 Okay, let's begin so my screen. Okay, we're opening up the special housing authority board meeting 927 22 or 1207. The purpose is to hear our proposal on the beautification of Drake Village from our landscape folks and why don't we we need a roll call so the board join here, Nick, here, here, and here, Brian is here. So let's start. Why don't we just start right in with the architect. If you want to go over some of these plans. The board has all received them. Some of them have seen this multiple times, but we'll turn it over to you now you all me and Leah. Hi, my name is cultural principal here at Crowley cultural and joined by the yet broader. Hello, all thank you for making the time. Go ahead and share our screen. Everybody should be able to see this. Yep. Yep. Yeah, I'll let you go ahead and introduce. Okay. So, as you know, Drake Village was awarded a creative place making grant from DHCD. The goals were developed with the residents in the application process. So the goals for the project for the grant, the use of the grant funds are to creatively redevelop the open space. And to encourage healthy activities, make connections to natural resources and provide opportunities for greater physical activities. So these were the guiding, guiding ideas of our design. In the process, we have had a pretty robust engagement with the tenants and with the housing authority, which included paper surveys, as well as multiple meetings with the residents. Most recently, the beginning of this month, we had a meeting to review the design with them. And so the, all of the kind of input that we got from them was really about what what would serve them best. And as we look at making improvements to the site. Given our given our budget and timeline. And what we heard from the residents is that their priorities in terms of use of open space and physical activity. We're walking other kinds of fitness, seating opportunities, raised beds for planting for growing flowers and food, more shade and seasonal color. We asked where they would like to focus these improvements and what we heard was around the house or building so both in front and back. We also heard interest in making a nicer connection to the walking trails at the Arlington reservoir to the northeast. We also heard interest in making a nicer connection to the Minuteman bike path. What we found as we dug into that site. This is at the corner of the parking lot is that that site really wasn't appropriate for that use because we don't really want to encourage people to go through the parking lot and it's also where snow is kept in the cold seasons. So with those things in mind, we focused all of our attention around Hauser and the entrance to the reservoir. So we'll go through the design with you. This is generally to give you a sense of the overall picture because really what this, what we're seeking to do through the design is create a much more appealing and enjoyable space to be experienced through walking and moving also through sitting and even from looking out from people's residences. So the existing conditions as you know is the cottages, the kind of suite of cottages along Drake Road, and then there's the larger Hauser building where the majority of the residents live. Currently there's a drop off with an island and there's a shade garden where a set of mature oak trees ring the outer edge and pine trees at the center. And so that's kind of going to be the area of focus when we dig into the conversation around trees. Later on. I'm just going to jump in and say that when we did have a meeting with the residents. Some of our thinking about these trees or I guess the question about these trees changed a little bit and originally we were looking at proposing six removals. This, this drawing shows and annotates five removals. And because there was there is this larger tree in in the island that we determined after sidewalk and talking to the residents and the member of the conservation commission that we should try to save so that's no longer part of our proposal but looking at removing two trees that are in poor shape, one along Drake Road and the other in the traffic island. And those two we heard from the residents were not of a concern and so really what it comes down to the concern the tree, the concern about trees really focused in on the three pines and we'll talk more about that as we go forward. And I should say to start, please do interrupt with any questions or comments and then we can move through the design presentation, give you a little minute to kind of absorb it as we talk through it and then the obviously we'll have conversation. So this is the, this is of course a very zoomed out but plan, looking at all of the site improvements. And so what you see is the focus of improvement around the house or building, both in the front and the back, and then a little spot kind of improvements. Right at the reservoir in total this project will be planting 29 trees and will date will zoom in and give you a closer look at what those landscape improvements are. But staying on the idea of the trees for a moment we also have spoken with DPW about getting additional donation of an additional 20 trees. Those would be for improvements in the right of way so in along Drake Road because currently the trees that are planted there's overhead wires there and so we're interested in planting trees that are more appropriate smaller understory trees. We also want to provide more shade and seasonal color amongst the cottages so that's an opportunity with those DPW trees. We're interested in incorporating shade associated with the parking lot at the northeast corner of the site. So looking more closely at the entrance to Hauser what you see here is the drive drop off with sidewalk, there's benches adjacent to the sidewalk, there's a small concrete terrace with some seating and a low wall. And then all the area that's drawn in kind of this brown color under the big green circles which are the trees represents the area that is pretty much exposed to dirt or mulch, and we'll talk a bit more about that. The three pink axes represent the three trees that are in our first option design option proposed to be removed. Also I should mention, in this kind of shade garden in front of Hauser, there is a white kind of funky octagon shape and that represents gazebo. Sometimes it shows up as brown so. So we think about 10 years old. So what we've proposed here