 Good evening. Welcome to the board of selection meeting for Monday, March 13, 2017. We're starting a little bit earlier tonight 6 o'clock I apologize. I wasn't paying attention to the clock. We're a little after 6 What I'm going to do along with the vice chair and my colleagues Approval is sort of jump around on the agenda, but the first thing I'd like to do is to call upon our town manager We've all gotten emails calls queries regarding the current storm if you could just give An update on that it's gonna happen. He said Thank You madam chair, I would I would never make a meteorological meteorological prediction from this from this seat Thank you for this opportunity. We've already announced or the superintendent has already announced that school will be canceled tomorrow Trash will be delayed one day and it'll be a townwide parking band beginning at 9 a.m. In Anticipation of the storm tomorrow where I'm going to hold on just a little while longer on a town office and library decision But should make that decision probably before the time this Meeting is over the forecast seem to be ranging from anywhere from 12 to 18 to maybe more inches of snow tomorrow So it seems like it's going to be a very significant event Also high winds heavy wet snow So there's the chance of power outages So we're gonna have both our own in-house tree crew and a private tree crew available Last point I've heard some word that there's concern that since we are over our snow budget that we may have less resources to put towards Meeting the storm tomorrow. That's not the case though. We are over the appropriated amount for the snow budget We have adequate reserves to be able to treat and fight this storm just like we would any other storm So there's no no concern in terms of resources That's all thank you and Next we'll go to agenda item one introduction newly appointed redevelopment board member someone who is No stranger to any of us name and address just for the record Eugene Benson 16 Hills Dell Road You can move the mic and bend it up towards you a little bit But you do want to get a little closer and it'll work better Okay, if you could just give just a brief in terms of people that are watching this that may know your face I may not know your face just in terms of why you've applied for and soon will be elected a Redevelopment board member Well, first I'd like to thank you for approving my appointment last time when I couldn't be here I hope that I do well By the town in my time on the redevelopment board. I've lived in the town since 1990 Know the town pretty well. I was on the vision 2020 Steering committee for a number of years. I was on the council on aging for a few years. I teach in a planning school I actually teach Planning and land use law. So I have a pretty good familiarity with the work of the redevelopment board and I have a real interest in in making sure that it carries out The master plan that the town had adopted and does it in a smart That's very brief Thank you, and I'm not sure I think mr. Dunn maybe made the motion. I'm not sure we've already sort of pre-approved to bring you in and once again, thank you for volunteering for this position you served in so many other capacities that We couldn't begin to thank you enough and having worked with you in the past. I know you'll truly be an asset in terms of the different Redevelopment and other issues that are coming up before various boards and commissions in the town And I really do thank you because I know this is it once again a Kind of intense time commitment volunteer time commitment and definitely do appreciate that and thank you for coming well Thank you everyone Next if I could go to agenda item 8 an appointment to the Equal Opportunity Advisory Committee Lori Lennon turned to expire December 31st 2020 Lori's here. You can just say your name and address for the record in the little preamble sure my name is Lori Lennon I live at 147 Palmer Street. I moved to Arlington about two years ago with my daughter Kira I work at Northeastern University science communications person and I also serve on the diversity committee at my at my university Move approval second by Mr. Dunn second by Mr. Burn. Mr. Dunn I loved your resume. I thought the a lot of the communication stuff is going to be really helpful because I think a lot of the work of this committee is Sharing messages that the town needs to have here. So thank you very much. It's an honor. Thank you Any further questions on a motion by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Burn and thank you Kira for coming down If not all those in favor say aye All those opposed unanimous vote. What do you think Kira? We did okay Okay She's like mom. I want to go home. Yeah My kids are the same. Thank you. Now with my Colleagues also approval. We will move to the Warren article hearings articles for review first article 11 the bylaw amendment residential construction open evacuation and demolition Activity regulations. We have actually four sort of in the same venue vane 11 12 13 14 I don't know mr. Chapter Lane would like to Yes, thank you madam chair If it suits the board, I think we'd like to speak to articles 11 12 13 and 14 collectively I'll provide some brief introductory remarks town council I will walk through the details and the technical aspects of the proposals And then several members of the residential study group are here to share their thoughts on the process And the proposals that are before you tonight So briefly, I think the board will recall that at last year's town meeting There was a great deal of discussion on various zoning topics in regards to residential zoning The outcome of those discussions was a resolution or a vote of town meeting for the town manager to create a study group to Look at issues of residential zoning and the impacts of construction in residential neighborhoods That led to the formation of this residential study group, which had a mix of citizens people from the real estate industry construction industry In various interested parties as well as town staff The group has met. I actually don't have a count But it has to be over a dozen times since the fall through the winter has done a great deal of work Both in the meeting setting has toured various sites of construction at various points in the construction process excavation Construction completion talked to a butters about their feelings about the process of construction The group has also performed or issued a survey to those who have lived near construction sites and redevelopment sites to get their take on the process and One one thing that I'll speak for myself in saying is what seems to have come out of the process is a feeling that There is a legitimate concern about certain aspects of zoning and what is allowed to be built But more predominantly there's concern about the construction process and the impacts of that construction process So you'll see that tonight much of what is being proposed aims at better managing the construction process The noise the sounds the dust all the impacts that can come from a construction project What's not before the board tonight though very tightly ties to the discussion at town meeting last year And will be before the ARB tonight is a proposal to limit the slope of Downward driveways the board may remember there's a lot of discussion about that Again, that won't be before the board tonight It is part of this suite of recommendations coming out of the residential study group, but that in and of itself is a zoning recommendation So with that, I'll if it's okay with the board. I'll have Doug walk through the actual proposals themselves Tony Hyme. Thank you madam chair. I'm sorry for running late this evening I just want to echo at the very beginning the town managers Sentiment that the residential study group worked extraordinarily hard and creatively to come up with the recommendations In front of you. I was only there for certain pieces of it the drafting of warrant articles And then the drafting the actual motions but I just want to again commend them on their work to have a very inclusive mindset and to Really work on a set of compromises that makes for a functional set of Town by law amendments to serve these interests As the town manager said we have a series of town warrant articles that come together to form three Separate votes two of them were condensed for reasons. I'll get into it for a minute but the first piece of this is about increasing the number of Events that would trigger meaningful notice to a butters when certain residential construction activities take place in the by-law is presently There's a demolition by-law that notifies folks within 200 feet that a demolition is going to take place But if a demolition wasn't part of a project for example the Irving Street project that generated a lot of controversy There was no reason for a notice to go out under the by-laws as they're presently constructed This would expand the set of things that triggers that notice requirement and also Create further detail in terms of what that notice consists of so first and foremost The notice would now be expanded to not only demolition but open foundation excavations large addition sites and New construction so that there's a broader set of things that are being captured second it prompts a more comprehensive dialogue and shared set of expectations by noting the things that have to be Given to a butters or the folks within this 200 feet of the site So that includes things like what the anticipated completion date of a project is what the Anticipated work hours for the project will be a site plan among other things some of which will only be appropriate depending on the type Of project that's taking place And I'll obviously let the residential study group address why this is so important But that's the first measure that we're here to discuss and again It would capture many things that residents have been complaining about in terms of things that they weren't aware of before the construction started the second piece of what the town manager described it as a suite of changes are Essentially one motion on two warrant articles articles 12 and 13 to establish a set of Site condition responsibilities that are going to be codified in the bylaws So one of the things I expect the residential study group Representatives to talk about a little bit more is that one of the things that will be worked on in conjunction with these Warrant articles at town meeting is an end construction control agreement that will enable Developers and contractors to have one document that outlines all the expectations from the town either from town bylaws Building regulations health department regulations or other sources that says this is what you're expected to do when you're conducting residential construction in Arlington and these are essentially the rules This is adding a significant set of additional rules in terms of things that are meant to Mitigate the quality of life impacts of residential construction things like making sure that Construction equipment that's not being used anymore is promptly removed from the site Making sure that materials are stored in safe and secure locations so that you don't have construction materials You know getting scattered in a windstorm or something like that making sure that portable restrooms are Arranged in a place. That's at least 10 feet wherever feasible away from and a butters property line all things that aren't Presently recorded in our bylaws now And obviously they're sort of self-explanatory to some degree and then the final piece of it is an adjustment of our present noise abatement bylaw to modify the hours to shrink the Time during the day when very specific construction activities are not allowed So this doesn't mean that no construction activities are allowed But it means that really the noisiest types of construction activities heavy equipment and certain other things that are already listed in our Bylaws are not permitted during the hours of 9 to 5 on Saturday Sundays will be go holidays and 8 to 6 on all other days So again, I'll let the residential study group talk a little bit more about the rationale for all the Development developments that they're proposing to you But this is the suite of things that that that they're That these three votes will encompass and again Among the many things that they're meant to address They are addressing some very specific situations that were raised at town meeting like Irving Street where the noise was such Substantial issue for folks, but there wasn't really a lot in the town bylaws at least that we could do about it So this would improve upon that situation Thank you, Mr. Chet. Mr. Towne manager. The only other thing I wanted to add and I'm sorry for not adding this at the beginning is I think everybody in the group feels very good about this work We think it's going to address a number of the issues But we also want to be clear that the work of this group is going to continue through the summer Parallel with zoning reconification and potentially have further recommendations at a special town meeting in the fall when zoning Reconification is being considered so The question very well could come up here tonight or a town meeting of well You didn't you did not achieve this thing that we wanted to achieve And we're certainly not shutting the door after these recommendations. We continue to we have planned to continue to keep meeting and addressing concerns Thank you very much this chair I did have a Couple questions, but I just want to start by of course thanking the re-cautification group Sound this was an important work Body of work, and I think we heard quite a bit of it last year at town meeting and even before that So I know this is a step in the right direction, and I am very grateful for everyone who came to the table I think over the past few years You know when tough issues come up I think Arlington has a really good track record of Bringing people with potentially opposing views to the table to to work out their differences And I think this is a good example of it. We started with leaf-flowers, and we started I think last year very much so with the tree by-law and that's something I'm really proud of The work throughout the community I did have and I think Adam might have just covered this but one question I think about the process Do you feel that there was you know, I don't know if support would be the right word But a general acceptance around the table that this is you know workable for all parties involved. I Have that feeling I'll certainly let some of the members speak for themselves here, but I think there was there was some good honest feedback I mean they weren't all harmonious meetings. They were courteous meetings They were they were very polite meetings, but there were disagreements. There was back and forth, and I Feel like what's being proposed was a compromised position that all felt you know Maybe would require some adjustments, but we're working. I'm happy to hear that. Thank you I would just put a question or a case-and-point scenario Forth to any future speakers that are going to speak on this and I know we have the building inspector here As well as members of the committee and others that have met on that Following our mr. Burns remarks. I know that when we went through the leaf blower episode Which town meeting? Granted me the opportunity to Work with the different constituencies there one of the Main points encountered with that group that we kind of got a creative solution to resolve and also I got the same kind of calls on Around the Irving Street issue and plus I have a personal Experience with this so my question would be and it's not required, but one of