Town Council - Special Meeting

or changes to the agenda. If not, those in favor of accepting the agenda as presented, please signify by saying I. I. Agenda is adopted. Agenda item three, approval of minutes, regular meeting of March 10th, 20 26. Approve those minutes. Motion motion made and seconded to approve the minutes. Is there any discussion on the minutes? Any errors? I apologize. That should read the 24th of the Oh,

and on April 7th, it said March 10th. This should The minutes in your meeting in your packet are the 21st April 7th. So noted with the minutes of March 20th. Oh, this. Yeah, wrong fact. Yes, there are those. Mult second to approve the minutes of March 24th. Are there any other

items, errors, emissions? If not, those in favor of adopt approving the minutes of March 24th, 2026, signify by saying I. I nay. So, Phil Public remarks are uh and divided in two sections tonight.

First is a public hearing regarding the ordinance amending chapter 146 of the code of the town of East Hampton regarding water and sewer authority and the the second which will be general public remarks to follow. If there is anyone who wishes to make give public hearing public testimony regarding amending chapter 146 of the code of the town of East Hampton regarding water and sewer authority, please raise your hand and I'll recognize you and you come up and speak. just just the WPCA.

Attorney Timothy Fury, 43 Belleview Avenue, Bristol, Connecticut. I represent Belltown, a 30 LLC, an investment LLC, both of which have approvals uh from your current water pollution control authority uh for sewer projects uh which have prepared uh development permit agreements which no one can process or sign since your action uh at your meeting uh in early uh March. Um, at that meeting you took action to on March 12th to terminate the water pollution control authority bullet board which I don't believe you had the right to do uh at that time and you also voted to turn the powers of the water pollution control authority uh to the town council on that date which I also don't believe you had the authority to do. uh you may have the authority to do what you're doing tonight uh to restructure if you will uh the management of your water pollution control control authority uh by amending your ordinance structure uh but for the past month uh no one has been effectively managing uh uh the authority and attending to its business uh because of your prior what I believe is an improper action uh My client on uh one of the properties investment LLC has a two lot subdivision that can't be given effect unless it does have the sewer connection. This property and the Belltown property are located within the appointed and created sewer uh uh districts and they are appropriate for hookup. It's been gone through the process. It's been approved and they need them to continue to be uh processed on the Belltown property. The only thing remaining was originally the town wanted them to have it constructed in a

different fashion deeper to potentially uh reach other properties. Uh that's up to the town. My client just needs it to reach his property and they can tell him to to raise it. So if someone gives him what the town wishes to extend it or just bring it to his services property, he would do either one. Uh he would sign it tomorrow. He's ready. But you need to authorize your town manager or someone to take appropriate action to complete the work of uh to continue the work of the water pollution control authority till your ordinance or whatever your next pretend gives effect under your current ordinance which you've not yet changed. Uh you should not have removed any of the members of the water pollution control authority without notice and opportunity hearing showing that they did something uh wrong. Um, and uh, having been involved in many uh, volunteer capacities over my uh, 42-year career, um, I find it disconcerting, as I think the citizens of the community should, that these men and women who donated hours and hours of their time and expertise of many years are just suddenly uh, you know, put over to the curb without

Mr. Murray, that's our three minute limit. Thank you. Thank you. We understand and well, we're also operating with legal guidance. Yep. And I would just note if you look at the agendas of the water pollution control authority and and the amount of work they do, I don't know how you can attend to these things and do the other things you're tasked to do as a council, nor do I understand why you would want to. Is there anyone else? Mark.

Yeah, I'm Mark Barcy, uh, Six Tiffany Court and the former chairman of the WPCA. As you consider modifying the town code to establish the town council as WPCA versus maintaining its independent status, it's important to understand the history behind it. Federal and state statutes requiring the existence of a WPCA arise from the federal clean water act that since 1972 has invested over a trillion dollars in wastewater systems across the US to protect this massive investment. The EPA and the state developed statutes requiring the formation of local WPCAS to administer these systems. It is it um it enables the WPCs to set user fees with public comment and requires the money necessary to properly operate and maintain these systems be separate from the general town budgets. As unofficial town historian chairman Markham should know, the town in its wisdom established the WPCA as an independent agency 60 years ago so that the operation funding of the town's largest infrastructure be investment which would cost over $200 million to build it today was not threatened by the women fancy of local politics and town councils that change every two years. As a member of the WPCA for over 20 years, I can honestly state that the board, despite its varied makeup over the years, has always acted apolitically in the best interest of the protecting the town's investment and the sewer users. While the flavor of the moment is no sewer expansion, earlier versions of the town council from both parties actually encouraged the WPC to expand the system and the number of users to minimize sewer use fees. I must emphasize the WPCA has never in any way encouraged or driven sewer expansion. It's only looked to serve existing development with potential sewer needs and serve new development that is in full accordance with the regulations and

approvals by other town entities. As for the current uproar, if you were to listen to the recordings of the WPCA meetings, you would learn that the WPCA was skeptical, if not critical, of both the potential sewer expansion considered last August, as well as a potential bioolids project. And we never voted to support either. You would also learn that the technical and administrative oversight of both the WPCA and the joint facilities council at Colchester is detailed and timeconuming. I don't believe the town council has the time or knowledge to do this effectively. Nor do I believe it's in the highest and best use of the council's time. Hence, I encourage you to reconsider modifying the town code. But this is not a call to get the old WPCA banned back together again. We've been insulted, disrespected, and thrown under the bus in the name of political convenience for volunteering our time to benefit the town. You are facing complex and time-consuming challenges in managing our aging wastewater system, particularly without an experienced util public utilities administrator or knowledgeable WPCA in place. I hope you take these responsibilities seriously, dedicate the necessary time and resources, and do not let it fall victim to local politics.

Thank you, Mark. There anyone else?

Anthony D. Simone, 26 Hog Hill Road. Chapter 146, section 6 of the town charter establishes clear standard for removing WPCA commissioners for dereliction of duty. That standard has not been met. When the legal criteria for removal are not satisfied, bypassing them for through an ordinance change is not oversight. It's circumvention. Infrastructure is not optional and it is not abstract. It's the backbone of public health, environmental protection, and long-term financial stability. Towns that fail to manage infrastructure competently do not remain static. They decline. Affordability erodess, costs rise, residents pay the price. East Hampton's already experiencing those consequences. Utility management is highly technical and mistakes in this space are not easily corrected. These decisions affect water quality, ecosystems, regulatory compliance, and long-term operating costs. Every poor decision compounds over time when leadership lacks relevant experience or avoids difficulty, difficult but necessary choices, the result is predictable. Regulatory problems, escalating costs, and infrastructure failures that rate payers are forced to absorb. Our history reflects exactly that pattern. one costly decision after another. WPCA's were intentionally created by the legislature as independent quasi public bodies because political control and critical infrastructure do not mix. Their purpose is to make decisions based on data, engineering standards, and regulatory requirements, not shifting political priorities or public pressure. The current system serves roughly twothirds of the population. Decisions that may upset a small group of residents can still be unquestionably correct and financially be responsible for the town as a whole. Undermining independence in favor of political control in introduces instability into a system that demands consistency, continuity, and technical discipline. There is also a hard financial reality that cannot be ignored. Utility systems require long-term capital planning, disciplined budget, and an understanding

of infrastructure life cycles. inexperienced or politically motivated oversight leads to deferred maintenance, underestimated costs, and misallocated funds, all of which ultimately land on rateayers. Our deteriorating roads are a visible reminder of what happens when infrastructure responsibilities postponed rather than confronted. This is not about questioning intentions. Intentions do not protect public health, balance budgets, or maintain regulatory compliance. Expertise, accountability, and the willingness to make difficult decisions do. We would never allow someone without medical training to perform surgery. We would be we should be no more willing to hand control of critical infrastructure to those without appropriate experience. In the end, the decision is about responsibility. The town has an obligation to respect both the legal framework that governs the WPCA and the serious seriousness of the system it oversees. Our community deserves an independent board with the knowledge and discipline to manage these risks. Anything less is not reform. It's recklessness. and the consequences will be borne by the rateayers it serves. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to speak? I disagree. Sand Safar 147 Colchester Avenue. Mr. D. Simone is not irreplaceable. Uh I saw I I encourage everyone here to

watch the March 3rd WPCA meeting in which Peter Villa, one of the members asked directly, Mr. D. Simone, what gives you the authority to go on your own to go to a developer and give him advice on how he can best hook up to the um to our town sewer uh without consulting the other members of the PCA or the town. Also, at previous meetings, it was mentioned that Mr. D S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S Simone had by himself, my my understanding is by himself, looked at pursuing the property at uh uh uh Route 16 and 19 149, no not 14 19 14 15 anyway, across from CZ diagonal across from CZ equipment. That property is for sale. he was looking to uh purchase that property um you know uh without and without consultation. Uh the WPCA should not be independent.

I don't know the motivation of it. You don't really know the motivation. So don't Oh, okay. That way. Anyway, I just it brings up concerns that people independently are making decisions without counsel and without the town's no knowledge and um that is absolutely wrong and needs to be corrected. Thank you.