is a redesign of the drop off and entrance, keeping the general kind of site strategy that there is now. And one of the big moves here is to actually raise the level of the drive and narrow the road. And what this does is it makes the walking surface co cleaner with the driving surface so that there's easy mobility to and from vehicles into the onto the kind of terrace, which is just south of the building and then into the building. Today there's and signs and it's rather a chaotic kind of composition. We also are incorporating a lot of flowering understory trees to provide shade and color along this sidewalk. We also have a grass strip between the sidewalk and the drop offs. We also have ballards as a kind of vehicular barrier between the pedestrian areas and vehicular areas. And then there's a fair amount of perennial and shrub planting right around the building in addition to all new benches. And then over to the West where we're proposing where you see those pink X's representing the removed pines. So proposing removing the gazebo in the scheme. And so we have replaced the gazebo with a place to gather which is a paved terrace with with a few tables with movable chairs. So we think that this provides a nice variety of seating options. It also allows us to plant under the what is now the pine trees where we currently can't plant so this could all become one lawn. The other important piece to mention is the new accessible crosswalk. So currently, I should have mentioned this when we're looking at the overall plan, but currently, there is no identified crosswalk or way to move as a pedestrian from the house or building anywhere else on the property. So it's kind of a free for all the way pedestrians move from the sidewalks around their residences at Houser on to Drake Road or over to the reservoir. What you see here as kind of a straight pattern crossing the road. So this is a new with the, these little gray rectangles which represent accessible curb cuts is really a new allows for a new circuit walk a safe and circuit walk throughout the property. I'll just mention this and that when we heard from folks a lot of what people wanted to do was to be able to use the paths and around the cottages as well as around house or as a bigger loop. So this is something that's great. As far as the trends that that we are seeing in in senior living. And so, we know that having to navigate a curb, going down into a drivable way is something that's pretty dangerous so simply putting in a curb cut here. We also have one. So we have to get back just so that we have the overall plan. So, if you're here you're sort of currently a landlocked at Houser, you have to cross a driving lane without any sort of curb cut, and you have to mount curbs by doing this curb cut here you can get over here and you can access all of the circuit over here. There is an existing crosswalk that's right here at the beginning of Drake Road after you come down over the bridge. So we have to keep. We talked to the town. They didn't want any changes done there so we are, we can navigate this as a circuit. You can cross here on this crosswalk, and then you can actually come down in front of the two cottages on on the right hand side of Drake Road, and we've added in another curb cut here to connect again a loop that then gets us to the reservoir. So we're making these loops. And so this crossing is is something that we thought was important to point out. Joanne, you had your hand up. Do you want to ask a question. Yes, I did. Can you hear me. Yes. I'm wondering about those benches. And I'm sorry I should have noticed it when I looked at it before but the benches as you face Houser on the left hand side. Yeah, they're not in the shade, or are they. I don't know what that black dot is maybe that's a tree. That's a big tree that's a cat Sarah that's there right now. So this is actually quite shady. Good. The second question is the route on the way in where you're going to plant the town donated trees. A town tree or a private way. So here is a town road. Until we get to a, there is a sort of a property line that runs up through here. Okay, so maybe getting way ahead but if you remove that tree that isn't all in here. You have to have a hearing. Okay, I mean I think that that's fine. You can do that. I don't know if it's separate from this project or we, you know, we do it but I think you're right jurisdictionally that that would be within the right way of the road. I didn't want you to get all set to do it and then hold up your whole project. No, it makes sense. That's also, you know, part of the reason why we want to do it now is that if we've got someone moving trees on the property or a landscaper that can do that work it's great to do it all at once. I think that that's not a problem as far as going to a hearing for that tree can also again be on a separate timeline. If we need to pay. I also asked where those wonderful freeze Princeton Elms are going to go. You have eight Princeton Elms in your. Well, we can wait. Can we get there. Oh, sure. We'll get there, we promise. We went past it. We haven't gotten there yet. We're still over the overview. We wanted to just go over this whole, you know, the overall for the front so that you all have the opportunity to see the overall ideas not just focusing on the on the topic of these pines but to show you overall. And so, this is these are some renderings that we put together this is the existing of the looking towards the, the entrance of house or this is one of the areas that people really want some color and some shape so our proposal does add in flowering trees. And so we're moving back to the existing. Again, we're moving the road slightly so that we actually these the the benches that are against houses are actually in landscape rather than feeling like they're right on the road. So this is just some some simple about what we were showing there. We have question. So it's possible to add a crosswalk from the house of building so people can get to the reservoir. I'm not sure if there is one there. I mean just so there isn't. And that there's just, yeah, you bet. So how do you get to the reservoir if you want it if you had to be able to the mountain curves, you'd come down in front of Hauser and you would come over to this crosswalk. We did a lot of work with getting together with the town. We originally had proposed a crosswalk here. They did not want it because it was too