 It's still past 7.15 p.m. and I'll call this meeting to order. As we all know, tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings and I think it's appropriate for us to take a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives were injured both physically and mentally. The first responders and all the hospital employees who acted so courageously during and in the following days of that tragedy. So please. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I apologize for the interruption. I'm getting some weird echo from the ACMI speakers. I don't know if it's possible. Do you hear the, we're getting a little bit of, thank you Mr. Chairman. Thanks. Testing? No. Testing? Sounds better. Yeah, that's good. There we go. Thank you very much. Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that this is being videoed by ACMI, so smile widely when you're on the camera. And number one, Mr. Ciaro. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. This agenda item, I'm here on behalf of the Arlington Tourism and Economic Development Committee, ATED. Ms. Olszewski, our chair, was not able to be with us this evening, but she did ask that I represent the committee in reminding all of you and reminding also all of the residents of the various Patriots' Day festivities that we have ahead of us next week. And with your permission, I'd like to just quickly read what Ms. Olszewski has written up for us in that regard. President will be celebrating Patriots' Day on Monday, April 21st. Rise and shine to show your Patriots' Day spirit. Join the Monotomy Minute Men in honoring those who lost their lives on April 19, 1775. They will hold a flag raising and burial ground ceremonies beginning at the town hall flagpole at 7.15 a.m. March with them to the Jason Russell House and Old Berrien Ground. Complementary coffee and pastries will be available following the event. Visit monotomy.org. The annual Patriots' Day parade will begin at 9.30 a.m. from Brattle Street and continue east down Massachusetts Avenue to Walgreens. The theme for this year's parade is Arlington Patriots Strong, chosen as a reflection of Arlington's past and its present strength in light of the Boston Marathon bombing just one day after last year's parade. Once again, the parade will feature the Shriners, bands and other favorites. Visit arlingtonpatriotsday.org. Visit the site of the fierce fighting on the first day of the American Revolution. The Jason Russell House, 7 Jason Street will be open for tours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission adults $5, children $2. Visit arlingtonhistorical.org. And lastly, join the Monotomy Welcoming Committee beginning at 11.30 a.m. at town hall, pack a picnic lunch and eat on the lawn, enjoy family activities, music by Diane Teraz and light refreshments while we wait for Lancer reenactors Paul Revere and William Dawes. The event is hosted by the Arlington Committee on Tourism and Economic Development and sponsored by Bowes Real Estate. Follow the writers on Twitter, Monotomy's Waiting, the Twitter handle is at greekriders. Visit arlingtonma.org and in that spirit as we have done in years past I would like to read a proclamation and ask that the board endorse this. Whereas in 1775 Arlington was known as Monotomy and whereas on the eve of the American Revolution Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through Monotomy warning the residents that the British regulars were out. And whereas Minutemen and militia from Monotomy and surrounding communities gathered in our town and prepared to meet the regulars in battle on the retreat to Boston. And whereas on April 19, 1775 the fiercest fighting of the day occurred on the planes of Monotomy and 12 patriots including residents Jason Russell, Jason Winship and Jabez Wyman lost their lives. And whereas each year on Patriots Day weekend Arlington celebrates its history with numerous community events highlighted by a parade which is one of the largest of its kind in the nation. And whereas the people of Arlington have shown a commitment to spreading the word regarding our historic heritage and assuming our rightful place alongside our neighboring communities in the hearts and minds of American patriots. Now therefore be it resolved that we the members of the Board of Selectmen do hereby proudly proclaim that Arlington shall once again be known as Monotomy on April 21st in honor of the important role that our residents played on the first day of the American Revolution and that we urge the residents of our town to celebrate and pay fitting observance of this solemn occasion. And I do so move. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. We shall be in the Monotomy next. Thank you Mr. Cairo as well as A-Ted and Mr. Boas for the spirit of it. Moving on to the consent agenda. We have appointments, new election workers, Joseph Munze, Mary O'Neill. Move approval. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? We have appointments, appointment of the Deputy Treasurer. Mr. Geller. Mr. Chairman, welcome to the board. I'd like to introduce you to Michael Moore. We're here this evening to request the board to vote to confirm the appointment of the Deputy Treasurer, Deputy Collector. Mr. Morris survived a very focused and stringent interview and selection process. You have my memo that details that. The state publicly, his credentials are impeccable. He has investment management experience. He has city collection and treasury experience. He has supervisory experience. He has a degree in economics and an MBA in finance. The director of human resources is here. She's needed to answer any questions. But I'm also here to, as I said, request the board to confirm that appointment. And I'm just going to introduce myself to the board and answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Morris, do you want to say a little bit about yourself? Go ahead. I'm sure. I went to Wake Forest University in 2006. I got my MBA from Northeast University in 2010. I started off in State Street and moved on to the city of Somerville where I've been the assistant collector for the past two years. Thank you. Move approval. Second. Any discussion? I'll just, I was ready to make a