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e up on time this is great um and uh I would like to call the meeting to order this is the March 24th 2020 28th sorry 2024 um meeting of the environmental commission um and uh we'll kick it off whoops let's see uh here we go we'll be doing this as a remote meeting um as a continuation of the governor's order for social distancing related to the covid virus we intend to conduct the meeting similar to an in-person meeting and ask for your patience if there are technical issues public comment is welcome and will be via telephone only to speak at public comment call 888 78899 and enter meeting ID 962 6452 this information is available on the published agenda in the Public Notices section on the city website and on the broadcast of this meeting on CTN Channel 16 AT&T channel 99 and online at a2gov.org slatch CN um so there we have the start of the meeting and I will ask um Aon to start with the land Heritage statement thank you I acknowledge that the land the city of an arbor occupies is the ancestral traditional and contemporary lands of the Anish aay including adawa oju Bame and W do peoples I further acknowledge that our city stands like almost all property in the United States on lands obtained generally in uncontable ways from indigenous peoples The Taking of this land was formalized by the Treaty of Detroit in 18 1907 knowing where we live work study and recreate does not change the past but a thorough understanding of the ongoing consequences of this past can Empower us in our work to create a future that supports human flourishing and justice for all individuals thank you Aon and now would you call the r please yes council member Amman here Ann Arbor Vice chair Brown absent commissioner Cowart here commissioner Curtis here and harbor commissioner Dale absent council member dish here in Chicago commissioner Graham I'm here and arber commissioner guber in Austin Texas Spring break for a lot of people uh commissioner Marson absent commissioner Mery you're Arbor chairperson Mitchell here in an arbor commissioner nadrich here and Ann Arbor and commissioner weing absent and sounds like we yep that's I need thanks perfect thank you um I would ask for a motion to approve our agenda for today so moved okay commissioner mki seconded by commissioner Curtis all in favor of the agenda as as presented I raise your hand I looks like a unanimous thank you um I'd like a motion to approve the minutes from our February meeting commissioner NRI seconded by commissioner J Gruber um all in favor of approval of the minutes from 20 February raise your hand to say I right I see guesses thank you oh um our next item of business is um public comment and I'll read the statement uh this is an opportunity for persons to speak for up to 3 minutes please call 78899 and and enter meeting ID 962 6543 City staff will select callers that have raised their hand by calling out the last three digits of your phone number in order to electronically raise your hand please press star9 on your phone you'll hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak press star six to unmute your phone when speaking please move to a quiet area and mute any television or background noises so that we may hear you clearly please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments and um Erin do we have any callers I'm gonna stop sharing for just a second because I'm in Portland also on Spring bre so I have a new setup I can't okay see no problem working um I do not set see any callers okay um and then let's move on to some what we're calling um unfinished business and this is a presentation that I appreciate staff coming for um Jen Lawson from the the water quality manager for the city of Ann Arbor and Jerry hanak the storm water and flood plane programs coordinator for us for Ann Arbor um they'll provide us an update on the storm water management guidelines for public Street construction and reconstruction it was formerly called the green streets policy and um we'll now hear the status and update and where we're going thank you for coming both of you thanks sa Erin is it okay if I share my screen yes come on there we go uh well thank you all environmental commission members um for inviting staff to your meeting I'm not sure how many of you have worked with myself or Jerry Hancock so I do want to take at least 30 seconds so we can just quick introduce ourselves so you're kind of familiar who you're working with um my name is Jennifer Lawson I am the water quality manager in the systems planning unit I've been with the city 13 years prior to that I worked for an Oakland County Community as their environmental coordinator prior to that I was a storm Watershed planner for a engineering firm my background is water policy and law and then my masters is in landscape architecture um no I don't really use the landscape architecture a whole lot but I can really Identify some trees um but we work in our systems planning unit kind of cross collaborative across the entire organization um around the idea of managing utilities and our assets so you'll hear us sometimes talk about asset management or underground infrastructure and that's really where our focus is is more on the broadscale holistic policies on how we manage our infrastructure and how we rehab improve replace our infrastructure um across the entire city and Jerry do you want to take a few minutes to introduce yourself as well okay uh Jerry Hancock I'm the city's storm water and flip plane programs coordinator I've been at the city almost 34 years and I am going to retire retire in July so this project we were trying to wrap up before I retire um I have a degree in forestry for Michigan Tech and a MERS in environmental planning from Eastern and that's really what I do environmental planning and like my title I mostly focus on storm water and flood plan management sorry I just got the dreaded your battery is low notice okay plugged in well we do have a few slides that we R want to run through with sort of you know where have we been um where are we going or and what have we learned and uh some of our staff recommendations around the um storm water infiltration policy for the public road right away so many of you recall about 10 years ago we came up with what we termed the green streets policy um and that specifically focused on road construction or reconstruction um to start thinking about walking the walk so the discussion from the water committee which was out of the environmental commission really focused on this idea that we require developers to manage storm water but the city wasn't M maintaining or managing storm water um that well ourselves especially when we start thinking about how much storm water the city has to manage and what we create so we decided to sort of think about what we've learned over those 10 years and how can we take what we've learned and do better and improve the policy to ensure that we can continue sort of expanding what our stormw water management policies are headed towards so just as a reminder green infrastructure which is really sort of the method or mechanism of how a lot of storm water can be managed is that non-traditional it's not a pipe we're not conveying water from point A to point B we're looking at either using natural systems or mimicking natural systems to enhance improve um infiltrate storm water so we can start thinking about um methods and and means to improve storm water sort of outside of building a big hole and filling it with concrete and making a big Vault um in some cities that's what we have to do but in our Community we do have a lot of opportunities where we can use more um sort of nature-based solutions or um engineered solutions that mimic those schal processes so one of the slides that many of you have probably seen over the years um is sort of the scale of where does storm water sort of come from for the city of Ann Arbor so we have all of this road surface um including the public right of way which includes driveway aprons and sidewalks that the city is responsible for owns manages operates maintains um when we started really looking at the numbers and the data we recognized that it's about 10% of the city area so that's you know sort of taking the I'll say concrete versus non-concrete but it also the number that's more important is that it's 25% of the total