the things when we were going through the leaf blower issue was Families that have either children or young adults that are sensory Stimulated can be overloaded In terms of when we were talking about the leaf blower Compromise and they did come up with a solution to that for a contact person So my question would be and I don't know if this can be captured or answered Here tonight or even in the fall But if you're a neighbor to a project that's having demolition and you have someone in your family with special needs a child or a young adult or adult In everybody understands, you know things have to get built and leaves have to be blown But what one of the things that we encountered with leaf blowers and with Irving Street I got two calls on was the individuals said I Have a personal Circumstance my family member if there's any way that I could know recognizing you can't guarantee a hundred percent But if there was a whether it's a person I can contact whether it's through the town The person that I can speak to that can give or whether it's you know a point person for that particular project You know let's let's say it was on Howard Street. I don't mean to that If I have someone with special needs that you know that kind of loud sound consistent Banging really kind of sets them off, you know, is there a way and if there's not it's okay But is there a way that I can contact someone either through the town of Wellington or through the Individual project site manager themselves Recognizing, you know, it won't be a hundred percent and sometimes other things come up But what they said similar to when we went through the leaf blowing Incident and only it's only come up in three pots of town and Gary Tibbets has been the point person that they say, you know, you can call me We'll let you know when this activity is gonna occur and usually what you do is you Take that individual if they are Overstimulated by any kind of sensory sound banging you can kind of make plans to you know Transition them to something else So I'm not saying there should be a solution to this but I did want to Because I did get two calls on one of the most recent projects and I can certainly sympathize it might sound like I'm kind of Embellishing a little bit. So I just would put that forward to any speaker who will be coming up if it's been discussed if it's already been addressed that there's a Root venue that you can do that or if it's something that you know what we'll talk about that in the future And and see if there's something we can do it. Am I sort of I hear I think Doug had a Yeah, I think that one of the things that I want the study group to be able to speak on whatever they'd like But I think that this typo that the notice here and the information that will be provided Should dramatically improve the situation for those types of folks within those types of first circumstances right off the bat because Again part of it's creating a set of expectations. This is when you say that you're gonna start this project And when you're gonna finish it this is when you're saying the operating hours are gonna be this is what you're saying is gonna be required for noise abatement if it's gonna be appropriate here and Hopefully what that will do is even if that doesn't fit within the four corners of what's strictly required under the notification by-law It'll arm somebody with the information to contact the developer builder and say listen This is my situation I'd just like to be able to contact somebody and let and have some idea of what I can expect so that I can plan Accordingly because I think that's part of what happens for a lot of folks with other young children or children with maybe some special needs is that they Just want some clear information so that they can plan accordingly and maybe ask even if it's not strictly required For some reasonable accommodations, which I get the sense from our residential study group A lot of folks feel like there's a lot of Developers and builders out there who are gonna be sensitive to these types of things if there's a dialogue that can already be established I Was gonna Then mr. Curel if I can call on the building inspector if there's anything and then Thanks for having us your brother said the bachelor party is going well Name and position for the record for those who don't know you Michael Burrin director of inspectional services. Thank you Everything that's been said has been said so far It couldn't be more more accurate the boards with this committee has worked harder than anyone I've ever been on it It's I'm proud to say that I've been on this committee with these people The the the situation you brought up is exactly what this is that I see this agreement as being part of You know, I just Obviously, we're lucky to have a good base of builders in town We do have a few that come into town and we need these regulations to be able to For Rick and I to go out and say listen now we've got this. It's always been well. Where's where's the regulation? A lot of these now now we have them. We're armed with them in I Don't see us have to have me get to a point of finding and whatnot with a lot of these regulations But I think that now that we have split we have some teeth what to say I think a lot of these situations will be we'll go away Again, the notification is key right now there is none the way things are I think a lot of the situations may not be perfect But I think just that that beginning conversation that anything that's going on It will be a huge help Thank you Yeah, I should know better than get up first I actually had two questions on these so I don't know if the buildings specters is the most appropriate to answer But actually on the the a butter notification. I was curious how we're defining a butter here Are we defining? Inhabitants of the property or owners of the property because obviously the impacts are mostly on the inhabitants of a property Yeah, I believe it goes that goes to the owners of the property. I think with their Be being being it may be wrong, but I think it's there on their duty to inform their tenants per se I believe I know like the big condo complex is each one of the members I believe each condo Association person gets one, but I don't know about that the actual renters. I we wouldn't have a list of Who's living at whatever address in town? Except for the owners list that you go by the assessors list I didn't know if we had considered a mechanism other than just first-class now. Yeah But at first this is where I mean, I know that we've this has come up before with other times Can I piggyback on your question? Mr. Carol? I understand. It's it's the owners of the property. Let's say you're the inhabitant the renter or lease or leasy and If all of a sudden a project begins, they know nothing about it. They contact a member of the board They call the selectman's office and we say we've done proper notification But they say we don't know anything about it to whom or where would we direct them to get the information to say? This is what you're this is what your owner got. So this is what's going to happen. Would it be well? Well, what may help part of this is a sign to be put up on the property before the property before the project starts Would have what's going on the owners? You know the builders name. I'm sure there'll be our contact on there So there's someone would know across the street that something's going on. There'll be a big sign put up We're not adverse to If there's some way of reaching it out to tenants I don't believe so what I'm saying is if that happens would it be inappropriate to tell them They'll be calling they'll be calling the building department. Yeah, sorry, and they should and they should because We only we get it. It's it's a big disturbance to the neighborhoods. Yeah Chair I do want to Just say that there is we are going to work with some functional limitations in the sense that It might present a very difficult situation not only for builders and developers But for the town and the inspectional services department to I mean, it seems like it would be easy, but I don't know how easy it is in the sense that you know When we're trying to keep track of in some areas it'd be fairly easy to know, you know Who are renters and who's not but this isn't in a 200 foot, you know Zone around the site. So it is going to be somewhat tricky to Have the information Updated enough that we would necessarily be able to capture all folks who might be in a renting situation or especially if you've got Multiple units and like a multi-family dwelling or something like that So I we may be dealing with some just logistical limitations in terms of what we can do But I would say that I think it's a certain amount of responsibility has to be put on landlords to make sure that their tenants are apprised of these types of Developments and that's the information that we usually have on file both in inspectional services and the assessors. I agree I Agree except that the absentee landlord probably doesn't have a lot of context about What this even means when I get it that they should be notified I mean seems that we have a true list and we have a property list and then should be possible to merge that and That's not going to get everybody either, but it better get you a little bit closer And so that's just something that I Question So that was does my first question so if we kind of mull over whether there's a better solution to that than just just the owners Because I'm not feeling completely comfortable with just just the owners Because I understand it's their responsibility, but that doesn't actually help the resident until after the fact The second question I have hopefully is a lot easier is the drive entrance pads it says that unless They're required unless it's deemed technically infeasible. What would be an example of what might render it technically infeasible? I say it's a dirt road and it's already told a dirt process the whole part of it They think each case to be individual I think they're talking about trying to get the dust off vehicles What bill are they pulling in and out of the out of the properties onto streets? So I would think One there wouldn't be with if it's all dirt anyways or yeah something like that Yeah Great, thank you And now we'll go back to Who's gonna take the first crack at this name address our Organization for the record sir. We may have to lower this sorry Steve McKenna part of the residential study group for upland road in Arlington mass Few things I like to say first echo what the town manager said is that You know last year town meeting was heavily debated from both sides and and I became very vocal on it and I think that The the opposing sides have really spent a lot of time since September Understanding what's going on and it was an enlightening and opening eye-opening experience for every single person I've been in the real estate business for 30 years And I know the first rule is communication is most important thing Never ever thought about communicating from a developer or a builder to tell the neighbors what's going on simple We realized that from our meetings our site visits going out to construction sites Looking at what was occurring hearing directly from the neighbors from the butters seeing some of the sites as Mr. Burn said we got some really good builders in town. There's some that aren't there's some that come in town Just once and cause problems What we came up with is after understanding that how the communication was critical We spent time understanding that it deals with mutual respect Communication and actually this construction agreement is really a good neighbor agreement the developer needs to go in understand that with most paramount is safety first of all and You've got construction equipment coming in and out of a site whether it's during school hours or summer vacation but there are people living on the street and If everybody on the site is aware of what's happening and what's occurring prior to the commencement We realized that communication can make the biggest impact on Saving difficult times for the neighbors difficult times for the building inspector and difficult times for the the builder itself the The other thing that we realized is that we're making decisions and having an impact on every property owner's life and every resident in Arlington So we spent an intense amount of time putting together a survey that was sent out to over six hundred people in addition to builders and developers and we got their feedback Instead of us making the decision for them we actually got the feedback from who was actually impacting what was happening and We've just started reviewing a lot of the data coming in But it was impactful to see that the communication was the most important thing that people were concerned about It wasn't necessarily what we had been hearing about the size of the look of the houses, but was just telling me what's going on So some of the things that we've looked at Was understanding the process and looking at it. We have developers. We have real estate people we have a lot of people that have been vocalized against a lot of the development town and we spent time understanding and correlating the information so the construction agreement is Intense to put a lot of responsibility on the builder the developer to be not only courteous But to really have an ionic opening experience of what is important within the neighborhood And as mr. Bernard mentioned if they don't adhere to these there's fines will be imposed But one of the biggest things we looked at right away was that when a permit is Sent in for an application and it's submitted to the building inspector within seven days of that permit being just filled out For the application so the permit's not given the application is submitted that builder then has to notify Within 200 feet everybody of what they are planning on doing and this involves a site plan a timeframe of when they think construction is going to start how long it will take the process and We think that this is something that is going to ease the worrying concern of a lot of people There's also additional items that we've put as far as restrictions as far as keeping the site clean Keeping the neighborhood clean with the you talked about the pad and so forth We're looking into the noise situation and a lot of the things but the the fact is that this construction agreement Really encompasses a lot of the concerns that we've heard from everyone without the name throughout the neighborhood and within the town and We don't see that. There is any reason that any reasonable developer would not accept this understand this and adhere to it Thank you Who's next name address or affiliation for the record when now Evans? I'm a town appointee to the residential study group And I don't have a whole lot to add to this except just to emphasize again how important we felt that communication was Particularly after we made our site visits in the fall. We went to Oakland Avenue Kensington Park Park Street, and I think that was all of them there might have been one more But neighbors saw us and descended on us And it really kind of drove home how eager they were to have somebody to talk to and somebody to hear their concerns You know one man on Oakland Ave had lost a treat because he wasn't he didn't know when construction was going to be Beginning and hadn't been able to communicate with the builder and the roots were cut and the tree died I have an acquaintance who came home after a one-week vacation to find a pit beside her house You know the house had been demolished. She doesn't know what's going on Etc. Etc. So we we came to really hear how important it was for people to know What