motion, but now I'm going to discuss instead. Over in March, I had the opportunity to talk to the treasurer and Christine. I mean, excuse me. Wow. Sorry. And I was, I was really happy with the process that was used. And I think that it's worth noting, I mean, that's in the memo, but it's worth noting that the deputy town manager was also part of the interview process. And all four of the people doing interviews said that this was the right choice. And I'm really, I'm happy to support this motion. I did have a conversation with Mr. Gilligan right around the time that that Mr. Dundee did. And I believe I spoke to Ms. Malloy. I'm not sure though. And had heard what the process was, they spoke very highly of you. Many, many accolades in terms of your experience. I guess I would ask, is it appropriate, not specific to this case, but would it be appropriate for me to ask any new hire when a start date is or. Oh, can I ask if that. Mr. Morris has stated to begin Monday, make it on confirmation by the morning. Thank you. Mr. Cure. Thank you very much. And thank you for coming to Arlington. I was also impressed with the process and impressed with your, you know, financial credentials as well as the fact that you've had supervisory experience that looks like an all three of the positions that are listed here. Am I correct in that? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And I think you probably heard that we, we compete a lot with our neighbors to the West. I'm glad to be stealing someone from Somerville as well. I just hope they told you you have to wear a tricorner hat when you come. Great. Excellent. Well, I'll look forward to supporting the, the appointment and we'll welcome you to Arlington. Mr. Greeley. Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Gilligan, congratulations on your reelection. Thank you. Mr. Morris and very impressed even with you, Karen, Andrew, who else was on that committee? Sorry. I think they've just done a superb job. How many candidates originally Steve? We began with 37 applicants and resumes. We interviewed 13, including quite a number of in-house candidates within the town. We had three semi-finalists and from the three semi-finalists, Mr. Morris, has created rows to the top. I would like to emphasize to the board that every step of the way, as we each completed our reviews and worksheets, we were unanimous right down the line. And I'm absolutely thrilled, Mr. Morris, at what he's going to bring to the town. That's impressive. Mr. Morris, you might find we're not always unanimous in this town. Sometimes people disagree with me. I mean, who can figure those things out, right? By any chance that we meet at State Street, because you do look familiar to me, and they're a very large client of mine. It's possible as well. Did you know Doug Miller, for example? No, not now. Okay. Jay Cardi, that name ringer, Bill? No, not now. Well, they were minor players at State Street. I'm sure you were. I'm sure you were. Are they clients? They're probably way above pay grade. Actually, they work for me now. But I only have one final question. Do you sing? Oh, jeez. Yeah, you don't. Stephen, you didn't ask that in the interview? Mr. Chairman, do you have any voices willing to take lessons from the select group? You can add that to Ms. Skillson. We have a singing group. I really am thrilled to welcome you to the town. Thank you very much. forward to working with you. Thank you, everyone. I echo my colleague's statements. I really like the process that you went through to be hired. Thank you for doing that, Mr. Gilligan. My pleasure. May I ask, how did you find that Arlington had an open position? I'm curious, moving forward, for this process seemed to work really well. And I'm curious. Yes, I follow along with the Massachusetts Collectors Association has posted on that. So right there, it's all of that. That's great. Thank you very much. Any comments from the crowd? No. So we have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nothing vote. Thank you. Welcome to Arlington Board. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. I'm going to go to the board to give you a hand and stop. That's very much appreciated. Thank you, Mr. Treasurer. Moving on. Citizens open forum. 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. It should be noted that there is a three-minute time limit to present a concern or request. Is anyone here for a citizens open forum? Please come forward. Welcome. Thank you for welcoming me. And I want to say I appreciate Ms. Kupalka got back to me. I had sent a letter to your attention. And I just wanted to flag it to the board because I haven't erased the concern with the board before us. So I don't know what the next steps are. It's just regarding my curiosity about the relationship between the town and Iraq Church that was described to be that the recent Arlington advocates worried about funding for a particular town position. I looked for some information about how that those finances work and what the relationship is. And I couldn't find any information. So I just put it to the board for a lower discussion. I don't know what form that would take. But I would love to get some clarification on that. Great. Thank you. We'll be back to you. Any further discussion? No. Moving forward. Traffic rules and orders slash other business. Discussion. Lexpress Road. Ethan Heights. Ms. Rebecky. Rebecky? Rebecky. Rebecky. Sorry about that. Nice to have you back. Yeah. It's in a row. Yes. I'm back just in a minute. Well, thank you for bringing me here to my clients tonight. Rebecky, I'm the transportation manager for the town of Lexington. A big part of my job is overseeing our Lexpress bus service, which is operated by the town of Lexington for the past 30 years. We operate Monday from Friday since 30 to 6.30. It's a stop-on-demand service. We not only set stops, so residents can flag it down anywhere on the route. So I'm here tonight to bring forth a proposal that has our route on bus picking out passengers in our Lexington Heights. This is a draft proposal. And I would like to hear your response and your opinion before I take each of the boys' life on the license. Thank you. Mr. Chaplin. And just to add