 Good evening. I am calling to order this meeting of the Arlington Select Board on Monday, January the 8th. I am Select Board Chair Eric Helmuth. Tonight's meeting is being conducted in a hybrid format, consistent with provisions by the State Legislature for remote participation in public meetings. Before we begin, please note the following. First, this meeting is being conducted in the Select Board chambers and over Zoom. It is being recorded and simultaneously broadcast on ACMI. Second, people wishing to join the meeting by Zoom may find information on how to do so on the town's website. People participating either in person or by Zoom are reminded that you may be visible to others and that if you wish to participate, we ask you to provide your full name in the interest of developing a record of the meeting. Third, all participants are advised that people may be listening who do not provide comment, but those persons are not required to identify themselves. Both Zoom participants and people watching on ACMI can follow the posted agenda materials found on the town's website, specifically the Select Board agendas and minutes page. All right, so we have, see how much for the town's business we can get done tonight. We have all Select Board members here in person, in the town staff, so we can take voice votes. And our first item of business is a proclamation, and I'm going to call that up on my screen and be my pleasure to read this, and after this, I might invite the town manager to make a comment. Whereas Rob Derosa was born and raised in Arlington, Massachusetts, and whereas Mr. Derosa was educated in the Arlington Public Schools, attending Stratton Grammar School, Junior High West, and as a graduate of Arlington High School, and whereas Mr. Derosa has proudly served the town of Arlington for 38 years. Mr. Derosa worked at the Department of Public Works for his first 13 years, then served as the master mechanic for both the fire and police departments for 25 years, and whereas Mr. Derosa was integral in the maintenance and upgrade of the municipal fire alarm and radio systems and the remodeling of the fire stations, and whereas Mr. Derosa has always been a dedicated municipal employee, team player, and resource to all downtown departments. Now therefore be it resolved that we, the members of the select board, thank Mr. Rob Derosa for his 38 years of dedicated service to the town of Arlington and wish him a happy and healthy retirement. Mr. Town Manager, if you can make any comments, and then I'll turn to my colleagues for comments and motions. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the board taking the opportunity to recognize Mr. Derosa's 38 years of service. He is currently, as of now, his retirement. He is our second longest tenured employee, so it's not often someone reaches 38 years of service, and I can definitively say that he did so with a smile. He was just always a friendly face, and I've had numerous opportunities to work with him during my tenure here, and every single interaction I had with Rob was both pleasant, but also memorable as well. He was just a great individual, and we're losing, you know, not just a master mechanic who cared for our fleet as if it was his own. We're also losing someone who had institutional knowledge that will never replace of our sort of fire alarm network before antennas when there were, you know, cables running from pole to pole and underground in conduits. You know, I can think of a handful of projects that I was running myself at different parks or areas even in front of this building where you dig, you find a pipe underground and there's a wire in it, and if no one else knows, it's, we're going to ask Rob, we need to know if we still need this. If it still connects one building to another, what's going to happen if we pull a fire alarm? Where's the signal going to go? And Rob was always that person, so he was, you know, sort of far more than just a mechanic, just a true team player and would take on anything at any time, so I appreciate this proclamation on his behalf. Thank you, Mr. Feeney, and good luck with that. Replacing that knowledge, keep your cell phone handy. Turn to my colleagues for the motions, Mr., Mrs. Mohan. Oh, sorry. Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, I'd like to move approval. And I want to thank you and the town manager for coming up with this proclamation for Rob, who in no way would want anything like this. Different phrases, people say unsung hero, heroine. He truly was, and before police and fire were upgraded to technology and the like, he was a master at everything. He had our systems running far ahead of what they really should have been doing, as well as he was, he's such a quiet, unassuming nose to the grindstone employee. But I remember going down there, and I used to say, I'm here for Rob's deli because the only thing he didn't have was the diagacinos take a number ticket because between police, fire, and the regular town fleet that would line up down there, and I'd be going down with my police scanner or something like that, trying to, all the channels have changed. And it was just amazing. And a lot of times I would find out afterwards what accomplishments Rob had done because I'd be like meeting with the different chiefs and I'd say, how the heck are we doing this? And they'll say, you'll never guess who figured out something. And I'd say Rob. And that's who it was. So I'm very happy for him in terms of 38 years with the town, earning a retirement for sure. Can't imagine, I know I'll see him down there even when he's not physically down there because he's really got his thumbprint on so many things, so beloved by every town employee. It's hard to find an individual that you could say, everybody really likes and respects this gentleman, but that's what we have. So I know I'll still be bothering Rob, I mean, talking to him in his retirement. And I wish him nothing but the best. Thank you. Mr. Erd. Thank you. And I'll happily second this and want to congratulate Mr. Duruz on his retirement. And again, thank him for his many, many, many years of service to the town. Mrs. Mahan touched on this, but there's so many employees. We know the department heads. We know the board, the town manager. But there's so many employees in this town that do unbelievable amounts of work to make the town work as well as it does. And Mr. Duruz is certainly on the top of that list. And it's nice when we get a chance. It'd be nice to be able to do this more periodically than when they just retire. But it is good to give recognition where recognitions do. And really, our town staff, from top to bottom, is really top notch. And that's why Arlington's able to provide the services it does. And as you look at the roster of DPW workers and police and fire, I always am confident to see someone that I grew up with, or I played baseball with it, or it was a lifelong resident. And there's a lot of DPW workers who started as a summer job in high school. And I think it's a credit to how well the town treats its employees that someone said started off maybe part-time and said, you don't want to make a career of this. So again, congratulations on an amazing career. Not only to Mr. Duruz, I wish him the best of luck in his retirement. Thank you. Mr. DeCoursey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also want to congratulate Mr. Duruz on outstanding career and wish him all the best in retirement and happy to support the proclamation. Mr. Diggins? Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm happy to support it. I've listened to three people who grew up in Arlington and really knew the guy. So I've learned a lot about him. I mean, I did not grow up here. But I think it's always a good sign when someone isn't in the news, you know, and is doing a good job in the background. So even though I don't know you, Mr. Duruz, I wish you the best being and seemingly you are a really good guy and hopefully you'll be around in some capacity for a long time. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Duruz. If someone persuades you to watch this, we are so grateful for your service and wish you the very best in your retirement and well deserved. It sounds like Mr. Duruz has to continue to stand by his phone just in case we dig up any wires. With that caveat. Thank you. So on a motion to approve the proclamation by Mrs. Mohan, a seconded by Mr. Herd. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Item three for approval, the Hamantasch run on March 24, 2024 from the Center for Jewish Life. Do we have anybody representing the applicant on Zoom? I think we might. Yep, coming in. Yes, I'm here. Hey, good evening, Rabbi. We never know which one of you we're going to get. Keep us surprised. Keep us guessing. Thank you very much. We have your materials in front of us. For the benefit of the public, you could just outline what the request is. Yeah, well, first of all, just while I have everyone here, I just want to thank you for approving our menorah lighting that took place in Arlington Center. It was really beautiful. And people really appreciated it across the town. So thank you so much for that. We would like to, we're applying for a special event. We want to do a run, a 5K, that will take place on March 24, Sunday, March 24 from 3 to 4 PM. We'll need around an hour. So from 2 PM to 3 PM for setup. We have, I believe we sent you the route. It's a route that has been done before and was approved by Marshall McCloskey in 2014, running with friends 5K. And I actually, I brought this route in front to the APD. And they let me know that we have to first come before the town and that the town, if approved, the town will send it over to the Arlington Police Department for the route to be approved. So that's what we would love to do. Again, this is Sunday, March 24. Thank you very much. I will turn to my colleagues for any questions, comments, or motions. I have a question. So we're not closing the bike path, right? I think it's a question, are we going to close? Are you asking us to close the bike path? Yeah, right. You know what, the route that I sent, I have to let, it's not going to be a big, this is our first time doing it. If we were to get approved, we're not looking at more than 60, 70 people. I don't think the bike path will need to be closed. But I believe the first part of the route is going up massive. I think that's what you're calling it, like towards Cambridge, before we make a right-hand turn towards the bike path. So I'm not sure. I wasn't certain what the, you know, we obviously need the police presence. I don't know what that entails in terms of shutting anything down or just making a lane. I'm not sure as to that. Okay, you know, so when, will you be sure? I mean, I guess you need to probably get, is it a matter of us giving the go-ahead and then you become sure of this? Yeah, so the lieutenant at the Arlington Police Department told me that the town needs to send them the route. And then they will look it over and come out with details of what needs to be done if they approve it. All right, you know, I'll stop at this point. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. I'm going to stop questioning, and I see another question. Are you good for now? Yeah, I'm good for now. Thanks, yeah. Mr. Heard? I mean, I would just say, I don't think based on the volume, it requires the bike path to be shut down. But I just want to, as I look at the route, like, you know, you're coming down Berkson Lake, the assumption is that whoever's in the race at that point would stop and wait for a walk signal, right? It's not like, obviously, as you're going through busy intersections, it's not going to be a continuous route. And I just want to make sure that that's the understanding. Because sometimes with these five kates, we do it, you know, there's a route where people just keep on going. But, I mean, certainly that particular spot would require whoever's in the race to, you know, safely stand by until they get a walk signal to go across. Yeah, I believe, yeah. I just have an update. I had reached out. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Board Administrator Ashley Mark. I had reached out to the police department and heard back from Corey late this afternoon. And he did advise that, given the size, the smaller size of the race, that if it was suggested for them to use the AHS 5K route, that would go from the bike path around the reservoir and kind of eliminate the bike path. I don't know if that's something that maybe the police department may have reached out to about, but they were looking for the route. They told them that the concern now with the small number combined with the detailed requirements, they might be spending the majority of the fee money on two details that would be required for that. So it would eliminate a smaller path if they did not use the bike path, just as a suggestion to the board. So that would require fewer details? Correct. So Rabbi, would you like to, you know, I'm happy to put this on the, if you want to table this for another meeting, consider that, could save some cost. It's up to you at this point if you want to proceed now we can, or if you'd like to consider the alternative path and look into that, we could put this on for our next meeting. Sorry, I'm just looking at the map. Do you mind mentioning again, what the alternative route that was discussed? Ms. Maher. And Rabbi, can you hear Ms. Maher over the Zoom? A microphone. Yeah. Yeah. So the route that the police department had suggested was the AHS 5K route that goes from the bike path around the reservoir, that would not require a police detail according to the police department. So that may be something. Oh, so the bike path around the reservoir, you mean around spy pond? No, the reservoir. So it's... Allington, Lexington line. Correct. Thank you, Mrs. Mahon. So it wouldn't be an East Arlington route. It would be, I don't have the route in front of me. I don't, I'm not positive on the route that the AHS 5K does. It was just, I could pull that from when the board approved it last. The small number combined with the detail, it says that if you had used the original one that you had requested that it would require two details to hold traffic across major crossing points. The route around the res doesn't require details. It would probably be minimally disruptive to others on the bike path. Right. Up to the board and the applicant, but that was just a suggestion by the police department. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Mahon. Mr. Liggins? Yes, because what I'm concerned about the bike path is that this is on Sunday, three to four, you know. So in the earlier, the previous time we've dealt with the bike path has been earlier on Sunday morning. And that asks for a closure. This isn't asking for a closure. And I'm fine with that, although then there's a safety issue. 70, as Mr. Hurd said, I mean, it's not a big volume. I mean, so it's not really that big a concern. You know, it's just something to flag, I mean, because it seems to me, if we're talking about the Arlington High 5K run, if they're going from the high school to the bike path, then they're still gonna be, I'm sorry, to the res, they're still gonna be on the bike path for. A shorter amount of time. A shorter, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna try and find that route. So it's more or just pointing out concerns. I'm positively inclined on this. On this route? Yeah, yeah, or yeah, the height. I'm positive towards their requests being regardless of. Okay. I do think the proposed one is better, but I will go along with whatever. Okay, Mr. Hurd, for the comment. Yeah, I just said, I mean, I've run in, I'm not in 5K shape right now, but I did run in one for the, some of the homeless coalition a few years ago. I think at the turn, at that time, I'm just thinking she'd had a concern. And but I think this might be one of them that you're talking about that was earlier in the day with less foot traffic on the bike path. I mean, I actually, I really liked the route that we took there. I think it started on the high, went to Mass Ave, went down, then you get on the bike path over near Downing Square. I didn't find that, and that was a much bigger race with more participants. I didn't find there was a lot, we didn't shut down the bike path. I didn't find there was a lot of conflict because after the starting, I mean, this isn't the Boston Marathon where everyone's been training. Yeah, once the starting gun hits, it tends to really spread out participant-wise. And I think it was never more than one person kind of plugging along on the right side of the bike path, which you might see anyways. So I'm not overly concerned about using the bike path for safety and inhibiting anyone else's ability to use the bike path. That said, I mean, I think that, I mean, this route, there's a few things. And I think I trust the participants in that APD to make this safe, but Orvis Road, I mean, when cars are parked up Orvis Road, I mean, unless, I don't know if it's the intent that they're gonna run on the sidewalks, and if that's the case, then great, then I think safety concerns are really allayed there. But I think using the bike path, for me, actually provides sort of a safe alternative and kind of makes it, it's a little more comfortable in my mind. But that said, I understand the concern. And just outside of, I guess, this one application, I think this kind of strikes something that maybe we as a board come up with a 5K route and say, oh, you want to figure out and talk to APD and town staff and say, all right, this is the safest way to do a 5K in the town of Allington and where an applicant comes in and say, all right, you want to do a 5K, this is gonna be your route. And these are the time frames that we approve them. And we don't obviously have to have this in place for this one application, but I think this is, that's just something that would be prudent because I think whoever's doing a 5K in town isn't necessarily concerned where in town that pass is through. So I think that that would be something to look in as a board, to work with town staff to put in place as a policy. I like that idea. It's a good idea. It's a great idea. You know, it occurs to me too, and I'm thinking, you know, I'd initially suggested to the rabbi that we, you know, we could table this if there's an interest in considering another route. But we would, you know, to know the route, I think we'd probably have to have an application with that route plan submitted anyway. So we'd be coming back in another meeting at any rate. So I might suggest to my colleagues that one question for the board would be, do we feel comfortable approving this route today? And then the applicant could come back and, you know, with an amendment to a different route at a subsequent meeting. Or, you know, and if the board would rather not, then I think, you know, we just wouldn't have any emotions. And then I think that the applicant would have their guidance about a route. Mr. Heard? I think given the size of the anticipated participants, I'm happy to approve the route so the organization could start publicizing the event and at least know that it's going to happen on that date. And then as they discuss this with APD, if there's a better route that makes more sense from a financial standpoint and safety standpoint, then they can certainly come back knowing that they already have this in place for that date. I said that was a motion to approve. Mr. Degorsi? Thank you, Mr. Tumini. I'll second that motion. And I think given the timing, it's important probably to have the date out there that it's going to take place. And I think not knowing the number of details because the other crossing here on this route is across Pleasant Street from Lombard. And that's a busy intersection as you head back to the community center. And it may be an issue with the number of details that the police department comes back with. You might prefer this other route, but I think it's important for you, Ravik, to have the date that you'll know it will take place that day. And we can hear back on the specific routes. I'll support Mr. Herd's motion. Any further comment? Can you speak? One more question. Of course, Mr. Herd. And Ravik, is the timing of it, was that specifically said, or was it just something that you just said, all right, we're gonna do it at two, if it made more sense to do it at 10 or? Right, so it was specifically said, and there was a couple of reasons. So the technical reason was is that I'm just starting to get to know this whole world of running of professional, of like five Ks. And so you need to have somebody who knows how to set it up and the timer and they give people, so that they're timed as they're running. So the guy who's helping us, this guy by the name of John, he has like two other runs going on across Massachusetts earlier in the day. That's number one, and number two, and this is why I was excited about this route that we found, that it's actually, it's a Jewish holiday Purim where people dress up. It's sort of like a Halloween in the Jewish tradition. And so we were actually planning at the end of the run, I rented out the Masonic Lodge, which is right there on Academy Street, where we annually have a Purim party. So we wanted just like the run to end at four PM and people go straight to the party at the end of the finish line. That's the only reason why the route was like, oh, this is perfect. But obviously I'll go and confer with the Arlington Police Department. And if it's more prudent, if it just makes sense on multiple fronts to change the route, of course, we'll do that. All right, I think we have a good plan. And thanks for the additional information that sounds like fun. So I think we're set for a vote. So on a motion to approve by Mr. Hearns, seconded by Mr. DeCorsi. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? It is unanimous. Good luck with your event and let us know if you need to come back with any changes. Thank you. And so just to follow up, you'll send the route over to the police department. Is that, or they already have it? Some of both I think, yeah. Mr. Feeney? Yep. Rabbi, I think what we would do through the board administrator is send you the route that's being referenced. I believe it's the one that is often used by the Arlington Education Foundation for their annual 5K, which hosts approximately 800 runners. And a large portion of it is on the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway, but does loop back on the Mass Ave sidewalk. There are no major crossings because it is very circular. So I think it is a tried and true route that we have a good map depicting it. And once we confirm that that is the route, we'll be happy to share that with you via email. Okay. Okay. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Rabbi. Thank you. Okay, that moves us to, I'll just make one final comment that I think I like the idea of a board 5K route and I might nominate the board member who was most recently run if I had his own admission to chair that event. Chair there. I mean, that was like four years ago, so that's a good luck for the board. It's been 20 for me. For some of us, it might be never. So it's a big deal to get those routes certified though. Rarely they get the stamp of approval, so it does make sense to have something to offer. That's a good idea. Thank you, Mr. Okay. We item five, a renewal for a contractor drain layer license and then from the D'Alessandro Corporation in West Bridge Water. Consent agenda? Oh, thank you. Yeah, yep, no, I'm just skipping right ahead. So that item I just mentioned is part of the consent agenda. Prior to that is the minutes of meetings from the November 20th, December the 4th and December the 18th. So excited to just get ahead of myself. And a reappointment to the tree committee, namely Mr. Stephen Moore, term to expire 131 of 2027. Now, any motions or comments on this consent agenda? Of approval. Mr. Viggins. Thank you. All right, any further discussion? With gratitude to my colleagues for keeping me on my toes, we have a motion to approve by Mr. Viggins. It's your anniversary. It's seconded by Mr. Heard. All in favor? Aye. Opposed, it is unanimous. Thank you. All right, so now we are at open forum. This is a time for the public to comment. If you are in Zoom and wish to comment open forum, please raise your hand in Zoom at this time. Except in unusual circumstances, any matter presented for consideration of the board shall neither be acted upon, nor a decision made the night of the presentation in accordance with the policy under which the open forum was established. Should be noted that there is a three minute time limit to present a concern or a request. I believe we have a hand raised by Greg Dennis. Go ahead and bring Greg into the meeting. To Zoom. Excuse me, it's just a ticker. Good evening, Mr. Dennis. Thanks for having me. Mr. Viggins invited me to speak tonight and say a few words about someone our community lost last month as you may have heard on December 9th, long time Arlington resident, Paul Paravano passed away. Paul lost his sight at an early age, but he didn't let that hold him back in life. He worked for many years in public relations at my alma mater, MIT, in this capacity interacted with community leaders and local state and national elected officials, made many contributions as a disability advocate and volunteer in various committees. In Arlington, Paul served on the disability commission and on the election modernization committee where I worked alongside him. In his time on the election modernization committee, Paul was a kind but determined champion for better voting options for blind and low vision residents. His personal story of being unable to vote independently due to technical issues with a accessible voting machine raised our awareness of a serious issue affecting voters statewide. And of course, he was very dedicated to his family. He and his wife Martha settled in Arlington in 1994 and raised two daughters here, one of whom works in Arlington public schools today. So I know we all miss Paul and his services to our community and thank you for letting me say those words. Mr. Dennis for that. And I don't think that this constitutes acting upon or making a decision for the chair to beg indulgence to comment. Mr. Paravano was my neighbor, a block or two away up in precinct 12 and those of us there knew him to be everything you said and more. He was an extraordinary individual, a wonderful neighbor and his wife Martha is also a very dear person, his family is very dear and our thoughts are very much with the family as they mourn this incredible loss and celebrate a life very well lived of service to his community. Mr. DeCorsi. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And if you don't mind, thank you, Mr. Dennis for presenting those words about Paul and Paul's daughter Ellie was a teammate of my daughter Megan's and athletics, they played basketball together at Arlington High and Paul went to every game and Martha would sit with him and he would take it all and she would provide play by play for him and he was just so engaging and just a wonderful, wonderful person and he had such a remarkable career and I'm glad Mr. Dennis he came before us to present those words tonight because these words don't really truly reflect how what a special person Paul was. I worked with Paul a little bit on the election modernization committee and so I knew that Dennis would do justice to his memory and there was a good article in your Arlington. So thanks Dennis for your words Megan and thanks Paul for all the work that he did and all the best to his family in this difficult time. All right, do we have any other people who'd like to speak for open forum? Please raise your hand in the room or in Zoom. Okay, seeing none that will close open forum and we'll move to traffic rules and orders and other business. Item seven I think Ms. Murray can bring in Ms. Swan. We have memos from the Transportation Advisory Committee. Hi, good evening. Hello. Thank you very much. Hey, very good and I acknowledge my colleague who serves on the on the tack as well, Mr. Diggins and appreciate your work as always and very delighted to get these two memos with your good work. If you want to just give us a quick summary of for the public's benefit of what's there and then we can have a discussion. Sure, the first memo that we are sending over has to do with Dow and Rindcliffe and I think you probably are familiar, Dow Avenue heads east and when it hits Rindcliffe there's a break and about a hundred feet up Rindcliffe, Dow resumes again and there was some concern from residents that people who were trying to continue on Dow were taking this corner very fast. It's right around the corner of course from Dallin Elementary School and there was some concern that there were some obstructions of the crosswalk at that corner and so our working group went and observed, took some pictures and had some short-term recommendations that I'll list out here such as of course trimming the tree branches back that are obstructing the crosswalk, replacing a blind drive sign with a retro-reflective pedestrian crossing sign as the pedestrian crossing seems to be a higher priority. There is a dead maple tree on Rindcliffe that also kind of obscures the view of pedestrians at the crosswalk ramp and if that could be removed that would also give greater visibility as well as the area around the crosswalk the pavement is kind of broken up and the paint is not adhering very well so new retro-reflective paint and new stop bar at Dow Avenue would all just make drivers more aware that there is a crosswalk here and I think that removing some of the obstructions would also improve the visibility. Of course, we always try and think also in the long-term and in the long-term basis we would suggest doing something such as modifying the angle of the curb or doing a bump-out to make that crosswalk a little bit shorter but that usually happens as DPW comes through and fixes curb or repaves a street. I don't know if you want to answer or discuss Dow and Rindcliffe first. Yeah, I think let's pause and we can have a discussion in the action about this and we move on to the second one. Did you have anything else from Rindcliffe before we have a discussion? So just to frame the discussion with the board I have a question for I think the town manager possibly town council in that is do in terms of what if any select board action would be required or appropriate for these particular recommendations any of them require a vote of the board or we obviously can refer to the town manager with a recommendation, maybe give us some guides parameters about what our options are here. What's your opinion? Yeah, Mr. Chair, I can weigh in on that. I don't think a vote is required. However, to the extent that the board want to clarify any instructions that wanted to provide to the town manager it could be useful. Mr. Green? Yeah, I would agree with that, right? We're not changing any traffic rules and orders here or requiring something that needs to be codified but to the extent there may be a recommendation that the board isn't fully on board with or may want to support or not want to support or if they want to support the short-term solutions in full. Again, it's a vote of support but either way these are things that we can operationally make happen. I think that my only caution here would be focusing on the short-term solutions as Ms. Swan noted that some of the longer-term build options really need to be taken up in the context of the town's capital plan and a larger sort of roadway project, spot repaving and sort of spot curb line adjustments just are really not cost-effective and typically not, frankly, done effectively and less done in the context of sort of a little bit of a larger scale. Mr. Herg? Yeah. I mean, I'm happy to support all the short-term recommendations and essentially move receipt of the long-term recommendations. The only recommendation in the short-term that kind of jumps out to me is, I don't know who made the determination that the maple tree is dead but I think Mr. Aquiv will have to go out and make the determination and if not, I think that would require some board action in the event that Mr. Aquiv decided that it was not a dead maple tree. But other than that, I'm happy to make a motion to support that the town manager implement the short-term recommendations. The attorney coming in. Just wanted to confirm, as usual, Mr. Herg is correct on the tree issue. Confirmed that it is well and truly dead. Right. Right. Oh, my God. My head. Mr. Diggins? Fine. No. Was that a second? Oh, it's a second. Yeah. It's fine. All right. Any other comments and discussion on the first motion for diorama? Okay, so we have a motion of receipt of the recommendations and a support for the town manager, I think particularly with the short-term recommendations by Mr. Herg and seconded by Mr. Diggins. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? unanimous. Thank you very much. Okay, so Ms. One, you're up for round two here. Go right ahead. Sure. The second member we're sending over are some other recommendations about Eastern Avenue right around Robbins Farm Park. And there was concerns about speeding and safety in this area. Some very specific suggestions that I could get into as to why some were adopted and some weren't. But our recommendation was that the flashing school speed limit signs be removed and static non-moving speed limit signs be put in instead. These tend to break. They need to be reset during daylight savings time. And one is not functioning right now because they don't have the parts to I guess fix part of the clockwork mechanism. And so that would just let people know that, yes, it is a school zone. And that there wouldn't be that ambiguity of the school zone, you know, sign not lighting up during arrival and dismissal times. The other thing we observed was that people did tend to go down the street and speed a little bit and that putting a solar powered speed feedback sign on Eastern Avenue could help people be aware of their speed and reduce it before they get to bracket school and the entrance to the park. So those were our two major recommendations. Thank you very much. And I think I'll start once again by just checking out the scope of authority and action here with respect to each of the recommendations and either this require a board action or and of course also the town manager's opinion about them would be about you as well. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think like the last set of recommendations, what's being sought is sort of a vote of support from the board, but nothing regulatory or definitive if you will. I will say, you know, I think these are both wise recommendations. From my perspective as I look at them, you know, I've seen some recent scenarios where that electronic radar driver feedback sign is actually co-located with the speed limit sign or the school zone sign. And that's something I might advise our engineers to consider here because it is not often we have an opportunity where we have an electrified pole in place that we could make use of. Normally we would go the solar powered route because it's too expensive to bring conduit and a new electrical service, but that is still the preferred mechanism because the solar powered signs would require batteries and bring their own sort of suite of maintenance issues. So I think it's right that, you know, having the static school speed limit sign will be present really at all times and relieve that maintenance issue, the reprogramming issue and the maintenance headaches that come with that particular older type of technology but to maybe use that location to satisfy both obligations might be something worth considering, but also, you know, if that's not feasible then certainly considering locating it just prior to that. Thank you. Thank you. I'll turn to the board for any comments, questions, motions. Mrs. Mahoney. Are we moving approval or move to refer to the town manager? Receive and support and things like that. Exactly. And then just because we're at this point and I want to thank the Transportation Advisor, Committee and SWAN and others for the traffic speeding data that also was included. And I certainly am concerned when it looks at those going, it said 50% go over the 20 mile per hour posted speed limit at about 24, 25, and then it said 40% go over the 27 miles an hour which gets you to 30, especially in the seven to 8 a.m. And also on the weekends, I know, and maybe just because I'm an old lady now that I go very, very slowly up there. And I'm very appreciative when this car is parked on both sides because that's sort of a natural traffic calming measure. But just as we move forward, and I know this was brought up in the past few years, and I know the longstanding policy which can always be revisited regarding speed bumps, but I would just like to place before the town manager as we move forward, because we had preliminary discussions, it was either two or four years ago, about as we look at different areas, whether it's Dow and Rinecliffe, whether it's here at Eastern Ave by Brackett School, the raced crosswalks. I know there was a little bit of discussion on that when some neighbors came in, I believe at Gray and Churchill Road, just where the speed of the cars and one of the things that we have much more prevalent than when I first got on the board way back when the Flintstones were in their cars is we have a lot of backup speed data and at different times of day. So I guess I would just, I'm not saying it can happen at this particular spot although this would seem to be an ideal, but and I understand there may be a reason why we need to continue with sort of the unwritten policy of no speed bumps, no raced crosswalks intersections, but as we move forward, if that's something we could, whatever the manager thinks discussion with Mr. Rademacher, DPW or others, and then perhaps in the future, full discussion with the board, there may be another solution for around the schools for a gray Churchill. And again, I'm not saying speed bumps because I do understand what is inherent in all that, but raced sidewalks are perhaps something else that people are doing now, engineering designed around traffic calming. So that's not included in here. I know it's something tack has also over the years, the transportation advisory committee sort of educated and schooled me on different traffic calming measures. So just wanted to put that because it came into my mind. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Mohan. Mr. DeCoursey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll second Mrs. Mohan's motion in this one. Thank you for the detailed analysis on Eastern Ave. And a question either for you or for Mr. Feeney. I see the reference here for the flashing school zone speed limit signs. And I know there are others throughout the community. Is this something that I don't know if the town manager or attack is looking into replacing other signs because of the reliability issues and maybe there are better alternatives now, even outside what you looked at on Eastern Ave. Mr. Feeney. So we have not done so yet, but admittedly had the same thought in reviewing this as saying, well, you know, if we're establishing a new standard here, you know, why not be proactive and look to the other locations in town where this may be appropriate. So I do think that's something we would consider, just like when the time comes to rebuild that crossing right at the bracket school that we consider what alternatives are available to us and based on the latest research and guidance, but I do know that the sort of radar feedback signs are sort of now the industry standard have been shown to be effective with respect to speed. So I think that is certainly a great first step. Thank you. Mr. Degas, so yeah, I'll just add to me, even though I'm on tack, I mean, I did not write the report. And so I feel good about saying it's a very well written report, you know, and the questions and responses, I think have a lot of information in them, and especially when you might think, well, in one case, they said, well, the cars are part of the both sides of the street and it makes the line of sight difficult, but it's like, but it also slows down the traffic in order to speed. And so that would be something that you want. And so just encourage people to read through it. And also, we hired someone to do the speed, collected speed data. So that takes a while too, so you might look at it and go, well, why did it take so long? And that's because it really was a thorough study, you know, and so I'm very proud of my colleagues for the work that they do. And it looks like I'll be able to attend the next meeting because I don't have a conflict at all, you know? Excellent. The whole meeting. Good. Thank you very much. I will also add my appreciation for this. As I mentioned earlier, I live, this is my neighborhood and in fact, it was a constituent and the neighborhood came to me originally with this request. So I'm very happy with the quality of the work here and I'm really encouraged by the opportunity, as noted by Mr. Feeney to use this as an example and a pilot for some newer approaches for traffic calming and for safety. So I think it's all really good. Any further discussion? So on a motion by Mrs. Mahana, seconded by Mr. D'Corsi. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? It is unanimous. Thank you, Ms. Swan. Thank you. Have a good night. Good night. It takes us to item eight, vote for an appointed Town Clerk ballot question. And I know I'll turn to Attorney Cunningham in a moment as prepared a memo for the board and it's available on the town website. I'll also note with the presence tonight of Town Clerk, Julie Brazil. Ms. Brazil, do you wanna come up and make any comments at all? So you're here as a resource. All right, very well. Mr. Cunningham, Attorney Cunningham. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I just prepared a memo for the board and for the public's reminder about how we arrived at this point and how procedurally this is appropriately before this board at this time to create a ballot question. It was done by Town Meeting. It's set forth in the memo with the vote and how it occurred last year at the annual Town Meeting. I also note that there were future considerations in which if this were placed on the ballot this spring and the town were to vote yes, there would be some changes required for the Town Manager Act and our bylaw to implement these changes. And I think that our great clerk remind us that she was elected by the town in 2024 for a four year term. So any changes that we would make would have to consider that her term runs through 2026 and changes could not take place at this time. So the appointment power, if the town were to vote to allow the town manager the appointment authority and take the clerk out of the elected position box, that would not take effect until Ms. Brazil's term is done in 2026. Thank you. At this point, I will turn to the board. I think the question before us and we have in Attorney Cunningham's memo that the fundamental decision question for the board after the vote from town meeting, I'll note that was the vote language is available or the vote titles, it was a pretty strong vote for the town meeting at the time to do that. And now it's come back around to select board to decide whether we put this in the ballot to ask the question to the voters of the town to do that. The election ballot question would be shall the town vote to have its elected town clerk become an appointed town clerk of the town, yes or no. And so I think that's the question before us. So I'll now turn to the board for any discussion and motions. Mr. Heard. Motion to add a ballot question to our annual town vote in April as just presented by the chair. Is that sufficient? I'll second that. And I was on town meeting, I voted for the language, we looking at the language, it's a little awkward in that. It's like, it says, shall we vote to have it selected town clerk? And so it's like, well, yeah, we shall vote today. So it's like, but then, but then let's vote. And so, so I guess if I were to redo the language I would say, shall we change me the town clerk from appointed to elected? Because now that's like, that's saying that that's what we're voting on now. We're not really voting on whether we're gonna vote, but it is what it is. And I don't think there's any changing it at this point. And so I'm happy to support it. And I guess the other questions I have is like, what is the nature of the campaign? But I don't know if that's appropriate for this venue. I'm not sure if that's quite in scope, but it's a good question. Yeah, I think as maternal coming in, you had a comment on the wording. Yeah, just to clarify that the, what the board is doing here tonight is that they were directed by town meeting as noted a vote of 186 to 31 to the board was requested and authorized to place the following question on the 2024 annual town election ballot. The specific question is, quote, shall the town vote to have its elected town clerk become an appointed town clerk of the town? Yes, blank, no blank, end quote. So that's the specific language that the board is voting on to place that language on the ballot. Yeah, I realize that, you know? So I mean, we can't change it, that's fine. Correct. But I just said to me, we understand like how it's just a little, it's a little, it's kind of legalese, but at the same time, it's like, well, we're not, we're voting on the change. We're not voting on whether we're gonna vote on it. Because that was kind of like what town meeting was about. It's like, well, shall we put the vote in front of the residency? So that was a vote to vote. And now we're saying, okay, we now, here's the vote, and this is what the vote is, meaning to actually change it, meaning from appointed to elected. And had I been a little more on the ball, you know, when we had the hearing, I mean, I might have said, maybe we might want to have a little different language, you know, when we actually put it on the ballot, but it is what it is. And the action. Mr. Gorsi. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And just for the public's benefit, these aren't Mr. Cunningham's words. These, the words of the ballot question come right from the legislature in chapter 41, section 1B. So maybe we talked to Representative Garvely and Representative Rogers and Senator Friedman, but it's where Mr. Cunningham didn't suggest that he's following the statute. Generally good idea. Exactly. Mrs. Mott. Procedural question. This goes on the ballot. It's successful. Am I correct that we then need to have a warrant article or perhaps two regarding our bylaws and our town manager act? And if that is the case, is that something we can do at this year's annual town meeting or, and we do have the time since the current town clerk's contract is for till 2026 or would it be the following year? So the question is, if this is successful that the town residents of Wellington vote to yes, make the town clerk go from elected to appointed, does that mean moving forward, we need a, a town bylaw warrant article B and or be a town manager warrant article. And then the last question would be, is that something we can do this year in 2024, which I'm guessing maybe not, or do we do it in 2025? So I don't know if the chair. Turn to Mr. Cunningham as a three sir. Correct me. Three very good questions now for Mrs. Mahan. Right, as usual. Good question. The first answer is yes. We could put this on the first question was, I'm sorry, remind me of the, I think there were three. Do we need a warrant article for bylaw change? Do we need a warrant article for a town manager act change? If so, on either or both, can we do it this year at the annual 2024 or do we have to wait until 2025? Yes, we need, we're gonna need, if the town would have vote yes on this and want to make the clerk an appointed position as opposed to elected, yes, we would need a bylaw to change the, we need a warrant article change the bylaw as well as the town manager act. Could we do it this year? Your second question. Yes, we could put a placeholder in, obviously the due date for warrant article submissions is January 26th, that's before the election. So we will not know at that time whether the town wants to do this. If the town votes yes, that will occur prior to town meeting, right? Yes, so we'll, we could take it up at that time. If, if the town voted no, there could be no action taken on that, no action vote. So you could do it that way. You just have to get it in before the 26th of January this year to make that happen. I would note that there is some time to do this because of what I mentioned at the start where Mrs. Brazils term doesn't run till 2026. So there's nothing that the town manager can do to make this an appointed position in any practical manner before that expires. There's no way to, the will of the voters has to run its course. The, Mrs. Brazils was elected in 2024 for a four year term. Can't make it, even with a vote now cannot create an appointed position for 25 or 26 until her term expires. Okay. And I apologize. I said 2026, I should have said 2028. And if I could, Mr. Chair, and I don't mean to do this, but I was wondering since we have the town clerk here, if you have in terms of effectuating the change, especially around my question of our questions that weren't articles for bylaw town manager act, should it be 2024 annual town meeting or some other year and or anything else? If that's okay, Mr. Chair. Of course. Always welcome to hear from our terrific town clerk. Mrs. Brazils. So, I mean, I don't think there's a reason not to do it this year. Just, I mean, as a contingency plan, if I were, you know, I died in a car crash, it would be easier if the things were all tied up. So, I mean. Thank you. Don't do that. Yeah. I'm saying to pray for your safety in my head. Go ahead. I'm trying to kind of. Mr. Feeney raises a good point too, that the changes that town manager act would require a homeroom petition through the state legislature. So, it could be prudent to do that sooner than later. I had the same thought. Really? Just so much inside of my other job. So, with those answers, I will feel comfortable leaving those two housekeeping bylaw warrant article, town manager homeroom petition, under the purview of the chair. Yeah, and I think we have at our next meeting, Mr. DeCorsi has suggested to me as a general item where we discuss potential select warrant articles. So, I think that'll be a good time and just to make a stick of pin in that to the town manager and to our town council to consider those, both those items. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Brazils. Mr. Attorney Cunningham. Sorry, thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to the extent that you would like me to work on the homeroom petition if you want me to work with the vice chair on that. Yes, please. Okay. Yes, exactly. Is that all right for you, Mr. Attorney? Yes, it is. Good thinking. Mr. Diggins. Okay. So, I was wondering, would putting these in a special town meeting warrant be an option? Because we do... Like the embedded town special? Yeah. Because we do, we kind of open that warrant kind of late, right? I mean, and so, so we could like open that after the election. We could have them all ready to go, but then we inject, just put it, just the possibility. So, then to maybe residents, it doesn't look like we're being presumptuous, you know, and so, so we can't do the background work, but then we have special town meeting injected it. So just putting out this possibility. I don't care, you know. So that's all. Attorney Cunningham. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I think Mr. Diggins suggested it could be done either way. I don't think that's, it's really the, how much time you want to allow and, but either way would work time wise, I believe. All right, so, any further discussion from the board? Okay, so we have a motion to put the question to the voters per the language approved by town meeting, which itself comes from the state law. Motion is from Mr. Herd, and seconded by Mr. Diggins. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? It is unanimous. Thank you very much for your discussion. To all. And now we move to item nine, a potential vote for the date of the first night of annual town meeting 2024. This, this is of course, an item that the board previously voted on and set a certain date. I think some additional insight has come to light after some good work by our town council, and I'll turn to Attorney Cunningham to give us a summary of the option before tonight. I think that, thank you, Mr. Chair. Originally, the board took a vote on November 8th of 2023 to set our annual town meeting for the fourth Monday in April pursuant to article one, section one of our town bylaws, which specifically say it's supposed to be set for that date. Unfortunately, that date coincides for the first time since 1967 with the first night of Passover. Obviously that creates a hardship for many who celebrate Passover and many who have friends who celebrate Passover, many of whom either participants in town meeting as elected town meeting members or are just simply citizens who participate in the process or interested in what goes on that night. There is arguably a state statute, General Law chapter 39, section nine, that would permit boards in certain occasions, select boards throughout the states from moving the date of the annual town meeting first night despite a town bylaw. I think that it is something that I considered at the time. I think that given the timeline of our bylaw in Arlington that was amended in 1988 and 1994, this statute dates back to 1969, chapter 39, section nine. I think that there's a good chance that the boards may not have the authority to do it, but it may. I think that there's no settled law on the issue, but I don't think that there's a great risk to the board enacting either way. I think that I've been in talks and I know others have with the town moderator to ensure that if we were to proceed with the first night of town meeting on the first night of Passover as scheduled, that all procedural measures possible would be taken to make sure that there are no substantive matters taken up that evening so that no person who is unable to make it that night because they are celebrating that particular religious event would miss anything that they would otherwise want to be there for. I do note that the town meetings procedures committee has recently voted to submit a warrant article to this year's town meeting to clarify article one, section one of our bylaw to make sure that it's clear that the select board going forward will have the authority to set the first night of town, meaning in a way that doesn't necessarily have to be the first Monday of last fourth Monday in April. So if this were to occur for some other holiday, for instance, I know that first night of Passover will fall on the fourth Monday in April again in 2035, but there could be other events that the select board wishes to avoid. And in this, the way the select board was put in a position this year, it's questionable whether the authority exists. To make a change, the warrant article going forward if voted by town meeting would make it very clear that the select board has that authority, has that discretion, and I think that's helpful. Other towns have done that, have given, they've changed their bylaws to provide that clear discretion. But I think reasonable people could disagree about chapter 39, section nine, whether the authority currently exists. I don't think that this is one of those legal questions that has a right or wrong answer at this stage because it hasn't been squarely addressed. That's, I would happen to answer questions, but that's the history as it exists right now. Mr. Heard. Thank you, sir. Is there a suggestion for, if we change it to what date, or is that for us to discuss? I think it's for us to discuss. I haven't. Do you have the idea of the Wednesday that falls? 