Town Council - Regular Meeting

Do you want to salute to the flag?

I salute the flag of the United States of America and to the republic which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Announcements, I have one state building on 144 Willow Ave. The MOU has been signed by the town with all the great work that was done by Sal and everyone else. And now we await the signatures of the state to make it official.

Any? That's good. Very good announcement. Yeah, so Bob and I put a lot of time and effort into getting that building. So yeah, I think it's going to be a real good place for the maintenance guys where they'll have some room and we kind of down the state a little bit and got what we were actually really wanted. So thank you. I think it's a good deal.

Do you have any other announcements?

I have an announcement.

Go ahead.

Just when I was driving into the commons this morning, I saw several volunteers from the Sekonic Garden Club out cleaning the roadside, which they do very regularly. And I just wanted to thank them and recognize both the garden club and town and how fortunate we are to have all those volunteers keeping our town beautiful, cleaning it up, cleaning up the beaches, decorating for holidays, all of that. So I just wanted to give a shout out to the garden club volunteers.

Can I just say one more? The highway department from Little Compton did some work on Town Way. I just want to say they did a beautiful job. They were very neat, cleaned it up. And I was very, very impressed. And you hear a lot of bad stories about a lot of things, but this is a good start. So thank you to the guys of our highway department. Yeah, that's one of the, I thank you for that.

That's one of the abilities that Ted Huntington has is availability. He's in town. They got right down there. Thank you, Ted.

The operator was. I watched the operator work for a while, signed whoever it was. Excellent.

That's a lot of accolades there. All right. Approval of minutes, June 18th. Do I have a motion?

Motion approved. Minutes of June 18th and June 24th is written, unless anybody would like to call anything for comment.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Department of reports. Motion place. The department had reports on file unless anybody would like to pull anything, comment on those. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Thank you.

Old business. I don't know why it's old business. It may be new business. I don't know if you've been here before, Luke, on this. No. So we'll make believe it's new. Presentation by Luke Driver, invasive plant removal. If anyone doesn't know Luke Driver, I don't know his full background, but he's a very active and he's done a lot of things in his life, a smart gentleman. And he has a passion for invasives that are overtaking walls and forests here in Little Compton. And he has a presentation.

