 Thank you everybody welcome to the Board of Selectment meeting for Monday December 16th. It is 7 15 p.m. We're starting our regular agenda This meeting is being recorded by ACMI and may be recorded by other people And I just wanted to point out that we had another meeting earlier that we did at 6 o'clock Which is a meeting with our systems analysts talking about a potential software requirements for Changing the way that we do meetings moving from paper hopefully to a more electronic process I just wanted people to know about that other meeting. So our first item is an agenda is a proclamation Mr. Greeley, would you be so kind? Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman the you know here in Arlington we Well, I at least very much value families and successful businesses and Tonight this proclamation is to celebrate an outstanding Arlington family That has conducted a business for the last 50 years here in Arlington It's hard to imagine that that it's been 50 years But this particular family has produced for 50 years This particular item which all of you who live in Arlington have gotten for free for the last 50 years And it's called the Arlington Town Book and You know the other day I'm working with my son who's a junior at Madding on and we were looking for a telephone number And I said to him go out and get me the town book to which he said what are you looking for dad? I gave him the name like in three seconds on the laptop. He had the information, right? I'll never get there. I will always be using Something like this but you know 50 years is a is a quite a period of time To have provided Quite a quality service to this community So we've asked the entire Russell family to be here with us tonight and to be represented by the president of the Russell group Mr. Tim Russell now Tim and I went to the junior high West together I know it's not odd us in middle school, but when the West was the best and the East was the least Tim was the outstanding athlete big most popular guy Dated the best-looking woman ended up marrying her and so we've been friends a long time, but Families and businesses are what the light blood of this community So on behalf of this board, and I thank them for this they have asked that I read this proclamation Now these proclamations are done in old English and they go back to colonial times when literally a town crier Would each day proclaim what had been determined by a board of selectmen or mayor or whatever the case may be So there's a lot of where as is now there for us So I'm gonna put you all to work. I do public proclamations When I point at you I want you all to say whereas and you better do it loud because I'm not beyond calling on people And I'll do the rest of it. All right, so here we go Nice in September 1964 Walter Russell with the love and support of his wife Catherine Started the Allenton guide and directory today. We celebrate the 50th anniversary of this occasion and Very good, their idea was a simple one give Allenton businesses an opportunity to promote themselves and provide a valuable resource for all residents and With Catherine sitting every evening hand copying and checking phone numbers for inclusion in the guide and Walter selling to all the local businesses. They published this guide for the next 20 years and Upon Walter's death in 1983 his son Tim became president for the next 30 years Under his leadership that someone's disagreeing is that one of your grandkids The company grew to be known as the Russell group and continued to provide this resource at no cost to all Arlington residents and Just one more after this hang in there in addition to advertisements and resident listings Tim and the Russell family include pertinent information on Arlington schools churches libraries and a directory of all town services and In this age of electronic communications many Still view this town book as a very valuable resource and the first place one consult for Arlington information The Russell group will be publishing their 51st edition in September of 2014 now Therefore be it resolved that we the members of the board of select men along with town manager and our administrator Do hereby congratulate Tim Russell the Russell family and the Russell group on Providing 50 years of valuable information to all Arlington citizens and businesses and thank them for their contributions as private citizens and business owners and Be it further resolved in recognition of this outstanding achievement as a family and business We do hereby declare this 13th day of January 2014 to be the Tim Russell Russell group and Arlington Town Book Day Throughout this town and ask all citizens near and far to pay heed there, too We don't have as big a circulation as the town book, but there are millions at home. Would you mind saying a few words? I'm obviously very very humbled by by this acknowledgement and I thank Kevin and the board of select men for Offering this to me and my family. I'm also humbled by seeing all of my Family on many of my family members here and friends. I Would just like to say my dad started this back in 64 as a supplement to his teaching salary He had eight kids to bring up he and my mother Catherine and He stayed with it for many many years until his passing and we We took it from there and thankfully Things have worked out very very well. So once again Thank you very very much I just want to say thank you I can tell what I first entered into Arlington as a parent I Grew here moved here when I was seven years old But the first time it became aware of the Russell book in the Arlington town book was as a parent It was a way for me to get connected with the schools about it. I considered Arlington's first Google Because and one of the things later on in life that I saw from this book that it was a book Published by a family that cares about the community because you hit every nail on the head my first introduction Raising my awareness of town meeting members, you know where to find my Baptist church and over the years I said somebody about this really cares and I do want to say you know every time I've run Starting from the beginning in 97 when I lost there were two things that were vital to me the true list and the town Book because if you took somebody else's town book and you had to do that lit drop And you couldn't find windmill or Oldham or you know coming from the east and we'll talk about the West is the best later But we can't show Fannie's but anyways But I really it's not just an Arlington It is an Arlington town book and it's a very valuable asset But I want to say it's a very community oriented asset And I want to thank the Russell family for doing that for 50 years and providing that for free You'd be hard-pressed to find any other family any other business that devoted to their community So I want to thank you personally for the many uses My two sons and my daughter all married they live in Arlington as well We have three generations now still living in Arlington going to Arlington public schools It's a wonderful place to bring up children with a great double-aid education public schools This is all I've known and I'm very happy for and leadership is awesome in the town too Sorry Thank you very much. Thank you all for coming We're gonna move on to the consent agenda For the consent agenda we have the minutes of the meetings for December 16th Move approval Reappointment of the Cyrus start Cyrus down art museum board of trustees member Geraldine trembling We have approval for the second annual bladder cancer awareness walk for May 3rd We have approval for the Arlington enrichment collaborative annual 5k fundraiser, which is April 27th And we have a request for hanging of banners in the Arlington Center for the Arlington Reads together program from our library Detector a director Ryan livergood. We have a motion of approval from mr. Greeley. Is there a second second second? Mrs. Mohan, just I just want to make sure that The hanging of banners in Arlington Center for the Arlington Reads together It's gonna be the same font and format as before because I know there were previous banners that were hung that several residents said You know, there's no way you could read them. So I'm assuming it's the same style same font It's my understanding. These are the same Arlington Reads banners. Yes, they've been hung in the past Any further discussion All those in favor, please say aye Five zero Before I go on to the next item, I did have one thing that I neglected to do at the beginning of the meeting Generally works better if you do a somber moment before you do your celebratory moments But there's a point that I neglected to mention, which is I think we should have a moment of silence for our passing of our town meeting member Dick Smith as our I know there's Memorial service or Memorial event for him this past weekend on and Dick and of course with his wife and by her side have been killers in this community They certainly, you know, they helped me get elected. They helped a lot of us up here get elected And they've been active members of the town for decades. So a moment for in memory of Dick Smith Thank you everyone Next up we have a Point we have the the byway committee now that we have approved The memorandum we need members on the committee. Yes Linda and her sister here just to say two words about the bladder cancer. Oh, I I very much apologize back up under the consent agenda I knew it. Could you please come on up and talk to us about your event? Well, I take back my affirmative vote I just wanted to thank everybody here. We had the walk last year. It was approved here It went well our mom died a little bit over a year ago So we did the walk in and may of last year to stop Massav to to this spot We have some great pictures and we want to do it again We raised a couple thousand dollars and it was terrific. So thank you for your support last year and for your support this year And Timoree, thank you This is on May 3rd You can I can doing early registration or anything like that or it's just it's show up and enjoy This is your this is your moment of platter cancer awareness walk on May 3rd 2014 We'll probably start around Forest Street and walk up and then back It's a very family-friendly event and there's some physicians at Mass General who want to become involved Who are treating patients with bladder cancer and possibly from the Brigham as well? And so we welcome people from all over but it's going to be on the becan Dot org site and it will be the Arlington Walk So it's the only walk in the Boston area But becan runs walks all around the United States. So Arlington is going to be doing a lot of good for this Disease which is a very common cancer. I think it's the 11th most common cancer killer of people And you don't really hear about it. So we really need to get awareness going and funds raised for research Thank you. Can I ask is it be can or be it's be Can and it's bladder cancer awareness network is what it stands for so We hope everyone will come out. It was a really beautiful day last year We had a lot of babies and kids and dogs and it was just a nice event To be out in Arlington and walking and getting support from people. So thank you. Thank you very much So we have a memorandum of understanding which has created