was going on and I agree that I think that this is going to assuage a lot of concerns But I do also want to emphasize that this is going to be good for builders as well as mr. Burns said And a couple of other people have mentioned it puts everything into one document for them So they're not having to do a sort of a piecemeal Research project into into what they need to do it will also limit for their benefit The period of time in which and a butter can bring an appeal against their permits So it does have some significant benefits for the builders We have based this on agreements that are in place in some other communities So we we really looked into what's out there and what's working and what has been accepted So I I hope that that everybody will get on board with this Thank you. Good you ducked You learn eventually good evening Joe Barr I'm a resident 24 Park Street actually believe one of the houses that the Residential study group looked at Well, I don't know favorably or not and I'm a the co-chair of the master plan implementation committee and the All of this work although It's a tremendous amount of work that they've done more work than we've done on this issue But it sort of has Genesis from the master plan and from the MPIC And so I just wanted to speak briefly on behalf of the MPIC to say that you know We have reviewed the work that they did we had met last week and voted to endorse the you know both the Bylaws and the zoning amendments that are before the ARB And so and definitely feel like these are you know, very Good progress in terms of resolving many of the issues that are that have been brought up I think when when we had when there were zoning events proposed at last year's annual town meeting and they didn't move forward We were all sort of a little bit disappointed But I think in the end the effort that came out of that and the residential study group and all the work that's happened Since then really shows that you know There was a need for additional work and I think the members of that group like I said a minute ago really put in it sounds like you know Weekly meetings practically really took a tremendous amount of time to come come up with some very thoughtful and very Complete answers to a lot of the questions been raised although there are still further issues to be addressed But I think the the the bylaws that you have before you and the zoning amendments that the ARB has in front of it I think represent like I said a tremendous body of work that really tries to very Substantively address the issues that have been raised by the community while protecting and trying to address the interest of a range of different stakeholders So the MPIC is extremely supportive of that work And and very happy to see it moving forward and look forward to you know further progress in the master plan But this was a huge issue that was in there And I think the fact that we've come up with some you know sort of consensus Recommendations is a testament to all the hard work of the study group members Mr. Dunn I was just seeing no one else jumping up up there I'm sold. I'm like the right work the committee sounds like it did great work And I'm really glad that there's been a consensus and The stuff that's been put forward makes perfect sense to me in that light So I'm happy to move approval. I do have one one other comment to make And so I noticed from and I'm curious in particular Mr. Hyman, Mr. Burn, so from our noise abatement bylaws we define emergency work which has performed in an effort to an alleviate and alleviate an emergency And we have an exception which is like the you which is Was here just a second ago. I swear Emergency work it's an exception emergency work the emission of sound in the performance of emergency work. Is that appropriate for the Section we've got for the noise in this proposed bylaw or is that unnecessary or I'm just a little mile I like it. I'm just a little bit. Sometimes I feel like there's always a time where it is the right thing to do You know your sewer line is you know broken open and you're trying to dig the new trench something like that Mike do you want to talk about that or do you want me to address it even again Michael Byrne director in spectral services? I think I Don't have it in front of me either, but I believe the language is more fully the gas company any water company You know that the water department noise abatement. You mean yeah for those of me though. Those are considered the emergency parts I wouldn't think putting us who aligned to a new house would be an emergency Okay, so I don't know if they overlap or I know we weren't trying to rewrite the entire zone Town bylaw and I don't know if that's I think that might fall in that category Okay, so you can make the case then that under construction residential construction. There's never an emergency I don't think there's something else. We would count it under. I think so. I think so. I see you answered my question. Thank you Anyone else? Mr. Chapter Lane, I just like town council, and I just quickly discussed Mr. Cureau's concern in regards to a butter notification and I I'll say I share a concern that the town council expressed that It may be hard to guarantee that we will have a renter's name and address I know the truest is a snapshot once a year So come mid-year it could be hard But I think we could at least talk with a residential study group and we could talk ourselves about whether or not some kind of Mandated or strongly recommended flyer drop at properties within 200 feet could be could be performed To try to get at that issue. I'm not I'm hesitant to ever recommend something. That's a mandate that can't Absolutely be accomplished if somebody's moved and you don't have their address But I think we can try to find a way and if we can we can try to incorporate it if the board So chooses into the final vote. I'd feel more comfortable that I'm happy to support the recommendations that are here But I was going to ask if we could put either either in a Definition of a butter in here or some mechanism To that because one once again, you know once it goes through that chain of the landlords and landlords don't pay attention to it It ends up being our problem at the end of the day And I just want to make sure that I'm clear in my understanding on the back end that if owner does not notify his or her tenant or tenants and I'm thinking of someone who's like severely autistic and if a caregiver or parent knows that this loud Blasting or pounding is going to happen and they didn't get notification and they contact the select man's office Or they contact the town manager's office to say can you just give me a schedule? So I know you know some children or adults you can put headphones on them a newborn baby You can move to another room or sometimes it's you know because sometimes they start physically hurting themselves You'll take them to a different site So I I just want to make sure I'm sort of correct in my understanding that if you are within 200 feet And you didn't get notification and you contact someone from the town Do we refer to this residential subcommittee or we refer to the building inspector? So I just want to make sure before because that's what I will do I don't anticipate it will happen a lot, but I did get two calls on a previous mr. Burn. Well, would that be in? Would that be a place where we as we do when we contact any? Department head go through the town manager would that be from a board member? Absolutely, but if there's a resident with a concern Okay, thank you That's fine with me So I'm gonna take for all four on a motion by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Burn But I'm gonna ask attorney Heim. Should I do each one individually? I Think only if there's a sense that there's disagreement. I think I can I do all four together I think that'd be fine. Okay, so for and nobody else here to speak on warrant article 11 12 13 of 14 Which are all the bylaw amendments for residential construction on a motion by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Burn any further questions if not all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed unanimous vote on 11 through 14 We'll now go to or an article hearing for article 17 bylaw amendment regulation of plastic bags Believe we have the proponent here Could the proponent just come up and anyone can speak on this, but just to start it off if we can just get the Name and address of the proponent who I know but for everybody else You have a present how long is your presentation about You need all that time, okay, we can try to do it. Oh, no, no, you know what take ten minutes go ahead No, no, you've you've taken the time to prepare it so you get it all set to go Yeah, madam chair perhaps town council could provide the background work He's done while we try to get the why don't we do that so you can get the presentation set up to go And if I could call an attorney Heim, thank you madam chair Well, I won't speak for the rationale and purpose behind the Bylaw amendment proposed by these folks I will note that they worked very proactively with my office as well as with some other town officials to try to develop a Feasible proposal to address the concerns that they're raising And what you have in front of you from from from my office is a sort of base template I wouldn't say that this is polished in the sense that the I think the proponents have some Changes that they would like to see in it but you have a base that reflects marriage of the approach that some of our neighbors like Somerville have taken to regulation of plastic bags and Some towns like conquered and other neighboring communities to You know essentially Create a fairly dry proposal for limiting the use of plastic bags basically at checkout points and that's the most important sort of feature just to understand is that the Regulation is really only about checkout points. It's not about Internal points Within a grocery store things like produce bags meat and things like that It's really only supposed to be oriented around the end product and what you're taking to your car and within that there's Again, this is sort of closely related to what I would call the sort of Somerville model within that there's some ways in which we can I'm sorry retailers can Make the transition easier for themselves In terms of both making reusable plastic that reusable bags available as well as recycled recyclable paper bags There's also some features here that would enable folks who are basically claiming that they have some sort of hardship for Implementing this by-law And their stores to either get some extra time or some other type of consideration There's also two slightly different time frames one for essentially large retail establishments like stopping shop Walgreens and Another timeline for a smaller retail retail shops. So with that I'll Gield to the components of the article All right. Thank you. My name is Jim Ballin. I am one of the four proponents The others are up here They will be sharing their presentation this evening We will try to keep this brief. No, if you need 15 minutes, go right ahead Thank you. I just wanted to get a sense. Thank you. So I first just wanted to just start out by saying, you know Why how we came together? We are a group of four Arlington residents who share a concern for improving life in Arlington and promoting environmental protection and Three of the four of us are town meeting members and we got together to work on this and Put together the warrant article So very briefly we have about Sorry about the logistical issues So very briefly we do this is just a brief overview to give you some ideas to Why we are proposing this and The outreach efforts we've made in terms of Residents and retailers concerns in towns and trying to answer some What we think are maybe some of the most common questions Okay All right So very briefly What would the proposed bylaw do I think town council did summarize this already while we were getting set up here So I don't need to spend a lot more detail on it. I think it's pretty straightforward We were initially looking at the summerville model, which is to ban plastic bags Provided at checkout and retail stores and restaurants in Arlington There would be an exemption for any kind of paper bags as well as Many different kinds of plastic bags, which are shown here essentially That includes things like newspaper bags produce bags dry cleaning bags and kind of prepackaged foods or meat Plastics that wrap meat The detail so the summerville model we thought was among the many that we looked at we thought was was a pretty straightforward and It did basically what we were looking for I think when we looked further into this issue and With a great deal of assistance from the assistant town manager Who I think wrote up a summary His research he did a lot of work in terms of contacting other towns that have implemented bans and We benefited from his research and one of the issues was sort of to tweak the what we'd recommend the definitions be for reusable bags so Modeled more closely on what Brookline did Brookline had a band has had a band for a number of years and they found a couple of sort of loopholes, I guess that allowed Different kinds of plastic bags to be used that they didn't intend so we've tried to adopt Proposed revisions to the draft bylaw to address what we think were some of those issues that that Brookline Discovered and we would like to take advantage of what what they learned in their process I'm going to go on to Again just very quickly it's it's fairly fairly obvious that plastic bags are extraordinarily common 100 over 100 billion plastic bags in the US. It's estimated that's about 2 billion in Massachusetts That's at least a bag per person per day The grocery stores typically provide around 20,000 plastic bags per week So it's obviously a very significant number So let me move on here The next Question that we have heard many people ask is how common are these plastic bag bands throughout Massachusetts? And I think from the many discussions we've had with people They're surprised to learn that there are already 42 Cities and towns in Massachusetts that have similar types of plastic bag bands That covers the effects about over a hundred million. I'm sorry about a million people in Massachusetts There are more local plastic bag bands in Massachusetts than any other state besides California I wanted to mention on this slide so and actually there is a In your packet there was a list of the 42 cities and towns that do have plastic bag bands And the 10 that are proposed including Arlington to be voted on this spring The ones that are closest to home Somerville Cambridge Watertown Brookline Newton Concord Framingham. There are certainly ones scattered throughout the entire state and Including as close as Bedford in terms of other communities that are Looking at bands this coming spring There have been statewide bands in California and Hawaii and of course many major cities starting out primarily out in California with San Francisco and LA and Spreading to other major cities as well have all seen Plastic bag bands I should also just mention that you know just at at the end here is There there have been Probably a handful to a dozen communities every year in the last couple years that have been debating these bands and they seem to be expanding quite exponentially last year the state Senate passed a plastic bag band that did not get through the house so That did not become state law, but we do think that that is where the direction Of these statewide bands are going and at some point we were sort of getting close to a tipping point where I think Industry in particular would prefer to have