close to both the curve and to this crosswalk. So you would come down here, you would cross here and then you can get over to the reservoir. Do you want to hear because there's no sidewalk. And there's not room for a sidewalk in and around this cottage. So that was sort of a tough spot because there's no there's utilities and there's other things but we can't cross here was it was sort of like a it was our first gut reaction like oh absolutely the connect here. We couldn't do that either. Yeah, that doesn't make some sense because I don't see people walking all the way around like that. But I don't know maybe can we look at it but go ahead keep going. Yeah I mean our challenge is that because it's the town road, the print the logical place for that crosswalk would need to be installed by the town. So that was a conversation we had and didn't. And you know, that's why we arrived. But doesn't the town road stop where your cursor is. It's now it's like goes up into here right. Yeah. So it stops, it stops about here where this line is. It's up here. And in order to do a crosswalk you kind of try to get it off the, you try to get it around the court you don't want a crosswalk. You don't want a crosswalk really on every end. So it would have to be there. Who from the town that you talked to that. Have a DPW. Yeah, maybe you could redirect that conversation. I mean it just common sense tells me to put the crosswalk right up there. Who gets redirected to. Is it redirected to a different person or is it just to ask him again is what you're suggesting. I would, I would say look at you know it's, if my fellow board members agree that the board feels strongly that there needs to be a closer crosswalk for the house of folks to get to the reservoir, because you know really I don't see them, walking that massive loop to go to the res. I mean, right now they're just going to cross the street right there. So, you know, accepting that reality we should figure it out. You know, I think it's a great point. I absolutely agree because people are going to cross there. Yeah, we get it ourselves. Yeah, we did ourselves in the night. Yeah, and they and also we have residents with mobility problems and so forth. We have the same problem with Chestnut Street. They don't want to put a crosswalk and if they don't put a crosswalk and they think nobody's ever going to cross there but that's not true. And we need it for safety reasons. Yeah. Well, I think it will leave that to Jack if you would like us to go back. But I think your point is, is a good one. It's one we made but we're happy to try to do it to talk to him again. Yeah, I think we can continue to advocate for something like that. You know when Jim Feeney, the deputy town manager and Michael Rademacher, the director of the DPW were out they, they provided their guidance at that time but maybe with future budgets and and other considerations they'll take another look. Yep. So just to move so that you all can see the back of Pouser, I'll give the. Fiorella's got her hand up good. Okay. So are we going to go more in depth about the gazebo by any chance. We will. Yeah, okay. We want to give you the overall and then we're going to go back to that area to really look at what's going on there. Okay. Okay. So this is, we're looking at Hauser and now honing in on the back of Hauser which currently is a kind of fire lane in relative disrepair today and a concrete terrace that has some movable picnic tables on it, which is, this is all immediately adjacent to the community room. So this is a great place for there to be a kind of outdoor life and place to be, but currently the paving if the currently the space is not accessible and the paving makes it very difficult to navigate. And there's not much out there aside from these two benches, which are the brown rectangles and then some movable picnic tables that come in and out, I guess, depending on the season. I think it's worth noting because I think it's a surprise to a lot of folks how close the property line actually is to the back of the building. So you'll notice that our improvements are tucked and don't go over that line. We're also, you'll see the annotation at the top of the page about the wetland buffer so we are close we're in the within 200 feet of the Mill River both in of the Mill Brook both in Lexington where it where it flows through Lexington to the north and where it flows through Arlington to the west. So this is the design proposal, which shows a new newly paved fire access road kind of realigning to be a more gentle curve, and it pulls the fire road, all the way to the edge of the property which gives us a little bit more generous space between the community room and that fire lane for another paved terrace with furniture so we're showing three new picnic tables that have spots for folks in mobility devices so we also are showing raised planter beds opportunities for folks to plant and those are also accessible for folks in mobility devices so the level of the soil is high enough that if you're in a wheelchair or you don't have to lean over too far. And then lining that dining terrace are some catenary poles which will have string lights for events and things so really thinking about extending the period of time folks can be outside comfortably in the warmer months. So there are new benches, as well as a lots of new planting so this is where we have the Elm tree kind of LA of Elm trees staggering along road, providing as much shade as possible. We also are looking into a sale cloth feature that might or umbrella feature that might, we might be able to use over those picnic tables for additional shade. And then we've got perennial planting and shrubs in the area between the building and the fire road and the dining terrace. So really thinking not only about using the space outside but also views and the experience from the inside for all the folks who are inside, especially during the shoulder seasons when it might be a little too chilly to be outside. So this was again developed earlier in the process and while it's not exactly where we ended up with the plan it does give you a feeling of what we were proposing here. So again the relocating, realigning and repaving of the fire lane so that it actually feels like a nice walk that could be programmed with other events, and then all the planting that we're doing for shade and for color and texture and new seating. So again this isn't exactly