the for the battle road scenic byway and we need to appoint members and Angela Olszewski and Howard Winkler I think we we know them both they've both been here but since it's a new appointment for this committee We do appreciate you're coming in so I know that you both have spent a lot of time on the Creating this byway committee. So you might as well just tell us where you are and where you're trying to Know what you're hoping is going to happen in the next couple years. I will start we have our report We know what we want to do what's preventing us from moving ahead is funding and The people at the Massachusetts area Planning Council are certainly Looking around for state and federal funds But they're right now things are very limited in terms of funding that's available But things do change and I'm always hopeful Thank you for volunteering Angela I don't have too much to add to what Howard said except you know We worked this fall the project was to get the MOU done so that we would have a formal structure and organization So we're glad to have that accomplished Questions from the board Is there a motion of Kevin? Yeah, most motion to approve second motion to approve and You know again and again both of you have stepped up for this community whether it's town meeting or the number of other committees that both of You have served on thank you so much for that. It's a big difference. Thank you for your support, of course Diane just one question Probably to Since it's not in this document I'm just thinking every time you set up boards and commissions and different areas that are in there That you're anticipating all your meetings will be public meetings and you won't need to have any executive session meetings We have never had an executive session. That's fine And then I want to just want to make sure I'm reading the language properly that it says Something to the effect. No one can serve more than two consecutive terms But then if there's a break and that person's really great. Can they come back and serve another two consecutive? It's just a way I don't think this has come up So we we approve this memorandum in a previous meeting I'm pretty sure and then and so it's really just we're a point But the memorandum permits us to a point up to three people and so this is us filling those seats Okay, well, I just want to leave it since you're here at the microphone. It's Article four No, number number three Just the way I'm reading it and it's not really said Implied or maybe I'm misreading it. No member can serve more than two consecutive terms Yes, I think that's speaking specifically in reference to the chair vice chair and secretary Right about not being able to serve for consecutive terms. But if you look at section three Paragraph label number one. I believe the board has the ability to reappoint for two-year renewable terms just for members of the committee Okay, I'll leave it at that. I'll let if it's case comes up. You guys will deal with it. Thank you. We'll figure it out. Thank you Is there so we have a motion from mr. Greeley? Is there a second? Any further questions from the board all those in favor, please say aye. Thank you very much. Thank you Next up Arlington cultural council appointment Frank Tadley mr. Tadley welcome You we've got your resume in front of us and we have that you were recommended by The Arlington cultural council to be appointed. Yes, you want to just tell us a little bit about yourself and what you want to do Well, I am a photographer a fine art photographer. I went to know him in school photography I also do a lot of art installations I had been till a recent injury the principal Installer of art at the Griffin Museum of photography I also happened to be the program coordinator of the senior association. So this lens is sort of Continuum of experience. I know a lot about art. I also know a lot about organizing things I also know about what happens when you try to put on a function So one of the things that really affects the cultural council is understanding how these grants work trying to find the best pathway for people and You know get the good art out into the community that makes it You know a successful venture Questions I must say I Just want to say I appreciate you stepping up and volunteering for this And I think it'll be a real asset your your connection with the seniors association kind of help help with our artistic, you know outreach to You know sectors of the community and and kind of open up some of the opportunities and right I mean one of the things that council is trying to do is make sure it reaches the greatest segment of the population all across the town It's interesting Peter. I hadn't seen the Peter Griffin Peter Griffin's a family friend of mine. Oh, yeah, and John Lawler is my uncle Oh, okay, it's always a small world. Yeah, exactly. So the Griffin Museum is a photography museum in Winchester I don't know if anyone has the opportunity to go there I know I'm gonna I'm gonna briefly sing the praises of something that's in Winchester But it is next to us and it's kind of not and there's actually nowhere out to eat And so after board meetings of the Griffin Museum, they come to Arlington for drinks and dinner So he's a very famous photographer in particular He Kodak gave him access to early color film that nobody else had that was like test run film And so all of the color photos of Ted Williams were done by him So there's an entire wing of the museum. That's like pictures of Ted Williams and other Red Sox things So We have a motion we have second any further questions or comments all those in favor, please say aye Thank you very much for volunteering. You're welcome. Thank you All right next up Citizens open forum Except in unusual circumstances any matter presented for consideration of the board shall neither be acted upon Nor decision-made the night of the presentation in accordance with the policy under which the open forum was established It should be noted There's a three-minute time limit present to present a concern or request is there anyone here who's here for citizens open forum I'm not seeing anybody Next up item six traffic rules and other business receipt and authorizes Authorization to negotiate RFP space at Parmenter school. Mr. Towne manager. Thank you, mr. Chair. So the board May recall that last fall The board both reviewed and approved an RFP for the space at the Parmenter school So this agenda item is really asking or providing and asking for two things Providing the board with the responses that were received to that RFP and then asking for authorization from the board For the town manager to work with town council and also the management analyst Mike Bowden to negotiate Final leases with the two bidders and then bring back leases for the board to execute as the landlords for the property so as you can see in the memo that was provided by Mike Bowden the two current tenants were the only two bidders So the Arlington Childhood Center and International School of Boston were the only two bidders for the space However, they both came in with financial bids that were higher than the minimum bid prices that we'd set So they financially did better for the town than what we were asking and as we required They both met with the new capital contribution that was included as part of the lease You can see in the materials provided that one of the bidders Requested a small amount of changes to the model lease and one of the bidders requested a large number of changes to the model lease With most of those changes being focused on the fact that there is a capital contribution now being paid and them wanting Assurances about how that capital contribution will be spent in the role. They'll play in deciding what investment is made in the building So we'll of course negotiate if authorized by the board in the best interest of the town and Happy to answer any questions the board has in regards to that matter So I went through I made a number of notes But I think there's just one primarily that I'm interested in the tenant who requested that the greatest number of changes had actually Made a request around the offer to extend It is on page three of the well, I'm looking at page three of the Marked up the red line model contract Offer to extend section four Yep, I just want to ensure I It doesn't look like this is going to restrict our rights because I think we were very clear on our discussion here that we wanted to make sure that any lease that's that's closed would Be Extended for that additional five-year period only by mutual Mutual consent. Yeah, it doesn't look like this impacts that but I just want to make sure because I'm That we did take out a one of the bullets around consideration I'll make sure that the board's original intention is maintained anything Kevin yes, I move that we authorize the town manager to move forward and to bring us the final offers Second motion by Kevin second by Joe Diane If I could just indulge The town manager just because I'm always challenged by charts and things In this may not apply I'm on page five section seven Yes, so two pages from where mr. Carroll just referenced in section seven a the two Numerical figures do they Correlate coincide With any of the figures you've given us in this graph or is it two completely different entities? And they may not I just I'm not well versed with these documents So like can I find the one thirty nine four sixty and the eleven six twenty one point sixty seven? It's that contained in this graph that we have here or is this graph? completely different reference point Yeah, I Just gave I apologize. I tried to help out. I think I made things confusing Diane's actually in the first lease and I thought she was in the second. Oh, yeah, I was the one who said the wrong I think I'm looking at the right one you read you said one thirty nine four sixty right. I'm just wondering So if you go to these figures correlate to anything with what we have in this graph that was given to us Or is this two different animals? So if you go You're looking at that so if you if you're at the top line the space a comparison correct and you look at fy 2015 and you go over to International School of Boston proposed bid Annual gross rent matches the one thirty nine four sixty. Okay. Thank you We're not showing the math of the monthly that they have there. Okay, but we are demonstrating the gross It should it should tie out so that the eleven six twenty one correct comes to okay It's just I saw the one and not the other and that's because I'm not well-versed with this. Thank you for Apologize I Guess I had one question which was and maybe you don't want to answer this for negotiating purposes in a public meeting But I'll try it and you can decide so I read the Changes and I didn't see anything that set off any red flags for me Is did was there anything in particular that you're concerned or you said like I look at some of these I'm saying well, I'm sure that this will wash back and forth a little bit in the debate And we'll come out in a fine place, but there's nothing. I said wow They're asking for something that I don't think is reasonable or I don't feel comfortable with Was there anything of that level of distress for you not for me? I had the same reaction that you did okay