Is there anyone else who would care to speak on this? Mike Perolini, 16 Fern Lane. And just a general comment, uh I recognize that there are some commercial ventures that need to be taken care of, whether it's through a formation of an appropriate uh water pollution control authority or within the town council. Those things do need to be done. Uh but with all due respect to Mr. D. Simone, uh he's talking about you know the sky is falling in terms of the current needs of the town. The current facility is running at 50% of his current capacity. The facility that was the biodeiesel facility that was being offered up to this town under the radar was a facility 50 times that capability capable of processing approximately 130,000 tons per year or 25% of the entire state. He advocated saving money for the town throwing a number roughly 160,000 in savings. Now do the math on the other side. $137 a ton on 130,000 tons was a $25 million for-profit organization that he was advocating for being uprun in this town. You can check the numbers. It's in it's in your own town records. Um all I'm saying is that if we're going to meet the needs of the town, let's meet the needs of the town, not the entire half of the state. Mr. D. Simone referenced the condition of the roads. what would have happened to the town roads running that many trucks down these roads in order to try and meet the the the needs of that facility. Let's keep it in perspective. Let's do things above board. Let's do things in the open

where they were quite frankly between planning and zoning, water pollution, flying under the radar and not being exposed to the people in this room. Thank you for your time. Patty Emmens Navajo Trail. I'm still waiting for an apology to the Bear family. D Simone, you're here tonight. They're right back there. You need to apologize to them for saying that you're going to blame the smell on their property. Thanks, Is there anyone else who would care to make remarks?

We all watch that.

Uh, good evening. uh Kyle D of William Drive. I'm not going to speak about what has happened. Um obviously bad things have happened that could have been avoided, but looking at this new ordinance appointing the town council as the WPCA, I think is a mistake. Um this is a politically elected body. Every two years that changes. There's going to be a lack of consistency for the decisions that are made at the WPCA that you are now accepting as your responsibility. Politically speaking, it's going to be more and more difficult. It's already difficult to get candidates to run for town council. Now, the town council is going to be running the WPCA. I think that's a bit too much for this group, seven people to do. I think this needs to be changed. I think people need to be appointed to the WPCA as has been done in the past. And to continue with this ordinance as written is going to put a lot of pressure on the town council and on the town and for development, whether it's control of development or the increasing development. It's going to be very difficult for this town council as city members of the WPCA, as elected officials to run the WPCA. Thank you. Chuck Anker, 65 Spellelman Point Road. Um, I'd like to

echo the previous speaker's concern. Uh, I would think long and hard about taking the WPCA responsibility on and the elected body of the town council. Town council should be supervising overall the activities of the town. It shouldn't be running the uh uh the details. You don't have the experience, the knowledge uh and the consistency. It's a burden you may be willing to take on as this council, but what about the future councils people in going forward? They're going to have to deal with this, too. I I just think it's not the right thing to do. reconstitute, reorganize, put in some different controls. But the WPCA should be an independent body. I'm speaking as a sewer consumer. I've had the sewer system because I live on the lake and the sewer system has been instrumental in protecting the lake for the last 30, 40 years whenever it was put in there. And I'm I think messing with that arrangement because of an unfortunate circumstances that happened recently is maybe a little bit shortsighted and a little bit reactionary. So I'd urge caution and some clear thinking going forward. Thanks.

Thank you. Is there anyone else? Seeing no one desiring to make additional comments public hearing, I'm going to close this public hearing.

Agenda item five, public remarks. This is open to any general remarks.

Hi, good evening. I'm Megan Rosenfeld, 3 Main Street, East Hampton. I'm on the commission on aging here in town and at the request of Jack Solomon, the town council's liaison to the COA, I've researched and brainstormed ways in which the town could support the financial needs of older adults here in East Hampton. To frame my approach, I want to tell you about two conversations I've had recently. The first was with a woman who has lived in East Hampton for 41 years. She raised her kids here. She buried her husband here. And she told me that for the first time in her life, she's doing the math on whether she can afford to stay. Not because she wants to leave, because taxes keep climbing and the income doesn't. The second conversation was with a young couple. Two jobs between them, a toddler, a mortgage. They're white knuckling. And they told me that they love this town, but they're also not sure they'll be able to grow old here either. Same town, same problem, different stage of life. That's what I want to talk about tonight. Not a senior services agenda, but an affordability agenda. One that doesn't ask struggling families to foot the bill for relief they can't afford to give and doesn't ask older adults to simply accept less than what they've earned. The proposed budget has real strengths. A significant mill rate reduction, a meaningful increase for the senior center, and I'll take those wins. What I noticed in my research is that there are grant programs that could be bringing in real money for our town. To name a few, Older Americans Act funding, a Connecticut DOT transportation allocation, every municipality is entitled to draw, a communication uh sorry, a community foundations grant that explicitly includes East Hampton. And these grants are going unpursued because no one has been assigned to pursue them. So tonight, I'm bringing proposals, three of them. First, tax

relief. I'm suggesting we update the 2009 tax freeze ordinance. Those income thresholds haven't moved since 2008, and older adults are being locked out of a program they belong in because their social security went up a few hundred. One council vote fixes that. I'm also proposing a property tax deferral option with a lean cap so that a neighbor who cannot pay her taxes this year doesn't have to choose between her home and her heat and her children don't inherit a debt that forces a sale. Connecticut law already gives us the authority. We just need to adjust the ordinance to make its use practical and fair for families here in East Hampton. Second, outreach. Every dollar of the circuit breaker credit, the renters's rebate, and the USDA home repair grant is already funded and waiting. The entire town of East Hampton qualifies as a USDA rural area, which means every low-income resident over 62 is potentially eligible for home repair assistance. We don't need a complicated system. We need the senior center making sure people know it exists. Am I cut off?

Yep. Okay. Well, I have a few more things, but I will leave it at that. Um, the rest of this proposal is in a 10-page document with ordinances already drafted. No. Okay. I'm going to submit it for um but I've also emailed the copy which is

I just want to point out I don't do that to be a hard nose is to be provide fairness to all who are here the three minute speaking time on the back of the agenda we've put or we have the rules of conduct for debate and particularly for making public remarks and I'm hope everybody will follow those because the the closer we all stay to it the better we're all treated

uh thank you. My name is Eric Rosenberg, uh 15 Bay Road, um chair of the Commission on Aging over the past three years, but tonight speaking as an individual, um just wanted to say I've had a lot of interaction with town government over the last three years and with the town council and the town manager, uh David Cox. And I know there's been a lot of controversy, but I'm going to speak as a person here that I have found him to be consistently honest, hardworking on behalf of our citizens in this town, professional, intelligent, diligent, and trustworthy. He works hard for town governments that are both Republican and Democrat, depending on how the the elections turn out. and we're very lucky to have his professionalism and dedicated dedication to our town. Um, in addition, uh, all viewpoints need to be heard, but at the same time, we really need to be respecting one another and working together to improve this wonderful talent. Thank you. that

please give your name and address.

Hi, I'm speaking as an individual also, but I fall into two categories in this town. I happen to be elderly and I've been disabled since 2006 due to a car accident. I work disabled for much of my life and I have found that there are people who are very receptive and very willing to help and there are other people who are for-profit companies and they don't care what happens to any individual in this town and I can say that I personally have seen the maintenance of the sewer lines I I tend to be curious about what goes on at midnight when I see lights out. Um, it's very professionally done. Um, I think that what we have is very very good and I don't disagree that we shouldn't that that sewers around the lake have been beneficial. But if you look back 60 years um the lake was a reservoir and we have a lot of water in there right now. It's very high. Um probably because of the watershed and because of the extra, you know, snow that we've had. But um I've been here since 1981 and I shouldn't feel pressured by being plowed in by huge trucks during a blizzard. I shouldn't have to go through that as a as a human being. So, what I'm asking, I guess, is how we protect people who are disabled, how we get handicapped parking um signs put up so that this doesn't happen to anybody again. Um I know they're around um Salmon River. Um,

there's an entrance at the base of my driveway that the town uses for maintenance that people on the street actually go through to access the trail. I think that could be made very handicapped accessible for people. And it would also give me the option of not feeling vulnerable if there's a blizzard. I was all set the night before and I couldn't have woken up to anything worse. Thank you.

Thanks. Um Ted Turner, 223 Hog Hill Road. Um I want to ditto what Eric said before about the town manager. I think I think he's a great guy. He's a friendly guy. He's a professional guy. and I think is underappreciated especially lately. Anybody want his job?

Does anybody want to be be a policeman in this town? He's got one of the toughest jobs in town. He shakes hands with everybody. He smiles for everybody. Guy's a great guy. And I hope uh there's some factions on Facebook and so on. Facebook's crazy anyway, but there's some factions in town that um have put him down and uh I think they should look at the whole picture and we're going through a little rough time right now, but I think he's skating right through it. He's doing all right and I thank him very much. I'm I'm on the board of finance and I find him very very helpful. I'm also the uh commander of the VFW in town and um is uh this town and this town hall and his department is very supportive of veterans and the veterans appreciate it. So my vote is for town manager David Cox and I hope everybody will think again before you make accusations or where he should be and where he shouldn't be. No, thanks very much. Kim Crab, 27 Skyline Drive. It's not the cheering section. We didn't mean to sit together, but here we are. Um, so I moved to East Hampton four years ago, newly retired, looking to be closer to my family. My husband and I have quickly grown to love this town, the lake, the trails, the state park, the people. But moving here at a certain age and not knowing anyone, I joined several boards and commissions where I'm currently serving on the commission on aging and

the steering committee of the POCC. So these roles not only introduced me to other like-minded residents of East Hampton, but also introduced me to the town council, the town manager, and the town zoning and planning official. I have worked closely with and gotten to know all of them. And so with so much going on in town these past few weeks, it is important for me to share my own personal experiences. The town council, each of you volunteered to serve as our town's governing body. You do not get paid for the many, many, many hours you put into the oversight of our town. Every single one of you serves with humility and dedication, making decisions you believe will be in the best interests of East Hampton. Several months ago, something that I was working on was very time-sensitive, and I needed to speak with you, Dean, and it was a Sunday morning. I wanted to speak to you on Monday morning, and I sent you an email. In an hour, you replied to me with your cell number and said, "I'll be I'll be free after 3 on a Sunday." So, um, that's who that's who you all are. Um, and half jokingly when I said my shock that you were going to talk to me on a Sunday afternoon, you said, "I live to serve." And you live that truth every single day. And I had the honor of working with Dave Cox on a couple of projects. Um, projects that I had absolutely no experience with. Dave, you never shared your opinion on whether or not you supported these projects, but you helped guide the work. You informed us on how best to proceed. You helped us advocate for our cause in the best possible way. You always stopped what you were doing, no matter how busy, and took the time to answer my questions. And because of that, we were successful in our project. You are one of the most experienced, knowledgeable, ethical, and

dedicated town leaders I have known. Um, I don't think she's here tonight, but there is Juliet Hajj. Seeing her up close during our POC work this year has left me and frankly everyone on the steering committee in awe. She works way more hours than it says on her payub. She leads our group um the same way she leads her office with expertise, professionalism, high ethical standards, openness to all viewpoints, and a commitment to ensuring that every resident's voice is heard. I think everyone on that steering committee will say how lucky we are to have her. So, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for all that you do.