to what was just mentioned, what our intention was tonight was, just as Jeanette just said, to get the feedback of the board and also give us a chance over the next couple of weeks to talk to business owners in the Heights to get their feedback before formally recommending at the next meeting of the board if the board so chooses to accept the proposal. And there was an email, I think, on the board members' desks tonight, with at least one business owner from the Heights expressing support for this concept and thinking that it would be a benefit to the business district. So I wanted to add that frame to the conversation. Thank you. Discussion from the board. Mr. Chaplin. I just want to say that I'm thrilled. Can I just note that ACMI, we're still getting that echo? I'm sorry. I'm very enthusiastic about this first glance. I'm happy to see one of the business owners is actually really the pretty much the leader of the business community up in the Heights and did write to us in support of this. Over the weekend, this was the one item in the packet that I received correspondence on as well from residents who are very interested in this. Not only because it serves Lexington residents to bring our folks up your way, but hopefully we'll have some traffic coming back this way as well. And I will take the opportunity, although you're here specifically in this proposal just to say that the timing is propitious, the master plan advisory committee did present the transportation working paper last Thursday and they're actually accepting comments right now, I think through the end of the month on this. And I know that one individual contacted me in support of this, transmitted that also further on. So thank you very much for bringing it. Ms. Garibald, Ms. Mann. I just want to clarify that the way I read the Lexpress word one directions that from Malinning Street, the first time they come in Darlington is Lowell, right on Lowell, right on Park, right on Mads Island. And now, where would, how would the stops work? Are they designated stops? I mean, obviously there must be some sort of signage. What is the agreement with that? We actually don't have any designated signage outside in Lexington Center at D plus four, which is our main hub. We're all about speaking in the end. And we also have another sign at the word between mall. At this time, we are not going to sign any particular stops here, but for nature of our service is a stop on demand. And passengers simply need to just stand inside rows, lay flat it down and get a taxi or request the driver to stop and drive over in a safe location. How are we going to besides we're talking about at this meeting, and I know somebody's here from the advocate, but what further outreach so we can let the residents of Allington I know that that's an opportunity. Great question. Well, I guess the next steps in terms of our process, we have a public comment period open until April 25th. This is a substantial change in our service. And we do want the Lexington residents to weigh in. So this is finally the final draft of the route. The Lexington board is like, we will approve the final version next month. And then at that point, we will contact the staff for Allington just to propose the final version. And then from there, we can certainly work on plenty of efforts to let Lexington and Allington residents know that this is now a process. Sorry, if you could wait till the board's and we'll bring you up after. Thank you. I think Mr. Grilly. Oh, I thought so, isn't it? But you always bring us such good news. We want to adopt you here. Thank you. And others, I'm sure, are smarter than me on this. How is this funded? Our Lexington staff is funded primarily through our tax lilies, so our Lexington tax lilies that we do receive funding from the META and the form of the annual grant. Also through transportation demand management funds, which are funds paid by developers through special permit requirements, as well as fair and I think that's one of the best. And you're not looking for any funding from Allington to do this? Perhaps I should have. But at this time, no. This will be, I like to think any new change is always kind of a pilot period, so we'll definitely bring them the route next year and see how things are going to sort of reassess that there's out of the ridership to support this. And we'll always revisit this conversation in the future. God bless you. Oh, hardy with support. I just wanted to add that this change was, obviously I am an Allington resident and I don't have a competing interest, but this was a destination that Lexington residents really wanted to go to. They really wanted to visit Allington Heights for errands and appointments, as well as make the META less connection with the bus line. Fantastic. Thank you, that's great to hear. Next year they'll want the center. Okay, sorry. Strong support. I was happy to read through this too. I did have one question now. It does cut through some residential neighborhoods. Have you had any feedback from people who might live in Lexington residential neighborhoods and do they like the program? Do they see it as an increase in traffic or? Well, I would kind of, perhaps a decrease in traffic that takes far as off the road. Since now we're opening up public transit service to areas of town that are currently served by neither Express or the META. So we've never had any complaints in fact we have gamers requesting Express service in their streets. That's great to hear. I also support this as well. And I look forward to having you come back here in a few weeks with some good news from the Lexington board, it's like when I hope. Okay. Thank you. Do you need a letter from us or something? Would you like a fresh vote? Sure, I think that might be helpful if we could provide just a formal vote of support for the express coming to Ivy tonight. So moved. Second. So we have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm new at this. Any word from the crowd? Come on forward. Change your vote. But I do want to introduce myself. I'm Janet Kern. I am the executive director of License and Community Farm which is the former Boosa Farm that is right on this roof. They also happen to be a