Select Board - Regular Meeting

I ask the police department to give the pl Allegiance will take the United States of America the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you and um reason why we have a c Blue tonight is because we want to recognize resident ran O'Neal assistant W Police Department W driver was involved in a car accident on January 31st 2025 and I believe Chief Chambers is going to uh give us a story here if I may so uh I've been a member of the police department here in Wester for 25 years and a member of the administration with Chief mck here as well uh since 2013 and I don't remember us really recognizing anybody for civilian service so that's how out of the ordinary this is and um the actions that Mr O'Neal participated in that night were just uh kind of beyond our wildest streams he really helped so uh summary of the incident as you said Scott on the night of Friday January 31st 2025 at approximately 6:51 p.m. Wester police and fire would dispatched to the area of 29 Williams a for a report of a vehicle that slid off the roadway rolled onto its roof and the operator was still stuck inside upon arrival of the police and fire units the operator had already been safely removed from the overturn car by the original caller Mr Ryan O'Neal coming up Sir you can see who you are uh Mr O'Neal explained to the officers that responded and firefighters that responded that he had saw the crash Ur saw the vehicle roll onto its roof and it rolled into a depression off the side of Williams a uh he stopped his car and when he rushed over to check on the operator he saw that there was water rushing into the passengers passenger compartment of the of the car he said he was able to locate a log that was next

to the crash site and attempted to break a window to try and get the operator out and when that didn't work he realized he had his son's baseball bat in his car ran back to his car got the baseball bat went back over to the overturn vehicle was able to smash out the passenger side window and assist the operator from the vehicle fire Personnel that arrived on scene also stated that O'Neal's Swift swift actions likely prevented a significant medical event and although we don't always encourage uh civilians and and byst standards to to intervene and put themselves into Jeopardy or Harm's Way because often times that results in us having additional victims in this case Mr onil was able to assess the scene for danger and act act decisively to uh prevent the possible tragedy so with that in mind the members of the West Public Safety team would like to thank Mr O'Neal for his self selfless actions that night and present to you the civilian Civ civilian service certificate say that fast three times civilian service certificate and a Wester Police Department challenge thank you for your great action [Applause] app so as you can tell Mr O'Neal is very well known um both within the police community and within the community he's been a wrestling coach in Westford for for a long time and as you can see I think he's very well thought of by the turnout in this recognition tonight so thank you again say while I ran back to my car I was like hey I'm looking for something to break in Jordan's like my baseball B my son he was with me

too thank you guys on the on the off chance you're just here for that we can take a minute if you want if you allow me I just need to take couple of minutes uh thank you uh 10 years ago my wife and I chose to live in Westford because of you know excellent education wonderful neighborhoods and kind people tonight we learned that Westford is not a place for kind people but also a people exceptional people that they have integrity courage and the willingness to do the right things even though when it is taking risks Mr O'Neal what you did the other night rescuing my son from terrifying situation is something that we will never forget thank you is not enough to express our gratitude uh Mr O'Neal we know people like you exist in this world but having you and your son in our town is a blessing you are not more uh you are not neighbor and more for us you are a family now and my family me will be forever grateful for what you did and I'd like to take a moment to thank Westford Police Department uh especially officer Mariano he's not here tonight uh who was there before we even arrived alongside with the fire department making sure my son safe and receiving the care that he need at that time their dedication and response quick response gave us reassurance uh in in a moment of fear

and uncertainty to be honest and a special thank you uh our captain BR for taking this uh making this recognition and he's not only did that but also reached out to me personally a day after the accident check on Cas and suggest Ed to do uh this thing to honor Mr O'Neal and his son for their incredible act uh it's because of leaders like you our town remains strong United and full of compassion and lastly I want to thank God for keeping my son safe his protection was over him and I believe God works through people like Mr O'Neal and his son who like were there at just the right moment to help uh tonight uh we are reminded that Westford is more than a town it's a family and my family and I we are Beyond grateful to be part of it thank you so much [Applause] wait person um anybody else so thank you very much it was thank you for your words at least we thank you sir um with that I would like to also recognize the um public work department so um You' been here for the past week or two you realize the incessant snow and ice the ice we had so I want to thank them for their work especially

febrary 15 um sub rain ice and um a lot of work a lot of hour lot of SL so in fact if you depart [Music] I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago I just want to mention again that on Friday you just identify oh sorry Wendy okay sure okay thank you uh Wendy gloyd 16 Pleasant Street I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago at select board meeting just wanted to reiterate that on Friday evenings from 7 to 900 p.m. um Westford lgbtq is hosting support groups um the First Parish church has been very um helpful in allowing us the space and it's been very we've had well-intended support group sessions and we're able to help folks cope especially the transgender non-binary or gender expansive individuals in the community who are um having issues with passports drivers

like license other documentation um that are in relation to the executive orders by the incoming Administration so uh just want to reiterate that we we will be there on Friday nights as long as we need to to help support the community I just have one thing um just many of you will notice that we have a new setup new AV Equipment has been installed just wanted to remind members of the public who are in the room this is the microphone here that is catching everything we can hear whispering and talking uh when Nick is recording for wcat so we just request that if you do have a private conversation if you could just take it outside or it will be broadcast for everybody to listen to on Westford cat so um just wanted to make that clarification for people before we moved on to the next item thanks and with that um the suck board actually has a statement I'm not to discuss um but um Andrea kindly volunteered to write this so I'm gonna with some help pass the her with some help so I think as we mentioned two weeks ago that the select board was working on a statement and tonight we'd like to make the this statement uh and deliver it to uh our residents in our community over the last weeks the select Bo has heard concerns from our residents in light of recent executive orders and actions taken by the federal government targeting The Immigrant and LBGTQ Community we recognize that for certain sectors of our community our fellow neighbors and friends this is a scary uncertain and stressful time in the Strategic plan recently approved by the select board Westford describes its

Vision as being a welcoming and inclusive community one that is caring and engaged in realizing this Vision the select board in town officials reaffirm our commitment to creating and supporting an inclusive diverse caring and accepting Community the board wants to reassure our residents that we remain committed to ensuring that your civil rights and protections and freedoms as guaranteed by the United States Constitution the nation's laws and the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be protected and we are committed to fostering a safe environment for all our residents thanks and so um tomor the like be tomorrow yesun also yes they're on board to do that already so be see that again and again hopefully next days thank you together um next up is the consent agenda request you proove the follow Road Race West Academy Road Race applicant is Mark cadir May 4th at 9:30 at Western Academy in the surrounding roads and um that is actually surprisingly for our comments second favor next have request to update sary regulations I believe Lisa will be here in person I'm GNA promote Kyle it's okay so thank you um so in um in 2024 town meeting authorized the select board to approve the Westford Cemetery regulations adopted by the cemetery