Hi, Tim Throck Morton Middle Road. I just was going to feel left out if I didn't stand up because everyone else has. In all seriousness, uh I just would like to talk about a a side uh issue that came up today. You approved open space and I've seen this happen. I've lived here for what 12 13 years at this point. And you know, every time something like that comes up and there's a piece of land that you that you want to approve, you're you're figuring out how you're going to fund it. And that's understandable. I'd love to encourage taking the approach that some towns around us have taken where they think ahead and they set up a fund in advance and that's you know we all we all are taxpayers. We don't want to spend any more than we than we have to. But if you're prepared ahead of time and have a fund for open space look at Glastonberry some of those some of those farms that we all go and get some fruit at. One of those was transferring hands because gener generational generationally transferring hands. Glastonbury went out. They floated a bond. Not that we want to be any more in debt than we than we are now, but they floated a bond. They they were able to use that money to purchase the land. A farmer still farming that land. It's still producing fruit. We can still all go to that farm and enjoy it. And it's open space to continue to to to do that. So, why don't we figure out how to fund? Maybe it's a bond. Maybe it's putting a little aside like we do. You know, if we're retiring as individuals, we put a little aside each month. Take a little bit out of the budget. Think ahead on open space. This is your chance to do that. You're you're talking about the um conservation and development plan. I've gone to some of those meetings and the worry is gee, if we do open space, then we're going to have less tax base. And I understand that. That's the practicality.

But as Allen who ran the meeting earlier stood up and said, and he's been involved in open space for years and years, if you do preserve some open space, then there's not as much pressure on the infrastructure. There's not as many kids going to school. There's not as many sewers needed. There's not all of those expenses. And you actually, all the studies show that you can actually reduce what the taxes might have been otherwise. So, I just would encourage to really do something about open space because this town doesn't um and to think ahead, to come up with a plan and to actually execute on it and figure out the funding. That's it. Thank you.

Is there anyone else who would like to make public public comment at this time? All righty. I had a bunch of notes and I lost them. So, now I got a bunch of jumbo thoughts. So, this will go great. All right. I'm going to get quick. My name is Chris Patel. I'm from uh 15 Old Clark Hill Road. I just had some comments on the uh on the agenda. Um there's going to be a discussion on a possibility of a right to farm ordinance. Um I looked at the draft that was in the packet. I know some people had been talking earlier about, you know, changing some of that. Um, in under purpose and one part it says the town officially recognizes the farmer's right to farm and the importance of farming, yada yada. Um, I'd like to see something that says the citizens or the people of the residents um right to farm. And this is in no way taking away from any type of commercial farm or large farming um operation. just I find it important that in town we we realize we have a massive demographic of people that are backyard homesteaders and that's anything from having a couple rabbits to having you know uh you know uh a few chickens to a lot more and it and it's actually a rapidly growing thing in in all over the country but in Connecticut especially and even in East Hampton. I said last meeting, you know, my wife goes to a lot of programs at the library. She meets a lot of moms and a lot of other families that are in the same same boat as us. Um I currently live on eight and a half acres. I used to live in Middletown on a quarter acre. Uh I I had a lot of chickens and it worked fine even on that small parcel. And you know um I I think with a when we have a good right to farm ordinance, it not only protects farms and homesteaders, but it also declares to the town and to the surrounding towns where our values lie. And I think that's important. And I think that as we have this rapidly growing demographic of, you know, young families that are into

homesteading, I think it's important we bring people like this into the town and encourage them to move here. Um, you know, there there's a joke that says, uh, you know, have get having chickens is the gateway drug to homesteading. And, uh, and it's it's very true. You know, first you start with a couple, uh, a few chickens just for egg layings. Then you have a garden or two and then you realize you can compost things in the backyard and then you get creative and before you know it you come home and your wife's taken all your polyester socks and throwing them in the garbage cuz now we're using organic cotton and it just kind of rapidly, you know, goes from there. And you know, all jokes aside, you really start to think about what you put in your soil. You start to think about the environment more, you know, and not that you were anti-environment before, you know, but it just it's just a different way of thinking in everything you do. um you know, you start being conscious of what's in, you know, like I said, what's in your yard, you know, you know, what kind of activities you're doing. And I think that's really important, especially in a town like this. So, if we want to preserve what we have and and have and encourage residents that that want to conserve that as well, like-minded people, I think we need some sort of right to farm ordinance to move forward. You know, otherwise, we're just going to end up with a lot of, you know, what we get is new developments and people that that move in, dump a bunch of chemicals in their lawn, and and it just ends up in the lake. So I think uh putting a value on a right to farm ordinance and there was also talk at that PCD meeting about an agriculture commission. Um you know I know there's a commission in the past and um it's not staff that's a whole another thing in itself but I think it's something the town council should look into. Thank you for your time.

Anyone else in the audience? way shorter than the last guy. Sorry guys. Uh Rebecca Harvey, 39 Flanders Road. Um so I know budgets is on the agenda tonight. So I just want to ask you to all carefully consider both budgets and the financial burden that that has on the residents. With the board of ed budget being set yearly and mandated, it can never go down. With every increase, we're locking the town into a scenario there's no coming back from. It's so important to keep it from getting out of control. Things like line items that can be on the town side for one-time purchases is an example of keeping it at bay. But we should be exploring every other avenue available as well. Students should never suffer when cuts need to be made. It should never be made from music, math, sports. It should come from the top heavy administration level. The town should also be proactively engaging with proposed legislation at the state level that will add unfunded mandates in our local communities. The boards and the town as a whole are not doing that or even responding when it's brought to their attention. The town budget is heavily inflated enough for us to have reserve funds and still have more to pay off the education deficit each year. These details should be reflected on each bud um on each budget season, but especially during a re-evaluation year. Both budgets reflect how our home finances will pan out, and that's scary for many that have already sacrificed so many extras for themselves and their families, more and more each year. Some people would see a $2,000 increase with this proposed mill rate and reassessments. We have neighboring towns that have publicly announced zero increases for their residents and how boards work together to accomplish this. It would be wise to reach out and see how this was navigated before sending this to referendum. I think it's fair to assume that most no votes on budgets

reflect what can be personally afforded and not an attack on students or the town. I do love that we're seeing I'm going to skip right into right to farm to make sure I have enough time. It is lovely to see the right to farm um in discussion for tonight. However, I would like to reference the agricultural committee that's been discussed, which includes outreach to some of the individuals that are interested, but not all of our farmers that showed interest in that have gotten a response from Juliet. Um, this board should be formally established and included along with other local farmers in the shaping of how this legislation is written for East Hampton, not just passed as is. And this includes but is not limited to the restructuring of the town's planning and zoning regulations for agriculture. This is an important step for the town and it should not be a rushed one and the right members should be included. Thank you.

Is there anyone else? Is there anyone online? One online. Yeah. Kathy, can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you. Yes. Okay. Hi, this is Kathy Megan. I I live at 59 Middle Hatam Road um in East Hampton. And I I I don't know if this is possible or not. I wondered if I could give my three minutes to Megan Rosenfeld so she could finish a little more of her presentation. Is that possible or or no? Megan can speak at the second public remarks section of the agenda.

Okay. Okay. I just thought I'd see if uh I didn't know if that was a possible thing um to give your three minutes to somebody. Probably not. Um but um go ahead. I should explain that I I'm not sure where that giving three minutes came from. The only place I know it's done is in the US Congress. Oh.

Where each party is allowed allotted certain amount of time for debate and members of the respective parties are given uh the opportunity to pass their time to other members of their caucus. here. We don't pre-sign up on a list of people who would like to speak and if they so desire to give up their time if that's what we want to end up going to, then it is possible we could do something like that. But just

there is no way to actually determine who was or wasn't going to speak and everybody would be jumping up saying here's my three minutes and right okay that's fine. I just thought I would check but so actually somebody can speak again at the end of the meeting. Is that the idea? There's a second uh public remark session section right before we close. Okay. All right. Thank you very much.

Is there anyone else? If not, are you jumping up to speak here? Apparently not. We're going to close public remarks. Item six, presentations. You have no presentations. Jed item seven, bids and contracts.

No bids or contracts. Jed item eight, resolutions, ordinances, policies, proclamations. 8A, review and possible approval of the orance amending chapter 146 of the code on the town of East Hampton regarding water and sewer authority. Uh so the council has in front of it uh the final version or the finalized version of the ordinance that essentially uh collapses the the WPCA into the town council uh and and uh affects that change u as soon as the ordinance is is effective. uh all of the responsibilities of the WPCA would be melded into the to the town council as a in accordance with the way this ordinance is written right now. It's my understanding and I the council can correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that the intent is to use this time uh while the council acts as the WPCA to identify um what sorts of checks and balances it wishes to put into place uh as it rem as it then removes itself from this role and puts it back in the hands of an appointed body. Uh that was the intent as I understood it in the initial discussion. So, while this is a full-fledged ordinance and will remain in and will remain in place until it's changed, uh it was my understanding that the council intends to change this in what I'll refer to as short order.

Correct. That is correct. Correct. Correct. Um do you want a motion to adopt the ordinance? Yeah. Uh motion to adopt ordinance number 20206 fat one. Is there a second? Second. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there discussion?