one statewide standard than 351 City and town standards, so we think there's a lot of momentum And then this is really the right time for Arlington, but I want to turn this over. I guess to We'll come up here and talk a little bit about the important question of why we are Recommending And just your name for the record. I'm Laura Kiesel So I'm a citizen in Arlington my Professional academic background is in environmental science and wildlife biology And I used to work for the town of Wellesley's natural resources commission And I was tasked with looking into when we first started considering a band there Actually, they just passed their band a couple of months ago But I was the one who got the ball rolling and started researching the impacts of plastic bags, so plastic bags Have a huge impact on marine life They kill over 100,000 marine creatures a year including marine mammals sharks sea turtles and 1 million seabirds annually The plastic bags resemble jellyfish in the ocean That's why which is a major staple of the diets of a lot of marine creatures And even when plastic bags are attempted to be recycled they they form these microbeads and when those get into the ocean They look like fish eggs So basically a lot of creatures are eating these things that's getting caught in their system and killing them So a lot of people will ask the question of what is pay, you know How about paper versus plastic and while it's true that paper bags might have a larger greenhouse gas input in production In terms of the end cycle use you can they biodegrade they can be recycled and are recycled much more than plastic bags Less than 10% of plastic bags are recycled in the United States I think the Sierra Club puts it at about 5% A recycling rate and even when you do recycle them like I said They're downcycled into those microbeads and they eventually still find their way into usually the marine ecosystem and wind up Harming the sea life and they eventually the chemicals in those plastics get into our body when we ingest Seafood so that's one thing as I mentioned it is a greenhouse gas emission I think it's 12 million barrels of oil per every 30 billion plastic bags And now it's more fracked gas is being put into that and it's just they it causes a huge Clogging clogging storm drains clogging rivers. I know San Jose when they did their band they did a study a few a year or two later and they found 89% reduction in storm drain clogging and a 60% reduction in the creeks and rivers I spoke to a person at the Mystic River watershed association who anecdotally noted that it's one of the most common findings when they do Watershed cleanups, so it's important to know that it's in our waterways I've seen him in spy pond. I've done cleanups there as well and It eventually will find its way into the Charles River and then into the oceans and That's basically the major point I've gone to other retailers to explain this because I know there's a lot of confusion of the paper versus plastic But there's just not a good way to recycle them and there are with paper bags Thank you So I think we do have a couple pictures of is it right click. Yeah, these are some some areas around Just named for the record stranger Greg Dennis So what will this mean for consumers first of all as Jim said at checkout they'll have still have bags of paper bags and reusable bags And we've also included a number of reasonable exemptions for plastic bags including produce bags newspaper bag laundry bags So it's still going to be plenty of bags for your pet waste and those sorts of things and we also don't anticipate Any increase in consumer costs now. Why is that well? We do know that the cost per bag for a paper bag is more than plastic, but there are some Mitigating factors here the first thing to realize is that plastic bags today aren't free I might think of them that way, but the cost retail is about two to five cents per bag Supermarkets spend somewhere between $1,500 a month on plastic bags and that gets passed on to the consumer But the major point here is that bands on plastic bags tend to reduce total reusable total disposable bag use because people buy and By enlarge switch to reusable bags as opposed to paper And that's been seen and backed up by a couple of studies of a couple of cities in California that have enacted bands Retailers also see increased revenue from reusable bag sales And I think it's also important to note that a number retailers in Arlington primarily rely on paper bags already Shattuck Whole Foods Trader Joe's An interesting anecdote from not your average Joe's is that they switch to paper bags because the bags are actually They have to spend more per bag, but because the bags are sturdier. They have to use fewer of them to hold Takeout and we've also learned from looking around at other communities some best practices We've learned from retailers first is Number of places have had a longer phasen We've talked about this the longer phasen for smaller retailers and we've included that In the draft by law you see as well as a waiver process if there's a hardship for a particular retailer Retailers are also encouraged to offer discounts and other kinds of incentives for bringing your own bag Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have one has a discount one has some sort of raffle type incentive for bringing your own bag and Retailers also encouraged to put their logo on these reusable bags and benefit from that kind of free advertising But that's just a question on that Yeah Because I've seen this in you know Cambridge and Newton and some of them and It's really just one particular Lodger retailer that I won't say who that is but what I've heard the only downside that I've heard from Residents and communities in cities and towns that have already passed it is Sometimes one of their largest retailers like if you go to Staples in Cambridge if you go to CVS in I think Waltham or Watertown and they have The paper bags as we already have and Trader Joe's and Shattuck's and not your average Joe's they have a handle on it, but in term. Is there anything in terms of? When we promote this message to retailers especially a large retailer and then you probably think of what a there's one large food retailer That's in Arlington is also insumable. Yes, and what I've heard for people who Walk and sometimes they have their carriages with them, you know, and they don't have a vehicle that when they switch the paper bag that one large Food retailer just gives them a bag with no handle I'm accepting that we can't tell the businesses you have to provide a paper bag with a handle Which is what 90% of everybody else is doing But is there some conveyance of that message especially here in Arlington to That particular retailer to ask them to consider that or is that something we can't even ask them? Do you know the question? Yeah, I can we ask them to put a handle on their paper bags? Can we suggest? Yes, it suggests that I I'm happy to suggest it. I think yeah, I think we could suggest it certainly that's the only downs Not for anything it's stop and shop When I've you know spoken to people that live right by stop and shop in the projects or elderly residents who you know walk to it and Some of them have carriages so they can put it in there But a lot of them carry that's their big thing and I know everybody else here in Arlington That is already using paper bags has that so I know we can't require that so if it's appropriate And if it's not appropriate for this committee to do if somehow that message could be relayed Yeah, if they have ever considered changing their format of their paper bag if there could be a handle And I think you also hit on an important point Which is a number of the larger retailers are already operating under a plastic bag ban in some other community Including stop and shop and CVS and Walgreens Thank you Don't want to take up too much your time. No, no take your time. Just your name for the record Jim de Tulio 31 found road time meeting member in precinct 12 So I think in these last few slides many of the points have sort of already been made but this particular slide I think is an important one We are working with the town manager's office what we're proposing is a is a very sort of phased in Implementation schedule frankly one that from what we've looked at other communities that have instituted Plastic bag bands is probably one of the most generous ones towards retailers of any we've seen just as a comparison point Bedford which has their vote coming up at town meeting at the end of the month of end of this month Has no differentiation between large and small retailers They just have one date and it's October 1st if it goes through that's a very quick turnaround But that's actually fairly typical. Well, we're proposing is a bifurcated Implementation date for large retailers defined as 10,000 feet or greater. So sort of big stores in town March 1st, which would still give them. I think assuming it passed a town meeting about nine about ten months And for smaller retailers anything under 10,000 feet. We're saying July 1st Next year. So that's really about 14 15 months. That's more than enough time for and from talking to retailers It's more than enough time for them to get through their current supply of plastic bags And frankly, I mean the way we would see it is we could envision and based on conversation Retailers many of them actually getting ahead of the actual date because once they run out of their plastic bags It doesn't make a lot of sense for them to keep buying a new supply So we we envision very few retailers actually waiting until the final deadline If this were to go through And for someone by be by the board of health Also a fairly, you know reasonable Violation schedule a warning on the first violation not an immediate fine, which is uncommon in many communities You're immediately slapped with a fifty or a hundred dollar fine for the first offense And then allowing sort of a correction period And experience other communities shows these bag bands actually require very little enforcement and even at the initial deadline First deadline for enforcement. You're seeing something like high 90 percent Compliance rates, so we would expect the same thing in Arlington Are sort of already hit in this point. I mean the goal is not really to move people from plastic to paper Although that is still as for the reasons here a good move in terms of the recycling life of the downstream life of paper versus plastic the real point here is to move people to Reusables and studies show from many California communities that was some of the first adopters of plastic bag bands You actually see very significant shifts even when you don't ban paper when you just ban plastic You see significant shifts sometimes as high as 40 or 50 percent of Increase in sales of reusable so it really does sort of have that paradigm shift that people just start thinking more It's not just a bag that you don't even think about and get your You know your items in you actually start to you know think about this at checkout And you see that real important shift to reusables, which is what we really want to see You know there's these last two of these last slides are sort of just sometimes common pushback questions that communities get about this You know why not just promote increased recycling of plastic bags as Laura said the recycling rates are abysmally low I mean 10% is actually the high rate the Sierra Club puts it at like 5.2. I think or 5.3 percent and no matter how much Retailers try to sort of put the put the bag recycling bins out front. It just they don't ever Recycling rate never gets really about 5 to 10% And we expect that it would remain low The other the other thing that comes back to us actually on both ends of this debate is Some people say why can't you be like Cambridge and also put a fee on paper at the other end of the debates I would say well Why are you banning plastic bags at all wouldn't why can't you just put a fee on the plastic and let people decide whether They want to pay for it. These are great questions what we discovered in our research We didn't know the answers will begin this exercise But what we discovered in our research is actually the attorney general's office for a very complicated legal reason Which we don't have we probably need an hour to analyze the legal opinion But you actually are not allowed under Massachusetts law if you're a town It's a different standard if you're a city hence why Cambridge is able to do it But you're not allowed to impose a fee on paper or plastic You can however do a full-fledged ban As I said, it's a complicated reason, but we have to follow the attorney general's office here Why would this be good for Arlington, Laura and Others mentioned this you know reducing litter that those photos of the bags around town That was taken in a single 15-minute drive down Massav including the bag right outside here in the tree in town hall So one didn't have to look very hard to get about five or six examples in a 15-minute period reduces storm drain cleanup costs better for curbside recycling Reduces the carbon footprint beautifies the town and and puts us really a key part of the environmental leadership on this I mean a statewide ban all bets are that it's coming in five at most ten years our retailers who really get ahead of this and the whole and consumers in town get ahead of this and Chances are the statewide ban which passed the Senate Senator Donnelly voted for it when it passed the Senate a year ago Ultimately is probably pretty close to where the ban is going anyway, and who supports this I mean we've done a fair amount of I would say actually a fairly extensive amount of outreach Arlington recycling committee, you know, and it unanimously endorsed it Arlington Board of Health just last week unanimously endorsed it statewide group the Sierra Club, but also local groups like the Mr. River Watershed Association the friends of spypond park as well as some business owners like Arlington centered Arlington centered came to our attention because they have a Location in Somerville, and they said we were able to adapt there And it really wasn't any problem, and we wouldn't see a reason why we couldn't do it here We've also done extensive outreach to businesses. I think we've talked to maybe two dozen businesses among among the four of us And we've gotten a range of opinions, but really no one stating outright opposition. It's sort of been everything from hey Yeah, you know, that's a great idea, and we would adapt to some shrugs sort of like okay fine That's sort of the way these things are going and really no one vociferously opposing and in fact many businesses were quite open-minded and open to the idea so We really have tried to have those conversations which many of you who we talked to had suggested we have and It's generally been a good conversation and I think just a Gonna sound like a silly question, but it's just purely housekeeping and ticking off all the boxes any sort of plastic Containers receptacles etc for medical uses are Not governed by any of this And I don't mean to put that question forward, but I just actually got one person who Gave a case in point and I said well number one. That's not really a retailer per se The example that they gave and I said of course I assume that you know anything in terms of delivering medical services Whether you have to bring a plastic back home, etc. Would not be affected by this. Sorry. I know it's a silly No, no, I promise I would ask so we've gotten a lot of questions like that. You know people just seeking clarification And usually once they get the clarification they say oh, yeah, sure. That still sounds good to us. So We're