neighbor who lives on the Lexington resident. I live in this area as well. So what I wanted to speak to is the fact that we have, I don't know how much you know about License and Community Farm. It's a farm for public benefit and about a quarter of our members are originally residents. We're, our residents have been incredibly supportive of our efforts to bring this farm to Lexington. And as you know, this area of the area of the resident and the community farm now is a wonderful recreation area and now it will be a source for people to come and volunteer and be on the farm. So I didn't want to say that our outreach, we have over a thousand people on our mailing list and many of them are residents. So we will be definitely doing some outreach to let people know about this. People already know and are very excited especially about the connections from this corner of Lexington and Jarlton Heights. So I can imagine that we will be really promoting this certainly in Lexington and also throughout the arbitration. So I just wanted to also take this opportunity to say that one of our biggest issues with the community farm will be parking. And so we are really encouraging alternative transportation where people can. So this is a huge benefit for us and for the area to reduce traffic. And also I want to take this opportunity to thank the town of Arlington actually for my understanding is that we are going to be able to have the use of the Arlington Reds parking lot on days that it's not already used by other organizations that we can ask to have people park at that site and walk to the park when it's not already used. Thank you. Any further comments? Yes, please. Is Lexington first considered a regional transit area? We are a local community bus service. So we're not an RTA by any means. What we do is we're funding a grant from the MUTAs that would be our connection to which we'll turn it over. Okay. Alongstanding that view of mine is the MBTA assessments to cities and towns. So much like Minuteman is what's on Fairburt, Arlington, so does MBTA. So the assessment formula for cities and towns is described in Mass General Laws, chapter one, six years on A, section nine. Arlington is one of the 14 communities. We pay a per capita assessment that's three times what, say, Quincy pays. So even though Quincy has four red line stops, three MBTA parking garages, a commuter red stop, more bus lines than us, their town, their city assessment to MBTA is less than ours. And we have no subway stops, no commuter red and fewer bus lines. So it's in the state law, but there's an exception. So if anyone that you spend on a regional transit authority is subtracted from your MBTA assessment. So if Lex Express was an RTA, Arlington could essentially get additional service for no extra cost. And so there's a great opportunity here to, you know, the formula for assessing cities and towns has changed in decades and no one's really trying to rectify it. For example, some of them pays the same per capita assessment way as we do. And yet they're getting a new green line extension and all kinds of other services, besides existing data stuff. So I think it's a great opportunity to increase transportation in Arlington and we can do it at no cost if Lex Express was an RTA and Arlington, Lexington to get together and expand service in our two communities. Thank you. Any further comments? We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? By none. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'm back again, Jeanette. Yeah. Next, re-hearing warrant article 24, endorsement of CDBG application, Mr. Jeff Leimer. So this is a quick follow up to last week's discussion in regards to the CDBG budget, the CDBG program coordinator and the director of planning and community development. Verify that they were comfortable with recommending this budget based upon the subcommittee's recommendation and the board's recommendation. And you'll also see included a little bit of a more thorough description of each of the programs that are being funded through. So if it is the board's prerogative tonight, we'd be asking for final approval of this for inclusion in the board's report to town meeting. Thank you. Proval. Second. Discussion, Mr. Greeley. There's no changes, am I correct? From what we saw last week? No, there was no changes in the last meeting. No. Any further discussion? We're very proud. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? By none. Final votes and comments, article 16. By all means, by the name of the road, removal of easement restriction. Discussion. So I just want to make sure, Mr. Chaplin, so you've reached an agreement, we feel like there's an agreement in spirit, but we're not ready to finalize it yet. There's no documented agreement yet in both town council and I thought that without actual agreement in hand, the board's vote. All right, then I will. Again, I'm sorry, that we'd ask the board for final execution once the document was completed. Okay, then I'm going to move approval, but I'm going to say that in the comment, the third word is well, and I think we want to strike that word. I was going to ask that way. Is that? The board received. I can certainly take out the word well. But why did you put it in? Did you want to, were you saying we were pleased with what we received in terms of? My recollection of the colloquial that took place is that the board seemed pleased with the deal in principle as it had been arranged. Well, I agree. So I thought that it was reflecting that the board was urging a positive action, but I'm certainly happy to strike that word and reflect a more neutral tone. Yeah, I'm no problem with removing it. I'm just curious why you're saying this. I hadn't seen it before. Of course. But we're recommending, it actually says we were receiving it. We're actually recommending we'll report, yeah. Because we don't have it. I know, but I thought you just said a new favorable action, no? You said you'll move for a report? I know, I moved approval of this comment in the language as written with the exception of that. So I guess I'm anticipating that we will have an opportunity to make a recommendation that we can then substitute before town