Any further discussion all those in favor of the motion by mr. Really second by mr. Currow to Permit the town manager to negotiate these leases. Please say aye opposed Five zero Thank you Next up study economic impact of Arlington's theater mr. Fields Thank You mr. Chair on the board for allowing me to present some key findings to you from a Recently commissioned report On behalf of the planning department Conducted by Cambridge economic research Entitled the economic impacts of Arlington's theaters as you well know Arlington has two theaters the capital in the region Which have anchored vibrant business districts for nearly a hundred years? They are both flagship and gateway businesses their flagship businesses because they have large impact on surrounding businesses and They're also gateway businesses because they bring in large numbers of people from outside of town Where they not only patronize the theaters, but surrounding businesses In terms of numbers the two theaters bring in about 200,000 people every year 120,000 of those people come from outside of town The region alone for example this past Christmas week from the 26th to the 31st of December Hosted 4,000 patrons for their shows These people spend heavily In Arlington businesses besides the theaters annually they spend 2.4 million dollars and Outside or people from outside of town are counted account for 1.6 million dollars of that spending on average The theater patron spends forty five dollars Regular theater goer five goes five or more times a year spends nearly sixty dollars And folks coming from outside of town To go to the theater spend about 108 dollars on average These theaters have a tremendous impact on surrounding businesses you can imagine Businesses near the theaters Attribute 10 to 15 percent of their total sales on theater patrons coming into their stores either before or afterwards And three quarters of neighboring businesses experience higher sales when the theaters show popular shows or events The really good thing about these two theaters is that they serve complimentary clientele. They don't really compete for clients For example the capital serves mainly local residents and residents from nearby communities Who are regular theater goers? Whereas the region draws from a wider array of folks from outside of 495 or Kind of between 128 and 495 So and they're serving a wide age range of clientele From children to teens to seniors and baby boomers They besides their business effects they have a more esoteric effect on the town's image by offering rich high-quality cultural entertainment That they really enhance the town's Perception as a unique interesting place to visit and to to be in And the last but certainly not least is these two theaters hire a large number of people especially young people in some entry-level jobs as well as some higher-level jobs and Just to quickly Give you some quotes from the survey respondents The Regent is a great attraction that brings people to Arlington from all over the region It's you have a charming town and we will return. That's from a first-time visitor from Hingham Who spent a hundred twenty dollars in town? Another the capital theater is integral to Arlington and is the backbone of the East Arlington business district And that was from three people from Arlington who just spent a hundred dollars in East Arlington and then The theater unnamed is the lure for us to spend money at local businesses That's from a person from East Boston Who had just spent $20 at a local business that wasn't one of the theaters? And then finally this is a lovely town We ate in a very nice restaurant only because we came here for a show That was a party of three from marble head that had just spent $90 at a local restaurant So these theaters are the theater sector in general is very important to town And we had heard that anecdotally over a number of years the Planning Department commissioned this study to get a handle on Exactly how important This sector was to the town's economy and these are some of the results Was Steve first No, here's him. His hand was up when I waved at you, Mr. Chairman. So Just a couple of questions that I may thank you for this information when you were quoting the $60 average spending a hundred eight dollars That was in the theater or that's in Arlington that's in Arlington that was out. Yeah, that was They the average is reflect about $12 for a theater ticket and then the rest of the spending was outside of the theater and It does the region to have more out-of-town visitors than the capital. Yes, that's correct. Yes, they do they do and I guess my life. What do we do with us? Do we? Force a theater into Arlington Heights What what do we now do with this information it's interesting it is very interesting I think it really highlights the importance of the arts and entertainment and cultural sector of the town's economy and Certainly we are Interested in having those type of businesses come into town and occupy vacant commercial spaces where possible and we are certainly cognizant of some of the comments we receive from the These types of businesses in terms of other studies are doing such as the parking study for Arlington Center You know, we've gotten several comments from Arts and cultural institutions like the theaters that they need dependable parking as well as parking that's longer than two hours in duration Because a lot of movies are longer than two hours where people want to go to a show and then dine out or shop afterwards or before They need longer term parking than the two hours offered in many places Would we therefore? Now look at the economic impact of Chinese restaurants in Arlington the economic impact of Funeral homes. I'm not trying to be fresh and desert. We certainly are At the planning department level we are certainly looking at Some of the major employers in town from some of the Econometric data we're gathering as part of the master plan process and we're targeting sectors That we think our growth sectors for the future or who are very important employers now We'd like to learn some more facts about them and their effect on the town's businesses So we will be looking to do similar types of studies in-house in the future for either Emerging growth sectors of the economy or important employment sectors Thank you Steve Thank you, and I appreciate Kevin's comments I think mine might echo his a little bit first is that I if in this study I would have liked to see the friends of the drama involved. I think If you're gonna do a conclusive study of You know all the theaters in town they they should have been involved I guess I'm also just a bit confused what you're gonna do with this data now You know you have all these numbers and well I think you know that they show that the region and the capital are two of our Marquis places in town and I I don't think that's and I hate to say like this That's not earth-shattering information for us. We knew that they are you know these are Why we know that a lot of people come to the town for the region and the capital and I guess What are the next steps with this you know analysis that you have? Well, I think it's certainly Beneficial to get a greater depth of knowledge about things that seem pretty obvious on the surface And learn to the depth to which they affect local businesses and it will help us in the future to inform policy makers such as yourselves about Emerging economic development trends or economic development issues if we can catalog the various impacts local businesses have And it really helps us to develop an understanding of how Local in local businesses impact each other and how outside events Impact local businesses and it turns the town's economy as a whole So we're really doing this to get a better understanding of the town's economy and how we can inform Policy makers such as yourselves of the town manager and town meeting members in a better way And when you look at you know you talk about looking at the arts You know, I guess industry in general and you want to bring in you know businesses in You know that field into our vacant spaces I mean how do you see like you know that you we see that the cap on the region, you know really? Thrive, you know help our economy to thrive. What are you like? What do you foresee in our vacant spaces having to do with this? well, it's we'd like to know What sort of businesses would be beneficial for us to possibly try to attract into town We'd like to try to attract businesses that have growth potential or that could have large impacts on existing businesses in town Now do you have any, you know? Like a framework for a type of business, you know that you would like to see well this study we this study helps Underline in our mind that the arts and creative sectors That are emerging especially in the capital square area our can be important businesses in town that have beneficial effects And the town's employment base and the town's economic base and so You know, this is a new area for the planning department economic development economic development planning Part so what this study is helping us to? Develop a groundwork of knowledge that will help us Do effective economic development planning in the future so we know which businesses will are most beneficial To a town like Arlington and they can really help us in the future Which might be beneficial to try to attract into town if that's the direction that the policy makers in town want to move forward with one final thing and If one thing I would have really also like to see in the study is I know you can you know force the People that you ask on the street to say anything in particular, but I would have liked to see You know more a little bit more criticism. I think to show, you know, what we could work on As opposed to you know, a lot of you know friendly statements about sure, you know, I do have some selected Criticisms if you will no, I saw those on the back I just thought that in general the whole report was you know a real feel-good report Which is nice in that's important as well But I think that with criticism you can do a little that's noted. Yes. Thank you. Good point Either the town manager or Mr. Fields said Approximately how much should we pay for this particular study and the reason why I asked this is when? town manager proposed Various positions recycling coordinator and things like that along with an economic development officer one of the sort of caveats are Positive benefits was that we would have instead of doing everything piecemeal and putting things out to consultants that we would have that person in house working with our planning department and I And the rest of my colleagues we need to sell Everything that we do through our town departments, and I can just tell you looking at this from first blush I'm really wary of with the exception of construction projects to me Boom you're getting consultants on that but when we put things out to study similar to what my colleagues have said this report Well first I didn't let you answer how much we paid for this I don't want to quote you the wrong figure. So I can't quote a figure unless Ted knows a figure off It was around ten thousand dollars And then it's kind of like Just looking at the goal of this. I would say for future