trying to keep this narrowly tailored And very focused and not just one of these broad based Bands that sort of overreaches That that was the concern. So, thank you. Mr. Burn So first, thank you all very much for your presentation that you can clearly see that there was A lot of legwork that went into this proposal I'm really happy to See the you know faced in implementation plan. I think that's very reasonable I was thrilled to hear about the outreach to the businesses You know particularly the smaller businesses and you know, I was happy to hear that they were fairly supportive of it You know, I think it is a step in the right direction One thing that so I'll move approval to begin with second Seconded by Mr. Carroll, Mr. Burn and one thing that I do Think that we have to keep on our radar and of course would be happy to you know work the proponents is How you know the appropriate outreach, you know, I'm thinking to the elderly population in particular And making sure that you know, everyone's very aware of this I don't you know This is you know, even though it is faced in it will be a fairly big change and how you know people You know go about their day-to-day lives and I do think that it's important that we develop this plan here to you know, make sure it's implemented properly Mr. Carol, thank you very much. I know we probably have other people to hear from but I just want to say thank you for this. I have to say I think since I've been sitting here as far as a citizen warrant article This is one of the best prepared presentations. I think that I've seen come through here I think this makes sense. This isn't some crazy radical proposal. I mean, there are only so many things that we can do Environmentally, but this also is in the town's interest. I mean we saw The recycling committee's letter to us and I visited that recycling facility out in Peabody, I think it was peep us August. It was right on the line Right before it opened. It's a huge facility But and it takes in or cycling for I don't know how many communities But whenever they get one of these plastic bags that jams up the works They have to stop the entire line and manually clear it down the line that Fiscally that's gonna come back to us in the next Contract if we if we don't take some steps I think to try to get some of this out of the way stream It won't get it all out. We've got so many water bodies here in the town I think that that that makes sense and waterfowl. You see the swans are out They were maybe before the cold hit. They were out on the misty lakes last week and you know, I think the assertion that this leads to actually Reusable bag use was it was borne out also by the the letter we received from the Arlington business who operates in Somerville as well They said that that's actually the effect that they had seen it having I spent some time studying in Germany probably 30 years ago and When you won you go to the grocery store, they didn't even have the paper option You had to bring with you and people adapted and I think we still have a paper option here And I think that this is actually not a real onerous Regulation and I also want to say I want to appreciate the staff's time on those twos Mr. Feeney wrote an excellent memo on this too and did a lot of excellent research Thank you I'm happy to support it I Would definitely think that I think that mr. Burns point is very well taken and I think that we should ask this group but also Will promote but also the Arlington Sustainable Arlington and really and say you know This is what's like they mean obviously stay in Arlington It's done a lot of work with the town about educating how recycling works and stuff like that And this is an opportunity for them to say you know to break some new ground and new topics for them to cover And I know they've passed out recycling bags at Town Day for free and things like that And we should talk about like what other distribution points we could do for them And where we can find some funding source to make more of those but just to make it a you know Make it the more of the more we cushion this transition. I think the less Distressing it could be I'm usually stuffing my groceries and Uncle Sam bags Town days a good good thing to hit to get your back And anything through the Council on aging senior association a getting the notice out as well as be Perhaps once or twice a year sort of having a campaign to when they are delivering Whether meals on wheels or something else, whatever they think of I'm not saying they have to do that But that might be a good just this first initial year Sort of as an entree so whatever they can brainstorm on I would add the housing authority to that as well Is there anyone here who would like to speak to article 17? That hasn't or wants to add to if not Mr.. Attorney Hyme. I'm sorry madam chair the recommended changes that the proponents have put forth Look very sound and reasonable to me with if the board so inclined. I'd be happy to draft motion based on The proposal that they they took my proposal and basically updated it in the back of their materials Is that okay with the board? Thank you An emotion by mr. Burns seconded by mr. Cureau any further questions or comments if not all those in favor say aye Those opposed unanimous vote. I'm going to because it's a time-certain public hearing as well as Miss Duffy from ever source. I know is Going back to get ready for the storm that's coming up and hopefully you don't hear from any of us So the town manager tomorrow, but what I'd like to do is go to a public hearing the gen item 7 from ever source and Verizon Petition on on Gould Road just name and organization for the record Jackie Duffy ever source energy We need to take out a tree guy and put in a anchor guy because the tree is dying It's a big are there any butters or residents here for the ever source Verizon petition on Gould Road Motion by one of my colleagues Mr.. Cureau conditions seconded by second mr. Dunn Any further questions or comments? Thank you for being here tonight. I know you any lights issues just My number just text me. We'll make sure Emotion by mr. Cureau seconded by mr. Dunn. All those in favor say aye. Aye those post unanimous vote be safe Thank You Jackie and now My colleagues permission will go back to the warrant article hearings Article 26 is that where I am mr. Dunn. We just finished Plastic bags, so we're I believe I just closed that one. Yes 26 acceptance of legislation establishment of a parking Benefits district. I should turn this over to mr. Chaplain. I'd be happy to introduce it. Thank you madam chair members of the board this would be Perhaps one of the last big pieces of fully implementing the parking management plan Arlington Center You may recall that we've long talked about wanting to reinvest Portions of the parking revenue from the part of the new parking meters on the street back into the business district We had talked about certain creative ways to be able to do that in the absence of there being a statutory ability to Clearly create a parking benefits district However, the municipal modernization act allows for the actual creation of a parking benefits district So with the approval or acceptance of this legislation from an accounting perspective I know that the Comptroller was here and he and I along with the deputy town manager have been been working on this this would really be set up as a Sister fund or a sub fund of the parking fund that we created at the fall town meeting Except the proceeds contained in this fund would be directly invested back in the business district It could be things as simple as more regular street cleaning snow plowing Beautification or could be more significant long-lasting things such as street improvements or just general infrastructure improvements The plan I would be putting forth and I'll be bringing this to the Finance committee on Wednesday would be that any operating improvements be brought before the finance committee as any operating budget would be and then Brought before town meetings similar to how we bring the CDB CDBG budget before town meeting for endorsement and then any capital improvements that would be spent out of this fund Would follow the same process through the capital planning committee finance committee and at the town meeting as well So that we would have governance over the expenditure of funds When you say business Business districts as defined by zoning or as defined by sort of common practice of more and Broadway mass have summer This this is actually wherever the meters are Defines the parking the geographic limits of the parking benefit district. So here it would be Arlington Center Basically that's the limits around where we have Where we have the street metering Mr. Barn, yes, so um, I am very excited about this warrant article I don't want to speak for the implementation and governance committee, but I think that they are as as well So this is you know, these are allowed in other states and of course now that they're allowed here I think we'll see more of them I'd bring your attention to parking benefits district that formed in Old Pasadena, California. All right, and you know, it was a I don't want to say very similar Arlington Center But I think they had quite a few vacant properties. I think that it was you know, could have used some improvements and after a parking benefits district was formed the property tax revenue tripled and the sales revenue quadrupled and I don't know the exact amount of time after that But those are pretty serious improvements and I think you know when we look at some of our vacant storefronts and strategies that we have to Combat that and I think we're we've been at the forefront of that issue I think that this is another tool and in the two belt that will help us see some change there You know, and I don't want to speak to Projects, but I'm very happy that there's a potential for you know, very minor changes such as improved lighting Or even bigger changes as a you know improved configuration of the whole center, so I think that there's quite a few options and as you know the Parking implementation Governance Committee is meeting regularly and I think that that group will continue to be involved in these discussions as you know, if this is implemented and You know, we're allowed to continue this work. So thank you It certainly is Mr. Burns seconded by Mr. Curell. Mr. Dunn a Couple questions. So Adam, I think you explained this I just wanted to clarify So for things like capital, is it literally under the jurisdiction of town meeting or is it approval? Like as a scent of town meeting like who literally is going to have the purse strings in this so that's it. That's a great question Comptroller has reached out to the Department of Revenue and Because of the newness of this law are not in writing opining on whether or not these funds actually have to be appropriated or not So we are currently pursuing This course where we bring it before town meeting for endorsement without further word from DOR I'm sure we will get further word from DOR probably after town meeting If in the future they wish it to be appropriated will do that if they continue to say you don't have to appropriate it I would certainly stay committed to bringing it before before time meeting for endorsement anyways How much money are we talking a year? I think in this first year. We're probably talking about 50 to 70 thousand dollars With that in year one with a chance to grow on a go-forward basis. Thank you Also very enthusiastic. I think I went a number of years ago to a Daylong seminar and parking to the MAPC put on I think they cited old Pasadena in that too And it's the first time I had heard of the concept and I know that merchants have talked to in the center You know about this and I know you do on the Committee enthusiastic about it. I've also found it's very helpful like most But I haven't heard a lot of negative feedback on the parking meters You get you get a little and I think when it's been explained to folks that we're potentially going to have this mechanism to To use the revenue to improve the center That the whole tone of the conversation has changed and I think it's a great tool Yeah, it actually adds that I think you know in many of the communities Have kind of led with a parking benefits district in where as when you start talking about meters Yeah, selling point is that this is what's going to happen with it and I think that that it's a Testament to the work that's done here in town and that we haven't really had that negative feedback and haven't really needed to You know utilize that but it is a very good selling Anyone else who would like to speak on Warren article 26 If not in a motion by mr. Burns seconded by mr. Cure all those in favor say aye We now go to Warren article hearing article 29 endorsement of CDBG application Mr. Chapter Lane, I will Depending on what mr. Dunn and mr. Burn would like to do Julie Wayman the CDB administrators here to speak if you'd like or if you would like to kick it off Whichever you're comfortable with Just name and position for the Julie Wayman community development block grant administrator I'm just going to be brief. We are here to submit the funding recommendations from the CDBG subcommittee for fiscal year 18 I think you have the report there in front of you and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have So few thoughts on The what went in so as you know So one of the things that the report talks about is the things that you can use CDBG money for which is just I think it was Reminding people of low moderate income areas. So that means census zones within the town that have low to moderate income Low to moderate income clientele So that means where you have an individual or a family who is being served who meets the criteria regardless of where they actually live Low to moderate housing spot blight I love that phrase. It's just like I try to explain that one to people at work and they look at me It's so funny And so that's like a specific place. So all the things that we look at are trying to address some number of those and so one of the things we talked about in particular for instance we looked at curb cuts which we've been funding for a while for which the intent of You know helping with the disability in particular disabled people of persons but also for you know strollers and everything like that we place those in Census zones that meet the criteria and one of the questions we had was are there enough places having done You know dozens and dozens of curb cuts and the Julie brought in Adam Kaye who got him Karrowsky who put up a map and we looked at all of the curb cuts in the zones both in and out and the answer is we have plenty of curb cuts that need to still be done and But even beyond that there are also things like we'll be able to do where like the complete streets corridor So there's support that we're gonna be that are also within the the appropriate census tract. So we've got work there So we spent a fair amount of time looking at that we are definitely but it's definitely a change that we're making looking at the The low the rehab housing program and Jenny's working on Some changes in like how that service is being delivered So that there's a change in the in the bottom line on that one The public services which as you recall are very carefully limited by our federal grant about how much money we can actually put We essentially level funded everybody, you know, some of the other I think there's a couple hundred bucks here or there That went up or down but fundamentally we didn't get any new applicants and none of the existing applicants There's none of their situations have changed so much that you know