Yeah, I'd like to go. Um, so I understand where this came from and but I understand the remarks that have been made tonight, too. And that's my concern is we don't have the expertise at all to to run or operate the WPCA. And so my concern is how do we as a body determine how long potentially we would be in control of WPCA and how during that time is the work going to be done that needs to be done on a daily basis that the WPCA does. I I'm not going to pretend to understand what the WPCA does. As I stated at the last meeting, I've never been to a WPCA meeting. Um, and so I don't I have a concern with taking on a role that I don't feel qualified for and um just want to have a better understanding of what the expectation is for this body in terms of the WPCA.

I I think I'm going to call on our town manager to outline some of the thoughts we have. So, you're right. This is this will be certainly different for the town council. I mean, in terms of process, uh what I think we've discussed is that we can see uh that in the f in the near-term future, you'll have sort of two sections to your but your agenda rather, one while you're sitting as the town council, one while you're sitting as the WPCA, but that doesn't go to your real question. Um I think the real question is that don't forget you still have some you have professional staff down uh at the plant. Uh Paul Seretta is the superintendent and we're managing the wastewater uh treatment facility and the wastewater collection system uh as we have done every day in the last 40 years. Uh we're managing that and everything is still flowing and being treated and man and maintained properly. I think what we will end up doing is hiring someone from the outside to be an interim PUA, public utilities administrator. Uh that we will use um in the interim while we look at all of rewrite a little bit that that job description uh make sure that that is set the way we think it should be set uh before we hire a permanent replacement. that individual I think uh likely will come from that industry uh whether they have served us in the past or they have uh done that somewhere else uh but they will have uh or they're they're an engineer at a firm that we hire for that purpose on a short-term basis. Uh we will put the persons in place to help you work through some of these things. There will undoubtedly be challenges and there will be times when we kind of have to scratch our heads and decide what we think is best. That's what we do every day. Uh what you do every day, so to speak, sitting up there. You think you you do what you think is best. But we'll put in place for you

um the supports that we can. Uh in terms of time frame, I think that we'll set right about the task of of going about reassigning um those responsibilities. I think we'll start to look at those things. I think the time that you spend as the members of the WPCA will be instrumental in helping you understand those roles and helping you understand uh what you need to be doing. So, two things. Um we have staff that are working there today. We'll put someone in a position to support you uh and and provide you as much information as we can as we go into making those choices. I don't know what else I can tell you. Jack.

Yeah. I just wanted to comment that the WPCA itself has monthly meetings. Yes. You know, their obligation is to have a monthly meeting and their obligation is policy and not the detailed running of the facility. You know, as as Mr. Cox said, you know, the detailed running, we have experts. They're there. They're

they're running it. It's not our job to run it. Policy uh is our job and figuring that out. And and I think we all agree that we want this to move on in a much better way as quickly as possible. Hopefully within four or five months or so or maybe sooner. head.

And I just want to say having gone through something similar to this in the past, you do bring in people to assist you because obviously we're we're not experts in the water system, but you rely on people that you bring in to help you until you can get through it. I appreciate that information and I I think it's helpful. I think a concern that I have though is the political aspect is we're elected, right? And um those people on the people who have been on the WPCA are appointed. Correct.

Not necess well and that's one of the things we have to decide as a board as to whether it's going to be another appointed position or as the attorney had mentioned that that would could also be uh an elected uh position as well. So that is one of the things that we're going to have to decide as a board how we want to proceed and how we think it would be best serve the towns. So so there's going to be again from a policy standpoint we are going to be making some of the decisions but we're not going to be running the facility.

Well I I I appreciate that. I just hope people understand where I I where I'm coming from. I mean, you know, as uh resident stated before is uh you know, all of our positions are voluntary, right? Um but they're not easy and um it's hard to find people who even want to run for office. So if you make that another position to run for, how difficult is it going to become to get somebody to even do that with the amount of vitriol that could be out there as we've witnessed over the last several months. So that's it's a concern. I just want to make sure that going forward that we have a system that is what set up for the best for for our residents. And so I just want to voice these concerns that I have because as we've seen I mean there's a lot been a lot of misinformation about you know the role of the WPCA the role of joint facilities the role of the town council um and I think until people really understand the facts of what these boards and bodies do and how they operate um I think that it's going to scare people to actually step up and want to do these things because um you know of what we've witnessed over the last several months. So that's a concern for me.

Rich,

the um couple things to to remember. Uh the town council is just not going to be uh doing or commenting on uh WPCA as a town council. The WPCA is an entirely separate entity from the town council. Entirely separate. So in other words, while you might see the same people here at the town council, those same people on the WPCA have completely different responsibilities. And that's something we're going to have to keep in mind. That's number one. uh when we talk about the qualifications of people on on a on a on a board, uh I think probably the a good analogy is uh look at how look at how we uh place people on P&Z. Now P&Z is a very technical very technical commission. uh not just local uh ordinance and regulations we have to follow but state as well. And you and you know when when we place residents our residents on these commissions they're they're not experts in planning same with inland wetlands they're not experts in inland wetlands the purpose of those of those people who are appointed is to represent us us all and using staff or hired to know the rules and regulations rely on them to balance what we want as a town with the regulations that they have to follow. So I think that's how we have to look at this

when this when when these people here sit on WPCA they have they have specific policy jobs relative to WPCA and they listen to the administrator just like PNZ listens to our planner or just like in the wetlands listens to our planner same thing their citizen our fellow citizens, our neighbors who sit and look at the regulations, look at what can be done, look at look at our community and bring all that together. So, that's where that's where I think we're going to be going with this. And to uh reiterate what a few people on the council have said already, um I don't I don't think the council is going to uh be WPCA for a long period of time. So I just have one quick thing. I do sit with Richard on uh appointments and I think that uh you'd be pleasantly surprised how many people out there that have uh uh talent is probably not the right word I want to but talent in and also um uh very impressive resumes that come in to see us and uh I think we will find things depending on how we do this as a as as a town council as an appointing position or a voting position but we have many people that come in with backgrounds that are absolutely incredible that want a volunteer and uh Rich has done a great job of filling so many of these things right now. It's incredible. So, I think we'll be surprised that you see how many people actually do want to get involved with this. I really do. And uh I and their their backgrounds are just astonishing.

Sure. Further comments or I'm ready to call the question. Yep. Move the question. We made a motion. Yeah. Yeah. We're just waiting on our call.

Approval of the ordinance to chapter 146 of the code of town of East Hampton regarding water and sewer authority. Those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Nay. Eyes have it. Six with one absent. Moving on the agenda, continuing business, subcommittee reports and updates. Are there any? None from sorry.

Yeah. Move along discussion and set possible hearing or right to farm ordinance. I I would just raise the question, do we want to hold that for till the next meeting in case there's there were some a couple points that were thrown out by speakers?

Um, yeah. I I have a question on the existing uh commission that keeps getting referenced that was never filled. Um, I I like the the comment that said that we should utilize people to help us with the the ordinance. What does that and I asked Dave the head of the meeting not just before the meeting so not to put him on the spot but yeah what the what that makeup was and uh I think we need to look into that and see about filling that for and then kind of use that committee to set the ordin you know for input on the ordinance.

Yeah I'm not Is anyone appointed to that? No, I don't even know. It was never ever no one was ever appointed to it and I don't even know how it the makeup is or um maybe we should look at the committee and see what it is and maybe modify the committee and get that build for a guidance before we just set the uh um set an ordinance or a public hearing on it because once we Do you mind if I ask him? He's a smart man. Yeah, I know. Do you mind if I ask him?

Yeah. Why doesn't he come up and can you come on up and tell us what the makeup of the committee was and what it was designed to do and what it didn't do?

Good evening. Thank you for your time. Steve Strong, 48 State Road, Strong's Farm and Sawmill. Um, I believe it was approximately 13 years ago, the town council planning and zoning had some issues with a rooster on Lakewood Drive. Well, I've been with the Farm Bureau for a long time and this is an issue that comes up time and time again. Um, what had ended up happening, I believe it was a Chadam party was in town council at the time. I contacted Joan Nichols who was in the Connecticut Farm Bureau at the time um the commissioner of agriculture and we sat down with the board in East Hampton and discussed forming an agricultural commission. Um it was approved at the town council. However, there was provisions in there. They wanted three students from um the DOAG school and they wanted non agricultural people on there as well. It became a conflict. It was never formed. Um I believe that the stuff is still on on the books. Um but I want everybody to know because this has come to me my attention time and time again. If the town does not have a right to farm ordinance, it is superseded by the state. Every town in Connecticut has a right to form farm ordinance. So, we do need to form a commission. I would like to sit on that. Um, I did put my name in there. Um, we definitely need to do that. And these problems arise time and time again, and they keep coming back, making your jobs very hard, making the jobs at P&Z extremely hard, making Juliet's job hard, making the town manager's job very hard, because there's a disconnect between what agriculture

actually is. The town doesn't recognize what it is. Um, when it comes down to the P&Z regulations for farming, three of the things that are on there are in direct violation of five right to farm laws. odors leaving property lines being one of them. So, there's some severe issues in the town of East Hampton. It is not well known. I mean, it's very well known in the agricultural community um on the statewide level that when it comes to East Hampton, it's just like what's going on and it needs to be addressed and it's going to take a little bit of time as as Rebecca had said. So, it would be my recommendation, let's get this agricultural commission formed. And I know a lot of town residents are like, "Oh geez, that's what we need, another commission." But in this act, we really do. We've got to be able to hold on to open space. We've got to be able You can't be a town that says, "Hey, we're pro agriculture." And not have any regulations in place to protect the farms or to protect their neighbors. We all want to get along. It's just how do we do that? My recommendation is to look into the regulations that are in other towns, particularly on the planning and zoning commissions and get those things in line so East Hampton can follow those and people moving into this town can look at them and say, "Hey, can I raise these chickens on this residence?" No or yes, absolutely. It needs to be clearly defined. And right now, it's not clearly defined for anybody. And it's making everybody's life miserable. So, I'm here. People have my phone number. I can help out any way I can.