24th. Then what day is that? 24th. That would be the 24th of April. Well. Right before, are you gonna make the motion because I have a question on the motions? Yeah. Yeah, you can come here. Can I just, before Mr. Heard, could I, Mr. Chair? This is my heart, please. Just to make sure, procedurally, everything is tied up. When a motion is made, not by me, do we need to, and if I'm overthinking this, we don't have to do it, but should it be a joint motion, two motions? Should we first have a motion to rescind our vote, designating April 22nd, 2024, and then have a motion if the motion is a different night? Meaning if it's perhaps Wednesday, April 24th, 2024, should it be combined or am I overthinking it? That's it, I'm not making a motion. I just have a question on when a motion is made, should it be include both two separate motions? I'm overthinking it. Thank you. My turn to clean him. Never, Ms. Mann. You could do it that way, vote to rescind the vote. I think the easiest and most clear way to do it would be if the board was inclined to simply take a vote to change the start date of any of the town meetings from this date, which it currently is, pursuant to that prior vote, to this date. Would I continue, Mr. Heard? I think I want to make sure Mr. Heard was finished, but because you were. Yeah, I mean, I'll make a motion, but if somebody wants to, if people want to talk before I make a motion. Okay. Mr. Diggas. Because initially when we talked about that date, I had wanted to be a week later, me to give us more time, because this is the case where we have me, the election coming late, and then town meeting potentially started early, which was like three weeks, with a school vacation in the middle, which made it, I thought, very challenging for us to have time for precinct meetings, and also to get the new town meeting members up to speed. So I would like for it to be on the 29th, because that gives us four more days to work with for precinct meetings, meaning assuming people aren't going to be available for the first two days of Passover, it gives us that Wednesday, Thursday, and that Friday, I mean, that Saturday, Sunday, which people do tend to use for precinct meetings, and it's not going to be, I think, a time issue with respect to how much time we have to get through town meeting, because the latest we would start, town meeting would be the 28th, in a typical year where we have only four Mondays meeting, so this would just be a day later, so I would ask Mr. Heard if he is going to make a motion to consider the 29th instead of the 24th. Well, I mean, I guess I'd like to hear from the board before that then, because, I mean, I get everything you're saying. I just assume get it going the first day we can, because I'm thinking on the back end of that, I mean, I think if someone's running for town meeting, then they should be familiar with the warrant anyways, but I guess I'd turn to the other board members for comment, and my preference is to just go forward on Wednesday the 24th and just start cranking, but I think this is something that we would just look to the board for a quick bit of input before we make a motion. What more important to me is the precinct meetings, and we have school vacation in the middle, and so I think precinct meetings are a good time for town meeting members, even to accept they are familiar with the process, to just kind of talk through their articles, and I think that can have a beneficial effect on the deliberations, I mean, during town meeting, because people kind of flesh things out amongst themselves as town meeting members and with residents, I mean, so it's just such a tight squeeze, I mean, with three weeks and one week out for our school vacation, so I'm pushing hard for this. What's that, thank you? Just procedurally too, I think Mr. Herd, well, you can listen and make a motion, you can also make a motion, and then, you know, if someone wants to move to amend it, we can take a vote on that, so you know, there's ways, different ways to do this. I think we have not heard from Mr. DeCourse yet. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, so I'm gonna hold off until Mr. Herd makes a motion, but once he makes it, I'll support it. In terms of the term of art, I think being to delay the start of town meeting, so we're consistent with the chapter 39, section nine. And as far as the start date, the thing that concerns me, Mr. Diggins, is we don't know how big the, how many warrant articles are gonna be yet because it's not going to close. I know my understanding and Mr. Chairman may correct me if I'm wrong, but the discussion with the moderator to date has been, let's start on Wednesday, we can find a way to start on Wednesday because I think he was concerned about just moving through town meeting. And I understand what you're saying, and maybe that's a discussion for next year, given where we were here. So I could be persuaded by the other members, but I would be more inclined just to support a motion to delay it for two days rather than for the full week. I wanna see if there's a, I'll get back to Mr. Diggins, but I wanna make sure everybody has a chance to kind of give their first round. Mrs. Amon, did you wanna weigh in at all substantively? No, I'm on the fence. I have some thoughts as well, but Mr. Diggins, do you wanna go first? So my point though is that the latest town meeting would normally start if we did the fourth Monday would be the 28th, and this would be the 29th. So it's just one day difference in terms of, I mean, when would be the latest we would start a town meeting. So I don't think we're in jeopardy, made of running into any time limit. I mean, and I do have a solution for that, should we especially need to get the budget out, but that's it. I mean, I don't know, it might be much to do with nothing. I'm thinking most town meeting rooms would probably wanna get going on the first day, particularly since we're, I'm comfortable making this motion. I think it's the idea of making town staff and whoever can make it go on the first night to just kind of open and close a meeting is a little crazy. And at the end of the day, if somebody has a problem that we accommodated members for religious holiday, then we're just not gonna get on board with that person, it's just, it is what it is. So I, but I do think in this situation where we're, you know, there's some gray area, I think, you know, putting it on the next closest day, kind of puts us on better footing for someone that complains that as to, we're not following the bylaw word for word. And again, I hear everything you're saying, and I think they're all completely valid and appropriate concerns. I just think what, you know, putting it on the next available day within the normal cycle is more prudent given the situation. And I would note that the 22nd is also my birthday, so I was just, I put that out there, you know, in case there's any conflict that Attorney Cunningham thinks that I shouldn't make the motion because I want that day off, but. That's chapter 39 section, section 40. As it says, I think we have some members who are kind of wanting to get a sense of the board. I'll weigh in with my own thoughts on this too. I support Mr. Hertz's line of thinking, and I'm not unsympathetic to my colleague, Mr. Diggins, but I think in terms of precedence, to me, town meeting members deliberate and make, do their thing, most of them think they make their decisions at town meeting. That's what it's designed to do. I think the precinct meetings have value, considerable value, and in fact, but it's not, you know, it's not a official statutory part of town meeting. I think that the system is designed for town meeting members to listen and debate at town meeting as well, and we encourage and strongly encourage research and discussion before that. But I think that's, for me, that's actually an important point. And maybe it's a prayer for one, but it's not something where I think, for me, that does, the value that there is in the precinct meetings, particularly with communicating with the community, which is very important. I still think that given that we are departing from the bylaw, I am comfortable with, you know, with the statute, the state statute that does suggest that we can do this, but I would like to make as small changes as possible, and I think that is consistent with the conversations I believe I have with the moderator as well. So that's where I'm at personally. So happy to have other discussion. Is the honey of the shot yet? I just wanted to add, I want to thank the chair and town council for revisiting this issue, not only for current town meeting members, and not only for those of the Jewish faith, because I do know at least one non-denominational religion church that also fervently observes Passover. And I think for those who may be, whether you observe Passover or not, if you're thinking about running for town meeting and you're hearing about something, well, the first night is a very serious religious holiday to Jewish and non-denominational faiths, and they schedule a town meeting for that, it might dissuade someone for running from that. So, and I agree with the motion of trying to get it as close to the first Monday. Per the bylaw, until we further clarify it, and perhaps we can revisit this discussion again next year. So the April 22nd to April 24th, 2024 date sounds good to me. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, that does remind me of the discussions that constituents and residents of the town had with me and some other members of the board that brought us to our attention, and I think helped me further understand why the potential solution of convening town meeting for a cursory, almost ceremonial thing, but we don't do business, that might accomplish the objective of not leaving people out of business, but it doesn't really take care of the fact that Mrs. Mohan said that this is a really, really important holiday for many town meeting members themselves for their faith, and that's something that I think the spirit of our bylaws with respect to the timing of the town election and reading chapter 39, section nine, also seems to suggest that we have that ability to do. So I'm really comfortable with that, and I appreciate the members, the town meeting members who spoke with me, and I think really communicated why I was persuaded to bring this before the board tonight to give the opportunity to make this change. Attorney Cunningham. And further to Mrs. Mohan's point, and actually addressing Mr. Diggins's point about if the town meeting this year were to change our bylaw to allow explicit discretion for the select board to set the date, the board could revisit the discussion about when best to start town meeting next year with more freedom to include possible precinct meetings or other issues in later dates, and I think that it is perhaps prudent at this stage to set a date when there is a questionable matter of interpretation of the bylaw versus the state statute to set that date for as close in time as it is required, as the bylaw says it should be. I think we have a member who's ready to make a motion, but any further discussion before we go? I'll just ask you one thing and then tell you what I'm gonna do. So I use deliberation because to me it's the kind of distinction without a difference. I mean, people are discussing articles made up by email and precinct meetings, and so we can call that discussion of education, we can call it deliberation. It used to be where I think people could only deliberate in person at town meeting. Right now we have lots of options, and I think it makes for a better town meeting. This is what I'm gonna do. You'll make the motion, I will put up an amendment, it will fail, and then I can vote for the main motion and we won't end up with a case with me being 4-1 against the main motion. All right? It seems very quick. Sure. All right, thank you very much. All right, I think you're up, Mr. Heard. So I will make a motion, certainly, and again, Mr. Diggins, I understand and appreciate your concerns, and I think we've all made a piece on this. So amend, I don't know the specific language. Mr. Percy, I have a suggestion. We should use the word delay. To delay the start of the annual town meeting from April 22nd, 2024 to April 26th, 2024. April 24th. 22 to 24th. Sorry, I get it. 24th. Check our dates here. We'll do this one. I just skipped my order, from my birthday to my sister's birthday. April 24th. Did you want to second Mr. Diggins that you had called that earlier? Yeah, I think this is my second order. Okay, thank you, I didn't hear you. Okay, so we have a motion to the table and a second. Do we have any amendments to the motion? I need a chance. I'm hoping I can get a courtesy second. I would happily second that as the chair for the session of the courtesy of Mr. Diggins. Second. Okay, so we have a motion to amend the motion to amend the delay to the 29th, April 29th by Mr. Diggins and seconded gladly as a courtesy by the chair, because he does acknowledge that you have a legitimate point of view and these are important matters. So all in favor, so we'll, well first of all, further discussion before we take the votes on the motion and the amendment. Okay, so let's vote on the amendments. Proposed by Mr. Diggins. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? No. No, it is a 1-4 vote. One in favor, so the motion fails. Now we will go to the original motion that is not amended by Mr. Heard and that is to delay the start of town meeting to April 24th, I almost did it, 2024. Seconded by Mrs. Mahon. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? That is a 5-0 unanimous vote. Thank you all for your good work, your good faith and good discussion. At least you didn't have to deal with 13 substitute motions. Yeah. That's right. Worse things. That brings us to item 10, a property redemption of 62 to 64 Brooks Avenue. We have our town manager, Jim Feeney and town council, Michael Cunningham. Mr. Feeney. Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I could, I would also, I believe the attorney representing this resident is in attendance and if we could promote him to panelists. I believe Mr. Leone is indeed a panelist and good evening, Mr. Leone. Attorney Leone. So I'm happy to just give a brief though. This was a request born from Mr. Leone and his representation of Mr. Avakian. But what we're seeking the board's approval here to do is this is a property that is currently, was foreclosed upon and tax taking was conducted by the town. So it is technically in the town's possession right now and therefore in order for the prior owner to redeem, we would need a vote of the select board to essentially in a way dispose of this property allowing the prior owner whom as I understand and as I'm sure attorney Leone will speak to, was able to reach an agreement for a purchase and sale with a private buyer to ultimately, hopefully soon close out a matter that has been longstanding before the town and sort of bring it to a final resolution. Thank you, sir. Good evening, attorney Leone. Welcome any comments you wanna make to the board? Sure, I'm, my office, we're a council to Alex Avakian, the state of Alex Avakian senior and the 64 Brooks Ave Realty Trust. Through a series of family matters, Mr. Avakian failed to pay his real estate taxes for a few years, got behind after a series of maneuvering with towns outside council, the town ended up taking the property. We've been able to arrange a complicated series of events which would result from the town allowing us to redeem the property to sell it to a private contractor who was going to rehab the property and then this would allow Mr. Avakian to regain his equity in the home. I've had discussions with attorney Cunningham, his predecessor, attorney Heim, as well as towns outside council and Tom Minnet-Jafini about this over the course of the last few years. We've been able to structure this and we're hoping to close next week but an integral part is this board's vote to allow us to redeem the property pending full payment of all outstanding taxes, full cost of the suit and repayment of all outstanding water bills and any and all expenses that the town has occurred. So we're hoping to do this and gain your approval for this so that we can fully pay the town everything it's owed and everything it has paid so that the town will be in good stead 100% reimbursed and Mr. Avakian will have enough money to allow us to help him purchase a new place to live and have some money left over to pay his taxes on that property going forward. We've worked out a scheme, I don't wanna call it a scheme, we've worked out a plan to allow that to happen and hopefully allow him to remain in the town of Arlington. His family has owned this house, I believe since the 1950s but it just fell into a rears and it became too much for him to handle and that brought us here. And we're hoping that you will allow us to redeem the property so that we can make this happen. Thank you very much, sir. A question, so we have in the memo from Attorney Cunningham and Town Treasurer Julie Wayman that we have some vote language, it's a long paragraph and it's very specific. Is it required that a member of the board does read this in full, the motion, Mr. Attorney Cunningham? Yes, Mr. Chair. Okay, so the chair is looking for a volunteer who would like to, if they are in favor of this, would like to read this motion carefully, word for word, as it appears in this. And of course that is, I not presume that the board is in favor of this but that is what's required if someone wants to make the motion. Mahan. As provided under Master General Law, Chapter 60, Section 69, I, Diane M. Mahan, hereby move to vacate. Final judgment entered on December 7th, 2022, in Massachusetts Land Court, tax lien foreclosure case number 19TL00059, Town of Allington versus Leo A. Avakian, Jr., AKA Alex Avakian, covering the property located at 62-64 Brooks Avenue, Allington, Mass. Assessors Plan 5, Section 1, Law 14, on the condition that the town receives payment of all amounts due to redeem the tax taking covering the property which include but are not limited to taxes and interest to the date payment is received by the town, all charges and fees associated with the foreclosure case, all charges and fees associated with all eviction action, all taxes and interest in lieu of an assessment as a result of the town's ownership, all water and sewer charges incurred prior to and subsequent to the entry of the foreclosure judgment and any costs incurred by the town on the care custody and control of the property after the entry of the foreclosure judgment. The town must receive payment in full within 30 days from the date of this vote and no later than the end of business on Wednesday, February 7th, 2024, upon payment to the town of the full redemption amount on or before February 7th, 2024, the town will take the necessary action to vacate the foreclosure judgment and withdraw the foreclosure case in the Massachusetts Land Court. Well done, Mrs. Tieng. Mr. Diggins. I'm second and I'm glad there's code in place to deal with situations like this. And I have a question. I'm very emotional. That's why it was mine. No, only because I do want to thank the town manager, town council and others. I know this has been at least two years, if not more issue as well as I think it was, I thought we were going to have it, had an agreement as of the summer of 2023 and it kind of fell apart. And I appreciate the town's willingness and attorney the only on behalf of his client to come to this, to allow them to redeem the property. Am I correct that per the language that town council drafted and I inartifully read as my motion that if for some reason, just because we've had so many bumps and other things along the road, that the date of Wednesday, February 7th, 2024 is a firm date. And if that is not met, then that's it. Versus we're going to stop this all over again, not just for the town and its employees and town council, but also for, and I remember Leo Avakian, who I believe was the original owner, but for the Avakians and their council. So is that what I just read says February 7th, that's it. Mr. Chair, if I may. Yeah, do attorney Cunningham. If I may. I'm, first of all, I'll start with the attorney Cunningham and then we'll move to attorney Leo. Thank you, Mr. Chair. My answer to that question would be yes. If the board votes to take this action, that is the date by which it needs to conclude. However, if for some reason it were to fall apart and the parties were to seek to create another deal, that would have to come back before the board and clearly the board would be sending a message that perhaps the interest level would be there whenever it's met by the board, but this particular deal has to occur by that date. Thank you. I'm an attorney, Leonie, did you have a comment? Yes, yes, in furtherance of that. Under the plan we currently have structured, we have a closing scheduled for next Monday the 15th. The town will be paid directly from proceeds of that closing by the buyer's attorney and only then will once the town has received this check in full, will the petition to the land court be submitted and it won't be submitted until the town has received payment in full. At that point, your outside counsel who has diligently pursued this matter will submit it to the land court and we will get title back at that point and be able to transfer it on. So Mr. Avakian is out of the property and the town fully owns it at this point. So if this deal should fall apart, then the town can do whatever it wishes with the property and frankly, I think this is our last and only chance to redeem. So we're going to do everything in our part was not to let that happen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and then that's good to hear Mr. Leonie, I want to acknowledge the work the town council, Mr. Feeney of Town Treasure has done over the years because this result and hopefully this result takes place next Monday because this is all the town has wanted through the years is to be paid the taxes that are due, there's recognition that there's additional equity here and I hope that this goes through so that there are funds available to Mr. Avakian but this is the town followed the statute and the land court directed when this would go forward and again, I'm glad that we're here but this really needs to be it and I hope it's it and I hope this result occurs because the town was never looking to my understanding it's not the decision of the board. The town wasn't looking for a windfall on this property, the town was just looking for the taxes and unfortunately there are fees that have been incurred and I truly hope that this takes place next Monday and that this, what is being envisioned here occurs. I'm gonna interrupt the other side, of course you're totally right, the town has been extremely fair with my client and this never said it wants to keep anything more than it's whatever it's owed and this is keeping with recent Supreme Court opinions so the town has spent 100% fair and equitable on my client, no if ands and