our math differed significantly and I guess my last thing to say is is that the You know press rumors as I guess the way to describe it say that Trump's budget zeros out CDBG Yeah, and so there we when we wrote this we definitely had in So we often when we start doing this process We often get the letter from the federal government telling us what our appropriation is going to be for this year And this year they informed Julie that, you know, we don't know when that's coming And so we still don't have that letter. We still don't actually know what the amount is and If it when we were doing our consideration, we said, okay, you know, what happens if it gets cut We'd like worked through a little bit of a cut list I'd say we've made it down through about a you know a third of the budget That basically we said well, we were not going to worry about it too much And so if it really comes at a zero, we're gonna have to have a you know a deeper discussion both Like at this group and the town manager I'm sure is going to have to because there's some of these things that we can't replace so Steve I don't know. Yeah, but no that covered Quite a bit of what I had jotted down. I would just like to definitely thank Julie and Jenny this I think our process here of the subcommittee is Really taking steps toward a certain amount of professionalism over the past two years and it's something I It's very noticeable and it's You know very helpful to us as we have these discussions. I think the curb cut example at the end Like what earlier is a great example of that and particularly the Collaboration throughout town departments is very much appreciated as well you know for the public service and the level funding that's not something I was expecting I'm going into this conversation But it's something I think we're all very happy that we were able to accomplish You know, we yeah, I think that we know how important all of those programs are to our most vulnerable population in town and Yeah, it's something that I was happy that we were able to do And on to the you know proposed budget by the Trump administration. I mean, you know, I think yet It further shows his, you know ineptness when it comes to programs that support local governments And it's something that will be paying a particular attention to and you certainly hope that that is Not the case. So that's everything I have to share Along that vein I know We've all gotten I Forwarded on and I apologize whoever I send it to that they are have gotten from the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of mayors that spoke to President Trump's vetoing or Eliminating the CDBG program. I'm going to leave it to the future chair In April the CDBG subcommittee members Jenny town manager and others To sort of look at when I've gotten those notices They've been kind of ambivalent one group is saying current funding and one is saying future funding So I'm going to leave it to everyone who's been working on the CDBG subcommittee to monitor that Because I'm confused whether it's funding that we anticipate for what this subcommittee in the planning department have already Approved or if it's the following year, so I'm not going to worry about that I'm going to let you all monitor that and then once you see when you think that kick-in date is then come back to the next year in terms of sort of a framework of It's going to kick in for current. It's going to kick in for next year or whatever year and then whatever Process you want to set up in terms of evaluating that and and where we can band-aid it and where we can't and how we You know because you all know you've sat on the CDBG subcommittee, you know 98.8% of this a lot of it is really social services needs, you know whether it's administrative or actual Services delivered, so I don't know if anybody wants to speak to that beyond what has already been stated. Mr. Burke I Would you know I would add that while it is definitely a you know This causes a quite a bit of concern I'm you know, I think the president's budget is an opening salvo that really you know is more of a policy statement And it is something that that could change Hell it might have been you know, I think that there's maybe Less concern around losing federal funding for becoming a sanctuary city now that we know that he's taking it out He's trying to strip our local funding anyway But but it is something we'll be following and you know, I think it's you know, it will be interesting what happens with you know Full Republican, you know Congress and whether or not they adopt his full budget But it's something that will will be keeping close eye on here Thank you, and I did want to just Well first thank mr. Dunn and Mr. Burn for ably representing the board and the manager and Julie for all of your hard work Everyone else who worked on this. I know these are tough decisions, and I did really appreciate that first page, you know laying out scenarios if Incremental cuts were to come it kills me to think that this could be our last CDB genevolver. I Can't even believe it, but there are a lot of things I can't believe There are a lot of a lot of things I can't believe I just want to remind folks to that You know about a month month and a half ago. We were you know, we Debated sending a letter of communication what not and we did send a communication To our federal and state delegations and the governor just talked about a lot of the things that Arlington does and Ways that we partner with the federal and state governments and we did highlight CDB gene in there so We have kind of put that forward before this news came down that this could potentially be be a reality So that that is on the radar I know mr. Greeley you probably remind us all if he were here that that there was a lot of effort was was put into Bringing Arlington under the CDB gene Umbrella for a town to come under that umbrella was a big big deal, and it's been a big deal to a lot of people in this town That was tip on you Yeah, I hope to spearhead it Julie did we cover did we cover everything? Yes, I believe so On a motion chair. This is a vote that the town manager has I Think I have it as a motion by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Nothing motion by mr. Who who makes the motion I don't Notice I think I took whoever spoke okay, who would like to get to make a motion Mr. Chapter Lane Okay, a motion by so moved it's second actually, sir I'm gonna move that we adopt this budget for the CDB G pending the recede of a letter from the federal government and Pat and make this in a recommendation to town manager for their excuse me to town meeting for their consideration Motion by mr. Dunn seconded by Second in order to accurately reflect in our final votes and comments, so we just take a voice vote or a roll call Since we're including the town manager. I think of voice votes fine, but I'm sure okay All those in favor of motion by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Bird unless there's any further questions or comments say aye How those opposed unanimous vote and our vote should reflect that mr. Chapter Lane also voted in the affirmative Do that I'm sorry. I have a sister-in-law Julie was a jewel and we now go to Article 30 Should we take 30 and 31 together since they both involve a bylaw amendment revolving fund or should we take them separately? They may need separate votes, but I think we can discuss them together madam chair, okay Is it mr. Chapter Lane or a comptroller? Or mr. Attorney hind who's who wants to stop this off and turn over to the next person sure Well, I madam chair well I think the comptroller is going to present more specific information with respect to what our plans are once a revolving fund bylaws created This is another feature of the municipal modernization act that attempts to simplify the process for the establishment and use of certain departmental expenditures which can be made without further appropriation When especially when they're when they're derived from a specific source of revenues So right now our revolving funds have to be re-established prior to each fiscal year by a town meeting vote But if we approve a revolving fund bylaw will essentially have a set a list of what all of our revolving funds are what their purposes are and What departments are basically administering them so that we don't necessarily need to do anything other than Annually reauthorized the total amount of the budget so the Department of Revenue has some very specific language They recommend with respect to three quarters of what would go into our bylaw and they sort of offer an option in terms of how we want to Present the list of revolving funds Themselves which I think the manager and the comptroller have had some discussions about but that's essentially the gist of what we're what we're doing is We're proving a new bylaw that will go into article one that will contain all of our revolving funds and After this is approved by the Attorney General's office. We essentially won't need to have quite as much Administration of revolving funds every year at town meeting Just a procedural question on that say three four five years out It's a every year spent incorporated if it passes an article one if someone does have a query would they be directed to once article one is on the table to Raise their hand to the moderator or I mean how do they notify if somebody in future years actually does have something that they Need information or have a question on mr. Chapter Lane So the act the as I see it and I'll let town council tell me if I'm mistaken on this We're still gonna basically have the exact same Discussion at town meeting as we currently have except the usage and guidance over the revolving funds will be codified in bylaw but the The data that the comptroller currently provides will still be before the Board of Selectment every year to reauthorize not necessarily the Fund but the expenditures itself, which is to some degree semantics. Yeah, to be to be frank. I mean Arlington follow some pretty Good practices with respect to how it administers all the stuff already So some of this stuff is a little bit cosmetic but one of the nice features of is it will be codified again in our bylaws which Departments have which revolving funds and we'll really only be talking about the amounts every year when I say article one I'm sorry mean article one of the of the town bylaws title one my apologies So yeah, it'll it'll it'll be before town meeting every year in a similar way But we just won't have to actually technically reauthorize. So is it incorporated into Article one or is it title one? So I'm sorry. What what what'll happen is net now There were there are initial votes of town meeting could be decades ago that say what a revolving fund can be spent on Then each year we have had town meeting via a vote of this board just reauthorized the amounts and Then if there ever needed to be a change in what it could be spent There has to be another vote of town meeting changing it and it's frankly I'll admit it It's a little tough to track What the what the revolving fund could be spent on because you have to go find that town meeting vote It's not it's not in the bylaw. You can't just go look up. You know, there's the revolving fund You have to go find a vote from 2003, you know article 32, you know, whatever it might be So here we'll have a few things we'll have right in title one of the bylaws a list probably in chart form Private ways to be spent upon x and Just that description and that will live in the bylaws and if it ever needs to be amended we'll have to file a Warrant article to amend that portion of the bylaws However absent any need to amend that every year there will still be that Authorization to spend that comes before the both the board and then town meeting as has always been the case My I'm trying to I'm trying to be just to be clear It is and I'm just thinking of past three four years the only one that's sort of a common denominator That's fluctuate fluctuates as well as I get questions on is I Don't want to say town hall rentals, but the revolving fund for that where that isn't so as static as some of the other ones What you're telling me is that it may be a different Way to get there, but we'll still get via the cop troller the same report that we get for I Don't want to say town hall rentals. It's called town. Oh, it is. Okay. So so we'll still have that information in terms of Money in and money out and if somebody wants to say did the money from town hall rentals, you know Did you come up in the black and did that money actually get spent on? Upgrading maintaining town hall that information will still be there Correct correct. So this definitely helps me understand more about what the change we're talking about is does this have the effect of making a New revolving fund require a two-thirds vote Because changing the because if we're changing the revolving you said revolving funds You'd say be in a table form in the bylaw and typically by law changes two-thirds, right? No, only zone George's on I see this is where I screwed up. Sorry. Thank you Mr. Carol did well, I was just gonna say so my my reading of this is So there's some draft language in here For us to take a look at but it looks like most of that is it doesn't really change much of what we're doing that The real meat is this placeholder done the bottom The authorizer of all the funds and it says here that that'll actually specify the reporting requirements for each fund, right? So that's correct. We could tweak that. Okay great if I could ask our comptroller to Name and position for the record and try to clean this up for us. I know we've kind of I know I've sent it off in different Directions sure have it do so Richard Viscay comptroller. Thank you for having me. I do want to Add on a little bit to what Adam and Douglas said is up But the way I read it is that this says to be authorized by the legislative party every year now by enacting this bylaw and actually really Reconciling exactly what these funds are to be used for the sources of revenue and the way we expend them It's basically like tell me I just said you kind of take it some of this old information Really bringing it to 2018 and we'll have a really clear-cut source and use of the funds and every year We will not have to come before the legislative body to enact it because it'll be a bylaw We will just go before the town meeting to authorize the spending limit of such funds So I'll be working with Doug and Adam to Bring in a chart again. There's a bullet point version and there's kind of a spreadsheet version I tend to like the spreadsheets go figure, right? So we're gonna try to get all that information Packaged up to bring before you to codify these there is It is allowed to do it in the same manner. We've done in past year So we're before you now just to give you the summary of expenditures from fiscal year 16, which we have submitted to you and also fiscal year 18 spending limitations and Begin to fund balance and any fund balance of the past fiscal year. So I'm happy to answer questions on any of those I think the 16 funds total no new funds there and Pretty much the same as it's been from the last fiscal year I think we tweaked one by twenty thousand dollars of an increased budget because we almost hit that threshold on I believe was the town hall rentals from a hundred thousand two hundred twenty thousand So otherwise it looks pretty similar to it did last year and again We have a detailed the expenditures for you and a summary of fund balance. So again happy to answer any questions for you Um You may not know this off the top of your head and I may be remembering incorrectly for some reason I thought maybe my colleagues will