commission so thank you for taking that on um and we're here tonight to request your approval of proposed revisions Ed collaboratively by the cemetery commission and Cemetery Division and adopted by the commission on February 13th so following is a summary of the revision highlights and why we felt the need to make them and I and you all had a chance to look those over so um highlights um so the current version was approved by special town meeting in 2019 so 5 years ago um and then the previous version was approved by the cemetery Commission in 1997 so 22 years ago um so many of the changes that we now propose clarify the regulations and improve organizational flow of the document so it basically makes it easier to read and understand um and the cemetery staff Heather and Connor sitting back there um if you haven't had a chance to meet Connor as our Cemetery supervisor our um admin ministrative assistant and they are rock stars um and um so they had a lot of input because of course they're working with the public all the time and around these regulations and um we feel that these changes will help their work um in addition to helping the public understand the regulations better um so a just a few significant events since 2019 necessitating the updates um so of course we became a division of the new DPW so there were language changes around that um in 2020 Town Council had recommended the addition of two important Clauses particular incident arose and it just necessitated these these additions I don't think I need to go into the detail but that that was important um to

make those changes and then um also in the 2019 version included new rules for green burial and after creating the new green burial section at Pine Gro Cemetery in 201 22 and gaining more experience with this way of varying which was new for us at the time we just wanted to make some minor tweaks of those regulations once we got more experience with it um and then probably the most significant change is the Restriction of lot sales to Westford residents um or former residents who lived in Westford for at least 10 years so Kyle actually is going to say a little bit more about that um s of why we feel the need to restrict it to and former residents of 10 years thank you can everybody hear me good evening select board um so as Lisa mentioned probably the most significant change in the updated RS is the uh requirement for purchasing burial spaces uh we didn't come to that um decision lightly uh but it was it was based on need um from statistics we've gathered uh we started two years ago doing a a lot inventory projection um at the end of each and um notably the green barrial section is our most critical um Ty space and at the end of 2023 we had estimated uh based on 5year a little under seven years of uh lot sales remaining for the green bar section uh when we redid that um this year um at the end of 2024 we're down to about five and a half

years and that's largely due to the popularity of free burials and also the scarcity of it in other communities um so to protect westford's investment uh the Commissioners felt it was prudent to add this restriction into the regulations okay makes sense so um that's all that I have to present at this point um Kyle do you have anything more to add yeah the only other thing I would add for the select board's consideration um we did have Town Council review uh the regulations uh following initial review from the Commissioners and then the Commissioners reviewed again after the only point of discrepancy that came out um was uh in paragraph four section one in the new rags and and the language is actually the same um as the previous versions um and it basically allows the commission to adopt an amend fee schedules and uh attorney corbo thought that that may be something that the SEL board would uh want to uh retain the the uh control over uh the Commissioners felt fairly strongly that that should be a point that continued to be with the cemeter Commissioners um so that's how we wrote it in the regulations but in uh in an effort to be transparent we wanted to bring it up to the um select board as as a concern appreciate transparency um any questions comments from the board appearing is there a motion I'll move to adopt I second

favor T fees Kyle so thank you for all your hard work you're welcome thank you so much good thank you thank you thanks Kyle than request to consider waving building permit inspection JB Library project you've got Ellen I think we also have Buffy derks from the board of Library trustees and Jennifer from our OPM okay hi good evening so thank you so much um this request is from the permanent Town building committee and the board of Library trustees who are working together on the library building project and this is a request basically to um wave the town charging itself um for both the building permit fees and the inspection fees that would otherwise be part of this building project says it's only way from one pocket to the other it and we traditionally and historically have always done it so um Ive to um I move to approve the waiver second all in favor I thank you Ellen and just Scott so just point of Precedence for me and I think that Andre already answered it but for the fire station for instance for something it's a a municipal resource like the library where the fire station we've traditionally waved correct yes thanks because it's an internal transfer across the department so all it does is impact the budget of the building from the town standpoint it's neutral so yeah it makes perfect sense I was just think of a case um where there's something that's of benefit to the town but not a town-owned property

there times we've not done that so I'm just the the distinction in my mind is it's basically a municipal building municipal building right okay just want to understand that distinction yeah Prett much might have done it for one or two one nonprofit or something but it's very rare it's usually it's just from municipal buildings okay thank you I think we might done for something we may have done yeah we did for we did do it for Cottages yeah right here is wor something all that history um so all buiness we request from the to EST a second high school student seat for one year term expired June 30th 2026 um discuss that this approve it if you have I can't any objections is there any comment from the L except that we'd ask that you approve it I'll make a motion to approve second all in favor um have a request from the diversity equity and inclusion committee for the SE board to um Endor Wester as a co-sponsor the town of Acton for the F festiv to take place on June 21st 2025 Park and to allow the town of West Seal to be used out material for Ev which we did this last year you recall the the um funding is raised through private donations is not done with Town funds so all we're doing is allowing them to use Town seal on a um ADV possible Comm I'll move to approve second second any

debate um where Court updates that is yours ohry oh okay that's okay anybody report for updates appearing okay so 10 minutes report uh yes so um we have many things on this and you'll just note that we took um the town annual town meeting out of order because the community preservation commission is meeting at this point time we're waiting for a recommendation from them to come in so um the first B on the town manager report is to sign a letter of support for the 35 Town Farm Road residences uh as you may recall this property is currently owned by the town of Westford um 35 Town Farm Road and um Choice um it has the um agreement and has all the permits in place to build uh senior housing there with the food pantry they're entering their next phase in applications to the executive office of Housing and liable communities and they have requested a letter of support from the select board for that submitt full closure Dave askp for chair I said I want to take to the board because a is our decision a board secondly I think it carries more weight so um if there is a a motion I'll move that we send a letter of support for 35 Farm Town Road second all in favor Farm to did I say Town Farm I said Farm toown that's my dyslexia that's kicking in okay heard no no you probably heard correctly great um Ellen rainville may still be on the line for this but we're requesting that the board sign a license agreement between uh the select board and the JV uh Library Board of Trustees for drainage infrastructure in the rear of the library property if you reviewed

the site plan associated with this request uh the town of Westford Board of Selectmen controls that property uh there's a design at this point in time for drainage structures to be located on that property and we felt that it'd be prudent to have this license agreement in place between the board of Library trustees and the select board uh this license agreement has been drafted by Town Council and reviewed fully by Town Council anything you want to add before I give it to John no it's just that very seldom will water flow across the border but this is U the legal mechanism to be sure that um the infrastructure can cross our rear North Line John I have a question about uh the characterization of the library as the owner of JB Fletcher Library I think the town owns that they have care in custody I think that's a mischaracterization uh I'm surprised the Town Council approved that I believe that the deed has the library as care in custody but we can Karen custody is one thing I think ownership is different well it's owned by the town of Westford yes Karen custody is JB Fletcher Library Board of Trustees says that they were the owner and I just think in a legal document like that that's questionable well owner the project no it says whereas the library is the owner of the JB Fletcher Library we had that issue when we got signed the contract with the state and they were talking about the applicant which was initially the library and then they said no this the town owns the library if they were incorporated then that would be different they're not Incorporated and the library was given to the town so I just I just think it's a we're signing a legal document here and I think it's between two town-owned properties

instead of it's just it's a technicality but it's still legal document we can make yes we can yeah we can we can double check with councel and then make the appropriate car under carrying C custody of the library trustees sure because the library itself that makes sense is there a motion to um approve the agreement as amended some moved second all in favor I I joh you have a ll DX back behind yeah that's right Battlefield commission lawyer that's why um the next one is uh Mike do you want to explain this one the good energy yes um so we had a original Professional Services agreement with good energy who was our consultant program CA electricity agation uh the agreement was signed in 2015 originally and basically reup every time we had a contract since 2015 they have not had any change in the fee structure proposing the fee structure change they 24 municipalities uh they're also participating in CDA we to the board espe just asking the other thing that did come up when the agreement um what our attorney has described as simply scrip error where they reverse their language so we were operating under the intent they were operating since 2015 show expired 2020 so we're fixing that as well and natur have them put in a few extra little pieces in

