 Good evening everyone and welcome to the Arlington Board of Selecting meeting for Monday August 4th 2014 it is 715 p.m. And I do call this meeting to order just a reminder. We are being televised tonight by ACMI so Please smile widely at the microphone. I Do want to thank everyone for being here tonight I know we had some difficulties last Monday and I am very appreciative that you all Bear with us and We're happy to be here. I would like to begin by having a moment of silence for senator Robert Haven he was on the Board of Selecting for many years as well as a member of the House of Representatives and Finally in the state Senate our thoughts are certainly with Mrs. Haven Tim Ned and the rest of his family and you know He was just a great guy who have some fond memories of So please join me. Thank you everyone To begin we have a consent agenda minutes of meetings July 28th 2014 June 23rd 2014 in July 1st 2014 we have an approval for a date change From July 26 to September 6 for the inaugural Moonlight Beach Party in a one-day beer and wine license We have a reappointment to the Human Rights Commission We have a reappointment to the redevelopment board a request for a contractor drain layer license another and two more requests for contractor drain layer licenses as Well as an approval for a the Regent theater for the New England reunion concert a beer and wine license is Anyone here to speak on these agenda items Move approval Second we have a motion a second before taking a vote I do want to reiterate the importance of getting all applications in on time It makes everyone's lives In our office as well as other departments throw town much easier And we do our best to help everyone out if they're a day or so late, but please pay attention to the dates and times We have a motion in a second All those in favor, please say aye opposed Yes Thank you, Mr. Greeley We have appointments to constable Tina Helton Please come forward Hello, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're interested in this position? Well, I think it's an interesting position I'd like to Get involved in the community. I've lived here for 11 years and This is something I believe I can do and I I Little something about myself. I am Italian and American Indian and I like I said I've lived here for 11 years. I previously lived in Newton I work in Newton Thank you. Do we have any questions from the board? We have a motion in a second all those in favor, please say aye Opposed thank you very much Moving on Request change of manager wine and malt license so Kahlo Ricardo Ramos Good evening. Hey, how are you? So this is a we're just changing from your former manager's name to your name on the license correct so we're just changing the The current manager right now under my name to to my name Actually, and then I'm we're applying to right now. We don't have a license to open on Sundays and we'd love to Extend that to seven days where we'd like to serve brunch first, you know Saturday. I mean Sundays It's about it pretty much But the thing before us is just to change your name or moving the name a big part the thing We're voting on today is just to change your name for now. Yeah I believe it was that and the change of hours, but I'm not so sure about it Sorry, he is checked off in the application if you look six to seven days. Got it Also, we have on the change of manager as the title. Okay. Good. Thank you for Move approval subject conditions We have a motion a second any further discussion Seeing none all those in favor, please say aye. Aye opposed Thank you. Nothing. Thank you very much Yeah, we have citizens open forum Accepting unusual circumstances any matter presented for consideration of the board shall neither be acted upon Nor a decision made the night of the presentation in accordance with the policy under which the open forum was established To be noted that there is a three-minute time limit to present a concern or request Is anybody here for citizens open forum? Yes Hi, thank you I'm a resident of East Arlington and next Monday. I will be hosting an international global torch relay for peace They'll be coming through Arlington and they've been greeted by mayors and city councilmen and many many communities around the country I would love to find a representative of Arlington to have a brief ceremony on the steps of town hall Next Monday in the late afternoon. I brought a cover letter more information and my contact information I don't know if this is a kind of thing you need to vote on I'm just asking one individual person They like to show up. I also should say I've arranged for coverage by Arlington community media I am a producer for Acme Unless the council person is camera shy we can We don't have to do that part of it, but there is the opportunity That was such a gift I can't say anything Give a speech of 15 minutes Definitely, I promise not to edit it Mr. Chaplin do you if the resident would like to give me the information I can certainly work with the board or some other town Officials to see if a representative can be there at the event Well definitely for the chair how many do you have I'll take one if you have an extra thank you so much Great and mr. Chaplin will be in touch this week and we'll try to set something up Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for doing this Is anyone else here for a citizens open forum? Yes, please Hi Scott Simonfeld Summer Street in Arlington I'm here to speak briefly in support of Trying to do something to support the silver maple forest effort Trying to save it. This has been a ten-year struggle All of our reps the city of Cambridge now Through an open meeting that I attended last week Have come to See that this is at least something that needs to be dealt with In a more reasonable way a lot of the assumptions that went into this project are flawed and The implications for the floodplain especially here in Arlington are very clear And it's one of those things where Sustainability is right in our face. What are we going to do about it? So I just wanted to you know make make clear that there are a lot of us in town who are following this and are concerned about the The way developments being done the baseline assumptions That were based on calculations about the floodplain from 1990 that don't reflect any of our knowledge of climate change we're You know, we have an opportunity to try to be part of a solution or another cut in the direction of Catastrophe for the planet, so that's that's what I'm here to talk to say. Thank you very much. Thank you Anyone else for citizens open forum? Yes, please come forward So we get a lot of spare instead 32 Teresa circle and I to I'm here to speak relative to the silver maple forest More precisely the Why don't you be aware of the Belmont board of select men? agreed to Set a standard for floodwater management They agreed to look at it But in other words to delay approval so they could look at it and it was that was after a presentation by Ann Marie Lambert It pointed out the Precise and I can I can I Tried to give give you the slides of this Unsuccessfully, but I will I will try again if you want them The NRCC standard for 2011 is the current weather floodplain Analysis that you want to use and the one that they did use is 50 years old I mean the one that was based previously So Belmont agreed we want to we want to look at the look at this Of course, that's a delaying tactic, but you know everything to help the civil and April forest is good in my book Thank you very much. Thank you Yes, I definitely like to see the slides I know you can send an email to Marianne in the office and also my email address and all of our email addresses are on the town website under select And I would definitely like to see the additional material you mentioned earlier. Okay. I'm glad to thank you And I wonder since there is a gender item on this should we should we take that out of order at this point? Just to town manager Put anybody on the spot Maybe we'll see if Anyone else to see if for any other issues on their citizens open forum, and then we can Push it up before traffic rules and orders Is anyone else here for citizens open forum? Please come forward My name is Michelle Phalan and I live in East Arlington on Thorndike Street and I'm just speaking just briefly on behalf of an issue that's going to come up later under correspondence received It's the item Label daytime parking need for Patricia Peter 135 Thorndike Street It was encouraged to come during open forum because I might have a couple of minutes to just speak briefly There's a two-hour parking limit on the street on Thorndike Street Which is one of the first streets you get to when you when you reach Arlington if you're walking from the bike path And I own the home there. I've been there for 15 years and when I first moved there I came to the Board of Selectment I asked for on-street overnight parking because there were there's no there's no driveway at my house the lots of very Irregular shape and it's kind of too small for a driveway And I was given on-street overnight parking and and that's what I've done for the past 15 years But lately I think the police have been ticketing the street pretty regularly. There've been a lot of complaints about parking on the street and because my tenant leaves her car there during the day and Comes home at night. She's at a little bit of a just convenient inconvenience about what to do That actually falls into my own category too I don't I work from home during the day So I have a similar issue and I just want to know if there's a way that I can work with the town to come to a fair Resolution and I'm happy to supply any information or materials that might be needed to help make a decision But I just wanted to put my issue out there. So thank you for listening. Thank you very much And I'm full disclosure I did speak with Michelle last week and mentioned the common citizens open forum and said that we Will look into it further and see see what we can do after having a broader discussion with some subcommittees Okay, thank you. Is anyone else here for a citizens open forum? seeing none You know, I did I know that we did just say we'll move the Silver maple forest discussion up to now But I think I would like to address the Jason Street as well as the green roots roots initiative and then we will take up the Silver maple forest discussion so I the members of Attack were here last week and they're sorry they couldn't make it tonight. I will be Giving a speaking briefly on their behalf as I was a bit involved with this project since origin to begin I Definitely want to thank all of the Transpiration Advisory Committee for their work on this and Especially the working group which was made up of rich Turcott Jeff Matixas Howard Muse Ed star and we also had a great deal of help from officer Rato Wayne Chenard and Adam Kuroski on making this project work The amount of work that went into