Thank you so much, Mr. President, members of the council. So I walked the edges in town for almost 50 years. And in 1972, my parents rented the Duffield Farmhouse on West Main Road. And at that time, my brother and I, I was 10 and he was eight, would play under this tree. And we called it Old Man Tree. It is maybe 150 years old. It's 60 inches tall. It's 60 inches around at chest height, and it has a 90-foot canopy spread. So that's the lens I'm looking through as I speak tonight. So under this was a circle meadow of goldenrod, pure goldenrod. And it's still there. And I managed to find it after taking my mini excavator and removing 12 to 15 feet high by 30 feet deep tangled mess of multiflora rose, bittersweet, and grapevine. And the sad thing is that the meadow now is riddled with small multiflora rose bushes. And so this tree is within shooting distance of Rhode Island Champion. And it's definitely something I want to submit. So the first thing I want to do is job well done to the conservation community. You know, I remember in 1972 when all stone walls were clear, all the roadsides were clear, Back then, the farmers mainly were maintaining that. So the question before us tonight is, do we want recovery or salvage? So there's roughly 5,000 acres that have been preserved, public land. That's one third of the town land. And it's time for us to decide how we care for it and how we maintain that land. We may be the first generation not to give it active stewardship. The threat I just described to the maple and its meadow is along road edges all over town, public, private land alike. So on this slide, we see this is LCACT is in blue and the SPA is in green. All of that land has been preserved. Okay. So I've spent about a year. I've been on the edges working on stone walls, and I got involved in this because there were no stone walls for me to be able to repair because they were so overgrown. And if I could describe that thicket, that's not a hedge. A lot of people look at these and think it's a native hedge row. It's actually a multi-floor rose can grow to about 12 feet high, 30 feet wide. You'll see all the white blooms there. I went around and I shot pictures at 30 different locations on the main road from Skonic Point Club up to the Duffield Farm. All of these are dead underneath. All of the native plants are gone. All of the native bugs are gone, which means all of the songbirds are gone. So I've got peer reviewed research that backs all of this up. Let's see, watch my place. So this is a database that I'm using and I wanna encourage everybody in town if there's one thing every person can do right now is to walk near their home, find a large bittersweet vine and cut it at the base. It will rot and fall out of the tree. But the bittersweet vines have gone all the way up into the tree canopy. And all along every road, it got established on the edge, but it's worked its way back in at least 100 feet. And it's spreading to the interior. I use this app called iNaturalist. And you just snap a picture. You upload it. It tells you, verifies if it is the plant or not. And you'll notice here, there are very, very few pins. There are thousands of these in town, and we only have a handful of pins. So this is from Multiflora Rose. And this is your typical West Main Road hedge. There are mature trees in there. There's a beautiful stone wall in there. The state mows about 12 feet from the road edge, and then there's about 26 to 30 feet of land that used to be mown on both sides back in the 70s and 80s, which is completely overgrown. Inside there you will find multiple bittersweet vines that girdle the trunk. And when they do that, they squeeze the bark and the cambium layer and cut off sap. And when that happens, you have a dead tree. And I'm afraid, based on what I've seen and the research I've done, we're going to have acres and acres of standing dead forest in town if we don't do something about it now. There's no one to blame here. Conservation, private landowners are all affected. For 50 years, we trusted nature to take care of itself. No one could foresee when multiflora rose was planted as a crash barrier in the 50s and 60s that it would choke out everything around it. Maintenance wasn't needed then. It's needed now. This isn't about nostalgia. It's about restoring the food web and restoring public access so we can claim stewardship of a piece of land and care for it. All right. This is the damage, OK? So inside, this is a mature winterberry holly bush. And you see how the branches are all bent over? So the vine load, the multiflora rose is a scaffold, and then you have bittersweet and grapevine on top of that literally squishes these plants down flat. It cuts off all sunlight. So this is a dead native bush. And if you look underneath, you can see there's no light getting down to the ground. So it will cost a lot of money to fix this problem, but it will be multiple times more if we wait. So we have the best tested way to control this is to dig the roots out. This is a bittersweet root ball. If there's a tiny little piece of root in there, it will grow back. But this was 50-year vine. If you dig it out, you're setting that plant back 50 years. So whoever comes after with a weed whacker can stay on top of it. I don't use any chemicals. And in terms of recovery, You guys may have noticed the... Nope, that's not the one. It'll come back. It's catching up. Oh.

There we go. Nope.

So you may have noticed across from the stone house, I cleared an acre and exposed the wall that had been covered for 60 years. Most people in town didn't even know that a stone wall was there. I got one slide, I won't load. Anyway, it was a meadow in the late 19th century, and it is a meadow again. So, it took me 4 weeks to dig out this gigantic Matt snarled mess of. There it is of the same plants that I'm talking about. Had grown over the wall all the way out to the road and some of you may remember that you couldn't see anything when you went around that that corner. Let me just leave it like that. So. That stone wall's been there since the late 19th century. And so after clearing, I would plant immediately with field grass and I've started to introduce native flowering plants and bushes. So we will have bird habitat and bugs again so that the songbirds can feed and the bees can pollinate. So that's an example of what it would look like after. So what happens if we don't do anything? It's basically a disaster. Now this has happened in other parts of Rhode Island where the tree canopy completely dies. It's not only defoliated, but the trees are dead. And the only thing you can do in that case, and the Nature Conservancy is doing this right now on a couple of properties in Rhode Island, with a spongy moth infestation killed acres and acres of forest, and they had to hire a logging company, and they're in there right now using one of these gigantic machines. Basically, that thing will mulch mature trees. And so they go in there and they put everything down and have to start over again. David?

DAVID WEXLER Okay. So, I'll stand. So, my name is David Wexler. I've been living here for, I don't know, 45, 50 years. And I served on the Ag Trust for 16 years. I was asked to say something in Luke's behalf. Luke was asked to make this presentation by Anya, and then she didn't show up today. I'm not sure what the sequence that was.

Anya has her family now. Family in town. And I think that might be some.

That's the only reason I'm here.

I know she wanted to be here to listen to you.