there that and the [Music] for okay is there motion to authorize the agreement so move second all [Music] favor okay the next is to accept the Grant and authorize the town manager to execute a related Grant agreement for the MBTA Catalyst fund award um as you may recall we asked the board to support an application to the state for MBTA Catalyst funding associated with a transportation and pedestrian and bicycle accommodation uh plan for our MBTA zoning District um that has been approved by the state and we would for $300,000 so we'd like the authorization to move forward with that uh and I'd just like to um send my appreciation to the land use Department the planning board and others who were involved in in making that happen as well it was quite a quick turnaround and and they had a wonderful application and and we're proud to be receiving the award move to authorize you with our thanks with our deep thanks all in favor sorry you guys were too um the next is a a group of purchase orders uh first one for Microsoft government Cloud for IT services the amount of $53,500 th000 as requested by the public works department and the final is for Eastern Salt Company Inc for the

purchase of road salt in the amount of 475,000 as requested by the public works department to approve second all in favor and the next round is for contracts um the first is for a contract with the northern middx Council of governments for the following projects under the district local technical assistance program as requested by the land use Department um the first is for the Westford open space and Recreation plan 2025 to 2031 uh the total dlta funding is $330,000 the town match is $115,000 you have in your packet of confirmation that the Conservation Commission will be funding that $115,000 for a project total of $45,000 the next is for tiered site plan review through the planning board the DTA total is $5,000 uh the town match is $5,000 with a project total of $10,000 the third is at home in great greater Lowel Regional Housing strategy in the amount of 8 $8,000 the next is the compliant Zoning for protected uses for accessory dwelling units in the amount of $10,000 the next is for Regional Housing Services office pilot support in the amount of $20,000 and the final is for Northern midx uh CEO so Town managers Town administrators group support in the amount of $7,000 I'm happy to take any questions on that or go through all of the contracts so far the next is a contract for Mayflower valuation LD LTT excuse me LT TD for fiscal year 2026 Department of Revenue certification work in the amount of $118,000 as requested by the assessor Department All State burm company for snow removal services for 20 2024 2025 winter snow and ice season as requested by the public works department Arbor

Works LLC for tree removal maintenance related services for $35,000 as requested by the public works department and the final is a reconsideration of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of mass massachusett stop-loss coverage uh from March 1st 2025 through February 28th 2026 as requested by the health insurance trust and that information just came in your packet today John and I attended health insurance trust meeting yesterday in which um our rates had dropped because we had um a positive change in one of our claimants changing their care from a hospital setting to an at home setting um which significantly uh dropped our stoploss coverage for the next year great I'll move to approve second favor um we held the time meeting um articles till to last we're hoping to hear from the which we have we have yes okay so um um I will I'll say it when we get there to article 8 but okay it's favorable so [Music] umor 20 minutes in advance right thisle I'm Wonder yeah I mean I'm wondering if there are people like Chris who be here make comment and we're 20 minutes ahead of time else there's nothing left we could do correspondence some yeah some of these I think are are we can do I mean like the town reports and you know may judgement of the chair I I think we could say article one um Article 2

3 um we review this already P meetings and set the order so I I think a is kind of behind us um B is the specialized code that is one where I think we may want to wait till we get here discussion um so um set the order set the can you do the recomendations all we can do was recommendations article want accept reports motion to recommend article two approve fysal year 25 budget suppl Appropriations transfers have any yes we do so I'm showing the um motions on the screen we have um three for one for snow and ice one for veteran service expenses and one for risk management um the risk management is for our Medicaid we had a quite a substantial increase in that um that Dan O'Donnell explained to the finance committee last week um and then we have a transfer for the recreation Enterprise expense um we're actually running better than we expected for that so um we need to make that transfer um which will be coming in as revenue on the other side and then um those are the supplemental Appropriations and then we have the transfers um from library Personnel to library expens enses for 37,000 uh Debt Service for Town Capital project fund of 100,000 and Debt Service for uh School capital projects of 285,000 we had explained in our budget presentation back in December that we were going to be more creative with funding those capital budget expenditures in fiscal 25 to free up

budget for fiscal 26 bom's already approved this at the last meeting so we can take our own position if pleases to so I'll move to recommend second all in favor and our good friend back again yeah so this is um continuation of our program to Monitor and hopefully close out the site related to perorate um this cash amount of 110,000 is the same as it was last year uh I have confirmed with our consultant that they expect to expend about the same amounts as they did uh last year as well we are getting closer to close out but we're not there at this point I've been hearing that we've been getting closer to close out five years takes a long time I'll move to recommend second [Music] second I think we discussed Energy Efficiency projects in the past so take that discuss the pass which I can just very briefly give it update and if anybody has any specific questions Mike is the best one to answer that so um throughout the work that we've done over the past two years or so we've seen that we're missing out on some Energy Efficiency if we don't have the money up front um to fund that because there are a lot of um rebates on the back end if a project is completed and has been showing progress over a point in time so our staff has worked uh to ask town meeting to appropriate funds into an account that would be used to perpetuate uh Energy Efficiency projects over a period of time and the first year we're asking for that a sum of $200,000 to do that that

20077 ready to be expended recommend I move to recommend yeah in favor so Capital Appropriations um this is highlighted as we have some uh weight breaking information um the majority of this information You' have seen before the capital planning committee has reviewed and recommended these items for the capital plan um you'll note that under the schools $350,000 was incorporated into the capital plan for the Westford Academy field lighting Improvement project originally this was requested Ed for Community preservation funds the community preservation committee did not take any action at an earlier meeting uh they just met this evening and they did vote to fund it through the capital uh excuse me through the community preservation accounts so we would be looking to take out $350,000 from the capital Appropriations and move that into the community preservation fund the wait wait I'm confused sure so you're going to take the 350 that was appropriated through capital and now you're going to put it into no so the original plan was that the lighting would be coming out of the community preservation account Community preservation did not vote in favor of that originally so we Dan and I worked together to fund it out of the capital plan this evening we found out that the community preservation I get all that it was your last sentence I didn't understand okay the $350,000 that you were going to fund in the capital plan yes okay that you said that that money is going back into CPC no no no I apologize if I was confusing you so that money will no longer be coming out of free cash it will be

coming out of the CPC account that's what I thought yes just get a opinion from Council that said that that was legal yes and the CPC reviewed that this evening I know I know all that I was just confused by Kristen's last sentence I know all the stuff okay so I'll make a motion to recommend as amended with the 350,000 coming out of this request and the total being reduced by 350,000 so that's just one part of article 8 jump the gun top I know it's a it's a really long article the other there so there's multi-arts um Mike and I have granola bars in our drawers if you like something I'm I'm goingon to make it make left cies yes um so [Music] $88,900 757 for three cardiac monitors from the ambulance Enterprise and then there's a second and a third motion so I'll hold there to see if you want to vote on the first motion those are majorities of US 23 sure um is there a motion to approve that first segment the CH numerator I'll move to recommend second all in favor the two3 okay so the two3 uh the first is for $1.35 million for the purchase and Equipment of a new Rescue pumper truck from the fire department I'll just go through all the two3 ones the next is $800,000 for the engineering design and construction of pedestrian safety improvements at West Street and North Main Street the fourth motion is for $2 million to purchase and install new turf