producing these recommendations was pretty extensive Back in 2012 we had a fur our first community meeting To discuss Jason Street and we heard from the residents and what they were seeing and what they want to change then there were There was quite a bit of intensive work done By the Transportation Advisory Committee and including traffic volume counts Recording vehicle speeds they even gotten their cars and did time travel time comparisons, so You know and they were joined by members of the community, so it was a completely open process and one that I am Thoroughly impressed in and Yeah, that was not done by tack actually There was a bit of confusion on that Believe it or not, and I think many of the residents were Well either way So And what we're going to discuss tonight are the record are the phase one recommendations for Jason Street Attack will be coming back to us with some more, you know, I want to say large-scale You know probably traffic calming measures that work for the community, but tonight they have recommended curb extensions On Jason Street and Brantwood Road All of the crosswalks to be painted as soon as possible Install a seasonal pedestrian warning ball art at Minotomy Rocks Park Add advanced crosswalk warning signs on Jason Street So in both directions at Woodland Street in both directions at Minotomy Rocks Park crosswalk and northbound on Jason between gray and Irving They recommend replacing faded and damaged side signage as needed They want to provide a temporary radar speed trailer on Jason Street northbound between spring and hill sale This is something that You know, we'll have to be coordinated with the police department I believe as with that is a limited resource and it's pretty sought-after throughout town, but One that will certainly go to good use on Jason Street They recommend installing a new yield sign on hill sale on the approach to Jason Street near intersection traffic island Install a new intersection warning side, and they are also Going to work to draft a letter for the board's consideration that we can send to the mass DOT to provide additional assignment I'm signage and pavement markings to improve the awareness of the weave conditions on the Concord turnpike and These are recommendations that I full-heartedly support this process was Was really eye-opening for me as I you know Going and seeing all you know the nitty gritty work that tack does and from start to finish this is you know, I think it's been a great balance of Taxis fit to address the issues as well as what the residents want in the neighborhood and So I hope you'll join me in voting to support it No, we did not Did you want to hear from the manager first he may actually speak to what I'm going to ask about I Simply wanted to respectfully request that the board make their vote subject to the successful development of a budget and timeline by DPW that could then be forwarded back to the board for final endorsement Just so tonight we're not promising something that we think is going to happen overnight, but may have a schedule based on budgetary ability Yes, and I think that in our discussions with Attack and in certain meetings that it that we were going to endorse them to get in the timeline and just read on as soon as possible That's mine. I'm just going to sort of parlay or hijack on this particular agenda item I know we discussed a couple months back when mr. Rademacher the DPW director was here that we were going to be introducing a lot more thermoplastic treatments to our crosswalks We're applicable in high-volume areas and things like that I know where I live, which is right by the Odyssey school. I'm on Howard Street. This is Quincy. They did all the sidewalks on Quincy up on Gray Street by Fountain etc, but I didn't see any thermoplastic. It's the regular paint again So I was just wondering where we have some of these crosswalks to be repainted are also school bus crosswalks So I was wondering if I could just take advantage of this item and ask the manager if he could look into if there was an issue That we didn't get this the treatment or or something else or maybe we had to delay it for another year or something But I had a memory that mr. Rademacher said we would be applying that in high-volume Traffic areas and this certainly some of these sites certainly seem applicable as well as the Odyssey I'm not saying go back and reapply it but that's just going to wear out next year again So I was just curious where we are. So the general plan is Mr.. Rademacher is using an epoxy product this year that is supposed to have the same visual Or you know ability to see it and lifespan of the thermoplastic, but it's less expensive So it's an upgrade from the pain but cheaper than the thermoplastic Oh, hey if that works, that's fine And the goal is to go the entire length of the avenue that contract should be let any day now with that new epoxy some of the Crosswalks on Massav that have been done recently are that new epoxy finish and all this the cross streets that come out onto Massav We're going to be done with paint But when we look at this we can certainly See what we can do with the epoxy or maybe in and or maybe for next year if it's successful I know I also felt that it doesn't have the same texture not that it has But if it is maybe we could maybe the next priority to a priority three of the crosswalks over on the schools Yeah, all right. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Mr. Dunn I just wanted to comment just a So I'm really happy with the work the tack has been doing on this and I think that they've done a really good job of Doing community input. I think that the survey that mr. Really mentioned was so it wasn't done by tack and I think that that had some both fortunate and unfortunate side effects and so the the unfortunate side effects were that It wasn't the best vehicle to talk about future things So there are these phase two ideas that aren't ready for us aren't ready to be considered But they were mentioned in the survey and I don't know about the rest of you But I got a number of phone calls and emails about that and so to me that was the good news part about it You know more people saw this more people paid attention to it and increased it has increased community Conversation about it. And so I guess I wanted to I wanted to call out that survey and specific But I also wanted to talk about the process and I want to talk about how glad I was to get all the neighborhood input I'm glad that they're you know feeding into what these things are all that said. I think that these recommendations here for the phase one They all make sense to me. I'm delighted to support them Any discussion from the crowd, yes, please come forward my name is Carol Forbes I live on Jason Street and I was one of the neighbors who was concerned about receiving the survey I Do want to acknowledge all the hard work people did it must have taken hours to go Driving down various streets timing things counting cars. So I really appreciate that Well, I in addition to some of the more Noncontroversial Suggestions are I spoke with a select man in another town Who suggested fog lines are something that is not too expensive and Can be helpful their white lines on the edges of the curb on the street And I just wanted to toss that out there to the folks on tack and then I would be I'm someone who would be affected by the rotary circle that was highlighted On that survey And I have a lot of questions about that I don't know if this is the time to raise them or at attack meeting but yeah We're we're not going to discuss any of the phase two recommendations because they really aren't any real recommendations to discuss at this point, but we I Myself and my colleagues as well as tack are very aware of the concerns of you know Many of the residents regarding a traffic circle. Okay. Thank you. Thank you Any further comments? Seeing none, we have a motion in a second all those in favor, please say aye. I opposed Thank you for nothing both Moving on for approval a letter of support for the Green Roots initiative Mr. Tonkin and mr. Gough Good evening. I think we have before you a letter that we drafted For the Green Streets initiative This is something that was brought to the Arlington Bicyclet Budget Committee by one of our members Phil goth who's going to speak more in Detail about it. We feel that it's an initiative. It's really Would be very beneficial for the town in terms of would help the intercom The interconnection of all the different bike routes around here, which I think have a great potential of bringing more cyclists as tourists took to Arlington Which and for commuting which will help? Economic development and tourism development in town and I think I'm going to hand this over to Phil to give you a little bit more about it Thank you Thanks, Chris Phil golf. I'm at 94 Grafton Street in East Arlington Happy to see all those cones and barrels and construction equipment out there Massive just to have to throw that out there since I'm here Anyways, I am a member not just of a back the bike advisory committee But also a member of the this Green Roots initiative It's a coalition of groups that includes some municipal planners and MAPC and a few other agencies some neighborhood advocates and some regional pedestrian bike trail Advocates as well and we have formed maybe six or eight months ago in order to form a coalition to push the state to Look at funding at a more coordinated approach to the greenways and trails Rail trails greenway trails and all else that has already been planned. These are Priorly planned routes by DCR and by DOT What it lacks is some political will and some push and some funding issues So this coalition has gotten together In order to help create that political will and get the funding together We as a coalition are going town to town basically Seeking support from boards of selectmen from bike advisory committees walk advisory committee So we whoever we can get our hands on advocacy groups as well. That's what we here are asking For the board support for something like this. It's a letter. It's a letter of support It doesn't tie the town to anything. It doesn't tie the town to any funding Doesn't tie the town to create any additional plans. It's basically pushing this state DCR mostly with DOT Secretary Davies office to start moving forward with some of these green routes to bring the kind of improvements that we are lucky here in Arlington to have Minimum path the ill wife Brooke Greenway the Mystic River Parkway and some of our other On-street connections to bring those same kind of facilities to neighboring towns simply because The Minuteman and other facilities like it it works well here to connect to Lexington to Bedford In one direction to the west but you get on the ill wife Brooke Greenway You go on the Minuteman towards Cambridge getting into downtown Boston is not so easy on a trail Getting to the