I have a question. Yes. Um, this ordinance that we're thinking about tonight. Yep.

Um, it looks pretty pretty general. A lot of towns seem to have this ordinance. Would it be bad to uh accept this ordinance? There's a couple of things in that ordinance the way they're written because a lot of the stuff that's written on it for farm stuff particularly uh water course stuff for um existing farms. So here's what we get into. We got a hobby farm. We got a homestead farm. Do we have a commercial farm which primary use is farming which means that the general all the income is generated off of that farm. They fall into different regulations. So when they do that, you know, you can come into stuff like um irrigation. So yes, it would go back to wetlands, but most always it would always be superseded by the state agricultural regulations to pursue that and redig out a pond or a brook or something else. So the way this is written the from my understanding there's a thing in there that says by no means does this supersede anything with the town that's in place that's not conducive to agricultural activities. So there's there's a few things that need to be addressed with it. So right now, just so I can reiterate, we are covered under the state right to farm regulations. So let's get a commission. Let's not put the cart before the horse. Let's get a commission formed, figure out who we're going to put on that and write regulations as a commission and then come forward maybe back to the town hall and then maybe the commission can recommend stuff to P and Z on what is agriculturally in line for the town.

Would you know people who might be interested to be on that commission? There's a lot of people in pull them together and uh send their names to the town manager and what's that? We have there's a few more. All right. Well, let me put it a different way to be able to put people on a on a commission. We've uh just fill out a a application to serve and uh we'll get you right in the right in the uh flow of uh

Yeah. Okay, there are other revenues that we could look look into as well which is the reg regional egg council for the uh rivercog. So we do not have a member on rivercog right now in the agricultural field but there are people that can reach out to us and help us as a committee as well as an agricultural committee as well as a Connecticut bar bureau. Julia has a comment like where is she? Juliet. Hi everyone. Good evening.

Um, sorry I couldn't be there tonight, but I just wanted to point out that the the ordinance in front of you is essentially the same. It is the same language as the state right to farm ordinance except for, you know, the little some personal touches in the purpose portion of it. And I think um Dave added something about spring water, but that is the same ordinance and that there's nothing in there that it's the same as the states. The rules of the state apply to us. I think there's a different we need to remember that the regulations in the in the zoning regulations for agriculture are something entirely different and we'll need some time to work on and definitely need that a commission to help out with that. But the the ordinance that you have is that is the right that you have as a town. You are a right to farm town. That is the state ordinance. Those are the rights you have. So I don't think that should be changed. I think we need to work on the agricultural regulations in the zoning regulations. That's where the mess is.

Correct. Yeah. With that 100%. Okay. Thanks for explaining that. Um yeah, thank you. Thank you for your time. Okay.

Can I comment? Um under purpose. It says the farmer's right to farm. I just want to be clear that a farmer is anyone who says he's a farmer, right? Or tell me what the legal definition of farmer is. Yeah, I kind of looked at that and I I came up with like a little different purpose as well. Just they kind of are we are we talking about are we still

So I mean those words because of what you because of the way because of the way these are are written um the words are the ones that are defined in the state statutes. So they are I mean they were in some of the material material material you receive. So I mean it talks about um the words agricultural and agriculture and farming include include cultivation of the soil, dairying, forestry, raising or harvesting of any agricultural or horicultural commodity including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training the man and management of livestock including horses, bees, poultry, furbearing animals and wildlife and the raising or harvesting of oyster, oysters, clams, muscles or other molesca shellfish or fish. The operation, management, conservation, improvement or maintenance of a farm and its buildings, tools and equipment or salvaging timber or cleared land of brush or other debris left by a storm as an incident uh as an incident to such farming operations. the production or harvesting of maple syrup, maple sugar or any agricultural commodity including lumber uh as an incident to ordinary farming operations or harvesting of mushrooms and hatching of poultry uh or construction operation. Maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs or waterways. uh for farming purposes, handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading, storing or delivering to storage or to market or to a carrier for transportation to market or for direct sale any agricultural or or horicultural commodity incident to ordinary farming operations or in the case of fruits and vegetables as an incident to the preparation of such fruits and vegetables for market or direct sale. But

but how do you make the homes better? But my point was and that's where I hope you're going. My my point was a little different which was that there's no size. Correct. I mean if I have a plot that's 10 by 10 in my backyard and I'm growing vegetables, I'm a farmer according to this.

No, I don't think that that's because that I think it's it with the the ultimate intent. I don't think and that's what I think the problem is with this is because I think that that all has the the farm typically has the intent to sell at the end if I'm not and and so like when when we were talking about the purpose I I looked at it the purpose a little bit different than how it was written in the ordinance because I put like the town recognizes that our agricultural agriculture is an essential and valued uh component of the town's rural character local economy environmental resources and quality of life. And then uh the purpose of the ordinance to promote and support agricultural operations, reduce conflicts uh between farmer and neighbor neighboring land uses and clarify uh the generally accepted farming activities um are consistent with the community standards reinforced protections provided under the Connecticut General Statute 19A-341. So I I looked at it a little bit different than the town officially recognizes um farmers right to farm. I wanted to bring it more into the rural character of the town and that we want to keep that and and try to incorporate the homesteaders in that

and that's I think that's fine. And I think that remember there is that distinction, right? This is um this is the language that we pull in from the state statute that basically says look people can farm in accordances with with these and and I I don't want to say this, but I I don't know of another way to say it. It's sort of protecting the fact that people farm and that there are odors and there are noises and there are all sorts of things that go on and those things are not nuisances, right? They're not nuisances.

They're okay. they're okay. Those are things that are fine because they are attendant to being a farm, provided you're operating appropriately under the state's guidelines. The other piece of this is how we address some of those other things that you're talking about that we've talked about and and that Mr. Strong referenced before of um are there size issues? Are there things that we would put in place here that protect or otherwise uh deal with as you refer to them as homesteaders or folks that want to have the backyard coupe or the backyard activity as different from things that we can all look at and say oh yes that's a farm

but they are a farm especially and that's one of the other things that I because I think if I recall our zoning rags have some issue uh some I want issues well what if you want a farm stand if you are doing the vegetables if you are doing the eggs you know I use the maple syrup. You know what? You know, having to apply for a special permit to put a cooler at the end of your driveway is ridiculous, you know, and so I want, you know, I'm looking for more uh something that we don't want to preclude people from farming and doing these kind of things and we don't want them to, you know, be get so frustrated that they can't do it and they're they're just gonna just be so frustrated with our planning and zoning department and add additional layer of work to P&Z. So I I'm looking to incorporate something that those you know just like we have the new law at the state where you can sell to a local farm can sell to restaurants or whatever at the cottage

you know

um and and certainly I think that's on the agenda so to speak. I think that's some of what uh you've heard the folks in this room talk about. I think you've heard Juliet talk about that and she just mentioned it now. I think you're right. Those things need to be dealt with. We can hold this and do it all at once. We however the council chooses to move ahead. Um you you do have the language and and the basics are there of the agricultural uh agriculture commission seven members plus two alternates and a certain breakdown of those folks and you can amend that as well if you want to take a look at that. So, if we send this to public hearing, um that would again that wouldn't I think we should probably I mean my opinion would be to put it up for a little bit, get some people on the commission, let them uh throw some insight on it and then put it to public hearing. That would be my personal uh recommendation.

So, we form a commission first. Yes. Sorry for it. Thank Well, it's apparently formed. Let's revisit it at our next council meeting to make sure that the makeup is such that we can actually fill it, then fill that, get their input on it, then go to a public hearing with the ordinance. Okay. Yeah. It this ordinance really, as Mr. Strong pointed out, it really doesn't put us behind different than what the state already gives you. So, But the section 1-1Q is what Dave read. Yeah. Which is the definition of a far. Yeah. So

I don't want to take up a lot of your time. You know, we could easily as I mentioned satisfy all the needs of this separate types of farmers and then who is the farm? Typically um it would go to the agricultural uh the agricultural commissioner usually to the state but it can't be done on the town level where that agricultural commissioner would go up and say hey this is this is a farm these people are starting out they have they have intent. intent would mean, yeah, we bought a piece property, now we applied, we're building a barn and we have tractors on site. Now we're starting to plow,

you know, depending on what type of farm it is. But I recommended to Juliet and had this conversation before and it is a very tough thing and I could reach out to somebody on the state level as well. I think for the town of East Hampton, we should have a hobby farm, a homestead farm, commercial farm. We should have three definitions of it and what can be done in what zoning area because one of the things with Connecticut farms we're extremely diversified and we have to change with the economy and we have to change with what you know what are people buying now. So, you know, 10 years ago might have been hot with maple syrup, maybe not so much anymore. It is still, thank God. But, you know what I'm saying is alpaca, alpaca wool, that was big. That went away. But farms need to diversify because East Hampton is so small, but we still have so much open space that could be utilized or somebody starting a microgreen thing in their in their garage in a residence and feeding some of the local restaurants. So we really need to look into that and say does this person have intent to be a farmer? Is it going to be a commercial entity? If it is, they've you can go and apply for um through Department of Revenue Services for farm sales tax or farm use, but you have to show a year prior or two years prior you can use. So we have to be able to reach out and help the startup farmers. We're losing them at a rate that's not sustainable. We really need to stand up and get these right these uh new farmers involved and make it as easy as possible. So, special permits, farm stands, that's got to go away. This is too restrictive.

Amen. Okay, Juliet.