remember this I thought This town meeting or the year before there was money approved for the Uncle Sam Fund committee or am I not remembering that correctly just because I look at Uncle Sam fees It's just zero flat line. Have they ever had any money sent to that or we've approved Appropriated money for Uncle Sam, but that's accounted for as an appropriation. It's not included in there. I've seen some appropriation Tell me but we've had I haven't seen any income come into this particular revolving funds since I've been here So no no activity you'll notice there's some that have a lot of activity and some that have relatively little in some cases not at all, but So long as those funds are Received and used for the proper for that revolving fund will make sure it routes in and stays with that fund Okay, so if I wanted to And I have no issue with the Uncle Sam committee being given funds from town meeting but similar to like when I and others have said but CDBG getting the half-year report to see if somebody hasn't spent the money and doesn't plan to spend it on that but if I wanted to Get a report of that. It's not through revolving funds It would be a request like if I wanted to say, okay, tell me an appropriated 2500 or I'd have to check that. It was a few years ago. I think the last time Uncle Sam We have the record of all expenditures So if you need any expenditure, whether it's an appropriation Don't do any exhaustive cumbersome search, but if it's something you can click through Munis or whatever I'm just curious And if they haven't spent it, that's fine, too But my thing would be if they haven't spent it I would just say to a member to you know Hey, do you guys know you have this money? Do you plan on doing it? And you probably shouldn't come back for more if you haven't spent it yet. So this is just me curiosity So if it's something you can do that's not cumbersome or an exhaustive search And I'll give you a call like in a week. Yeah, just let me know just curious Just and only because when I went through the list of expenditures I saw Uncle Sam's arrow money in money out. That's why we can check the history of the Appropriations if there was an appropriation in the general fund those funds will be closed out on June 30 Just like all general fund appropriations So if there were funds and they weren't expended most likely they were closed out They become father free cash, but I'll do some research and I'll go back too far historically But I'm sure Adam can help me navigate to where those funds may have an appropriate In the difference between the two warrant articles one is revolving fund in general and the other one is revolving fund for departments Is that why they're separated? So if I may well one is to create a bylaw Which is how we'll proceed with revolving funds in the future and the other is basically our standard warrant article That we do every year because until that while is approved We still need to reauthorize the funds in the trip report on the expenditures Mr. Dunn I Get I will move approval on recommendation of the new bylaw under article 30 Second move by mr. Dunn second by mr. Burn Any further questions or comments if not an emotion by mr. Dunn second by mr. Burn all those in favor say aye Opposed unanimous vote on article 30 article 31 and move approval on article 31 with the revolving funds with the Knowing that we're gonna recon the continue the updated Descriptions and amounts that we've put in the last couple years Mr. Curel Anyone else here to speak to article 31 any questions or comments if not an article 31 a motion by mr. Dunn second by mr Curel all those in favor say aye. I had those posed unanimous vote Thank you. Thank you. Are you here for a particular item or no? Oh, no, that's fine I was gonna say that's you're welcome to say the very end I just wanted to make sure because I've been jumping around the agenda if there was something else you were waiting for I take it out Of order discuss both. Oh, we did that we voted favorable action on all those Thank you Okay Final votes and comments is it my understanding or I'll ask for my colleagues Are we voting everything except for article 59 or are we ready mr. Dunn? I had a chance to read everything over on my way to the meeting today And I'm ready to move forward on all of them I'd like an opportunity to take another swing at the comment on number 19, which is the town treasurer We really have to I believe really lay out our case in this because I mean it has been controversial in the past And so with the board's indulgence, I'm I'm I'm happy to move approval of final votes and comments on 15 Sorry 15 or is it 13 it would LBGT QI is 19 So we're gonna take that out. We've got a discontinuity there dug and 15 says article 15 in one place Then says article 13 in the actual language No, I'm sorry that so it says article 15 If that's the warrant article and then it's article 15 under title 2 will be the new by-law All right. I was wrong article 15. I move approval 15 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 and 60 And I ask the board of indulgence for 19 Okay, in a motion by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Carroll to move approval article 15 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 and 60 Any further questions or comments? If not all the second and it's it's my understanding that right now We're holding final votes and comments on articles in 1959 Yes, yes, ma'am chair if I may I just want to I just I understand that article 59 is is very important to get right in the The chair recorded a number of important questions that I want to continue to work on making sure those answers are polished and refined as Well as working with the Human Rights Commission folks further who have been terrific throughout this whole process So I'll make sure to have a vote in common for you our next meeting, but I'm sorry. It's taking a little time on that one Thank you, ma'am sure On a motion by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Cura all those in favor say aye Unanimous vote and do I just procedurally need to ask for a motion to table article? 1959 or they just stay there. I'm happy to have them just stay there Before my table madam chair, okay, so then with that we will go back to the consent agenda with my colleagues permission minutes of meetings February 27 2017 for approval free parking Saturday, March 18 2017 from 8 a.m.. To 3 p.m.. And the Russell Common Lot and Railroad Lot Lamson Way Driveway by not your average Joe's Pacific State From the Civic State Planning Committee request special one-day all-alcohol license March 25 2017 Dearborn Academy 34 Winchester Street for Leslie Ellis School spring party financial assistance a request special one-day all-alcohol license on April 8 2017 that the Robbins Memorial Town Hall Auditorium for the Waldorf School of Lexington their spring benefited a request for a contractor drain drain layer license Feeney Brothers excavation LLC out of Dorchester masses masses a motion to approve by Mr. Burns seconded by Second mr. Dunn any questions on mr. Dunn I just wanted to commend mr. Solven on the minutes for that meeting It was a long meeting and there was a lot of stuff said and I thought you really captured it Well, and I really you know it was very readable, and I think you really got the meeting. So thank you I See no one else here in a motion by mr Mr.. Burns seconded by mr. Dunn all those in favor say aye aye those opposed unanimous vote. We now will go to traffic rules in order Listen to that blossom accent order How the business of vote Approve the committee scope and propose membership for the surveillance committee mr. Chapter lane our town manager. Thank You madam chair In follow-up to the board's vote of no action on article 21 But a commitment to form a Study committee I met with the article proponent Steve revelak last week We came up with an agreement on what the proposed scope would be as well as what the preferred membership or proposed membership would be I drafted this memo Shared it with him. He was on board with it and thanked the board for their cooperation on this matter And I would just ask for your consideration of approval tonight so that we could then put out a Put out a solicitation for residents and form the committee and have them get to work Is there a motion by Mr. Dunn seconded by Second mr. Burn Was there I Didn't write down mr. Burn. I'm sorry When we discussed this particular warrant item Article we voted no action. I have a vague memory I'm just kind of running on fumes at this point in terms of there was some discussion about either contact or interface or communication With allington housing authority. There was some discussion around allington housing authority Yeah, so I put it in there and I put into the proposed scope that it is also proposed at the committee review the use of Surveillance technology by the allington housing authority with the understanding that the town does not have jurisdiction over this agency Oh, I see what you're saying and my question would be Right now, none of that has been established or followed up on because first you need this vote of approval to Approve this structure and then that will be one of the next steps or has there already been communication? I've not pursued any communication Madam chair if I may add mr. Revelex also been in communication with me They've actually had some success in starting a dialogue with the allington housing authority So they have been responsive to speaking with the citizens who brought forth this article and our work would be building upon that Okay, thank you. Okay, and a motion by mr. Dunn seconded by Mr. Burn any further discussions if not all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed unanimous vote We will now go to article 10 Which is a vote to authorize the town manager to no negotiate purchase and sale for 1207 mass av Mr. Burn, I am going to recuse myself from this discussion Thank you, if Mrs. Sullivan could note that mr. Burn is temporarily exiting the meeting at 8 o 2 p.m. When we're starting article agenda item 10 One second mr. Chapter lane, thank you, madam chair So what the board has before it tonight is a memorandum drafted by myself The RFP that was initially issued for the sale of 1207 mass av as well as the one bid that was received for the property the board may recall at the last meeting I had provided the board of the memo that outlined that myself town council and the director of planning community development Had reviewed the bid or the proposal and found that it met all the minimum quality criteria or the minimum criteria But that I needed a member of the board to sit with me and provide an analysis or review of the comparative criteria The board designated select McGreeley we met last week to do that scoring We both agreed on a score out of a 50 out of a total Possible 18 points the proposal met the minimum price it met the criteria We wanted for mixed use with a 40-year deed restriction And it will have some impacts in the neighborhood through construction redevelopment so we couldn't give it a no impact score But based upon all of that I recommend that the board Accept this bid subject to all of the conditions that are set forth in the RFP and then authorize me to negotiate with The bidder on a purchase and sale agreement and then if we can come to terms I'll come back before the board for an actual official approval of the purchase and sale agreement It's my memory correct and one of these documents you provided to us that the proposed use is a similar Mixed use or is in conformity with the master plan masters Plan study committee recommendations. It is it's a proposal to do mixed use Which would have retail on the first level on the sidewalk level and then have either a housing use an apartment or condo use Or possibly even a boutique hotel use On the floors above the first floor So it is it is completely in conformance with our want to spread mixed use on the commercial corridors And if I can ask this question, and if it's not appropriate, please please tell me or if we even know I'm just thinking of new businesses on along the business corridor. Is there any indication? in terms of the proposed mixed use recognizing nothing's Firm but in terms of I'm thinking of when businesses open up and Especially in East Allenton and they say, you know, I know I had three parking spaces But three or four other businesses accounting those exact same spaces. Are there any parking waivers? Parking variance exemptions or something in terms of the development or am I getting ahead of myself? So I wouldn't propose that we give any parking waivers I don't know that we even could as part of the purchase and sale and the The discussion about parking would be before the ARB when a special permit is being pursued Yes Mr. Dunn, I wish we got more bidders, and I wish we got more money But we did the RFP and this is you know, we wrote what we wanted and You know it met the minimum So I'm ready to make move approval and ask and ask the town manager to enter the negotiations that he envisions Second that move by mr. Dunn seconded by mr. Curo and I Anticipate that your need for a member of the board of selectmen that that has now ended because that has been fulfilled So I will make a point to thank mr. Brilly for When the query initially came to me He agreed to do that in my state and I do appreciate that any further questions or comments on a motion by mr. Dunn Seconded by mr. Curo if not all those in favor say aye those opposed unanimous vote I gotta open up my calendar, right And what I was thinking was Asking Mrs. Sullivan how far ahead she would like us to go do that and then The next incoming chair can pick up from there We just started decided to restart the process So it's now 8.07 p.m. We have the full four member board. We're moving on to agenda item 11 Discussion future board of selectmen's meeting. I what I wanted to do was Do the bare minimum in terms of if I could ask Mrs. Sullivan? How far ahead should we go? To let the selectments office to be able to schedule business Go May and June and stop there so that the income or do you want us to go further than June? Does that sound right to everyone that we go out to June? Because right now our last meeting that we have scheduled is the organizational meeting in April. That's it. You're right So we're on we need generally and it's mostly licenses. We need a month out You know month and a half even and we're entering into now on a big period outside cafe Our might is April 3rd So we've got April 3rd and then town meeting starts the 24th, right? Yeah, so we will probably need a meeting between the third and the 24th, I think 17th is Patriots day. Oh, yeah, that narrows that either the 10th or the 20th so the April 10th Okay, and then obviously so the 10th April 10th And then on April 24th will meet before town meeting. So in town meeting starts at 8 So I guess maybe we might need a six o'clock meeting on the 24th But we can just set the time the chair will be able to set the time as we get closer Why don't we say now this kind of maybe yeah, okay, so sorry, I'm writing this down So yes, we're doing the 10th is a regular meeting Yeah 24th at 6 p.m. And then so then we're obviously we're continuing through town meeting We can and we can meet like since we're all here on Mondays, you know as it is I don't know, but if we want to set one for the 8th or do we Do we usually only do them every two weeks during town meeting? To give some time you do have three in April though, right? Yes, okay? So May 8th and then The calendar would say May 22nd, but I'm gonna say that I'm not available that day, which is okay But so we'll call that no will I be a six o'clock one on