Charles River is not so easy on a trail or a Greenway kind of project to Medford I mean you name it. There's all kinds of places and our coalition really is trying to sort of interlink all these planned trails Get them going soon So all the members of sort of Greater Boston have that ability if you look at the network again That's already been planned with the implementation of all this. I know it's going to take a number of decades It basically brings about 70% of Greater Boston's population within a half mile of a rail trail of a river Greenway of Some sort of trail connection and of course there's some critical on on-street connections like we here in Arlington with the Minuteman path Crossing project or sort of doing our part to help connect some of those important greenways through our town. So Again, that doesn't tie the town to anything. I want to reiterate that again And the bike advisor committee and the green roots initiative in which I am part of both Are asking for the board support for this letter. Thanks so much, and I'm certainly happy to take any questions Thank you very much for any questions from the board Yes, just where you referenced it and it's it will be part of my new business although I may take care of it right now is this group and the funding that it's seeking to Just the construction of a greenway or a trail way or is it also and the reason I reference this is It's literally been me having to call the governor of the Commonwealth the greenway trail way down by Sunnyside There hasn't been everything promised like if you're a pedestrian and you want to Get on the greenway and you live any of the neighborhoods from Arizona Terrace all the way up to Broadway Unless you you know, you're really good at Olympics and vaulting up. There's no one of the neighbors had built a little sort of ramp that Is recycling bin too doesn't that work for you? No, no, no, no it is this has been a long-standing issue with the neighbors in terms of they want to use it Yeah, no, I agree And what I'm saying is in the state promise when they went out and said we're going to come in there This isn't just going to be for one use It's going to be for you know people who want to walk with your strollers. You want to jog you want a bike You want to you know skateboard whatever? But one of the things so would this group be the kind of group that would be also looking Get funding for that or is it no just getting a green way in there and I'm asking it seriously Yeah, no, it's a great question. I agree that There are some some flaws to that plan and the inability for people on sunny side to easily access that path is certainly mistaken DCR's Plan for the greenway our initiative and Groups of folks who are working on this are not looking at trails at that level of detail That's fine. I just wanted to make sure that's a short answer is no and no and that's fine I just wanted to get some clarity on that because I'd like I'd rather avoid the route that I'm going through now Yeah, thank you. I mean the one that probably would have the most impact on us here in Arlington as DCR has had for a number of years Plans to connect Miniman path through alewife around fresh ponds and on an old abandoned Railroad line Through Watertown to Watertown and then connect to the river through somewhere around our arsenal park There's a plan. It's a very rough plan but there isn't the money and the political will again to sort of push it through to make it happen any time soon and that's the kind Of ideal connection that would be an incredible amenity. I think for for people in Arlington That's just one there's many others Just to build on what miss behind said I think the hammer home your point You I saw that you have the language in your statement You know asking for funding for creation is is a very good a very important thing to do But I think making sure that there's maintenance funding and anything the state does or municipal government does is very important Because as we see even you know, it's the wash out from last week But making sure that these pathways are maintained is what makes them usable. Yeah generation after generation Yeah, I think we've heard say that the state is really interested in building and not maintenance So I think it's something we need to push for is maintenance is highly important because if things are built and just fall apart It's worse than not having to build sometimes We're happy to change tweak in the wording of the letter That's the desire of the board if you could make it a little more broader So maybe it's an option and maybe that group is just a resource because it's been a Nightmare down on the Greenway on sunny side and this is things that the state committed to DCR Dan Driscoll and we won't go into that whole story So my thing is I echo what the manager said in terms of maintenance If it's a cost we have to continually pick up and then we can't do it as quickly as people want and we're impeding whether they Want to commute or just you know walk and exercise? Snowballs so if you can if you feel comfortable adding a little more broad language. Yeah, I mean we could change the language easily enough and Routed through I guess town manager or through Joey Glushko Yeah, if you so we won't take a vote on this tonight, and then if you want to Make some edits and we can put it on our August agenda or our next meeting agenda And I think we but you won't have to come in again. I think we've already had enough discussion about it Would you entertain a motion where we give authority to someone like the manager to approve? Because I mean Frank like anything along these lines. I don't know about Adam are you okay if we I'm fine with that. Yeah, I think it's appropriate With draw my original motion I move approve I move that we ask the town manager to finalize language similar to what we have before us in proving the Green streets initiative We have a motion in a second all those in favor, please say aye Thanks so much. Thank you. Thanks Dan So we will Adam are you okay with moving the silver maple forest discussion up to right now? So we're going to bounce around on the agenda to item 14 for Invitation from the city of Cambridge to discuss the silver maple forest mr. Trappling. Thank you, mr Chairman. So as mr. Semenfeld alluded to in his comments earlier La I believe it was the same meeting you may have been referring to last Monday the Cambridge City Council Had a very long policy discussion and wound up voting on a policy order that Requested that the Cambridge City manager pulled together a meeting of the Arlington Town Manager Bellmont Town Administrator And I believe the order also called for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to be part of this discussion To talk about any ways possible of preserving and protecting the silver maple forest So I then received the call from both the Cambridge City Manager and Bellmont Town Administrator after that meeting To gauge interest in having such a meeting. We committed to have that meeting with the three representatives of the community I don't have any confirmation that anybody from the Commonwealth will be there this Thursday morning at 8 a.m. In Cambridge So in going into that meeting and given the public discussion in the community discussion about it I wanted to make sure that I was on the same page of the board before going into that meeting So in the memo I've provided to the board I'm basically asking the board and doors the following course of action That the town of Arlington engaged through its town manager and discussions regarding possible options for the preservation of the silver maple forest But at this time not provide any financial commitment to acquiring or protecting the land The rationale behind at this point not making the financial commitment is based upon the fact that the land is in its entirety in Both Bellmont and Cambridge and not within Arlington's borders And should Arlington Identify financial resources for preservation of wetlands an area for flood storage I would think Arlington's first priority would be protecting the Mugar property with a financial commitment as opposed to the silver maple forest That said I don't think that should Be taken as Arlington taken a position supporting development, but rather Taking an approach of wanting to see what can be due for preservation without making any false or commitments We don't want to back up with finances Thank you, Mr. Eppley discussion from the board I agree with what the town manager is outlined it as a first step. I know All of us here on the board myself 15 20 years I've been going to meetings around the Mugar around the uplands around the civil made perform maple forest Meeting with a lot of people in Cambridge Carolyn meet Steve Kaiser and then George late Elsie Fiori from Arlington Then to a lot of you know Informational gatherings that we've had down there not just clean-ups and I think it's really vital in terms of the Development down there and more importantly the over development of that sort of nexus that triangle and I think I Think most everyone would agree that Towns of Arlington and Belmont and the city of Cambridge Sometimes to a lesser extent when we've come forth with Issues that come up intermittently with the Mugar property We sort of coalesced and I see this same sort of group the coalescing around the civil maple forest and each Board of Selectmen From each town as well as the city of Cambridge sometimes Somebody's in the driver's seat and the rest of us sit in the back. So I think the Wording and the verbiage that but the manager has put forth as a first step sort of we've been in this ride before And something when it's Mugar. We're usually in the front with Belmont and Cambridge always coming and supporting us and I think now we're just going down the same journey but Recognizing that each one of us has to play the roles But I certainly do support and we've always appreciated the town of Belmont As well as a lot of citizen activists from the city of Cambridge and oh no rid the public works director He's been very reasonable to work with but I also understand You know he's the Cambridge public works director So I think this is a similar thing. I think we've you know It's been Mugar before now It's a civil silver maple forest and we need to stay on top of it. We need to be involved and I want to applaud the manager for and anyone else who does go I unfortunately cannot For making sure that we're there and we have a voice So I would move approval to the recommendations put forth by the initial recommendations put forth by the town manager second Any further discussion? Mr. Dunn just want to mention that So we as a board we've taken in position on the silver maple forest a couple times and I think at least I think once while I was here and then others before I was here including supporting state legislation to To fund the purchase of it to just take it off the table