Brookline Select Board Meeting - June 30, 2026

0:03 [music]

7:10 Beautiful.

7:28 [music]

9:23 Hey,

9:25 hey, hey.

11:34 [music]

12:44 Good evening. Welcome to tonight's

12:46 select board meeting. It is June 30th,

12:49 2026.

12:50 also the last day of fiscal year 2026.

12:55 Congratulations, we made it.

12:57 Yes.

12:57 Uh and our

13:00 and our first item of business will be a

13:02 question of entering into executive

13:04 session for the purpose stated in items

13:07 two and three and to then reconvene in

13:10 open session. Uh so I move that we go

13:13 into executive session pursuant to Mass

13:16 General Laws chapter 30A section 21A3

13:19 purpose three for the purpose of

13:21 discussing strategy related to

13:23 collective bargaining with the town's

13:25 union personnel specifically the public

13:28 employee committee.

13:31 All right.

13:32 Yes.

13:33 Michael,

13:34 are you going to read number three also?

13:36 Oh, I'm sorry. and and also for the

13:38 purpose of approving the executive

13:40 session minutes of April 7th, 2026 and

13:43 May 19th, 2026.

13:46 Bernard, your vote?

13:47 Yes.

13:47 Michael,

13:48 yes.

13:48 Amanda,

13:49 yes.

13:50 Anthony,

13:50 yes.

13:51 And I also vote yes. All right.

13:58 Recording stopped.

14:04 [music]

16:20 Hey,

16:32 bang.

16:38 [music]

32:09 Heat. Heat.

32:14 [music]

32:49 Hey. [music]

32:57 [music]

33:02 Hey. [music]

33:05 Hey. Heat. Heat.

33:09 [music]

33:42 I wanted

33:57 [music]

36:04 Hey.

36:12 [music]

36:13 Hey.

36:25 [music]

39:29 Hey.

39:40 [music]

39:42 Hey.

39:46 [music]

1:07:21 Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.

1:07:29 [music]

1:09:48 Heat. Heat.

1:10:19 [music]

1:10:31 Heat. Heat.

1:10:53 Heat. Heat. [music]

1:11:16 Heat. [music]

1:11:27 [music]

1:11:28 Heat.

1:11:39 [music]

1:11:55 Heat. [music]

1:12:06 [music]

1:12:11 Heat. Heat.

1:12:18 [music]

1:12:53 Heat. Heat.

1:13:05 [music]

1:13:16 Heat. Heat. [music]

1:13:22 Heat.

1:13:26 [music]

1:13:37 Heat. [music]

1:13:47 [music]

1:13:54 Heat.

1:13:57 [music]

1:14:07 Heat.

1:14:10 [music]

1:14:16 Heat. Heat.

1:14:18 [music]

1:14:37 Heat. Heat.

1:14:44 [music]

1:15:17 Heat. Heat.

1:15:23 [music]

1:16:12 Wow.

1:16:21 Heat. Heat.

1:16:25 [music]

1:16:59 Heat. Heat.

1:17:03 [music]

1:17:24 Heat. Heat.

1:17:29 [music]

1:17:32 Heat. Heat.

1:17:44 [music]

1:17:55 Heat. Heat. [music]

1:18:03 [music]

1:18:17 Oh, [music]

1:18:23 [music]

1:18:32 heat. [music]

1:18:39 [music]

1:18:42 Heat.

1:18:44 [music]

1:18:56 Heat.

1:19:02 [music]

1:19:04 Heat. Heat.

1:19:08 [music]

1:19:25 Heat.

1:19:32 [music]

1:19:38 Heat.

1:19:41 [music]

1:20:02 Heat. Heat. [music]

1:20:11 [music]

1:20:19 Heat. Heat.

1:20:23 [music]

1:20:29 Heat.

1:20:36 [music]

1:20:44 Heat.

1:20:46 [music]

1:21:02 Heat.

1:21:04 [music]

1:21:08 Heat.

1:21:13 [music]

1:21:14 Heat.

1:21:24 [music]

1:21:26 Heat.

1:21:29 [music]

1:21:35 Heat.

1:21:37 [music]

1:21:50 Heat. [music]

1:21:57 Oh,

1:22:01 [music]

1:22:19 heat.

1:22:48 [music]

1:23:12 Yeah.

1:23:26 Heat. [music]

1:23:34 Heat. Heat.

1:23:48 [music]

1:24:23 corner.

1:24:27 [music] Heat. Heat. Heat.

1:24:35 [music]

1:24:50 Heat. Heat.

1:24:59 [music]

1:25:14 Heat. Heat.

1:25:22 [music]

1:25:35 Heat.

1:25:40 [music]

1:26:05 Heat.

1:26:08 [music]

1:26:16 Heat.

1:26:18 [music]

1:26:25 Heat. Heat.

1:26:35 [music]

1:26:48 Heat. Heat.

1:26:51 [music]

1:27:12 [music] Heat. Heat.

1:27:18 [music]

1:27:34 Heat. Heat. [music]

1:27:42 [music]

1:28:07 Heat. Heat.

1:29:08 [music]

1:29:33 Heat.

1:29:41 [music]

1:29:48 [music] Heat.

1:30:13 Heat. Heat.

1:30:27 Welcome back. We have now returned from

1:30:30 our executive session and our first item

1:30:33 of business back in open session will be

1:30:35 announcements and updates. Do any select

1:30:38 board members want to announce any

1:30:40 recent or upcoming events?

1:30:43 I'd like

1:30:44 Go ahead, Bernard. I just want to

1:30:46 mention that a few of us went out to

1:30:48 fire station 4 to see how it's come

1:30:51 along and I can say that it's money well

1:30:53 spent that the money we spent has been

1:30:56 well spent in terms of issues of gender

1:30:58 gender equity safety um just the the the

1:31:03 type of uh setup they have that

1:31:06 encourages camaradership

1:31:08 um so I think that uh you know good job

1:31:13 I would certainly I certainly agree with

1:31:15 you there. I was there. I saw Amanda

1:31:17 there as well. Chief Sullivan uh gave

1:31:20 the town administrator and I and Amanda

1:31:22 and a few others in the community a very

1:31:25 comprehensive tour, explained everything

1:31:27 in punctilious detail. I'm not sure I

1:31:30 was able to follow it all, but I'm sure

1:31:32 it was all quite important. It was uh

1:31:35 extremely impressive the work that's

1:31:36 been done there. Uh it's already in

1:31:39 operation. It's been so for about a

1:31:41 week, I believe Chief Sullivan said. uh

1:31:44 and the fire station renovations. Uh

1:31:47 we're of course renovating or rebuilding

1:31:50 all of our stations and so station four

1:31:53 is the first one to have been completed

1:31:56 and it really looks great.

1:32:00 Any other announcements, updates?

1:32:01 Amanda?

1:32:02 Uh a couple of them um last week.

1:32:05 I'm so sorry. Just for for both of you,

1:32:07 for all of us though, we just need to

1:32:09 speak into our microphone. So Oh,

1:32:11 thank you. Sorry.

1:32:12 That's right. Um, so last week a couple

1:32:14 of us were able to attend a soldout

1:32:16 Brooklyn night organized by the Charles

1:32:18 River Chamber of Commerce. Uh, a number

1:32:21 of local retailers, nonprofits, and

1:32:22 individuals were recognized for their

1:32:24 contributions to the community. And just

1:32:26 for me personally, it was great to see

1:32:28 such a large crowd supporting our local

1:32:30 businesses. So, shout out to all the

1:32:33 organization that took place to make

1:32:34 that happen. Um, the second announcement

1:32:37 I wanted to make, um, is upcoming

1:32:39 events. Uh for for those who don't know,

1:32:42 Brookline Wreck actually organizes

1:32:44 outdoor concerts every Wednesday from uh

1:32:47 tomorrow through August 6 from 6:00 to

1:32:50 7:30 p.m. Concerts alternate between

1:32:52 Emerson Park and Fischer Hill uh with

1:32:54 tomorrow's concert featuring the outside

1:32:56 toys at Emerson Park. So you should

1:32:58 check it out this summer.

1:33:01 Michael.

1:33:01 Um, for those of for those of you who uh

1:33:05 have networks, um, to pass this along,

1:33:09 um, and I'm sorry I don't have the

1:33:11 announcement in front of me, but between

1:33:13 starting today going through August

1:33:16 15th, um, in l in lie of school lunches

1:33:20 and school breakfast, there is a program

1:33:23 um, being offered

1:33:27 uh, in order to provide meals

1:33:30 uh both breakfasts and lunches um this

1:33:33 year not only for kids but for members

1:33:35 of their families um and I will get the

1:33:38 details and get them posted in the

1:33:40 announcement section because I don't

1:33:42 have them at the moment.

1:33:45 Anyone else?

1:33:47 I do just want to flag um that starting

1:33:50 we have declared a heat that uh

1:33:52 commissioner of public health has

1:33:53 declared a heat emergency in Brooklyn.

1:33:55 Uh as you all know um the um weather is

1:33:59 going to be quite hot um going through

1:34:01 the 4th of July. Um so um on Wednesday

1:34:05 and Thursday there's standard operation

1:34:07 for um town um uh facilities. The public

1:34:11 library locations will be open. The

1:34:12 senior center will be open. The pool

1:34:14 will be open. Um and um so we just

1:34:18 encourage people to take advantage of

1:34:19 those spaces. Um on if people need a

1:34:23 place to go that isn't the library, the

1:34:25 um public safety building here across

1:34:27 from town hall, the public uh safety

1:34:30 building uh community room is open uh

1:34:32 and available for people if they need a

1:34:34 space to cool down. Um on Friday and

1:34:37 Saturday, please check the uh

1:34:39 brookclinma.gov website and the news

1:34:41 announcements there. But just to flag

1:34:43 for people, um we are having the there

1:34:45 will be cooling centers open um in the

1:34:48 north center and south of town. Um on uh

1:34:52 Friday and Saturday, the senior center

1:34:53 in Florida Ruff and Ridley School will

1:34:55 be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

1:34:57 Potterham Library community room will be

1:34:59 open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The

1:35:01 pool will be open on Saturday from 12:00

1:35:04 p.m. to 400 p.m. for the dive well and

1:35:06 the shallow pool only. And there will be

1:35:08 free admission for all Brookline

1:35:09 residents. The pool will be closed on

1:35:11 the 4th of July, however. But yes, on

1:35:13 the 4th of July, we will have cooling

1:35:15 centers open um in all both

1:35:17 [clears throat] North, Central, and

1:35:18 South Brookline. Um and we just strongly

1:35:21 encourage people to stay safe. Um uh

1:35:24 take advantage of the splash pads that

1:35:25 are out there. The list of pads that are

1:35:27 open uh and working as well as those are

1:35:29 out of service are all online as part of

1:35:31 this announcement. Uh please take the

1:35:33 heat seriously. It's going to be very

1:35:35 hot and crucially, it is not going to

1:35:38 cool down at night. Um that's really the

1:35:41 big issue here. A lot of people think

1:35:42 that when the night comes in doesn't

1:35:46 turns the it goes uh the temperature

1:35:49 goes down. That's not going to be the

1:35:51 case. So we strongly encourage you to

1:35:53 please u uh take care of yourselves.

1:35:58 Any other announcements?

1:36:00 All right. Seeing none, we will move to

1:36:03 public comments. Public comments a

1:36:05 period for those who request to speak to

1:36:07 the board regarding town issues. Persons

1:36:09 wishing to speak may sign up in advance

1:36:11 beginning on the Friday preceding the

1:36:12 meeting or may sign up in person at the

1:36:15 meeting. Speakers will be taken up in

1:36:17 the order they sign up. Advanced

1:36:19 registration is available by calling the

1:36:21 selects board's office at 617-73022

1:36:26 or by email at km mcgilly at

1:36:29 brooklinem.gov.

1:36:30 The full policy on public comment is

1:36:33 available at brooklinmma.gov

1:36:36 selectboard. So, do we have anyone who

1:36:38 has signed up for public comment today?

1:36:41 We do. Do you want me to go through my

1:36:44 timing and Okay. [laughter]

1:36:46 Thank you for joining us for public

1:36:48 comment. This is an opportunity for us

1:36:50 to hear your perspective on the issues

1:36:51 in Brooklyn that matter to you. Each

1:36:54 person speaking tonight is limited to

1:36:55 three minutes. You don't need to use the

1:36:58 entire time, but you may if you like.

1:37:00 Once 15 minutes has been met, there's an

1:37:02 opportunity at the conclusion of the

1:37:03 select board's business for additional

1:37:05 comments. Members of the public

1:37:07 sometimes raise questions during public

1:37:09 comment. We may be able to provide a

1:37:11 quick answer to a question, but are more

1:37:12 likely to work with staff to get a more

1:37:14 thorough answer and respond over email.

1:37:17 The onscreen timer will flash orange

1:37:19 when you have 60 seconds remaining and

1:37:20 red when your time is nearly up. Please

1:37:23 conclude your remarks at that time. If

1:37:25 you have more to say, you are welcome to

1:37:27 send an email to board members

1:37:28 expressing your thoughts in greater

1:37:30 detail. Any person wishing to speak must

1:37:32 begin their comment by identifying

1:37:34 themselves with their full name, either

1:37:36 their Brooklyn precinct number or street

1:37:38 address and the specific topic on which

1:37:40 they wish to speak. The board encourages

1:37:42 but does not require that remote users

1:37:44 turn their video on when commenting. And

1:37:47 we have Carrie Tenant has signed up for

1:37:49 public comment.

1:37:51 All right. Hello.

1:37:57 Oh, welcome.

1:37:58 Thank you.

1:38:01 Um, so nice to meet everyone. My name is

1:38:06 Carrie Tenant. Um, I'm a resident of

1:38:08 precinct 16. I live on Grove Street. Uh,

1:38:13 and the topic that I was hoping to

1:38:14 discuss tonight is actually the the

1:38:16 Rotary that's just sort of right outside

1:38:19 my home across from the shops at

1:38:22 Peterham, if you all are familiar with

1:38:24 that, like where Cherylyn's Bakery is.

1:38:27 Um, so I moved into my home in October

1:38:32 of 2024 with my husband and our then

1:38:35 fourmonth old baby. She's two now. Um,

1:38:38 and in the time that we've lived there,

1:38:41 we've experienced a lot of issues with

1:38:44 just like safety in that rotary. So, we

1:38:49 probably see at least one to two car

1:38:51 accidents in that rotary every week. Um,

1:38:54 and neither of us works from home. So,

1:38:56 that's just like in the time that we're

1:38:58 home. I I suspect that there are

1:39:00 probably more car accidents than that.

1:39:02 Unfortunately, I myself was involved in

1:39:04 a hit-and-run car accident in that

1:39:06 Rotary in January of 2025.

1:39:10 Um, where the person who hit me drove

1:39:12 away. Uh thankfully my daughter was not

1:39:14 in the car with me and you know the

1:39:16 damage was all to the car but um and

1:39:19 then similarly during a lot of the

1:39:22 recent um more severe winter weather

1:39:26 in the two winters that we've lived in

1:39:28 the home winter of 2025 and winter of

1:39:30 this 2026.

1:39:32 Our fence which abuts the rotary um has

1:39:36 been knocked down by the snow plow and

1:39:39 it's not actually um hitting it because

1:39:43 there's a sidewalk and a guardrail, but

1:39:45 the plow is going so fast and then the

1:39:47 snow is hitting the fence and like

1:39:50 knocking the fence over. Um, so

1:39:52 obviously I know I have three minutes

1:39:54 and you know it's not going to be solved

1:39:57 today, but I've tried reaching out, you

1:40:00 know, to numerous different

1:40:03 avenues in the town and just really

1:40:05 haven't gotten a response. Um, so I'm

1:40:08 just not sure who the appropriate party

1:40:11 contact is about just like an overall

1:40:13 solution. Not looking for any like

1:40:16 assessing any liability or anything

1:40:18 about past events. I just want to make

1:40:21 sure that it's, you know, a safe place

1:40:23 to drive and walk around and that, you

1:40:25 know, we don't have our friends knocked

1:40:28 over every winter. So, I'm just not sure

1:40:32 who the Yeah, I tried. I can tell you

1:40:34 who I tried if that's helpful.

1:40:36 Would you leave us your email address,

1:40:38 please, and we'll follow up with you

1:40:39 this week?

1:40:39 Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much.

1:40:44 You can just I we have a pen and paper

1:40:45 here. You can just leave leave it with

1:40:46 Melanie and that would be great. Thank

1:40:48 you.

1:40:48 Anyone else?

1:40:49 Thank you.

1:40:52 I see Janice Khan has her hand raised.

1:41:09 Okay. Yes, I can unmute and Okay. And

1:41:13 now I can So, thank you very much for

1:41:15 just I I just have a follow-up comment

1:41:17 to um to something that our town

1:41:20 administrator said that has been a

1:41:23 concern of mine for a long time that we

1:41:25 have cooling centers but they close by

1:41:28 6:00. And um as was pointed out, it

1:41:32 stays hot at night. And I just want

1:41:33 clarification for the community that my

1:41:36 understanding is that the um that that

1:41:41 at the um combined police and fire

1:41:43 station that that is a 24-hour area that

1:41:46 stays open and could you just clarify if

1:41:49 that's so?

1:41:50 Yes, thank you for clarif thank you for

1:41:52 that question. Yes. Um, so when the

1:41:54 cooling centers close at the end of the

1:41:56 day, um, the while while those cooling

1:41:58 centers close at the end of the day, the

1:42:00 the public safety building at 350

1:42:03 Washington here is open 247. Um, and

1:42:06 that is a space where if someone loses

1:42:08 power, if there's a that there's a need

1:42:10 um for cooling or ice or water or

1:42:13 anything, um, they can go to that uh,

1:42:15 community room um, here in um, right

1:42:18 here across from town hall.

1:42:23 Thank you.

1:42:25 Would anyone else like to be heard in

1:42:27 public comments?

1:42:32 All right. Seeing none, we will then

1:42:34 move on to miscellaneous.

1:42:38 [clears throat]

1:42:38 Now, there have been some requests to

1:42:42 take 6H

1:42:45 and 6V

1:42:47 out of the consent agenda to be voted on

1:42:51 separately. Are there any other items

1:42:54 that members

1:42:55 6 and six what?

1:42:56 V.

1:42:56 Oh, V. I'm sorry.

1:42:58 Wait. 6 A or H?

1:42:59 H. 6H and 6V.

1:43:05 6H is question of appointing the town

1:43:07 administrator as hearing officer

1:43:09 pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 31

1:43:11 section 41 for individual hearings on

1:43:14 whether four members of the fire

1:43:16 department should be discharged on

1:43:18 grounds of medical incapacity

1:43:21 and 6V

1:43:23 is the question of affirming the audit

1:43:25 committee's recommendation of a

1:43:26 certified public accounting firm to

1:43:29 audit the town. So, regarding six H, I I

1:43:34 would just like to ask for a little more

1:43:36 background on the uh appointment process

1:43:40 and whether other communities similarly

1:43:43 have town administrators or their

1:43:45 equivalent serve as hearing officers. If

1:43:47 you could tell us a little more about

1:43:48 this item.

1:43:49 Sure. Thank you. Um so yes um the

1:43:53 process so under the civil service law

1:43:55 which is what this law is which is what

1:43:57 would be cited here um employees with

1:44:00 those protections um are entitled to a

1:44:02 hearing before their appointed author

1:44:04 their appointing authority or their

1:44:05 design if there is something

1:44:07 contemplated that is in excess of a

1:44:09 5-day suspension. Um and in this case,

1:44:12 you the select board are the appointing

1:44:14 authority for firefighters um and police

1:44:17 officers under the civil service and uh

1:44:20 or you know even not under civil

1:44:22 service, you are still the appointing

1:44:23 authority for the police as police

1:44:25 commissioners uh and fire commissioners.

1:44:27 And so historically what you have done

1:44:29 is you have appointed either a member of

1:44:31 town council's office to hear these

1:44:33 matters whether they are disciplinary or

1:44:35 medical or whatever in nature. Um or in

1:44:38 an in the event such as here where um

1:44:41 our labor council recently um uh took a

1:44:45 different job in government and we wish

1:44:46 her all the best. [clears throat] Um um

1:44:48 where there hasn't been the capacity

1:44:50 either because someone is were down a

1:44:52 member of town council's office or

1:44:54 there's some sort of conflict. um I've

1:44:55 stepped in um to serve. Most recently, I

1:44:58 served in um late 2025. There was a

1:45:02 disciplinary hearing. So, under the same

1:45:04 authority, you appointed me that as

1:45:05 hearing officer. Ultimately, a

1:45:07 resolution was reached before uh the

1:45:10 hearing was held. Uh and there was no

1:45:12 need to hold the hearing, but in that

1:45:14 case, you did appoint me and I did um

1:45:16 serve as hearing officer doing all of

1:45:18 that work. So, there's nothing out of

1:45:20 the ordinary here. period is your

1:45:21 standard practice to appoint somebody uh

1:45:24 rather than conduct the hearings

1:45:25 yourself. Um and that's just um that is

1:45:28 standard practice for many towns and

1:45:31 communities in Massachusetts.

1:45:33 Anthony,

1:45:33 can I have insight [clears throat] into

1:45:36 whom the the the details about these

1:45:39 four members and why they are up for

1:45:42 possible discharge? So I can't talk

1:45:45 about the medical uh you know it's it's

1:45:47 it's medical. So I'm I'm not allowed to

1:45:50 disclose under you know privacy laws

1:45:52 what those conditions are. I not at a

1:45:54 public meeting. Okay. Um but you know I

1:45:56 can certainly discuss you in general the

1:45:59 contour the rules are. If someone is has

1:46:02 a condition and they are not able to do

1:46:05 the job and are not likely able to do

1:46:07 the job for the foreseeable future um

1:46:11 then the employer does have the ability

1:46:13 to separate someone on the grounds of

1:46:15 incapacity.

1:46:16 Um and that's a last step. Um we only

1:46:19 take that step if we think that there is

1:46:21 no opportunity elsewhere. Um for

1:46:24 example, if there's a reasonable

1:46:25 accommodation to be made, if there is

1:46:27 something that can be done. Um that

1:46:29 really is the last step in the process.

1:46:31 And these recommendations came from

1:46:33 originally the chief.

1:46:34 The chief. Yes.

1:46:35 Okay. And then the chief went to medical

1:46:38 advice and then made the

1:46:40 recommendations.

1:46:41 So this is right. This is this is the

1:46:42 end of a long process where we've we've

1:46:45 gone through medical evaluations. We've

1:46:46 gone through this and again this is not

1:46:49 it's not a foregone conclusion, right?

1:46:50 at the end point of a hearing is that

1:46:52 they have the opportunity to present to

1:46:53 me a new set of eyes, a new a new face

1:46:56 in this who's not the department head

1:46:58 the opportunity to say no this is not

1:47:00 right or there is something else there's

1:47:01 something missing here they have the

1:47:03 opportunity to do that I'll take that

1:47:04 into consideration and then I'll make a

1:47:06 decision based on the evidence they

1:47:07 present

1:47:08 so this is not the first that these

1:47:10 people are hearing about

1:47:11 no this has been going on in in most of

1:47:13 these cases for more than a year

1:47:14 got it thank you

1:47:16 and each of these four members have

1:47:17 distinct cases so in theory the decision

1:47:20 could be different as to each one.

1:47:21 Yes, I plan on, you know, there's

1:47:23 there's no I'm not we're not holding

1:47:25 mass hearings. Each one of these

1:47:26 individuals is entitled to an individual

1:47:28 hearing. They will present their own

1:47:30 evidence and they will receive their own

1:47:31 decision based on the evidence they

1:47:33 present.

1:47:33 Gotcha. Thank you.

1:47:35 Anyone else on 6H?

1:47:39 All right.

1:47:44 Questions on other items though.

1:47:46 Go ahead. Um,

1:47:49 first off on the the minutes, I

1:47:52 submitted some comments, but they didn't

1:47:53 make it into the packet. So, I might ask

1:47:56 that

1:47:57 we can hold them.