So about five or six weeks ago, I asked Luke what he was doing because I live on Black House Lane down where the chicken man lives, the chicken taco truck is. And we started, he gave me his story and he's on fire. He has a ton of knowledge in this libertarian community. The question, what do we do with a guy with a ton of knowledge, a lot of skill and a budget with no money for this? So my recommendation to the town council to make it quick is that you simply acknowledge the problem, support Luke, so that he can work with the various agencies or groups in the Ag Trust, the Sakana Preservation, the Tree Committee, the Nature Conservancy, and whatever the state has together. As long as he has the town council's support, it'll make his effort a lot easier. John Berg gave me a picture of what this place looked like about 150 years ago or so, or 120 years ago, which shows, you can give that to the town council too, which shows at the end of this white road, the field, the area that Luke is trimming, that white strip that comes down, The area where he's cleaning out used to be a totally blank field where they farmed. It just shows what it used to look like. I didn't know whether Luke was altruistic or mercenary. And it turned out he's altruistic. This guy's actually a Brown graduate. The other thing is, I don't know whether any of you read the New York Times. Anyone read the New York Times?

Yeah, I read the New York Times.

OK. So did you read the article on Sunday about the town in Quebec, which now has a bill of rights with threes? This might be another thing that the town might consider. It might be silly to you guys, It's not silly to Luke and maybe to others. So that's just what I have to add to Luke. I think he's a great asset to this community.

I concur. Thank you. I'll finish up. I want to offer eight hours of me and my time. Where's the microphone?

Because we have people watching on TV and they text me and give thanks to me.

I'd like to offer eight hours of time with my equipment for property of the LCACT's choice. What I would recommend is going along actively farmed fields. Thank you. Thank you.

Do we want to make a motion here of any sort for what we've just heard?

You know, it's down for discussion purposes. Discussion. But based upon what you've heard at your next meeting, if you would like to have a motion as to proceeding in this fashion, then that would be appropriate. Thank you, Lou.

anyone else on that one thank you next meeting we'll get uh we'll get together thank you business too request this is definitely old business i feel like it's the library chairs again i'm like 12 times request from tax successor approved rebecca miranda as a deputy taxes i'll make that motion second any further discussion yes go ahead sir so the question here is um done some research on this

Very shortly, you'll hear a presentation from the Charter Commission. The things that they're going to put in or they're recommending you do is to have a provision in the Charter that will be similar to the ordinance that you enacted. Well, the question that was asked to me, what happens if that doesn't pass? when the voters take a vote on it. Would that impair what you're doing today? And after reviewing your ordinances and also your charter, it appears to me that the question is answered in two places. The first one is Article 13, Section 2 and 3 of the state constitution. and also sections 45-5-1 and 45-5-6 of the general laws. The reason I bring this up is because you have an ordinance that allows for this. So can you have this position created without a charter provision or if the charter provision is defeated by the voters? And I think the answer to that question is yes. because you have the ability to create this position the town council under the state constitution and general laws on this thing. So the question becomes, if you have a deputy tax assessor, she acts as the tax assessor, certain things are taking place. The charter provision doesn't come through. Will that make it so that those actions are null and void? In my opinion, no. So I think that this is something you can go forward to and vote on tonight.

Thank you. I have a motion and a second. Still under discussion. Anyone else? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Hopefully never to see again.

Now you can go on vacation, Denise. Never to see again.

New business continuing our ongoing theme of next to a dotting chief reigns this time because it is valuable. There's no objections. I am going to put four on new business right up to one. Any objection? Not seeing any. Four, receive letter requests. Chief Scott Raines to promote patrolman John. I have trouble. Harlow. Harlow. Harlow. excuse me, to rank the Sergeant effective July 11th, 2026. Discussion and action. Motion to approve. I have a motion and a second. We're under discussion. Anyone like to say anything? Chief, would you like to say anything?

So obviously with the recent retirement of Sergeant John Harris, we have a Sergeant's spot available per the current contract. There is a testing process for the rank of sergeant. However, there was an MOU signed with the town and the union after the signatures of the current contract, which then puts a time limit on the amount of years required before they can take the sergeant's exam. So right now, the only person I have eligible for that sergeant's position is John Parmelo. And he's already been serving in a supervisory role. He's our accreditation manager. He's our de facto animal control officer. And he's a shift supervisor more often than not. So he's more than capable in his leadership and dedication to the town will only be kind of emphasized with his promotion. This won't be any problem with the union, will it, Chief? No. No, they signed the MOU with the town.