entirely and I just want to say that I think that this is This vote that we're about to take is consistent with what we've done before and I actually think that we could even go a little bit farther If we needed to like I mean I think that I suspect that we could come up with stronger language if we needed to that we would all be able to agree with So and I would just say personally the thing that I am most concerned about with this is the flood aspect of it I really You know, we have flooding problems already and there's definitely a lot of a lot of reason to worry about the proposal That's there. So I support this and I guess I'm and I say that a particular guess because I know that the town manager is listening And he'll go to the meeting and he'll and I think in my mind you can you can be a little bit more emphatic When you sit down at that table, I appreciate that and I think the approach I tried to lay out was one that You know, certainly could have had more emphasis But also we had a balance of reality to what the realistic possibilities that both Arlington or Belmont or Cambridge could do to stop but making sure that we're having the discussion. I Thought for sure that your top issue would have been the traffic at L life No, I'd also like to thank you for this and I think This is a pretty good strategy for us. It does give us leeway, but it let you know going into the discussion It's important that there is a you know strategy in place that we've all considered and can support and kind of guide town manager through The discussion that takes place and I'm really interested to hear what you come back with Adam, of course. Thank you Any further discussion on this agenda item? Seeing none So we have a motion and a second all those in favor. Please say aye opposed For nothing. Thank you Back to Agenda item number seven for approval Arlington International film film festival banners April rank in Alberto Guzman Good evening. Thank you. Thank you. Selectman and town manager for hearing our request Alberto Guzman the founder of the festival April ranked the executive director Alberto do you want to give them postcards? We're here for the third year Requesting Approval for banners to be placed in downtown Arlington around September the 10th through the end of the festival and I do want to say special thanks to ATED for sponsoring us in this request so Basically that that that's what we're asking for Thank you. Do we have any questions from the board? Mr. Dunn, Marian Do you I know some often Marie keeps track of banners and timing and stuff like that? Are you? Do you know what the calendar of the banners are and stuff like that and this matches are you aware or no? Especially in terms of town day We don't use the poll banners for a town day We do one on the front We're one of the ones that can be on the front of the town hall So I'm it's been discussed, but at this point in time for town day. We don't have a problem this year So I can any further discussion The 15th of October you mean our festival We're actually doing an October 9th fundraiser that's being sponsored by 2020 diversity task group That that's I hope that's what you're talking about No, oh Opening night of our festival is October the 15th Correct That's correct, okay. Yes for four years we've we've had our festival at the region Oh, that's okay, what you're looking at is Oh No, no no no the only event that Unless my husband is asking me to marry him again, and I don't know about that But the only thing that that AIFF is doing with town hall or at town hall This year is on October 9 and we're very grateful to 2020 diversity for sponsoring a fundraiser Okay, thank you. Thank you So any further discussion from anyone in the crowd Seeing none we had a motion a second all those in favor, please say aye Opposed for nothing. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good luck Moving on number eight for approval on Park Avenue Downing Square parking signs this came from officer Rato and it is to Allow for three-hour spots in front of the in-jam studio as well as two 15-minute spots on Lowell Street, and I did speak with officer Rato on these items and he thinks that they will and I agree with him that they will go a long way to support the businesses in those areas and It's a it's a change that I think will help everyone out. So Move approval for the two 15-minute parking in the remaining three-hour parking signs Yes, mr. Dunn and also Mrs. Von Mary also could we add the? Permit parking on the Park Avenue side. Oh, yes. Thank you. We should figure out what I don't think I don't did Is there a recommendation in there about what the duration those should be? I? Don't think there is I think it's inherent that it's three hours. It was good. Let's do it that three hours and Corey is if we have we had a kind of a long discussion on it and he is Working to update the traffic rules and orders and he came across a vote from before I was on the board that Actually is completely aligned with what he's asking for here. So it's going to be a much easier Fix than we thought it would be So that is That is the purpose second so anyone here to discuss these items Seeing none any further discussion from the board No, and I think the vote was the three-hour vote we took for the municipal parking lot And I think that's what he's maybe trying to make everything more in line with so and that would that was a success So thank you, mr. Chairman So we have a motion and a second all those in favor, please say aye opposed for nothing Thank you Moving on review and I'm sorry. I was in favor. Yeah, you said opposed and nobody said it yet No one said anything. Sorry. Yeah for nothing vote, okay Moving on review and comment on draft CPA ballot question Mr. Hunt attorney. I'm sorry Good evening members of the board. I think my memo is fairly self-explanatory, but as I've noted in it just for a quick summary Under chapter 44 b3f the town council is to prepare a ballot question to go to the voters in November with respect to the Adoption of the CPA which was approved to go to the ballot by this past town meeting the I apologize it doesn't appear that the highlighted sections of the draft ballot questions that are basically Malleable under the law Came through very clearly But the long and short of it is is that it's the narrative descriptions of the purposes that the town seeks for Establishing the CPA is a dedicated funding source that can be altered and changed and emphasized a little bit differently from municipality municipality and you can also Prioritize the Exemptions from the surcharge in a different way you could Order them differently is basically the two pieces of it that in my opinion are really Notable, and I just wanted to make sure that this ballot question accurately reflected the board's feelings on What the purpose of the CPA? Really is for Arlington for the voters to consider whether or not they want this to charge Thank you discussion Yes, I'm just format procedural And I'm going by memory and I think I'm right We'll follow the same format in the sense that it'll be the general ballot question The yes the no then the explanation underneath or no is it the ballot question? The explanation and then the yes or no under that so what you don't have to answer that right now But whatever we've done in the past for questions like this just because it's not here in front of me I just don't want anyone to say that you know 99 times you did it this way So it'll be this has to be submitted to the to the state and I believe that they'll structure the same way Okay, that's the only thing I didn't say just format. Thank you Kind of similar question. Do you know whether we get to number it like do we is it before or after the state questions? Do we know that too? You know, I'm sorry. I don't know the answer to that question I can inquire with the state and get back. I got that one was asked me and I didn't know so sure I can look at that. I mean, I believe that the state actually also prints the ballots So I think so or they arranged the ballot at least in terms of in terms of the structure of it So I don't know that we have discretion on that matter either But but I I can inquire and get back to you on that basically one of the things I'm really curious But what number is it going to be? Okay? Thank you Thank you any further discussion from the board seeing them. Yes, Mr. No, I was gonna move receipt Thank you. Do we have any comments from the? crowd Seeing none second does he need receipt or approval? Receive see we have a motion a second all those in favor, please say aye opposed For nothing. Thank you. And coming back to you attorney Heim with a vote for the date for the 2015 annual town election so The board inquired with respect to what parameters need to be considered for the town election again I think that my memo on this matter is Speaks for itself What I've done is tried to highlight the timing of the various different options given the fact that We would norm the dates that we would normally have for the town election are basically religious holidays. There's the the Greek Easter calendar to consider the non Greek Christian calendar to consider as well as Passover which limits the Ideal dates to hold the town election on a Saturday This issue came up previously in 2012 And if you look at the various Timelines that I prepared for you you can see the advantages and disadvantages of Various Saturday dates the board does have the option as it ultimately elected to to do in 2012 to hold it on a weekday I believe in 2012 it was on a Tuesday But if the board has any specific questions in terms of how this might How these various dates might impact the timelines to be happy to answer them I should know that the town moderator has Special concerns that he wanted me to share with the board about having the election too late or too close to town meeting itself Because he loved ideally like to have town meeting members have time to really look at the materials consider them and try to Have an informed town meeting start off efficiently. Thank you. Mr. Greeley 26 years ago when I was first elected it was March 4th, and that was my logo March 4th to victory And we changed it since then to early April So I would like to move that we keep it on Saturday I think just because people have become used to that and move it just up one week to March 28th So I made that motion We have a motion do we have a second second Any further discussion? Yes. I So I March 28th was my leading contender for a while, and I actually thought that the problem with Saturday April 11th was Passover But then I think but Passover really is largely celebrated on like looking at the calendar on April 3rd, but I hadn't Backed it in Greek Easter, and I thought I thought we were and so I'm back to March 28th So I'm I'm with you And I would definitely agree on that date especially where there really has been a building initiative for