1:47:57 We can hold them.

1:47:58 Yes.

1:47:58 Um,

1:48:00 second one, 6B, the Aging Friendly

1:48:04 Communities Committee report. Is that

1:48:05 report going to wind up somewhere more

1:48:07 public facing permanently? Because I

1:48:09 think there's a lot of valuable

1:48:10 information in that that I only learned

1:48:12 from reading it. Yes, in fact, we are uh

1:48:15 we're probably going to post it on the

1:48:17 select board's page in terms of policies

1:48:18 and procedures, but I think it's you

1:48:20 know, I just had a conversation with

1:48:22 members of Brooklyn can this afternoon

1:48:23 about making that more visible. So, yes.

1:48:26 Awesome. Um and then 6 through 6P, we

1:48:32 have a number of

1:48:35 uh change orders essentially. Yes. Um

1:48:38 where vendors uh end up needing more

1:48:40 funding for one reason or another. Um,

1:48:44 and then we're also choosing

1:48:47 particular companies to do uh certain

1:48:50 tasks. And so I'm wondering if we track

1:48:54 uh how good various contractors are at

1:48:57 sticking to budget when deciding whether

1:48:59 to award them or if we usually just go

1:49:01 with the lowest bidder.

1:49:03 So we are allowed to under the

1:49:05 procurement rules, right? And again, it

1:49:06 depends on what kind this is

1:49:08 complicated. It depends on what type of

1:49:09 procurement it is. you know, is it

1:49:11 really the lowest responsive bidder? Is

1:49:13 it a more um uh qualitative analysis?

1:49:17 So, it but for things like what you're

1:49:19 seeing in the miscellaneous, it is the

1:49:20 kind of lowest response, you know,

1:49:22 lowest responsive and responsible

1:49:23 bidder. Um so, yes, they we do have

1:49:26 grounds and we have um we do keep track

1:49:28 of how well contractors do. Um and we

1:49:31 have bypassed contractors. I mean, as

1:49:33 recently as a couple months ago for um

1:49:37 even though they were the lowest bidder,

1:49:38 we didn't believe they were capable of

1:49:39 doing the work. So, we we bypass them.

1:49:42 So, yes, we do keep track of all that.

1:49:43 That's good.

1:49:45 And to that point, which I think is a

1:49:46 very important one, Amanda, by not being

1:49:48 capable of doing the work, do you mean

1:49:50 by sticking to a budget or the actual

1:49:54 skill set?

1:49:54 It it can depend. It can be both. Um, it

1:49:57 can be, you know, we look at the budget

1:49:58 and we don't believe it's a realistic

1:50:00 budget under the because of the what we

1:50:02 know about the project or we don't

1:50:04 believe that the based on our past

1:50:05 experience with the contractor that

1:50:07 they're going to be able to do the work

1:50:08 as outlined in the bid.

1:50:11 Okay.

1:50:13 That that's always important even in my

1:50:15 like professional work. Sometimes the

1:50:16 lowest bidder uh cost you more in the

1:50:18 long run.

1:50:19 That's exactly right. And I think you

1:50:21 know certainly from our teams you know

1:50:23 public buildings and capital projects

1:50:24 again as I I I come back to this and I

1:50:27 pound the table on it. That's why having

1:50:29 good in-house management of this is so

1:50:30 important because it saves us so much

1:50:32 money in the long run. We have good

1:50:34 institutional knowledge about what

1:50:35 contractors we work with work, what

1:50:38 contractors we have had bad experiences

1:50:40 with. Um and we keep a we keep a tight

1:50:43 tight uh grip on our projects. And I

1:50:47 think that actually results in that's

1:50:49 the reason why Brookline has such a good

1:50:51 reputation for having its capital

1:50:52 projects come in on time and on the

1:50:54 budget.

1:50:55 But also typically in capital projects

1:50:57 there will be a contingencies budget

1:50:59 line. So it's not as though we have to

1:51:02 dip into free cash or go back to the

1:51:04 voters. That did happen on one occasion,

1:51:06 but overall we have not had to do that.

1:51:08 Yes. One one one occasion one project

1:51:10 out of a half billion dollars worth of

1:51:12 projects I think is a pretty good track

1:51:14 record for Brooklyn. Uh so

1:51:17 and then I have one more question. Um

1:51:19 and I had asked uh

1:51:24 Chaz this in advance but I I wanted to

1:51:26 highlight here because I am personally

1:51:29 interested in this and I don't know how

1:51:30 many um but for six you we were talking

1:51:33 about mobile food vendors and they're

1:51:35 basically all ice cream trucks which

1:51:37 like for my kids yay. Um, but I

1:51:39 personally would love to see the

1:51:42 opportunity for more food trucks to be

1:51:43 able to operate in town. Um, and I'm

1:51:46 wondering if there's been any demand um

1:51:50 for for food truck vendors that maybe

1:51:52 might want to park out at one of our

1:51:54 parks um and serve lunch for instance.

1:51:57 Yeah, there has not been historically

1:51:59 there aren't too many of them that

1:52:00 operate in town. Usually three or four

1:52:02 come in over the course of a year. Um

1:52:04 the licensing requirement is not

1:52:06 ownorous. We ask them to tell us tell us

1:52:08 what your route is. We ask them to make

1:52:09 sure that they're not blocking spaces

1:52:11 for a long period of time or distra or

1:52:13 disturbing people's experience. But um

1:52:16 that's one of the many licenses that can

1:52:18 historically come before the licensing

1:52:20 panel which meets once a month on

1:52:21 Wednesdays uh which you will be the new

1:52:23 life board leaison to. Congratulations.

1:52:25 Um and um but yes, we can certainly talk

1:52:29 about um emphasizing our desire to have

1:52:32 more um uh food trucks and open air

1:52:35 vendor licenses out there. Um we can put

1:52:38 out a call for applications. Um

1:52:41 be very cool.

1:52:43 Anyone else?

1:52:46 Okay, we're going to pull out

1:52:48 six was it?

1:52:50 6H and 6VA separately. Yes. I want to

1:52:54 make a few comments though

1:52:56 about the process.

1:52:57 Okay. Go ahead.

1:52:59 You're holding you're holding the

1:53:00 minutes. So 6A

1:53:02 holding the minutes.

1:53:03 Okay. So uh regarding 6V which is the

1:53:06 selection of an auditor. Uh the audit

1:53:08 committee met last week uh to select the

1:53:12 firm that was selected and we appointed

1:53:14 a new chair uh Steve Herskville

1:53:17 Hersvichi.

1:53:19 Um, our prior chair, Paul Healey, moved

1:53:22 out of town. Uh, both Paul and I have

1:53:26 agreed to work with Steve to make sure

1:53:29 that some of the problems that we've had

1:53:30 with our audit um are addressed, and

1:53:33 we're behind uh our fiscal year 2025

1:53:37 audit, which should have been uh ready

1:53:39 by u fall of 2025, had to be filed with

1:53:43 uh a with the what's called Emma um

1:53:48 electronic municipal market um I forgot

1:53:51 what the A stands for. Um filing system

1:53:55 was not filed at least the audited

1:53:58 financials were not filed. We filed an

1:54:00 unodudited uh set of financials which is

1:54:02 okay but not something that we want to

1:54:04 do. So, you know, both Paul and I and I

1:54:07 was a audit committee chair for many

1:54:09 years, uh, you know, um,

1:54:13 back back in the old days. Um we we've

1:54:16 you know agreed to work with uh Steve to

1:54:18 make sure that you know the schedule of

1:54:21 getting the audit done as well started

1:54:24 as well as completed as well as all the

1:54:26 filings that need to be made uh it's

1:54:28 done in a u in in a way that doesn't uh

1:54:33 get us behind like we are now. It's no

1:54:36 real big issue with respect to being

1:54:39 behind the fiscal year 2025 audit. It's

1:54:42 just not something we want to be doing.

1:54:44 It's embarrassing. Um, and the firm that

1:54:48 we selected that's committed to getting

1:54:50 the fiscal year 2025 audit uh done by

1:54:54 the end of August. This is a very

1:54:56 aggressive schedule, but they convinced

1:54:58 us that they can do it uh based on uh

1:55:01 taking advant or making use of the uh

1:55:04 old firms which is CBiz's uh audit book

1:55:08 which is a book of materials that talk

1:55:12 about, you know, what was uh what was

1:55:14 looked at over a period of time um and

1:55:17 could be the basis for doing an audit,

1:55:20 you know, uh quick I'm a little confused

1:55:23 there, but doing doing the audit uh by

1:55:26 August 31st, they convinced us that

1:55:29 that's possible and we expect that that

1:55:31 will be able to happen because a lot of

1:55:33 the work has already been done. Um and

1:55:36 going forward fiscal year 2026 uh you

1:55:39 know

1:55:40 they'll start uh as soon as we file the

1:55:44 uh or or complete the uh contract and uh

1:55:47 we should be back on track. We have a

1:55:50 controller which we didn't have for a

1:55:52 number of uh uh not a number of years

1:55:55 but for a while which created problems

1:55:57 and we had uh issues with our prior

1:56:00 auditor. So those things uh have been

1:56:04 addressed and I think we're in good

1:56:06 shape now going forward. So

1:56:08 Anthony

1:56:09 Barard, one one point on that. Does this

1:56:11 relate [clears throat] at all to our new

1:56:12 policy of switching auditors every few

1:56:14 years?

1:56:15 Uh

1:56:17 it's okay. I'm not sure how to answer

1:56:20 that because [laughter]

1:56:21 was my question policy but the reason

1:56:23 why we switched auditors have have to do

1:56:25 with other things.

1:56:26 Okay. Got it. Understood.

1:56:27 Yeah. Okay. I mean the long and yeah the

1:56:29 long and the short of it is yes and it's

1:56:30 it's good that we're doing this but it

1:56:31 was not you know it was our our prior

1:56:34 audit firm was bought twice um and it

1:56:37 resulted in becoming CBiz um and then we

1:56:41 worked with them for a year for

1:56:42 [clears throat] the reasons Bernard

1:56:43 described we've moved on from that

1:56:45 relationship uh we have a new auditor

1:56:47 here we will begin working through that

1:56:49 process and uh again the hope too is

1:56:52 because on our end right um Chelsea

1:56:54 Stevens the comproller is going to be

1:56:55 directly managing this process My hope

1:56:58 is that this goes smoothly and quickly

1:57:00 and we get an FY25 audit in short order.

1:57:02 Cool. Thanks.

1:57:04 All right. Any further questions

1:57:06 regarding any items?

1:57:10 [clears throat and cough]

1:57:11 Okay, seeing none, I move uh we're

1:57:14 holding 6A the minutes. So I move

1:57:17 approval of

1:57:18 6B

1:57:21 the audit. So we'll separately. Okay.

1:57:24 Yeah.

1:57:25 So, [clears throat] I move approval of

1:57:27 6B through 6 W except for 6V.

1:57:34 Bernard,

1:57:35 yes.

1:57:36 Michael,

1:57:36 yes.

1:57:37 Amanda,

1:57:38 yes.

1:57:38 Anthony,

1:57:39 yes.

1:57:39 And I also vote yes. And now for item

1:57:43 6V,

1:57:45 I move that we approve item 6V. Michael,

1:57:48 yes.

1:57:49 Amanda,

1:57:50 yes.

1:57:51 Anthony,

1:57:52 yes. Bernard

1:57:53 abstain and I vote yes.

1:57:57 All right. So now we'll move on to our

1:57:59 next agenda item. [clears throat]

1:58:03 Boards and commissions interviews

1:58:05 conservation commission. We have Matthew

1:58:07 Eddie with us.

1:58:08 Yes, he's online.

1:58:13 Good evening. Thank you very much for

1:58:14 your time.

1:58:18 All right. You can begin whenever you're

1:58:20 ready.

1:58:21 Uh, thank you. My name is Matthew Eddie.

1:58:23 I'm a 10-year resident of Brooklyn. I

1:58:26 live and vote in precinct 3. I happen

1:58:28 to, uh, live on Brook Street. Uh, and

1:58:32 it's given the name Brook Street because

1:58:33 the, uh, Tannery Brook runs underneath

1:58:36 it, which gives me a particular interest

1:58:37 in water management and storm water

1:58:39 management in the town of Brookline. Um,

1:58:43 I have had a long-term interest and

1:58:45 commitment to conservation work. If you

1:58:47 uh had a chance to read the paragraph of

1:58:49 my uh application for the conservation

1:58:51 commission, uh I have a master's degree

1:58:54 in natural resource management. Uh I uh

1:58:57 served for the uh muddy river

1:59:00 restoration project maintenance and

1:59:01 management oversight committee for five

1:59:03 years and I'm currently engaged in a

1:59:06 certification program uh working with

1:59:08 the Massachusetts Association of

1:59:10 Conservation Commissions uh trying to

1:59:13 get a a conservation uh commission

1:59:15 certificate through them. Uh I'm very

1:59:18 excited about the work particularly in

1:59:19 the town of Brooklyn. Uh my hope is to

1:59:21 simultaneously focus on environmental

1:59:24 protection and resiliency planning and

1:59:26 also to support the good work of town

1:59:28 employees uh with whom or to in whom I

1:59:32 hold high esteem who worked as part of

1:59:34 the muddy river restoration project. Uh

1:59:36 they are in departments like

1:59:37 sustainability, parks and open space

1:59:40 engineering and public works and I very

1:59:41 much admire the work that uh that the

1:59:43 town has done and continues to do. Uh I

1:59:47 believe I can assist in the work of the

1:59:49 conservation commission in five main

1:59:51 ways. Uh the first would be in

1:59:53 evaluating deeds and plans. Uh I know

1:59:56 that that is largely the breadandbut

1:59:58 work of the the conservation commission

2:00:00 and the work that I did uh as the

2:00:02 administrator for the uh the MOC uh gave

2:00:06 me the opportunity to develop some

2:00:07 expertise in reading notices of intent

2:00:10 uh and project notification forms etc.

2:00:13 So I feel like I have that experience

2:00:14 that I can bring to uh to the

2:00:16 commission.

2:00:17 Another way that I feel like I can help

2:00:19 is by is through education. Uh one of my

2:00:22 other major careers in my life was as a

2:00:23 a high school science teacher. Uh so the

2:00:27 ability to translate uh technical

2:00:30 material for a public audience is

2:00:32 something that I hold in high esteem. Uh

2:00:34 so I feel like I could do that well

2:00:36 through uh the any work that the

2:00:38 conservation commission might send my

2:00:40 way in terms of tours and uh the the

2:00:43 authoring of articles.

2:00:45 Uh I feel qualified to support the town

2:00:48 in uh managing and hopefully expanding

2:00:51 townowned lands of conservation

2:00:53 interest. Uh and that was some of the

2:00:55 the major focus of the work that I did

2:00:57 in in my graduate program. uh and I have

2:01:00 some experience as a volunteer manager

2:01:03 uh specifically working with Habitat for

2:01:04 Humanity, but also with other

2:01:06 organizations uh in terms of helping

2:01:09 leverage public interest uh in the work

2:01:12 uh that is that the town is engaged in

2:01:15 with respect to its uh conservation

2:01:16 lands. And finally, I'm happy to pick up

2:01:18 a shovel. Uh I've done uh plenty of work

2:01:21 uh particularly through the Student

2:01:22 Conservation Association to make sure

2:01:24 that I'm contributing uh my muscle and

2:01:28 heart and arm to uh to the work of uh of

2:01:31 conservation.

2:01:33 Uh so those five ways, evaluating deeds

2:01:36 and plans, education the public,

2:01:38 managing uh open space that's owned by

2:01:40 the town, volunteer management, and

2:01:42 fieldwork are the things that I feel I

2:01:44 could contribute to the conservation

2:01:46 commission. and I hope that you'll

2:01:47 consider my uh my candidacy. Can I

2:01:50 answer any questions?

2:01:51 Yes. So, a question I have, I see that

2:01:53 you recently served as a sustainability

2:01:56 consultant for Riverstone Sustainability

2:01:59 in Newbury Port. Uh

2:02:00 that's correct. [clears throat]

2:02:01 I wonder if you can tell us a little bit

2:02:02 more about the work you did there and uh

2:02:06 how it might inform your thinking if you

2:02:09 uh join the conservation commission.

2:02:12 Yeah. So, uh the uh Riverstone

2:02:14 Sustainability is a very small shop.

2:02:17 There's just one proprietor. Uh and we

2:02:20 uh she hired me as a a secondary person

2:02:23 for a period of time. Um the bread and

2:02:26 butter of that particular consultancy

2:02:28 focused on uh lead certification, LEED

2:02:32 certification, uh largely for uh

2:02:35 universities uh and colleges. And so the

2:02:38 one that was closest to the work that I

2:02:40 uh to this area was working for Boston

2:02:42 College uh which is putting up putting

2:02:44 together a new archive. So I was doing

2:02:47 work uh there uh evaluating the lead uh

2:02:51 suitability particularly associated with

2:02:54 um water storm water management with

2:02:56 respect to that building. Uh so working

2:03:01 in support of our community members uh

2:03:04 whether they be in business or in

2:03:07 nonprofit or in the government I think

2:03:10 is something that I feel like I am

2:03:12 comfortable working with all those

2:03:14 different constituencies keeping the

2:03:16 public interest in mind.

2:03:18 Any other questions?

2:03:21 Michael.

2:03:23 Uh first of all thank you very much for

2:03:25 your application. Um

2:03:28 Have you had an opportunity to uh

2:03:31 observe a a uh a meeting of the

2:03:34 commission of the council?

2:03:35 Yes, I have.

2:03:36 And did you have any uh p thoughts on uh

2:03:41 the governance within that commission,

2:03:43 things that worked well, processes or

2:03:45 processes that could be improved?

2:03:48 That's a good question. Mostly I was

2:03:50 there just to to listen as and to be in

2:03:53 support of uh of Alex Cassie in

2:03:55 particular because I feel like he does

2:03:56 terrific work on the part of the town.

2:03:58 Um

2:04:00 uh I will not say that I have enough

2:04:02 experience with the dynamics of the

2:04:04 committee to be able to say that they

2:04:06 could do their work more effectively. I

2:04:07 think as as someone who is coming into

2:04:09 the committee for the first time, my job

2:04:11 at least at the start would be to to

2:04:12 listen and understand the structure of

2:04:14 all of of that. Um, I think what

2:04:18 impressed me uh was the uh the energy

2:04:22 particularly around doing site visits. I

2:04:24 know they all went out to to Putterham

2:04:26 uh golf course to look at a major

2:04:28 project and the enthusiasm that the

2:04:30 other members of the committee had shown

2:04:31 for getting out in the field and

2:04:33 observing those projects firsthand was

2:04:35 something that uh that it inspired me

2:04:37 that a committee made of volunteers were

2:04:40 uh showing that level of motivation.

2:04:42 Thank you.

2:04:44 Anyone else?

2:04:48 All right. Well, thank you very much for

2:04:49 interviewing with us. Uh, and you will

2:04:52 hear back at some point soon.

2:04:54 Thank you. I appreciate your time.

2:04:56 All right. Next up, we have Ernest Cook.

2:05:04 Excuse me. Before you before you

2:05:07 proceed, could we get a summary of the

2:05:10 number of positions that have open

2:05:12 one?

2:05:14 I'm I'm sorry. Could we get a summary of

2:05:16 the number of positions that are open?

2:05:17 Sure. That we're interviewing for.

2:05:19 There's one. It's on the um website for

2:05:21 commission.

2:05:22 Okay.

2:05:23 Thank you.

2:05:24 There's one current vacancy, right?

2:05:26 Yeah.

2:05:28 And one potential future one.

2:05:32 Hello. My name uh can you hear me? All

2:05:34 right. Is Ernest Cook. Um thank you for

2:05:37 considering my application to serve on

2:05:39 the Conservation Commission. I've been a

2:05:42 member of or a resident of Brooklyn for

2:05:46 I think about 30 years. Um I have been

2:05:50 active in town politics. I was uh served

2:05:54 on town meeting for six years. I am vice

2:05:58 president uh currently at the Brookline

2:06:00 Greenspace Alliance and uh we um

2:06:04 advocate as I'm sure you know for uh the

2:06:08 the conser park and conservation uh

2:06:11 spending and programs um within the

2:06:14 town. Um, I'm also on the board of

2:06:17 advisors of um the Charles River

2:06:21 Watershed Association, which cares

2:06:23 deeply about water quality in the

2:06:26 Charles River and its tributaries,

2:06:28 including the Muddy River. And as I'm

2:06:31 sure you know, Brookline is the

2:06:33 principal watershed for the Muddy River

2:06:36 and um contributes considerably to uh

2:06:40 water quality problems um in the Muddy

2:06:43 River. Um my professional career um for

2:06:48 oh nearly over 45 years has been

2:06:52 principally focused on parks and land

2:06:55 conservation. I I worked for the trust

2:06:58 for public land for 37 years um and rose

2:07:02 to become senior vice president and

2:07:06 director of national programs for that

2:07:08 organization. Um I've also had um

2:07:14 a consultant um business landwater

2:07:18 associates and uh where I've retained

2:07:21 several people with expertise and

2:07:24 wetlands and planning and public finance

2:07:29 to create plans

2:07:31 and implement plans for um parks and

2:07:35 land conservation. uh I was the for

2:07:38 example print uh well recently I've been

2:07:41 u moving toward retirement and uh

2:07:44 cutting down on the work of Landwater

2:07:46 Associates. So it's pretty much me now.

2:07:49 I I don't uh usually employ other people

2:07:52 at this point. Um but just uh one

2:07:55 example of my work. I was the principal

2:07:57 author of the land protection plan for

2:08:01 the US Fish and Wildlife Service to

2:08:03 expand the Iranis National Wildlife

2:08:06 Refuge in Texas with the goal of

2:08:09 protecting habitat for the recovering

2:08:13 population of the endangered whooping

2:08:15 crane. Um that was all about wetlands.

2:08:19 Um so in addition to the planning I'm

2:08:22 now involved in implementation of that

2:08:24 plan uh including uh applications for

2:08:27 funding from a variety of state and

2:08:31 federal sources as well as negotiations

2:08:33 with land owners to uh actually acquire

2:08:37 that land and move it into public

2:08:40 ownership and management.

2:08:43 Um, at that point I uh I could just open

2:08:47 for questions on my background and and

2:08:50 interests

2:08:52 questions.

2:08:54 [clears throat]

2:08:56 So a question I have if you could expand

2:08:58 a little bit about your experience as uh

2:09:02 the primary author of open space plans.

2:09:05 You referenced the Aransis

2:09:08 uh National [clears throat] Wildlife

2:09:09 Refuge in Texas. You also mentioned in

2:09:12 your resume something similar in

2:09:15 Georgia. U [clears throat] can you talk

2:09:17 a little bit about how you would utilize

2:09:19 that experience on the conservation

2:09:21 commission?

2:09:23 Yeah, I was just in in Georgia, I have

2:09:25 been um principally responsible for

2:09:29 creating uh two different partnerships

2:09:33 that have been pursuing land protection

2:09:36 to um avoid uh listing of various

2:09:41 species as endangered in the state. One

2:09:43 of them was the gopher tortoise. And uh

2:09:46 more recently this uh I've been leading

2:09:49 a partnership that is trying to um

2:09:54 avoid any further uh listing of

2:09:58 endangered species in four uh

2:10:01 significant watersheds in north um north

2:10:04 northwest Georgia. Um the uh I don't

2:10:09 have a great deal of much experience in

2:10:13 uh

2:10:14 regulatory approaches. Uh I have done uh

2:10:19 work on in California to prepare um

2:10:23 environmental quality uh reports under

2:10:26 the um California Environmental Quality

2:10:30 Act. Um but most of my work has been

2:10:33 kind of in the non-regulatory approach

2:10:36 to um uh meeting environmental goals

2:10:40 through incentives uh for for land

2:10:44 owners principally land protection uh

2:10:47 conservation easements um I have uh

2:10:51 written many conservation easements and

2:10:53 negotiated those with land owners um so

2:10:58 uh it's that experience I think working

2:11:00 a lot with the the the private sector

2:11:02 and understanding incentives that I

2:11:04 could bring that perspective to the

2:11:06 conservation commission.

