 So it is 734 p.m. on Monday, December 19, 2022. Good evening, everyone. My name is Christian Klein and I am the chair of the Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals. I'm calling this meeting of the board to order. I would ask all attendees who are not recognized to speak to please mute their connection until such time as they are recognized by the chair. First, I'd like to confirm that all members and anticipated officials are present. Members of the zoning Board of Appeals Roger Dupont here. Patrick Hanlon here. Dana Rickidelli here. Excuse me, thank you. Here. And Elaine Hoffman. Here. Welcome to all of you on behalf of the town, Rick Valorelli, the board's administrator. Good evening, Mr. Chairman. Good evening, everyone. I'm Rick and Vincent Lee our assisting staff from special services here. It's great to have you as well. So this evening. We don't have our outside council and at this point I don't see a rep from the applicants. I will move with the long. The meeting of the Ellington zoning Board of Appeals is being conducted remotely consistent with an act relative to extending certain state of emergency accommodations signed into law on July 16, 2022. This act includes an extension until March 31, 2023 of the remote meeting provisions of Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 executive order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law, which suspended the requirement to hold all meetings in a publicly physical location. Public bodies may continue holding meetings remotely without a form of the public body physically present at a meeting location so long as they provide adequate alternative access to remote meetings. Public bodies may meet remotely so long as reasonable public access is afforded so the public can follow along with the deliberations of the meeting. An opportunity for public participation will be provided during the public comment period. And it will be provided during each public hearing for this meeting the island zoning Board of Appeals has convened a video conference via the zoom application with online and telephone access as listed on the agenda posted to the town's website, identifying how the public may join this meeting is being recorded and it will be broadcast by ACMI. Please be aware that attendees are participating by a variety of means. Some attendees are participating by video conference. If you are a computer audio or by telephone, accordingly, please be aware that other folks may be able to see you your screen name or another identifier. Please take care to not share personal information. Anything you broadcast may be captured by the recording. We ask you to please maintain the quorum during the meeting, including displaying an appropriate background. All supporting materials that have been provided members of this body are available on the town's website. Otherwise noted, the public is encouraged to follow along using the posted agenda, and as chair or reserve the right to take items out of order in the interest of promoting an orderly meeting. Turning now to the comprehensive permit hearing for the residents is at Mill Brook to be located at 1021 1025 Massachusetts Avenue. So at the previous hearing on November 22nd, the board voted to continue the hearing to this evening. It was done to allow the town additional time to hire peer review consultants to assist in the review of the application. Unfortunately, this process has continued to take significantly longer than was anticipated by both the town and the board. And as a result, the board is not in a position to substantively discuss the proposal and resume the hearing this evening. The town and board have retained the following peer review consultants to assist in the review of this project. And they will provide initial reports to the board at the end of the first week in January. For architectural and urban design, the peer review consultant is David Davis square associates. And for transportation stormwater and conservation, the peer review consultant is tetra tech. With both of those firms. They have been introduced to the town into the applicant and we are all in agreement that we will have documentation from them. They ended the first week in January. After consult consultation with the peer reviewers in the applicant we have agreed to the following hearing schedule which I'll put up on the screen. So these are all the meetings that the board has coming up the meetings in blue are specifically the comprehensive permit hearings. So, we do have a site walkthrough schedule this Wednesday December 21 at 11am that's been on the town calendar since the end of last week. We have the first substantive hearing will be on Thursday, January 12 at 730pm over zoom. We will then follow every two weeks on the Thursday. So the next will be Thursday, January 26. Thursday, February 9, Thursday, February 23. And should we need additional dates, we would have Thursday, March 9, and Thursday, March 23. And the intent is to try very hard and diligently to wrap up the public hearing portion of the hearing before Friday the 31st, which is the last day under current law that we're allowed to hold a remote public meeting. And then under statute the board has 180 days from the date that the hearing was opened to conclude the hearing. The opening date was October 18. So the final date that the board may meet on this without an extension would be April 16 of 2023. So, Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. Last couple of 40 bees at the close of the hearing. There was a period for deliberation. I've gotten exactly how long at last that I think maybe it was 60 days. And I, I take it that that once the hearing closes here, we will probably, we will not be going immediately to making a decision but we'll be involved in a process where the record is closed. There can be no more testimony and we will all have to confer together to decide what to do is that the procedure. That is correct. So at the close of the public hearing. The board will formally vote to close the public hearing. And at that stage, what convenes is essentially it's a meeting of the board to discuss the terms of the hearing and render a final decision. The board has 40 days from the day that it includes the open public comment period of the hearing. And those meetings, the board is no longer allowed to take testimony from any party. So, neither the applicant or the town or