but to give you the feel of where we're going. So briefly we'll touch on the area in front adjacent to the reservoir. So this kind of peach colored shape represents the current paving that connects to a bridge over the milled brook that gets to the reservoir, gets to the Arlington reservoir on the Drake Village side is a another kind of fire lane with curbs and a sidewalk just on one on the north side. So in this proposal, we only color the work that we're doing. So we're introducing this curb cut and a new crosswalk, which makes a safe connection for folks coming from the south. They can then use the existing sidewalk and connect to a nice new entryway, we're removing some chain link fence, installing a low timber rail similar to what is along the mid man bike path. And then the concrete terrace has bike parking and bench with a buddy spot so people can be sitting at the bench and there's plenty of space for others to come with their own seating devices as well. So those were the, you know, to go back to where we had identified with residents on our initial gathering of information with folks at the front of house or the back of house or and then this this spot at the reservoir and then the curb cuts really is the bulk of what the place making grant is paying for. And then we know that there was a concern about the proposal to remove the three pines and to remove the gazebo. And just to start we're going to go through the options that we prepared because when we went with the residents last time we heard that both the gazebo and the pines were something that folks were not super comfortable getting rid of. But to back up, we wanted to tell you all why that was our recommendation. Yeah, for sure. Subsequent the meeting at our board meeting we looked at that gazebo and jacket a great idea of moving the gazebo behind the cottages there's a there's a nice idea that it would fit perfectly and assuming that it won't fall apart, but so. And we're actually completely in favor of that because the reason why we were recommending the removal of the gazebo was there was a couple reasons. The first reason being that it's already a really shady area. The shade you get from the oak trees which again, there, there's the outside ring here are very mature oaks, they have large canopies, the shape that you get from those and this beautiful cat surre tree that's on the side of the walkway. The black circles are the trunk representing the trunk so those are the center of the trees and then the spread is this the secondary green circle. So we don't really need the shade. The, the other part was that when we, when we canvassed the opinions of the folks in the community, people said the reason why they didn't go in there was because it was very dirty, and dirty from both the fact that the dirt in and around it is exposed because there's no dirt on the ground plane underneath of the pines and because of all the needle litter. And so it was sort of a, for us we said okay well the gazebo maybe doesn't belong there. We also looked and said, the pine needle litter is making the soil so acidic in and around this whole area that you really do have a problem, it's very problematic as far as growing any kind of ground plane. And so we heard a lot about how dirty the area was, especially when the wind blows, because of the pine needle litter and the exposed dirt. So again to us that felt like that was. Those are those are things that were not great about the either the pines or the gazebo, which for us we thought okay well we can do better and so that's really what our proposal was showing to again to give a little bit more background into the pines. My suspicion is the pines were planted when they were planted they were planted as a, you know, a six to eight foot backdrop behind the gazebo as something you would read the gazebo in front of. And then they grew to be 4050 60 feet tall, and they have no vegetation, with the exception of this one, this one where we're xing out its trunk here this one here has some vegetation that starts about 20 feet up the rest of them are all defoliated, which is the natural way pines grow. And the thing that's concerning to us about those pines is the way in which they do shade out the oaks and this cat Sarah. So, again, thinking we we felt like our recommendation is that we could do something far better in here both for gathering and for health of future trees so that's just position where we were at before we went into. You know the options here. This is just to show you all, you know the condition of the ground is again very depleted of nutrients because of the pine, the pines. This is really how it looks most of the year without much growing there. And it really being mulch or just exposed dirt and pine needle litter. So that one again, that was the big aha moment for us for the gazebo. I think the other thing about the. I think I've gone through actually gone through all these these bullet points. So that's what again that's where we came at this from the initial. So, yeah, the other the other piece of this is that it is quite mounted up in here. And again I think the original the original design was probably these pines quite low and there was more of a shade garden with other things in it but as they grew and their their needle litter got further expanded from the canopy. So it really made this whole area kind of inaccessible and now you're meeting the ground because there's nothing growing on it. And so it's not nice to walk over it it's lumpy and bumpy without a lot of the advantages of say other plantings. So, I'm going to go through really quickly these options that we put together. One option is that we can keep the existing, but, and that and that the pro for that is that the people who'd like to see the gazebo stay and the three pine stay. That's the pro for this right we can keep things the way that they are but we would say that the con and probably the biggest con is that we don't feel comfortable being able to add in that 88 crosswalk. The reason for that is the crosswalk we're putting right between these two Oaks. We want to stay away from those Oaks we do not want to get into the majority of the root zone so we're coming through here in between those two, which is actually right on the roots of this pine tree. And if we were to keep the pine tree and we were saying okay we're going to keep those are going to keep them as healthy as possible, we would not