Sorry. So again, I agree with what Mr. Strong just said. There are three different categories. So homesteaders and animal husbandry is not I I don't want to say it's not covered under this right to farm ordinance, but it's that's a different scenario. It's a different thing altogether. And that's typically covered in the zoning regulations. The right to farm is protecting, you know, actual farms. You know that like Mr. Strong said, you go there and you you know that it's a farm. Um protects them from nuisance claims, but it doesn't protect the backyard. You know, the person has six chickens in their backyard. It it doesn't protect them from nuisance claims necessarily. So, it's it's a different thing. Animal husbandry is typically regulated based on the size of your parcel and whether or not you could, you know, have enough land to properly care for the animal or shelter the animal. and it's different and it's it's dealt with in zoning. So, I think it's I think I would suggest that you have somebody from the Farm Bureau actually come to your next meeting and briefly explain this better than I am probably, but um but I think Mr. Strong did a pretty good job of describing that there are three different categories that we should be considering.

Okay. I'm I'm thinking rather than empower uh empower a commission and a make appointments that we might might do something of a lesser uh official designation at this point until we know where that commission is going to to work and that we go about the process. Did you create an ad hoc committee that's appointed to five people and then just uh have them apply and just appointment? I think something through the council

even if it's you know you know a committee just to get us through this stage and look at the the full commission going forward. It seems to me although to some there's an urgency on this, I think we have a little bit of time to put the right thought into it and get get the job done properly. That's right.

Do we table this? Yes. Move the table. Second. Any discussion? Those in favor? I We also have budgets coming up in the next couple months and it's only a couple months. Whether we have uh more on our plates than you desire. Yeah, I know you crammed too much into this.

Yeah. Agenda item 9 C continued business discussion of tax relief op options discussion and set public hearings for tax relief ordinance related to veterans. Can I talk on that one?

Sure. So at the last uh meeting as you know I was very uh very uh high on the advocacy to approve all of these uh different veterans um exemptions. Um, since our last meeting, I found out a little bit more information that um, since the state uh, changed the law on the veterans exemptions to include the house in the 100% disabled, um, 100% disabled does not mean what I thought 100% disabled meant. There is now instead of one disabled veteran in the town of East Hampton, there are 27 that are getting the house relief to the town to the tune of $178,000. Um, two of those 100% disabled veterans are full-time state police officers that are again on the job 247 state police officers that are getting 100% disability benefits for their homes. I talked to Irene Haynes about this um and she said that the state knew that there was a problem. She's not sure if they were going to readress it or not um in this session. Um, but I do think before we go adding all kinds of additional um, 2 acres and all these other things, we need to step back and take a look at because if my idea of a disabled veteran is someone that can't work or has a a a minimal income and needs assistance, and that's what I thought that this bill was doing.

It clearly is not. If you can be a full-time state of Connecticut trooper that has is carrying a gun, has gone through all the physical psychological duties to be 100% disabled and still get your tax there. There is a problem with this um with this. And uh I hate to backpedal, but I do not want to support something until we know what the state is going to do and uh kind of get a little get bit further guidance on on what's going on. That's just my two cents.

Well, we don't have a motion before us at the moment. No, I just wanted to kind of because I was very much the advocate for it in our last meeting and I found out a lot more information and it's concerning. Yeah. Is there anyone else that has comment regarding this? I think it probably may be a wise step to also defer this. I would like to make a motion to table that until we get some further information and find out what the state's doing. I will second that. No further discussion. Those in favor of tableabling signify by saying I. I. Table.

Do we have any discussion of other tax relief options at this point? I I would just suggest that the one for seniors that we already have on the books where the um the income limits seem abnormally low that we should consider raising those income limits to the I mean I think they were set in 2008. Is that the one that's tied to the state income and what does the state use for income limits at this time? This is the the ordinance.

It's like the $40,000 for indivi uh singles and then uh uh for joint. It's a more I'm pretty sure that that was mirrored after the state um is the income. The owners I'm talking about is the one that allows the uh senior to hold his um his taxes steady tax while a lean a lean is put on the house on on the property. I didn't think there was an income limit on that. There is.

There is. Um so that's uh in the materials that we've provided to the council. That's article um 7 of uh chapter 278 of the town code which relates is where all of these are and um that particular section

you'll recall this is the one that has the lean as you mentioned um that particular section has varying qualifications for it and among them are age and time that you've lived in the town and um income and when the council last updated this which I think was 20 um was 22 maybe I don't have it in front of me it was it was uh the council that was in in office between 21 and 23 I think it was in 22 um when this was last modified the council at that time uh put a put an income limit of $50,000 which at the time was slightly above what the states index next amount was uh both of the figures have now passed that or at least one of them has passed that the they're in the uh in the upper 40s and low 50s depending on married or rather unmarried or married respectively. Um I I think I had it in the material before. I don't remember the numbers exactly. Um, so you can adjust that number if you want to make more of our older adults of eligible uh for that particular income. That would be um that would be 285 or 278.25 A for D. I start with 27872 52

25 27825 of the town code. Yeah, I don't have that. I don't have that one. I started 52. I must have missed something. What are the state income limits right now? See if I've got it. Because wouldn't it be make more sense to just mirror what the state is as because it usually mirrors the application and then we wouldn't even have to adjust it then it would automatically automatically adjust. Wouldn't that make sense?

So the state number is not exactly high. Uh the state's number is relatively low. I think that's why the council at the time um indexed it up uh above that. I thought the material we had showed that um let's see maybe it's on our website. What's the definition uh you're giving us the state?

So the state has a has the income limits that they annually adjust and for I believe for an unmarried individual I want to say it's $48,000. Don't quote me on that. And for a married couple it's in the mid-50s 56 maybe. Um, the assessor's office monitors that, so I don't know those numbers off the top of my head. That number when the council last adjusted this ordinance, when they adopted this ordinance change, was below 50,000. They moved that number up. You have flexibility in that particular program to modify that income limit based on what you think is appropriate. You have other things that you can adjust in that particular ordinance. Uh the town has has uh held that ordinance for a number of years, modified it over the time. As I mentioned to you before, not a lot of residents take advantage of that particular one. Although it is a fairly powerful one, it does carry that lean. And I think that's what Mrs. Rosenfeld was was talking about when she and that's in the material that she just gave us this evening that she wants you all to see that she would like put in the minutes. That's one of the things she talks about in there. Um, it says here, uh, Connecticut offers, uh, property tax relief for seniors, 65 plus, and disabled individuals through the programs. It says the, uh, for 2024, this is what I found, uh, year. Eligibility typically includes income caps adjusted to around 130,000 for individuals and 160,000 for families.

But not for these. No. H not for these. No. Again, I'm not as concerned. Uh I don't really have a problem with increasing the income limits because the reality of the matter is is the tax the the town will be paid back at some time. So, I'm good with whoever needs to utilize it utilize it. It it, you know, um I really don't have a problem with increasing the limits to what you deem to be reasonable um to make it a something that these seniors can do. Um

I don't know. I don't know what the right number is, but I don't know either. But I don't have a problem with increasing it. Um because eventually the town is going to get the money. My problem would be if we just waved property taxes, which is going on to someone else that we're not, you know, and then it gets Yeah. I mean, it seems to me this is a fair program. Yeah, I think it's very fair program. it needs. If you're a senior and you have limited income, then it holds your taxes level and uh which is probably what your income is doing and and yet the town is being fairly treated because it's but eventually we'll get paid. Yeah.

So, I mean, again, I guess we're looking for recommendations as to what you think the the income limits are. Um, uh, we could go back and index that $50,000 number and see where that would end up. Uh, if it were indexed the same way as the states, it would 75 and 150. I mean, that if they're under 75, they're going to, my guess is a single person or even under 150 for a married, it would be it would still be a help. Um, I don't think that that would be an unreasonable income limit. um on there.

Dave, how many uh people currently avail themselves of this particular Last number I knew was four. Four in the entire town. Are there more that are qualified for it? They just don't know about it. I think they don't want to put the lean on their property because they want the the property to pass clearly to their their area. You know, we

that's more my understanding. Like I said last time last this whole property tax abatement it's it's a ball of worms. It's it's like a rub Goldberg creation um where the state is oh picks this small group. Okay we're going to give them this then okay then we're going to enhance it with this and then we're going to pick this group and give them this. I'll I'll tell you if we want to do it right here in East Hampton, what we should be doing is having hate to say this, have another committee, have a task force, small task force that can sit down with the assessor. Wouldn't have to take long, a month or two months, something like that, and go over each one and see what really pertains, what is really worthwhile. Because there's some of these exemptions you think you're getting a you think you're getting something and it gives you a $2,000 exemption which will what get you a $60 reduction of your taxes on a $5,000 tax bill. I mean really

really is that meaningful? It's not meaningful. So that's really what we should do to do it right for this town. Take a look at it. sit down, small group, sit down with the assessor over couple weeks, couple months, and I think we could come back here with some meaningful recommendations. Um, that's the right way to do it because nickel dimming it like the state has done gets us nowhere. Nobody gets any relief. It just gives us the It just gives us the look like we're doing something. We're not.

Keeping in mind that you have to stay within what the state allows you to do. Well, on those Yes, that's exa That's exactly right. But there's others where we can make our own decisions relative to certain within things. Yes, the state has allowed and as I mentioned a couple of them, you have some flexibility in certain items. So, let's you know, let's take a look at I just hate to do stuff on the fly, especially at a meeting. This is not the place to get into details. Well, I didn't think we were making any decision on this tonight. I thought we were just talking about discussion. Yeah.