studies that we can't do in-house, but that's kind of why we Went down having an in-house economic development person that Similar to what my colleagues have already said mr. Burn and mr. Greeley I was trying you know you said some of the things that you were looking for in the report We're doing in the master planning study for East of the center so that kind of to me makes this document will move It's kind of like I quit equivalent to every time we go off for a study We're doing it because we have a goal and I don't want to study being done just to as you said We are already knew this, but it's nice to see it in print. I'd rather not do those kind of studies It's kind of like you gave me a study that says I only can get snow and I only can get snow in Arlington That we're running out of places to put it And then you stop there. It's like yeah, I know that I didn't need to study for that But if you do a study on that topic and then it says You know we identified this is your problem. Here's a solution. So basically To me can we be more careful in the future in terms of and I'm not saying we shouldn't have Consultants and do studies, but you know, I don't know that I could really defend this Even though it's only ten thousand dollars, you know when you're talking about you know Use your fees at the high school and you're talking about you know senior citizens who will want to rent this See, you know town-owned offices who used to get it for free and now they have to pay 25 or whatever it is There's a new proposal to them ten thousands a lot and I don't justify this So if we could just be a little more cautious in the future and sort of I Mean those are my comments I'm not saying because I'm agreeing mr. Really mr. Burn that they share those but I really want a sort of a Process that when we do have a study that we can't do it in-house But the economic developer and the redeveloped planning department and that it has a goal Yeah, no, I think we can certainly take that into consideration absolutely Joe, thank you I mean, I think my colleagues have raised some valid points But I'd like to actually speak to the study itself that we do have in front of us and how we might actually Take advantage of it. I found a few things in this actually Interesting Some of the the information in here about how many times patrons have actually come previously The case of capital was an average of 4.2 the region it was 2.6 and the the patrons who were surveyed 98% of those who were surveyed said that they had intended to come back to shop shop and eat I could see a few ways that we could leverage this and some of these do Do speak directly to what we as a board are going to have to grapple with I think the mr. Fields addressed one of them. I know the manager and I were at the the open house for the for the Center traffic parking study there the night and we heard a lot of the needs around the The theaters and I've been hearing this as well in the center around some of the issues some of the confusion in the parking garage the way some of our regulations are out of sync with what is actually brought in and how some larger Longer run shows could be could be a potential if we could solve some of the issues some of them have been brought to us and have been referred to tack like The issue of placements of bus stops and drop-offs and things like that those will be issues that we'll have to deal with I Would see something like this now that we we have it being used in some of our outreach not even necessarily To the the creative The creative economy but also other businesses that are looking to potentially locate here because what I'm seeing is Some data in here about the spin-off effects for other businesses. I know you've done one round of outreach with Your incubation correct workshop and such and I understand that's potentially bearing some fruit up in the heights You know I'd hope that we would do some more general Outreach for businesses and potentially looking to locate Inter vacant properties and that this might be the type of thing that we could give them to say that this is a potential benefit to your Business choosing Arlington coming here. So we have it. We should use this to the to the greatest extent possible the other The chart oh could I ask you a question sure sure sure but where it's limited to only theaters It's only a theater that we would use this study for to say I don't think so because it's actually a lot of the report is actually talking about the spin-off effects on retail and Restaurants and it's breaking it down with The impact on businesses that are open only until six the impact on businesses that are open after six There is there is a lot of that type of data in here and that the average spend at the at the restaurants as well So I think that that's When I think of when we set, you know economic development in Arlington and when we look at it As well as what's in here and what's not in here We rarely have three areas We have our only only industrial zone up by Gold's gym, right? Then we have what I'll call East Arlington offshoot Warren Broadway, and then we have summer Street All right, I I don't see anything in here that would be an effective tool to lure a and I'm not making this as a critique on you I'm just saying you know if I had some kind of document like that in the future that says I've looked at your industrial zone Because I remember years ago when I became a select man I went out to flag companies, you know, then it was filings now It's Macy's and baby gap and things like that and they said I said how can we get you to how can we get you to the industrial zone? And one of the biggest complaints we're hearing about the theaters is no parking and that's going to continue to be a challenge with the exception of the Industrial zone so if you could in the future what I was always told was you go out to flag companies You say hey, there's a way the town can contribute one third of the cost and we'll build your design You pay two third so I don't I don't think in the areas that what Joe's saying is ideal I don't think in the three areas that we have No, I just was trying to wonder where okay, I didn't see where I was going. I thank you So last thing I found that was interesting here that I think as interesting as we as we look at the whole town I think to one of the things that Mr. Greeley asked about sectors looking at sectors is on Section three in the data analysis. There is a breakdown here of the change of Businesses and jobs bite by sector here. It's although the numbers the raw numbers are small I thought it was interesting to see that the from 2001 to 2012 The percent change in number of businesses that have been created 62% for arts recreate entertainment recreation was the largest of any of the sectors in here and the The job growth was was the second second largest It's just an interesting trend. It's something that we should understand this should be plowed back into the master plan as well sure that it will be but That to me is helpful on understanding the town. I think we could argue whether it's $10,000 help worth helpful, but It's it's a useful data point for me I definitely had some thoughts myself, and I'll ask if anyone else wants to try to go again So I learned a lot reading this report. I thought it was very interesting I will say that some of the stuff that I hadn't I definitely knew that the capital drove traffic downtown and drove traffic and drew business downtown I had not at all appreciated the role of the region. I had not appreciated how much money that it brings in I was pretty stunned when I got to Page 22 where I learned how much more money actually comes in from the region than the capital because the capital essentially gets so much more Visibility because the number of people but the per capita the per capita spending was so much higher for the region that I was I found that quite interesting So I really I thought this was a very interesting report As far as the meta question about whether or not we can defend this report I personally think that I am delighted that we did it and I encourage You and the manager of the planning department to continue to do Investigation along these lines. I think about the data that we got here And I think about how it's going to impact our decision-making going down the road the question is like so It's a number of my colleagues have what are we going to do with this? What's the next step? And I think about the decisions that we're making in the master plan Those are best informed by data rather than anecdotes I think about the decision that we're making about what we should do with our parking and like what our parking meter should Look like and what that is. I think that those are going to that's going to be informed by this I think about decisions that we make is a board about what are the hours of operation What should when should restaurants be permitted to be open? When should they not be open? We periodically get we're very dense town and as we all know we get people who come up and they say to us and they say You know this particular business is causing me this problem or this particular resident area is causing me this problem My question is why do we permit these businesses to act in ways that definitely in some ways impact neighborhoods? And the answer is because they drive this significant economic activity, and that's why we make the compromises that we do And I think about like when we want to position the town to other bodies Whether they're to other businesses or whether they're neighboring towns or anything like that I think that this particular document really helps us do that So to me this is gold and I think of this as $10,000 for this. I think is money well spent I Will make So now having given that rant I will now move on to so one thing that did come up a couple times in this document But I think bears further exploration and I would encourage you in the planning department to look into Both vacancy rates and turnover rates I think it would be good to have those quantified so that we know when better when we're doing well and when we're Doing poorly because obviously businesses turn over in town. We see some of the same spaces turning Yeah, so just future project on that one. Yes, so I suspect that I will have generated reaction Mrs. Mahan I know way wanted to say that get the gathering of this information isn't useful is isn't something that I Don't want to preclude the planning department the redevelopment board in the economic Developer from doing this. That was the whole mission and goal. I want them to gather data like that what I'm saying is I Just want money more well spent I I know and firmly believe that we have the expertise in the planning department At junk to redevelopment board and with the additional position that I can see that being able to gather this data The fact that it was a $10,000 study doesn't tell me that it was a huge mammoth task So I'm just saying going forward in the future I do want the planning department and Mr. Field and others to do that And also with the caveat that when the task is so great and along with the town manager You do need an outside study. That's fine. But so I know I want to say you shouldn't be doing this I think you should Kevin