2:11:08 From the materials you provided though,

2:11:10 it looks like you also had some

2:11:11 experience with promoting federal

2:11:14 legislation uh in relation to the

2:11:16 Connecticut River Conservancy.

2:11:18 Uh yes. Um I was for oh probably 10

2:11:23 years at the Trust for Public Land in

2:11:26 charge of um all government relations.

2:11:29 Uh and that included um a significant

2:11:34 group of uh uh uh federal affairs

2:11:40 experts working out of an office in

2:11:42 Washington DC. And uh I brought that uh

2:11:47 experience

2:11:48 later to my work as a as a consultant

2:11:51 with Landwater Associates. And um had a

2:11:56 couple of um uh consulting uh uh

2:12:01 projects related to um large watershed

2:12:06 uh protection efforts. One of them being

2:12:08 the Connecticut River. And uh there I

2:12:12 helped to design legislation that was

2:12:14 ultimately pretty much in the form I

2:12:17 developed it adopted um to uh expand

2:12:24 um federal uh ambition shall we say to

2:12:29 to protect that watershed.

2:12:32 Thank you Michael.

2:12:35 Uh thank you. Um,

2:12:37 have I'm wondering if you've had the

2:12:39 opportunity to sit in on a meeting of

2:12:41 the Conservation Commission.

2:12:43 I have not actually.

2:12:44 Okay. Um, are there any particular um,

2:12:50 charges of the Conservation Commission

2:12:52 or activities um, that you've gleaned

2:12:55 from its agendas um, or its work that

2:12:58 you are particularly interested in

2:13:00 diving in on?

2:13:03 Um

2:13:05 I'm very interested in um sustainability

2:13:10 in uh promoting green infrastructure.

2:13:14 Um and uh I have done a fair amount of

2:13:19 work in that arena. Um, I'm in charge of

2:13:23 a uh sustainability

2:13:26 um uh committee and plan for um uh for

2:13:32 my boat club, Riverside Boat Club in

2:13:34 Cambridge. Um so sustainability issues

2:13:37 have always keenly interested me.

2:13:41 Thank you.

2:13:43 Anyone else?

2:13:45 All right. Well, thank you very much for

2:13:46 the interview and you'll hear back from

2:13:48 us. Thank you, [clears throat]

2:13:50 David.

2:13:51 Yes,

2:13:51 had a scheduling issue, so he won't be

2:13:53 joining us until July 14th.

2:13:55 Okay,

2:13:57 so with that, then we will move on to 8B

2:14:02 interviews for Brookline Commission for

2:14:04 the Arts. And we might as well review

2:14:06 how many open positions are there?

2:14:08 Three.

2:14:09 Three positions currently. And how many

2:14:10 applicants total?

2:14:12 Um, three tonight. I think we have two

2:14:14 others that we have previously

2:14:15 interviewed.

2:14:16 Okay. [clears throat]

2:14:17 So, first up we have Arav Patel.

2:14:24 Um, hello. I'm Arav Patel. I attend

2:14:27 Brooklyn High School. Um, I'm a junior

2:14:31 in the fall. I live in district 10. Um,

2:14:37 I want to be on the committee cuz I've

2:14:39 seen how public art can change like the

2:14:41 space and bring community together. I've

2:14:44 also um started the impact walls which

2:14:48 Jason Kakone started which like brings

2:14:51 like all the murals around Brooklyn they

2:14:53 bring a sense of community and um

2:14:58 bring like the community together and

2:15:00 lots of students from Driscoll an

2:15:02 elementary school that I went to um have

2:15:05 worked on the murals near Driscoll like

2:15:07 the one next to Stokes and the club that

2:15:11 I started um has and trying to help um

2:15:16 do this and clean up the neighborhood

2:15:18 like all the graffiti.

2:15:21 Um I've also had experience in one of

2:15:25 their meetings. I've attended a few of

2:15:27 their meetings cuz I was invited and got

2:15:30 to see firsthand how everything was. um

2:15:35 I faced or I have um seen that and I

2:15:39 just want to like change the community

2:15:41 and change like how art can be

2:15:44 accessible to everyone and not and make

2:15:47 it just more accessible.

2:15:52 All right, thank you. Any questions?

2:15:56 Amanda,

2:15:57 um I I always like when our high school

2:16:00 students uh throw their hat in the rink

2:16:02 to apply for various commissions. Um and

2:16:05 so I'm wondering for you what uh in

2:16:09 inspired, for lack of a better word, uh

2:16:11 you to apply to this commission uh and

2:16:15 really any commission in the high

2:16:17 school? Well, um Jason, uh the founder

2:16:21 of uh Impact Walls, he said it would be

2:16:24 a great idea because he was on this

2:16:27 commission and it helped him um learn

2:16:30 more about how learn more about

2:16:33 community and a sense of community and

2:16:35 also learn more about how art can like

2:16:39 bring the community together.

2:16:41 But I also wanted to join because um

2:16:44 I've seen many of like the showcases of

2:16:47 what the Brooklyn Arts Committee

2:16:49 Committee has done like the um ability

2:16:54 um performance that was held like a

2:16:57 month ago. Um

2:17:00 um and I just wanted to join because it

2:17:06 would help like me and I think I could

2:17:10 bring um skills to the committee.

2:17:16 Thank you.

2:17:17 Could could you talk a little bit more

2:17:19 about your work in founding Impact

2:17:22 Walls? How many people participate in

2:17:24 it? uh which mural initiatives you've

2:17:27 been involved in there.

2:17:30 Um at our club we have about 20 people

2:17:34 who um have been helping. We have done

2:17:38 bake sales and trying to raise money so

2:17:40 we can clean some of the graffiti like

2:17:42 at Gregs. Um I have been involved in two

2:17:46 murals. Um the one next to Stokes with

2:17:50 like the dragon um and

2:17:54 the pizza and that and then one with

2:17:58 this one was taken down because of the

2:18:01 reconstruction of Driscoll but is the I

2:18:04 think it's still in the school though.

2:18:06 Um it's the mural of

2:18:11 Mr. Um,

2:18:13 I'm blanking on his name, but he um was

2:18:18 with Martin Luther King Jr. and it's

2:18:20 just a mural of him.

2:18:26 [clears throat]

2:18:26 Bernard, do you have

2:18:28 I think Amanda for ask question I was

2:18:31 thinking about, but give give me a sense

2:18:33 of um how how [clears throat] excuse me,

2:18:37 my voice. Um, give me a sense of how you

2:18:40 would uh bring the sort of energy of

2:18:43 high school students and and other youth

2:18:46 uh to uh the arts commission and the

2:18:49 types of programs you think that they're

2:18:51 missing out on or not doing that uh

2:18:54 would appeal to youth.

2:18:58 Um, I think that many people don't

2:19:02 appreciate like the art and things that

2:19:06 the committee has done before cuz they

2:19:09 don't know about it. So, I would want to

2:19:11 bring like awareness to it. And I also

2:19:14 don't think it's very interactive. Like

2:19:18 much of the art that the committee has

2:19:20 done isn't very interactive with the

2:19:21 people. It's either just a showcase or

2:19:24 it's just like them painting a wall and

2:19:26 not saying anything about it. Cuz the

2:19:28 new mural that they put up next to

2:19:30 Autos, I personally had no clue that

2:19:32 they were doing it until I joined one of

2:19:34 their meetings and they started talking

2:19:36 about it. I also never knew about it

2:19:40 until I like walked over and looked at

2:19:43 it. But there's no awareness. So, I'd

2:19:45 want to bring awareness to all the art

2:19:48 and then I think that would be helpful

2:19:50 for everybody in Brooklyn High or just

2:19:53 in high schools and the youth to see if

2:19:55 there was more awareness.

2:20:00 Anyone else?

2:20:02 All right. Thank you very much. Uh,

2:20:04 you'll hear from us eventually.

2:20:08 Uh, [clears throat] next up we have

2:20:09 Kelly Pope.

2:20:17 Hello everyone. Thank you for having me

2:20:19 tonight. My name is Kelly Pope. I've

2:20:22 been a resident of Brooklyn for over 20

2:20:24 years. I am a new resident at Marian

2:20:27 Street, which we just cut the ribbon on

2:20:30 my building not too long ago, and I'm

2:20:33 very excited to be here. I currently sit

2:20:35 on the board council on Aging. I

2:20:38 formally sat on the board age friendly

2:20:41 cities committee and tonight I am

2:20:43 applying for commission for the arts. I

2:20:46 have a 40-year career in the music

2:20:48 business where I started my career with

2:20:51 Dolly Parton out of the University of

2:20:53 North Carolina where I sat on the on the

2:20:57 concert committee where I was studying

2:20:59 stage production and lighting. I

2:21:01 therefore went out on tour with her and

2:21:04 ended up in Los Angeles where my career

2:21:08 really took off. Um, I had a 10-year

2:21:11 career at Westlake Studios. And if

2:21:12 you've seen the Michael Jackson

2:21:14 documentary recently, then you would

2:21:16 have seen our studios because we

2:21:19 recorded every single record that

2:21:21 Michael did there. I therefore went on

2:21:24 to manage bands, having them signed to

2:21:26 Epic Records, touring with those bands.

2:21:29 Um, I then went on to produce my own

2:21:32 benefit concert that aided the LA

2:21:35 homeless.

2:21:36 And I'm applying for the Commission of

2:21:39 the Arts because I know that I can bring

2:21:40 a wealth of talent and experience in the

2:21:45 field of music, which is the arts, that

2:21:48 I feel that we are lacking a little bit

2:21:50 in the community of Brooklyn. and I have

2:21:53 been invited to sit into one of their

2:21:56 meetings which happened to be just a few

2:21:59 hours after I applied for this um

2:22:01 position but was unable to attend and um

2:22:05 talked subsequently to Jillian and I

2:22:08 look very forward to meeting everyone

2:22:10 because it is an A-list

2:22:13 talent of people on this committee and

2:22:16 I'm very excited about meeting everybody

2:22:18 there and if you have any questions for

2:22:21 me I'd be happy to answered them.

2:22:24 All right. Any questions for Miss Pope?

2:22:28 Michael.

2:22:29 Um, thank you. [clears throat] Um,

2:22:34 in ter in terms of of all of the skills

2:22:37 that you've you've developed um in your

2:22:40 long music career. Um, are there are

2:22:43 there sort of particular ways that you

2:22:47 think those skills can be applied to the

2:22:50 work of the commission or the projects

2:22:53 that the commission might sponsor or

2:22:56 evaluate?

2:22:57 Um, yes, I am I I really wanted to try

2:23:01 to meet and have a meeting with them

2:23:03 before I I did my interview, but that

2:23:05 did not work out. But I I have seen

2:23:11 some of the music projects that were

2:23:13 granted um grants this past year and I

2:23:16 feel that we can open those genres a

2:23:19 little bit further to include other

2:23:22 forms of music and not just like

2:23:25 woodwind and more classical things that

2:23:27 they have been granting these grants to.

2:23:31 I also would like to see us

2:23:35 step our toes into maybe combining more

2:23:37 arts and music with Brooklyn Day and

2:23:40 maybe co-producing

2:23:42 some things with the rooms um at Koolage

2:23:45 Corner Theater that they built to host

2:23:48 arts and crafts and different production

2:23:52 values of people coming in and the art

2:23:55 world and also we were losing our

2:23:58 galleries here and that is a big

2:24:01 strangle hold on us. We need to really

2:24:04 find a place to showcase the people that

2:24:06 live within the Brooklyn community, not

2:24:09 only in physical and meet different

2:24:12 medias of arts, but also music,

2:24:15 performance, and those areas as well.

2:24:18 And I would just like a chance to sit

2:24:19 down with a member of the committees and

2:24:23 really hash out some future plans of how

2:24:26 we can start branching out a little bit

2:24:28 further.

2:24:30 Thank you.

2:24:32 [clears throat]

2:24:33 I I have a similar question. So I notice

2:24:35 and again you spoke to this about your

2:24:37 extensive experience with uh major music

2:24:40 bands and uh I I appreciate that it

2:24:44 sounds like your uh bent within Brooklyn

2:24:48 Commission for the Arts would be uh

2:24:50 auditory and performance-based not just

2:24:53 visual. Do you have experience doing uh

2:24:57 something similar with other communities

2:24:59 [clears throat]

2:25:00 in terms of arranging sort of municipal

2:25:04 arts?

2:25:06 Um I do do you remember Mr. Cutler's

2:25:09 outside the box? He has passed now but

2:25:12 he did this wonderful festival on the

2:25:14 Boston Commons

2:25:16 um before he passed away called Outside

2:25:20 the Box. and you know and I stepped up

2:25:22 and I volunteered for that and basically

2:25:25 the first place they threw me was

2:25:27 backstage to deal with all the talent.

2:25:31 So I have a plethora of experience with

2:25:35 PR production.

2:25:38 Um, there's so much that goes into it.

2:25:41 It's It's really, as you know, it's a

2:25:44 lot to to put to to put on a show and I

2:25:48 feel that I can bring those elements to

2:25:51 the Commission of the Arts because I

2:25:52 think we are lacking and those

2:25:54 production values. Um, and I would still

2:25:58 like to try to do things with Brookline

2:26:00 Wreck, like co-produce some things

2:26:03 because I know that Cadence is carrying

2:26:06 on the live shows at the parks and I

2:26:09 feel that we could do a lot more than

2:26:11 what we're doing. So, I I welcome the

2:26:15 challenge.

2:26:16 Thank you, Bernard.

2:26:18 So, so we could do a lot more than what

2:26:20 we're doing. What What do you think is

2:26:22 preventing us from doing a lot more? I

2:26:24 mean, for example, uh spaces for

2:26:28 performances may be limited here in

2:26:30 Brooklyn. Yeah. There may not be an

2:26:33 appreciation of different genres of

2:26:35 music, for example, um in in Brooklyn

2:26:38 that which could be an educational

2:26:40 issue. You know, what what what other

2:26:42 things do you think um you know, sort of

2:26:44 impede that uh effort?

2:26:48 Um that is a great question, Bernard.

2:26:51 Um,

2:26:53 you know, music is vast and it and

2:26:56 expands every generation

2:27:00 and what might be for you may not be for

2:27:04 me and what might be for me music-wise

2:27:06 may not be for other people, but but we

2:27:09 do have a stage on Brooklyn Day and I

2:27:12 think that we can grace that stage with

2:27:16 a plethora of different genres from the

2:27:19 voices of the people that live in

2:27:22 Brooklyn

2:27:24 um that are musically talented. And I

2:27:26 think that we need to do that. And I

2:27:28 think it would be great to make

2:27:30 Brookline Day more of a

2:27:34 more to add more festival

2:27:37 bands, performances,

2:27:40 arts.

2:27:41 Um, and also setting up giving the

2:27:46 artists a chance to get booths to

2:27:49 display their works as well, Bernard. I

2:27:51 think that's really really important.

2:27:53 And also bands to display their CDs or,

2:27:57 you know, their download details or, you

2:28:00 know, I just did, you know, it's funny.

2:28:02 I still run

2:28:05 the platforms for creation records and I

2:28:08 lived in London, England for a very long

2:28:10 time. after I left um LA. And I have

2:28:15 given those bands that used to be on

2:28:17 Creation a second breath of life because

2:28:20 we're all in our 50s. I'm in my 60s. And

2:28:26 it's amazing how just the power of these

2:28:30 social media platforms get the word out.

2:28:33 And I think that we can utilize that a

2:28:35 lot better in Brooklyn as well on our

2:28:38 social media sites and getting the word

2:28:40 out. So, I'm up for the challenge. I

2:28:43 would really really like to to sit down

2:28:45 and speak with the present committee

2:28:47 members and the new members that you all

2:28:49 decide to take on. And

2:28:54 I'm just up for the challenge. I have a

2:28:56 vision of really trying to help in the

2:28:59 music department wherever I can and and

2:29:02 listen and and work with people to

2:29:08 we have a lot of talent in Brooklyn.

2:29:09 It's just not being utilized.

2:29:14 Anyone else?

2:29:17 All right. Well, thank you very much for

2:29:18 the interview.

2:29:19 Thank you. Nice to see everyone. And

2:29:22 next up we have Saiaka Minagishi.

2:29:28 Yeah, this is Saiaka.

2:29:30 Hello. Um, my name is Saka Migishi. You

2:29:34 can call me Sai. Um, I am a resident of

2:29:37 Brooklyn for eight years and I live on

2:29:40 Brown Street which is in North Brooklyn.

2:29:43 Um, if I'm selected to serve on the

2:29:45 Brooklyn Commission for the Arts, I

2:29:47 would love to bring um I would love to

2:29:50 contribute to the ongoing efforts to um

2:29:56 strengthen public spaces such as um

2:29:58 through the rapid recovery plan. And I

2:30:01 believe that art has the power to make

2:30:03 neighborhoods more vibrant, inviting.

2:30:05 And I would like to um encourage more in

2:30:09 installation of murals and galleries to

2:30:14 um to all people of all background

2:30:18 regardless of their arts background back

2:30:22 art backgrounds. Um

2:30:25 and I am very grateful for my upcoming

2:30:28 exhibition at the Pam branch. um which

2:30:31 is from July to August. But I am also

2:30:35 keen to um encourage um more

2:30:38 collaborative work, not just displaying

2:30:41 work. So I'd love to um encourage

2:30:44 projects that are created with it with

2:30:48 the community members um from all ages

2:30:51 and all backgrounds. Um, and I think

2:30:55 that murals and um public artworks

2:30:59 otherwise

2:31:01 like um like p pictures or

2:31:06 famed artworks or sculptures there. I

2:31:08 think they're all um great ways to

2:31:10 foster creativity. Um and I want to give

2:31:13 all residents like a sense of ownership

2:31:16 over Brookline's public spaces.

2:31:19 And I would like to bring a

2:31:21 collaborative mind mindset and um a

2:31:24 willing a willingness to listen. And I

2:31:28 am very um excited to make Brook Lines

2:31:32 uh to help make Brook Lines community

2:31:35 more accessible and

2:31:38 um and somewhat comfortable for all.

2:31:45 Yeah. Thank you.

2:31:47 All right. Thank you. Any questions?

2:31:48 Amanda?

2:31:50 Yeah. Uh, so you spoke really nicely

2:31:52 just now as well as in your written

2:31:54 response about the need to increase

2:31:57 accessibility of art to a much wider

2:32:00 swath of the public, including those

2:32:02 with disabilities. I would love for you

2:32:04 to expand a little bit on that because I

2:32:06 I think that's a really good goal and

2:32:08 I'm curious as to how you might actually

2:32:10 be able to accomplish that.

2:32:12 Yeah. So like we we have um a place

2:32:17 called Gateway Arts. I don't know

2:32:19 whether everyone knows it but it's um

2:32:22 it's an organization where people with

2:32:25 disabled backgrounds can participate and

2:32:29 create art and sell online. Um and they

2:32:32 have galleries online as well where

2:32:34 people can see their artworks. And I

2:32:36 believe that if you extend that to the

2:32:40 wider community u for example like doing

2:32:43 that kind of event regularly um outside

2:32:46 of get outside of that program that can

2:32:49 really make um art more inviting and can

2:32:54 really help to make art accessible to

2:32:57 all.

2:32:59 Thank you

2:33:01 Michael. Um, [clears throat] thank you

2:33:04 very much for your application. Um, I'm

2:33:06 wondering if you can talk at all about

2:33:10 how you think about

2:33:13 motivating the the broader public to be

2:33:17 engaged in the kinds of art uh,

2:33:20 installations or murals or other uh,

2:33:24 ways of engaging it in art within

2:33:27 Brooklyn.

2:33:30 Yeah. So I think that we shouldn't make

2:33:32 art projects like um only for artists.

2:33:38 So I think we should make for examp like

2:33:41 we should make you know um pop-up stores

2:33:44 that are like that can that where people

2:33:49 can easily stop by and create some kind

2:33:51 of art like contribute to the sign or

2:33:54 like um something very small that people

2:33:58 don't have pressure to be good at.

2:34:02 I think that's like a great way to um

2:34:04 encourage people to be more involved in

2:34:06 art. And if if people are interested,

2:34:09 they can, you know, go further to um to

2:34:14 interact more with the Brooklyn art

2:34:16 community.

2:34:18 Thank you.

2:34:20 You speak in your materials about art

2:34:23 [clears throat] as a form of emotional

2:34:26 expression, not just uh something that

2:34:29 many people would find beautiful that's

2:34:30 been made by a professional. And so

2:34:33 somewhat similar to what Michael's

2:34:35 asking, do you have any uh experience

2:34:39 with arranging certain types of art

2:34:42 activities or events that are designed

2:34:44 to encourage

2:34:47 uh sort of the lay people or those like

2:34:49 myself who can maybe draw a stick figure

2:34:52 into uh artistic [clears throat]

2:34:54 expression?

2:34:56 Yeah. Um so I've been involved in um

2:35:01 organizing art activities for a temple

2:35:04 that I go to that I went to um back in

2:35:06 Australia. I came from Australia um

2:35:09 before I came from Japan and um I helped

2:35:15 make like origami sessions um where

2:35:19 people can just fold origamis um and

2:35:23 that kind I think that encouraged people

2:35:26 from all backgrounds to participate even

2:35:28 lay people um because origami you don't

2:35:31 have to like think much and you can just

2:35:33 follow the instructions and fold papers

2:35:35 um and what you can make is really

2:35:38 interesting. So that I think that was um

2:35:43 a helpful project

2:35:45 and

2:35:48 yeah

2:35:50 and then you also

2:35:51 and also yeah

2:35:52 you reference that you I see in your

2:35:54 materials you lived in Australia, you

2:35:56 studied there. Is there something that

2:35:58 Australia is doing that we're not that

2:36:01 you would want to bring here?

2:36:03 Um no I mean I would like to so each

2:36:08 country has it good and bads but um from

2:36:11 Australia I would like to actually bring

2:36:14 um I would like to bring like the

2:36:16 culture of accepting everyone. Um I

2:36:21 don't have anything that I don't want to

2:36:22 bring but I do want to bring the culture

2:36:26 of accepting everyone regardless of

2:36:28 their accent or you know backgrounds. Um

2:36:32 because I believe that art, you can

2:36:35 speak through art. Um art can art can

2:36:38 access act access as a voice. So I

2:36:42 really want um people more people in

2:36:44 Brooklyn to be able to speak their

2:36:46 emotions um through engaging in art

2:36:50 activities.

2:36:54 All right. Thank you. Any other

2:36:56 questions?

2:36:58 All right. Seeing none, thank you for

2:37:00 interviewing and we will get back to

2:37:01 you.

2:37:02 Thank you.

2:37:04 I I just want to say as a broad

2:37:05 statement, I am really impressed with

2:37:08 the interviews that we have had. I mean,

2:37:10 we have some really talented people in

2:37:13 this community and uh we're going to

2:37:14 have some difficult decisions before us

2:37:17 because I'm really impressed. I mean,

2:37:19 some of these applications you'd think

2:37:20 that they could be applying at state and

2:37:22 federal level even. Wow. All right. So

2:37:26 with that we will move to annual

2:37:29 appointments. Question of making annual

2:37:31 appointments as recommended by the the

2:37:33 [clears throat] town administrator of

2:37:35 department heads, administrators and

2:37:36 other officials and employees and of

2:37:38 setting the benefits, salaries and wages

2:37:40 of all non-UN employees effective July

2:37:43 1st, 2026.