No discussion. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Not seeing any. Thank you, Chief. Thank you very much. New business one. Request from tree warden for guidelines slash protocol for enforcement near roadsides. Session in action. I don't see our tree warden here. The solicitor has been charged. with looking at this.

And I have, I can read a couple of things, maybe it'll save a little time.

But go ahead.

I'll let you go. So this is something that has come up previously.

Tony, can you get into the microphone?

Sorry.

I think I helped it.

Sorry about that. This is something that's come up previously on this. And the question is, is what happens His button's on.

He's on.

Can you hear me? His button's on. Okay, this is a matter that has come up previously, and the question is what happens when there are trees in the right-of-way, a town right-of-way, and perhaps it's a tree that's been there or it's a tree or a shrub that has been placed there by an abutting property owner. The matter is governed by section 2-14-8. And what it says is the removal and pruning of trees that are under the control of the tree warden. And that's any tree or shrub that is on town property. Unless it's an emergency removal, if there is an issue or public safety, it's an immediate threat, that tree can be taken down immediately. However, if it's not, if there is a concern for public safety, the tree warden is required under section 2-14-8 to post a notice in the proximity of the tree, I recommend to go on the tree, that in five days, the tree will be either removed or pruned. That five days gives interested parties the opportunity to appeal in writing that's in the statute. If there is an appeal, the tree warden has to schedule a hearing on the removal at a convenient place and time with notice to interested parties. And what does that mean? The objector gets noticed and any of the neighbors in the area get noticed too. The tree warden then has three days to make a decision on the removal. Now it's not in the statute, but I can tell you that most cities and towns do have a provision for a further appeal to the town council. I've drafted a notice, a form notice, if the tree warden, in his opinion, feels that a tree should be removed or pruned, and Anya has a copy she can forward to him. So that's about it. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Yeah, so he has under state law, he can take a drone entry. He's got five days. He's got to give the right notice. He has a meeting. He said three days to decide. He decides. Correct, yes. And then the person still doesn't agree that he can appeal to the council. and then the council can make a decision. And I think he was also, the pre-warden was asking for a template or a notice, and you drafted one of those. Correct, yes. That he can put on the area.

Yeah, you know, the statute says it's got to be posted in a place in close proximity. I recommend to go on the tree. But I think it's good practice because just we heard this testimony now about trees. that the neighbors that are the closest to also get a copy of the notice too. I think that's good practice. I think it's pretty clear.

It's pretty straightforward. And we'll get this, the town administration to articulate it to our people. That set that out to work. All right. I appreciate it. Thank you. I don't think we need any action on this. Anybody else feels that they need to? Mr. Boddington, would you like to speak up into the microphone here?

Just a quick question.

Come on up.

Fred Boddington, also known as Ted, Public Works Director. Mr. DeSisto, does this include lower shrubs like ornamental grasses and flowering plants that are planted right along the sides of roads? Because we do have issues on a couple of roads where stuff has caused problems plowing snow in the wintertime. So would that fall under Public Works or under the tree warden?

It goes to the tree warden. The statute says trees and shrubs.

Trees and shrubs. Correct.

Yeah.

Okay.

Now, you know, it is impacting DPW's ability to carry out its functions. That's something that needs to be forwarded to the tree warden. The statute states that the tree warden is the one that does the things going, but that doesn't stop you from giving him your input.

Correct. Okay.

Thank you. Anyone else? Yeah, it's just this form and posting that covers our legal obligation because some people read trees as they build them. If they don't see the notice, let's just say theoretically on the tree and you post it on the doors of the neighbors and somebody's not home and then they come and cut the tree and then the uproar starts. That legally covers us for

It does. This form that I'm using is something that other communities use too. And I agree with you. When a tree is going to come down and a notice is posted, I think the overwhelming amount of them get a hearing. And by the way, anybody, not just a neighbor, somebody in close proximity can appeal. It can be anyone. be that guy, right? If he files the appeal, then he's got to, you have to have the hearing on it. One of the things that I say is this, even though the statute says all you have to do is post it in close proximity, I do think it's good practice to let the neighbors know that the tree is going to come down. So that notice can be posted, but also sent out to the neighbors too.