meeting. Basically for approval as amended. So we'll motion a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Second. Yes, we did. Kevin. Correspondents received. Donald W. Cash, the Commissioner of the Mastery E.P., 2014 Sustainable Materials Recovery Program, municipal grant application. Mark Johnston, Department of Housing and Urban Development, FY 14, CDBG allocation, and Ellen Lawton, who we just heard from, 76 William Street, High Rock Church, and recent Arlington Advocate article. Discussion on these. We're sick. Mr. Schaplan. If the board so chooses, I'd be happy for the board to recommend Ms. Lawton's letter to myself and town council for formulation of a written response that can be shared with the board before being sent to Ms. Lawton. Thank you. Yes, please. We have a motion and a second. Oh, Ms. Mahoney. Just on the seat from Housing and Urban Development, perhaps someone on the subcommittee or the town manager, just where we do receive CDBG and there are three other grant programs listed and it says if we would like getting help from CDB as a way to do that. I'm just curious if, and I know nothing about the, besides reading the words and sort of deducing what the other three programs are, the home, the HACWA, and the NSG, I just would put it out on the table. If they haven't already been considered, maybe the chairman and the subcommittee or the town manager, unless he already knows that that's something that we wouldn't apply for, but since they're there, could you just look into that? Oh, yeah, I'd be happy to look into it further. I do know that the planning department, whenever there is options for programs available through these funds, that they are always ready to apply, but we'll always be looking into that. Does particular bias of any of these programs have inherent in them housing for adults with disabilities, intellectual disabilities? I mean, it may fall under one of those states, but I just think it would, it says if you want to call CDB and read the final talk about what's going on. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the discussion, Mr. Chair. I just want to just quickly say, I'm glad that the manager is going to address some of the mechanisms by which High Rock has funded a position at AYCC, I believe, one of our social workers. I just want to say, for myself, for the record, that I think that High Rock has been an excellent community neighbor to us, as have many of our other faith communities. I know they've participated on the Response Coordination Team that you serve on, Mr. Byrne, and I just want to state that for the record myself, that I would hate for there to be some it to be misconstrued that somehow they're doing something underhanded because that nothing to be further from the case. Thank you, Mr. Guerra. Mr. Guerrero. And this is the first I've heard of them in a relationship to town governance. So I don't, she mentioned she's getting more and more concerned. I'm not familiar with any other, maybe others of you are, but I'm glad Mr. Chappell and Doug will look into it for us and make sure of that. Will you understand about the separation of church and state? Yeah, of course. Thank you. We had a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Oppose? New business. Ms. Kruppalka. No, thank you. Doug. Mr. Chappell. I figure we have plenty of time so I've got a few items. First, a couple of quick ones. I know I provided the board in their packet information about the $30 million supplementary chapter 90 program that the governor released last week. Since that time, he's named it the winter rapid recovery program. And we've already executed the contract. Arlington's allocation is $118,129, which is very significant money and we're very appreciative that the governor rolled that funding out. So Mike Rodemacher and the team in engineering are already planning what they'll spend the money on. Needs to be committed by June 30th for what it will be spent on and then expend or expended by September 30th. One of the main things we're gonna focus on is a complete thermoplastic restriping effort of Mass Ave. As you can see, the winter did a pretty serious number on the striping, especially in the newly paved parts of Mass Ave. And that's eligible under, so that's one big thing we'll be doing and the rest will be dedicated to road maintenance and pothole filling, which can always be done. You may have said this and I wasn't paying strict attention. The repainting of the thermoplastic adhesive paint. That's something we'll get a list just so we know where they are up and down Mass Ave, or would that be too cumbersome? We're actually, for the first time, gonna do it for all striping on Mass Ave, not just the crosswalks. We're gonna do it for center lines and bike lanes. And I don't need that. I was just gonna look at it in case I, okay, but if you're doing it for everything. But I can still get the crosswalks. Only if it's not cumbersome. If it don't, I don't want anyone spending any extra time. If it's a kidney key and a thing, I'd just be curious. I think the list is pretty readily available. I can get that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Another quick one after last week's board meeting, I spoke with the chief of police and they've had several directed patrols down off of Lake Street on the roads that were discussed last week by the neighborhood, trying to step up enforcement in that area. As we discussed with the neighbors, that can't be sort of a daily enforcement, but spot enforcement hopefully will try to get some better compliance with the issues that were raised by the neighbors. Two items that are a little more detailed. In regards to the Mass Ave. Corridor project, we now have some positive information. Just before I came down to the meeting, I received a call from Representative Garberley, the transportation bond bill, which was the last thing that needed to be finalized, to finalize funding to get the project started, was reported out of the conference committee today. So the House and Senate will be voting on it this week and then once they vote on it, the governor will have 10 days to sign it. So that is very imminent now. That that will be finalized and we can