2:37:44 Yes, thank you. Um first off, I want to

2:37:47 thank the entire town administrator team

2:37:49 and the whole staff for bringing this

2:37:51 together. You can see Charlie Young um

2:37:53 is the author of this memo. Technically,

2:37:55 it's supposed to come from me. So, this

2:37:57 is me officially endorsing Charlie's

2:37:59 work on this. Um um but I really want to

2:38:02 thank the whole team um for bringing

2:38:05 this together. This is a big production

2:38:06 every year. Um every year um some

2:38:11 positions uh that you uh appoint are

2:38:14 required to be reappointed by either

2:38:16 local law or state statute. So, you

2:38:18 reappoint those. You also have a number

2:38:20 of the ancient positions listed. the

2:38:22 keeper of wooden bark, the keeper of the

2:38:25 gaol, um spelled that way. Um you know,

2:38:29 measurer of coal, etc. Um all of those

2:38:32 you are required by ancient

2:38:33 Massachusetts statute to do. Um you are

2:38:36 also technically required, for the

2:38:37 record, to walk the boundary of

2:38:40 Brookline and measure the meats and

2:38:42 bounds of it. Uh we don't make you do

2:38:43 that anymore. Um but it's technically

2:38:45 the law. Um

2:38:46 be fine. just so you know, uh, you got

2:38:49 to go find all the little stones where

2:38:51 where the boundaries of Boston are. Um,

2:38:53 so no, we don't make you do that

2:38:54 anymore. Um, but we do, um, ask that you

2:38:58 reappoint, as a matter of course, uh,

2:39:00 those employees. Obviously, um, under

2:39:02 the new, you know, under the current,

2:39:05 uh, system with department heads, um,

2:39:07 it's a little different than how it used

2:39:08 to be, but as a matter of statute, we

2:39:10 have to reconfirm some appointments. So,

2:39:12 we just ask you to do that. Um, for the

2:39:14 non-UN employees, uh, the cost of living

2:39:17 adjustment this year is 1.5%. We

2:39:19 acknowledge that that is below the rate

2:39:21 of inflation. We acknowledge that that

2:39:23 is a tough, uh, adjustment to make. Um,

2:39:27 but at the same time, that was the

2:39:28 adjustment that was put in place knowing

2:39:31 that there this would be an override

2:39:33 year, knowing that we would have these

2:39:34 conversations about um, things going

2:39:36 forward. Um and we just want to

2:39:39 acknowledge everyone's service and

2:39:41 appreciate that while we are grateful to

2:39:44 be able to give some cost of living

2:39:45 adjustments and this is uh many people

2:39:48 will receive stamp adjustments as well.

2:39:50 So for those folks there um they are

2:39:52 seeing an increase above 1.5%. Um but we

2:39:56 acknowledge that that cost of living

2:39:57 adjustment is a tough one. Um and yet we

2:39:59 will continue to do our best to provide

2:40:02 parody to our employees with our

2:40:04 comparable communities and ensure that

2:40:06 everyone is compensated fairly and

2:40:08 competitively for the work that they do.

2:40:11 Um the last couple years have featured

2:40:14 some adjustments to the department head

2:40:16 pay plan as part of the mid and the

2:40:18 mid-level technical pay plan. Um this

2:40:20 was part of the prior override. uh you

2:40:23 allotted $500,000 in the prior override

2:40:26 to conduct a study that had been uh

2:40:29 basically on hold for more than a decade

2:40:31 uh of whether or not we were

2:40:33 compensating our non-union employees

2:40:35 fairly. Um that resulted in significant

2:40:37 raises most notably to our social

2:40:39 workers which was a huge benefit um but

2:40:41 also to folks that had not seen um

2:40:43 reevaluation in quite some time. That

2:40:45 process is now largely shaken out. There

2:40:47 is one final change in here for the

2:40:50 director of water and sewer. Uh so you

2:40:52 can look at all the different movements

2:40:54 in here. Um it's just you know uh a

2:40:57 correction due to the um you know the

2:41:00 intricacies of changing people's grades.

2:41:02 Sometimes their pay actually went up

2:41:04 less than it would have if they had

2:41:06 stayed in the same grade. And so this is

2:41:08 just a correction to that um for Jay

2:41:10 Hersy's position uh to ensure that he's

2:41:13 uh at the right level of compensation.

2:41:16 Um and so uh but other than that uh

2:41:18 there's nothing out of the ordinary for

2:41:20 the um uh the positions listed on your u

2:41:25 the department head pay plan. All that

2:41:27 information is set um and that will be

2:41:30 um when if you vote this that will all

2:41:33 be set for the current fiscal year and

2:41:34 we'll have be in good shape to proceed

2:41:38 into FY27.

2:41:40 Anthony

2:41:41 I have a question on the 0.1. What does

2:41:43 that last sentence mean when it says,

2:41:44 "Please note that positions such as town

2:41:46 administrator, chief of police, fire

2:41:47 chief, and town council have a different

2:41:49 status due to provisions of other laws."

2:41:51 What does that mean?

2:41:53 Um, so

2:41:56 we so some of those positions, so for

2:41:58 like the those three positions, my

2:42:01 position, the chief of police, and fire.

2:42:05 So town council is slightly different

2:42:06 than those, but the um we are the chief

2:42:09 the the chiefs and I are contractual

2:42:11 employees. So we are appointed based on

2:42:13 your authority directly and we uh we

2:42:16 work on contract rather than as part of

2:42:18 the department head pay plan. Um with

2:42:21 that said all of our salaries are

2:42:23 incorporated into our contracts but this

2:42:26 contract and not the pay plan is the

2:42:27 source of our uh uh payment. town

2:42:31 council is reappointed uh is is a

2:42:33 reappointed position and so that's

2:42:36 statutory or local statutory I believe

2:42:38 and not um so that's just slight it's

2:42:41 just a slightly different method of

2:42:42 appointment um whereas the rest of the

2:42:45 department heads under the town

2:42:46 administrator act I recommend them for

2:42:49 appointment to you and you make those

2:42:50 appointments um but there's no special

2:42:52 statute governing that so they serve for

2:42:56 um they they serve at at will they're at

2:42:59 will employees but they serve for a

2:43:00 dedicated term the same way that I do,

2:43:03 the chiefs do in town council does.

2:43:06 Those terms being set by your contract?

2:43:08 Yes. In our case, yes, in town council's

2:43:10 case, it's renewed every year. Um, but

2:43:12 yes, for the police chiefs, the police

2:43:13 chief, the fire chief, and I, we all

2:43:15 operate on three-year contracts.

2:43:17 Got it. Okay. So, I don't understand. I

2:43:19 guess it doesn't make sense to me. I

2:43:20 guess it doesn't matter. Like town

2:43:21 council is still for one year, but it's

2:43:24 a contract.

2:43:25 So, town council is not a contractual.

2:43:26 Yeah, this is Yeah, this is right. Town

2:43:28 Council is the and some you can see the

2:43:30 couple other positions that are listed

2:43:32 there. Um you're they're um they're not

2:43:36 contractual employees. They are still

2:43:37 department heads, but because there is a

2:43:39 local law that says they must be

2:43:41 reappointed by the select board every

2:43:43 year, we reappoint them, but we treat

2:43:45 them no differently than other

2:43:46 department heads. It's just that we have

2:43:48 to honor the terms of the local law when

2:43:50 we reappoint them.

2:43:51 Okay,

2:43:53 Michael. Um so you you mentioned the

2:43:56 director of water and sewer was a

2:43:58 correction. Yes. And I was and I was

2:44:00 going to ask the question of why um that

2:44:03 particular

2:44:05 um position went up two steps as opposed

2:44:09 to others which went up either zero or

2:44:11 one. Correct. And I'm assuming that that

2:44:13 is the reason. Yes. Um so the question I

2:44:16 have um and this I guess particularly

2:44:19 applies to not the department heads but

2:44:22 potentially division heads um or other

2:44:26 sort of second tier management

2:44:28 positions. Um was there any um

2:44:33 basically competitive analysis done for

2:44:36 similar positions in other communities

2:44:38 and potentially the need for adjustments

2:44:41 in those?

2:44:42 Yes. just so that um we don't find

2:44:45 ourselves in the position of

2:44:47 undercompensating relative to other

2:44:50 opportunities that our excellent town

2:44:52 staff may be able to afford themselves

2:44:55 of.

2:44:55 Yes. So in both of those cases um all

2:44:58 non-UN positions were evaluated as part

2:45:00 of that uh process that was undertaken

2:45:02 during the last override cycle. So, not

2:45:04 just the department heads, but the

2:45:06 division heads, the um folks who are

2:45:09 part of that what we call the T plan,

2:45:11 which is the technical and mid

2:45:12 management staff. So, that ranges all

2:45:14 the way up to a T17, which is the

2:45:17 director of public buildings, all the

2:45:18 way down to, um, you know, technical

2:45:21 employees down at the, you know, T4 or

2:45:24 five level, um, who are line employees

2:45:27 with technical expert, specific

2:45:28 technical expertise. So all of those

2:45:30 individuals were evaluated. Um and our

2:45:34 target point for this was if we were

2:45:37 greater than if we were out of alignment

2:45:39 more than 5% with our basket of

2:45:41 comparable communities that we would

2:45:43 bring those positions into alignment so

2:45:45 that they were less than that they were

2:45:47 at par um or within 5% based on our pay

2:45:50 plan. So we didn't want to blow up the

2:45:52 pay plan but we did bring people into

2:45:54 alignment. And when you say parody with

2:45:56 our peer communities, are you talking

2:45:59 about the the average pay of those or

2:46:03 the 75th percentile or what's the parody

2:46:06 point at which being considered?

2:46:09 It was the average. It was the it was

2:46:10 the a um it was the average of a diff

2:46:13 but each position had a different basket

2:46:15 of communities because some communities

2:46:17 just don't have positions. Some

2:46:19 communities have different. So it really

2:46:21 is it is an art as much of a science to

2:46:23 try and figure out you know and people's

2:46:25 responsibilities are different. Um you

2:46:27 know for example in our our space you

2:46:30 know Lincoln's job is both treasurer

2:46:33 collector and finance director. In other

2:46:35 communities those are two separate jobs.

2:46:37 Um so you know thinking about how these

2:46:41 all fit together and what their roles

2:46:43 and responsibilities are results in

2:46:45 differing baskets of comparable

2:46:47 communities for each position.

2:46:49 Yeah. Um,

2:46:52 one of the reasons I asked is because

2:46:54 there is some risk. If you are looking

2:46:57 at the average, then that means that

2:47:00 half of the communities in your basket

2:47:02 are actually typically paying better

2:47:05 than you. Yes. And that is a very large

2:47:07 pool of opportunity. Yes. That we have

2:47:10 to respond to. And in our case, we we we

2:47:14 took the average as kind of the

2:47:16 guidestone, but we didn't adhere to that

2:47:18 at a oneto one. You know, for example,

2:47:20 if we saw that there was a wide

2:47:21 variance, if there was a significant

2:47:23 standard deviation, then we looked at

2:47:25 whether or not a movement upwards was

2:47:27 appropriate in those circumstances. So,

2:47:29 it wasn't always targeting just the

2:47:31 average. That was where we were trying

2:47:32 to wind up. But we for example in some

2:47:36 situations did see that there was

2:47:37 significant variance and we wanted to be

2:47:39 competitive and you know one of the

2:47:42 analyses that was done for the

2:47:44 department of public works does target

2:47:46 that 70% um it was a separate study that

2:47:50 was done so we are looking at that more

2:47:52 at the 70th percentile rather than at

2:47:54 the average.

2:47:56 Thank you. I have a question sort of

2:47:59 along those lines of we did this

2:48:00 essentially internal audit of of pay

2:48:02 structure. Five years from now are we

2:48:04 going to have to do a similar audit or

2:48:07 did part part of that work look at

2:48:09 scaling over time?

2:48:10 Part of that work looked at scaling over

2:48:12 time. Um you know how to and it is I I

2:48:15 will be frank our our pay plan has

2:48:18 evolved over the years. I think our next

2:48:21 step, you know, not in the immediate

2:48:23 term, but probably over the next five,

2:48:24 ten years is is rebuilding the pay plan.

2:48:28 Um, we now are where we want to be with

2:48:31 a lot of these non-union positions in

2:48:32 terms of compensation. What's out of

2:48:34 whack sometimes is the pay bands and

2:48:36 where the overlap is. It is very

2:48:39 difficult to create new positions and

2:48:41 move people around and create a

2:48:44 situation that's equitable. um you wind

2:48:46 up because our steps and and grades are

2:48:52 the way they are. Um

2:48:55 you're never going to make everyone

2:48:56 happy. Um you're always going to have a

2:48:58 situation where someone is going to say,

2:49:00 "Hey, wait a minute. That person is

2:49:01 being paid X for this job, but I do more

2:49:03 than that person does. Why am I being

2:49:05 paid less?" You know, why am I in a

2:49:07 different pay plan? I get that a lot. Um

2:49:10 it's and I understand why. It's it's

2:49:12 we've asked this system which has been

2:49:14 around for many years to do a lot. Um

2:49:17 it's time in the near future for us to

2:49:20 rebuild this pay plan, but that is going

2:49:22 to take a significant investment. So

2:49:24 we're it it works now. Um and I think

2:49:28 the compensation is correct and is

2:49:30 likely to sustain us in that next five

2:49:33 year window, 5 to 10 year window. But

2:49:36 eventually we're going to want to look

2:49:37 at are the steps right? Are the grades

2:49:39 right? um are the gaps between grades,

2:49:42 right? How can we make this cleaner um

2:49:44 going forward?

2:49:46 Thanks.

2:49:47 Under miscellaneous positions, there's

2:49:50 measures of wooden bark, but there's

2:49:51 some others that I'm wondering if they

2:49:52 have more application. So, for example,

2:49:55 fence viewer.

2:49:56 Yes,

2:49:57 I I I would imagine that's something

2:49:59 that town council would probably

2:50:02 actually handle. But does uh Aaron truly

2:50:06 deal with border disputes between

2:50:07 neighbors?

2:50:08 Yes. Um if we need to inspect someone's

2:50:11 fence. Um right if and again yes these

2:50:15 these are historic positions um and

2:50:19 ultimately the responsibilities are

2:50:20 diffuse among department heads but we

2:50:23 you know there are times for example

2:50:24 when we have to go back to right who was

2:50:26 the who who is the appropriate surveyor

2:50:29 for this and you know where's that

2:50:30 authority coming from. So yeah it's not

2:50:33 it's not all it's not all just

2:50:34 historical oddities but in many cases

2:50:37 the reality is this responsibility is

2:50:39 diffuse among multiple people in town.

2:50:40 We just need to name someone under by by

2:50:44 state law saying yeah this person does

2:50:46 this job.

2:50:46 And can you describe in a bit more

2:50:48 detail agent for management of real

2:50:50 estate? That sounds very broad.

2:50:52 You know what I have not looked up what

2:50:55 the agent for management of real estate

2:50:57 does. Um but I will get that information

2:50:59 to you. Um it is it is a very broad

2:51:02 that's your tax collector. That's your

2:51:04 tax collector essentially.

2:51:05 Thank you Melissa. I knew someone knew.

2:51:06 Uh,

2:51:11 all right.

2:51:12 And and we have the uh measure of wooden

2:51:15 barks.

2:51:16 Yes.

2:51:16 Taking on the oligarchy.

2:51:17 Two two measures. Pardon me.

2:51:19 I said taking on the oligarchy.

2:51:21 Right. That's right. And we have four

2:51:22 inspectors of animals.

2:51:23 Wow.

2:51:24 Um, how much coal did we weigh last

2:51:26 year? And how can we get that number to

2:51:28 zero as part of climate action?

2:51:29 It's part of net zero. It's part of

2:51:30 fossil fuel freedom. Sorry, let me

2:51:32 correct that. Um, we will be fossil fuel

2:51:34 free. There will be no weighing of coal.

2:51:36 Um if we need to weigh coal, we have we

2:51:39 have the ability.

2:51:39 Well, the town will be but residents,

2:51:42 right?

2:51:42 And and this is for measuring uh the

2:51:46 amount of coal people get when they buy

2:51:49 it, right?

2:51:50 Yeah. And I mean this is, you know, to

2:51:51 your I think you did a great job,

2:51:52 Anthony, in your speech at town meeting

2:51:54 talking about, you know, where these

2:51:55 positions come from, why they're

2:51:56 important. Um and it's very similar to

2:51:58 measure or wooden bark, right? It's and

2:52:00 now that function is contained really

2:52:01 within the health department, this idea

2:52:03 of, you know, weights and measures. um

2:52:05 ensuring that people aren't getting

2:52:07 scammed by a scale somewhere. Um that

2:52:10 used to be much more discreet tasks and

2:52:12 now that's professionalized in our

2:52:13 departments.

2:52:15 All right. So I move approval of the

2:52:18 question of making annual appointments

2:52:20 as recommended by the town administrator

2:52:22 of department heads, administrators and

2:52:24 other officials and employees and

2:52:25 upsetting the benefits, salaries and

2:52:27 wages of all non-un employees effective

2:52:30 July 1st, 2026.

2:52:32 Yes.

2:52:33 Michael. Yes,

2:52:34 Amanda.

2:52:35 Yes,

2:52:36 Anthony.

2:52:36 Yes.

2:52:36 And I also vote yes. With that, we will

2:52:40 move to agenda item number 10. Select

2:52:43 energy solar panels. And the question of

2:52:47 executing the bill of sale and solar

2:52:48 panel storage agreements. Let's select

2:52:51 for Pierce Brookline High School, H

2:52:53 School, Brooklyn Village Library, and

2:52:55 Fire Station One. But first, we'll have

2:52:57 a bit of a presentation.

2:53:02 Sorry, don't mind me. Good evening

2:53:03 everyone. Alexandra Veio. My keys were

2:53:05 tangled within my dress so I was just

2:53:07 trying to detach myself. Um all righty.

2:53:11 I will pull up our slide presentation

2:53:13 here. Um so this evening, um we're here

2:53:15 to talk about our strategic uh solar

2:53:17 initiative. Um this is what I'm going to

2:53:20 refer to as part one of that initiative.

2:53:22 Um and you've heard about this in kind

2:53:24 of a few different forms. um either when

2:53:26 we were talking about our climate action

2:53:28 and resiliency plan that was recently

2:53:29 adopted um at town meeting um when we

2:53:33 were talking about our CIP

2:53:34 authorizations

2:53:36 um and uh to some degree when we were

2:53:38 reviewing um the uh contract for

2:53:43 Driscoll Solar. So you've seen this in a

2:53:46 few different iterations. Um but uh this

2:53:49 evening um I am here to talk about uh

2:53:53 five projects that we are looking to

2:53:54 advance in compliance with the

2:53:56 investment tax credit. Uh before I jump

2:53:59 into what that means and why that's

2:54:01 important, um I want to acknowledge um

2:54:02 our deputy director of sustainability,

2:54:04 Shelley Dean, who's here with me this

2:54:05 evening. Uh she's worked uh very hard uh

2:54:08 to get us to this point. Um there has

2:54:10 been a lot of uh complicated factors um

2:54:14 and uh it takes a great deal of tenacity

2:54:16 to get us to where we are. So I

2:54:18 appreciate that. Um and also want to

2:54:20 acknowledge Jonathan Simpson who um has

2:54:22 been very helpful um in advising us as

2:54:24 we've been working through a lot of

2:54:25 different contractual agreements.

2:54:29 So just a quick uh reminder for I think

2:54:31 most of you know this but where we stand

2:54:33 on our municipal solar projects. Um,

2:54:37 currently the town has uh two townowned

2:54:40 systems. Those are relatively small um

2:54:42 at Putterham Library and on top of the

2:54:44 health department building. We have one

2:54:47 town-owned system that's currently under

2:54:48 construction, very near conclusion, and

2:54:51 that is at Driscoll School. And then we

2:54:53 have five other PV arrays that have been

2:54:55 developed as power purchase agreements.

2:54:58 Um, which means that those are not

2:54:59 town-owned facilities, but instead

2:55:01 basically we're leasing out our rooftop.

2:55:03 Um and we're receiving a reduction on

2:55:05 our overall utility bills and those are

2:55:07 at Brookline High School, Bronl School,

2:55:09 Ridley, uh the swimming pool as well as

2:55:13 uh the municipal service center. So that

2:55:15 is our existing uh solar portfolio. Um,

2:55:19 and the question that was brought

2:55:21 forward throughout the climate action

2:55:23 resilience planning process as we were

2:55:24 looking to become a designated climate

2:55:26 leader community as we think about our

2:55:28 net zero goal, but also as we take we as

2:55:30 we look at our financial um uh forecasts

2:55:34 for utilities and bills in the future

2:55:36 was how do we um find a way forward that

2:55:39 is both sustainable um and financially

2:55:41 feasible. And um the federal government

2:55:45 um under the Biden administration

2:55:47 developed the federal investment tax

2:55:48 credit. Um I'll refer to it as ITC. Um

2:55:52 if you were here on the board when we

2:55:54 talked about the Driscoll School

2:55:55 project, then you've heard about this

2:55:56 before. Um there have been a lot of

2:55:59 unknowns on when this was expiring um

2:56:01 and a lot of stress um from that. Um but

2:56:06 uh we now have some clarity, no less

2:56:09 stress but clarity um that uh we have to

2:56:12 either commence construction on or

2:56:14 before July 4th, 2026. Um and then we

2:56:18 have four years to place that system

2:56:19 into service or we can start

2:56:22 construction um after July 4th, but then

2:56:24 the service it has to be placed into

2:56:26 service by December 31st of 2027. Um, so

2:56:30 still an opportunity, but a much smaller

2:56:32 window and in the world of construction,

2:56:34 one that makes my heart um speed a

2:56:37 little bit faster. So we um have uh set

2:56:40 our targets, our sites on that July 4th

2:56:42 date um which is why we're here this

2:56:44 evening. Um there are some other rules

2:56:46 and regulations around um the materials

2:56:48 that can be used um and essentially

2:56:51 where they can come from. Um and so

2:56:52 we've also ensured that we have

2:56:54 compliance with all of those in the

2:56:55 projects that are before you this

2:56:57 evening.

2:56:59 This work um really stemmed um in part

2:57:02 from the solar financial working group

2:57:04 uh which included members of um the zero

2:57:07 missions advisory board, the

2:57:08 expenditures and revenues committee um

2:57:10 the commissioner of public works Aaron

2:57:11 Chute and myself um as well as a select

2:57:14 board member uh Michael Rubenstein. And

2:57:16 so the charge there was to really

2:57:18 identify opportunities to reduce energy

2:57:20 costs, manage financial risk, and

2:57:22 advance Brooklyn's climate goals. And so

2:57:25 um what you're seeing this evening is um

2:57:27 the first phase of what um the working

2:57:29 group suggested which is this dual track

2:57:31 implementation strategy. So the first

2:57:34 phase allowing the town to meet that

2:57:35 deadline for the um expiring uh tax

2:57:38 credit the ITC and the other looking at

2:57:41 um more opportunities for solar on roofs

2:57:44 possibly over parking lots ground

2:57:46 mounted but it's going to require a

2:57:47 little bit more financial analysis um a

2:57:49 little bit more technical assessment um

2:57:52 and it's going to take a little bit more

2:57:53 time. So uh we split the work into what

2:57:56 we call track one and track two. Um so

2:57:58 track one are those near-term

2:57:59 installations. This was done in

2:58:01 coordination with our department of

2:58:03 public buildings as well. Um looking at

2:58:06 which areas that we have just recently

2:58:07 completed or are about to complete a

2:58:10 roof renovation on um and felt that this

2:58:12 would be a sound investment um since

2:58:14 we're looking at 20 plus years with this

2:58:17 um PV array installed. Uh and then also

2:58:20 looking at um projects that were

2:58:23 feasible um for us to construct again

2:58:25 within the the time constraints that we

2:58:27 have. Track two projects are future

2:58:30 installations. So you'll be hearing way

2:58:31 more about those. Um but right now I'll

2:58:33 just say that we do have an RFQ out um

2:58:35 advertising uh these other 19 potential

2:58:38 sites and um we'll be selecting a vendor

2:58:41 to essentially um conduct site

2:58:44 feasibility and financial analysis for

2:58:45 us and determine um the prioritization

2:58:48 of construction there. But for this

2:58:50 evening we're talking about site one or

2:58:52 excuse me track one which as I said

2:58:55 includes Brookline High School. Um you

2:58:57 heard that at the beginning as well. So

2:58:58 this would be an additional um PV arrays

2:59:02 on top of the high school. So we're

2:59:03 calling phase two um the Brooklyn

2:59:05 Village Library, Fire Station 1, Haze

2:59:07 School, and Pier School. I will just

2:59:09 note that Pier School um we are moving

2:59:12 kind of with this package. However, the

2:59:14 um CIP uh FY27 uh CIP allocation is not

2:59:19 being used towards the Pier school

2:59:21 purchase. That will be the pier school

2:59:22 budget. So um it is coming from a

2:59:24 different funding source but still

2:59:26 moving along with that July 4th deadline

2:59:28 in mind.