Anyone else? All right, thank you. No action on that. New business two, Home Rule Charter Commission proposed charter amendments discussion and action. I'd like to take a second to thank the Charter Review Committee for their diligent hard work. My understanding is this iteration of the committee worked really hard, put a lot of time and thought into it. So I'm very appreciative of the volunteers. Um, here in low confidence. Sometimes they, uh, get, uh, people that come up that are upset with them and make it uncomfortable for them. Um, but they did a great job as a volunteer. They didn't get paid for it. So I appreciate that. I'm here to accept that from the council schedule a public hearing on that for July 23rd. That would be my motion.

I'll second that. Oops, sorry. I was going to say.

We have a motion and a second.

Add.

And you're under discussion.

Yeah. Heather, am I right in that it's already been advertised? I feel like I saw it in the Second of Times. I had to get it going for three weeks. Got it. Okay. Yep. I just wanted to make sure. So we're voting on it and sort of codifying. Only done one week.

You'd suggest that we do it for three. Okay.

I get nervous about these things.

Okay. People think it's over-advertising.

I'm a built-in spenders guy. So that'll be the time to really dig into it to give everybody a chance to look at these recommendations. I think there's 36. So it would take a day or two. Digest those. It's very well written, very well done. And we can have a big charter review session on July 23rd. Maybe we'll even start at 6. Okay, it may.

It's advertised.

7 o'clock.

We're not switching that. Okay. I think your motion, just as a clarification, we have to get the language for whatever is going to go on the ballot to the Secretary of State by August 5th. So I think it needs to be made clear that in your motion that you're gonna have a public hearing and vote that night. You're probably gonna have to have a special meeting the next week after that to approve whatever language that Heather and I come up with. But those are the 36 items that the council votes to send out to the voters. you're gonna need to see that language, which they've already done and good job, but you're also going to need, you're gonna have to see the language that's going on the ballot. because it's required is that there has to be a summary of what this is. And I think that's just as important as the language because that's what the voter goes to vote is going to see. So- There's been some questions- A lot of stuff to do between now and August 5th.

A lot of work to do and those summaries have to be short, but not too short, long, but not too long. And there's been some litigation in other towns about that.

Is that correct? Yeah, it becomes a major issue if not handled properly. So it's a lot of work for the clerk. It's a lot of work for our solicitor.

And the clerk. And the clerk. And we'll have a special meeting for that after the 23rd also. They are under discussion. We have a question or comment.

Is there a way that we can have the items that are going to be discussed at that meeting beforehand? They're public right now.

It is part of the packet right now, but I'll be posting it now that they've accepted it on the website tomorrow.

Okay.

And I also will have it in the office for anybody to pick up.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. A new business 3, you don't have it all in favor all of them are any of those. Thank you. 3 interim finance for John that the 1 year contract in June 30 2027 discussion and actually I will make that motion with a second. Any further discussion.

So this is.

$90,000 for a 20-hour week, which would be $180,000 a year, if I'm doing my math correctly. Is that correct?

The salary is $90,000, and the hours are, what's in there? It says 20 hours, so that's half a week.

Okay.

So then it's $180,000 a year. So, I mean, I think John's done a wonderful job, and I know some people will concur and say that's what we're going to have to pay for a finance director, but he's also got two chiefs that make $105,000. We just hired an IT guy for $110,000, so I'm not sure how they're going to feel about a guy that's working half a half a week or half a year and making almost as much as them. And of course, the fiscal situation we're in right now, I think that's a little bit steep.

So I would say to answer that question, he's, it may say 20 hours on there, but he's working, as you know, a lot more hours than that. And two, anecdotally, I was in a meeting with Chief Petren today on another matter, and John was also on the Zoom, and his words were, don't ever let this guy go. So I don't think he's concerned.

Well, I'm just stating how I feel.

That's all. I appreciate it. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? I'm going to abstain. We have one in session three and one in session. Thank you. And we've done four. Now we've received letter of recommendation from the Town Commons needs assessor, Kimmy Scudkin, and action. So again, I would like to accept this and digest this one also. And we can come back at another meeting and move forward. So I want to thank that committee. They had a lot on their plate and I appreciate what they've done. I have no motion. I'll make a motion to accept. Do I have a second? Any further discussion?