the public is allowed to provide additional testimony. The board has to rely on the testimony that it has received through the public hearings. Mr. Chairman. So, down at the end where you say March 31st last day to hold remote. Excuse me, public hearings. Does that 40 day period. Does that meet the definition of public, or is that something where we could still meet by zoom. So it is a public, it is a formal public meeting, while we are deliberating the decision. And so we would have to determine exactly what format we would do that meeting in. I would like to think that the state will act and change the rules in regards to holding public meetings and public hearings before the 31st and enable the boards to possibly continue meeting. The state does have a history of doing that at the very, very last second. So, if you know that may we may not know until really very close to that end, but we have had discussions with the town committee that's looking into hybrid meeting formats. And so that may be an opportunity to utilize something along those lines. So, there are just two things that the board needs to vote on this evening. The second is the vote to continue the public hearing until Thursday, January 12. But first, the board's peer review consultants are paid from the app from funds provided by the applicant under state law chapter 44 section 53 G. And the board had at its October 18 hearing had asked for an initial deposit of $10,000 be placed into an account with the town in order to enable the board to hire the consultants. That money was placed in the account the following week, and the applicants have now been hired. The, so the board now has the formal cost from those two consultants in order to conduct their work. The total contract is for $34,000 between the two applicants. And so the board needs to request an additional $24,000 in order to have all the money on hand to pay the consultants upon delivery of the services that they're contracted to provide. So with that, I'm just taking one quick look here. So with that I would move to the zoning board of appeals request the applicant transfer an additional amount of $24,000 to the designated town account to fund the approved peer review consultants in the areas of civil engineering site design building design urban context environmental and traffic and transportation impacts for the project scope is provided in the request for proposal. Further I move the town council and the Department of Planning and Community Development staff be authorized to manage the contracts for the approved peer review consultants and communicate needs for additional funds for the retention of such consultants consistent with chapter 44 section 53 G. The board reserves the right to request additional funds in the future. Second. Thank you, Mr. Hanlon. Are there any questions among the board to the nature of the vote. Okay, so on the motion to request the additional 53 G funding roll call vote of the board, Mr. Dupont. Hi, Mr. Hanlon. Hi, Mr. Rickard ellie. Is Hoffman. Hi, Mr. Holly. And the chair votes I that motion is passed. Then with that. I have a motion I move that tonight's hearing be continued until Thursday, January 12, 2022 at 730pm. This is a, this is to continue the formal public hearing. But as we had mentioned before, there is a public site walk. There's a public meeting tomorrow. Excuse me on Wednesday, which is just a site walk through that will be conducted at 1021 1025 mass have at 11am. So the motion is to move that tonight's hearing be continued to Thursday, January 12, 2022 at 730pm. Thank you. Any questions from the board is to the vote with that roll call vote of the board. Minister Dupont. Hi, Mr. Hanlon. Hi, Mr. Rickard ellie. Hi, Ms. Hoffman. Hi, Mr. Holly. Hi, and the chair votes I we are continued on the comprehensive permit application for 1021 1025 Massachusetts Avenue until Thursday, January 12. 2023 at 730pm. Thank you all. We're assistance in that. I do apologize to the public that the opening process part of this process has been extended and delayed, but we did run into significant problems in being able to retain consultants, which we now do have on hand. And so we have every confidence that when we return in the new year, we will be able to pick up immediately and and move forward with the hearings. So the hearing dates are here on the screen and I will be requesting that they be posted to the website. We're working with correspondents that has been received in the last couple of weeks and make sure that all of that is made available publicly on the website for both for the website and then also for the agenda for the for the next hearing. With that, that is the only other item we had on our agenda this evening was to approve the minutes from December 6. I have a couple final fractions on those and those will be reissued to the board so we're going to actually postpone that to tomorrow night because we are meeting again tomorrow night on on two hearings so I will postpone that item, which would then bring us to the conclusion of tonight's meeting. Yes, I would thank everyone for their participation in tonight's meeting of the items on the board of appeals I appreciate everyone's patience throughout this meeting and again I apologize that we are continuing again on the comprehensive permanent hearing. I especially want to thank Rick Fowler rally Vincent Lee and members of the staff in the legal department and the Department of Planning and Community Development for their assistance, both in preparing for this meeting and for assisting us in acquiring our consultants for this for this hearing. Please note the purpose of the board's recording of the meeting is to ensure the creation of an accurate record of its proceedings and it's our understanding the recordings made by ACMI will be available on demand at ACMI dot TV within the coming days. If anyone has comments or recommendations please send them via email to zba at town. Arlington dot m a dot us that email address is also listed on the zoning board of appeals website, and to conclude tonight's meeting I would ask for a motion to adjourn. So moved. Thank you Mr handman have a second. Second. Thank you Mr Dupont. The vote of the board to adjourn. Mr Dupont. Hi. Mr Hanlon. Hi. Dr. Goodelly. Hi. Mr. Hoffman. Hi. Mr. Holly. Hi. And the chair votes I the board is adjourned thank you all very much. Good night guys. Thank you. See you tomorrow. Bye bye.