2:59:31 This gives you an overview of um the

2:59:33 different projects. Uh so um both the

2:59:37 including the size, the preliminary

2:59:38 construction cost, what we expect to

2:59:40 receive from the tax credit, um the

2:59:44 first year production uh that's

2:59:46 anticipated, um what percentage of the

2:59:49 electricity this would absorb based off

2:59:51 of our fiscal year 25 usage at those

2:59:54 buildings. uh the savings that we'll see

2:59:56 over 20 years which is um really the

2:59:59 minimum lifespan I would say of a of a

3:00:01 system and then the payback. Yeah.

3:00:06 Could you send out the full spreadsheet

3:00:07 of how that table was calculated?

3:00:09 Uh yes. And also I have it in here. So

3:00:12 yes.

3:00:14 Um so as you can see Pierce School um is

3:00:18 probably what you would say is one of

3:00:19 our most advantageous projects. Um it

3:00:21 essentially um we're getting a payback

3:00:23 on that project immediately um in less

3:00:27 than a year. Um for the fire station um

3:00:30 has a much longer return on that

3:00:32 investment. It is a much smaller system.

3:00:34 I will also note that the fire station

3:00:37 um those numbers are really based off of

3:00:40 the electric usage that we have now.

3:00:42 That fire station, as you all know, is

3:00:44 um scheduled to go under renovation soon

3:00:46 and will become an all electric

3:00:48 building. Um so it will have um a very

3:00:51 different cost breakdown for electricity

3:00:53 in the future. Um and we will also

3:00:56 expect an increased rate on electricity.

3:00:58 Um so the numbers that are presented

3:01:01 here are based off of the current data,

3:01:03 but we anticipate that will shift

3:01:06 significantly.

3:01:07 Um and then the main library, we're

3:01:10 looking at a payback in about nine and a

3:01:13 half years. Hayes school just over six

3:01:15 and the high school just under six

3:01:17 years. For point of reference, Driscoll

3:01:20 School, we were looking at a payback of

3:01:22 somewhere between six and seven years

3:01:24 for that project.

3:01:27 Yep. Um so the total cost of 1.9 million

3:01:33 with an with an 871,000

3:01:37 credit. So, does that mean that those

3:01:40 four projects are basically going to

3:01:42 cost us 1.1

3:01:45 or around 1.1 million in total?

3:01:49 Yes. Um so it's the payback um because

3:01:52 the tax credit um for Pierce is included

3:01:56 in that next column. Okay.

3:01:57 Um that includes the 293 from Pierce as

3:02:01 well. So it's actually a little bit less

3:02:03 than that. Um so it's 871US 293. The

3:02:06 reason the reason I bring up those

3:02:08 numbers is because the CIP item is $3.2

3:02:11 million.

3:02:12 It is.

3:02:12 So, will you be speaking to what the

3:02:15 rest of that money will be used for?

3:02:17 Yes. So, great question. Um, thank you.

3:02:20 Uh, so the uh 3.2 2 million is uh was uh

3:02:24 set to both get us started with these

3:02:27 projects. Um ensure that we had enough

3:02:29 for all of the down payments that are

3:02:31 necessary until we get the um tax credit

3:02:34 and return back. I'm sure I don't have

3:02:37 to tell you all. It's not instantaneous.

3:02:38 So we don't get to say we've signed the

3:02:40 contract. Please give me $300,000

3:02:43 federal government. They're like of

3:02:44 course. Um so uh there's a bit of a gap

3:02:47 there. So, we wanted to ensure we had

3:02:48 time to um cover that gap, but also the

3:02:52 remaining 3.2 million is going towards

3:02:54 uh the track 2 projects as well. Um so,

3:02:56 for us to get started on um installation

3:03:00 uh assessments, construction of of those

3:03:02 additional properties. So, it will all

3:03:04 continue to go towards the strategic

3:03:05 solar initiative.

3:03:07 Thank you.

3:03:09 So, that 3.2 is is currently sitting in

3:03:13 the sustainability department budget,

3:03:14 not yet deployed. Correct. It's in the

3:03:17 CIP, but yes.

3:03:18 Okay. Um, and then town administrator,

3:03:20 where where is that money earning

3:03:23 interest somewhere or where is that

3:03:25 money sitting at the moment?

3:03:27 Melissa, I think it's it's in a cash

3:03:28 account, so I'm not sure.

3:03:29 It's free cash. If that answers that.

3:03:31 Yeah.

3:03:33 So, the the CIP the the cash related

3:03:36 projects are segregated into a separate

3:03:38 account um that the department then has

3:03:41 access to until until it's exhausted.

3:03:44 Okay. Okay.

3:03:45 It's it's it's earning whatever interest

3:03:47 it can in a liquid account.

3:03:49 Okay. But it's in a full liquid account.

3:03:50 Yes.

3:03:51 So that it can be spent.

3:03:52 Okay.

3:03:55 Great.

3:03:56 Thanks. Sorry.

3:03:56 Yeah. It's okay. It's a good question.

3:03:58 Um so I have a quick breakdown on each

3:04:00 of the projects. Um and um this was

3:04:04 highlighted in the table that you saw,

3:04:05 but just as a little bit of a a visual

3:04:07 understanding of what we're talking

3:04:09 about. Um, Pier School, we have a 329

3:04:13 uh uh kilowatt system with a preliminary

3:04:16 cost of 1.15 million looking at um

3:04:19 46877,000

3:04:22 for our first year of production and

3:04:24 that payback timeline of less than a

3:04:26 year. Um, SMARTT uh I apologize is one

3:04:29 of the state incentive programs. So,

3:04:31 addition to the federal tax credit,

3:04:33 there's also incentives through

3:04:34 Massachusetts that we are um taking

3:04:37 advantage of for these projects as well.

3:04:40 Um so, this project though because um

3:04:43 obviously Pierce is under construction

3:04:45 right now. Um this project has a

3:04:48 preliminary design where over the

3:04:50 mechanical equipment they're essentially

3:04:53 um

3:04:55 decking Thank you, Shelley. um decking

3:04:58 [laughter]

3:04:59 um for uh solar panels um to go on top

3:05:01 of there to take advantage of that space

3:05:03 so we don't lose that rooftop space. Um

3:05:05 that does make it a slightly more

3:05:06 complicated design um and has taken um a

3:05:09 bit of of back and forth with uh select

3:05:12 energy um to figure out what the pathway

3:05:14 forward is. think we have that pathway.

3:05:16 Um but as we are chasing that July 4th

3:05:18 deadline um as is every other

3:05:20 municipality and customer in

3:05:22 Massachusetts and so they said can we uh

3:05:24 finalize this for certain after um July

3:05:28 4th and we said yes because all the

3:05:30 designs that you're seeing right now are

3:05:31 preliminary still have to go through a

3:05:33 structural analysis and things like

3:05:34 that. Um so we're hopeful but we have

3:05:36 carried some extra contingencies just in

3:05:38 case. So, I'm hopeful that the project

3:05:41 cost overall for peers may actually

3:05:43 decrease from what we're seeing here.

3:05:47 This breaks every rule about

3:05:48 presentation 101. Um, and

3:05:52 but [laughter] I think this is what you

3:05:53 were looking for, Anthony. Um, so I'm

3:05:56 happy I have this for each of the

3:05:57 projects. I'm happy to go through it.

3:05:59 Um, but uh also um can share it with you

3:06:02 all immediately afterwards so that you

3:06:03 can see. But essentially um you're

3:06:05 seeing this is calculated over 20 years

3:06:08 looking at the estimated solar

3:06:09 production for each year what our

3:06:11 savings are either from electricity bill

3:06:14 savings the state incentive revenue

3:06:16 that's the smart program that I

3:06:17 referenced um and then our overall um

3:06:21 revenue and savings that are generated.

3:06:23 Then we carry in operations and

3:06:24 maintenance cost. Um so the first year

3:06:27 that's included after the first year of

3:06:29 construction and then after that it

3:06:31 would be a new contract likely with the

3:06:33 installer um to continue that operations

3:06:35 and maintenance. Um if there is debt

3:06:38 service in the case of Pierce we're

3:06:40 carrying that as well and then we end up

3:06:42 with our um total costs overall net cash

3:06:46 flow and what the cumulative budget is.

3:06:48 Um and this is all all of these cash

3:06:50 flow projections are taken into account

3:06:52 after the ITC. Um so this is assuming

3:06:54 that 30% return. Um in the case of PICE

3:06:57 it's actually 25% but the other projects

3:07:00 30% return

3:07:03 for fire station one. This is a smaller

3:07:06 system 21 uh kilowatts uh with a

3:07:08 preliminary cost of 123,000 and um a

3:07:12 first year production of uh 23,810

3:07:16 uh kilowatt hours. And um Fire Station,

3:07:18 as I mentioned, uh Fire Station 1's

3:07:21 electricity usage and costs are really

3:07:22 expected to increase with the building

3:07:24 electrification. And so the payback

3:07:26 projections um are based off of what's

3:07:29 on our current electricity rates. Um and

3:07:32 so because there are um some additional

3:07:35 engineering that needs to be done um for

3:07:37 this uh particular site and because it

3:07:39 hasn't undergone construction yet for us

3:07:42 to have all the information that we

3:07:43 normally would before we would be

3:07:45 installing solar um we are carrying a

3:07:47 higher contingency. Um so similar to

3:07:49 Pierce uh we are basically buffering

3:07:51 oursel um to make sure that we are

3:07:53 income compliant with the ITC have

3:07:55 enough money in place to move these

3:07:57 projects forward. Um but uh we will be

3:07:59 back before you with a final purchase

3:08:01 and installation agreement and with that

3:08:03 um final numbers for the actual project

3:08:05 costs for each.

3:08:08 Same thing here you see the cost

3:08:10 breakdown um for the fire station and um

3:08:14 the uh overall costs um both net cash

3:08:18 flow and the cumulative cost impacts.

3:08:23 Brookline Village Library. Um this is a

3:08:26 a 60 kilowatt um uh system with a

3:08:29 preliminary cost of 278,000. Uh the

3:08:32 first year production um is 69,000 and

3:08:35 11 kilwatt hours and the payback

3:08:38 timeline is um uh just over 7 years. The

3:08:42 uh cost estimate for this project and

3:08:44 all of the others includes a 5%

3:08:46 contingency. So likely not a lot of

3:08:48 movement in the numbers on these.

3:08:52 And again, I realize this is a lot of

3:08:54 numbers, but just wanted to include it

3:08:55 so that you had it for reference um as

3:08:57 we move forward. Yeah.

3:08:58 Can we calculate the the electricity

3:09:00 savings?

3:09:02 It's um Go ahead.

3:09:05 So, so the electricity savings is the

3:09:08 amount of electricity that gets

3:09:09 generated times the current rate that

3:09:12 we're paying for electricity at that

3:09:14 site. So, if that building um I I don't

3:09:18 know off the top of my head what

3:09:20 Brookline Village's electricity rate is,

3:09:22 but if it's 18 cents a kilowatt hour,

3:09:25 you know, then it's times 18 cents a

3:09:26 kilowatt hour. And for the second year,

3:09:29 the there's a a small escalation in

3:09:32 that. So the assump, you know, there's

3:09:33 an assumption that over time the amount

3:09:36 of electricity that gets generated

3:09:38 decreases slightly each year as the

3:09:40 solar panels become slightly less

3:09:42 efficient and but the cost per kilowatt

3:09:45 hour goes up slightly each year as well.

3:09:49 Perfect. Thanks.

3:09:52 And Shelley, can you tell me for year

3:09:54 one, were these based off of current

3:09:56 Eversource electricity rates or the new

3:09:58 proposed ones um that are

3:10:00 it was based actually on it was based on

3:10:03 fiscal year uh 25 because that was the

3:10:05 only year we had the full year's worth

3:10:07 of information.

3:10:08 Thank you.

3:10:09 Most recent full year's worth of

3:10:11 information.

3:10:11 Awesome.

3:10:14 So for high school um a larger system

3:10:16 205

3:10:18 um kilowatts uh a preliminary cost of

3:10:21 684,000

3:10:22 with a projected first year of 240,799

3:10:27 uh kilowatt hours with a payback

3:10:29 timeline of just over 6 years. And this

3:10:32 also carries that same 5% contingency.

3:10:37 Again, you're seeing the same uh table

3:10:39 that you've seen before. But the only

3:10:40 thing I will point out here is you're

3:10:41 seeing um in that column that's um

3:10:43 excess generation revenue that's

3:10:44 actually stemming from this is a school

3:10:46 building. Um and so assuming some

3:10:49 downtick in uh operations and usage over

3:10:52 the summer months um and uh that we may

3:10:56 be generating more than we're actually

3:10:57 needing to use in that building. Yeah.

3:10:59 Sorry, I feel bad. I keep ruining your

3:11:01 flow here. But if we generate more than

3:11:02 we're actually using, who's giving us

3:11:04 that money? Is that coming from

3:11:05 Eversource because we're adding to the

3:11:07 grid?

3:11:07 Yes, correct. Yeah. and they're charging

3:11:09 and they're charging back uh what

3:11:12 percent of what they charge to you. We

3:11:14 don't know, but that's just what we

3:11:15 would get.

3:11:16 Yeah.

3:11:16 Okay, that's fine.

3:11:17 I I don't know the exact percentage, but

3:11:19 um it's it's close to but not

3:11:23 not what we pay for electricity.

3:11:25 Yeah, I understand. Perfect. Thanks.

3:11:29 We don't actually have um many projects.

3:11:32 We have one right now, our solar panels

3:11:34 at the municipal service center, but for

3:11:35 the most part, we don't generate more

3:11:38 than we use at any of the places that we

3:11:39 have PV arrays. So, um this would be an

3:11:42 exciting advancement for us.

3:11:46 Um and then, uh Brookline High School,

3:11:48 um we already have solar that you can

3:11:50 see reflected, um in the uh gray

3:11:53 portion, if you will, of the of the

3:11:56 building, um in the upper right hand

3:11:58 corner. Um, and then we're adding um

3:12:00 additional panels there um with uh an

3:12:03 additional 248

3:12:05 um kilowatts um at a cost of 839,000

3:12:10 um and a first year production of

3:12:12 308,000 kilowatt hours with a payback

3:12:14 timeline of just under 6 years and also

3:12:17 carrying that 5% contingency.

3:12:23 And same thing here um the same

3:12:25 breakdown that you were seeing before um

3:12:27 with uh revenues savings um anticipated

3:12:30 costs and our overall uh budget all

3:12:33 after the ITC is applied.

3:12:37 So for uh this evening, we are

3:12:38 requesting um a vote from the select

3:12:40 board to authorize the purchase of these

3:12:42 solar PV arrays um from select energy

3:12:45 and then execution of bills of sale and

3:12:48 the solar panel storage agreements. Uh

3:12:50 essentially saying that select will hold

3:12:52 these panels for up us um for a period

3:12:55 of of 12 months. It can be extended

3:12:57 after that if we need to. Um and that

3:13:00 would ensure that once those contracts

3:13:02 are in place and an initial down payment

3:13:04 is made. Um then we have uh complied

3:13:08 with the necessary uh regulations for

3:13:10 the investment tax credit. Um and then

3:13:12 we would be returning to the board um

3:13:15 likely in July or early August um with

3:13:17 the full purchase and installation

3:13:19 agreements um after we've had a chance

3:13:21 to finalize those with town council um

3:13:24 our staff and the building department.

3:13:26 Um but we we'll still lock us in for

3:13:28 that July 4th deadline and happy to take

3:13:31 any questions.

3:13:33 Yes.

3:13:33 Hang on one more. If you go back one

3:13:35 slide. Um this is also the the for a

3:13:38 school project. Um why do we not think

3:13:41 we're going to get excess generation

3:13:42 revenue from this one? [clears throat]

3:13:46 So um so Brook first of all we um

3:13:49 Brookline High School as you know is a

3:13:51 very large building. Um, so we're not

3:13:53 even with covering virtually the entire

3:13:55 roof, we're not

3:13:57 covering uh nearly 100% of the

3:14:00 electricity that's being used at the

3:14:03 school.

3:14:03 Um, and also there are some programs and

3:14:06 stuff at the school. So that so that

3:14:07 over the summer, so there's higher usage

3:14:10 over the summer or anticipated higher

3:14:13 usage over the summer at Brooklyn High

3:14:14 School than at Haze proportionately.

3:14:17 Got it. Thank you. When we looked at all

3:14:20 these projects, we looked at the um

3:14:22 historic electricity usage um from all

3:14:24 the data sets that we have from

3:14:25 Eversource bills. So taken into account.

3:14:27 Awesome.

3:14:29 Other questions?

3:14:31 Michael, um I was just doing some rough

3:14:36 math um in terms of the projects with

3:14:40 taking the cost and dividing it by the

3:14:42 kilowatt hours and dividing it by the

3:14:44 payback time. Um, and it seems like the

3:14:47 average cost for electricity over the

3:14:50 course of 20 years is about 45 or 46

3:14:54 cents a kilowatt hour on average through

3:14:56 that time. Is is that comport with your

3:15:00 numbers is my first question. Um and the

3:15:03 second question is um

3:15:08 how

3:15:09 what was the basis you used to estimate

3:15:11 inflation the inflation costs of

3:15:14 electricity over the 20 years?

3:15:18 Um I have to say I haven't done the math

3:15:20 quite the same way that you have. So I

3:15:22 don't I I I feel like I can't really

3:15:24 speak to the 45 cents per kilowatt hour.

3:15:26 Okay.

3:15:27 Um you know the numbers start out pretty

3:15:30 small. You know, the numbers start out,

3:15:33 you know, like

3:15:36 18 19 cents per kilowatt hour, right?

3:15:38 You know, over over 20 years, the

3:15:40 expectation is that um electricity has

3:15:43 historically increased somewhere around

3:15:45 two to two and a half% um the cost of

3:15:49 electricity per year. Um and I know that

3:15:53 that um that that was added into the

3:15:56 into the um es you know into the cost

3:16:00 escalations but I haven't done it in my

3:16:02 head to say so in year you know 20 how

3:16:06 how much you know what is the cost of

3:16:08 electricity I I should have done that

3:16:09 but I haven't done that. Okay. Thank

3:16:11 you.

3:16:13 Else

3:16:15 [clears throat]

3:16:16 go ahead.

3:16:17 I guess the one thing that I would say

3:16:18 is we do know for example that right now

3:16:22 FY26's

3:16:24 electricity costs are higher than FY25s

3:16:27 by more than 2 and a half%. And we've

3:16:30 signed um an electricity supply contract

3:16:33 as well that includes an increase that

3:16:36 will go into effect next year which will

3:16:38 be more which will raise things even

3:16:40 more just because the price of

3:16:42 electricity is getting more expensive.

3:16:47 I would say generally the projections

3:16:48 that we have um air on the side of

3:16:50 caution so that you all will be

3:16:52 pleasantly surprised um when we save

3:16:54 more money than I told you we would.

3:16:58 Any further questions,

3:17:00 discussion?

3:17:03 All right. Well, I then move that we uh

3:17:07 support executing the bill of sale and

3:17:10 solar panel storage agreements with

3:17:12 select energy for Pierce School,

3:17:14 Brooklyn High School, Hayes School,

3:17:15 Brookline Village Library, and Fire

3:17:18 Station One.

3:17:19 Bernard,

3:17:20 yes.

3:17:20 Michael,

3:17:21 yes.

3:17:22 Amanda,

3:17:22 yes.

3:17:23 Anthony,

3:17:24 yes.

3:17:24 And I also vote yes.

3:17:26 Thank you.

3:17:26 Great. Thank you so much. appreciate

3:17:27 your support. If I may, um, I have hard

3:17:30 copies. Um, we very on a very tight

3:17:33 timeline and I was hoping that at the

3:17:34 end of the meeting I could get you to

3:17:35 sign the hard copies that I have which

3:17:37 have already been co-signed by Select

3:17:39 Solar as opposed to the ones in your

3:17:40 packet that they have not signed. Is

3:17:42 that possible that I could get your

3:17:44 signatures this evening?

3:17:45 Sure.

3:17:45 Okay. Thank you so much.

3:17:47 In fact, while we're discussing this

3:17:48 next item, why don't you, if you have

3:17:49 the hard copies, you can send them.

3:17:51 We'll pass them around. round robin.

3:17:52 Also, thank you guys for figuring out

3:17:54 all of the administrative hoopla in

3:17:56 order to make this happen.

3:17:58 Awesome stuff.

3:18:01 All right, so our next item

3:18:04 is public outreach and communication,

3:18:07 discussion of select board outreach and

3:18:09 communication strategy with the broader

3:18:10 community, including but not limited to

3:18:14 education on warrant articles, email

3:18:16 response policies, and office hours.

3:18:23 So, um this is a follow on from your

3:18:27 discussion at the u uh your work

3:18:29 session. Um and uh at that time Bernard

3:18:32 pointed out and I think it was a good

3:18:34 point that we didn't have the um prior

3:18:36 communication policy in front of you and

3:18:38 also it was getting a little late in the

3:18:39 day. Um so we thought we would um defer

3:18:42 it uh to this point uh and have this

3:18:45 discussion with you all here. So now we

3:18:47 have the 2024 communication policy which

3:18:50 I think um you know is a was a an

3:18:54 attempt an early attempt at trying to

3:18:56 you know set outreach and and uh uh

3:19:00 communication guidelines appropriately.

3:19:02 Um and then you have also in there a

3:19:04 number of items about um warrant

3:19:06 articles. You have a 2017 draft uh you

3:19:10 know how to write a warrant article

3:19:11 document. you have um you have Michael's

3:19:15 document in there and then you have um

3:19:17 additional guidance I believe 2023

3:19:21 although I'll double check. Um, so

3:19:23 you've you've got a number of different

3:19:24 attempts at um helping town meeting

3:19:26 members write uh effective warrant

3:19:29 articles or you know and I I and I think

3:19:32 you know too the core issue at least as

3:19:34 I see it is right how do you how do you

3:19:38 help town meeting members and members of

3:19:39 the community solve issues that they've

3:19:42 identified or take on initiatives that

3:19:44 they've identified? Um because sometimes

3:19:48 oftentimes the way to do that is not by

3:19:50 submitting a warrant article. It's by

3:19:52 petitioning the select board,

3:19:53 petitioning a department, you know,

3:19:55 figuring out a way to change policy or

3:19:57 change practice in such a way that um

3:20:00 achieves the aim that you want. Um it it

3:20:03 tends to be, you know, there are some

3:20:05 things that do require local legislation

3:20:07 and we should obviously be supportive of

3:20:09 that when that comes up. Um, but the

3:20:12 benefit to things being able to be done

3:20:14 with policies is that policies can be

3:20:17 flexible and change and develop in

3:20:20 accordance with how we actually see the

3:20:22 flow. Whereas laws are good for being

3:20:25 for broad statements uh and and general

3:20:28 application. Um, but when you make a

3:20:31 bylaw too prescriptive, you wind up

3:20:33 locking yourself in and that can often

3:20:36 lead to issues that the community later

3:20:38 then has to deal with by amending the

3:20:40 bylaw. Um, so there's a balance to be

3:20:43 struck there. So I think the goal, you

3:20:45 know, the as you discuss these,

3:20:47 especially when it comes to warrant

3:20:48 articles, I think the question, the

3:20:50 underlying question is what are you

3:20:52 trying to help people do? um if it's

3:20:54 trying to help people get um the policy

3:20:58 outcome or the or the process outcome

3:21:01 that they want um I just want us to be I

3:21:04 want us to be as helpful as poss on

3:21:06 staff to be as helpful as possible to

3:21:09 you all in supporting that initiative.