Newly and current town meeting members to hold an informational meeting for constituents and their precincts I think at least a third of the precincts in town Before it used to just be precinct 8 and 10, but we have East Arlington I want to say, you know close to half definitely so third and I think March 28th gives the current as well as any newly elect to tell meeting members enough time to book a row because if we're all looking for the same weekend for Limited to one weekend with Patriots Day. It could be a nightmare. So I agree also Any discussion from the crowd? Seeing none we I also support the 20th. I think that's the most appropriate date. Yes, you know We just want to point out one thing for the office, and we certainly could work it But it would be based on your schedule on I think they've been special Tom means attached to every annual Tom meeting We've had so on our submittal to the advocate would be March 5th It would have to be complete. We are held by by law to close a warrant on January 30th So that means Tabling, you know of warrant article hearings and things Almost won't exist for you To put it nicely, you know, it's on you know, you're you've got this much time Certainly we can do it. We can arrange a schedule that way on your flexibility will decrease Doesn't this give us an extra week for hearings Marianne? I'm still town meeting will start at the same time won't it in late April For the yeah, you're right. We're moving it up. I think that I think part of what Marianne is talking about is That it may be different that hearings on the articles might proceed currently with finalization as I noted in the memo of the likely unnumbered warrant So they're gonna be there may be some complications with doing multiple things at once in terms of Finalizing the actual warrant as it goes out. Yes, the report obviously is still later and you know that that would be okay but as far as on Putting together the order of your warrant which takes multiple on committees Discussing things in you on in Marie sitting down with multiple committees that that would be but you're right The the actual report itself would be later So I think what we're doing is Making me done making the chairman and the selectments office job a little bit hotter in the sense that and we also have to do it as Individual board members that we relate to people With more and articles if it's your night get one or two backup people, you know barring any Catastrophe, I'm not saying it would never ever happen But we're really gonna have to be vigilant on getting the message out that What when it's your night you have to be ready to go and if for some reason, you know I've had it one of my kids get sick you have a backup person or two because the selectmen have to discuss it that night And we have to keep the process moving to get the visit stuff. Okay, I mean, I don't I don't want to Make this discussion go any longer than necessary, but at some point we really need to discuss Us holding hearings we've had a number of incidents in recent years where the proponents don't even show up for the hearing We voted down because they don't they go into town meeting with the same article and Our hearing had no effect You know so Anyhow, I just I really wonder after a while what we're doing bothering Holding hearings that you know people aren't attending where they don't really care about the selectman's view on it And it's our votes that are being recommended to town meeting But the way the current moderator has things at the No action vote in my opinion should be voted on first But his ruling is a substitute motion is voted on before I know action vote So you know and you're not allowed to discuss a no action vote, right? You know, I wonder whether we might want to go before the rules committee of town meeting at some point and talk about a couple of These issues That's not related to this March 28th question. Sorry Did I mention I was with my mother at three o'clock this morning at my loving hospital? So I'll be tell how tired I am today Say not only in three times We have a motion to second for March 28th, so we're going to take a vote on that All those in favor, please say aye. I oppose for nothing March 28th. It is Be ready Moving forward for approval Authorization to enter into a statewide public safety and public works mutual aid agreements mr. Chaplain Thank You mr. Chairman So this is an issue that Our director of emergency management and fire chief Robert Jefferson has been working with me and really pushing me on for quite a while What this agenda item does is it asks has me asking the board to authorize me to execute both a statewide public works Mutual aid agreement and a statewide public safety mutual aid agreement for the public safety mutual aid agreement It would really just be an expansion of already existing mutual aid agreements We have in our region to make it statewide and for public works It would actually be the first real mutual aid agreement. We execute Except it would and it would be statewide a growing number of communities are adopting this I provided the board with a map and I believe a map analyst of participating communities and a number of our neighbors Are on board and what this really does is it gives us protections under the statute such that there'd be certain liability protections if our Staff went across borders to perform a service or if we were receiving help from another community There'd be protections for that community and I think of you know some examples that we went through when we had the microburst in 2012 we had a lot of help from the state DCR sent in a number of crews to help us clean up We didn't ask or didn't I ask for help from a surrounding community with this public works mutual aid agreement It would become a more natural thing to ask for our neighbors to come help us in such an isolated incident And the example that I know chief Jefferson uses often for a time where we could give public works help with the ice storms in central and western Mass, I think three or four years ago where there was just a great need for public works help There was really zero impact here in Arlington, but we perhaps could have sent out crews to help another part of the state in a situation like that There is details Contained within that would negotiate For potential compensation although it recommends there be no compensation for help that goes back and forth And it also would allow any community to make requests to FEMA for reimbursement for any help that they provided to another community So we could do that or someone that helps us could do that. So I think it's a right step. It's It's not really full regionalization, but it's regional cooperation And I think I would appreciate it very much of the board would authorize me to execute the agreements approval second It may be in here and I just haven't caught it because I'm not that quick of a read. I'm going to assume that Whatever protections we have for any and all employees that are in another community that That has been taken into account and it's somewhere in here or so there's a nice tidy summary of the protections that are extended to and Basically the same protections that our employees would normally have under attachment a For chapter 40 section 4j. I believe it's basically the second page with respect to that and it's the let it's the Basically the last four paragraphs just summarize how the law Maintains the types of defenses and immunities that are particularly law enforcement personnel would have it also outlines Mutual release of liability between towns and indemnification and hold harmless provisions. So it's it's been it's a very thoughtful Law with respect to all of those types of issues and it's contemplated in advance You're right. It is in there. I Paul. I just I didn't get a chance to look at this till tonight Thank you. Thank you for the discussion Seeing none any discussion from the crowd seeing none I Really sport this as well. I think this is a step in the right direction for the town and You know when you see some of these storms that hit I think it's only appropriate that we sent help as we would expect other towns to you know help us out and wear in those situations and Obviously, thank you to Chief Jefferson and Mike Rademacher as well as town manager chapter lane On putting this together and bring it forward So we had a motion in a second. All those in favor, please say aye opposed for nothing. Thank you Moving on number 12 for approval Laughlin Avenue Island hedge replacement Thank you, Mr. Chaplin Thank you, Mr. Chairman So I put this on the agenda really to shed just to have some light and public discussion about this issue These are the off to discussed Hedges at the island at Laughlin Avenue. I believe last time maybe two meetings ago. There was a group here Expressing concerns about traffic in that neighborhood, and I think Mr. Greeley said why can't we just take those hedges down? You know there there are constant traffic disruption So coming out of that meeting I talked with Mike Rademacher about trimming them and DPW staff went down Jim Dodge went down and said, you know if we cut these things back anymore They're just going to be brown and they're going to be an eyesore and not very aesthetically pleasing So Mike and I discussed, you know, I think it is about time with the ongoing discussions and again constant citing by tack As he's being a hazard to visibility. Let's put it on an agenda Let's propose taking them down and commit to replacing them with a more appropriate sized hedge To still keep the island aesthetically pleasing to the neighborhood So I put forward for both public consideration on the board consideration It's not covered by any tree bylaw or any formal process, but again being sort of a Would you say a high visibility area? I wanted to have this discussion Yes, thank you, and thank you mr. Chapter Lane, and I was looking at them yesterday and they are ugly and they would be uglier If we cut them back to improve visibility But to replace with what I mean, can we at least for this year? Take them out and replace with at least lawn can we just put seedings in there or something? And is this one of the islands that the garden club puts out there, you know the 60 islands that are taken Yes, I did win first place. Thank you very much. Thank you No, thank you, sir This is probably twice the size that I take care of but I'm very you know It's a memory of my brother Brian who first took care of it But it's right across the street from my house So I have a big advantage and most people take care of islands. They're going to carry barrels of water And I mean so do I have crossing mystic Street But but I don't know whether this should be also referred to the garden club whether there is Somebody that might be interested. It's a larger island. I mean that would be you know, even just the watering of lawn I forget is anything right in the