 All right, seen as we have a quorum of the council present. We're calling this meeting to order at 1235. This is a very, very brief agenda. I just mentioned we do have a meeting this Saturday for those of you that are able to attend. We also have two more capital investment listening sessions on December 9th. And the December 16th. We have a regular town council meeting and we also have a public forum on the appropriation of outside the budget. And then the swearing in of newly elected town officials will be January 6th. So we have no hearings. We're going on to proclamations. The first one is the human rights day proclamation. Is Amherst media recording or are we recording? Shoot, I'm sorry. Is Amherst media recording? That's going to work. No, I brought you back up. No. Do you want me to back up? No, that's fine. Okay, so the first is the human rights day proclamation. Can we have it on the screen? Am I going to what? Take care of the changes. Right this second? I don't see how I can. Do you want to see a computer with them? Yeah, we'd be helpful. I have my notes. Okay, we just got to look at these this morning. And because of that, there are some changes, which is what we will be voting on. Okay, so we have voted this proclamation to be clear. Oops, we have voted this proclamation to be clear, consistent and actionable. But we have made three small changes, two small changes. I see three. Oh, that's a question. That's a question. Yeah, we're on. First is in the third whereas the residents capital R should be a small R. And finally undervoted this fourth day of December 2019 change. I think it's second to fourth. So we changed the date. And then there was a more substantive question as to who is the us in the final therefore now therefore we the Amherst Town Council proclaim Human Rights Day and invite the residents of Amherst to join us in a communal reading. And I think in the past, it was the Human Rights Commission that was included in this when this was revised and for final approval. It was changed to simply the town council. And so I think that's a question that perhaps an answer could be provided. Do we want to make this we the Amherst Town Council proclaim Human Rights Day and invite invite the residents of Amherst to join the town council, the town council, comma, the Human Rights Commission, comma, and the residents. And so we invite the residents of Amherst to join us the town council and the Human Rights Commission would be then the correction. Is that so and again just to make it clear for the clerk. We invite the residents of Amherst to join us, comma, the town council, comma, and the Human Rights Commission in a communal reading rest continues as right. So those are the three changes that we made and with that clarification. Is there is there a motion? Yes. I move to approve the Human Rights Day proclamation of 2019 as amended. Is there a second? Any further discussion? Then all those in favor raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstain. Okay. Thank you for that one and we'll move on to the next one, which is regarding First Church. Okay. And again, Mandy, do you have the changes? So I emailed them to me. Can you get them? I could probably. Yeah. Yeah. It was an attachment. So it must be a different one. My computer to come up with it. Well, unless you could just show it, tell us the changes. Okay, I can, I can do that. Thank you, Mandy. Okay, so let's just show the proclamation up on the screen. This is the First Church? Yes. Not on letterhead yet, but the changes were in the first whereas the parentheses that said the church, the C in church would be capitalized and be put in quotations. And then everywhere throughout the proclamation, the resolution, which includes the third whereas two changes to church would be the C capitalized, the fourth whereas the one word in church would be, again, capitalized C, in the fifth whereas the C in church would be capitalized, and in the now, therefore, the two references to church and churches would, the C would also be capitalized. So that's just a sort of definitional change. The one, two, three, four, fifth, whereas the, at the end, the semicolon and the word, and, was changed to a period, and the Mr. Perez's name was removed, and the words, the man's, put in its place so that that whereas reads, the church continues to work for the man's return to his family in Springfield, and has no desire to become a permanent residence, and the very last signed on behalf of was removed and put to voted this day of December 2019. Is there any other changes this time? All right, George can you go with what our vote was? I'm sorry? Our vote, GOL's vote? GOL voted on this as, as also on the previous proclamation for zero with one absent, that it was clear consistent action. We have Reverend Kemper with us. Is there anything you'd like to say at this time? For five months to bring sanctuary to an end, but that has not happened. We do not want to release Mr. Perez to the whims of immigration authorities and possible deportation, nor do we want to become a permanent residence. So we're hoping that we will be granted a waiver to continue to provide safe conditions for him to stay temporarily in the church until it is safe for him to return to his family. Thank you. Is there a motion? You? Thank you. Oh, I'll do it. OK. Mind you, Joe. I moved to adopt the resolution in support of first congregational Amherst United Church of Christ's request to maintain a temporary shelter as, I guess it's amended as amended. And a second? Second. OK. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Raise your hand. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstain. OK. Going on to the next agenda item. Basically, this is just a communication to you. But I do want to hear from you as to whether or not you would like at a future council meeting to have any of the annual reports from the school committee, the library board, the housing authority, the Oliver Smith Will electorate, or the Board of Licensed Commissioners. If you would like to have them actually come to the meeting and give us an oral report and have an opportunity to ask questions, please let me know. And we will schedule that at a much more mutually convenient time. Any comment, question? Alyssa? Reflecting back to my comment, in November, a town council meeting when we found out for the first time that we were going to be getting those annual reports on the second, I indicated that we certainly appreciated their compliance with the charter, but that we didn't have any input as to what those reports would look like, and that I thought that was strange. And so I would like us to have a future town council discussion that says, well, now that we know what they think they'd like them to look like, and we've received them, and we've sort of compared and contrasted. If we have any thoughts as to what else they might include next time, or if we want to hear more about something, I think that would be a useful conversation to have rather than necessarily assuming we need to bring them all in to give a presentation. OK. We'll place that on our future agenda. Any further conversation? I don't believe that this requires a motion or a vote. So we just move on to this was actually tidying up something, and that is we had asked the town manager a couple of months, several months back, to look into three issues created or stated in the charter. And that was the creation of the position of American Disabilities Act Coordinator, permitting non-citizens to vote in town elections and to seek and hold town elective offices, and lowering the voting age for town elections. Mr. Bachmann did report on all three of those, and at that point, we did not take action or anything else. But I wanted to see if there was any vote at this point to just say, yes, we've received these, and we've complied by that requirement of the charter. Yes, Mindy Jo. Do we believe as a council that we need to accept those by motion, except the receipt of those reports, because move to essentially motion to accept as meeting the charter's requirements that the town council investigate the feasibility of these three things? It was my impression that we probably did. So I will make a motion to accept the receipt of the town manager memo regarding topics for study as meeting the charter requirements for the town council to investigate the feasibility of those topics for study. Is there a second? Any further discussion? Alyssa. I'm sorry. I'm having some connectivity issues here. Without looking at the charter again, which I'm sure you have up in front of you, what is it that we are doing by accepting this? Are we saying we just accept that an assignment was completed, or are we saying we accept that the issues are now completely dealt with? Because those are two different things. And so the town council is supposed to get a report, as I recollect, on these issues. But then are we also saying we're done with investigating these topics, or are we just saying thank you for those reports? I mean, I'm totally fine with separate things. I'm just trying to understand which thing we're doing. Thank you. Mindy Jo. So the charter sits section 10.12, and it says by December 31, 2019, the town council and town manager shall investigate the feasibility of taking the following actions. The list below is in no particular order of priority, and then it lists those three items there that are on creating the position of ADA act coordinator, permitting non-citizens to vote in town elections and seek and hold elective office and lowering the voting age in town elections. So my motion is intended to say, we have met the December 31st requirement to investigate the feasibility of taking the following actions. Doesn't mean we're done with that investigation or that we've decided what to do with that investigation, but that we've met those requirements. There's a motion on the floor. There's a second. Any further questions? Yes. Andy. The only thing you want to ask me, Andy, is whether we should also include specific reference to the section of the charter right as you sit within your motion. I would do that when I was making it. I didn't have the charter in front of me, so I didn't know which section it was. So yeah, if we could add charter section 10.2 into the motion. 