3:21:11 So I guess Michael this was your request

3:21:14 to put on and I want I don't know if you

3:21:16 Sure. Um so so let me let me start by

3:21:21 saying that um

3:21:24 I I took this on really specifically

3:21:28 um in response to a roadmap

3:21:31 um

3:21:32 strategy and a roadmap action that we

3:21:35 established when we uh passed the road

3:21:39 map the 2030 road map. Um and my sense

3:21:43 of just reading those, this is um action

3:21:47 2E1 for those people who are looking at

3:21:50 the roadmap details. Um which is to

3:21:53 confirm that warrant articles have been

3:21:55 properly vetted with staff in advance of

3:21:57 filing and ensure that they are in line

3:22:00 with previous stated priorities and work

3:22:01 plans. If a warrant article causes the

3:22:04 select board to rep prioritize, identify

3:22:06 the impact on redirecting staff time.

3:22:09 Um, and this is also sort of the need

3:22:12 for this was somewhat confirmed by the

3:22:14 several warrant articles that came up in

3:22:18 the last um in the last town meeting.

3:22:23 Um, often in the form of resolutions,

3:22:26 but not always. um where the substance

3:22:29 of the warrant articles ended up

3:22:31 changing dramatically from the point of

3:22:33 filing to the point of what was actually

3:22:37 passed by or or considered by town

3:22:40 meeting most of the time passed. Um and

3:22:44 so um so it's

3:22:49 um upon reflection if those warrant

3:22:52 articles had come either to staff or if

3:22:56 staff had directed them to committees or

3:22:59 if the select board had taken them up

3:23:01 sooner before filing. Um, I think a lot

3:23:06 of the challenges that were ultimately

3:23:10 worked out either in conversations with

3:23:12 the advisory committee um or

3:23:14 conversations with the select board and

3:23:17 significant changes in the scope of

3:23:20 those warrant articles would have been

3:23:23 better handled before the actual filing.

3:23:26 Um, so,

3:23:28 so

3:23:29 the letter that I constructed was really

3:23:33 designed to invite people who are

3:23:37 considering warrant articles, and I've

3:23:39 heard bits and pieces of various warrant

3:23:41 articles that are in consideration for

3:23:43 the fall to engage with town staff. Now,

3:23:47 one of the concerns that I that I I just

3:23:50 want to be really clear about and I

3:23:51 discussed um with the town administrator

3:23:53 earlier is to ensure that town staff

3:23:57 actually has the time uh to engage at

3:24:03 the at the level that would be

3:24:04 worthwhile. Um, and the reason that I

3:24:08 constructed this letter was actually to

3:24:10 sort of force that question because

3:24:13 [clears throat]

3:24:13 um, in making sure that this letter gets

3:24:16 reviewed by the town administrator and

3:24:19 department heads, I didn't want to put

3:24:21 us in the posi position of inviting um

3:24:25 engagement with the with town staff that

3:24:28 town staff doesn't have time to to do.

3:24:32 So I am making the assumption based on

3:24:36 the the feedback that I've gotten that

3:24:37 that that concern has been substantially

3:24:41 addressed. Um now to the point that um

3:24:46 that the town administrator has raised

3:24:48 about the previous efforts um the one

3:24:50 that I would add to the to the items

3:24:52 that are part of 11A um is also the

3:24:56 significant number of pages within the

3:24:58 town meeting handbook which goes through

3:25:00 the warrant article process um from a

3:25:03 legislative perspective um and discusses

3:25:06 you know the issues of scope and the

3:25:08 issues of filing deadlines etc. Um, and

3:25:11 it's not either my intention nor do I

3:25:15 believe it is the select board's

3:25:16 intention when we establish this item on

3:25:19 the road map to uh to replace those

3:25:23 legislative processes to impede those

3:25:26 legislative processes um but instead was

3:25:30 to facilitate better warrant article

3:25:33 creation um through engagement with town

3:25:36 staff. So I really viewed this as

3:25:38 supplementary. Um now I recognize that

3:25:43 you know the letters from 2017 the

3:25:46 guidelines that we produced in 2020 um

3:25:49 were in some ways uh had similar similar

3:25:53 goals to improve the process of writing.

3:25:56 Um but it is now 2026. Um and my

3:25:59 suspicion is that um though there are a

3:26:02 number of people who have engaged with

3:26:05 this in the past that it is worthy of a

3:26:08 uh of a refresh and a reinvitation

3:26:12 um to uh both members of town meeting uh

3:26:17 as well as uh citizens more in the town

3:26:20 more broadly who might bring citizen

3:26:23 petition articles um to to town meeting.

3:26:28 Um, I did make one amendment to this

3:26:31 which I sent to the town administrator

3:26:35 and town staff, which was basically to

3:26:38 insert a paragraph um, uh, that was a

3:26:42 oneline reference to the town meeting

3:26:45 handbook um, simply to acknowledge um,

3:26:48 the primacy of that document and to make

3:26:51 some nonsubstantive

3:26:53 um, corrections to the to the third

3:26:57 paragraph. about engagement. Um but

3:27:00 other than that, I view this really as

3:27:03 our um meeting the goal that we have set

3:27:06 for ourselves. Um and to be set

3:27:09 completed in year one. Um so I will

3:27:13 leave it at that and um appreciate your

3:27:17 consideration and discussion. Amanda.

3:27:20 So, um I I just want to say I think

3:27:26 uh when this was framed initially like

3:27:28 the first document in the docket is on

3:27:31 communication and I think that's

3:27:32 somewhat of a separate issue than what

3:27:34 we're talking about here. And so that

3:27:36 should probably be a separate

3:27:37 discussion. But for what we're talking

3:27:39 about here, I think it is really

3:27:40 important to recognize that um as

3:27:44 someone who has brought citizen

3:27:46 petitions before, there can be

3:27:48 gatekeeping when we say you must go to

3:27:51 town staff and then town staff don't

3:27:53 have time. Um and then we say, well, why

3:27:56 didn't you talk to town staff about

3:27:58 this? Um, so I want to make sure that if

3:28:00 we are setting forth this goal, um, that

3:28:05 there is a way to engage

3:28:09 and still be respectful of staff time,

3:28:12 right? To be able to get, um, staff time

3:28:14 as consultant as opposed to having to

3:28:17 give hours and hours uh, to a warrant

3:28:19 article to improve it. um but that it's

3:28:22 not used to gatekeep which warrant

3:28:25 articles we work to make better and

3:28:27 which ones we look to sweep under the

3:28:29 rug.

3:28:29 Well, I think that's that's a great

3:28:31 point and I think that's that's one

3:28:33 that's a that's a that's a conversation

3:28:35 that I think is helpful to have here

3:28:37 which is

3:28:39 is there an expectation that staff give

3:28:42 time to every warrant article because I

3:28:44 don't think that's feasible. And then

3:28:46 you know what what's helpful to us then

3:28:48 is what are you asking us to prioritize

3:28:52 and the road map helps us with that we

3:28:54 can say we will look in the road map we

3:28:56 will see does is this in the furtherance

3:28:58 of one of your priorities and if the

3:29:00 answer is no then I think maybe the

3:29:04 answer to the petition is we appreciate

3:29:06 this but we don't think this is a

3:29:08 priority for the town at this time. Um,

3:29:11 and that's not gatekeeping. That's the

3:29:14 reality of the situation. Now, it's not

3:29:16 it doesn't mean that the person can't

3:29:17 file the warrant article. It doesn't

3:29:19 take much. They can file it. They can

3:29:20 bring it forward and we can discuss why

3:29:23 things are aren't a priority. We can

3:29:25 still work to try and make it the best

3:29:27 possible article it can be within those

3:29:29 constraints. But if you tell us it's not

3:29:32 a priority, then we will treat it. we

3:29:35 will we will focus on the things that

3:29:37 you were asking us to prioritize as

3:29:38 opposed to the things you're asking us

3:29:40 not to. So I think maybe that's the way

3:29:42 to frame it. I I think it's tough to

3:29:44 think about it as gatekeeping when

3:29:47 really it what it is is there are only

3:29:49 so many hours in the day. Um, and

3:29:51 there's a lot that people ask us to work

3:29:53 on, including, you know, resolutions,

3:29:56 um, things that don't have legally

3:29:59 binding uh, requirements, but that you

3:30:02 you take seriously and you ask us to

3:30:04 take seriously. And I don't think that's

3:30:06 a bad thing inherently, but I think it

3:30:08 is something that you want to consider

3:30:10 when you think about prioritization of

3:30:12 our of our time. is there, you know, and

3:30:15 so maybe this is an opportunity to do

3:30:18 that in inviting people to submit things

3:30:21 significantly earlier before the opening

3:30:24 of the warrant. Um, it allows you to

3:30:27 give guidance to us on where you see

3:30:30 your priorities and how we can then work

3:30:33 through that. And it allows the

3:30:35 community to understand, too, so that

3:30:36 there isn't a sense of, oh, I submitted

3:30:38 this and I didn't hear anything, or oh,

3:30:39 I submitted this and staff said they

3:30:41 don't want to do it. Um, it makes it

3:30:45 I I think it allows them to be heard and

3:30:47 and and understand better if that

3:30:50 process begins at the select board

3:30:52 level. Um, but you know, again, do you

3:30:56 do you want to do

3:30:58 do you want to invite that level of

3:31:00 discussion over the summer or do you

3:31:02 want us to

3:31:05 do you want us to look at your roadmap

3:31:08 and the other priorities that you've

3:31:09 outlined and try and, you know, build

3:31:13 build out uh prioritization that way?

3:31:15 Um, I think is my question. I I would

3:31:17 also just add that I [clears throat]

3:31:19 gatekeeping sometimes often has a

3:31:21 negative connotation, but I interpret

3:31:24 this more as a way to help the

3:31:26 petitioner be more successful because as

3:31:28 we often see in the run-up to town

3:31:31 meeting, there are some petitioners,

3:31:33 well, I don't think there are any

3:31:34 petitioners necessarily who are not

3:31:35 well-intentioned, but there are

3:31:37 petitioners who have a certain uh

3:31:39 objective they want to achieve, but they

3:31:41 may not quite understand how to get

3:31:43 there. They might phrase things in such

3:31:45 a way that if they approach town staff a

3:31:49 bit too late in the process, the

3:31:51 moderator might deem it out of scope and

3:31:53 then there's a delay for that reason.

3:31:56 But had they come to staff earlier, that

3:31:59 uh barrier would have been identified

3:32:01 and rectified in timely fashion. So I

3:32:04 see it as an opportunity to make warrant

3:32:05 articles more successful by uh adopting

3:32:09 these recommendations. I'll also note

3:32:12 that the second paragraph of uh the

3:32:15 warrant article vetting invitation

3:32:18 explicitly states note that this

3:32:20 engagement is not intended to replace

3:32:23 the town's legislative processes in any

3:32:26 way. Engaging with town staff is not a

3:32:29 requirement to file a warrant article,

3:32:31 nor is collecting the necessary

3:32:32 signatures for a petition necessary to

3:32:35 engage with town staff. However, the

3:32:37 select board believes that engaging with

3:32:39 town staff will facilitate the town's

3:32:41 legislative processes and allow issues

3:32:44 that necessitate a change in scope to be

3:32:46 considered before filing a warrant

3:32:48 article. So, I think that's the main

3:32:49 advantage, but I do hear what you're

3:32:51 saying that sometimes a petitioner might

3:32:54 not get a timely response from staff and

3:32:57 as we're hearing from the town

3:32:58 administrator,

3:33:00 um there there are legitimate bandwidth

3:33:02 issues, but that does sort of encourage

3:33:04 petitioners to maybe get out front a bit

3:33:07 earlier than they normally would and

3:33:09 then hopefully there'll be enough time

3:33:11 that everybody gets a substantive

3:33:13 response. Well, and could you like as as

3:33:16 Michael wrote in this I don't even know

3:33:20 what [laughter] piece that we're we're

3:33:22 all looking at um would town staff feel

3:33:25 comfortable saying I got 15 warrant

3:33:29 articles sent to the town

3:33:32 administrator's office. Um these five of

3:33:35 them are directly applicable to your

3:33:38 road map. So, we're going to encourage

3:33:41 town staff to talk to those five

3:33:43 petitioners and the other 15 will send a

3:33:46 message saying this is outside the the

3:33:48 scope of the priorities. You're welcome

3:33:50 to pursue it, but we don't have the

3:33:52 bandwidth.

3:33:55 I I guess the the the

3:33:59 there's there's a there's a couple of

3:34:00 criteria here that we're that we're

3:34:02 talking about that that I think we have

3:34:04 to sort of tease apart. one is in any

3:34:08 particular warrant article, how much

3:34:11 time how much time is it going to take

3:34:13 for town staff to engage with this

3:34:16 warrant article. Um, and you know that

3:34:19 may require sort of a fixed level of

3:34:21 evaluation before we can make before the

3:34:25 select board can provide feedback or

3:34:28 direction. So, so there so there's the

3:34:31 question of time. There's the question

3:34:33 of does this warrant article align with

3:34:37 the roadmap in which we might which

3:34:39 might also impact the select board's

3:34:42 guidance. Um, and and then there's the

3:34:46 the question of of

3:34:49 and this is sort of related to the time

3:34:51 question, but there's the question of

3:34:53 does the staff actually think that a

3:34:56 warrant article is the most effective

3:34:58 way to

3:35:00 to achieve the results that the the

3:35:03 petitioners are actually seeking. Um and

3:35:08 we sort of have I believe we sort of

3:35:10 have to allocate some fixed amount of

3:35:13 time upfront as part of the of the uh

3:35:20 analysis process to give the information

3:35:23 to the select board before the select

3:35:26 board can provide that feedback.

3:35:28 Yeah. Um, and and I don't know, I'm not

3:35:30 exactly sure how to work that into the

3:35:32 schedule because warrant articles are

3:35:34 not necessarily going to all come on,

3:35:37 you know, July 10th so that we have six

3:35:41 weeks of or whatever before the filing

3:35:44 deadline. So, it's going to be a rolling

3:35:46 process.

3:35:48 But I think, you know, and this this is

3:35:50 where I think you've got to um

3:35:53 that that third thing is what I think

3:35:55 might be missing from this current draft

3:35:57 is this is the sense of, you know, right

3:35:59 now it seems to presuppose, you know,

3:36:01 that a warrant article is is is the way

3:36:04 forward, right? you if you want to file,

3:36:06 but I think there's kind of a step zero

3:36:07 here, which is uh have you identified

3:36:10 something that the town isn't doing that

3:36:11 it should be doing or that it is

3:36:13 currently doing that it should stop

3:36:14 doing or you know um something something

3:36:17 along those lines, you know, have you

3:36:19 identified an issue that you think local

3:36:20 government should be engaged to solve?

3:36:22 Um if so, what is that? And do you think

3:36:25 a local law is necessary to do it? If

3:36:27 so, you know, this is your opportunity.

3:36:30 Please, you know, submit that. you know,

3:36:32 if you think it should be in the form of

3:36:34 a bylaw, please give us that information

3:36:36 because that I think that sort of step

3:36:38 zero

3:36:40 allows for um

3:36:44 reframes the conversation in a certain

3:36:46 way. is doesn't presuppose that a bylaw

3:36:49 is the is the right way to do things,

3:36:51 but it it allows still the opport

3:36:54 another opportunity for people to

3:36:56 formally talk to the select board and

3:36:58 say, "Hey, there's something that's not

3:37:00 happening that I would like to happen or

3:37:01 something that is happening that needs

3:37:02 to stop happening." So, so in the in the

3:37:07 third paragraph of the body after the

3:37:10 the sort of whereas clauses at the top

3:37:13 where it talks about send drafts and

3:37:15 explanations for your proposed warrant

3:37:17 articles to [clears throat] what I

3:37:19 believe you're talking about is they may

3:37:22 not be drafts and explanations for

3:37:23 proposed warrant articles but but

3:37:26 something that is more step zero which

3:37:29 is a description of the problem that

3:37:31 needs to be solved.

3:37:32 Yeah. I mean, the reason that I was

3:37:33 asking for it in terms of drafts and

3:37:35 explanations for warrant articles is

3:37:37 because I think at least that forces the

3:37:41 petitioners to do some level of work to

3:37:46 um

3:37:48 to structure uh what they're providing.

3:37:52 And I guess the question is, is it worth

3:37:54 having somebody go through that exercise

3:37:57 for the town staff to turn around and

3:37:59 say, "Well, actually, you know, if we

3:38:01 amended this policy, then it would

3:38:03 achieve your the goals as you stated in

3:38:06 the explanation, and you won't wouldn't

3:38:07 need the warrant article."

3:38:08 Yeah. And I I think that's a tough it's

3:38:10 a tough balance to strike because you

3:38:12 right, you don't want just I think there

3:38:14 should be better dog licenses, you know.

3:38:16 Um Right.

3:38:17 That's not helpful. Um, but you do you

3:38:20 also right to your point. You don't want

3:38:22 someone to spend a lot of time building

3:38:24 something out only to be told, well, you

3:38:26 know, we could do this. We we are or you

3:38:28 know, we are already doing this or

3:38:30 there's a way to do this more easily.

3:38:31 But

3:38:32 maybe that is just the the the level of

3:38:35 process that needs to be engaged with.

3:38:37 So, you know, maybe there's language

3:38:39 that could be drafted that says, you

3:38:41 know, whether you whether this takes

3:38:43 whether your proposal takes the form of

3:38:45 a Warren article or something else, you

3:38:48 know, it should be

3:38:52 trying to think of a way to wordsmith

3:38:53 it, you know, um a way to

3:38:57 um ensure that proposals are substantive

3:39:01 um but not necessarily presupposed that

3:39:03 they are destined to be legislation.

3:39:09 trying to think of ways ways to get

3:39:10 helpful helpful input. Um

3:39:13 I mean it's it's sort of by by draft,

3:39:15 right? Like if you're accepting a draft,

3:39:17 you're not expecting a final. Um and

3:39:21 just to say like the explanation can be

3:39:24 a paragraph and the draft can be you

3:39:27 know like start with the resolution and

3:39:30 then you come

3:39:32 still the process is missing but you

3:39:34 come before some someone talk to someone

3:39:36 and they're like actually this is a

3:39:37 bylaw change like that would be a much

3:39:39 more straightforward path. Um I think

3:39:43 draft is fine. It's just I I still don't

3:39:45 understand who is doing what evaluation

3:39:48 [laughter]

3:39:49 in the leadup to the closing of the

3:39:51 warrant.

3:39:52 So I think I think the as I understand

3:39:54 it and sorry I'm I'm trying to

3:39:55 synthesize what you've been saying.

3:39:57 There's two kind of work streams.

3:39:58 There's the workstream on staff's side

3:40:00 which is we get something in there's a

3:40:03 and I would suggest you put a you know

3:40:06 what they call in admissions the soft

3:40:08 cap you know you know priority

3:40:10 consideration by this date um so that

3:40:13 you get you encourage a firm deadline

3:40:16 for people to get their information in

3:40:18 and then you say that once that date

3:40:20 passes staff will evaluate what we've

3:40:22 got and we will evaluate

3:40:24 how complex a task is how much you know

3:40:26 whether whether there are alternatives

3:40:28 that could be used to address this,

3:40:30 whether we think they align with any of

3:40:32 the goals that you've outlined for us

3:40:34 and um

3:40:36 right the the the whether there's an

3:40:38 alternative that could achieve the same

3:40:40 ends. Um and then we take that to you

3:40:43 and you have that conversation amongst

3:40:46 yourselves about in public obviously

3:40:48 about what your whether or not you agree

3:40:51 that this is where staff should be

3:40:52 prioritizing their time. I I think there

3:40:55 I think I I think there should be a

3:40:57 little bit more of a political process

3:40:58 here. And what that what I'm saying to

3:41:00 that is like I feel like the fi first

3:41:02 filter should be a select board member

3:41:04 to be honest with you. I feel like a

3:41:06 select board member should hear a public

3:41:08 idea, a public complaint or, you know,

3:41:10 public something and then we say, you

3:41:11 know what, you're kind of right and then

3:41:13 we take it to staff rather than it being

3:41:15 staff first because I feel like that I

3:41:17 feel like that could open the floodgates

3:41:18 a lot to a lot of work for the

3:41:21 My one concern with that is then it

3:41:24 looks like we're sort of taking over the

3:41:26 legislative process where we're the

3:41:28 executive. I understand it's

3:41:29 well-intentioned. It's well meaning.

3:41:31 Yeah. Um, but I'm not sure that the

3:41:34 legislative branch wants their efforts

3:41:36 filtered

3:41:38 through the executive branch in that

3:41:40 manner.

3:41:41 That makes sense. But I don't also don't

3:41:42 know if this is talking about

3:41:43 legislative efforts because I think the

3:41:45 whole idea is saying what are you trying

3:41:47 to do legislatively that we could

3:41:49 actually do executively, you know, and

3:41:51 then if we can't do it executively, then

3:41:53 you have to go through the legislative

3:41:54 process. But, you know, here I I think

3:41:56 it's reasonable to say, you know, here's

3:41:58 what I want. Here's what I would like my

3:41:59 executive to do. And then if one of us

3:42:01 says, you know, I think that's actually

3:42:02 a good idea, we could take it to staff

3:42:04 and go forward. Um, but, you know,

3:42:06 that's that's my take.

3:42:09 Yeah, I I think I'm more aligned with

3:42:12 with David. I

3:42:16 I I am very I am very sensitive to what

3:42:20 Amanda brought up very early in terms of

3:42:23 us being too strong a gatekeeper. I'm

3:42:26 I'm I I would be

3:42:29 I I I think the intention of the of the

3:42:32 road of the roadmap goal was to

3:42:36 facilitate the cre the creation of the

3:42:38 warrant articles. And so, you know, if

3:42:42 there is an alternative that is a better

3:42:44 way forward for a particular warrant,

3:42:46 for a particular issue, um

3:42:53 I I I think that we can identify that or

3:42:57 staff can identify that through through

3:43:00 their evaluation, but but I don't I

3:43:04 think that the premise coming into this

3:43:06 process is that somebody is is trying to

3:43:10 move something through the legislature

3:43:12 because if because if if we're if we're

3:43:14 if we're talking about this qu the the

3:43:17 broader question of like

3:43:20 of of

3:43:22 anything that somebody thinks the town

3:43:25 could do to do things better. That's

3:43:28 that's really a much broader question

3:43:32 and and I don't think that in terms of

3:43:36 the particular goal within the road map

3:43:39 um I don't think that was the aim of the

3:43:41 goal. I think the aim of the goal was to

3:43:44 take the warrant articles that people

3:43:46 are trying to move the legislative

3:43:47 process and ensure that both the

3:43:51 legislative process is the optimal form

3:43:53 for that goal and that the way that they

3:43:57 had structured their warrant articles

3:44:00 was [snorts]

3:44:02 to whatever extent that staff can help

3:44:04 optimize that before filing that they

3:44:07 would have the opportunity to do so. So

3:44:10 I think I think I think the goal of this

3:44:13 the goal here is actually more limited

3:44:15 than you've described.

3:44:17 Not it's it's it's actually not that

3:44:22 step zero of of um you know here's

3:44:26 something that we should improve.

3:44:29 Um, it's actually I'm trying to move

3:44:31 something through the legislative

3:44:33 process, but by giving the town staff an

3:44:37 opportunity to review it before filing,

3:44:40 they may be able to make substantive

3:44:43 improvements either in in any one of

3:44:46 those three ways that would

3:44:49 and these improvements are

3:44:50 recommendations.