impervious area within the city which means the city and I'm using that with my hat on is that the city is creating a lot of runoff that needs to be managed and we require our developers to do it we require homeowners to do it if they're doing a home addition so we really decided again back 10 years ago that we needed to start walking the walk um so the original intention um and and again I have green streets in quote um was coming up with a new standard for how we design streets either rebuilding them or reconstructing them and again we we even put terminology in the uh resolution and I'll quote it it's an array of products Technologies and practices that use natural systems or Engineering Systems to mimic those natural processes and enhance overall Environmental Quality and provide Utility Services um but I I want to remind ourselves that it was really for reconstruct and new road construction which sounds fantastic because it seems like we're building a lot of New Roads right um it's not exactly the case and I'm going to walk through a few things that we've done since 2014 some of the projects that we've completed um so we do have one project in the city that was completed in 2022 that actually received a waver because when we did soil sampling it was found to be noninfiltrated of um the soils were entirely clay we did several soil samples along the entire stretch of the street Russell Street was a gravel road that was completely um built as a new construction um and we really looked at all opportunities and we could not find anything within the public right of way and so in the previous policy there was an option for a waiver um and this was Mr Hy was still Craig Hy was still with us at the time and we we really worked through a lot cuz he didn't want to sign the waiver easily um but you know we recognize it it's just kind of impossible conversely to that though we did have a lot of projects that that achieved what we called the green streets policy and that's the infiltration of the first inch um at minimum um over the entire project area of paved surface so several of the projects that you've probably driven down and didn't even realize they were um Environmental friendly and infiltrative Roads um some of them are downtown um for example hon to Liber I'm sorry forth a from here on to Liberty infiltrates the 100-year event which in in design speak that's phenomenal that means that we could have a massive massive flood uh or massive rain event and fourth a would be able to infiltrate a lot of that rain fall underneath um without any impact above several of the other projects are large bioses underground storage um sand filters that look like Turf on top but allow for a pretty extensive amount of infiltration underneath and then a few projects that we included infiltration what we're calling to the maximum extent practicable these were not road projects that were constructed or reconstructed and I'm going to again I want to kind of hone in on that um these were projects that were other utility projects or Road resurfacing projects where we looked and did an evaluation and staff saw opportunities so these five projects did not fall under the streets Capital reconstruction list but we felt as staff that it was important to start looking for opportunities outside of what the policy required because if we're opening up the road we might as well do something for storm water even if it wasn't the driver for the project so for example many of you if you're out walking your dog maybe through the water Hill Neighborhood when where we um disconnected Brooks from Sunset and built sort of an interesting l-shape we took that entire new RightWay that was created and we built a beautiful bio Swale um it's actually temporarily stabilized right now and it will be planted in the springtime that was a project that was not intended not planned for but when our Engineers got into the design they realized that there was an opportunity that um they you know we sort of didn't want to pass it up and we didn't want to just put a bunch of turf grass on top of it so I talked a little bit about what the projects were that we've done and I also have a few slides on those specific lessons that we learned and the biggest one by far which was sort of a gut punch to be very honest was about a year and a half after our policy was approved in 2014 the engineering department changed how they maintain streets and they started to do what's called Capital preventative maintenance which is in layman's terms Mill and fill they grind down the top layer and put more asphalt on top it's a good way of extending the road surface and especially if we have minimum dollars available for Road Improvement um it it definitely expands on the fix the blank bleep roads um because we were we've been able through capital capital preventative maintenance to improve the condition of our roads significantly but what that did mean is that we are not building New Roads and we are not reconstructing roads therefore the policy was sort of out the window because the previous policy the original policy only applied for road construction or reconstruction so it's sort of I'll say cut our legs off before we really even had an opportunity to start implementing the policy other Lessons Learned is that just because we have great soils in the area doesn't mean that there aren't other utilities that are underground where we cannot put infiltration Gardens within the public RightWay there's a lot of other pipes that maintenance is never easy and it never happens magically and this this picture actually tells us two stories this is the roundabout up on Nixon and I'm not sure how many of you re remember this area can you guys see my mouse just question okay there is supposed to be a rain Garden right here I mean you can zoom in you can drive by you can get on your hands and knees there is no rain Garden there it was built per plan it was constructed per plan it's gorgeous until the contractor that was hired by the local the neighborhood next door thought it was a bunch of weeds and mowed over it and continued to mow over it for an entire season um it's sort of it's sort of a little gut punch that we were really excited about those opportunities now mind you the soil base underneath here is still infiltrative and the rainfall that does get here does infiltrate so so we're still achieving the intent to manage storm water it just doesn't have that pretty flower aesthetic that we had designed the other sort of lesson learned and this is growing more and more and more we see is the pushing for additional interests within an already restricted right of way um the protected bike lanes are phenomenal for bike traffic but it reduces the amount of opportunity that we may have between sidewalk and curb for storm water infrastructure um that is visible above ground oftentimes we can move things underground still achieve that same storm water intent but we sort of lose that aesthetic um a perfect example of that are the bike Lanes along first um there is a sort of curbed buffered area that does have grasses in it but if you've ever ridden down it that curbed area where the grasses are is about a foot wide maybe at best 2 feet wide and it's not really collecting a lot of storm water and runoff that goes in there in fact that project is achieving infiltration but it's not achieving that full amount that we were looking for just because we had such a restricted amount within the public right of way so after about N9 years if you will so last summer Jerry and I and our Water Resources Group we were kind of we already knew that you know we've been doing this for a long time and we internally sort of had our own non-written policy of how we wanted to continue improving the green streets policy but we also recognize that we have a lot of external um stakeholders including design Engineers that the city works with often that have made comments about the green Street's policy really being an implementable document so we worked with uh Wade trim our one of our engineering consultants and had them do a thirdparty independent review of the policy in addition we had City staff from the engineering department we had City staff from the public works department and City staff from systems planning doing our own sort of individual um reviews of the policy as it stood and we came