move forward. Moving from there, we have a pre-construction meeting scheduled with the Mass.District Office, as well as the contractor on April 29th. Last week, myself and representatives from the Planning Department met with business owners from the Capital Square Association to start getting their feedback on how they wanna be communicated with. So, and we've been meeting internally as well, so I feel like we have a very good set of desires and plans that we wanna bring to Mass.DOT to start to work with the contractor to make the project as much of a success as we can in terms of the actual construction impacts. So I'll be providing, hopefully, very shortly, much more detailed information to the board, but just in the past 24 hours, we've had some very significant information come to our attention. And then the final piece of new business that I will share to some degree with Selectman Dunn and Selectman Kiro, if they so choose, is in regards to the Minuteman School. So as the board knows, they voted in favor of supporting the revised agreement at this year's town meeting. And there's been a lot happening within the other 16 or other 15 member communities in recent weeks. I attended a meeting at the State House with legislators from all of the communities, both member and nonmember, to talk about the Minuteman issue. We then learned late last week that Wayland, one of the members, loaded against the regional agreement. And then just this morning, there was a meeting hosted at Weston Town Hall with members of boards of Selectman, school committee members, town managers, and administrators from the Minuteman District to try to talk about where we go and how we go forward, given that Wayland voted no. I'll let Mr. Dunn talk a little bit more about where we went from there. But led by a board of Selectman members from Needham, our strategy is to consider a resolution offered by Needham to allay the concerns of some of the smaller communities who may not have been interested in passing the revised agreement, try to get 15 yeses and then go back to Wayland to ask them to reconsider. So I'll leave it with that and let Dan talk a little bit more about it. I think that this is an appropriate time to go out of line in new business. Can you all, Mr. Greeley? We'll come back to you. Absolutely. I think that what we're seeing in Wayland and in some of these other towns is that they are very worried that they're signing on to a new regional agreement that is not as kind to them, which is something that we all know going in because it's better for us and the reason it's better for us is because some of these really smaller towns would be on the hook for significantly more. Dover quoted today that their expenses would go up 84% if they were to stick with it. And so what Dover wants is to get the new agreement and then exit. And they're concerned that once the new agreement happens, they won't be permitted to leave. And I think that there's an element of this that Arlington is more educated about Minuteman than other towns because it occupies so much of our money and so much of our time that we are, and so a lot of these other towns are coming to the realization that we have been at for a number of years. And so anyway, there's a sentiment that says you have to let me out of this before you change it, which of course we are not going to go along with because we can't change the agreement unless we get what we want. We're not just gonna just let people out because it makes it even worse. So the Board of Selectmen in Needham have taken an interesting approach and Adam was talking about beforehand is that if we did this, we would be Arlington the big bad bully. And if Dover did it, it would be like this town that sends only one student doing it, but Needham is really the middle of the road. So they actually are, they have an opportunity to be something of a broker in how this works. And so they are, they're asking the boards of Selectmen to take a vote to agree to let anybody out, to promise to let anybody out if they try in the first year after the new agreement is made. And so the way that that plays is so I'm gonna pick on Boxborough for the moment, is that Boxborough Selectmen who have currently voted to recommend against this agreement can go back to their town meeting and say, I'm changing my vote. I am now in favor of this agreement and look at the commitments that I have obtained. So I'm gonna ask you to put it on the agenda for two weeks and I'll give you the motion that I'm gonna, that Needham adopted. Resolved that in the event of ratification of the revised Manor Regional Vocational District Agreement as approved by the Regional School Committee on March 11th, and in the event of notice of desire to withdraw by one or more members of the district, given within one year of the effective date of the revised agreement, the Board of Selectmen will not place a warrant article disapproving such withdrawal in a town meeting warrant unless required by law and will oppose such a disapproval article or motion in any event. So the new agreement says, if someone says I want to leave, then there have to be eight or nine towns who have to vote, actively vote no. And if you do nothing, it's as good as a yes. And so what we'd be committing to is if we take this vote in two weeks is to say to give everyone a pass and not take that vote. It extends to us as well. I mean, I'm not sure that they've really thought that all the way through, but it's there. Well, I'm not gonna discuss it with you now since the chairman's gonna. Yeah, so I see Kevin. If you don't want us to discuss it with you. Oh, I don't know. No, please. I would like to ask this question. Currently 16 members. Yeah. Let me say six of them want to get out of it right now. Six of them are against this. In fact, six of them do want to get out of it. Is it really six? Let's see. Here's my question. So we say, okay, we won't stop you from getting out of it. Next year, there's now 10 members. So we're gonna pay more again anyhow. How do we protect ourselves by saying we'll let you go? That's true, but the members who are looking to get out are those who have fewer than five students each because you pay a