Well, it is, but the point is the discussion we would have isn't necessarily informed uh in the detail it should be. Does a couple of council members want to sit down and and chat with the assessor? I'd be glad to. I'd be happy to I'd be glad to. Okay. We can set that up. Yeah. Would you want a motion to table that one too? Why not? Okay. So move. There should be. Second. Any discussion? Those in favor of tableabling the

I I table agenda item 10 business I am going to abstent myself Jack you can take over okay I think this is your you can speak to this

so uh the next item you have on your agenda is a will serve letter uh in followup to an agreement that the town reached um approved in November and was executed in December of uh 2025. Despite what the original letter that was in the council said, 2025, we weren't writing into the future. um an agreement with uh Connecticut Water related to the potential sale of water from a future built system that the town would own in the subdivision Hampton Woods which is approved which was approved a number of years ago uh and is likely to have a new owner and and go under construction uh in the not too distant future. Um the agreement between the two entities would provide for the provided for the sale of up to 38,000 gallons of water uh based on a request from Connecticut Water and their subsequent request from the developer. So, that request came in uh to the town council and um you are now asked to consider uh providing a letter back to Connecticut Water that says yes when we have 38,000 gallons of water per day available. We are more than willing to sell 38,7 or rather 38 thou 37,380 of them to you. Sell is the important operative word there. Hampton Woods would be constructed um pursuant to the plans that have been approved or that they may be modified over time uh and would and was already intended to include a water system. There is a part of a water system there today and according to the town's regulations once it serves more than 25 uh customers. It becomes a townowned facility because it is in our ESS our uh exclusive service area basically of the

town. So that's the agreement you executed uh at the end of last year and this is a a letter in followup to that that indicates we will provide the water once it's available as it going to be available. Um I would venture to guess at sometime next year but um it would need to go under construction and be completed. the connections all constructed. Now, this is the one to to avoid the the big build on the corner, right? Wasn't that they were selling this water because there was they needed to use the water from Edgewater. They'd have to build a whole another Oh, it wasn't that the one.

It gets complicated, I think. Um uh there's a number of issues between Connecticut Water and the developer of Edgewater Hills, which is where we are today. and um they revolve around um quantities of water available for the finishing of this system. Um yes, there is construction involved and there's disagreements I would say between the developer uh and Connecticut Water. Uh this is a way to resolve that uh using a system that the town owns providing a benefit to the town uh and ultimately to the users uh that are connected to that water system. So what we need to do is we have conflict on the so

approve the letter. Yes. So, as the town council in your role uh overseeing the water systems for the town, uh you're being asked uh to approve the will serve letter uh that is drafted to Connecticut Water, as I said, indicating that when the water is available pursuant to the agreement, we would sell them. In this case, 37,380,000 three. Yeah, you know the number. I can't say it for whatever reason. So, does you want a motion to break the Yeah, it's good to go to sign the letter. Yes, please. Okay. Motion to sign the letter. Okay. Okay. Discussion. All those in favor?

I go get now. Go get me. Go get him. We're all done. Come on. Good. That's great. Are you finished yet? The can new business be budget related badge?

You can take over received from the board of finance. their approved budget will be fiscal year 26 27. All that we are looking to do is accept that budget from the board of finance. We're taking no action on that tonight and we'll move towards a timeline to process and finish the budget and send it to referendum over the course of the next few weeks. I thought I was going to have a calendar tonight. Uh that did not get put together or finalized. So that will be presented officially at our next meeting. I'm sorry. Is that better or worse? We had hoped to have the calendar prepared for what the timing would be for council to finish its review of the budget and send it on to uh town meeting and referendum and we're looking at some time if I'm not mistaken in in uh middle of May. So fundamentally once the council has decided on a budget it wishes to send to referendum it's basically three weeks right from the time that the council decides to the day of the referendum that's basically two weeks to the town meeting and then another another week to the referendum. Uh so if you think about that uh as I as I kind of alluded to earlier uh in our conversation Mr.

chairman, if you um were to look at um if you were to look at an action by the town council at the for example at the end of this month on the meeting of the 28th, um you would potentially be able to send a uh a referendum to uh the the people of the town on the 19th of May, but that would mean you would act and make your decision in in in two weeks. I don't know whether the council wants to take any public comment. I don't know how I'm sorry in 3 weeks. I apologize. Thank you. Three weeks. We have the big gap here. Um uh I don't know whether the council wants to set the 28th for a formal public hearing to allow people a formalized opportunity to talk about that. Certainly, we have public comment for that as well. Um I don't know whether the council wants to have any discussion. Uh but uh that's one opportunity. You should then uh would really need to have made a decision and sent it to the budget or rather to the referendum based on the town's charter not later than the 12th of May. Uh the 12th of May, you really need to to send it on to referendum so that that referendum could occur uh by the 2nd of June, which is within the time frame uh as called for in the charter. So you have about a month to kind of look at it and decide uh whether you want to make any modifications to what the or more accurately any reductions uh changes to the what was presented to you from the board of finance. So possibly we could discuss at our next meeting on the 28th and and if we didn't for whatever reason take any action there it would okay be okay to go to our first meeting in May.

Yes. Would that fall? It would because then you would end up with um a referendum probably landing on the 2nd of June. Okay. which are still early, which if that referendum should happen to pass, uh would certainly give ample time for determination of a mill rate and um production of tax bills. Okay. We all know from last year what the process is that that doesn't have. Yeah. Okay. So I don't know whether the council wants to make any decisions about formal action for next week or next you know next meeting rather 28th

I think we should have a public hearing.

So do we need a motion is the conversation about a potential public hearing. Yeah. Yeah. I think if you wanted to actually have a public hearing, it would be appropriate for the council to set one um by motion that we would publish it like every other public hearing that you do. If you wanted to actually formalize a public hearing for the next meeting, move to public hearing on budgets on April 28th of their next meeting. Second. Motion made seconded. Some discussion. I think so. We're going to gather their input before we do anything, I'm guessing. Okay.

What did we did the board of finance when they presented the budget, what was was there a hearing on that? Because don't they usually have the public meeting where they present their budget and people comment on it then?

So, the the board of finance has as a matter of practice uh done a their official published public hearing uh at the beginning of the process. So shortly after it comes out from uh the town manager and the board superintendent. So they held their public hearing in March, early March uh mid-March. And then uh they do their week of review with the individual departments, all of which of course are public meetings. And then they had uh two deliberation sessions. And at their last deliberation session, again, public meeting, um, with some public comment received, they ended up making some modifications to the, uh, capital plan and, uh, reduction in the amount of the transfer from the general fund to the capital plan uh, and recommended that budget to the D.

So, they didn't make any reductions to the budget. They just changed the capital plan. Is that that right? They reduced the capital plan and as you see on your next item, they made a recommendation for the use of some cash. Reduced um uh the transfer for the general fund by about 188,000. Uh at that point, that was the only touch none of you the town manager budget. They didn't change anything else in either of the two budgets.

Glad they did the job. website be 292 right

so the as I mentioned the board of finance made a reduction to the um to the budget that was proposed to them uh and so in that original version that was produced by uh by me essentially um it had a mill rate of 2918 2917 29 whatever the number was uh the change the small modification that the board of finance made reduced that amount um by as I said 188,000 which the resulting change was to bring it down to the number that's in the budget you have in front of you now was the 2907 sorry

we move to have a public hearing do we need to accept accepted first or not? What was that question? Do we need to accept the budget first before you accept the public hearing for it? I suppose technically. I mean, I don't care. I'm just asking. I mean, I think it's been transmitted to you. If you want to formally accept it, you can, but it's in our laps. It's in your lap now for consideration. You want me to change that motion? Nope. No. Just put it all together. put it all together. Okay, I'll incorporate that in my motion

to accept the draft budget as presented by the board of finance, right? And set a public hearing for uh your next regular meeting of April 28th. Correct. I'll second. Just to be clear that we have this means we do not officially agree with anything on that budget. We're just accepting it on our desk or we agree with everything on the budget. Well, then I'll go to no on that. It is yours now to review. Yes. Thank you. Those in favor? I I oppose. Nay.

Move along. If I may, as I mentioned, the next item on there uh is uh an item that came from the from the board of finance attendant to their recommended budget. Uh you'll the council is is asked to uh move along uh an additional appropriation for fiscal year 26. So, the current fiscal year uh to use up to 450,000 from uh the town's un um the town's unencumbered uh undesated be uh fund reserve for uh the repaving of the middle school parking lot. I don't know whether you want to deal with this now or you want to deal with this as part of the conversation related to the budget, but I don't want it to get lost. This is an item that the would need to be dealt with so to speak separately if in fact uh it moves forward as part of u future financial planning let's call it.

So currently it's not in the budget. Um so no the town's budget did not include funding for that. It was originally as part of the fiscal 27 gotcha capital plan and they have moved it out. Okay. Gotcha. and are recommending that we use essentially our savings account to pay for that

with the price of fuel right now. I think that's absolutely insane. I I just can't even Yeah, I can't even tell you how much I think that is absolutely ridiculous. So that's a that's part of the conversation that sort of came up in in certainly in public comments was um notwithstanding an action to um so to speak designate these funds or encumber these funds over into the capital reserve uh for that purpose. Is the related conversation of um our oil prices just right now too high for us to proceed with this project and perhaps other projects? Or do we wait anticipating that those prices are going to come back down at some point in the near future perhaps in the spring uh of next year that is and we do it then or in the fall or something like that. So, that's a bigger that's a bigger conversation at this point. Uh, right now, as you know, um, all of our paving is contingent on, of course, oil prices. The price that we pay to put pavement down is contingent on oil prices has modifications built in for that. Um, at this point right now, today, we anticipate PL um, paving Main Street in all of those areas in a couple of weeks. uh we won't know until we say go exactly what that price is. We can get understandings of that but at this point that project is planned to go ahead uh based on the funds that we have available in the fiscal 26 budget. This project next year's capital plan all on the table whether we think we want to. But is it prudent to even do Main Street right now with the price of oil? Just like what happened with the housing when we redid when we did the whole housing. Um it was going to cost us over $300,000 in additional cost because of the the

price of oil when we did it. We waited a year and we paid a fraction of that. So, you know, and I know that that there was thought that there's, you know, some tripping hazards and this that grind the thing down, believe it as, you know, roll it. just, you know, get rid of the asphalt, you know, for a year until the the price of oil comes down. Do something. But, I mean, to to just sit there and spend additional money just, in my opinion, is sure ludicrous. Yeah, those numbers have ticked up quite a bit and um I'll have what I'll do is have uh the public works director see where they're at today.