no, I would never At some point Well, no, you and Joe have helped me to look at this definitely as did Mr. Fields comments in in terms of how the state it could be used. My point is it's on two theaters It's in two businesses of the town. Yeah, we didn't know we have a parking problem in this town before the study We don't have that quantified in other ways. I'd much rather understand why we've lost 60% Of the jobs in manufacturing 24% in retail trade 18% in real estate this study tells me if you open a theater Good for you No one's gonna. I don't believe anybody's gonna open another theater in Arlington. I think Steven's point was outstanding Why wasn't you know the friends of the drama included in this study as well certainly a theater and For that matter in many ways even down at the east The number of arts council, etc. You know, but so anyhow, I'm just saying Are we gonna do this for Chinese restaurants? Are we gonna do this for a few new homes? Are we gonna do this for some but you you've helped me see I just you know, your point is well taken I'm wondering about next steps what we do with it anybody else and I want to move receipt Very very quickly I appreciate all of the board members feedback And I think it'd be very clear from what you've all said that a little upfront Discussion about this before collecting the data and presenting the report would have been a benefit to all of us So there was a clear understanding of what we were trying to do With that said I think a larger context in thinking about why we would make this investment and why we would do this is important Community theaters in this area and probably across the country though I can't say that it's confidently are closing a lot of communities would die to have a theater in town That's not a low is there a show case, you know, that's that's on a route nine or something like that place You can walk to with your family or drive down the street and go to your family. So Quantifying like the chairman said not not just having an anecdote that it's a nice place to go But having data that they are true economic engines that are unique economic engines They're not restaurants. They're not retail shops retail shops don't bring people in to go eat our theater does do that I think or bring somebody in to see a show that might buy a gift for their family and go to dinner So they are a unique attraction and quantifying What they mean for the economy is very important and I think the biggest part for me in the immediate future is the board in the next probably six months to a year is going to be asked to consider what are most likely some Significant changes in parking policy for the downtown or the Arlington Center area and Having this be a big piece of that and understanding what the economic impacts of making policies that I don't want to say favor Theater but take into account the economic importance of the theater will be important for the board to have that and not just be Dealing an anecdote but rather in data. So again, I say everything you've said it certainly Shows that we should have had the discussion more up front, but I do think there's a great value in the work that we did Just a quick question for Adam when I Understand your points and I do appreciate you're not Suggesting that there would be some sort of public assistance if our theaters Started to you know not do so well financially and came on the brink of potentially closing I'm no if I said anything like that. No, I didn't mean that. No, I just want to make sure. Thank you We have a motion and a second any further discussion. Thank you for that lively conversation All those in favor, please say aye. Aye Opposed five zero we have received. Thank you very much. Thank you very much All right next Russian back to us We have a for approval from the Transportation Advisory Committee Signs to be changed Lowell Street How do you want to handle this? Mr. Chairman? Do you want to table it or do you feel that we can act upon it? I think that so I personally I'm ready to act on it if The board is ready to act then let us do so if someone wishes to wait for a better time I would they should make that motion Any further discussion all those in favor, please say aye Next up Bow Street recommendations So we had correspondence received and the gentleman came and spoke to us about the problems on Bow Street We referred that to Officer tow through the town manager. He came back with the recommendation the town manager is saying now Let's refer that recommendation back to tack because that would end parking on Bow Street and The that's an old memo. Oh, is it? Oh So the end result you'd like as a referral to tack is that correct? So I'm sorry. This is the memo. I had sent to the board when the originally email originally came in Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah, okay recommendation. I think it's the last line. I was confused. I apologize I I had them in different time order. So we have a recommendation from officer a tow which is to post no parking signs on Bow Street Can I just yes? I Did go out because we're all gonna not shoot a thousand times, but When you go out with the purpose, it's differently. So I did go out and then happened to come upon officer tow in The selectance office catching up on business and when I went out there as he says it's two yellow stripes Similar to Lake Street. I would call it Very narrow at the top end of bow. So where you're at Downing Square on the left in the right There are either three or four no parking signs And then once you hit there's a business in there with a big driveway I forget what it is the no park. So there already is no parking on the upper end and I The person who came in was saying, you know, they've had their car out there and they've Lost a couple of mirrors and I've been down there and it's amazing how much for road rage Like if I go down, I'll stop and let the other person go even if I got there first I don't care, but I've had a had people beat the crap out of me from behind and I've seen people play chicken like that so We really can't resolve the problem of him losing mirrors on that road because of the way it's made up and how it's used You know, like my Howard Street doesn't have two yellow lines down it. So Unfortunately, you know, this is the end result But we did ask officer tow in the police department to look at it And I think he's just saying continue on with the no parking signs that already exist at the what I'm calling the upper end So Thank you Any further discussion? We also don't have a motion on the floor yet Well The gentleman who was before us does he know this is Corey's recommendation Marie Dean was Mr. Lockwood notified of tonight's meeting Can I speak to that? Right. No, um, he Jeff Boudreau, I believe his name is emailed me on Friday When and how could you get a copy of the report and I told him it's available first thing Monday morning And I gave Mrs. Kruppalka's email phone number and I said or because they had already prepared a copy of it You can go down to the town hall yourself and he said, you know, you can respond about thank you very much I'm not saying I didn't say he had to do that, but I told him if you still want the report Mr. Rockwood Quite ready to make a motion Just I think we're in an unfortunate situation from this memo where It really is illegal to park on that that street as it stands now. And so just the question before us is do we post it but do we not do we not post it and Just to that point of fact We we asked the police department and we're trying to take issues on that tech does not have to deal with And we asked the police department to look look at this and I'm not being sarcastic I'm just trying to get you to a place to investigate it and to give us their Recommendations which are based on law so to me our job is already defined. I don't I don't know if we have much choice I mean other than how much we want to know what this is Yeah, it's classic of another issue kind of like the Pandora's box issue that we've had that Something gets open and we looked at at it. You now have to take an action that Maybe not my opponent did not like so I guess I Would say that I think I feel like we still do have a choice Because the law is that you can't park and obstruct the law the road the law isn't we have to post signs Yeah, so At least as far as I understand the law so I I feel like we still have the for we have freedom to act I but in my mind I still have freedom to act I am torn I think in the same way that others of this board are is that the gentleman said could we please have my Car mirrors not be knocked off and our answer is potentially well Don't park your car on the street, which is not the most helpful answer But even if it's sometimes it's the right one, so that's where you know, it's it's It's a delivering bad news one way or the other Because I don't in none of thing that I'm here and none of us I don't think as a solution that actually solves his mirrors and keeps him parking on the street And and Calvin's wife. I'm getting a ticket for parking. Yes I think you said why So Let's step into the deep end here. I move that we we place no parking signs as recommended by officer return second For the discussion All those in favor, please say aye. Aye opposed. I'm opposed For one next up vote to reaffirm human rights resolution Steve Thank you, Mr. Chairman so a few meetings ago I Was appointed by My colleagues to the response coordination as the response coordination team liaison which I'm a role. Mr. Kiro formally had and we had our first meeting the last week I believe last week or two weeks ago and It was myself chief Ryan Superintendent Bodie Joan Roman the town's public information officer Nancy Rhodes from the human rights Commission Bonnie who? Bonnie from vision 2020 David Swing the pastor at High Rock and Reverend Christine Elliott from the Calvary Church and As you know, it was my first meeting with the group and I was really impressed by the work that the Group has done thus far. They've Thankfully they have not had to been used very often and when we hope that in the future We still don't have to be used, but it's certainly an asset to the town that many people are unaware of It's we I think we see the the committee's role as I Want to say communicating with the public, you know with with the group if an event happened I would like to you know, I think it would be an event like the Westboro Baptist Church in the town or a group like that That this team would be ready to form a response and get it out to the public As quickly as possible and on top of that also I think it will provide a support system to those affected and I was really happy to be able to join this group and Where we decided to ask the board of selectmen as well as the school committee to take a vote to reaffirm You know, they're positive feelings and support toward this group and just know that while you may not see us We are there and we are Ready to respond if need be So with that, I hope that she will join us to be in a vote of support Second discussion Yeah, I would just say yeah, this this I believe is the exact same resolution that has been that has been Endorsed in the past by the Board of Select and the school committee. So that's just a reaffirmation Correct