Yes. Jennifer Tob. Yes. Councelor Walker. Yes. Councelor Brevik. Yes. Councelor Cano Martin. Yes. And Andy Churchill. Yes. Is unanimous. We are adjourned at 10:15 Um,