at the nutting Road Community fields and that concludes article eight excuse me Article Five and just the reason they're two3 is that these will be borrowing so move second there was just before we move just as a matter of information there was a really interesting article last week about fire trucks and how expensive they're becoming and how there's a shortage so doing this now to get in the queue is really important because there's like a three to four year wait at this point so the chief shared that article with me as well oh did he okay all the proper money that was put into the economy he wants to buy fire trucks and ambulances and regulations that are put for the small guys are business so now you got a handful of Manufacturers trying to make demand for how does commity all right article six we are going to request that the town meeting dismiss this article this was a placeholder in case the bids came over for the posos treatment plant we received the bids last Thursday and we're happy to present that those bids did not come over budget so we are within budget for those treatment plants floor Tommy correct yes article seven is to approve the msba uh Robinson School feasibility study for the sum of 1.6 million this is a two-thirds majority as it requires borrowing um I understanding as a select board heard a presentation from the Robinson School building committee last week at the finance committee meeting um but I think Valerie young the chair of both the school committee and the Robinson School building committee is here um I'm also on that committee so if there's any further questions we're happy to answer those this even say Tom Tom and John is the alternate yes apologies I assume school committee has voted to support this um just because of the meeting

schedule we'll be looking at at that Monday night so and hopefully fit into the printing deadline to income is approve and C approve schol I'll move to recommend second all all right article 8 um is moved down in your list but I'm going to go through it now as we already have the the award so there are um several projects one for 341,000 and change for the undesignated fund balance to the community housing reserve for the 10% community housing 350,000 from the undesignated fund balance for the forge BFW softball field lighting Improvement project I will add to that 3 $350,000 for the w a field that was approved this evening by the CPC 890,000 for the transfer from undesignated fund balance to the conservation trust for future open space land purchases and other related costs $50,000 for transfer from the community housing fund balance the affordable housing trust for the Westford rental assistance program $50,000 for transfer from community housing fund balance to affordable housing trust fund for a multif family detailed needs assessment targeted specific specific affordable and Senior needs housing excuse me senior housing needs and 15,600 from the undesignated fund balance for the metab Brook Farm food and security and sustainability project um so again what is not listed on this is moving from the capital plan to CPC is the wa lighting project I'll move to recommend second favor all right next is a traditional article

to authorize the revolving funds I'll move to recommend favor article 10 is the fiscal 26 operating budget um just wanted to is is that typo in this document or in the do toel looks like it's correct on that is not correct in the agenda we apologize uh it is correct in the document on for the [Music] Motions I'll move to recommend second favor just bear with me as I go through the budget line items all right article 11 is our traditional appropriate chapter 90 Local transportation funds for Road main maintenance and other eligible expenses some second all favor do we know how much we're getting did you tell us in I we don't know because they have then they've moved the fair share apportionment into our chapter 90 allocation um so we don't have an amount at this point in time John has just a little I think typo there in the motion which motion on chapter 90 Local transportation funds purpos is set for set forth set forth okay we'll make that change Dan do you hear get that for purposes seter great thank you we have such a clear screen now everybody can see details um article 12 is a traditional appropriating funds for the water Enterprise other post-employment benefits stabilization fund and the

amount of 25,000 $22 for retiree benefits move to commend second all in favor Article 13 is to accept uh mgl chapter 59 Section 5 clause 22i for a veteran tax exemption for the cost of living adjustment uh to be in compliance with the heroes Act of 2024 recommend second all in favor [Applause] article 14 is to establish a 300th anniversary celebr celebration fund for the town of Westford since we're sponsoring the article I want to recomend Second authorize uh excuse me Article 15 is to authorize the select board to accept easements traditional gu second second article 16 is to authorize a select board to yeah I'm aware so course you can read it okay sure article 16 16 is to authorize the select board to acquire easements for the Stony Brook Bridge Project which has been under design and review by the town uh for many years Dave thank you uh David cro from historic commission a couple things um and most of it's just advisement for me we uh were told of this project probably 5 years ago and I spoke with Paul Strat several Town meetings and phone conversations and he uh alerted me that he would be we would be in the loop of the design of this when this was going through the process of interacting with the people on Stony Brook Road and the necessity for it so I had

the last week have gotten multiple emails from the town residents of stone on Brook so one is process and why wasn't the Westford historic commission brought in during this process of the design and two since that's kind of behind us a little bit what can we do to mediate the different parties here to perhaps go through some of the design options I'm not talking about the overall option I spoke with Paul for probably a half hour today about the platform idea uh like we have in Stony Brook for the Depot Street double Arch Bridge so in my understanding The Arches are not going to be disrupted at all but there are some uh apparent design choices of of what is seen from the road and I think uh we as a community could benefit from uh keeping the people who live on that street happy so can we in in construct the design to go through one more review of finished product sure we discussed this for past week we have yes so um I've also been in contact with Paul Starrett on this matter and we've been receiving calls and questions from residents as well uh my understanding is this is a massot project and not a town of Westford project my understanding is also that there have been public forums and public sessions where residents have been able to attend and I did get an email from um the state today that they did reach out to the historic commission uh back in September and I responded okay so I'm just saying that we we they did reach out so that's just the information that I would like to present to them and that's fair I I think uh this is maybe part of another discussion of maybe bringing the West Westford historic

commission into some of the dialogue with some of the projects um but what I'd like to see is one more effort by the deal and I think one of the ways this works is a letter from the MHC may start that process over again not from the very beginning but um you know I work with the mass historic commission quite a lot and I think uh one letter is going to ask them have we satisfied our Scenic bylaw so it is a Scenic Road by there and uh I think given its value to Westford historic um resources I think it's worthy of a little more consideration in whether it's a focus group or uh the dot did not really reach out with any Grand effort to us they didn't offer to be put on an agenda item they didn't bring plans to our committee and say you know would you recommend this they sort of passed over it um I think Paul stepped up and and filled in some of that Gap but it does seem to be a little lacking there and I would think the town would like that review the project Maybe I'm Wrong coming I haven't seen a letter of recommendation that would well they would have said from my experience what is the local historic commission's response to this project that's what they would normally do so we can't respond if we haven't been alerted to the details so I I'm not I'm really he for more of your advisement I don't really have an opinion on what should happen except a a little bit of transparency just for my clarification so this this article is is to acquire the easements for the prop in any outcome we would need to do that is correct okay so so the request is that we

support or I guess what yeah I and again I'm not sure if I even have the wording down myself but I think um the town select board has the ability to say to the do we would like you the dot to um initiate a meeting with the Westford historic Commission on the final design going forward with the chance for Neighbors to have an input it could be materials it could be the height of the railing it could be whatever exposure the bridge is going to have on the sides and I think in the end result people are going to be a little bit happier with that even if it's just the input during those meetings I don't know what kind of changes can be made at this time that was going to be my question where where are we in the process with this project the design has been finalized um and my understanding is that the dot reached out to David's group back in September requesting input and feedback is that correct it's not it's a letter in uh which I just looked at my email uh September 9th and I responded we would be interested and they gave us an open door to uh a public forum in October 9th I was at a West Point archaeological review so I couldn't make that but um again it's not me it's the commission so an email to my personal email is not reaching out with multiple letters that would normally be put to the commission to read and review at our meetings so I do feel like they have let that go a little bit in my experience which is 20 years in the field there are a range of initiated conversations Mee meetings um communication and I don't think they've really met an average on