May 8th How lucky are we feeling? Yeah, you're right. That's not that lucky. That's the fifth night. Yeah. All right, so but we don't Do we need a six o'clock? Set it for that in case we get a lot of common vicks or we can do 630. Okay, 630 allows me to take a It just helps should we have done that on the 24th as well? It depending on the agenda I'm happy to do it, but if it's not too heavy on the same thing if we can get if we can get away Let's let's 24 so back on April 24th. Let's call that 630. Okay, no May 8th Let's call it 630 and then it sounds like two of us are not available on May 22nd and May 29th is Memorial Day So May 15th Let's call it. Let's be optimistic and say 715 See how it goes June and then so then that will mean that we won't have met the two weeks in June so or in May so June 5th is probably preferable and Pardon me And then we've got the options of the 12th 19th the 26th It's all the same to me So 19 or 26. Yeah, I think 19th just on the time. Yeah Okay, let's call it June 19th 715 I'm kind of scared to ask this question, but I have on my head I know what you do we have is there's something we traditionally do in June on a Saturday I don't think we think about that to left of town meeting normally But if we want to pick a Saturday No, but I'm just saying no, you don't have we don't have to pick the Saturday I'm just saying is that something that? Happens every year so for me to anticipate in June We're gonna be doing that because I'm always so excited and thrilled to go to that. Yes I would like I don't need to be sunk. Is that our goals meeting? Is that your miss goals meeting or is it combined combined? So I guess I can tell you I can already tell you that I prefer the third of the 17th of June that's jumping the gun but So why don't we leave that with the town manager and whoever the next incoming chair is and I'm fine with what third and what? 17th third and 17th with the same format that we usually have which is in the morning So we'll leave it to the incoming chair and the town manager. Sure. I would just say If that can be kind of Firmed up, I'm saying the wrong word nailed down in May Just so you know Madam chair back to you. Thank you very much So now we will go to correspondence to receive his emotion to move receipt by Mr. Burns seconded by second mr. Cura. We have one piece of correspondence any questions comments action If not an emotion by mr. Burns seconded by mr. Cura all those of you Oh, yeah, I'll just make the comment that the by-law says that This committee should send us their proposal for comment. So if we wish to make comment that is our and I know I've had in others have had conversations And I felt comfortable not asking the committee as an agenda item Which we could do that and if anybody else on the board it indicated that would be happy to schedule that and if in the Future any member of this board or otherwise would like to have that as an agenda item They can work with a new chair But just in compliance with the law the correspondence sent I think We fulfilled everything so far to date. So on a motion by mr. Burns second by mr. Cura all those in favor say aye I those opposed unanimous vote. Okay, Marie. I'm doing pretty good. She's watching us from home, you know We now go to new business, Mrs. Sullivan Attorney Hyme no new business, madam chair a town manager mr. Chapter Lane I don't know if you have any snow update or if we're still I do. Thank you. I do So two pieces of new business one related to snow Earlier in the meeting you allowed me a chance to give a few snow updates since then the governor has announced He's closing all state offices tomorrow. So we're doing the same for town offices in the library town website has been Adjusted accordingly and an email has gone out So when you say that it's of course police fire GPW emergency personnel will be reporting, of course, thank you Moving away from that very good news that I know I shared with the board at the end of last week The town is going to be the recipient of a $500,000 small municipal bridge grant from mass DOT This would is for the small bridge on mystic street over the mill brook near the police station Without this grant, we would have been waiting a couple years We would have been putting some temporary measures in place Until we could fit it into the capital plan to do a bridge replacement receiving the funds this year will allow us to start Design immediately and replace the bridge over the course of probably the next 18 months and be able to avoid Most of those temporary expenditures. So just a huge testament to the work of the DPW engineering Planning not specifically in this issue, but tack as well for just some tremendous Transportation infrastructure work over the past year or so and beyond But just in a year's time of $400,000 complete streets grant and a $500,000 small bridge grant which are Without question. This is money that will allow local resources to go to other important local projects that otherwise Would have had to wait. So this is just it's a very good thing for the town So if we had to pay this expenditure out of the town budget, where would it come from chapter? We probably would have had it taken a combination of chapter 90 and existing roadway funds Which means less roads would have been paved in Arlington for the next two or three years So receiving this funds these funds mean we can do this project and continue to pave other roads in Arlington Which is which is a good thing. I don't know if it's allowed or beneficial in terms of announcing this either currently or in the future Especially since I know there's been some concerns around, you know Rebuilding renovating Arlington High School the school budget the town budget a possible override Whatever appropriate forum, maybe it's just verbally But if it's somehow in writing also that could kind of show a synopsis that if we had not received this grant Through DPW's efforts and others of $500,000 This would have taken money from this portion of the town budget just to Demonstrate to people that your department heads and others are doing everything they can to Try to find outside funding That's one of the things when we've talked about the debt exclusion and in previous overrides that Making a commitment not to come back for a certain amount of years, which we're getting kind of closer to it We've already gone beyond that but but as well as I think it's good to point out that you know through the efforts We would have had to take so much from chapter 90s, which meant means roadways and public streets Whatever, but thankfully because of that like we're doing everything we can to do you know So I'll leave that to you in terms. Yeah, maybe it's when you do your report to town meeting or your budget or whatever Yep, I think that's well stated Not well stated, but thank you. Well received. I know I'm all over. Did you say two things or those are my two things? Thank you. Thank you. No, no business. Mr. Curell. No business. Mr. Dunn one item last week went to the audit committee meeting and The number of us were over in the Lions hearing room Two takeaways. I think that are worth mentioning to this board one is So we all know and I'm gonna say some things that everyone here knows but people at home might not which is We contribute every year to the retirement pension fund, which we are not fully funded at and We have not fully funded that liability and so we pay, you know enough such that we will be able to be done Our goal is 2033 if I remember right we carry that liability on our balance sheet the stuff that we haven't met And we also have a separate benefit, which we call OPEB, which is other post employment benefits which is the health care for our retirees and We have we're much less. We're far far farther behind in terms of paying for our OPEB liability and Those are treated differently from an accounting perspective in starting next year the accounting perspective will say no You have to you look at them actually the same which is to say that Arlington's balance Which is currently a positive of about 26 million will become a negative of about 120 million So our balance sheet is going to abruptly look significantly worse, but it's worth mentioning now because doesn't actually Changing the state of affairs within the town and other towns are affected in the in cities are affected in the exact same way And in fact are often in worse situations than ours are so it shouldn't affect We have no expectation that it's going to affect our bond rating or anything like that But nonetheless, if you're someone who reads balance sheets closely, you're gonna be somewhat startled by Not what you see in this year's town report but by in next year's town report and the second item that I was gonna wanted to mention is that the Management letter was very thin and very good, but it did have one thing that was an update not even something we're in We're not currently in a problem, but we have to do something this year to avoid a problem next year We're just to comply with the new federal standards for all the federal funds that we receive is we have to document all of our Compliance procedures and there's like a this 18-step like thing about like this is how you do compliance and The general opinion was this is mostly stuff that we do already But we need to formally adopt those and so I asked the comp the comptroller is kind of the person probably most leading up But he needs support from the schools the treasurer and so on and so I asked him to come forward in Probably before June I think he said he was gonna come forward and talk about the progress and the steps that are necessary to implement those controls That is the report from not the other Yeah, no, I'm gonna bite my tongue on that one. All right. That's my report Just very briefly Since our meeting that we had At the last board of selectmen meeting I've had quite a few people that have complimented the board in terms of the last warrant article hearings that we had down the town hall It heard nothing but positive from pros cons and still undecided on all of the warrant article hearings meetings and that they appreciated every member of the board in terms of how that went the only Adjunct to that which even this past Saturday night I was talking to a few people and I know the word will continue to get out There was a little bit of confusion and maybe it's because I called the moderator at the beginning of the meeting But it wasn't necessarily there for the debate the decision when town meeting gets to the Sanctuary town warrant article To have to ask each side so mean there's only two sides Maybe undecided once the side also to organize before town meeting and that there'll be ten minutes allotted for each side That is purely a decision of the town moderator. That is nothing that this board discussed voted on approves disapproves of The reason I called on the town moderator was because he asked his occur to see And that was basically giving him the opportunity to get the information out So a few people were kind of confused that that was the the parameters that this board had has set up And I honestly didn't know What the announcement is going to be nor should I or anybody else because there's nothing nefarious about it but I just want to clear up that that was not a Board of Selectment and town manager or anybody else Decision that's purely and solely within the purview and in his right as town moderator to set up those parameters So any questions around that? Email contact the town moderator before town meeting or whenever you think is appropriate So and again, I'm not casting any aspersions either way. It's not our decision. We didn't decide it and that's for him to do the I'll save the good news for last so I Think all members of the board just where you're talking about the money on mill street mystic mill street bridge over mystic street Received correspondence from mr. Schluckman regarding signage that he feels might be an appropriate down there outdated Did you get did everybody get that on the board or okay? I didn't okay? So you're aware of that okay, because I saw mr. Schluckman on Sunday night at a different event And he brought that up and I stole them I thought that had been passed on the other thing is for the incoming the next chair of the Board of Selectman again talking to mr. Schluckman and In terms of in the future, I think our colleague mr. Curel kind of has gauged it correctly that there seems to be an appetite for in the future Possibly, you know by the end of this year, especially with the island in high school project and others coming up Having sort of joint Board of Selectman school committee meeting One of the things that I indicated that I would ask the current chair. I mean the future chair to relate to the Next chair coming in which I believe appears to be mr. Thielman also would like to have conversations around that the DOR report in terms of Discussing their recommendations and seeing if there's any commonality there in terms of you know We can both combine town and school to bid on products products like products and get a better Price on it But definitely seemed like there was an appetite because I one of the things I said is none of us wants to have a meeting Just to have a meeting to say that we had it so I'll leave that to the future chair But it seems as though that definitely was something well received and lastly I have volunteered cause I volunteered my colleagues All four colleagues on the board and the town manager Arlington eats had their fundraiser Saturday night. I go to very few things just because of Circumstances and thankfully my rest of my colleagues on the board are able to cover the other events But this is something's really near and dear to my heart having grown up, you know Rented apartments and then in the projects and one of the worst things is you know when you kind of depend on school for Your lunch and sometimes more snacks and then you get vacations and even worse summer vacations The fundraiser Arlington eats sat in there in the town hall was Fantastic unbelievable so well run Everybody they know all the high-tech stuff They were citing Lauren ledger and Susan and others were citing 4,800 meals last year And I know with someone that you know when school closed. I was like oh my goodness I'm losing a really important meal there so it was Extended invitation was extended and I said would be well received that they had asked in Either July or August of this year that the members of the board of selectmen and town manager come down and basically serve be the servers of One of their kickoff meals that they have over the summertime for everybody It's not a political thing and it's not going to go no brochure or anything like that But they thought I said do you really want us there? You know make me just want to add them and you know the police chief But he said no that they thought if they could get the members of the board of selectmen and the town manager down there They thought it would be a really good interface With the kids as well as with the adults so quasi committed to July or August I'll leave that to the town manager in the future chair But I told them that of course would be willing to do that You know barring anyone scheduled like my husband when he has to go out of over to Japan and with that I will mr. Dunn. I apologize second chance Arlington civics day Saturday 10 a.m. 2 p.m. Here in town hall many many different departments including the board of selectmen will be here with booths and Activities and you can learn more about how your town works. I apologize. I forgot Motion to adjourn by mr. Dunn seconded by Burn all those in favor say aye. I was opposed unanimous vote. Thank you so much