feel comfortable putting in that crosswalk. Here's an ad. Yeah, yeah, well I just to preface this whole conversation to say that the, the entry the drop the changes to the drive and the entrance terrace stay the same and all of these options were really just focused in on what happens with or without the pine trees and the gazebo, but the other point is that to get that ABA crosswalk where we are doing or re grading the part of the pathway in the root zone. Right, so that's what, yeah, the issue, we're lowering the great so we want to drop the ground down which is, we think, would have a negative impact to keep. Yeah, you took those pine trees out with you, you would obviously take the trunks out of the dig them all up. They could level it down. I see. Yes, the basically inside this ring. Yeah, that's what we're talking about all the changes so anything that was inside this ring if we took the pines down all of that would get recreated. Yeah, so that it was flatter, could be planted and then we could also add in this crosswalk. So those are the cons that no crosswalk we can't put any new plantings in here, because of again the acidic nature of the soil and the shade from the pines. And we would say to that if you're going to keep the gazebo in this location, it should really have a renovation which is not within our budget. We can't really do that renovation. So then option two was the proposal that we had come up with which is really that within again this inner circle is all new. It's regraded such that we can get the crosswalk in here that we can get new soil in here to plant grass and other ornamental trees. And then we're proposing a new open gathering space that is underneath the shade of this cat sura, but still open and visible as you come and go. And we think that there's advantage to that as well to see and be seen as people are coming and going out of the building. The con here really being that we've we've removed the pine trees and the gazebo that that folks have have an affinity towards. But again, new ADA crosswalk new tree and lawn planting, we eliminate the pine needle litter, and we have this new open gathering space. No, but you've taken down that cement wall that's in front of the place. It's, it's not, we're not. This is, it's being shown here, unfortunately with white, because we're only showing the things that we're redoing in color. And so that wall would be right here. Could that wall come out. It could. And we felt like it kind of gave an edge to the to the space and then grading wise. I think it's a freestanding stone, right? Yeah, it's a mortar stone wall. I think we kept it as a way to kind of enclose that space. It feels what's there today. You know, we're sticking pretty close to it because the scale of those spaces is quite comfortable and people really enjoy them so kind of felt like let's spend our money in places where it's going to have more bang for the buck. Yeah, I mean, it just needs to be repaired. We looked at it the other day and it just, it's going to need some Mason to work to be repaired. Yeah. Yeah, we can look at it again and if it makes more sense to remove. I mean, you guys are the experts, I would just take them to look and. That's a good point. We just have noticed that the other data meeting and I mean it's crumbling. We just assumed you and take it out but you should take another peek and see what you thought. Okay. So then option three for that we want to show you all is our cut to compromise schemes. And so in this scheme we're saying okay we keep the pines. And we don't think that the gazebo and the pines are working well together because of all the litter and the fact that we just heard over and over again the reasons why people don't go in there is because it is dirty and pine needles are all in there and it's double the shade. Got, you know the shade from the roof and the shape from the pines and the shape from the Oaks. So it's dark and it's dirty so in this very simply in this scheme we're saying we keep the pines and we take the gazebo out maybe move it somewhere else you can. And we put in a new that you know on grade gathering spot. So that again it's it's out in the open people can see it but it can be it can be breached clean. And then the needle litter doesn't have to stay in the walls which is where it is right now and get on the floor. So, but one thing to point out is we've made it one third the size. We are really trying to stick to the footprint of the gazebo so that we aren't cutting into the root zone of those pine trees. Again, we want if we're going to keep the pine trees we don't want to do anything to harm it. So we have made it a smaller gathering spot and again we've eliminated the crosswalk because we can't do the grading required to get that level, so that you can come around and go down. So again, keeping the pines and doing a small renovation to where the gazebo is to have that be an open gathering space on grade. We have three proposals to them would have to eliminate the ADA crosswalk. We have a fourth. I'm sorry. This one. Yes, anytime we keep the pines. We are we're eliminating the option to do the crosswalk because of the grading and the root damage we would do to the pine itself. Couldn't you put the ADA crosswalk elsewhere. That's a great point. Let me go to the fourth option and then we'll get back to that that because it's a really good point and we studied that quite a bit and we'll we'll talk about that. So the fourth option is the opposite you keep the gazebo and you get rid of the pines. The thing that we think the pros of this is that okay so you're keeping the gazebo which people did like, you can do the crosswalk, because you can move this section in here. You eliminate the pine needle litter so it makes the gazebo ultimately easier to care for. And we can plant a new lawn and have other small trees that would stay small understory in inside this inner circle. So we can move the pines are removed the pines and that we also think that you do want to do maybe a more minimal but there's still a gazebo renovation that's not within our budget. Because you will, because you will remain the way it is today. So there's no renovation. In the place making budget in the place making budget we don't have the we don't have enough funds to renovate that because you know how much that would be. So I think it really varies widely, depending depending on what you how you want the gazebo perform. We