up with I don't want to call it a laundry list but it was a pretty detailed list of some things that we knew we could improve upon and it would make such a larger impact and a really a more implementable policy where we could actually start measuring change and measuring improvements um so we all got in a room and we hashed out our our comments and everyone was on board everyone was really moving towards the right direction I don't want to say hashed out but we all agreed that we could do a whole lot better um so again this is part of the laundry list um one of the biggest ones though was the nomenclature um this idea that the street had to be green um really was was difficult because often times as I've mentioned through our lessons learned we realize that it can't always be green um my my perfect example is State Street that was just completed last summer that infiltrate a 10-year 24hour event so that actually infiltrates 3.26 in um but it looks like a lot of concrete up top because they were competing interests there was the idea of removing the curves there was an idea of making it um you know the the public um meeting space area so while we're still achieving a lot of those wonderful goals and really overachieving those goals um we recognize that it can't always be green so looking at how we can change the policy just for a sort of um what people are thinking or what assumptions can be made um we decided to calculate the volume for the full right of way within the project limits as opposed to what we were looking at back of curb so that actually extends the area that we were designing for and enlarges it so now we're not only requiring those Engineers to take care of what's in the road but from sidewalk to sidewalk which in some areas is pretty significant um clarification of the policy does not apply to preventative maintenance and and resurfacing because if we're not going to open up the road we don't need to sort of jump down that that rabbit hole of making a project that could be a very uh beneficial Road resurfacing project for the neighborhood and making it a little bit more of a deep project um when the road service didn't really need that um the fourth bullet is really a a big shift in the policy and that's applying the policy not only to Road resurfacing projects but to all utility projects so water main jobs sanitary sewer jobs um Road jobs for example if we if the project will disturb at least half of the road width so if we're when we scope out projects and this happens many many years prior to you guys ever seeing the road opened up in construction um if we recognize that there's a water main job that's going to open up half of the road surface we put a Kaiba shot down and say nope that that requires storm water and um the project sort of gets res scoped including storm water so storm water sort of is a a second level or a second layer on so many of our CIP projects but that's really how we've been able to integrate um stormm water management across all of our utilties projects and and making sure that we can keep expanding storm water management um next bullet allowing multiple infiltration standards on one project because we recognize some of our road projects are long and expand over soil areas and in some projects we can achieve infiltration great on others we on the other end of the project we might not be able to um next bullet just following the county storm water rules uh next bullet describing the process for a waiver we really didn't have a process prior and when Craig walked through that first um waiver for Russell we were kind of making it up as we went along we have a process now but we wanted to actually document that and put that in writing um next to last bullet is a very important one that we hadn't really thought through for our previous policy was the maintenance plans and making sure that maintenance plans are reviewed cuz I'm not sure about you guys but for the past 20 years I know Ann Arbor has been a leader in implementing green infrastructure we were really good at putting something in and forgetting about it so we're really getting back to the the Grassroots of we also need to maintain these things and have a process in place and then making sure that these projects are not designed in a bubble that these projects all have to be designed with public works with systems planning and engineering and so it's a really a collaborative effort that we have um making sure that all of these proposed infiltration projects um will be successful um many of you recall the flow chart from the previous policy this hasn't changed this is Verbatim what it was previously depending on site conditions so if the project um depending on where the project is within the flood plane what the infiltration rate of the soils will be and what the slope will be um we want to make sure we're using the right BMP in the right place place and the Baseline for all of these is infiltrating the first inch of rainfall and then we can move sort of down the chain if you will um the the better soils that are underneath we ensure that we're infiltrating at least um what is possible so if it's the 50% annual chance or the 10% annual chance um so just as a reminder I throw this picture up here that we can solve or we can create storm water management features that look a lot of different ways um it could be a trench underground with with gravel for infiltration it can be a biosoil it could be porous paving brick it could be a lot of different things um we encourage our designers to come up with a design we don't want to be um very predictive or um sort of authoritarian on telling them they must design a biooil because if they're going to try to fit that square peg into a round hole it won't work but we encourage them to be a little more creative and use the storm water management um manual from the state which gives a myriad of opportunities and ideas to manage storm water um so um we're really making sure that we're sort of opening up our eyes and thinking outside the box so we can make sure that we're managing storm water to the best of our ability so with that um I know Aaron sent around a draft policy um that staff has created based on the comments heard um as well as a draft resolution that we prepared um just to get your brains thinking um but with that Erin I'm going to turn it back over to you Jerry is there anything that I forgot before I turn it back over I don't think so you com I have to say Jerry did a brunt load of the leg work on this project so kudos to Jerry um sort of hurting the cats and making sure that all voices were heard because this is this was a big undertaking but we're really excited to see it come to fruition um so Aaron do you want me to stop sharing sure yeah go ahead um and I am wondering I might have just sent around the resolution or I think I just have the resolution linked and I'm um checking if I I'm not sure if I set sent the updated policy it it was together with the resolution on the same document oh it was okay great on the next page oh okay all together in the same document okay um so I um we can go ahead and introduce the resolution um which uh Jerry do you want to walk through what you sent or created and sent um yes and what you're kind of thinking for next steps so 10 years ago the the water committee um was the driver for this project project and I was the staff person to it and so I um went back and found that resolution and have updated it because that's basically what this project is is simply updating the policy to uh you know apply the last 10 years of knowledge of working working on it um and within the policy I did bullet out the same things that Jen went over in the [Music] presentation then there's the policy that follows it's it's a clean clean version of it not not a marked up version of it okay great so um it's my understanding the environmental commission typically when resolutions are introduced that it's a we do follow a first and second reading so I think this would be considered kind of the first res reading of the resolution um and so folks have questions um we have Jerry and and Jen on the line um if there's any outstanding issues or questions that you saw pop up in the in the document Erin I not finding it where can you say again where when you sent it and where it's included yeah it's linked in the agenda um and