that okay so be a request to have do basically reiterate their Community involvement process and ask that they set up another um exchange yeah so they they invited uh David and the commission to the October 9th um event and I don't know if you forwarded that to your commission members are not yeah I did but um again I'm just trying to work this through so that people have a voice so I think there's a little bit of a frustration with the people on that street that and you could come back and say that you know it's been the town vote for the design and it's gone through certain processes but I still think the um the end result is we want to make those people happier and give them a voice so I think by doing a meeting like Tom suggested I think that could result positively was there also Outreach in 2021 yeah so they sent me out and that's the response that he's referring to in the September we have heard that Westford historic commission is interested so it took them three years to get back from 2021 to 24 and I think part of this is dot versus our in town engineering and Paul and I had multiple conversations about you know being in the loop and and that was understood and then he had to take a step it's not his job it's not his project which is what he told me today so speak other opinion speak the sonical too okay um oh yeah before just tell us who you are 51 St Brook Road when you support this easement this article that becomes the and they've approved 37 times different votes have all approved it and it becomes a reason for it to go forward it creates a Snowball Effect which is why I I sent the letter and said take a pause before we permanently change two structures the

scenic Road and the bridge let's ask ourselves why we're doing it the structural analysis did not indicate that there was a problem and there hasn't been one answer to any problems with the road they are looking to totally regrade the road take out stone walls take out trees put guard rails in this is a Scenic Road protected by our Scenic bylaws put Road striping in not one accident on the road they're talking about potential safety on the bridge which is a second issue the bridge let's look at okay how can we do it well we we there were two meetings so yes it's been going on for years but it really is disingenuous when you throw in oh well we've approved this three times before but but let's understand what's what's at stake right now the cost of the project was $500,000 it has quadrupled in most businesses we take a step back and say what's the cost benefit a quadrupled you know what we were going to do so I think it's worth looking at again and permanently affecting that historical structure the bridge it you know they going to put high stone the picture they sent you isn't the right picture today the one that was on the email to Mike they're going to put High fake stone walls cuz the real stone walls are too expensive it's part of the charm it's it's the pink house from Plum Island of of Westford it it it it's it's it exactly it's a cool Bridge people always say oh what a cool Bridge why would they change it and just because people haven't said anything yet when I tell them about it they're like why would they do that they don't know I I know you're really making a big effort at trying to get people involved and they're not involved until the very end when the trees start coming down on

Boston Road and they're like what the heck right so the road the the scenic Road I haven't heard a word as to why they have to regrade it take out stone walls take not replace them take out stone walls put guard rails up put Road striping in and then the bridge itself the the traffic if anyone's not familiar with it the traffic is limited because there's an 8T Bridge one house to the north of it so there's no truck there's once a week There's a trash truck and if the lynches ever move there'll be a moving truck but nothing can can go there there is no weight it's not through traffic so before you just say well these are just easements so let's just approve them and then get gets thrown back in their face that well they've approved it three times before the library did that it was like okay wait there were 27 votes that approved it I'm asking you to consider what it is and let's think of a better way to protect something that once once we change it it's it's gone have a question so did you receive the letter that was advertising a public input s and I went I went to the one five years ago in 2020 so when you brought some of these concerns and questions up did you not receive answers from the I I sent them a letter as a followup so during the meeting it was an input meeting but so they were not able to answer your question about why we're doing the projects safety okay just safety and and I I mean I think send you the letter that they sent back to me oh something could happen of course it could happen I could trick down my stairs tomorrow like I I get that something could happen um but that it was I and I said well I understand theoretical safety problems what actual safety problem are we trying

to resolve I mean In fairness when in at 40 at DUS road that was a state had a hearing I went to it but has went to it in voice objections thank you very much nothing changed so the state does not really listen that's not part of their stick so um it's exactly what happened so like I said it's 150 year- Old Bridge it's Charming I would just hate to see without real good thought us making a permanent change to that and changing the scenic row okay so I guess I can have a comment to that so I think the two parties are not as far apart as it might seem from based on my conversation with Paul the design does protect the double Arch Bridge underneath it's just some of the details and those can be ironed out with a several meetings with a commission maybe some approvals by the Selectmen but I don't think it's extremely far apart not sure the second I mean if it's state do he's got a limited yeah but uh the apron the type of wall that they're using to exposed to the driver these little things like that I think those can be mitigated better okay expt for advice what happen slim me cl Devil's Advocate what happens if we don't approve the easements at this town meeting I would have to ask Paul what would happen I asked he had a and couldn't make the meeting this evening um it would likely hold up the project um it is a do project it's not on Town schedule it's being funded by dot ultimately taxpayer dollars but State dollars um is it part of the tip position I don't I don't know that

yeah you could hold your recommendation I'd like to hold on this article so that we can get some information from Paul and find out you know what the consequences are if we don't approve it at this town meeting whether it's on a schedule to be done you know this summer or two years from now or whatever so um personally i' i' just like to hold on this so I also like to know what what is our ability to make some of the suggested changes that residents are asking for yeah we can put this to your March 11th meeting it will be in advance of the town meeting even if you have to make your recommendation on the floor if you need more information we can do that so we will if that's what the board desires will we will the conversation with Paul help inform us about sort of what follow on the request of the dot I mean if we're that's what that's what I just asked what can we essentially change if we wanted to make some changes yeah I guess it' be like yeah so I'm agreeing with it I think it' be nice to know if said yeah typically you can get them to to revisit the hearing and address address you know complaints or concerns so I don't know that answer but we will I guess that's what I'm I'm interested in what's in the realm as possible here it sound to me like conversations with M Road once we got past the sort of design case you know you every step along the way the window of opportunity to make substantial changes becomes small and smaller sounds like we're at 100% design imagine that there going to be less than substantial changes but maybe what you're asking for isn't substantial in their opinion so um can we and transparency is everything and I think that's the only thing that frustrates a process like this well do you have a list of what you're recommending or what you're to be fair I'm actually not on top of this project as much as it happened to me in the last week I would say um the exposures of the wall to the driving the guard rail the height there

was some Interruption of the stone bridge top design or bottom which I didn't quite get again I'm not up to speed with it so we could be part of the meeting with them well my suggestion would be is if you as commission to provide some feedback to Paul that he could maybe bring to so we have some idea what they be willing to address what they can't that might help along that's true do you have a meeting scheduled we just had one of course we could always do a uh you know emergency meeting for sure okay so we're gonna hold our opinions for two we at least and hope get enough time for you and call get something can't do yeah uh if I could just interrupt you for a second um and out of order here it's not it's a lighter note um I've gotten a lot of requests about the 250th anniversary and us not doing some big project and uh Linda green at the Museum also uh showed me some disappointed U attendees of the museum uh freedoms way and a couple of other organizations that exord Tourism Committee familiar with them I have not heard of them yeah there's a a group of four anyway they came to our meeting and expressed a dismay at not having that and I saw the 300th on um Article 13 was it or 14 so I just came up with this idea at the meeting and this isn't the time but I thought I just had to throw it out there like a planting a seat is could we discuss putting banners up like we do the flags at July 4th and have that as sort of a minimum and we don't have the funding for that in our committee because we were slashed probably starting in 2019 or 20 to really minimum so so if this article passes or even if this article does not pass my intention is to ask the select board to appoint a 300th anniversary