heard all kinds of things from the residents from enclosing it and making it like last and structure, making it, you know have more solid solid walls, other things like that. I think a minor renovation to it. If you really get rid of the pines and you clean it up. I don't even know if I can throw that out there mostly because I think if we keep the gazebo we also want to look at the ground, so that there's no trip hazards and other things. It's not really in our radar, because we weren't keeping it. If this is the way that you want to go. You would need to do some study into what it would take to clean that gazebo up. I think Nick, the thing with the gazebo is it's dark and dreary because it's got mold it really needs to be out in the bright sunlight the spot that Jack noticed and recommended behind the cottages is a bright and sunny spot. So I just want to wash the thing cleaned it all up. I think we could do that, our staff can do that, moving with the forks. Yeah, I mean it's made of it's plastic plastic would so it could be moved. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to keep. The next thing that we would do is to go to these four options but I want to go back to Joanne's question about the location of the crosswalk. If we can. So it close your eyes if you get seasick, because we're going to go quickly back through to a larger plan that gives a larger context. Okay. So without crosswalks, you really shouldn't have them on on right on a corner. So a corner that is a proud corner right. It can be on a curve, but it should not be on a proud corner. So that's that was the issue here obviously if we could put one off between, you know, a straight and a straight through here, that would be great, but you don't want one on a proud corner. You know where you're going to be connecting through another driving lane. So all through here is not an option for that crosswalk. Then you get into, you get into this bend over here. And it again you've got people coming around this way, and this way a blind corner. This is also in this zone is not is not a safe spot because you're coming around to blind corners. So you're actually on this whole curve. You do something about that. Well, yeah, also at the, at the right up here, because of the way the road has settled and the curbs have settled. The curves are actually much higher than six inches, and there's no, like the sidewalk doesn't really exist adjacent to this cottage. So you've kind of, you've got nothing, no options, all the way until you get into this area because it's because it's a reverse curve. It's an S here. That's that's also one of those spots that in, you know, improper sidewalk and cross crosswalk designs, you don't want to get into that as so again, it's really, this is really our best spot we studied that quite a bit. And again, we went through with DPW on on those kind of recommendations, and they agree that this is the right way you've got you also want to as parallel to perpendicular sorry to the sidewalks as possible. So coming off at an angle in a weird way also doesn't doesn't really work. What about, what about the very end, where the parking lot is, there's the road is the sidewalk. There's no sidewalk along along the edge of this cottage. And so this, this is really determined and it's really tight this corner of the cottage to the road. This is not a place that you want to promote people. I was at the end, right there. Whoops, you can't see my cursor. Right at the end where the parking lot begins. In here. Yes. No, no, no crossing the street, obviously. A little further up. No, the other direction. There's no crop, there's no, there's no side proper sidewalk on the whole side of this cottage. And so there's nothing to tie into. There's no crosswalks. A crosswalk usually connects to sidewalks on two sides of a road but there's only a sidewalk on one side of the road here. So this is really town is this isn't town. Road. This is housing authority road. Yes. Okay. The town ends. For sure. We still, we still, as far as if we're drawing these drawings, we're still following best practices for roadway design, even if it's a private location. Those, that was our reasoning in eliminating all of these spots. Plus, I think it's really important to note that what we heard from folks is that people in the cottages and people in Hauser want to have a safe way to cross between the two. And if we force people way over to the side, it's not a regular flow of traffic. So this is, you know, the other thing is that we also really looked at where are we going to point people to you don't want to point people into someone's entrance to their cottage, which are a lot of these are direct entrances in the cottage so we want to bring people to the sidewalk that rings the road with the ability then to either go left or right, or to then go down this path that is the loop. I think that we studied we do we've we firmly believe that this is the best spot for the crosswalk for all of those reasons. So just to, so we don't keep every on all day. So we have two proposals to keep the trees we have pine trees we have two proposals to get rid of the pine trees is that right. That's correct. So if we go to the slide option, why don't you leave that slide up. Let's go around the board members and each take a few minutes and tell us which proposal you think is best. Gar. I'm in favor of, you know, I don't want to, you know, obviously I'm not opposed to removing trees so I like number two without the pine trees pine trees are tough to work with. I know a lot of golf course guys say they were moving pine trees like every year because of the root systems and shallow roots and the pine needles and like, like they said the acidity. So it is a kind of barren area and I think it needs some sun and some new life. I agree with Gar between like option to an option for removing the pine trees for sure because I know those are kind of dead to so with the safety hazard of fallen, you know, falling branches or something. So I, the only thing that I want to know is which one will give the most like green space if we were to thinking like physical activities gatherings. I like the new picnic, you know the picnic tables and all of that mostly that trees going to give a shade. And it kind of looks like it'd give it more space to maybe plan stuff. And I interject one thing in response to that. So one of the things that I heard from the, the housing