I can go ahead and share my screen and I think it we may want to also have some questions addressed um based on the presentation correct so sorry I I'll hand it back over to you Rita if you want to kind of feeli questions sure okay looks like um misser grber has a question yeah thank you Jen and Jerry for that that was really helpful since I was not here 10 years ago and the history was really helpful for me to hear you describe Jen so I my question is I understand that Council has been talking about this trunk line transfer where perhaps the city would take over hon parts of hon parts of Maine maybe washt I can't remember the fourth one maybe and I don't know what happened at the last council meeting and perhaps council members dish and acman could add to this but so my question is do you what implications do you think think that this update would have to that potential which I think would be big projects that the city would be working on on those big um trunk lines in the in the in our city well I can sort of take a stab first of all uh we already have some storm water infiltration on those trunk lines um the DDA did a project on hon um and many of you will probably just look at them as the dark darker gray bricks in the sidewalk those are all infiltration privious papers um and the city maintains those already as part of our act 51 with roads um so I don't think it would be a pretty significant change for us we would just start applying these same policy standards to the roads that we now own and maintain one we did the infiltrative pavers along hiron it was sort of a partnership with DDA and with mot and the city um and it worked relatively well I think the the only issue that we had was more of a maintenance question because they were put in but nobody really asked our Public Works guys if they had the equipment to maintain it so we now have to rent um a little sort of power washer thing that has a lower PSI so it doesn't blast the sand out of the the um grout lines but no we've we've done it successfully and would anticipate that we would continue doing it successfully from a stormwater standpoint it would it would make an opportunity to do storm water that we might not otherwise have it would just an MD do project um Mr grber was there anything further I guess I'll guess no um commissioner Curtis I just want to say I just went and looked at the agenda on legistar and I don't see this file link there the presentation but not this file I thought I I know I got it yeah it's not there the uh resolution is there with a summary of changes but okay that's uh my mistake um so I will yeah this one is not okay okay I will go ahead and we can include this um in the next in our next meeting um so I apologize for that um all right Erin I see it in legistar if people go to lestar online it is linked as a separate agenda item yeah I think I see it too but it doesn't look like that if you if you look it doesn't look like that no it's it's jumbled and it's the actual text yeah it's it's the normal like title memo blah blah blah right and then whereas where as where as resolved yes I'm just gonna share I'm stealing this from you guys make it big though what's up there right now is I will make it big I won't make it big yeah H Okay so tell me can you guys see this oh aon's still sharing oh I'll stop share okay all right so if you go in to our fabulous L star go over to the agenda and then you click on I'll show you what I did when you click on the agenda it'll pull up the full thing let me go back so it'll pull up this friend and then it is the second one which is very jumbly but if you click for full text there it is um that looks like the resolution yeah I think so I think this is my fault because I didn't I didn't realize that there was the draft policy at the end which I don't think made it into that um so that was my fault um and we can um R and I can get and commissioner sorry commissioner Mitchell and I can touch B and see what makes sense um so we're able to have a appropriate first reading of this resolution because you will need to see this updated policy so apologies we'll try and send that out by tomorrow I guess let's try that that sounds good thank you thanks for raising that and the resolution's good um council member Amman I just wanted to respond quickly that the trunk line um study has not been a topic of discussion yet at city council um it was on our agenda as a report I think because it went to Transportation Commission for discussion and it's to be a work session item sometime this summer so um we're a bit of a ways from just considering it wanted to let you know and um I have a question oh sorry Mr Mercy go ahead you go ahead okay all right um I loved that there was in the diagram um an indication of geothermal underground um and I wondered so I don't believe that we have that yet um as like a shared geothermal within the city I know it's discussed for the Bryant commun Community um but it seems to me that that might be something that we would look forward to in the future right and that I assume that that would be in the roadway um so I don't know if that really um is a question for me right now but I I just want to say I want I think it would be a great thing to proceed and and my question I guess is how how can and Jen we've talked about this before how can we measure the performance Improvement or you know like I know that weather is changing right or the climate is changing so it's like every Everything is a little bit different each time um what makes a success well I'm gonna take a step back outside of just the public right of way um in systems planning this is a question that we ask ourselves a lot because we're behind the scenes you guys don't really see us we don't build things you guys maybe see us on special projects um but we are responsible for all of the storm water managements that are built across the city including private development including things that are outside the public right away including projects that we do with Washington County water resources Commissioner's Office that's a mouthful um we we are working through a dashboard and I don't want to put it public yet um I actually just got the rough draft of it last Thursday and it it's a it's an assumptive model that calculates the amount of rainfall that is infiltrated in either city-owned green infrastructure um or private residential rain Gardens um there's a few assumptions based on volume based on size but we're we're sort of trying to figure that out because it essentially R we're trying to measure mother nature and if there's an antecedent moisture conditions in the soil it's not going to infiltrate as well um but we still will be achieving infiltration it might not be in the first 24 hours maybe it's in the first 48 hours so there's a lot of overthought if you will and you know I work with a bunch of Engineers and we're they're really good and I include myself in that we're really good at overthinking things um but what we're hoping is that this dashboard that we've been looking at can get us to a number that makes sense based on the amount of investment we've had around green infrastructure um the previous projects that have been built um so the previous uh rain Gardens the ones that were listed in in my my slides many of those are included in that dashboard um so I think that there are methods and mechanisms but what we're struggling with is how can we sort of automate that so we don't have a little squirrel who has to do calculations every single time um that we have to start thinking about you know what's been developed what's changed how was our land use changed um I feel good about the numbers you know Jerry has been part of that team also in in putting together really a lot of the data behind um what has been built how is it maintained how is it being inspected is it is there an assumption that it's working as designed um so there are measures and really what we're what we're looking at is that that X Factor is going to be how many million gallons of storm water were infiltrated this year um and that's we're right and I don't want to burst anyone's surprise bubble but we're right like 60 million gallons of storm water infiltrated it's huge it's absolutely huge and that's not including the systems that mother nature already has on her own this is on man-made things that we've