buts with that. Thank you Mr. Lienley, thank you. Mr. Erick? Yeah, I just said, I'm happy to support this. I'm glad to see language that says the town is gonna going to be reimbursed for the cost of outside counsel and the actions that it's taken. Let's try to catch it. It would have been nice for a solution like this to come up with, sorry that wasn't said artfully, but a few years ago I think given the housing market in this area there was a way to clear the leans and from the vacant family to walk away with their equity. It sounds like they wanted to structure something that kept them in the house and I certainly understand that but there's also a cost that we're not going to recover which is the hours of town staff, which we can't quantify. So I would like to put it out there that happy that we're able to come to a resolution and that there's a plan to put this matter to bed but again it would have been nice for this plan, for some sort of plan to come out a few years ago and save a considerable amount of town staff time that has been expended on this in the past couple of years but with that I'm happy to support the motion. Any further discussion before we vote? All right we have a motion, thank you for everyone. We have a motion by Mrs. Mahon, a seconded by Mr. Diggins to approve. All in favor please say aye. Aye. Opposed? There's a five nothing unanimous vote. Thank you all. Thank you Mr. Diggins. We really appreciate it. Good to see you. Thank you. Thank you. All right that now takes us, it completes our regular agenda, now takes us to new business. Let us start with Mrs. Mahon. No new business, thank you. Attorney Cunningham. No new business, thank you Mr. Chair. Mr. Feeney. Thank you Mr. Chair. A couple items of new business. I'm sorry to ruin the flow. You know I just wanted to take an opportunity because I didn't get too early or too, you know, offer my thanks to Mr. Paravano for his long and dedicated service to the town's disability commission. I myself had the honor and privilege of accompanying Paul to the Massachusetts Office on Disability Disability Summit back in October of 2022, where we co-presented some of the work that the town had done highlighting, you know, our work to promote accessibility in a digital world, as Mr. Paravano was sort of instrumental in helping us choose some like Zoom hybrid technology that we implemented that would have been that was chosen with an eye towards you know, folks with disabilities and serving on our disability commission. So, you know, he will certainly be greatly missed by the community and I just wanted to offer my thanks to him. We'll also say that you may have heard that the state revenues are lagging and have for approximately, I think the first six months of the fiscal year. So today the governor did announce some nine C, which are, you know, mid fiscal year budget cuts. As of right now, the municipal and school accounts like the main aid accounts have not been impacted, but we are seeing a likely potential impact to the earmarks that are slated for Arlington. The first that we've heard so far is that for the, I think in the state budget, it's called Arlington Center Park, but it was for preliminary work related to rebuilding the Veterans Memorial Park. So as of right now, that's the only cut that we've heard of that's going to impact Arlington, but we'll certainly continuing to evaluate the list and our legislators have been very forthcoming with information, so we'll certainly keep the Board apprised of any other potential impacts related to the state's revenue shortfall. And then lastly, I just want to welcome publicly a few new employees, those being Charles O'Connell, a new motor equipment operator in our public works department. Charles Newman, our new supervisor of building maintenance for town and schools. Vanita Hidry, the new treasurer's assistant. Stacey Caruth, the new director of the Arlington Youth Counseling Center. And then finally Gail Dixon, who will be backfilling in the town manager's office in the position vacated by Julie Wayman. That is the budget position. So just wanted to say welcome to those folks. We, you know, glad they're on the team. Thank you. Mrs. Mahana. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And in that vein, do we have four new patrol officers coming out of the academy or if I may, Mr. Chair? Please. Indeed, they graduated on Thursday and were sworn in by our town clerk on Friday morning. Excellent. Because I know I'm, we're all looking at the approximately 11 last year and this current year. So that I'm very gratified to see that. And I saw some posting somewhere that two of the four also were very active in the Arlington Girls and Boys, Arlington Boys and Girls Club, as well as two that don't have born in Arlington roots but definitely bring other facets, experience to that. And then the second thing is just to let my colleagues know that, and I'm sure you've seen it, that Save the Owl Wife Brooke had the new DCR commissioner, commissioner Rigo, and I apologize if I'm not seeing his name correctly. Come out to Arlington, in the middle of one of the rainiest days, about two and a half, three weeks ago, which I thought his office was canceled, but they did it. So it was a perfect opportunity to go down to the Owl Wife and see the various combined sewer overflow, CSOs, down by the homeless encampment as well as, which is MWRAs as well as the city of Cambridge and some of us, and the debris that is still in the trees and I won't go into it. I already stated before what that debris is. So I commend the commissioner for doing that. I do, it was a meeting between the commissioner, David Stoff, of Save the Owl Wife Brooke, coordinated it. I unfortunately had an invitation, we couldn't attend, but I have had conversations with Mr. Feeney, the town manager, because during that walk, the commissioner certainly was interested in terms of the town's position and possibly any partnerships between DCR, responsibilities of DCR and or responsibilities of things that should be done that might be a town DCR partnership. And I also think that's a positive step in terms of when we're going forward, advocating under a total different umbrella, the CSO, Kim 001 through 004 sewer outflow. So because Mr. Feeney has nothing else on this plate, no, we have the target month of mid-February to mid-March, reaching out to commissioner Rigo, bringing the town through the town manager and or any of his designees to answer that question that the commissioner had as well as give the town through the town manager the opportunity to some improvements that we'd like to see and if there can be a partnership or something else. So, but I do appreciate similar to when, and I believe Mr. Helmuth, and I can't remember who else was there when Mr. Nagel notified us about the commissioner, I think Augustus that came out, we also had commissioner DCR and I'm going to be working with the town manager and through the chair to getting that direct connection between commissioner Rigo and Mr. Feeney. And happy anniversary. Happy anniversary, Jordan. That's all my new business. Mr. Herd. Thank you. Happy anniversary. Oh, no, it's not the one. Sorry. I just want to thank town staff and DPW, as always, for a job well done this weekend. Snow hit us pretty hard here in Arlington. I drove to hockey game in Revere yesterday and I had eight inches in my yard and we drove through Charleston and Revere and there was no snow on the grass. So obviously got the bread to the storm in this area, but you know, the roads were fine and you know, everyone was hard at work and you know, I know that's not an easy job. So I just want to thank everyone for all their work this weekend. Mr. Derey, of course. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Happy anniversary to you and Jordan and I want to thank you also for putting on for our next meeting, we're going to hear a presentation from Anna Lytton regarding the potential reuse of the Fox Library and the town is going to hopefully be engaged in seeking a grant, if all goes well, for the reconstruction of that branch. But right between now and then the library is offering community forums, open public forums to receive input from the community and there's one coming up this Thursday night at seven at the Fox Library, Saturday morning at 10 at the Fox Library and there's a Zoom one on January 17th. The library also has a survey for all library users and the response has been good, but they'd like to see it improve. That's going to be open for another week. So if you go on the town, the library website, you can participate in that survey. I had a meeting this morning, serving as the board's designate to the Fox Reuse Committee and Ms. Lytton's doing a great job of leading that group and we're going to hear a lot of exciting things and potential, just the potential for that site which hasn't been improved since 1969 in terms of when it was rebuilt from the East Branch Library to the Edith Fox Library. So thank you for putting that on and we'll look forward to hearing from her. I have to say congratulations too and I have to say to Mr. Hurd, I was wondering how much snow you got out in the heights because I think we only got like four inches or something in the East and that's just, it's always that kind of a difference, well not always, but a lot of times there's a huge difference between the East and the Heights. My house is the highest house in Ireland to the top of the East. It's always get the most snow and the most wind. No, no, this is fair. I was reported that the rain snow line actually resided in Arlington for over an hour. So our staff were reporting that you could move up and down the avenue to see directly change from rain to snow as you approach the heights. You mean Mr. Hurd's help? Not to belabor the meeting, but we had a game against Cambridge and we're like, you want to cancel this game? And the guy's like, we don't have any snow. Like, okay, I guess we're going to drive to the rain. We thought that they were full of it because they had a short commute to the Cambridge rank, but they were right. It was so snow. Thank you very much. So my new business, a couple of items. I'd like to encourage the public to join us on Monday, Martin Luther King Day, January the 15th, for the 36th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance. It's at Town Hall from 68 p.m. There is a wonderful keynote speaker, Rashan D. Hall, who was an esteemed Civil Rights and Criminal Justice Advocate, newly appointed president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, and previous to that served as the director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts. I'm looking forward to that and I hope the members of the community will join me. More information is available on the MLK community's website at ArlingtonMAMLK.org. And finally, as my colleagues have outed me, as I said before, the meeting is happening, it may be a wedding anniversary, so I think I'm just gonna roll with it and say that all of us in public service know just how important the support of our families is to what we do. And so to Jordan, I would say, after 14 years of marriage today and 24 years in love, thank you. I love you. Move to adjourn. Second. I can't. I'm adjourned by Mrs. Mahan, seconded by Mr. Diggins. And all in favor, please say aye. Aye. The post is unanimous.