celebratory committee yeah this would be the 250th though no that's what I'm asking about the 250th for the state yes what I'm what I'm just bringing up now completely out of order and out of out of organization as well but I I have your ear so I'm trying to um throw an idea out there for the 250th okay um that we would put banners up on our you know polls like we do the flags um and it would at least address not only the tourist um faction that came to us last meeting um but also the freedoms way uh freedoms way organization and other people that are looking for us to step up so the 250th the of Independence next year yep but I I do think there are some functions in conquered and Lexington that are starting this summer right the 75th right so uh there are organizations that have approached us we haven't really come up with anything but I just wanted to put it in your ear whether it's 250 you know how they would read or you know those are details but I think I think it could be a really nice thing to add uh in a public way yeah would be nice to do on yeah for that and maybe they the banners would incorporate both somehow without actually putting a date I don't know but that's maybe wishful thinking I don't know yeah and I have no idea the budget needed for you know 80 banners fun fundraising by a private organization to purchase banners as well so that's not a town but we can talk further about it all right so article 16 we uh recommended to hold at this point in time um article 17 is to authorize the select board to accept easements for the West Street and North Main Street pedestrian safety Improvement project

and we we don't have a pedestrian Safety Committee I I contacted the chair several times never got a response he was going to hold the meeting maybe they'll have something before town but we did have the public hearing at the Catholic church with the with the pedal Safety Committee which I think is if we want to count that I was aous Project you've heard the public safety issues about that intersection anyway so I'm I'm I will recommend that we I will move that we recommend the article second article 18 is to authorize the select board to accept easements for the ACT and Road Culvert project and the Reed Brook Culvert project would recommend second all in favor I Article 19 luckily there's only one Zing bylaw Amendment this year sure everybody's relieved by that U this requires a two-thirds majority vote as it is zoning and is not housing related to update the town's flood plane overlay District bylaw by incorp in the boundaries of the uh FMA Federal Emergency Management agency's flood insurance rate Maps um we will be posting copies of these uh documents on the website if they are not already there the planning board will be uh closing their public hearing on March 3rd and voting their recommendation I know you traditionally wait for the planning board's recommendation yeah for so article 20 is to adopt the specialized energy code I know there's members of the clean energy and sustainability committee here this

evening um staff has recommended an implementation date of July 1st of 2027 uh you received a email from the chair of the clean energy committee with a different implementation date um there's been a lot of conversation related to this article over the past month or two so we look forward to hearing from the board this evening if you it's your desire if you wanted to hear from the clean energy committee the clean energy recommendation was July of 202 just think that needs to be said as well with I want to speak to this Tom inviting you if you want [Applause] to um perkenstein Patriot Lane clean energy and sustainability committee um we did meet with uh Mike our committee met with um our working group met with Mike Edwards um and Jeff Mor set to discuss um what the date should be and I mean I'll let Mike speak for himself but I believe uh the concern of Jeff and Mike was that we are asking for a comprehensive study to be done by National Grid because of the capacity issues in the MBTA zoning area we don't know if that would be uh might take as long as a year could be longer and then it would take time for the town to absorb bit um we and that therefore we should go with a date of 2027 I mean of excuse me of uh July of 2027 um we uh on the clean energy committee respectfully disagree we believe that this uh energy code has a lot of benefits um and it has it's going to bring us increased Energy

Efficiency and um reduce energy loads and we believe that there is we kind imagine what would come out of that study that would result in US wanting to move out that mo more efficient energy code so uh we would we originally uh advocated for a date of January 1st 2026 but um because another issue that we heard from from town staff was the different uh planning efforts that are going on right now within Town Hall including this uh effort to get to the bottom of what's going on with National Grid and we understand that that takes time and planning so we agreed to move out the date to July of 2026 but we believe this code is the right thing to do in in Westford um we you know we know there's things we don't know and we would all like when we make a decision on something to have all the information and data in front of us but unfortunately that's very rarely the case so we have kind of have to stick with what we do know and what we do know is that we are in a climate crisis right now and that we acknowledge that in in um 2020 here in town and that the climate crisis if anything has gotten worse in the meantime we know that these energy and building codes reduce increase Energy Efficiency and reduce the cost and amount of energy required so um and especially the the passive uh mandatory passive requirement that is required for multifam buildings we believe that could help the situation uh in our multifam district so

we think it's the right thing for Wester and that we should do it in a timely manner um so my understanding is they're going to be taking a position um next week on March 3rd uh the economic development committee as well I believe has a tentative meeting scheduled for March 3rd um the zoning board also has a meeting scheduled to consider this any other boards or committees that I'm missing affordable housing trust Andre you want to ask a question no I'm sorry I so we went back and forth in July 1st 2026 or 2027 so what is your committee now uh July 1st 2026 26 okay still on 26 okay just and we do need to set the date this evening because you do need to sign the warrant so it's ultimately a select board sponsored article so you do need to set the date it's not what is the planning board recommending what is the zoning board recommending they're all waiting for you to set the date before they make their recommendations so so I guess maybe it's a question for for Mike or for Jeff uh just if if you were going to compare the two options what what's the advantage we get in information and how How would how would our decision- making change do you think if we had it this said it July 1st 2027 versus July 1st 2026 well I think um that accurately explain kind of the grid issue I I think the big piece that's missing missing us and this is where the code comes into conflict some the other gos is the impact of hous do know that as aost to new home construction don't have at this point is any data whatsoever on

cost so hope is that we'll see some of those additional studies come in primary reason for pushing it out that far was again kind of a combination of the impact on single family housing and multif family also the issues around rck successful with getting the state letter that sent out earlier to actually look at this and give us an idea about what this potentially to our abil running overnight we should have significant information in the next you know 6 to 12 months to at least inform a direction over how long it's going to take to just in response so on the National Grid piece I feel like uh the information that we get that they're going to take a long time to do what they want to do I understand that could have an impact on how projects get approved to what additional cost gets taken on I'm not sure that would affect at least my decision on whether we should implement the code at a particular time I think that's sort of an externality that the decision we make on the code isn't going to affect National Grid the but it will it will affect development in Westford if there's not capacity but I'm not sure that it'll be harder to get permitted with things under this code than it would be with things that are not under this code because if if naal gr is deciding based on Peak the peak loading should be lower under the new stretch code than it would be under the non-stretch code which might have you know a higher use for in the in the summer for AC so I'm not sure I I understand that part the part about waiting for information about buildout cost I guess I'm also trying to imagine