So I my comment is I have the two things about this process that I really think are The make it so easy for me to support it and why I'm so proud that we have it in town And the first is the clarity that it gives because human rights violations can be murky and they can be there can be There's black and there's white and there's gray and the fact that you can give a Set of information to a set of people and have them help sort through that in a rational way I think is incredibly important. So the clarity that they're the center of that Conversation the second thing that I think it makes it so powerful is the flexibility that they have and what their response is Because it is not, you know, there isn't black and white in many of these situations And so there's different community responses that are sometimes there's only a response to committee Sometimes it's responsive different groups. I think I think it's a very powerful group. So just one fun thing I will I was Incred this is not a field that I've Really worked in depth in prior to this and I was incredibly impressed by the work that was done prior To myself joining the committee. They they really know what they're doing. It's you know, like when we talk about tack We say we're lucky to have, you know, real true professionals who are devoted to, you know, a cause in town And that's how I feel about this group and you know in certain circumstances They might not get the recognition they deserve, but they are certainly an asset to our our linkedin Any further discussion? Next up Mr. Currow Anybody want to talk about the creative economy anymore? Yeah, I'm what I'm asking this evening is is simply Cognizant of the deadline that we have upon us to place warrant articles Articles on the warrant. I'm asking for the board support to place two two articles on the warrant Which I think we can discuss further the first one is a Bilem and just simply creates an honorary position of poet laureate of the town of Arlington and the genesis of this was a Conversation I actually had with the library director. Mr. Livergood in the in the summer and we were discussing this and I was asking whether he knew of any other communities that had this he said, I don't know He said let me think about it and a number of months later. He came back. He said, you know, Joe I think it's a I think it's a great idea And he had actually researched it and found a number of other communities including West Tisbury that have done this generally It's an uncompensated honorary position Something a little more substantial than our measure of wooden bark, but but it actually With a proper screening process that usually would would In a typical implementation would involve, you know, library officials and maybe somebody from the schools English department What not gives an opportunity to highlight? You know for a year, you know one of our literary Artists and I think we all know that the long legacy over the last few years of actions this board has taken Tom meeting has taken to support the visual public arts through zoning through the through legislation on a Funding repository actions of sport has taken for the public arts. These two are actually I Want to take them one at a time, but they're they're actually looking to further the Profile if you will the literary arts that we have here. We have so many You know poets and and authors who call aren't in their home as well as the performing arts I Want to thank mr. Heim because he's sat and worked with me, and I think as we get into this we may want to have a discussion When we come closer to hearing time about what is appropriately a town meeting Action what what could be just a policy of the board are done by the board this evening I'm just asking to get this on the warrants so that we can have that discussion And keep our options open So if I could take them separately, I'll get a little deeper into the public music one But if I could ask for the board's support to add to the warrant The the first proposed article by law amendment for a poet laureate. Is there a second? I'll second. I mean personally But I believe any selectman wants a warrant article Looks like we should have that one article Can I ask what a poet laureate would do a poet? What is typically done the poet laureate in other communities Over the course of their term, which is generally one to three years They might you know with the permission of the moderator present at the opening of town meetings something that they've They've composed for the town of Arlington or they might present at public meetings or Make themselves available to the schools Or make a piece of work available for the annual report. That's that's emblematic of the town and that's that's an honor of the town And I would envision this as an honorary uncompensated position so I agree with mr. Greeley that if a selectman wants a proposed warrant article, we're not indicating whether we're gonna Um, prove it or not What I want to say say right now is I want you to speak as long as you want to but I think we're gonna Be duplicating ourselves because yeah, the process that we normally have is you know I definitely want to put these on and definitely want a brief explanation But what I'm used to and I don't know if it's you know New to that chair or new to that chair is with every warrant article Even if it comes from a select man because I we've all done ourselves that you know We really don't have the in-depth discussion until great the proponent has spoken to the town council He has a comment on each article from what I understand the proponent is seeking to and Appointing authority would be and whether this is a town meeting thing or perhaps It's a select man policy and then we have that really in-depth discussion because I don't want anyone You know, but I'm definitely supporting putting both these Well, thank you because I did have that not having gone through this before you know I had done some work more in-depth than I discussed it with council I actually I asked the advice of the town manager so that we weren't we weren't Conferring and we we realized that could be a problem So I do have some more work that I can bring forth at the appropriate moment around these So I don't know maybe is it in in order for me to just move to place both of these articles on the warrant At the risk of getting into more in-depth discussion we have a very short one-line By-law which says public music on public ways is prohibited Except by permission of the board of selectmen with no other framework around it And it only addresses music and no other performing arts and with some things coming down the pike including The performing arts terraced by the information booth and some of the requests we've been getting around first Fridays and And block parties and such I think I was hoping we could put some framework around it either through by-law or by-law with Policies of this board, and it would stay with the board Just taking the opportunity on that Whatever the town manager and town council do in terms of their management style But similar to what mr. Greeley just said and what mr. Curel just said what we've gotten in the past is you know the understanding this is the goal This is what is in the current law and then town council would usually say something to the effect of I agree with the proponent there's missing language or I Think it's redundant that it also appears here, but it's up to the board So if you could just work out sort of what your management style is reporting to the board It may be a different way. We're you know, I've been used to one way So whatever way, you know Works best for you man. Just a second that I don't think the intention here is to change the past practice with respect to developing a report that Includes some comment and it's helpful for the Board of Selecting and considering what they want to do both adhering at town meeting all of this like me here are very gracious and supportive of one another and putting town warrant articles on but Technically speaking you wouldn't necessarily have to be that gracious and could decide that you didn't want Something to be as submitted by the Board of Selecting So that's the purpose of voting to merely place the warrant article as proposed Mr.. Kirk currow on the warrant as Basically inserted at the request of the Board of Selecting and my thing is until we get the meat of the pie And we know what the especially on the second warrant article and get your opinion on it Whether the law and I'm not saying it isn't because I haven't done any research on it Whether what we have yet in the town by law needs to be supplemented edited or whatever I Understand my approval to say yes, we accept these they will appear as proposed warrant articles You'll sit down give your initial evaluation. We'll have the public hearing discussion and that's when we vote up and down I'm I believe my vote isn't correct me if I'm wrong not necessarily that I'm supporting both of these I'm supporting that he doesn't have to go out and pretend registered We have a motion on the floor to put them on the wall put these articles as written That's that's correct. Yeah Steve I apologize. I called on you and then the conversation Happens don't worry First I like the idea of the Lord, I think that Well that what you touched on we are you know missing the literature of the arts to a certain extent in our recognition and I think that's a creative idea I Like that you mentioned potentially doing it as a policy change. I think As opposed to a by-law change, I think that could work But either way, I think it's a cool proposal that I will support and and with the second article with public music I read through the by-law today and I You know while I do I can see why how this could be appropriate. It's a little more Accepting I think to you know the use of public music in town and I think it's kind of lightens up the Current language. I don't know if it will actually change the status quo at all I think that it will still you know could that will still come before How I took it at least is that it would still you know any you know type of Would still have to approve anything before it comes to town So I think that if that's how I read it that it would just lighten up You know the current tone of it and it's that would you think as well at the risk of trying to avoid getting into the substance I just want to tell you what I've shared with Town council and ask for his assistance with which I hope that at a hearing time We can bring forward as either either a recommendation for a recommended vote of this board or a recommendation for recommended policy of this board as the board sees fit We've looked at At least three other communities in Massachusetts and tried to synthesize Ordinances and bylaws that they they have on the books which just provides a better framework because right now when we get these requests I don't know that we have a specific policy. We do them pretty much on an ad hoc basis So this is to Hopefully by by adding some framework or well, it seems more regulatory It'll actually also send the message that we've thought about this That's the intent any further discussion all those in favor, please say aye Next up, thank you. Thank you, Joe. I'm manager of