minimum of a five student assessment under the new agreement. So I think the estimate that was thrown around today was the best guess is that it's probably something like 30 students that would be lost. I think it was the estimate. I think it's a little more, but yeah. It's a little tough to, because one thing, but it's small numbers because these are the towns that send one or two students each. They don't have a lot of skin in the game. And some of them actually said, we're willing to get out, come in as an out of district, you know, an out of district tuition enrollee. And part of what's being done right now is some work to ensure that out of district students would have to pay a capital assessment. That's not all finalized yet, but that's something we don't have today. So does district have to also pay for a minimum of five students, even if they only send one or two? Under the new agreement, if all the towns pass it. Yes, yes. You should know too that one other undercurrent of the discussion today is that the clock is ticking right now on the renovation project. And by August, there has to be some final, final sense of how large a school Minuteman is looking to build. And right now the school committee there has said that they would, they were scoping it up to 800 students. There seems to be a consensus around the table now that that's too large. And that really the Minuteman school committee has to really get real. And there's a lot of talk of right sizing the school. Both of these things are happening at the same time. That's why it's important that the agreement be passed in all 16 communities. And if what it takes is making sure that those communities that have such a small enrollment, have that assurance, they can get out. If they say yes to the agreement, it's probably worth it at that point. And I will say that in along that line, if you look at the votes that the Board of Select and the Finance Committee in town meeting took a few years ago, there are a series of things that we said must be a part of any new school building. The regional agreement does take care of some of those. It gives us weighted voting, maybe not exactly the way we want. The right to exit not exactly the way we want. But in my mind, good enough. Some of the things that it doesn't yet cover are making sure that out of district students pay capital costs. But that is a separate thing that cannot be achieved by this regional agreement anyway. So there's still many, many, many, many miles to go. And none of that, even if we approve it and 14 other towns approve it. Then we have to go back to Wayland and convince them to take another vote and actually approve it. So would they have to call a special town meeting to do that? They would. And if we allow other districts out, the state still has to approve their withdrawal as well. And there's a lot of discussion today about the potential of some of the towns that are leaning that direction, getting contingent approval. And would a town have to pay for five students, even if they send none? In the new state says, no, you can't leave the data center. We're not sending you anybody. Yeah. Which is why, so yeah. I don't know how I'd vote if I were to. Yeah, so I'm hoping that we can put this on an agenda for two weeks. OK. Yeah. Yeah. OK. Well, thank you very much for all of your work on this. And Mr. Chaplain, of course. Adam goes to more meetings than I do on this one. Thank you. Sorry to throw off our regular schedule. But back, Mr. Greeley. Yeah, move to reconsider, Chairman. I wanted to start by congratulating Doug on his alma mater, winning both the men's and the women's NCAA basketball championships. Has that ever been done before? Why, you kind of before. Is it 9-7? I thought he'd know that. Congratulations. But now you're really in a state with great champions. You know that. But no, that's quite an achievement. I have to apologize. Next week on Patriots Day, I'll be in New York City, which doesn't celebrate it on business. I'm sorry. I won't. Although I'm not quite in marching in the parade shape yet. My final piece of business is I would just like to remind people that on April 27th, we're celebrating the 30th anniversary of the sister city's Nagoka Keoh and Arlington. At 5 o'clock out here, there'll be a bench dedication to the sister city relationship. And in memory of Dick Smith, who is so vital in the start of this, bringing it to this board of selectmen, which then started that board of selectmen 30 years ago. At 6 o'clock, there'll be a dinner, and the dinner will be followed by entertainment, which is a Nagoka Keoh students doing some dance and singing. And then we're going to do a repeat of the 100th anniversary show. And it's worth it to pay the $50 per ticket to come and watch Adam Chapter Lane singing Mack the Knife. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Oh, you can get tickets through the selectman's office. Thank you, Mr. Greeley. Ms. Mahan. Just one piece of new business. I know Mr. Keoh was telling us about a town meeting, war, and article review precinct meeting. I just want to let everybody know that precinct 8, 10, and 12, and 14 on Sunday, April 27th in the early afternoon at the Arlington Senior Center. We'll also be having their town war and article review. I just came on to work with my partner in precinct 12 after the election, because I didn't want to do anything before then. So we'll be getting the word out through the bracket, PTO, newsletter to their parents, just as an FYI, getting it out to news media. I also know that precinct 4 is having a similar meeting as they did last year. And West Vale and Clarissa Rowe are responsible for that. And I don't want to make the announcement of the date, because I think I know where it is, but I don't want to miscue. And I think I saw a precinct 20 also was planning on having that. So if it's appropriate, and if it hasn't already happened, is this something that we could post perhaps on the town website? You read my mind. We sent out an email to town meeting members today asking them for all of the precinct meetings, some of the ones that you just listed, and the deadline of tomorrow. So either tomorrow or the next day, we'll be sending out an email notice with a list of all the precinct meetings. And I'll check. Well, when we send out the notice, it will automatically be on the home page. So it'll be on the website as well. OK, great. Thank you. That's it. Thank you. Mr. Dunn. I'll just say that I believe that precinct 21 may be joining for the first time with one of those existing ones. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kira. Thank you very much. Yeah, I did attend the precinct meeting yesterday. It was very useful. And I don't know if I can make all of these. It's helpful if one of us is able to cover each of these, because there are sometimes questions about the board's votes, and it's helpful to have that forum. So thank you for putting that out. That's becoming a very busy day. Last day of April vacation. I wanted to note that last week, I had the opportunity to attend the senior volunteers lunch. This is an annual lunch that is put on in honor of everyone who volunteers on behalf of the seniors in town. I want to say that Bill Murphy does a great job. That was actually one of our CDBG items here that we improved tonight. Susan Karp, our director of the COA, told me that we have over 10,000 hours a year of volunteer service that's devoted to our seniors. So that is money very well spent. It's a huge multiplier. So I just wanted to recognize Bill and all of the volunteers who were there and those who weren't able to make it, as well as some of the staff. Mr. Flanagan was there and Ms. Maloy and quite a few people from Health and Human Services, as well. Last Tuesday, I took a personal day. I went into, MAPC had a conference called Sparking New Ideas. This shows you where my life has gone. It was a full day conference devoted to parking, which was absolutely fascinating, I have to say. It actually really was. Unbeknownst to me, I went in and Arlington was very well represented. Laura Wiener, Joey Glushko, and Ted Field from the Planning Department. Kori Ratau was there from the Police Department, as well as Charlie Kalouskas, who chairs our master plan committee. And Rachel Stark was the head of walking in Arlington. And I'll just say for the record, it was a free conference. It was no cost to the town or to any of the attendees. I wanted to make sure when I read out all of the staff who were in at the conference. Actually, one of the presenters was Lisa Robertson from Nelson Nygard, who had just been with us the night before. So she had a very long week. This was fascinating. We got to hear from Donald Shoup. And I think my colleagues will remember that when Mr. Maloy was with us, he came in at one point was telling us about Donald Shoup's book The High Cost of Free Parking. So this guy was like the parking god for the country. I mean, he seemed to have a bunch of groupies following him around. It was a fascinating talk. And what Professor Shoup, he really put out three theses, one around the need to manage parking demand through pricing, and one around reinvesting in commercial districts. So the parking revenue, which were very consistent with what we had heard the night before. In our center parking study, a lot of talk about the parking benefit districts. So I'd love to talk more about that when we bring that back up on the agenda. And I just know that the third lesson that he asked the communities who are attending to think about was around easing or removing off-street parking requirements in certain situations. Now, some of these apply more to the sprawl malls and such and other communities. When Mr. Michael Byrne and Cal Kowalski did their zoning presentation for town meeting members a few weeks ago, they showed some examples as well. And this has come up in the master plan around the land use. So this was fascinating. And I could go on for a long time. I mean, unfortunately, I tortured my family with this. And they could care less. Last thing I would say, though, there was a lot of technology on display there. A lot of the new smart technology. One of the highlights was sitting with Officer Rattow. We went to a technology talk. And there was a case study from Salem. And the gentleman who I think had been the city manager there was complaining about this meter that they had had in their parking lot and how it would never work. And people were so frustrated. Educated people were just driven to tears. He had it x'd up. The bills went here. The credit card went here. And the coins went there. And it never worked. He said, so finally, we yanked it out. And we put in a solution that solved all of our problems. And he put a picture up on the board. And didn't quarry, and I almost fall out of our seats. It was a picture of the ones that we have in our lots that causes so much pain. And we just looked at each other and shook our heads. But there's a lot out there. And I think this is going to be exciting as we go down this road with the parking center study. And so that's all I have on new business, other than to wish everyone, all of our residents this week may be celebrating Passover or the Easter Triduum, restful and reflective time with their families. And mind the kids, you only have three days till vacation. And we hope that all of our families who are traveling do so safely. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't know how you fit it all in. I only have one thing, actually. I was reading the Boston Magazine today. And an article came up about a company called Wicked Sober that was started by an Arlington resident to help those who are suffering from addiction, drug, alcohol, to find the proper care they need. I highly recommend reading it. They're doing fabulous work. And I commend. And I was happy to see that we had a local connection to it. It really hit home, especially we hear all these horrible stories every day of people and family suffering. So it was a good read. And again, that's Wicked Sober. And it was started by the Duggins, who I grew up with Mike a little bit. He was a few years older. But I'm glad he's doing well as the story notes. And I just wanted to share that with everyone. So that being said. Mr. John. Thank you. All right. You have to take the vote. All those in favor? All those in favor. All right. Thank you.