10.12. 10.12. And then along with that, you, Athena, you might want to attach and refer to the town managers report where he reported back to us on this. Any further discussion? Yes, Alyssa. So what's the public supposed to think we actually have accomplished here? Because I'm confused by the word saying we've completed our investigation. We haven't completed our investigation. We've completed the charter requirement of investigation for December 31st. We have not decided whether or not we were going to continue to discuss these items. So what message are we sending to the public in terms of, yes, we got the report really useful, complies with the charter? What are they supposed to do if they wonder what else we're doing with this? Until such time as we bring this back on the agenda, because we decide we want for the discussion, even as it may relate to the budget, or other items that are not budget items, we've complied by the charter, by investigating them. But that doesn't mean that they can't ever be brought back up. What I would say is that we've completed our investigation, and it is done, until we talk about it again. Not, it's kind of done, but maybe we talk about it again. It's done. We complied with the charter. It's over until somebody comes to you and says, I want us to talk about this again. Could we have a reading of the motion? To accept the receipt of the town manager memo regarding topics for study as meeting the charter requirement, section 10.12, as requiring topics for study. Is there any change that you see to that motion Alyssa? We've met the requirement of the charters, what I've heard. Alyssa, I mean, I'm sorry. So the charter required the town manager and town council to investigate the feasibility. The motion is intended to say the town manager's memo counts as the town council's investigation of the feasibility, not just the town manager's investigation of the feasibility. So what I'm asking is, can the motion reflect that we have completed 10.12, period? Just to be super clear. I know I'm belaboring it, but that's because I didn't have a motion sheet that I could pull apart. Getting the motion to reflect what we feel it needs to. Is there any change you see in the motion? Athena, can you read it again? To accept the receipt of the town manager memo regarding topics for study as meeting the charter requirement, section 10.12, as requiring topics for study. As completing, so there's a friendly amendment to change the word to completing. Is that acceptable to you, Pat? OK. All right. Any further discussion? Then all those in favor, raise your hand and say aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstain. OK. That is, there are no more topics. We are not going to do an executive session. Do I hear a motion to adjourn? OK. Is there a second? OK. Is there any further discussion? Yes, Alyssa? You're going to kill me. But, Mandy, I'm sure you still have it up. The Human Rights Declaration, which is somewhat different but not a lot than last year's, it doesn't really say that since 2018 the town council's been doing this because they haven't been. So please tell me you've fixed that, and I just forgot that you've fixed that. It's near one of the bottom paragraphs. It made sense when the select board was saying we did it over and over and over again. But we didn't do any of those things in 2018 because, you know, we weren't here. Well, we didn't, you know? That's not true. No, we did. One of our very first actions was the human rights. Did the human rights select board? We'd already done it. So I guess it could say since 2019, because we did Black History Month, Puerto Rico, Heritage, Tibet Day, Race, Amity, and Human Rights Day all in 2019. OK. So what is this? Just want to say. OK. So officially, we have to have this come back up on the floor. So I'll move to reopen. What's the formal reconsider? I'll move to reconsider the Human Rights Day proclamation. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstained. Now, discussion. On this, we would like the following additional change. I am happy with either saying since 2019 or taking out the phrase since 2019 and just saying the town council issues annual, something like that. Whatever makes more sense to you guys. I just don't want to say what you think. Second, the third from last paragraph. It would say, whereas the town council. Yes? Yes. OK. Is there any other change? So that is a motion. Is there a second? Second. OK. Any further changes? All those in favor say aye. And opposed? Abstained. Before we adjourn, was that a motion for the revision or a motion to approve the whole thing? Making sure we know what we're just. It's a motion to revise. Whole thing is amended? Yes. OK. OK. Wow. And all of this was in 20 minutes. Anything else? Mr. Backelman, you look puzzled? OK. I just want to make sure. OK. Now, are we ready for a motion to adjourn? We have one. And was it seconded? OK. All those in favor of adjournment raise your hand and say aye. Aye. OK. Now we end the meeting.