Vacation Carrier request So Adam I've got a question for you. Yeah, this is channeling my former Fincom days and all that good stuff so we I know on the in Fincom we were we pushed departments and department heads to To essentially not permit these requests to excess too because that we don't want to it's bad For us, it's difficult for us to financially manage having large numbers on the books Correct and stuff like that And so I just wanted to ask is this like 20 days in total or is this 20 days additional this year? Or where are you and what are your thoughts on all that? So that's it's 20 days in my first contract here Even a further step back Contractually there is an allowance to carry over 10 days without the boards approval So in the end of the first contract year, I had 10 days left So I carried that over with the 20 days that I earn over the course of the year So with what I use between Vacation and personal time this year. I believe I still had 21 days in that queue So this would roll over those 20 into 2014 while still being awarded 20 days in 2014, okay, so your total Included bank is 20. It's not like 20 plus a previous number So well, no, it would be it would be the previous number is 20 plus the 20 that would be awarded this year I'm sorry. I meant like there's only 20 aged. Yes, correct. That is correct So I will support the motion, but I will say that I'm gonna be It like next year come next year. I'm like if I see a request for 40. I'm probably gonna go no Which is which is another way of saying I'm in Encouraging you to take vacations. I know that you do we get memos when you do but at the same time There's a certain element of this that I think is use it or lose it Yep, so I think that this number is healthy. I'm totally in favor of it I'm just talking about the future Can I just say Finance committee in town meeting in town meeting for all other employees that we have to do the same standard That this is the exception and not the norm Maybe you may come up again. I'm not gonna say it's never gonna come up again But I you said it better than I think doing it limited, but numbers is appropriate doing it like, you know The days of banking 400 days and then paying them out of the Pretty cool if you stuck around Anyway Ready for the discussion because it's because of who he is I support this but I I'm also leery. I mean, this is a month, you know, five days a week 20 days. That's four weeks This town would die with you gone a month. I could take over don't misunderstand But so but just You if you do take vacation, you're very clear who's left in charge You let us know about it well in advance, but yeah at carrying over 20 days Since you will be in this job another 30 years that would mean 600 days you'd be owned by the end of your career Because it's out of my and the hits keep coming Any further discussion? No kidding all those in favor, please say I Five zero. Thank you All right next up town manager evaluation I'm actually gonna talk probably in some ways talk about the evaluation and the contract negotiation or next to agenda items I'm gonna be making comments about both to open so Last year so sorry at the end of February Adam will be reaching his two-year anniversary on the job his initial appointment was for a three-year term And his contract was for three years and if we are not going to renew the contract We would have to notify him by the end of February in order to avoid the payout clause Personally, I have no intention and would fight anything that wants to trigger that at the same time I would if we're we also last year we did his performance review a Sort of after his one-year anniversary and I think that in general it's healthy to do a performance review Before you do the contract negotiation though in this particular case I'm not sweating it because I'm trying I'm actually gonna ask that we kick them both off But if we do the performance review now It kind of it's actually technically a little bit less than a year than the last one But it puts us on a timeframe such that going forward. We would be able to do it before Negotiation period which I just think is a healthy thing I So now focusing for the moment on the evaluation you all have the instrument that we used last year And so we're all here. So we all know what it looks like. I would suggest that on number one We're talking about the period of review is March 1st We could either say to January 31st or we could say to the current date I think that both of those are Essentially appropriate and the town manager will submit a narrative self-evaluation a copy of the narrative Will be provided to it back to us And so I talked with the manager over email briefly today and Adam You said that you could provide it to us such it would be in our packets before the next meeting Yeah, which is Friday the 24th, and we'd get that review back from him and then I Wanted to get agreement so we would have something available to us on Friday the 24th, and I wanted to talk about what we thought was Appropriate for time frames for us to then read it and then write our own version and return it back. I Was thinking along the lines of two weeks, which would put us at a November 13th, but I'm also Then I'm gonna then we hand those over to Karen and Karen will put them together in a single document I'll review that single document. I'll share it with the board and the town manager And then we'll have a public discussion at a subsequent meeting not to be deep, but probably two weeks after that you know just We have to do it before the 25th. I don't we don't So I'm actually going to suggest that we kick off negotiations without worrying about I'm saying we decoupled them, but I think But in fact, what yes, why don't we have that conversation at the same time my suggestion under when we get to number 14 Is that we kick off negotiations immediately? We I'm going to ask the board to authorize me to negotiate an extension to the town manager's contract Because I personally so my thinking on this just so you know where I was Was I agree that in a perfect world we would have the results of the performance review before We do the negotiation, but as a matter of Practicality we don't have a lot of leeway in our negotiation to reward or penalize the town manager for I mean if we're penalizing And we're firing him and if we're rewarding him I Don't think we really have the flexibility to do that because of the way it raises work with with union contracts And how it makes sense for the manager's Compensation to be linked to that so I don't anticipate a negotiating a contract that has like bonus structures or anything like that in it So if I did then I would be trying to do them one after the other But I feel like and I know that I mean each one of us has a vote in this my personal vote will be to try to retain Adam I'm delighted with what work he does and I don't want him to go And so I want to negotiate and extend his contract immediately. So that's why I'm suggesting a time frame where and even yeah Where we do that so the dates would then be that we would come back And we would we'd have a finalized document which we would discuss publicly and while that my intent is that we would only discuss The consensus document is a matter of fact all documents associated with each of us are individual ones and the town managers are public documents which anyone could obtain so we just need to Be cognizant of that. It's a function of us being a public body managing a town employee So Diane just one question. Yes And I don't know if it's the town manager or human resources director Karen Malloy if in going like I cruise through this, you know, not having looked at it for over a year If we fail there is a new goal that can be measured After discussion either with the town manager or Karen Malloy And they agree that it isn't already incorporated into one of these bullet points and For me it would be something under a board support relations Would it be appropriate if any select men are in any other area in here, you know Because when you go through a performance review, it's measurable goals and you know, there's Sometimes you cover everything but sometimes things flush out in time. So I'm just wondering can any selecting including myself? And I'm not saying I'm Gonna want to add an additional goal. I'm gonna speak against with the town manager And if he says no, this is where you you rate me on that or if he agrees that it should be added So I think my take on it is that we are agreeing to rate him this year using this document And each section has a comments, which means, you know, you get to add anything you want ad hoc But if you want to make it if you were if you were prepared to make a change right now I'd say let's do it or even if frankly if you if you said, you know I think this document needs revision Could we please table this and come back in a couple weeks? I mean, I certainly would listen to that motion But I think what we're doing is we're agreeing to use this instrument right now with a lot of leeway I think in it I prefer to move on and then I'll do it as a comment and then discuss it with the town manager And it because I don't want to waste anybody's time We're ready to move on and if he says keep it in the comments sections or if he says yes That's a measurable goal. This is where you should put it and propose it to the board next year. Okay. Thank you Kevin. Yeah, I was just going to mention If last year we surveyed other instruments that had been done We passed out and asked each of you to comment on this instrument. So this is ours, right? So but you know if there's a window where if she wants to say, you know, there's one more item I'd like to add it's okay with me I'll do that next year. All right. I would like to move that We move forward with the evaluation process as outlined by the chairman and Concurrently concurrently at the same time we authorize the chair to Proceed with contract negotiations with the town manager and I agree with him wholeheartedly Tied this guy down for as long as we can he does an excellent job Is there a second second? For the discussion. I'll support I'll support the motion. I just hope if I'm following your timeline We will have an opportunity to see the evaluations Before we finalize the Contrast we can make that we can make that happen. Yes. It's a matter of principle I like that even though I can curl with you I can Agree This is a matter of principle I think that that's what that's important, but I just agree I think it can happen Discussions can be going on simultaneously. I agree evaluations need to be completed before we would sign off on a final contract. Yeah Further question so I do with all that. I absolutely do I do just have a general sense of the board So the original term was three years. We've done two Are we looking for say like a two-year extension such that it would essentially be signing a three? You know, I would think of it as a three-year deal So to speak or is the board interested in thinking about something longer or is there any guidance that you Want to give me along those lines I'd be interested in terms of what the town managers thoughts are That in terms of what he is seeking. Do you want to hear that right now? Yes, okay? It's appropriate. Yeah, but I don't want