built um so we are measuring what we feel is achievable to measure um but as I said Mother Nature kind of doesn't think um that way Jerry what are your thoughts on that yeah so part of it is we have to make assumptions because we're not actually putting meters out and that that's terribly expensive to do and usually when someone does it it ends up being some sort of uh you know presentation at many conferences because not very many people do put a lot of meters out on these storm water features um so that so that's not we're not talking about putting meters out um we we have done some of that in the storm seur system on a large scale for our model um and if we do that in the future comp you know we might be able to compare like how have we done in the last 10 years you know versus the last time that we put meters out in the system if we have some rain events that happen to be similar you could compare but even that you have to make a lot of assumptions because no rain no two rain events are the same okay thank you Umi thank you I I had a number of quick questions well first of all I support um the effort to come up with some kind of outcome based metric to be able to see whether or not we're we're making progress and and use that as a feedback mechanism for making and driving improvements a couple of quick questions um well first a comment I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about this again in our next meeting um and it would be great if um either Jen or Jerry you could join us um because we're probably likely to have a more substantive discussion after you've been had a chance to read the policy um couple quick questions um how is U ofm property um taken into account here and um do any of the policies um relate to U ofm I assume um all their storm water feeds into the city's storm water system um and then I'll go ahead and um ask the second question that I had and that is is um I know airheart Road between Gettys and Glazer was a major project in 2023 and I'm wondering what kind of storm water management strategies were implemented there that wasn't mentioned on or shown on those timelines that's it thank you and thanks for the presentation you want to talk about um umm yeah so U ofm is not subject to city codes um and they're definitely not subject to our policies because this this is a policy this is outside of city code and they're not subject to any of it so um they have their own what's called npdes permit and their npds permit um requires a lot less storm water management than our policies and I mean our our codes and this policy that we're talking about here is above and beyond meeting code so the U ofm um is nowhere near uh the level of storm water management that we um expect for ourselves and for developers is is that something that could be addressed jointly given uh the two entities are updating their comprehensive in campus plans I mean it seems to me that you know the UN buers has um a number of sustainability metrics um I don't think they measure anything related to storm water I don't know as we discussed it may not be so easy to measure um but it seems like um If U ofm is interested in sustainability There's an opportunity there for let's call it uh improving or raising their game I think to do that you'd either have to change state law or at least change the regulations that are applied to the U ofm by um Eagle they're the department that oversees their npds permit and the university is not any different than any other university in the in the state they probably all have the same permit and so like we we require control of first flush Bank full 100-year and have this infiltration standard which ALS is also applied to private development um the university only has to do the first flush uh when they don't even call that they called water quality standard and then they um are required to deal with the Bank full event but not even not even for the whole site only for the difference between pre and post um it's it's really like if you just want to like look at it on a scale they only require to control maybe a quarter of the volume that we would [Music] require if if I can just say one more thing about that that's concerning to me I mean I I'll I'll raise it with some people that uh I know at the U ofm but if you just look at what umm is going to be doing down at elow field with the huge dormatory there plus the second phase which potentially is just as as large and we know that area is already prone to flooding and if they're only uh infiltrating you know at I think I heard you say a quarter of the what we're trying to achieve from the city side that that impacts a bunch of adjacent properties and that really seems like there should be discussions between the city and and uh University leadership on on trying to mitigate the negative impacts of of uh storm water and and lack of ability to to manage it properly and that's not the only place I mean University is still acquiring As We Know city other properties and that means a bigger and bigger portion of the city is being um governed by a policy that's apparently quite a bit weaker than the cities plus the city is going to be doing I mean the university going to be doing a ton of development on uh North Campus if if you look at the the campus plan 2050 scenarios Air Road anything about aut Road that's notable and then I'm so think actually was able to pull up the airart plans and remember how I um made that comment about Road reconstruction versus Capital preventative maintenance um it looks like there was not a lot that was done on airheart for storm water I can get a complete answer to you but nothing is jumping out in my memory for it other then uh they replaced some storm water catch basins and made them um they added sump to them sump them sumps to them which removes sediment um which is a sediment removing sediment is better than nothing that helps us meet our our phosphorus dials um but it doesn't look like there was any um large infiltrative bmps that were added to that project I do know the new roundabout that's proposed on Pontiac Trail is going to have infiltration it's Pontiac Trail and duvar because the road there was taken down to the road bed several roundabouts were installed I mean it was a it was a major project it was one of those projects that sort of fell into the it doesn't have to follow the policy because the policy hasn't been updated and I I don't know exactly off the top of my head what was included but we can definitely get an answer for you um so I'm gonna call us uh time on on this because we've got two more presentations and I'll I'll take um questions from commission NRI and then commissioner Curtis thanks um I have just like two kind of quick things um thanks Jennifer for the presentation that was really interesting um so like circling back to metrics um I know we mentioned and it's also in the resolution the tmdls um it looked like for total suspended solids eoli and phosphorus I guess as far as a metric like how are we doing on those is my first question um and how is the Green Street sort of feeding into that how important and relevant is it in Meeting those goals um and then I also so I live in um the Lakewood neighborhood um and I actually did some monitoring on uh first and second Sister Lakes uh last year and found that the amount of phosphorus they're holding is incredible um so I was wondering um in your green infrastructure plan do you look at sort of protecting these natural systems that are having such a huge benefit in managing storm water um like for instance Matt nod um facilitated putting in the biosil um which is capturing a lot of the water from our neighborhood um oh was that you yeah Matt was so you know he may have taken some credit but um so um I guess that's another question is um how are we looking at you know protecting these natural systems and using their natural ability to clean water in our in our plans as well I I'll call the Catalyst but he had to put his resident head on when he was in meetings so we were a good team for that project um well you asked kind of two questions first of all is how are we doing on our tindles and the answer to that is we've seen improvements on the ecoli we've seen improvements on the phosphorus um the TSS has been a little bit harder to sort of um pin down but what's interesting about the timle numbers