3:44:51 Yeah. All of these improvements are

3:44:53 recommendations

3:44:54 because ultimately staff is going to

3:44:56 weigh in on every warrant just about

3:44:58 every warrant article anyway when we

3:45:01 have our warrant article discussion. So

3:45:03 I think the goal here is to try to make

3:45:05 the Warren article uh more likely to

3:45:09 succeed from sort of a bureaucratic

3:45:12 perspective in terms of understanding

3:45:14 the process, knowing what's already out

3:45:16 there and maybe the staff feedback might

3:45:19 just be a macro level you're on the

3:45:23 right track or actually you probably

3:45:25 want to change XYZ without actually

3:45:27 doing it for the petitioner

3:45:29 or or it might be a recommendation to

3:45:32 the select board that this is this is

3:45:35 maybe an interesting topic, but we're

3:45:37 actually going to take this up in a

3:45:38 future time or this should be referred

3:45:40 to a committee for further study and

3:45:42 it's not really ready to go to to the

3:45:46 legislature, you know, any it could be

3:45:49 it could go into any of those directions

3:45:51 as well.

3:45:52 Yeah. I mean, let me take a concrete

3:45:54 example. Um,

3:45:56 let's talk about dark skies, dark sky

3:45:59 policy. Um that was a town meeting

3:46:02 landing issue. Town meeting members

3:46:04 obviously have a lot of interest in

3:46:06 this. There is community support for

3:46:08 dark sky bylaw of some kind regulations

3:46:13 was to and we what I think was missing

3:46:16 from that process was guidance from the

3:46:18 select board. Is this something we

3:46:19 should be spending our time on or not?

3:46:21 Um because if you and if you want us to

3:46:23 do this, what should we not be doing? um

3:46:26 because there were things that we were

3:46:27 working on that were you know germanine

3:46:30 to this work in in different ways. You

3:46:33 know what what that kind of sprung out

3:46:35 of was the fact that we didn't have good

3:46:38 regulations. We didn't have good bylaws

3:46:41 about light regulation. Light pollution

3:46:43 is a problem. Um and because of the way

3:46:45 that our bylaws are written, it's hard

3:46:48 for us to enforce light pollution rules.

3:46:51 So we tried to come up with a solution

3:46:52 to that problem. And then the community

3:46:54 said this is great as an opportunity to

3:46:55 talk about dark skies. And all of a

3:46:57 sudden it became about something much

3:46:58 bigger. Which again is not a not a

3:47:00 problem. But we were kind of stuck in

3:47:01 this moment where we said what what

3:47:03 should we be doing? Should we try and

3:47:06 say to town meeting we appreciate this

3:47:07 but we're trying to solve the problem

3:47:09 that was identified which is we struggle

3:47:11 to regulate light pollution or do we

3:47:13 want to take this whole you know this

3:47:16 broader question of you know light

3:47:19 pollution at large and its impact on the

3:47:21 environment and its impact on um the

3:47:24 community and try and you know adapt a

3:47:28 model dark sky law for this community

3:47:30 and I think we kind of got stuck. It was

3:47:32 sort of a situation where it was like

3:47:35 yes and um or you know let's let's let's

3:47:38 work on both. Um, and I don't think

3:47:41 anyone ever actually said that, but

3:47:43 there was no, the board didn't

3:47:45 ultimately say to us, listen, continue

3:47:49 your work on light pollution and tell

3:47:51 the town meeting members, we will do

3:47:53 this in stages or no, pull this back and

3:47:58 and work exclusively on the broader dark

3:48:02 skies. It wasn't really until we got to

3:48:03 town meeting that I felt like we had

3:48:05 concrete guidance which was kind of

3:48:08 driven by the discussion on the floor of

3:48:10 town meeting which was the will of the

3:48:12 voters seemed to be we want dark skies

3:48:14 and we don't want to deal with this

3:48:15 light pollution stuff in the absence of

3:48:17 a broader dark skies policy and so it

3:48:20 was pulled and that's where we wound up.

3:48:22 I think had we started at the beginning

3:48:25 with a convers had someone come to us at

3:48:28 the beginning and said we want to do

3:48:29 dark skies I think our response to you

3:48:32 using this framework that you've

3:48:34 identified is this will take a lot of

3:48:35 work this would be this will be a

3:48:37 largecale project and we have not heard

3:48:40 you the select board to date say that

3:48:42 this is a priority um

3:48:45 our priority if we were to spend time on

3:48:48 this would be on the narrow question of

3:48:50 light pollution because that is a clear

3:48:52 problem that we struggle to enforce. Um

3:48:55 and then you would in under this

3:48:58 circumstance you would have the

3:48:59 opportunity to tell us no we you know it

3:49:02 makes sense to us to try and do this do

3:49:04 dark skies work focus on that. Um

3:49:07 well gi given the guidance from staff

3:49:11 that this is a large body of work um it

3:49:16 it would seem to me that a reasonable a

3:49:19 reasonable response from the select

3:49:21 board is given that this is a large body

3:49:24 of work if we can break it up into

3:49:26 multiple steps then let's deal with the

3:49:31 sort of setting up the regulations first

3:49:33 and then and and that would be our

3:49:35 recommendation.

3:49:36 But it would really not be our

3:49:37 recommendation to staff. It would be our

3:49:39 recommendation based on the staff's

3:49:42 feedback to the petitioners because

3:49:44 ultimately the petitioners are going to

3:49:46 have to decide what they want to file.

3:49:49 But I think this dark skies uh

3:49:52 [clears throat]

3:49:53 versus light pollution question is

3:49:55 germanine for what Michael was talking

3:49:58 about at the outset in that I think the

3:50:01 way the conversation evolved was

3:50:03 actually initially there were people who

3:50:05 were just interested in the light

3:50:08 pollution portion but then we had that

3:50:10 whole discussion with town council about

3:50:12 well is it going to be zoning or is it

3:50:14 going to be bylaw and if it's zoning

3:50:18 then prior

3:50:19 alleged violators are grandfathered in.

3:50:22 So, it could only be prospective, right?

3:50:24 And if you want it to apply to

3:50:26 everybody, both forward and backward, it

3:50:28 needs to be by bylaw. But so far, the

3:50:31 signage portion is in our zoning. And

3:50:33 so, it got more complicated. But that is

3:50:36 all the more reason why having these

3:50:38 early conversations would be helpful.

3:50:40 Yep. Because I'm not sure that everyone

3:50:42 understood those nuances. And I think

3:50:45 that's why the conversation

3:50:47 evolved because sort of became the way

3:50:50 to get around this via uh a bylaw change

3:50:55 that would require some other language

3:50:57 coming out and that's why we have a

3:50:59 moderators committee that's working on

3:51:01 it. Uh but that type of guidance from

3:51:03 staff I think is extremely beneficial

3:51:06 and that's what we are ultimately

3:51:08 looking for.

3:51:09 And I would I think I will say just on

3:51:11 that one too and this is I see this most

3:51:13 often with town council. Um and so I

3:51:16 just want to stick up for that office.

3:51:18 We are the most educated community per

3:51:21 capita in the United States. We have the

3:51:23 most advanced degrees. There are a lot

3:51:26 of lawyers in this community and they

3:51:28 are all very smart people and they do a

3:51:30 lot of good work.

3:51:31 I see town council's opinion get second

3:51:33 guessed a lot. Um and

3:51:37 I I would just as we go through this I

3:51:41 would strongly encourage the board you

3:51:44 know to question obviously those those

3:51:47 opinions and that judgment in private

3:51:49 and speak to town council. Town council

3:51:51 and his team are always open about this

3:51:53 and willing to have those conversations.

3:51:55 But it gets really tough when other

3:51:57 lawyers get up on the floor of town

3:51:59 meeting and basically say town council

3:52:00 doesn't know what he's talking about. Um

3:52:02 Joe has been working in municipal

3:52:03 government for like 40 years. Joe knows

3:52:05 what he's talking about. Um, and it's

3:52:08 and it's I I say it happens most often

3:52:12 with town council, but I see it with

3:52:13 other department heads, too, where there

3:52:15 are people out there who have a lot of

3:52:17 expertise in these fields and speak very

3:52:20 authoritatively and come up and say, I I

3:52:24 have an opinion on this subject and I do

3:52:26 think it would be beneficial for staff

3:52:28 to have the select board in that

3:52:30 instance be able to come up and say,

3:52:32 yes, we respect your opinion. We respect

3:52:34 your judgment, but the people who we

3:52:38 hire and the people who we spend and and

3:52:41 work to do this are telling us that your

3:52:44 opinion while is is, you know, it's your

3:52:48 opinion and we respect it, is not the

3:52:50 opinion that we're going to follow here.

3:52:52 Um because I think leaving department

3:52:54 heads out in in those situations is

3:52:58 tough. Um so I would just want to make

3:53:01 sure that we figure out a way to

3:53:04 ens ensure that everyone is on the same

3:53:05 page. Um and that we're not leaving the

3:53:07 department heads out on the floor of

3:53:08 town meeting.

3:53:09 Um

3:53:12 you you you have really uh accurately

3:53:16 and well defined a significant challenge

3:53:19 that we have as select board members. Um

3:53:22 however I would also say within the

3:53:24 context of the legislative process you

3:53:27 know we also are presenting

3:53:31 whether it is based on the expertise of

3:53:35 our town staff or our own opinions um a

3:53:38 position of the select board to the

3:53:40 legislative body and it is therefore

3:53:43 then the legislative body's role and

3:53:46 privilege to consider our position

3:53:49 relative to all of those other very

3:53:52 intelligent positions that are being

3:53:54 presented on the floor of town meeting

3:53:56 or in advance as part of the legislative

3:53:59 process. So, you know, we also have

3:54:02 political considerations

3:54:04 um to consider in terms of,

3:54:08 you know, how we present the executive

3:54:12 branch's position on these issues

3:54:15 towards the to the legislative branch.

3:54:20 I I would just maybe thread that needle

3:54:22 a little bit in that the po the the

3:54:24 place to to rely heavily on staff is not

3:54:28 at town meeting. It's in the hearings

3:54:30 leading up to town meeting when we are

3:54:32 hearing a certain war article. Um,

3:54:34 that's where I I look to get guidance

3:54:37 from town staff and their read on things

3:54:39 because they are the experts that we

3:54:41 rely on as a select board um in addition

3:54:45 to our own opinions, but like to to

3:54:47 better inform our opinions and what

3:54:48 we're we're coming out with

3:54:51 um to then uh have a

3:54:56 endorsement or rejection of a Warren

3:54:58 article that then we present to town

3:55:00 meeting. And so I think the place where

3:55:03 maybe it is most useful is in this sort

3:55:06 of like prehering stage where we are

3:55:09 trying to figure out um if some sort of

3:55:14 process can actually improve warrant

3:55:16 articles that are going to come before

3:55:17 town meeting. Um because I do think and

3:55:21 and just to to give maybe not a specific

3:55:24 example um

3:55:27 temperatures rise at town meeting

3:55:29 especially when people get very animated

3:55:31 with whatever they believe in right um

3:55:33 but if we can sort of turn down the

3:55:36 temperatures and start talking nuance in

3:55:38 a way that's not like an up and down

3:55:40 vote but a how do we improve what is

3:55:43 coming before us I think that will

3:55:44 benefit everyone.

3:55:49 And just to be clear with my remarks,

3:55:51 I'm not I was by no means trying to

3:55:54 suggest that [clears throat]

3:55:56 department heads were not competently

3:56:00 expressing their opinions. My point was

3:56:01 just that having that feedback early on

3:56:05 is helpful in shaping the trajectory of

3:56:07 a warrant article so that it can be

3:56:10 timely and likelier to succeed and

3:56:13 reflect the will of town meetings. So,

3:56:16 had the drafters of that warrant

3:56:18 [clears throat] article had an

3:56:20 opportunity such as uh laid out from our

3:56:24 roadmap to present their idea early on

3:56:28 and town council had responded, "Well,

3:56:30 here's the issue about zoning versus

3:56:32 bylaw." I'm not questioning his opinion.

3:56:35 I'm just saying having that information

3:56:37 up front would have helped the drafting

3:56:39 of the War.

3:56:40 No, I and I agree with that. And that's

3:56:41 I think that's the other thing to

3:56:42 Michael's point. And this is something I

3:56:44 say to department heads all the time,

3:56:45 right? You you are directly accountable

3:56:48 to the pe to the voters, right? You face

3:56:50 election every three years. You are you

3:56:53 are the direct political leaders of this

3:56:56 town. Um you're the executive and you

3:56:59 have political considerations that you

3:57:02 by virtue of your position insulate

3:57:04 staff from. You know, it's our job to

3:57:07 implement your policies. Um but you all

3:57:10 take the heat um when those policies are

3:57:13 implemented and you are bound by

3:57:16 political considerations that we are not

3:57:18 bound by. And so if you make if you as a

3:57:21 select board make a decision I think it

3:57:23 makes you know we we want to do X for

3:57:25 these reasons. Um it can be any reasons

3:57:28 it can be no reasons right you know our

3:57:30 job is to respect that and to implement

3:57:32 that. So we can offer our opinions and

3:57:34 our advice and you know based on our our

3:57:37 our expertise what we know um but you

3:57:41 all have a broader universe to consider

3:57:43 that is not always just you know does

3:57:46 staff think it's a good idea and I

3:57:48 really don't want us to be in that

3:57:50 situation where oh well staff says it's

3:57:52 a good idea so we should do it. I

3:57:53 actually think we should be challenged

3:57:55 and and and encouraged to think about

3:57:58 the broader position, not just, you

3:58:01 know, in our own boxes, you know, the

3:58:03 day-to-day operation of the town. There

3:58:05 are broader political considerations.

3:58:07 And so, just to play that dark skies

3:58:09 hypothetical out, I we come to you and

3:58:12 we say, "Hey, there's a dark proposed

3:58:14 dark skies bylaw. It would take a lot of

3:58:15 time. We've never heard you say anything

3:58:17 about it." Our recommendation would be

3:58:20 don't you know focus on light pollution

3:58:22 and your response could well be well

3:58:25 wait a minute the community is telling

3:58:27 us something and maybe we should refocus

3:58:29 our attention on that. Um and okay so we

3:58:32 are going to tell staff in this instance

3:58:34 nope it makes sense for you to refocus

3:58:36 your energy on this and we'll say great

3:58:38 that's that's the that's the answer to

3:58:40 the question. Um

3:58:41 or or the answer may be to go to the

3:58:44 petitioner and say, "Given the staff

3:58:45 recommendation, would you consider X?"

3:58:48 Right. Right. But I'm saying what I'm

3:58:49 saying is I I don't want there to be a

3:58:51 situation where we we um

3:58:56 I I don't I don't want it to be a

3:58:57 situation where staff just says, "Oh, we

3:58:59 don't like it." And everyone says,

3:59:00 "Okay, we accept that as gospel." Um

3:59:02 there are political considerations and

3:59:04 things and policy considerations that

3:59:07 you all have to make. And so we're not

3:59:10 we're not the be all and the end all

3:59:11 here. You guys are. Um and so that's I I

3:59:14 want to be very clear on what our

3:59:16 responsibility is. It's to inform and

3:59:18 provide as much information as possible

3:59:20 for you to make informed decisions about

3:59:22 what the priorities are.

3:59:25 And I think that I think that the the

3:59:27 the

3:59:29 priority question that we're actually

3:59:31 wrestling with right now is given this

3:59:35 roadmap directive that we've

3:59:38 established. Um and you know we we could

3:59:42 through the course of this conversation

3:59:44 realize that we made a mistake and like

3:59:46 maybe we shouldn't be this is not a good

3:59:49 use of staff time but I don't think we

3:59:51 are there. Um

3:59:54 and to and to say sort of and to

3:59:58 establish what the process is and how

4:00:00 much time we want to um commit of town

4:00:05 staff towards this preliminary part of

4:00:09 of the warrant article development

4:00:12 process because as David said, you know,

4:00:17 once the warrant article gets filed, you

4:00:20 know, it's going to come before the

4:00:22 select board, we're going to have a

4:00:23 hearing. We're going to get feedback

4:00:24 from staff anyway. So, so it's not

4:00:28 really I mean that part of the process

4:00:32 is is at least from my perspective not

4:00:36 necessarily

4:00:37 gerain to this goal. The purpose of this

4:00:40 goal is to optimize

4:00:44 our sort of the downstream processes as

4:00:47 much as we can um with some fixed and

4:00:51 potent and hopefully limited amount of

4:00:53 effort on staff's part.

4:00:56 So would uh in order to move this

4:00:58 forward, could we take sort of what what

4:01:01 Michael wrote and have a deadline

4:01:05 six weeks ahead ahead of the closing of

4:01:08 the warrant? I don't know what the how

4:01:09 much ahead time to say if you would like

4:01:12 to get staff input into

4:01:15 uh a proposed warrant article submit it

4:01:17 to whoever by this date. Um and then we

4:01:21 set up a process by which staff will do

4:01:24 some sort of highlevel analysis not a

4:01:26 ton of staff time to inform a discussion

4:01:29 of the select board as to how to handle

4:01:31 them.

4:01:31 Right. Yeah. I mean, we right we track

4:01:33 warrant articles informally now, right?

4:01:35 When when around the time that the

4:01:37 warrant starts to open, we start we you

4:01:39 know, every department head meeting, I

4:01:41 come out and say, "All right, who's got

4:01:42 something? You know, who's who's who's

4:01:44 shown up? Who's who's who's going to

4:01:45 who's talking about submitting a warrant

4:01:47 article? What do you what do you hear?"

4:01:49 Um, and we talk through it that way. I

4:01:52 think formalizing that, you know, Frank,

4:01:54 frankly, I can put together, you know, a

4:01:56 shared spreadsheet that basically says,

4:01:58 "All right, here's a, you know, we're

4:02:01 going to keep this running tally and at

4:02:03 a certain date, we're going to this will

4:02:04 be the soft cutoff after which if things

4:02:07 come in, we will continue to review and

4:02:09 we will continue to list them, but we

4:02:11 may not devote we may not have enough

4:02:13 time to devote serious effort to it."

4:02:15 And then we'll bring them to the select

4:02:16 board. We'll say, "Here's what we've

4:02:17 heard. Here's what we think the level of

4:02:20 effort would be." Um, here's whether we

4:02:22 think it could be accomplished via other

4:02:24 means. Uh, and here's where and here's

4:02:26 where we think it sits within your your

4:02:28 stated priorities.

4:02:29 That's perfect.

4:02:29 Right.

4:02:31 That's perfect.

4:02:31 We can do that.

4:02:32 I will just say this. Um, and then this

4:02:34 is the last point I have on this

4:02:35 conversation, but uh I I submitted a

4:02:37 warn article one time and I was able to

4:02:39 talk to Lincoln Heinman and town council

4:02:41 about everything. You know what I mean?

4:02:42 um that that that channel was open but I

4:02:44 think it was only because I reached for

4:02:46 it and I think it's not clear that you

4:02:49 can reach for it which I think this

4:02:50 would help solve.

4:02:52 Yeah. I and you know this is a classic

4:02:54 right you can you can lead a horse to

4:02:56 water problem. Um there will be folks

4:02:58 who just won't do it and that's fine

4:03:00 that's life. Um, but I think opening the

4:03:02 door and emphased

4:03:09 and, you know, either they get a better

4:03:11 warrant article out of it or they

4:03:13 realize, oh, there's a better way of

4:03:14 doing this. Um, or, you know, they hear

4:03:17 from you that it's not a priority and

4:03:19 they say, "Okay." Um, you know, those

4:03:21 are all good outcomes. Um, so having

4:03:24 that can help. Um,

4:03:28 okay. So, as a matter of moving this

4:03:32 forward, shall you and I work together,

4:03:34 produce a new draft, and bring it to the

4:03:37 group.

4:03:37 Sounds great. Perfect.

4:03:38 Um, I just have one question. Are we

4:03:41 going to talk about the communication

4:03:43 policy that was initially part of

4:03:47 Would you like to um

4:03:48 Why don't we Why don't [clears throat]

4:03:49 we go ahead and do that now?

4:03:51 So,

4:03:52 I understand why it wasn't implemented.

4:03:55 [laughter]

4:03:56 Um,

4:03:57 and why is that?

4:03:59 Because

4:03:59 I mean I have my ideas, but [laughter]

4:04:02 it depends on what we think

4:04:04 communication policy is. I was pulling

4:04:06 up the list of things even in the last

4:04:09 month that have come before us. Um, I'll

4:04:14 just list a few of them. Um,

4:04:17 one asking about municipal broadband,

4:04:20 one re-evaluating the garden use of Lars

4:04:22 Anderson, one discussing potential

4:04:24 greater budget for Department of Public

4:04:26 Health for food equity, another on

4:04:29 pedestrian safety. A lot of the the

4:04:31 emails and messages and calls we get are

4:04:34 not requests for information. They are

4:04:37 policy requests or trying to push the

4:04:40 select board to do something in their

4:04:42 favor. Um, and so if you set up a

4:04:45 process by which

4:04:47 whoever it gets filtered to one select

4:04:50 board member, the best you can do is say

4:04:53 interesting information. We're hearing

4:04:55 this at this time or maybe go to this

4:04:57 planning board hearing, but it's not

4:04:59 like we can give a satisfying answer.

4:05:02 Our role is to hear the concerns and

4:05:04 then decide what to do about it. Um, I

4:05:08 think requests for information are

4:05:10 probably the one area that the select

4:05:13 board could have a better policy on. Uh,

4:05:15 going back to Anony's point that people

4:05:18 don't always know uh how to get

4:05:20 information. Um, and so if they are

4:05:23 looking for information, that is one

4:05:25 area where uh one of us and it probably

4:05:28 could be as simple as a rotation could

4:05:30 figure out the right staff person and

4:05:32 connect them. Um, but in the the

4:05:34 weighing in on policy, I don't really

4:05:36 know what we're hoping to accomplish.

4:05:38 Um, and therefore that's a lot of work

4:05:41 that you can't really fulfill the

4:05:43 answers that they're looking for.

4:05:44 Are we really talk [clears throat]

4:05:46 talking about situations where people

4:05:48 ask us to weigh in on policy? Or are we

4:05:52 talking about the typical question we

4:05:54 get about, you know, why is my road not

4:05:57 uh um paved or or whatever?

4:05:59 Why is my fence getting knocked over in

4:06:01 the winter?

4:06:01 Right.

4:06:03 [laughter] Right. And and those are

4:06:05 things I mean we get a lot of those

4:06:06 questions and and the problem that we're

4:06:08 that you know we were concerned with

4:06:10 when this first came up was many of

4:06:12 those questions were just not being

4:06:14 answered and people were

4:06:17 they didn't like the fact that we

4:06:18 weren't answering them. It was so easy

4:06:20 to you set up a procedure whereby those

4:06:24 questions are answered. People are given

4:06:26 direction as to who to talk to

4:06:28 [clears throat] um you what we what

4:06:29 we're doing etc. I I think something

4:06:31 else Amanda has I identified is that

4:06:33 there is such a broad array of subjects

4:06:37 with which people reach out to us. It

4:06:39 [clears throat] doesn't really fall

4:06:41 neatly into categories of who is a

4:06:42 liaison on what or who is heading what

4:06:46 subcommittee. The examples you gave. I

4:06:49 mean I suppose the public health one I'm

4:06:51 the public health liaison but it's not

4:06:53 super clear and so we probably do need a

4:06:56 different method for ensuring that

4:06:57 everyone receives a response. Um, this

4:06:59 is

4:07:01 I don't know how popular this is going

4:07:02 to be, but this is like if we were to

4:07:04 have like a better communication

4:07:05 strategy and we're trying to funnel the

4:07:07 right questions to the right people as

4:07:08 fast as possible. That's like the

4:07:11 perfect use of an AI chatbot that

4:07:13 immediately directs your question, reads

4:07:16 the policies of who's the liaison to

4:07:18 what, what departments handle what,

4:07:20 reads those things, knows what they do,

4:07:22 and then when a question comes in,

4:07:24 immediately directs you to the person

4:07:26 that leads that. That's like the perfect

4:07:27 example of a chatbot and I think we

4:07:29 should explore that.