middle of it Adam. Do you know I? Don't think so I so focused on those transformers. I don't make the thing Yeah, when when the board first took the vote many years ago, and I was out there I wasn't on the board, but I have pretty good recollection of it the neighbors that come in because they're three or four They were gray then I think they're green now transformers and they've said, you know, this is right in the middle of our neighborhood So sort of as some remediation the town said we don't have to do this But we'll put these little fledging bush bushes up that will eventually cover that now that had to be 20 years ago honestly, so we should I think proceed forward and then The character and the feelings of the neighborhood they may not be you know They may say I'm fine with that or if they come in and say what's going on We can say well, we took them out We're going to put something more appropriate in terms of visibility as well as what will thrive there next year So it may not be the same sentiments of the neighborhood when that was first voted to be put I I'm totally in support. I will say that my thought is that the optics of this is like really visible We're cutting down green things That's going to cause some distress and I and I well, I think it's the right thing to do I think the if we can be on a path to fast replacement Yeah, it's something that the op you know, it's going to be it's one of it's really visible and we're that you know one of the places where we get judged on how Efficient and effective we are That's fair. I agree Yes, and could I it will take care of one of my new business since we're talking about Lachlan Ave I know we spoke earlier and one of the things I'd anticipated was with our vote to enforce the two-hour parking on Lachlan Ave and some of the other side of Mass Ave etc One of the things we had discussed and I know I had conversations Informally, but I guess if we could a time the work According to you mr. Radamaka whether both these events should happen at the same time or if they should be staggered as well as Could you or perhaps the chair or both follow up with sort of the counterparts on the school side because one of the things I had anticipated and the reason why the subcommittee recommended that we don't start enforcing The two-hour parking on those areas that have the signs and we voted to enforce until the third week of September Was to give the administration and the principal Enough opportunity and time to get it out to parents in an email to let their staff people know And I just haven't seen any of that now I'm on it as a coach But I usually get that so perhaps if the chair with the school committee chair and or the town manager could just follow up Just to make sure I just don't want it to be at the last minute that notice goes out the first week of school Unless that's with the school committee and the superintendent say that's how they want to do it But initially when I was discussing it with them They were saying to do it the first week of September would be sort of an onslaught even though they would mail over the summer I just haven't seen any of those. So that's one of my new business out of the way. Thank you So move approval of removal and some sort of replacement Second We have a motion a second any further discussion Seeing none all those in favor, please say aye aye opposed. Thank you or nothing Thank you, Mr. Jacqueline And now we come to number 13 a discussion on notice agenda this I think is a good time for Well, I guess I'll give a little background to everyone who might not know what no agenda is You may have noticed that our past meetings. We've had very thick binders with hundreds of pages of paper and we're now Was talking about transitioning into an online version where we don't have to waste so much paper and Perhaps make it our lives a little easier with a thing a program called novice agenda, which I Personally, I'm starting to become more comfortable with it. It's certainly Learning her to it and I guess I this is an opportunity for members of the board to You know say what they like voice some concerns on whatever comes to mind when When you think about no of agenda and it's getting time to discuss a potential path forward Whether or not we like this and want to continue using it Personally, I would like to Give our office and us as well At least one more meeting under a trial version Before we we do vote to make this permanent It's a really big change and I think that you know day by day We're getting more accustomed to it, but I think there are some functions that We might want to check out a little more and I think our office You know, it's a summertime and it's vacation time and you know people are coming in and out and I think that might be a safe plan at least give it another month under the trial and Bring it back After having more discussions and playing around with it a little more to decide whether or not to make it permanent With that being said I'd love to hear other thoughts from my colleagues and perhaps We'll move forward from there. Yes. I guess my first question is So I know that Several of us have expressed opinion that it matters most with the off what Fran and Marie say and so I'm trusting that that's happening in a different venue and we're not doing that right now Is that right? Yeah, we are we're ongoing discussions. Okay. All right. Good. So Still to me number one is where are they and what do they think that said you'll get My thoughts One thing we haven't I haven't seen yet is what it looks like when we have Something that we can't share with the public like an executive session paper or you know preparation or something like that So I just want to obviously the fallback if this program can do that as you actually do paper You know for that and that would this to me is still enough of a win that I would be okay with that But I'm curious on that Number two one of the things that I'm most excited about this whole project is having The the packet and the agenda available to everybody starting on Friday not just us and so I wanted to and we Very appropriately our trials haven't yet involved that and I want to know that that test has happened And then it really will work when we open because if we launch this and you know No one in the public can actually see any of these things then we haven't really moved We haven't gotten the wins yet So those are my two or I guess three Kind of open questions, but in terms of the functionality it does what I needed to do and I can use it and I'm happy Thank you Adam do you want to come to the microphone? We don't want to put you on the spot But feel free if you know the answers to any of these questions we might have to chime in I'll take notes at the same time. Yes, and everyone home This is our great GIS analyst and systems administrator Adam Kuroski Who has been walking us through this step-by-step and has done quite an excellent job and I'm very thankful for his work Thank you systems analyst is systems analyst. I'm sorry, but to address Dan's questions I totally agree. I think the next step is to interact the system with the new website In order to show the public what how it functions. It does take a little bit of Programming in order to integrate it in with the the website and it will have a little bit different look and feel So I think that's definitely something we need to test out okay in the confidential documents Is something we'll need to try we actually haven't tried that functionality. Okay Mr. Chairman I wonder what it's time to review our executive session minutes That's a perhaps well that will be coming up Thank you This is really so I start where Dan did which is and I think we actually want to request Mariana my correct. It's actually Fran who does most of the agenda work in the office or it is but with this system I Can see that it's going to impact all of us because on Emails are saved right to it. Yeah, and there's you know, there would be three of us that would get those emails. So I'm To me, it's going to be a very interactive You know approach for all of us Perhaps it would be like friends on Job more to make sure we're doing it on Consistently right with language, you know things like that which are important but on Yeah, but it is friend up to this point I mean and I know they won't like this, but I actually want to request Fran Marianne and if Marie's health is okay be here for that meeting because I start with Dan did It was always ridiculous to me For them to cut make 14 copies and then have to sort through the notebooks And my first goal was to make this far more time efficient We have the least number of clerks in an office in town hall and they do five times the work of any other office I would I would argue but so I really want them to approve it and say yes And I love them, but if you ask them there I'm not sure they're saying yes yet in my opinion Second I'd like to congratulate both Adams for the process. They put together as you know starting with us In terms of what did we want out of a system such as this and then seeing it come to this this kind of fruition? I had trouble getting pulling it up today because of my technological dinosaur ness and With one quick moment Adam pulled it up for me just before this meeting So I love using it during the meeting. I think it's just and before the meeting. I think it's just excellent as an opportunity and you know in terms of transparency to eventually be able to Imagine people at home watching the meeting and being able to look at the same documents that we look at not just 14 copies of that binder and and When I started we would get an agenda now for example this this agenda today has a hundred and seventy eight pages to it of documents When I when I started we got the agenda and then the hundred seventy eight pages not in any order at all You had a kind of guess Or sort through it yourself So we came up with first that notebook system, but I truly believe this takes us into the next Generation, but I want to make sure I my sense is right now This is more work for our office, but I think because it's newer But I really want them to say yes They believe we should go with the system because I believe we should from my use of it Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Grayley one thing I Did speak with Adam Kuroski about Earlier, but I just want to drive home is The importance of technical support moving forward I know that that mainly lies on Adam's shoulders but I would like to Divide up and talk to make sure that the company is ready and willing and we have the appropriate amount of Staff devoted to you know making sure there are no kinks in this and I don't want to You know make someone you know someone's job a lot harder than it already is To make this system work. I think I'm getting my hope I'm getting my point across there But other than that I am you know thus far pretty happy with it, and I agree 