authority staff and Jack is that people, as they're waiting for rides, there's a group of people who practice Tai Chi at the front of the building and so the option to have a terrace with movable furniture and an open green space. I think we think that we're giving, there's a lot more, you know, both two and four give that opportunity. If they want to do it on paving I think number two is more has more opportunity for that. But I'll just mention that because that we didn't have mentioned that. Yeah, interesting. Anything else you want to add. I think that's it for now. Just bearing in mind that that is evil would be repurposed. And if we kept it there would have to rebuild it to some extent we think we can just repurpose it but Joanne. Yes, thank you. I don't have a very clear recommendation because something that hasn't brought up about the pine trees is climate change. And these large pine trees, which are not dead. We've been living with another 50 years are very good at sequestering carbon, which is a main potentially. It's a main cause of climate change which we see now we have a lot of summer on record. We had an extreme drought. So carbon loaded 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of atmospheric carbon. And if you, you cut them down all of the carbon escapes from these, whether you use it as firewood, whether you throw it in a dump. So that's that's a real concern of mine. And going forward the pine trees removed 20 or so pounds of atmospheric carbon, which is really important. So I also know that somewhere else but that's like them for their shade and the greenery in the winter, which none of these other trees have of course because they're deciduous trees. They act as a windbreaker for the space around the front door, especially in the winter. So I'm just trying to interject some virtues of these pine trees. I'd like to see some way if one or more of the pine trees might be safe for these reasons. In fact, they don't have greenery underneath is just some people like pine needles. We don't. I'm not sure we want open spaces. One of the problems we have a chestnut manner is all of the places to sit outside are in the sun. I went there the summer to water the small trees that are there they're going to take another 30 years before they give any shade. There's nobody's ever sitting in them, because they're too hot. So, I'd like to see this plan in a way think about the future, and what's going to happen in terms of, we're going to have more droughts. We're going to have more hot summers. I'm not going to be a virtue. I'm not mentioned about. So, which plan are you advocating for, Jim? I'm not advocating for anything because I really would like to know more, which we can't know at this meeting about the ADA crosswalk because I think that's equally important. So, we have to cut down all three pine trees and order to have an ADA crosswalk. So, I will leave there. The one you would have to cut down is the one on the corner. This, if you see my cursor is here. That's actually the one that's in there. That's the healthiest that's got the most vegetation on it. That was when we looked at what we would read one. Are you trying to say that there is three pine trees aren't healthy? I believe that. Well, let me say it's got the most foliage. It's got the most vegetation on it. Yes, because when pine trees grow, the lower branches always die off. So, having a few lower branches that are brown is not a sign of illness. And yes, it's just that it has more vegetation than the other two. The other two are quite top heavy. Well, because they're larger. Well, I will say this, just for everybody's benefit, when you look at options two and four, we have actually estimated the spread of those pot of the Oaks that exist right now. And you'll see that the majority of this walkway and where we're proposing the gathering is actually underneath the shade of those veggie of those dissiduous trees that would be dormant. I don't really have a lot of time, but there was one other thing I wanted to suggest is the trees, the tall trees as opposed to the understory trees on your plan are very small. The canokers, right? The Princeton Elms. And they, the last two years of all of the tree trees that have been planted in Arlington, five of them failed because of the heat and the drought. So this is completely different than choosing this, but I just want to suggest, because I think having these Princeton Elms, we need Elm trees again. It's a wonderful idea, and probably should get slightly larger ones. So right now, so what Joanne's talking about is that on our plant list, we do have a three inch caliper, which means that at chest height, it measures three inches around the trunk. Those are probably quite large. I would think a bit larger than street trees. I know that most municipalities plant one and a half to two inch size for there's three trees. The other thing that we're doing is that because this is a project that is planted that would be that would be installed by a licensed landscape contractor. They will be required to do maintenance and watering and and upkeep during a warranty period. What we have talked about with the housing authority is to have a warranty period extended from what is typically industry standard is typically a year that they take care of the trees for the first year. So we want to write into our spec that it would be a two year maintenance and warranty period so that they are doing the watering and the care for the all the new trees for two years. Very good. Yeah, it means that the place making grant will play will pay for that extra year of care, while these things are being established. We then do need to figure out how how the housing authority can do the watering and what what is best is that there is intensive watering schedule for the first two years, and then there still needs to be watering really for the next fun for the next three. So at first five years but it's less intensive in in years three four five, and could be done with gator bags that are filled by whether it's staff or whether it's residents. I'm just going to abstain until the to give the conservation mission, a chance to weigh in on the pine trees. So, folks, the, if I'm understand this correctly, you're proposing planting trees of a with that's pretty much double what the town plants. We lost a lot of five year old trees. Let them finish for a minute. I mean that's my understanding is