It keeps talking about a sketch. I'd like to see the sketch not in the package. There's a lot of this it keeps referring to the proposed sketch for walkway and addition on the community center. So it's hard to say see exactly what they're talking about without that sketch. So when this comes up, or if the clerk could email me a copy of that sketch.

I'll try to get a few.

There's going to be a lot of stuff coming up. Stay tuned. A lot of good stuff too. I think a lot of people are going to be excited. We're going to do some maintenance on these buildings that's long overdue. I look forward to being a part of it. It's been a group effort.

The only other thing is I didn't say anything about the old fire station. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't say anything in here for it.

No, nothing nothing that I recall when before that committee on okay. All right. They post. I'm saying thank you. What a license is requested will come to those approved side again for one day class at the beverage rice is located at 3 meeting house in August 1st 2026 for their family Monday.

Motion to approve all state and local audiences it here too. Seconded.

All in favor? All right. Communications. Request from Carolyn Woodell, Michael Rocha, and Cora Rocha that November 26 be named Veterans Month in Little Compton. Also requesting to install 1,000 American flags on Pikes Peak with banners listing names of veterans who have served our country. Motion to approve. Seconded. Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Request from Elizabeth McCurdy to place lawn signs on the old schoolhouse lot during July and August 2026 as PR for renovation of historic cemetery number 24 in Adamsville. I'll make the motion with the adherence to our ordinance of it's a 12 square foot. I don't see Elizabeth here. So I'll make that motion that we can allow that for July and August and no bigger than 12 square feet.

Second.

Further discussion. All in favor? Aye. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second.

I will make a motion to accept this.

Do I have a second? And I will stay there. There's some data in there. Mimi Carlson sends emails time to time to the council. I've never responded to one, but I did respond to this one because she claimed she had some data. and I asked her for it. She didn't send it to me, but obviously it's here, it's in the packet. I'm certainly not a expert, but it seems to be just some disturbing things in that data. I already made a motion, but I'd like to add to my motion that we accept that and send it down to the Harvard Commission to their review and return August 6th to the council with their findings. Can I add that to my motion?

You were going to accept it and then send it to the Harvard Commission for review and return for the August 6th, if that's the right council meeting? That's the right council meeting.

Someone seconded me, I think, for it?

Sorry, I seconded it.

And we're in discussion if anybody else would like to say anything else about it. I've seen anybody else.

I would, I guess I would just say that I hope that when the Harbor commission comes back to us, they give us, if there's history attached to this, like, I don't know if this report went to them in 2019, if it came to the council in 2019, I'd love to know the history of it. If they know it as part of their report to us.

There was a person who was a child that grew up in Connecticut that had some kind of insufficiency, and she got sick in the Connecticut River. That person came to Little Compton. She was concerned about getting sick when she was an adult in Little Compton. So she was concerned about the harbor water. She wanted people not to swim in the harbor because of her problem, which At that time, the Harbor Commission discussed it, and I haven't heard of anybody ever getting sick in Sauconup Harbor. I quahog down there. I eat the quahogs on the half shell. There's a diver that goes down there. Quahogs all went along. I never heard any problem there. The DM is constantly going down and taking water samples, and Mimi Carlson or Johnson always refuted their findings. So sometimes I find that when a private testing is done, sometimes they sway the way the person is paying for that. The results come out the way the person wants. It's like a computer. When they say, well, that's what the computer is saying. Well, it depends on what you put into the computer. That's just a brief history on that. I've never heard of anybody getting sick down there. I'll tell you, if the town council ever says no swimming in Saquon Harbor, no swimming off the Saquon Yacht Club, we'll be tied and feathered and run off. There's a group of women, well, actually, there's probably three groups of women, probably 10 women in each group that swim off that yacht club all year long in January, February, And it's like, and I go by them like this. And so there's never been a problem down there to my knowledge. There was a problem years ago when there was cows up on Papenrath for a stake. And when we had a big rain, I guess from that defecation ran down into the pond. you would have a call, a bacteria coliform situation over in the southwest corner of the harbor, but now there's no animals up there anymore. So that seems to have taken care of itself. So there's a brief history. I'm sure the chairman of the Harbor Commission will come up with quite a good summary of it. Thank you.