is that they are calculated from the main stem at the hiron but we're seeing the improvements in the creeks so and we've pres we're actually working with Molly ripy trying to figure out and this is at Eagle how we can start delisting some of these Waters because we're seeing improvements in The Creeks but the improvements aren't being visualized if you will or determined at the at the main stem um we have a lot of this data that we haven't necessarily put out to the public only in that it's kind of confusing um but we definitely when we complete larger storm water projects there is a um sort of modeled assumption on how much TSS or how much phosphorus will be removed how much siment will be removed um so we have those numbers and that sort of gets along to the discussion of modeling versus actual measurement um the measurement is in the creek Downstream a year or two after the construction project is completed because you've got to sort of wait for great uh grow in and um vegetation for the project to actually function how it should but um how do we sort of incorporate it with the green streets it's a they're such small scale that it it really is the the two or three you know containers and I say like five gallon containers maybe of sediment that we're keeping out of the river but maybe if we start adding more of those it's sort of a a um a cumulative benefit for these smaller Street scale projects where we see a lot of improvements for and you mentioned specifically phosphorus and TSS is when we do stream beinging stabilization projects that's really where you get the murky Waters the muddy streams um we're not seeing that um obviously a a biosoil type of project is very different than a stream B stabilization kind of project um so we're not doing monitoring on each individual project a lot of it is model based and then there's an annual sort of annual calculation did I answer all your questions you did thank you okay good I was I was making notes Mr Curtis so hopefully this is an easier question um when you're doing road construction work like at the intersection of Sunset and Brooks there was a there is a very lowquality nature area that's adjacent to it and did you look into using the nature area or some of these storm water management and there's other lowquality nature areas there streets that might have the same opportunity to support storm water we did so the one at Brooks and sunset is interesting because that kind of landed in our laps um through the the scoping project which is cool because it always makes our designers think differently um we were looking at where the water was coming from where the water was going to recognizing that there already was a lot of water going down into that Brook Sunset nature area that was already erosive so our main goal for this project was to capture the water within the public RightWay before it got down into that Brook Sunset area so in essence sort of protecting it allowing it to um not receive as much Road runoff so it wasn't necessarily a protection for the the services that it provides it was more of a protection because we don't want to damage it anymore than we already have well it's better than it used to be we've done some work in the nature area and it's absolutely 10 years ago it was a lot worse for the storm water than it is now so but what you're doing will help quite a bit that's what we're that's what we're aiming for right well thanks everyone I hate to I hate to um cut this off but I'm aware of um our next presentation so um I think that um Erin we should work out our next steps because I think it would be worthwhile perhaps for the Commissioners to have the opportunity to send some additional questions to Jen and Jerry um that might be helpful in terms of the next um review at our next meeting does that sound okay absolutely y when is your next meeting April 25th it's NFL draft my friends what sports I live in Detroit draft day um okay well we'll have to work around something there um uh anyway um I want to say thank you thank you to both you Jen and Jerry for this presentation um I think you can see that the commission is very interested um and I think that the result of your work will be something that we'll really appreciate and uh so we'll go to that next step by the way if Jerry doesn't make it to our next meeting I think all of us on the environmental commission present and past want to thank him for all of the wonderful service that he's given the city and Jerry we're going to miss you thanks a lot thank you Jerry Jerry we worked together a lot of those 40 years you've been at the city and I will miss you greatly you've been a absolute Gem of a city employee and helpful to natural natural features committee and environment commission for decades thank you thank you I totally agree thank you well thank you environmental commission um if there are any further questions certainly shoot them to Aaron and she'll be in touch with us and um in the mean time I am going to get a response about what bmps were included on airheart for you commissioner mki um and we hope to continue the conversation and uh get the updated policy passed thank you all right look forward to it bye bye thanks um well thanks everyone that was a great discussion um I think we could have all kept on it for quite a while um I still have many questions but we'll go for it um our next um discussion um is one that I also appreciate greatly um uh we have Dr Missy staltz available to talk about the renewable energy options analysis and um she's here because we at the environmental commission are really concerned about climate change and the effect on our natural environment and um certainly this will have some effect at least we hope that that's our goal um so moving to a a um 100% renewable energy is a goal that we all share and so with that I would appreciate um Mrs stealths to um initiate her presentation that we have you have prepared great thank you very much chair Mitchell and everybody I know it is late and I know we are in storm water mode and we're going to Pivot for a second and what I'm going to do is not actually go through all of my slides I'm going to give you a high level because every single thing is actually on this website and in fact a much more entertaining presenter is going to go through these slides right here in this link so the actual Consultants themselves um I I do have slides and I'm going to go through some of them but I'm not going to go through all of the details so I want to make sure aon's going to send this out to all of you everything I'm talking about all of the resources and background material lives here so I'm going to go fast because I want to get to more discussion and just wanted you to know this exists it's coming your way so don't be upset if I go through what I'm going to show you very quickly because it's really easy to find so I just want to make sure we focus on dialogue because I think that's probably more interesting so as here Mitchell named we have the goal in an arbor of powering our electric rid with 100% renewable energy this is part of a20 and hopefully you all know what a20 is our community's plan strategy framework goals actions to be carbon neutral and adjust an equitable Way by 2030 and so what we ended up doing is commissioning a study to understand what were different Pathways that we could take to achieve that goal building on a lot of work that had been done through the community and through staff and so what this presentation actually goes over are four main things what it was that we commissioned and what we didn't commission so we can binded it what uh was found in a public survey what was found from a technical report and then what staff's recommend commendations are now I'm not the consultant that did the public survey or the consultant that did the technical options analysis so I'm going to give you the high Lev findings but I can talk about in Greater detail the scope of what we commissioned and the recommendations that are coming out from staff any technical questions a lot of them are going to be answered in the report there's also a technical app pendum uh app pendum I don't even know what that is appendix uh that you can dive into to get more information but let's take it on a quick a quick little overview here so here's what we did we hired uh a team to create an options