would I decide not to do this like it's going to have some impact on building costs absolutely will and it may it'll have some range and we'll learn more and probably they'll converge as people get better building to this code I guess for me I also don't know why that would affect I I don't feel like that would affect my timing it would be less good if it was 15% Premium versus a 10% premium but I I don't know if I had that information my decision would either be to go ahead and Implement anyway or just wait and do nothing which I don't think would be a choice I'd make so I guess I I I respectfully understand the points you're making I don't understand how waiting for the information would affect at least my decision okay so I guess I'm I'm thinking that an earlier date than this I'm worried that a date this far out sort of lacks meaning in some sense it's like it doesn't feel like it commit I was observed that I think it was wcbd Channel 5 whatever they had a story this this I think yesterday number one number one concern Massachusetts households is the cost of housing and this unquestionably increases the cost of housing and yeah you may get it back after 10 years but if if you can't afford it so I think the housing cost does factor into um I I was personally thinking that I'm not sure you sure what a good faith was saying I want to adopt something and do it in two years um I I was think 18 months is sort of the out of range I was going to go honestly I was going to go with January 27 January 17 2027 so no January yeah January 1st 2027 18 months yeah that's right yes I was I was I was with January 1st 2027 was my I thought for tonight but that's but I just add something on the cost you know we didn't come here tonight with a full presentation because I think most of you have seen the presentation at least two

times right so we did present information on costs um at all the presentations with done the information that we received from the Department of energy on the single family construction and the estimates again from from doar on multifam housing which like you were saying there is an estimated increase in the 1 to 2% range I showed several different projects that were built with passive house here in Massachusetts and the increases for each one of them averaging out to about uh 2% just under 2% um we did did talk about the fact that there were operating Savings of course and incentives available to bring down that cost so we have covered the costs uh I'm just I guess taking issue with the statement that no data on costs is available at all because on the multif family we did present the data we received from doar on multi family projects which have been built with the passive house uh building standard those incentives though I think this was this was a [Applause] question those exist regardless of whether okay you could today build to the passive house standard um and get those incentives the incentives come from Mass safe and we had a whole chart with the savings on them they have savings for the studies analysis and I don't know if you want to me talk about anything Tom on the actual um cost data and actually those figures tell us who you are speak to the

microphone Tom Tower Texas Road nine Texas Road um Mass Save has published uh some additions to the incentives went into effect on Valentine's Day actually so just few days ago and as well as some amendments to the stretch code which is not under discussion as well as small technical changes to the specialized code so those those incentives are available those are not dependent on the specialized code that's correct point they are dependent rather on the standards to which the housing is built uh so and the passive passive house is an available pass for compliance under the stretch code which is currently in effect so I guess tonight we're not I want to get back to the date going to defer to want to get back to the date no no I understand but I'm just saying if we're wait we don't need to wait for cost dat we do have cost dat available that we've covered in the other presentations tonight board but all time we're doing is picking a date and we've got so I think you know I could see a question from town meeting you know if we if we said July 1st 2027 I could see somebody from town meeting saying wait a minute why are we talking about this two years in advance you know do next now why don't you you know why don't you just wait and we'll see you in a year from now um so I think and I think based on something you said early or one of the presentations Beth is that we can always always move the date out yeah we're not ready to put it into effect on a certain date so given the fact that we

could move the date out if we wanted to that two years out somebody's going to say why are we doing this now I I think I'm prepared to say July 1st 2026 and see where we are from there and the other thing is you know the little things that we keep losing track of also is is once we adopt this and it become I mean we become a climate leader which then then opens us up to Grants and funding and um as somebody pointed out to me earlier today you know we were one of the first communities to get in on CPC we got a ton of money the first like five years because we were one of the only communities so if we're one of the early communities to get in under the um under the um specialized energy code then there's going to be funding available that we're probably going to be able to take advantage of so I for those reasons I would support the I just want to clarify that adopting this code is one of the steps to BEC Le do by itself it doesn't by itself but it puts us it puts us in the it gets us there see I have a major concern about the electrical vehicle policy I know you do yeah because that's going to be real and that's going be focusing on the incentive is to become a climate leader then that leads us to a policy that I have some issues with as far as uh electrical vehicle first policy we're not ready for that yet I don't think so we're not talking about that we're talking about I'm talking about the rationale okay because we we can discuss that in two weeks we discuss the yeah right so I will to move this along I will make a motion that we set the date is July 1st 2026 I'll second that okay so just be clear voting on only the date right only the date all in favor say I

opposed 41 establishing just the date so the date carries I still think January 1 was a better dat i s my guns only dat thing all right so we will forward that information to the applicable boards and committees who will be voting on their recommendations over the next month and so this will come back on the 11th for us yes that's correct just so everybody knows Tom you look like you're still good yeah clarified so we've decided on the date which is July 1st 2026 and that the town is sponsoring the select board is spots no are we have no we haven't recommended the the SEL board is it's currently list that the select board is sponsoring the article you have not voted your recommendation is that what you're asking I'm asking if are we going to vote are you going to vote on that later this evening no no no because we typically wait for the planning board we defer to for finance to board for going to fall okay we'll get their vote then so it will be on the warrant okay it will be on the warrant with an effective date of July 1st 2026 okay board will be voting their recommendation likely on March 11th oh okay okay thank you one more [Laughter] time thank you both thank you thank you moving on to article 21 this is to update our general bylaw related to dogs um related to violations and penalties and nuisance dogs currently we have uh findes that are extremely archaic and not abiding by Mass General law so it's to bring our general bylaw in line with

the general law of a first offense of $50 second offense of $100 third I thought it was on the [Applause] screen me stop sharing and reshare showing up as a screen share on my I apologize and thank you for bringing that to my attention okay thanks Chris so uh bringing our our fines into accordance with the state law first offense $50 second offense $100 third offense $300 and fourth and subsequent offenses to $500 and this would be enforced by the Animal control officer through our non-criminal disposition procedures licenses this is my dog has done something um you like biting or dog so move to recommend second article 22 is for a resolution uh just want to be clear with that to accept Boston Road as a public way once the construction is approved there would then be a motion to accept the easements associated with Boston move to recommend second a question no okay all in favor soical um article 23 is to AC accept Diane Lane as a public way as you recall this was on the warrant in October the documentation and the work was not in order at that point in time everything now is in order so um again looking for your recommendation to accept Dian Lane this public way to recommend thank you favor the last is article 24 which is a

Citizens petition to change the date and time of the annual election um the petitioner is here this evening you've also received in your packet information from the town clerk the police chief and the director of facilities um they did have concerns with this article of changing the date uh from a Tuesday to a Saturday but um looking forward to the board's conversation and and ultimately a recommendation I think brother you want to speak to it I sure face patient for the past two hours uh no I got here late um carpool issue um so as a citizen not as part of the school committee um this I submitted this petition um it's partially due to things I've seen through school committee work um we've heard from our curriculum coordinators that so as as you know when we have Town election on a Tuesday all nine schools are closed even after recently um consolidating our precincts our polling locations down to just Stonybrook and wa um so uh you know even in that discussions a couple years ago there was consideration for does this open the path to um parts of the school being closed off to the public um and school still being open now that we're out of the elementary schools so um before this petition came to reality I did ask Chief ch Chambers for an updated assessment of the risk and the safety of holding school during election um he felt that very strongly that schools should still be closed um if there was any election taking place on site um and so with that sort of door closed uh and the superintendent agreed so so you know that's fine um but with that door closed then my thought was what else could we do to free up this