Thank you. Victoria, to answer your specific question, Where was this sent in 2019 to 2026? I asked that question to this person on an email, and there was no answer to that. So I don't know. All right. I think we have a motion.

Yeah.

I think it's good. And a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? No. Thank you. And we are in by now know what we're for email really really going to be concerned with kind of yeah, although he sounded hard water and dumping very salty water into the harbor.

Make a motion to send this to the commission for discussion.

Second any further discussion. We have a hand right up to them to write on.

More candy slot.

Thank you. Ben Gauthier, chair of the Harvard Commission. So I was on that.

Ben.

Yes.

Hold on.

Yeah, light's on. Okay. I'm really close. Ben Gauthier, chair of the Harvard Commission. So I was on that email from Mr. Kalinowski. And so I replied to him immediately with you folks on copy. Let him know that his concerns had been based on their consideration. Earlier this week, I joined the RID and RIPTI's team as they were reviewing the preliminary design prior to submission. They found the design to be extremely conservative. They felt that the salinity levels that will be produced by this desalination system are very acceptable. They also beat with the SPC's proposal to move the outfall a little bit from the town dock just out of goodwill, not out of need based on the levels that they saw it. They concurred with with that, so as far as I can see at this point in time, there's a extremely responsible mind that does address the concerns that Mr. Kalinowski and many other people have raised. And I think we're gonna be in good shape with this. So we can reiterate that letter back to you, the council, if you want, but I think you've copied in mind to him, He said thank you for the reply and didn't have any further questions. So that's where we are right now.

Thank you. I can expand on that a little bit if you want.

Sure.

So the Point Club is having problems getting water down there. They're going to try to. They have three wells down there. Two of them aren't producing, so they got to desalinate it. desal unit down there. So they're proposing to put salt water in from the west side of the harbor and go through the desal unit, come out on the east side of their marina. The problem that some of the fishermen have, these guys are going offshore and coming in with 20, 30, 40,000 pounds of crabs and lobsters, and they have recirculated tanks. So they were concerned about the water being too salty, going into the tanks, killing the catch. And you don't know this until you open the covers and you start taking them out. Now, that's quite a lot of money to lose. So we had a meeting with the Takana Point Club people, and they were very deceptive of what our problems were. They had their engineer down there, and as Chairman of the Harbor Commission said, they're going to move the outfall pipe to the west somewhat. So I think it's going to take care of the fishermen's problems. But we're going to have another meeting with them anyway. So I'm the liaison to the Harbor Commission, also a fisherman. So I'm very concerned about what happens to that harbor. And I think that was... why Ms. Carlson's letter was written, but her letter doesn't have any bearing on what's happening down there now.

If I may, so there's two aspects to Ms. Carlson's letter. One is the Coliform data history that you got from her, but atop of the letter to Larry Anderson, there was another letter saying that the The SPC should move everything outside into the river. Originally, the outflow was outside. It couldn't stand the storm damage. They applied to CRMC to rebuild out there. And because that's all type one water, outside the breakwater that was disallowed. It's type five water in front of them. And so CRMC is mandating that they have it, you know, where it is. And to Gary's point, you know, they are moving it a little further away from the low circulation area by the town dock just for an extra margin of safety for the commercial guys that are in there for a few days trying to offload. So I think, again, it's a good outcome by some extremely expensive but expert people doing the work. So I think we're in good shape. And I'll, again, bring that back to you in August.

Thank you we sit on this one or have a motion you have a second motion from Gary to send to the have a commission for discussion you seconded.

All they are in the post and the same. Lastly, I mean he says to you they thank you corn city time. I know her birthday. And she wrote a handwritten note from a 105-year-old person, which I think is pretty cool. And I'll just read one portion of it. Hello, everybody. I don't believe you had the chance to see the beautiful, huge pot of perennials that Beckham's delivered in your name. I was so touched and delighted that you would want to remember my 105th birthday. I think this is pretty poignant. I honestly believe that the clean air on our lovely town has kept me going. But that was pretty neat. And someone would write that. So I was making a motion to receive her lovely correspondence and we're happy to have a second. All in favor aye. You can send it to them and the bills.

The bills that can all be ever I think that may not make the motion to adjourn to have a second.