analysis providing details about the various Pathways that the city could take to achieve its clean energy goals we also ask them to do two very specific analyses so that's the big analysis there are lots and lots of different procurement Pathways there are lots of different options available on the market uh to help us hit our clean energy goals we asked them to evaluate those and then we said we also want to make sure you study at least two of those Pathways in Greater detail one is traditional municipalization through condemnation or the buyout of our existing incumbent utilities assets this is known as traditional municipalization this was a phase one study and a phase two study for something called a sustainable energy utility which is an optional optionals key opt in supplemental utility that would only provide 100% renewable energy to those that subscribe through rooftop ground maned solar systems energy storage systems and network geothermal which I'm excited to say uh chair Mitchell mentioned this before we a lot of work actually on network geothermal right now in the office this was kind of a twinkle in our eye when we came up with the idea for the sustainable energy utility but we are well past twinkles uh and very much moving into uh practice here with network geothermal so this was the scope of analysis we also said you can't just tell us you could do all of these magical things because of course we've studied those magical things right we have a very capable competent staff uh who's done extensive analyses we have wonderful experts in our community who've leaned in uh that understand the energy system and all of its nuances and so we've done a lot of work and so what we really wanted is someone that is actively in Industry who is doing this looking and saying okay here are the pathways that look viable uh across the board and we wanted those to be evaluated on the goals that we've established things like a20 being carbon neutral by 2030 it doesn't really matter if we can achieve something in 2043 when that's not our goal right our goal is 2030 that's what's been adopted we need to to create Pathways to achieve that 100% renewable energy Target we needed to understand how the strategies aligned with our core principles of equity sustainability and transformation this body and the energy commission as well as city council also adopted a series of energy criteria and principles that help guide our decision making and so we wanted to understand how things aligned with those criteria and principles and of course it was really important to think about a just transition for workers in the fossil fuel industry now while this isn't part of the study I will tell you we're working really closely with our plumbers and tight Fitters Trade union because as we think about transitioning away from fossil gas those are jobs that we could lose but if we lean in to network geothermal plumbers plumbers and pipe fitters are the ones who work on that system and so it's a reskilling as opposed to a job loss so those are the kinds of things we wanted to have be evaluated as part of the study so the first thing we did we did this technical study right but we also wanted to understand public sentiment because it doesn't matter what's technically possible if the public does not want to see that happen and so here we commissioned American pulse to run a statistically valid representative uh survey this is just some background on and American pulse not going to belor any of this you're welcome to dive in again all these slides are public what we had them do is a random sample they ended up with a sample size of 412 95% confidence interval plus or minus 4.8% uh it was a multimodal hybrid study so they did phone online panels and text to web it was weighted with an over waiting to ensure we had racial and ethnic representation throughout the city um slightly higher than actually what is represented uh with a focus on low-income households we really wanted to make sure they were heard and seen in the study so here's kind of a big picture right um we wanted to understand if people knew about our 100% renewable energy goals and What mattered to them as we were looking to achieve that what were the key characteristics they wanted to see in their energy system now throughout American pulses slides again these are the consultant slides so I'm just doing my best to reiterate them here you can see the quotes from uh individuals these are actual quotes that came out of their particular Sur excuse me missy we do not see the slides you do not see these slides we see something that says Consultants findings and it's static you're Frozen I'm frozen okay hold on did you see anything at the beginning we we saw the website that you had up yeah all you saw okay there thank you you see it now yeah okay great now I don't no it's good I just went off to see you so now I'm putting it back on all right apologies for that okay so apologies you couldn't see anything I promise all the slides are public here's the backwards this is what it looks like it's so delightful yall okay so this is where I was this is the methodology that we talked about uh you'll see on these slides when you look at them these gray boxes these are quotes that came directly from people who took the survey I'm not going to read them except for for one that always makes me smile a little bit so here's their they had five strategic insights based on their samples and you can actually see on our website all of the responses so I mean verbatim responses if you'd like to dive into that the number one uh Insight is resilience reliability and cost are the three most important characteristics that people want to see in their energy system we deliberately asked questions and I I did help design the question methodology uh we asked questions in multiple different ways we asked open-ended questions so people could say whatever they wanted to say about What mattered to them in their energy system we did uh a rank a Force rank where they had to pick their top three and then we let them pick everything so if there were 10 items they could pick all 10 items so in that way we were able to look and kind of compare responses and no matter how you ask the question these are the three most important things with resilience being by far the number one thing that people want to see now I'm using the term resilience we didn't you can see in the question it's a description of resilience as defined um it's it's a definition right it's not saying do you want a resilient system because resilience is a pretty fuzzy term and so we used an industry definition of resilience so here is uh just continuation of that resilience ranked number one across all demographic groups 66% of all respondents said this was one of their top three priorities when forced to pick one of three priorities reliability was number two with 48.6% selecting it as a top top priority and pretty close behind you can see within a margin uh that that margin of error is cost uh being selected as a top priority it was also the number three verbatim answer right Insight number two there's this one I'm delighted by uh didn't realize we would have this high of a response rate but we have about 75% of respondant that that are aware of our goal to achieve 100% renewable energy CommunityWide now that level of awareness varies as you can see in the in the pie chart off to the side but this is great right this is a great Foundation to build from it means we have a lot more work to do to get out and really make sure that we move those just sums over to a lot uh but there aren't many people who know nothing at all about what it is we're trying to do in the community Insight three gener uh residents generally support the 2030 goal now this is a quote it always makes me chuckle because one of the things that we heard it wasn't that 40% don't support the goal some of them actually think it should be more aggressive uh than 2030 bless their hearts so uh this is one of the you can see as soon as possible 2030 feels aggressively achievable I appreciate that respondant very much but generally speaking we've got the community uh in support of the goal to achieve 100% renewable energy there's their fourth Insight is of all the criteria that we offered to people people want everything they can possibly have right and this makes sense