4:07:32 I will say there are a number of vendors

4:07:34 out there who have approached us about

4:07:36 putting a chatbot on the website. We

4:07:38 have seen other municipalities do it. Um

4:07:41 I you know this is great. Charlie Young

4:07:43 is our AI advocate and I'm the AI

4:07:45 skeptic in the office. So we just it's

4:07:46 two two guys named Charles. [laughter]

4:07:50 Um and so um I'm I I'm I'm I've been

4:07:55 sufficiently convinced that that is

4:07:56 something we can explore further.

4:07:58 I would love to see the cost on that.

4:08:00 Yeah. So we can definitely take a look

4:08:01 at that if that's something the board is

4:08:02 interested in

4:08:03 for communities that have been uh

4:08:05 adopters of this. I know it's very early

4:08:07 but what's the initial feedback?

4:08:09 Seems to be positive so far. Um we're

4:08:11 reaching out. We're doing a little more

4:08:12 research. Um I you know again I think

4:08:14 Fun and her team have been really great

4:08:15 on this. they they're really interested

4:08:17 in the technology, but they're going

4:08:18 about it in a very deliberate and and

4:08:21 careful way. So,

4:08:22 um it's kind of the best of all worlds.

4:08:24 Um so, we will get more information for

4:08:27 you on that and and and come back to

4:08:29 you.

4:08:30 And I'll also say just from a

4:08:31 professional perspective, I implemented

4:08:33 one of these at a company. It works. It

4:08:35 works awesome. It works really well.

4:08:38 Yeah. It's funny. I I uh you know I'm

4:08:41 dating myself but I I that narrow band

4:08:44 of people that know what six sigma is.

4:08:46 Do you know what six sigma is?

4:08:47 No. Yeah. See Michael does. You

4:08:49 I don't. [laughter]

4:08:51 Um it was it's now a very disfavored

4:08:54 process. Um but it used to be this idea

4:08:57 that you really want to build your

4:08:59 processes out to six standard deviations

4:09:01 as opposed to three or two or whatever

4:09:04 because the margin of you know you want

4:09:06 to you want to set a high standard with

4:09:08 low margin of error and the example I

4:09:10 gave to Charlie was I don't want the

4:09:13 what happened to Chipotle which is their

4:09:14 chatbot was used to write to weaponize

4:09:16 and write malicious code. So, you know,

4:09:20 the the potential for harm with AI is so

4:09:23 high and the potential for

4:09:25 um right error causing serious harm can

4:09:29 be high. And so, I really want us to be

4:09:31 I don't want us to be six sigma because

4:09:33 I think that leads to um unnecessary

4:09:35 caution and uh poor results. But I want

4:09:38 us to be um four sigma. [laughter]

4:09:42 The other thing is people really want to

4:09:44 talk to a person.

4:09:45 Yeah.

4:09:45 Yes. That too.

4:09:46 And and especially when that person on

4:09:48 the select board.

4:09:49 Totally. And the chatbot, the way that

4:09:51 I'm thinking about it, just off the top

4:09:52 of my head, is very much like a like a

4:09:54 funnel, not going to answer your

4:09:56 questions, but more of a this is the

4:09:57 person we're sending your message to

4:09:59 who's going to answer your question as

4:10:00 soon as possible.

4:10:01 Right? Our goal is to have a a no wrong

4:10:03 door policy, right? This idea that

4:10:05 someone gets shuttled around from

4:10:06 department to department. They are going

4:10:08 up and down the stairs and town hall.

4:10:09 They get more and more frustrated. Our

4:10:11 goal is really when someone walks in the

4:10:13 door of this office, you know, Melanie

4:10:14 and Michelle and Nicole and the whole

4:10:16 team here really do a good job. and Kate

4:10:18 and everybody of saying, you know, what

4:10:20 do you what do you how can we help you?

4:10:22 Not, you know, you you really need to go

4:10:24 to the fourth floor. Sometimes you do,

4:10:25 but you know, wherever we can, we could

4:10:27 be helpful to them.

4:10:29 Well, I I guess what you're describing,

4:10:33 Anthony, is is consistent with my own

4:10:36 thinking is that the category of

4:10:40 questions that can be that can be

4:10:42 addressed this way, which is a subset of

4:10:44 of what you laid out at the beginning,

4:10:47 Amanda. Um, you know, it shouldn't

4:10:51 actually I'm not sure it should actually

4:10:52 be a select board role because those

4:10:57 question That set of questions sort of

4:10:59 by definition should be attributable or

4:11:03 directable to some staff function that

4:11:08 we have plans and processes for handling

4:11:11 them. Whether it's, you know, dealing

4:11:14 with your fence that's been hitting my

4:11:16 snow plows, which I think would be a DPW

4:11:19 issue or, you know, putting in a request

4:11:22 for traffic calming or, you know,

4:11:27 how do how do we get how do we fun to

4:11:30 the extent that your question or your

4:11:32 interest can be funneled into a town

4:11:34 process that we have, then we should be

4:11:37 able to

4:11:40 apolitically

4:11:42 funnel into that process. But to the

4:11:44 extent that people are doing advocacy,

4:11:46 you know, none of this is going to be

4:11:49 helpful.

4:11:49 I will also just add to based on

4:11:51 Bernard's Bernard's point, sometimes

4:11:53 they email you because they have gotten

4:11:55 a response from town staff and they

4:11:56 don't like it. Um, and sometimes they

4:11:58 pretend that they haven't gotten a

4:11:59 response and they email you in the hopes

4:12:01 that they will be getting a different

4:12:02 response. It's like going to dad when

4:12:03 you don't like mom's answer. Um,

4:12:05 yes.

4:12:06 So that and that that does happen. Um,

4:12:09 it happens a lot. Um, and when and when

4:12:11 that happens, you know, what they're

4:12:13 looking for from you is not please talk

4:12:15 to this person. They already have talked

4:12:17 to that person. They're looking for you

4:12:18 to tell that person, hey, I'm the select

4:12:20 board and you have to do what I say. Um,

4:12:22 and we don't do that here. And that can

4:12:24 be frustrating to them. So, I think

4:12:26 setting that expectation is an important

4:12:28 thing, too, of being like, if you've

4:12:30 talked to staff and staff have explained

4:12:33 why we're doing this, then going to the

4:12:36 select board and asking for the rules to

4:12:38 change

4:12:40 It's not often the right way to go about

4:12:42 it.

4:12:44 My typical response when I've

4:12:45 experienced that kind of thing is

4:12:49 actually you're not asking for your

4:12:50 problem to be solved. You're asking for

4:12:52 a policy change and then you've just

4:12:55 moved into, you know, that set of right

4:12:58 of buckets,

4:12:59 right?

4:13:00 Yeah.

4:13:03 I like uh last thing is I I liked

4:13:05 Amanda's idea of of like saying six

4:13:08 weeks before deadline of warrant,

4:13:14 but we'll we'll work that out.

4:13:16 Yeah. Yeah. to your to your point though

4:13:17 Amanda of you know this this policy um

4:13:21 is there can we can we work are you

4:13:24 willing to kind of take a crack at at

4:13:26 something different something you know

4:13:27 we can look at the chatbot idea because

4:13:30 I think that is but for that subset of

4:13:32 things that is not

4:13:33 routing totally not the apolitical sort

4:13:35 of you know find the right door um

4:13:38 right I mean that I I would be happy to

4:13:40 work with it but it's unclear that

4:13:42 there's even a consensus on like some of

4:13:45 a lot of it is advocacy Right. Or like

4:13:47 one of the emails was on traffic

4:13:49 enforcement and that I've gotten in

4:13:51 person a number of times too, right?

4:13:53 Like that is not something that

4:13:54 immediately an individual select board

4:13:57 member can fix.

4:13:59 We could discuss policy changes. And so

4:14:01 I'm like not sure

4:14:04 what the board's ideal situation is for

4:14:08 essentially public comment or email that

4:14:11 is advocating for something.

4:14:17 Well, if it's advocacy related are and

4:14:20 it's coming to all five of us, I suppose

4:14:24 we can each give our own answer as long

4:14:26 as we're not copying everybody else on

4:14:28 it. Uh because you're right, a lot of

4:14:30 these advocacy questions don't neatly

4:14:33 fall into a particular bucket. And even

4:14:34 if it does, we each have our opinions.

4:14:37 And sometimes a subset of us might be

4:14:41 emailed, not necessarily all of us.

4:14:44 Lately, I'm getting a lot of uh emails

4:14:46 regarding

4:14:48 uh [clears throat]

4:14:49 political speech on public property.

4:14:51 Quite a few. I'm not sure why I'm

4:14:53 getting those, but I'm I'm being

4:14:55 responsive to it.

4:14:57 So, advocacy then the policy is

4:15:00 essentially that individual members can

4:15:03 respond as they see fit. Um

4:15:07 and that basically encompasses

4:15:12 everything that is not here is a

4:15:14 specific issue I'm having. Maybe we do a

4:15:17 chatbot. Maybe we have something in the

4:15:19 interim

4:15:20 that says um

4:15:24 it seems like outside of your home there

4:15:28 might be a need for traffic coming. This

4:15:30 is the polic this is who you need to

4:15:32 talk to to make this happen.

4:15:33 Um and I don't know if we think that is

4:15:36 the job of the select board and

4:15:37 therefore we want a policy that does

4:15:39 that. Um, or do we think that is more

4:15:44 I don't know who else that would be

4:15:46 because we're going to be the ones

4:15:47 getting the contact.

4:15:49 It may not be the the job of the select

4:15:51 board, but the job that the people want

4:15:52 us to to to do

4:15:54 and and we have to respect that. And

4:15:56 even when someone's trying to lobby us,

4:15:58 we can just say, well, you know, you're

4:16:00 trying to lobby me, you know, here's how

4:16:03 you get, you know, get what you want. is

4:16:06 not by getting me to

4:16:08 be lobbyed and then lobby the uh the

4:16:11 staff. I I guess I don't see what you

4:16:14 know the problem is that that uh you

4:16:16 have with the way it's set up.

4:16:18 So

4:16:19 what would be your ideal workflow of

4:16:23 emails that go to the select board at

4:16:26 large

4:16:28 workflow?

4:16:29 because right now this

4:16:30 go through Melanie who I mean under this

4:16:33 policy Melanie would send out an email

4:16:36 saying you know we received your um your

4:16:39 question and you tell them what the

4:16:43 process is for getting an answer and and

4:16:46 then assign it to a select board member

4:16:48 who could either answer the question or

4:16:50 tell the person that this is an

4:16:52 inappropriate uh attempt to you know

4:16:55 lobby us to do something that uh we we

4:16:57 shouldn't be

4:16:59 for example.

4:17:01 So then we're essentially rounding

4:17:03 because most of them don't fall neatly

4:17:04 in like you head up the vision zero now

4:17:08 defunct committee, right? Um a lot of

4:17:12 them don't fall into an individual

4:17:15 bucket and so then are we putting on

4:17:17 Melanie shoulders to just randomly

4:17:21 assign a Slack board member?

4:17:23 But how often does that really happen?

4:17:24 It seems that people either write to all

4:17:27 five of us to begin with or they choose

4:17:31 among us one or two of us for whatever

4:17:32 reason and we're the only ones receiving

4:17:34 it. So I I mean I guess that's more a

4:17:37 question for Melanie. Are you already

4:17:39 routing a lot of emails or are they

4:17:41 already written in such a way that it's

4:17:43 either to all five of us or to some

4:17:45 subset of us?

4:17:46 So we get a lot of emails to the select

4:17:48 board email address. Um, there is an

4:17:51 automatic response that gets sends out

4:17:52 sent out to those emails. Kate is the

4:17:55 one that funnels them and puts them in

4:17:57 yourformational packet if it's something

4:17:59 she wants you guys to take a look at.

4:18:01 Just an FYI. Sometimes we forward it to

4:18:05 department heads that might be able to

4:18:06 answer it better than we can. Um, but

4:18:11 Kate is actually the one that funnels a

4:18:13 lot of those.

4:18:15 I'm not sure we need to change that

4:18:17 process.

4:18:17 Right. To me, I'm not quite sure what

4:18:19 the problem is we're trying to solve,

4:18:21 unless it's people not getting a

4:18:24 response at all.

4:18:25 That's that's what this was initially

4:18:27 targeting. It was there was a subset of

4:18:29 emails that was going to select board at

4:18:30 proclaman.gov

4:18:32 that was not getting that we would put

4:18:35 in your packets and then there was there

4:18:37 was sort of a collective action problem,

4:18:38 right? All five of you would look at it.

4:18:40 All five of you would say, "Yep, okay,

4:18:42 someone surely will respond to that."

4:18:44 Um, and then nobody responded to it. Um,

4:18:47 and so that's that's the narrow subset

4:18:51 of emails that we were trying to

4:18:52 address.

4:18:53 So,

4:18:55 but all of those people presumably got

4:18:57 the automated response.

4:18:59 Yes.

4:19:01 The automated, you know, what they were

4:19:02 what they were looking for is that

4:19:04 second touch point, right? The that some

4:19:06 that a person to, you know, that a

4:19:08 person read it and is has issued a

4:19:11 response to it.

4:19:15 Maybe maybe we should be more clear in

4:19:18 the automated response as to whether or

4:19:21 not they will receive such an email.

4:19:25 Well, I think people in the community

4:19:27 generally are going to want to have some

4:19:29 kind of personalized response. And as we

4:19:32 discussed at the workshop, school

4:19:34 committee handles this by just each

4:19:36 member takes a turn for a week. Uh and

4:19:39 it might be a generic response, but

4:19:40 still it's going to have some kind of

4:19:42 personal touch and people tend to

4:19:44 appreciate that. So, that's something

4:19:46 that we might adopt. But then again,

4:19:48 we're not going to know whether someone

4:19:50 else already responded, but if they get

4:19:52 more than one response, I'm not sure

4:19:54 they would necessarily be unhappy about

4:19:56 that.

4:19:58 Right. Well, because the the emails that

4:20:00 go to the select or email address, they

4:20:02 don't come to our individual email

4:20:03 addresses. They just end up in the

4:20:05 information packet and then you sort of

4:20:06 like click through them oneonone. Um, so

4:20:09 it's like not the the most

4:20:11 straightforward to respond to either.

4:20:13 Um, like you can, but you have to jump

4:20:16 through some hoops,

4:20:17 right? I mean, we could certainly set up

4:20:18 a rule that routes them directly to your

4:20:20 inboxes. Or we could set or we could set

4:20:22 up a rule that if to David's point, we

4:20:24 could have a rotation and we could set

4:20:26 up a rule that every week it just

4:20:28 rotates a member and says, "All right,

4:20:29 you're on you're on duty this week. You

4:20:31 will get everything that's sent to

4:20:33 select board at but and we'll still put

4:20:34 it in theformational packet so that

4:20:36 everyone else can see it." But there's

4:20:38 an expectation that that person will be

4:20:39 responding to those emails for that week

4:20:41 to the extent that a response is

4:20:42 necessary.

4:20:43 I think I think I would ask for two

4:20:45 things. Number one, I would ask that

4:20:48 they all be routed to me. You know,

4:20:53 you guys can make your own decisions. Um

4:20:56 that they would

4:20:58 sure I would ask number one that they

4:21:00 all be routed to me and number two that

4:21:02 I be able to set up a rule for my

4:21:05 brooklinemma.gov gov account that puts

4:21:08 them all in a special folder so that I

4:21:10 can identify them independently of my

4:21:14 inbox

4:21:16 and then

4:21:18 I would choose to handle them or not.

4:21:20 I agree

4:21:21 that can be done. Um I actually think

4:21:23 that this was set up and in in the true

4:21:26 everything old is new again. I think

4:21:27 this was probably set up because the

4:21:28 board complained that we were forwarding

4:21:30 everything to their mailboxes.

4:21:31 That's so funny.

4:21:31 Um

4:21:32 but that's why you need the the second

4:21:34 right rule.

4:21:35 Yes. the the the the routing the filter,

4:21:39 right?

4:21:40 Every story has already been written.

4:21:42 Yes. Uh

4:21:46 okay,

4:21:47 cool.

4:21:47 I think that would be helpful because to

4:21:49 Amanda's point about the additional

4:21:50 steps in looking at the emails that go

4:21:54 to all five of us. I think there's some

4:21:55 that I miss and then I'll get an angry

4:21:57 phone call and see you like three times

4:22:00 what's going on and I look through my

4:22:01 email and I'm not finding it. uh and

4:22:04 then eventually I do see it and so that

4:22:05 would avoid that problem.

4:22:06 So we will set up an automatic rule that

4:22:08 routes them um and we will work with it

4:22:10 to figure out a method that works best

4:22:13 for all of you because you may have

4:22:14 different rules that you want to follow

4:22:16 in terms of you know sorting them and so

4:22:18 forth uh mail sort rules. So we will

4:22:21 figure out a way to make that work

4:22:22 depending on your individual

4:22:24 preferences. But we will kick things off

4:22:27 by by routing email that goes to select

4:22:31 board.gov

4:22:33 to each of you.

4:22:34 No, no,

4:22:35 not yet.

4:22:36 Don't do that before you set up the

4:22:37 other one. Otherwise, we'll get

4:22:39 overwhelmed and then it will be worse.

4:22:40 Okay.

4:22:42 What? We would be overwhelmed. I mean,

4:22:44 how many emails do we get?

4:22:45 You get less than you used to. Um, but

4:22:47 you do get you do you do get a fair

4:22:49 amount. the the the the reason is

4:22:52 because because

4:22:56 it you know there there are times when

4:22:59 it takes a takes a little more time to

4:23:01 get back to people because there are

4:23:03 other things going on and so it's

4:23:06 important that that set of emails be

4:23:09 segregated from the normal stream of our

4:23:12 inbox so that we can process them

4:23:15 separately.

4:23:17 And if they're not, then they're just as

4:23:20 they're almost as likely to be lost or

4:23:23 ignored or skipped over or whatever.

4:23:26 I agree with Michael that organizing it

4:23:28 in that manner would be helpful. Uh when

4:23:31 I served on school committee, we had

4:23:32 everything forwarded to us and that

4:23:34 creates sort of the opposite problem of

4:23:37 you end up losing in that stream some of

4:23:40 the really critical emails. And I don't

4:23:41 say that to put down

4:23:43 other categories of emails, but

4:23:45 sometimes you get sort of those chain

4:23:47 letter emails that are almost all the

4:23:48 same. And and in that volume, you kind

4:23:52 of lose what you really needed to

4:23:53 address in that moment.

4:23:57 Yep.

4:23:57 I will say I I don't think we're I just

4:23:59 want to set expectations. I don't think

4:24:00 the system is sophisticated enough to be

4:24:03 able to filter out

4:24:06 without manual intervention some of

4:24:08 that. But you get you get less of that

4:24:10 than the school committee does. Um it

4:24:12 really is only when big policy issues

4:24:14 come up that we start to see chain

4:24:15 letters. Um

4:24:17 but we should it shouldn't be that hard

4:24:18 to set up a filter that says everything

4:24:20 by select board select board at

4:24:24 Brooklynmma.gov goes to a folder.

4:24:26 That's like

4:24:27 Yes. Yes. Yeah. I'm just want to set

4:24:28 right be beyond that, right? We we will

4:24:32 try and give you permissions to be able

4:24:33 to customize that as you see fit.

4:24:35 Okay.

4:24:35 Perfect.

4:24:36 That's fine.

4:24:38 All right. Any further discussion?

4:24:40 I have one question. How can I go about

4:24:42 adding something to the agenda? I've

4:24:44 never done that before. Can I bring up a

4:24:45 topic I want to talk about next week

4:24:47 now?

4:24:47 Yes. So, so yeah, and you can also

4:24:50 always email David or Michael and

4:24:52 Michael. Um, and you know, usually what

4:24:56 happens is the there's never the the

4:24:59 board almost always by consensus says,

4:25:03 "Yeah, whatever whatever an individual

4:25:05 member wants to put on the agenda, we'll

4:25:06 put on the agenda." It may not be the

4:25:08 following week because there may be a

4:25:09 lot going on, but they'll add it to the

4:25:11 list and it will be on at a certain

4:25:13 time.

4:25:13 Okay. um you um if for some reason

4:25:17 there's some dispute, if the board is

4:25:18 not in alignment, if the chair doesn't

4:25:21 want to put it on, then what we do is we

4:25:23 put on an agenda item at the end of the

4:25:25 agenda that says future business, and

4:25:27 that's the opportunity for the board to

4:25:29 discuss something for the future that

4:25:31 they want to put on. So I would say

4:25:32 okay

4:25:33 this under the stickler's rules if you

4:25:36 just email David Michael Melanie and me

4:25:39 we will we will when we talk about it in

4:25:42 the agenda setting meeting we'll find a

4:25:43 slot for it and if for some reason

4:25:45 there's a problem we'll put it on as and

4:25:47 again I've this has happened once in the

4:25:48 three and a half years that I've been

4:25:49 here um we'll put on a future business

4:25:51 item and you can bring it up to the full

4:25:53 board and say hey I want to talk about

4:25:54 this can we please put it on an agenda.

4:25:56 Got it. Okay.

4:25:59 Anyone else?

4:26:01 All right. Then with that, I will

4:26:03 I will just note for open meeting laws,

4:26:06 I don't think David or I would respond

4:26:08 to you right directly in any way other

4:26:11 than

4:26:12 talk with Chaz and staff to put it on

4:26:15 the agenda.

4:26:15 Right. I won't take it personally.

4:26:17 Yep.

4:26:18 All right. So, I'll get another

4:26:20 opportunity for public comment if anyone

4:26:22 wants to be heard. Go ahead.

4:26:30 Hi. Yes. Regina Frolley from South

4:26:32 Brooklyn Precinct 16. Um, can you tell

4:26:35 me,

4:26:38 Hang on, there's a lot of feedback now.

4:26:41 Um, I heard earlier that there's a um

4:26:46 person who might be Erin who's in charge

4:26:48 of something to do with surveys.

4:26:52 Surveys. Uh when my street was done and

4:26:55 the sidewalk was done, um a problem that

4:26:58 a neighbor, one of my abutters had had

4:27:02 without a permit, the town did it for

4:27:04 them. They widened the um uh curb cut

4:27:09 and that has unbeknownsted to us

4:27:11 initially has created a lot of problems.

4:27:15 So, when they did the sidewalk, um, I I

4:27:19 paid for the survey, $2,700 in order to

4:27:22 put a sheh shed in my backyard, and I

4:27:25 was supervised. I had a permit, etc.,

4:27:27 etc. And Dan Bennett came and told me I

4:27:30 had to go down even deeper and dig. I

4:27:32 mean, it did everything right, but it

4:27:35 put a survey marker 22 inches into my

4:27:39 neighbor's driveway.

4:27:42 Since the sidewalk was redone, the

4:27:46 markers missing and now it's more like

4:27:48 30 in. Um, I need three of my survey

4:27:53 markers are still accurate, but that one

4:27:55 isn't any longer. Who's going to be in

4:27:57 charge of that and help me remedy that

4:28:00 situation? and I shouldn't have to pay

4:28:01 another $2,700 for it.

4:28:06 It's understandable that it happened

4:28:08 because it was a new sidewalk, but it

4:28:10 still has created a problem for me.

4:28:12 You know, I don't know off the top of my

4:28:14 head who's I'm sorry. Yeah,

4:28:16 I know. It's okay. I don't know off the

4:28:18 top of my head who who within the

4:28:20 department is responsible for that, but

4:28:22 we will look into that and I'll email

4:28:23 you later this week.

4:28:24 Please.

4:28:24 Yep.

4:28:25 Thank you.

4:28:26 You're welcome.

4:28:29 Anyone else? Anyone online?

4:28:32 Seeing none, that concludes our meeting

4:28:34 for tonight.

4:28:57 [music]