100% about This being a decision of the staffs and I think that We have had some pretty good discussions thus far on it and we'll continue to have that but I'm just You don't see an issue with pushing out the Trial period for another meeting or so I don't see a problem pushing it out We had initially set some timelines and some deadlines to implement this One of them was based on the coming school year having something in place for the school committee I'll have to ask the company as well in order to ensure that they're not just going to cut us off midstream And I can do that I can do that tomorrow that would be great. I am because I don't think we're at least Not ready to make a decision tonight, you know 100% go or no go But I would like to push it out at least one more meeting to make sure we're getting all the ins and outs and Everyone's comfortable with it So Yes, miss behind Gonna sort of deviate just a little For me As Kevin and others have stated have having this tablet and this information in this form here tonight works great But in terms of doing trial Selectment prep The way that I do it This really hinders me in the set as well as what what I have set up at home and that leads into one of my other questions It's easier for me to have the paper where I put the tab and then I go look up that mass general law or if it's something on You know the NWRA is having the Variance 15-year hearing I go get all that other information. So it would be cumbers. I need the paper To do the work the prep that I do beforehand So How do we fix that is that also an option if a select man? He or she chooses that they need that or If there's a way I still have my concerns that we discussed at the initial meeting And maybe they were addressed and I missed it and I haven't seen it anywhere in terms of the protection if we are going through Coming from our home computers, which also contain other You know concerned about the keystroke issue that happened years ago not anything to do with the town And as well as you know, my husband also uses we have one main computer I've I have one computer for my court reporting work that is not connected to the internet or anything like that And I have to do that for confidentiality so that there's no way anybody can possibly you know takes one time So that's just offline the whole time and then the other computer is everybody else uses it So for me to try to get the computer time and print out 178 pages. It has hindered me Besides my family circumstances of late, which has nothing to do with you all it has hindered me in terms of the prep and the way I do it but I'm you know, I'm willing to work with that. Maybe there's a feature that I can click on One two Thirteen fifteen like the common victor license It's easier for me and it's quicker for me when I have the actual document in front of me because I'm sort of a little autistic myself I know where everything is and I can kind of group and flip Here it's harder. Maybe there's a function that I don't need all 178 pages, but if I if there I could have the opportunity that says, you know, can you print out? I need 47 of the pages or something like that. I mean if I only needed three or four pages I don't mind doing it except for I'm still not comfortable with that if I use my home computer and Somehow log on to the town slash school site That the protection is going to be there So if you could get us follow-up material on that the other thing the other two points that I had well I already talked about my prep. So the the other point that I had was and This with the town manager and town council as well as the elder Adam if there are any guidelines to the board in the sense of I Want to have all I I love the idea that someone sitting at home can sit there and read what tax said and their recommendations What they considered and didn't Just because there's a very small minority, you know, I could probably count to my left hand Just to give us some guidelines in terms of that information is out on Friday or whatever we deem it appropriate Friday at 5 Saturday at 9 That we don't follow I want to the quorum issue. I want to make sure that we're properly prepared for that So that somebody doesn't sort of backdoor their way in and then can somehow prove that three of us had a conversation Or something like that. I'm overthinking it But I'm just thinking of it in terms of so whatever guidelines of the town manager and town council could give to us on that Recognizing we follow whatever rules and that we want to but And what I'm thinking of is not the average person calling me up and saying listen I'd be willing to give you an opinion But sort of the pitfalls if there's something we should really watch and be careful about for somebody who for whatever reason may say Gee, I'm going to try to say I'm doing a and then they come back with me Yes, Mr.. Real So And I hear what you're saying, you know, I will forever like when I go to business meetings I take my iPad, but I still have my notebook and I still like to write But you know, I still can do that with with the with the system But the making it available to the public is a two-edged sword Because there are those out there that will read all 178 pages and even perhaps check what we've redacted To see whether or not that was properly redacted. I Guess that could happen, you know at some point so but you know Transparency is a very important issue, but I agree with Diane I think on weekends with this packet going out Of course, you know, we're saving the police having to deliver the packets But I you know Adam is it possible to find some way that we can print these documents So I'm at home going through the packet is there Does this system allow me to print? Documents at my home on my home printer sure we in Coupled with the online system that you have where you can touch on an item and see the agenda item next to it Yeah, it also generates a PDF which is printable So but you would be working inside the PDF software in order to print the select pages that you're interested in Right, but it still takes the internet connection It still takes downloading the document and knowing how to manipulate manipulate it yourself in order to get the print that you're looking for But just one more sorry if I'm taking too much time I Honestly think we should forget the voting part of this if you remember the first night we use this We started voting on here as well as verbally, but I do wonder with Mary Ann and or Fran afterwards if just this agenda is taken and the votes are typed in Afterwards, I mean that can serve as the minutes of the meeting as well. I know comments Have to go in there also, but I just I don't see value to actually physically voting on here Like we did all night long the chairman calls for vote and we vote Yeah, I agree with you on that that I don't think that's a function. We'll be using moving forward at least You know if we do choose to move forward with Novus I For the next however many months on chairman won't be calling votes online as well as in person Mr. Chairman, can I ask a quick question and please respond first of all Miss ma'am. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions and prepare any guidance as you'd like with respect to open meeting a lot of Compliance and public records replant compliance and the Novus system The second thing that I sort of wanted to pause it to the board and Mr. Karowski is whether or not The system is capable of if the selectman found it valuable of having a standard Selectman reference material that would go along with They're basically beyond the Novus Not agenda, but the the Novus software it could just be on every meeting so that Miss Mahon or other board members wouldn't necessarily have to Go out outside of the system to find common reference material in other words, maybe a list of limited policies like the Boards policies with respect to alcohol licenses or whatever that could just be included onto the system at all time So that for folks who I tend to agree Use paper a lot because the ability to flip back and forth between one thing and another they would have the ability to have some said agreed upon list of reference materials that if you were looking at an agenda item on a specific issue like a Convict license and you wanted to see policies or the statute the guidelines or whatever that could be loaded onto the system not Necessarily as a meeting specific document, but as a document that's always available on Novus for them to check I'm sure that that's probably a complicated question. I have to check with the folks But do you think that's even a possibility? I think it's a possibility in that You're working inside a digital document and you can create a link that can send you to another digital document Whether it be on the web or whether it be within within the system or within the PDF That we can download through this system. So I think anything's possible I think that's some level of customization that we would have to request from The vendor though, okay Thank you Yes, and I'd just like to say that we're not using all of the tools inside the system yet None of our staff have been formally trained Which comes with the purchase of the software? and I believe there is functionality that over time we could Learn to use to make things more efficient So the the pilot's a great opportunity for us to explore this a lot of the questions that we have are great ones That will take some customization from the vendor that will occur if purchase occurs And also the the admin staff I think have done a great job Learning the system again with only my directive in training and us working together in order to figure out the tools And I think they'll with any tool that we choose Over time they'll become more efficient and proficient using any one of these software packages And you very much will you be able to get us or do we have to purchase it first? But I would imagine the answer is no Would you be able to get us the description? descriptive language of any firewall protection or anything else that comes with this with the Nova system Just not so much that I can review it But I can also give it to my husband who does work for the government and you know can I don't know the different kinds of protections And I don't even know firewalls the right word. I'm reaching this isn't my thing but that that really is a concern in my house not just personally slash politically but also Who other people who use that same computer and I want to make sure it's safe and I can get you the security Information related to the computers that the novice company uses. There's also safety issues directly from your Endpoint in your home right someone could hack into a system at any computer. I guess you could say And so security is different has I think different terminologies I can get you all the information that novice has yeah, that's fine And I can give it to my husband because he has the computer set up There's some things we just can't do because it would open us or something like that and we just live with that It's no big deal. So you can get that to me and I can get it to him and he can take a look at it. Sure. Thanks. Thank you Thank you, Adam Yeah, please be very brief. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just from my perspective I'm probably I maybe I'm not but I think I'm probably the number one agenda item submitter So I practiced for this meeting Going into the back end of the system and directly submitting agenda items Digitally to the board's office and I will say that I after a quick training from Adam Kuroski I found it to quickly be very intuitive the staff in the town manager's office was shocked and Thrilled that on Friday morning They didn't have to run around making the thousands of copies that were necessary and figure out if the color printer had enough Toner and what we're gonna put the three hole punches and what time to get the to get the documents down to the board of selection office So at least from the town manager's office point of view I think there's great benefits to be gained by moving in this direction And I I know in a conversation that I had with the chairman at one point for me this really this discussion Sort of has two levels. There's the novice discussion You know do we like this product, but then there is a larger discussion of the concept We're gonna move forward with an e-packet concept and how do we do that and I know, you know to miss Mahan's point perhaps You know the board could adopt a policy whereby if there are certain agenda items that any board member needs printed The office will print those and make those available to the board member So that they can have that access or whatever the balance the board thinks is the right Balance to have a policy in place so that every board member can be Comfortable with the documents that or you know the the issue that they'll be voting on every other Monday so that's all I have I think it's I think it's moving forward changes tough new processes are to be learned, but I think there's benefits to be had here One Sorry that this conversation is dragging on it is an important one for us to everyone still with us One thing I think that will be important and it's something I've spoke with Our staff on is the relationship between novice and the new website I think that's Something that that will be very important going back to Dan's point about making it, you know really The transparency part of this work would be making sure that the two are connected And they have a strong relationship. So that's something maybe when we do have Finalized a discussion at potentially the next meeting Might have a little insight on that that would be very helpful Yes, we've started taught if you don't mind we've started talking about that internally and I think we're Mostly in agreement that it would be appropriate to integrate novice or any product into the website So you'd still be on the town's website, but you have access to the system The question still to be answered are do we completely move away from the agenda in minutes system that the website currently provides for every Committee and move to novice do we just use novice for the reference material But still provide minutes and agendas in the traditional way and those are those are the conversations that we need to iron out before we Would fully put the foot on the gas? great, I think I know Between now and our next meeting might generally be a slower time with vacations, but I think this is something we kind of have to put the pedal to the metal to between now and the 18th The chairman, I'm sorry may I know one of the things that I thought might be helpful for the board I just want to the board may be well aware of this But I just want to remind the board that if the board for example wanted to attend a novice training session together That's not something that's a meeting It's not a deliberation that the board is engaging in as long as there's not some sort of Deliberation going on and talking about matters of policy for the town You could all benefit from each other's questions and perspectives as you're you know Basically going through a training process something to consider while you're examining not only novice, but any other Technology software Thank you Do we have any other comments on novice for tonight? Seeing none Okay, so we will continue using novice in extending the Trial pending novices response to Adam Kuroski Finally, thank you everyone and we're now on to correspondence received we see We have the loan approved for 39 Academy Street window replacement From mr. Warden, and we also have the daytime parking need which we heard from this failing earlier Moversy and would we Move it if I may amend and refer the daytime parking need to the parking subcommittee For report back that would be great. Do we have a second second? We have motion motion in a second all those in favor, please say aye opposed For nothing boat, okay new business No new business Doug none. Thank you. No new business mr. Greeley no new business Try to do this quick first night of pop order football and cheerleading down at the high school every night Monday through Thursday Month of August and then games and competitions start in September the second point that talked about earlier But just to give the board an update the town manager and I have had conversations regarding sunny side Ave and The four or five sort of major outstanding requests that they have down there Re-contacted who I needed to contact Tony I'm gonna say his last name wrong But the manager has his contact info as does the selectman's office Tony Baleta who replaced Dan Hunt has promised that that DCR did agree in terms of they exacerbated the condition of the road that they would repair it when we went in Mr. Greeley myself and the town manager and others on the microburst That was another thing that was discussed and then commissioner agreed that they I said, you know would love a new road We're not asking that we're asking the lodge potholes that you made massive and they agreed to address them The hold-up has been with Dan Hunt running for success with the state rep and now Tony's on board Tony Baleta Everything supposedly was set to go But then the way it was explained to the town manager myself was when they got out there the original fix They had decided upon which is something like hot topping or hot boxing or something like that Wasn't adequate enough so what they had to do and what they promised would happen by the end of July And I did not make the call today and I think if the manager I do this tomorrow That the engineers were going to go out from DCR look at it Tony stressed that please do not say that DCR is going to give them a brand new road But short of what they were proposing so DCR did not promise that but they did promise that as well as the Concerns that the neighbors had in terms of accessibility that DCR promised to put in there one of the neighbors made their own ramp DCR I understand took it down because they had to in terms of liability But you know you really can't get on that if you're even a bicyclist unless you know you go down seven eight blocks So I just wanted to give the board an update on that and that the manager I will again stop beating the drum to say okay you said end of July in terms of the road in terms of the Pedestrian and anybody else access as well as there was a handicap another ramp a handicap access And then the last thing was you know the necessary maintenance that they promised they would do down there But that sort of has fallen to the bottom and then my last piece of new business is I just want to congratulate One of our town meeting members as well as a member of the Park and Rec Commission Jim Robelod He has been chosen unanimously to be entered into the Babe Ruth National coaches Hall of Fame. He will be the 12th Babe Ruth coach. I believe that's the number. They told me 12th In the state of Massachusetts. It was a unanimous vote, which sometimes these things aren't But he's very well known. I was having a conversation with the chair and Yet to bump into somebody that didn't you know play for him or something like that. So that will be in August I'll be sure that the Stuckman's office gets the information. I think it'll be at the cafe escrow drill Which is where they're planning it with one or two other Awards that they gave me now so congratulations to Jim. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Robelard was a great coach We spent many summers together for the Arlington Pond rats, which I believe he still coaches to this day And we always were happy to beat our rival. This is the Arlington Cardinals Which they were the lesser of the two teams, of course Mr. Dunn, I Do have two pieces of new business one Back to I guess it's a theme of Our summer meetings today. I think it's important for us to extend our best wishes to the Arlington's National under-12 all-star team as they head off to Florida this week to play in The Cal Ripkins World Series. So essentially like the Little League World Series and This is really an awesome awesome accomplishment for them And I'm sure they are incredibly excited and they've already represented us so well, and I'm sure they will continue to We're very proud of them and from the board. I think I can speak for us when say we wish them the best of luck And we hope that they Come home with the trophy, but if not let them know that we're very proud of them anyway And I am gonna just list the players names out because this is such a such an accomplishment There the players are Jacob Ahearn Ryan Boyle Caden Fitzpatrick Brendan Flynn Spencer Friedman David Guides John Horrigan Brendan Jones Patrick Massey Timothy Mosey Anthony Missouri James Santagatti Timothy Shaw Sam Theodore and Jonathan Zach, and we hope that they have so much fun this week down in Florida and I do have One new one other piece of new business and feel it me indulge for a second this on this Saturday, I was down at the finish line for the pan mass challenge and My brother and my uncle wrote it together and it's my uncle who actually at one point worked for the Ellington rec department recently found out he had lung cancer and is currently going through chemotherapy and While he is in chemotherapy you can imagine how ill he's feeling he still found the time to train Ride and complete the pan mass challenge. So I am needless to say I'm a very proud nephew and brother and John Henry did a great job supporting him and it was a great day for our family So thank you everyone Mr.. Chairman Mr.. Kuro is hiking the Appalachian trail or something. Yes He has been hiking with his family the last few weekends. So, okay, sorry You can join us just wanted people to be aware of that. Yes. Thank you second the motion to adjourn All those in favor I Opposed for nothing