day in the school calendar um it's disruptive to Working Families um it's not the best use of 6 hours of professional development for our staff um it's like six weeks before the end of the school year so that's not a great time to be rolling out a professional development initiative um and it's it's really a a day of closure and disruption that doesn't have meaning associated with it you know we do close for a lot of cultural holidays that have significance to us as a community um and this is really just an oper closure so I wanted to have the conversation um understand there are some trade-offs I think the uh positives outweigh the negatives um but that's for town meeting to decide um and I'm here to give you any insight into what my thinking was um and look forward to your discussion so we can can I ask so so Val has has the school committee taken a position on this again so we met the the beginning of February and then because of the way break fell this this week this year um our next meeting is the third and I it's a fine line as chair and as lead petitioner so I'm opening it up to the committee on like I do every year to say is there anything on the upcoming um town meeting that they would like that members would like to take position on so I expect that it could come up but I don't want to speak for the committee yet um and I would just also say that as part of my research for this I did find several other towns that have Saturday elections the closest in um demographics to us is Bill RKA with 32,000 registered voters V registered voters um and they actually have 12 precincts and six schools um and they hold a Saturday election so just that thank you paron so we can recommend not recommend wait until the school

committee decides or take no position whatsoever which we do sometimes on petition thoughts I just have a question this is really about going back to having the election held at the same time that we have schools session so my understanding is that at Stony Brook there's Stony Brook and wa right yeah sty Brook there was not a concern it's at the gym it this voting takes place in the gym and there is a fire door that both superintendent and chief I don't want to speak for them but you know there was consensus that that risk is mitigated um wa is in the main gym voting is in M JY so that's o Open there's so many entrances and exits that Chief Chambers was worried about Staffing and monitoring all the all the doors um we also talked about if you were trying to vote during dismissal um and the parking situation there that was the other question I had was was this with this this election happen during the time in which the seniors are onone they're not I think it would overlap with that but even with that I don't have a high schooler yet but the card drop off line I hear is tough for those 15 minutes um so if you were a voter and wanted to vote during that um we also had a I I thought a pretty good brief discussion as a thought experiment about what would it be like if voting was in the ox gym because there is a separate entrance and that part of the building is more isolated from the general um flow of yes right so um uh we did we I didn't I didn't Loop the town clerk into that thought experiment because it didn't go further but um one concern Chief Chambers raised was whether that would be confusing for

voters to vote in November or September here in the upstairs in the main gym but then on the ox gym for um a local election so I don't know if that falls into the like requirements to notify every time that you're didn't you make both of them both elections help in them I'm not an expert on that um I'm just raising this because the like I said both superintendent and police chief agreed that at this point no um election should take place during school so that led me to this if we um I'm just wondering so I I accept the the clerk and the chief's concerns as being challenging do you know if they've I guess I'd be interested in a couple things if I if we were going to take a position on it one would be for communities that have moved to Saturday have they seen the the they seen better first yeah what's the experience of actually staffing has it been the problem they thought it would be and did they get better engagement because if they thought that they were getting more people that was a better opportunity for more people to participate in democracy and they found ways to work around it that didn't prove too burdensome I would find that pretty compelling so I don't know if if Chief or if if Lori have talked to people in other towns and and theyve heard like yeah it's terrible and it's a mess every year we wish we hadn't done it or it really wasn't that big a deal like that would make a difference I did um talk to the Bill Rea town clerk um and she indicated that she struggles to find election workers like I assume everywhere does um and that she but but that turnout is low for a local election anyway so I don't think engagement dramatically increases on a Saturday although I'm sure um it does for some members of the community but it didn't sound like

um it sounded like a wash for for B and and from where I sit that the positives outweigh those trade-offs see your point is it's it's sort of neutral-ish for the election itself and so having more control of the curriculum for the day is is the winner yes understand y any other thoughts I had a thought I don't know we don't have this information now but I'd be interested if our town clerk could reach out to the people who have volunteered and worked in these elections in the past and just to ask you if you were to move it to Saturday would you still volunteer would you still participate so we could get some understanding you know are we going to lose 50% of our pole workers or just 10% like what would be the impact sure and I did have a conversation with her this morning and played devil's advocate of there may be more people not working on a Saturday at their day jobs would they be apt to help the polls we don't know that um I know there are specific religious opportunities that occur on Saturdays um I don't know this the specifics of that um it is a spring Saturday with plans and events but we as we know planning the previous Town meetings we're never going to please anyone with a date so we are trying to think of all of the the pros and cons and the around moving a date from a Tuesday to a Saturday but I can certainly ask the clerk if she wants to reach out to previous workers and see what their thoughts are as well so we're hearing is popon this to the 11th to get more information oners um school committe and um other towns have gotat later on ipation of would not be able to do everything I think I would find his engagement improved or or depro at least

for me that I'd find that most compelling turn out right turn out turn out engagement voting attendance if if it's the same or worse I would feel one way if it's better I would be I think let's put resource to get better and we do I believe she's going to allow for early voting over the counter as well as we have done before so that does allow for people to come in before election day and have absentee voting as well so let me get some more information after having her listen to this conversation yeah that that could that would be a convincing counter if she said we found other ways to boost engagement and other towns have found the same thing that's good I think the other Chief Chambers comment about staff work Saturday right so I don't know if you had any further conversations with the chief and what you do if this was done that sound like one of his biggest concerns yeah I haven't had a conversation of how he would do it how if it were to pass we could can have that conversation does he have it sounds like he has the authority to order officers in we've had trouble with that but we do have authority to do that like it's been other Personnel matters that I'll discuss with you offline point out that there that because howly the shift work they only get you only get one weekend as a weekend every six weeks six weeks so if you kill off one of those it's tough It's 12 weeks yeah so many stuff okay so what I'm hearing is kids you know that's you know yeah it's the only opportunity to see him play sports gam or if it's it's the only opportunity you get to go away for a weekend you know or that never happens well like that but you know always say sport games okay all right so we will hold that until March 11th as well is what I'm hearing for your recommendation if you decide to make a

recommendation so that concludes the um articles for the March 22nd annual town meeting so Kristen just for the public I think we're holding on 16 19 20 and 24 16 19 20 and 24 are on my list as well yes um and at this time I'm happy to talk about town meeting Logistics I know the moderator is here as well I don't know if the board wants to hear about that again um are we doing anything are we doing anything different yeah well we do have a logistics planning meeting tomorrow um I don't think we're anticipating 2,800 people to attend this town meeting unless others tell me differently um so we will likely be scaling uh down to using the wa gymnasium and potentially the PAC we will be ready as a backup for the cafeteria um we do have Wi-Fi hooked up now in the gymnasium that occurred over February vacation I'm working with the moderator on lunch options for people to purchase lunch in the cafeteria through the cafeteria staff um we will have transportation options if we need um a satellite parking and the COA will be running a van as well working with the police department and the DPW on traffic flow signage and all of that um there will be child care free child care through the recreation department and again free transportation and what maybe I forgetting coffee The Roots program through the school is going to be providing the coffee this year so we're excited to uh I don't drink coffee so I don't think of the coffee ever it's it's the interaction with the program that I think is really great it's just a win-win for everybody that we're able to interact in that way and provide an opportunity for the participants in that program to absolutely do that yeah but sure we'll

have clickers full AV all of that will be are you going to send out a survey yes it's on my to-do list for the end of this week it will go out uh before the weekend so we're going to engage people's uh interest in not only food of purchasing of food but their attendance at town meeting so we can better plan for that anything else you can talk if you want a motion correspondence all in favor Mo move second all in favor e