Uh and we can kind of gauge what that looks like. Um and then we can perhaps come back to this and if we want to put it at put that on hold we can. It only makes sense. Okie do. Does just a question does making this appropriation does that carry over so that it or does it expire? No, it would be non-lapsing because what would happen is it would move into the capital fund, the capital reserve fund which is a non-lapsing fund meaning um those monies remain available from year to year without any further action for that.

So if if I understand let me so they reduced 188,000 out of the budget to drop the mill rate but then took 4 and whatever thousand and added it 450,000. So really they didn't reduce the budget at all. They took 450,000 out. They took 188 and burdened us this year with 450. So in actuality, they kind of increased the budget. So they what what I think they would say is that they used monies that were already levied on the taxpayers rather than asking for more. I think that's how they would

Why wouldn't there be a $450,000 reduction in the budget and instead of 188 if they uh are utilizing the levy on that has already been on the taxpayer? So the there was only um so there was a smaller number put into the capital plan originally for that project um sort of hedging bets I I'll say on what it would be um and they adjusted the way things were being financed so that this bud this particular project would be paid for out of cash and other things would be financed instead. And in our capital committee, we talked about where, you know, that we needed to come up with a um a a bonding policy. And all of a sudden, we're we're now pulling 450 out that's going to afford, you know, be something that's going to uh pay for something today that's going to benefit people for the next well 39 years supposedly in theory. Uh not that they ever last that long. Uh and and we were talking about which things to put in the capital, which things to lease, which things to go out on funding. And all of a sudden, we just threw that right out the window. We're saying, "Okay, we're going to pay $450,000 without any idea what the cost of the material is going to be, and we're just going to transfer in in on their goodwill that they're going to do it at the right time, non-lapsing." That to me just seems crazy. And the fact that they didn't do anything with the budget, uh what did the board of finance do in all their time? I I'm just I I am absolutely blown away at what they're what's being asked of us right now.

Regardless, you have that in front of you and the council will need to decide how it wants to deal with that as part of your conversation. That's all I have on budget related matters. But this isn't an urgent issue, right? Painting the middle school lot has been needed a while and it has. I mean it. And again, notwithstanding the conversation we just had about oil prices. Um it just further degrades. The project doesn't change. The project is still reclaiming the whole thing and sort of rebuilding it. So the project doesn't really change.

Let's move on. Okay. Agenda item 11, town manager report.

So, as always, uh the written report is as part of the uh agenda packet and on the uh town's website. Uh I'll just mention uh if I may, three things that are um that are on uh that have been referenced in there uh that I think the community ought to be aware of. As was alluded to earlier, there is on the town's website a tax estimator uh and it has been modified to the currently to the board of finances uh proposed budget mill rate and it allows someone to enter their uh their previous tax assessment uh their previous assessed value of their house and their new assessed value of their house uh and see how their tax bill might change and how much of that is related to the revaluation. and how much of that is related to the uh the town's potential budget. Um opportunity for folks to take a look at that. If you want to find that, it's on the uh in the finance department section under the town's annual budget for this fiscal year that's upcoming. So for the annual budget for 2627, you'll find that uh calculator on that page. There's instructions there if you don't know that number on how to find the number of your previous assessed value and your new assessed value. It's all there. Uh it's interesting information uh for uh people to kind of get an understanding of of the impacts of everything that's gone on. Two other things that I want to mention uh as well. Brownfield's agency continues to try to uh move along with the efforts in the center uh to get those buildings cleaned up uh and to get the properties cleaned up. uh while they finish the the evaluation work and the reuse planning and the remediation planning uh for the structures that are there, uh they have applied for now two grants uh to fund 100% the cost of cleaning up three Walnut Street. That's that parcel behind uh across from Pose behind um uh center package store to

turn that into the future use of sort of a recreation multi-use space associated with the village center. Uh so they have uh put in funds uh requesting rather requesting funds from the state uh for doing that work. Uh we'll hear about that uh hopefully in a few months. Uh and then we'll be back to to set that up with the council if we choose if we so desire to move ahead. Uh and lastly, I'll just want to mention that the police department has has decided and determined to go ahead with uh another national night out this year. They've announced that uh at this point look for August 4 to be the date of a national night out opportunity for people to interact with the police department and other public safety departments of the town. Uh and uh learn learn about those folks, learn what they do, meet them, spend some time with them down in Sears Park. So August 4, put that on your calendar. We'll see you down at Sears Park. Those are my comments for tonight. If you have questions, I'll certainly try and answer them. Otherwise, that is my report.

Thank you. Are there any questions? comments. Agenda item 12, appointments. Uh, none this evening. Agenda item 13, tax refunds. Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to return nine refunds totaling $10,536.73 owners. Second. Second. Second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. I. I. Nay. So carried.

Agenda item 14, public remarks south.

Much less than three minutes now. I don't know if I can do it.

Sound of 147 Colchester Avenue in deference to the board of education and the budgets that you were uh going forward with. They were not challenged at all at the board of board of finance. And I don't see the town council challenging these. And you're setting yourself for failure because the education budget was cut $1.5 million last year. We lost 14 positions. we we came this close to losing our middle school sports and now this year they've increased the budget 1.8 million to compensate for that. Granted that half of it is because of the insurance costs. Okay. But um no one's challenged I haven't heard I well at least personally I haven't heard anyone challenge these figures to make sure that we're getting the best bang for the buck here. Um, and so you're setting yourself for failure once that becomes public knowledge that uh, you know, especially with what I'm concerned about is with the way the seniors have been extremely hit hard this year, you guys still are still trying to figure out a way to compensate them and with all this um, um, uncertainty, you're almost certain to fail the budget this year. So, I wanted I want you to seriously consider uh these budgets and know if uh I'm I'm all big on graphs. I've for years. If we could show um a budget decrease of let's say 100,000, what does that mean? No one knows what happens if we fail the budget. And so, you're setting yourself up for failure. And then come June, July, August, if we did this, if this goes on, um we could have more serious cuts that would impact our students negatively. Um um because some people just don't care when um when their family budget is falling apart. Um one thing to consider is they've done a

great job at the board of education reducing their um insurance as much as high as it's gone up. They did phenomenally well with um working with other towns. What has East Hampton done to work with with other towns to reduce their insurance on the town side? Um if the board of education can work with three, four, five other towns um to reduce that cost, so can East Hampton look into doing so. We we really need to keep this tight this year. Uh people are really suffering this year especially and um to move the budget forward without any serious challenges and explanation of what happens if budgets cut this amount that amount that amount um you're setting yourself a failure for the town. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would desire Megan? Okay. So, where do we leave off? Um, I talked about tax relief options that the town council can um can change by modifying existing ordinances. They are detailed with multiple um drafts of ordinance changes already pre-made for you that you could select from if you wanted to do a plug-and-play situation. Um, additionally, to your point, Councilman Nautic, you're right. the state credits are nominal um with regard to how it it impacts daily living. However, there are grants um the USDA home repair grant is fully funded and waiting for those who do qualify for it to apply for it. And those who in the Middle Sex area, their income is at 50% of the median income or less will qualify for a $10,000 grant for home

improvements for either making their um home ADA accessible or remediating a hazard in their home. Um, additionally, there are many grants that the town can apply for and we haven't been applying for those grants. I've identified a substantial list of these grants, how to apply for them. The question was, who's going to do these grant applications? Because it's a lot of work. My initial thought was, okay, well, we could hire a grant writer at the municipal level, and that would be an expense. So, I compared that to how much it would be to hire someone as an independent contractor, and that would be less, but it's still an expense. And then my friend Tom, who is a lifelong resident of East Hampton, who recently retired to East Hatam, but let's not hold that against him for not staying with us. Um, he suggested that we chat with Jeff Jula in finance about the grant writing issue. And Jeff said he would be happy to write the grants. So, we don't have to have another expense. Jeff is volunteering to help us with that. The Commission on Aging is more than capable of identifying high value grants that will help citizens and I'm excited to assist with that work. And um all we need to do is identify the people that are going to be able to navigate these applications. And Jeff said that there are neighboring towns that have already successfully won these awards and he would reach out to them and use some of their applications as templates. So, this is doable and it's not going to cost the town a dime, which is such good news, especially given the budget constraints that we have. Um, I would say that overall we have a lot of tools available to us and we need to approach this in a holistic way. It can't just be pass the debt from one group to another because we'll end up

with a Cat in the Hat comes back situation. And for anyone that has little kids that have read that book, the cat tries to clean up a pink stain with mother's dress and that gets transferred eventually to the entire house. So, thank you for your time.

Eric, Eric Rosenberg, 15 bay. Just to quickly continue the conversation. Um I've spoken with uh Megan and we already have on our agenda for the Commission on Aging meeting in two days to be discussing um tax abasements for older adults. and we would be very happy to be a part of the process when you go to the assessor with maybe one or two people uh including her to to try to get input and knowledge and and discussion there. Thank you very much.

Okay. Is there anyone else?

Moving on. Agenda item 15, communications, correspondence, and announcements. The report of the March 2026 board of and commission summary is included in the package. Agenda item 16, executive session. Council is going to move into executive session. Uh there will be no action taken up at the end of executive session. So, you're you're welcome to stay out in the hallway, I guess, if you but if you'd rather be home watching TV or working with your families, please do.

Motion to go into executive session for potential purchase of property uh and attorney consultation inviting the town manager and the town attorney after a fivem minute rest. Second second. Hi. And thank you all for sto staying tonight. Meet everybody. Say hi. Introduce myself. See you Thursday. Introduce myself to everybody. I have