that I don't know exactly and I, if I could, if I knew which plantings we were we could look at them but typically a three inch caliber tree is not the size that municipalities put in their street tree plantings. They're typically one and a half two inch caliber. So how tall of these things that depends on the species. But the, the Elms, the Elms will be about 15 to 18 feet tall to start their very fast. They're big. Okay. Those are the ones that are planted on the back of house or where there's no, where there are no trees or shade there at all at this point. Let's move forward. I'd like to just abstain on these plants, because I'd like to hear what the conservation commission says. I saw, I saw that Nick had his hand raised I don't know. Yeah, we're going to Nick. Nick, what's your thoughts now. My thoughts are, I like to so much. I'm going to vote on option to. We have a motion to approve to do a second. I have a question actually. Where is that tree that we need to cut down because of the power lines. At the beginning of the room. That's so that has nothing to do with this one. Yeah. It's on Drake road as you're coming in. All we need to do is the court, the 88 crosswalk, which would mean only removing that one pine tree. Right. Which would then mean that we could keep the other two pine trees that are right next to the proposed like picnic area. Can we still do the picnic area and leaving those two pine trees. Good. I mean the thing that you won't get, like if we go back to the pro con less the thing that you won't get is you, the ground still is going to be leaf is going to be needle litter, and will not be able to grow much, if anything underneath them at all so you'll still have that open patch of their soil. So that, I mean, again, and in these others we're saying we can flatten this making an accessible in accessible area to gather and then also that this is an area that you can get onto the lawn that won't be lumpy and bumpy and, and can have other trees planted in here. So that would be for removing the one pine tree for the sidewalk. I don't know if that might be option five on here and. I put a motion on the table. Yeah, meaning removing all three. What's the biggest tenant complain because that's the only thing that's like making me a little concerned. I'm just getting hold on just a second. So, we have a motion on the floor. Except to reject the motion and we can continue debate on the motion so the motion move my neck to approve. This is Gar I would second the motion I am in favor of option to. Okay, so now discussion. Go ahead for your own. What's the biggest tenant complaint. I mean, not to be rude but if they're so unhappy with all these plans and is it something that we have to do do. Is there any way to like, then we're going to make everybody discuss the with them so I don't see any like clearly no one's going to be happy with maybe any decision so you're not going to make any you're not going to make every. Yeah, I mean I can I can address that. You're going to have to make a decision. I attended the tenant meeting when introduced Fred as president and there were about 60 people there. In the discussion did go into the landscape project and unfortunately, when the tenants were up and arms they were under the impression that we were taken every single tree down. And I explained it in great length and distributed these plans, not not the option three and four. The tenant draw an agreement and like the idea. So there was two people that didn't that one of the pine trees one guy wanted pine tree Scott, because he likes wooded areas, and that was his soul reasoning and another woman one of the pine trees because she couldn't convey it she walked out of the meeting so. But it was pretty much unanimous that the plan looks great they look forward to it so. So I think, you know, we need to vote on one of these today so this thinking that move forward. So we have $500,000 grant. Isn't there a grievance that's still active. We have to settle. Nothing to do with this. And nothing to do with removing trees. Nope. Really, a tenant grievance doesn't affect the board vote here. I think you're referring to what Fred put forward but I think Fred withdrew that at the last meeting. Fred is, is, is moving the trees. So we have a motion second anybody else have any other questions. Can we add a tree and that like left top left corner of the yelling right, right there. We can, and, and we sort of played around for our trees might go we absolutely can add another. All right. They're understory trees that can take the shade of these oaks, which is fine which is actually what we heard from people that why which are things with color and season. So we can certainly add another tree in here. Nice flowering trees right. Yeah. Right, let's take a vote. Nick, Nick. Yes. The voters, the voters to approve option number two, Nick. Yes. Yes. Gar. Yes. Joanne. Brian is a yes. So the vote is four to one. Jack, you could work with the landscapers and getting whatever needs to be signed and scheduled and so forth. And perhaps the only last thing maybe you could figure out is is there a way to get a second crosswalk to go to the, to go to the reservoir, if there's some way shape or form to do that. I think that's important because it doesn't make sense to cross three roads to get to the rest. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if we can even just paint something down on the paint across work ourselves in a room. Yeah, you know, kind of like the way they painted this bike lane on massive. Yeah, in the middle of the road. Option like that, but couldn't we also just put like one of those holes that have the stop signs like a resident crosswalk or I mean resident crossing or something like that. Yeah, I mean it's not property so I'm sure we can do that. Yeah. That's what I'm trying to do. It's not your own property actually, I don't think we need to as long as it's on our property. So, All right. Thank you folks for your time. Thanks for logging on. And motion. Second motion by next. Good question. Who's keeping minutes. You. Okay, so motion by Nick second and fiorella all in favor Nick. Yes. Yes. Yes. He's not on anymore. When I think she's on anymore. She dropped off. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I'm not sure when she dropped off. And I'm lost so I vote yes to adjourn. Okay, thanks folks. Thanks everybody. Thanks for your efforts. Thanks. Yeah. Bye bye.