to put him on the spot But he cannot answer and would forgive me. No, I would come into these discussions Looking at an additional three-year term. That's how I would approach it But if longer, that's okay No, I just want to say um, you know, we are I agree with everyone here that we're very happy with your performance and if I would be comfortable going upwards of five years if necessary Then I saw Joe had his hand up No, I think I agree with Steve as long as there are provisions placed into the contract though that Allow us to reserve reserve rights, but I don't I don't know what limits we have also on on our ability to do longer I guess I'm seeking guys right now and then you know, we'll see how it actually shakes out because obviously so it the way When Clarissa did the negotiation two years ago We employed outside council Because of the relationship between the town council and the town manager and I imagine we do something similar I'm sure that we'll put I'm sure that we will have good legal counsel to protect us from doing some things Sorry Kevin was waving and then I'll get back to you I'm a Steve I'd like to sign them up for 10 years, but it's a bad precedent for us to set for Future boards and future town managers, but but in this case with this gentleman I'm not sure if we can do this anymore or how we did this before But with a couple of managers before what we have done is they have a three-year contract and each year We had the power to add one more year to that contract. So it was a rolling three year contract, you know what I mean if we were So I don't I don't know if that's illegal anymore Yeah, we can look at the town manager act I also don't want to contradict if we're going to have an outside council council look at this But it's certainly a question that can be examined and Mr. Dunn can be advised Advice is to the legality of an option for renewal under the town manager But but I favor giving him as many years as you can Just where you're looking for guidance and I had had this conversation with the manager a couple months ago I'm willing to have you entertain any discussions around the fact that Mr. Chaplin was kind enough to just adopt the former town manager's contract structure in that contract was the understanding that we were getting a town manager with many years experience So some of the decisions that we made when we were on the board That right now apply to the current town manager and in the interest of being fair like Numbers of days to give notice If you're going to resign or pending any catastrophic thing the way that current number that's in the current contract was Figured out it came to agreement upon and tell me if I'm going into more detail than I should attorney. I Looked at mr. Sullivan what he was coming with and we were thinking okay. What if he decided to leave? How many days notice you want to give him how many days vacation does he have and we arrived at a number so that if he did decide to leave We would have him for at least two months And that's why if you look at some of the other contracts that they've varying days So I would ask you just to look at that as well as other any other You know because we're he completely adopted that contract just in the interest of being fair as well as you know Anything else you can get out of it. Mr. Chairman may I just note that? I think it's not necessary given the scope of the conversation by the board of selectmen right now, but It and I will of course because this is very important to the board double-check on this But I believe that the board can go into executive session also to discuss Strategic negotiation with non-union personnel So it may be an option if the board wants to have further discussions with this after the chairs negotiated as it seems to Be what will happen some of these details if anybody's uncomfortable with that Should we do that right now you say we shouldn't be doing this no no no I'm not at all There's but if there's something if people want people wanted to discuss privately we do have that legal option for that I mean specifically related to Okay, is there any further comment we have a motion in a second All those in favor, please say aye Five zero. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right Correspondence received so that just so that was 14 and 15 Vanished under a single boat Second I just want to do a case in point where you know tack has asked us not to send things their way In the previous agenda item that we had on street Basically, what they're saying is they went out they did all this investigation and since there's already an existing law There's no action required by us. I think how we handled agenda item. I think nine. I think that was this type of You know case in point scenario that they were referring to that perhaps could be handled in-house with the police department and You know they do do diligence Further discussion. All those in favor, please say aye We'll be gone to new business Monday night Martin Luther King banquet it is Martin Luther King day and we will this celebration is here in the town hall Thank you very much The only thing is a just a reminder that please review the summary of conflicts of interest memo that Is that the That was the state ethics memo that was okay. Yes, that was issued. I sent it out in December I know was during the holiday period. I just want to remind all the select men that if they haven't already done it They should take a quick look at it. We have to do that. We have to do that every two years, right? With respect to the training you have to have some sort of training every two years This is actually just an annual review of a state of the law that the state ethics Commission asks that public employees Just take a quick look at them. So just a couple quick items first I know the board was informed sometime last year that the legislature and the governor had approved 307,450 dollars in microburst reimbursement. Well, I can officially tell you it is in the town's account We have 100% received the reimbursement and I think I've said this before but I want to reiterate the Thanks to the board who showed leadership and several board members attended a meeting at the state house or several meetings The state house will need a lobby for these monies these reimbursements. I want to thank the legislative delegation They were really the ones who got this through the legislature and thanks to the staff who put together all the detailed work to provide and It's 100% reimbursement is the exact amount We asked for which doesn't happen very often that you ask the state for a dollar amount And they give you that exact dollar amount to the penny It doesn't benefit the budget this year, but will be a revenue that will be available Most likely in the form of free cash next year. So it's very good for the town Want to tell the board? You're probably all to steal a line from selectman really tingling with anticipation for this Wednesday's budget submission from the town manager So that will be made available to you to the finance committee this Wednesday the big issue as You've probably all I know we've talked about and we've seen covered in local press is school enrollment growth in the impacts That's having on the school budget So unlike past years that will be one of the largest pieces included even in my own budget message, so In the future, you know, also I'll submit that budget this Wednesday. We'll know what the governor's budget numbers the following I believe the following one today will then update the larger financial plan and at that point I'll provide the board with a more detailed budgetary presentation later later in the budget process I Actually am tingling with anticipation And the final thing I'll say is the salary study the compensation study is 99% complete and it will be fully complete before the board's next meeting I will be here obviously and the consultant who performed the study will be here to present the findings to the board So I'm looking forward to that as well Would it be appropriate to have some of the union members of the group as well? We're inviting all of them. I would be delighted Joined us. Yeah, I would imagine some of them would choose to be here That's all I have. Thank you I'd better get home to bed because obviously I'm gonna be up late on Wednesday night as I go through that budget with a fine-tooth comb Not an air not a great area of my expertise But I certainly appreciate the work that goes into it every year and the data that it provides But also Adam Gives us a lot of credit when we did go into the state house Mrs. Mahan and myself and Adam They complimented him on the fact that he already had an itemized budget put together Part of the clearly part of the reason we got all that we asked for is because of the work that he did there And submitted that appropriately, so you deserve a lot of credit as well. That's it sir Thank you, Dan in an effort to get Mr. Greeley to sleep. I'm gonna say no new business I Just just one one item I wanted to let everyone know that the master plan advisory committee is going to be having presentations of the various Working papers that will make up the body of the master plan on a monthly basis Topic-by-topic basis. The first presentation is this Thursday January 16th 7 o'clock at the at the senior center and the topic will be land use the land use working paper is posted on the The town's website You know I especially encourage town meeting members. It might be interested to to come and Hear the presentation because down the road, you know that very well, you know possibly could be Requested actions of town meeting in future years as a result of this. Thank you Nobody business I have one item Tomorrow night the Minuteman school committee is voting on a proposed Revision to the regional agreement I Am really conflicted about it. It does absolutely does not have it is not the document that we would have written if we had You know gotten the power to do it ourselves and it's not the document that came out of the Working group that Charlie Fosk it served on that and all this so there's kind of two groups that have been working I think as you've heard this has been the working group that Charlie's been serving on And then there's been the town managers and they kind of both meet one at a time and then send things back and forth and the State Department of Education weighed in on the last version and We're singularly unhelpful and they forced a number of changes to the proposal that We'll make it very difficult to support and yet it still may be good enough It's gonna we'll see how it goes and we'll see what the conversations are. Yeah. Are you going then? I don't think I'm gonna be able to go I mean obviously We're gonna be represented by Laura Morissette on the school committee Wouldn't go to the Minuteman school committee meeting but our discussions, you know Are about to really begin depending on what they vote Right, so yeah, so they're gonna take this vote and they'll they may you know who knows they might vote it down Or who knows they might change it or you know, or they may sit on it for a little bit longer, so It's gonna be it's gonna be something that we ponder when it when it comes out. So that was my piece of new business We are