you want an energy system that is the Cadillac or the Tesla maybe not the Tesla but like the gold standard of the the system and when you ask them to say but which of these are the most important to you you still get them focusing on resilience reliability and cost and you can see here uh and again these are all importance how many of them said it was very important being the most important characteristic uh to to them in this study and the fifth strategic Insight was um again this is from the Consultants that we would ignore cost and affordability at our own Peril that when you look especially across demographic groups you actually start to see cost not being the third most important variable even though that it showed as the third most important of the three but it rises to number two in very different demographic groups those making under 75,000 a year it's a very important characteristic our non-white population and those under 40 have high cost sensitivity and so that as they were reading the responses and coding things they identified a need for us to to never lose sight of affordability and cost I don't think anyone on this webinar would uh we all acknowledge we don't want to exacerbate energy burden as we think about what the future holds for all of us we want to make sure that we usher in a clean safe healthy future for all meaning it also has to be affordable and accessible to all so these are I'm not going to go through these slides there's just these are the general takeaways I just shared resilience great so that is framing we went into the technical report so we've got this in the back of our head saying okay we've got to think about resilience reliability and cost that's where the public is right now let's analyze the technical options available to us so this report is online again you can dive in uh to it it was created by these particular Consultants five lakes was the leading organization involved New Gen strategies and solutions who does the vast majority of M the country Atomic Law Group extremely experienced lawyers multiple different lawyers from our state uh that work in the energy system and sensor energy helping us with a lot of the energy storage analysis as part of the SE I'm going to quickly go through these because I want to get to the questions here part of the study as you look to the future is you have to understand both the present and where we're tracking under a business as usual scenario as well as where we're tracking with all of our at0 goals so this slide just talks about how electric generation and electric usage are going to vary over time so this particular one is on load on usage the next ones we'll talk about some other elements of the electricity system but here what we basically see is between now and 2030 there isn't really that much projected shifting in our amount of electrical usage however you start to see that change and this is because we're electrifying right vehicles are electrifying uh we're talking about making a transition to more sustainable sources of heating and cooling as we think about transitioning our water heaters over to heat pump water heaters well they're already electric but our dryers for example making that transition our cook tops if we're concerned about indoor air quality we're having conversations about what we cook on and so we're going to see greater electrification that means to get to 100% renewable we have to factor in that level of growth so I just share that we are planning for a future in which we have increased electricity demand now this is outdated let's just stop you can look at it right now uh this report was done before govern Whitmer signed the new renewable portfolio standard so that is true we know that we're analyzing all of this information the most important thing to note when you look at 2030 that green slice uh actually not the green slice the for you I think it's teal it's 35% that's 50% because the new renewable portfolio standard the governor's sign means we have to have 50% renewable electricity on the grid or clean electricity is the actual vernacular by 2030 if has to be 100% clean by 2040 so what that means is everything gets smooshed meaning that 41% we're trying to close is actually smaller our calculations are closer to gosh I think it's 28% when you factor in the different elements uh that we've got going so that's good news that means we have less of a gap that we're trying to to close with 100% Renewables but yes this is outdated slide please don't belor it I promise we're working on updating it okay so the Consultants analyze various different Pathways and early on WE ruled out some we did not have them chase down Solutions which were not legal in Michigan while they could become legal that's just not the moment we're in and so we said only things that we could reasonably do and so they reviewed the six things that are here behind the meter solar and storage Community solar power purchase agreements both virtual and traditional uh Rex uh virtual power reduction agreements and then the migraine power program if you have questions on what any of these are we can talk about them uh we had them of course analyze them based on these different procurement options based on our energy criteria and principles you can see how things rank across the board we had them look at costing and temporal uh like how early we could actually adopt these different strategies we and then we have them develop scenarios so how would they stack things spoiler there isn't one thing you can do we already know this uh no one action is going to get us to 100% renewable energy and if someone tells you it will they're absolutely feeding you a very happy go-lucky Story by 2030 uh we're going to need multiple different solutions to hit our 2030 goal which is why we're working on multiple different things at this moment so these are three scenarios that they ran they call them the DTE plus scenario which is basically stay the course uh and do a few additional things there's the seu plus DTE and then there's the DT seu and Community solar strategy they also R costs for these different strategies you can see the difference in what the outlay capital outlay costs are the recoverable costs and then the non-recoverable cost depending on what's included again I know I'm going fast this is all in the technical report this is just kind of a a quick the structure that they talked about so the DTE plus this is where we continue to take service from DTE but we take additional steps to achieve 100% renewable electricity credits right this could be a wreck P purchase this could be uh a virtual power reduction agreement this could be a virtual power purchase agreement there are certain things that we can do and there are certain things we cannot do if we take this path the second is we stay with DT and we launch a sustainable energy utility so this is that supplemental utility we take as much uh demand as we can in the community we generate local Renewables we provide that uh energy here in the community and whatever else we need comes from DTE and then we do a virtual power purchase agreement to close the rest of Gap the third option is takeover of all of DT's assets within the city and become the load serving entity meaning we have to provide 247 power provision every single day of the year this was not deemed to be possible by 2030 and because our goal is 2030 I'm not going to spend a lot more time talking about that particular pathway so they also did pricing around the sustainable energy utility the projections and rates what we assumed as we went into the analysis is that in order for the sustainable able energy utility to succeed it has to be cost competitive right it's got to be cost competitive with current rates and it's got to be cost competitive with private solar leases the good news is it can be and it is um we're actually doing thirdparty verification of all of these numbers because we're very excited by what we see here what we also know though is storage is not if you if you tie in solar and storage it is not going to be cheaper than your current rates in most situations however there is a value of resilience that you get and we heard from our residents that resilience was very very important we also know a lot of people are investing in things like generators and actually when you factor in storage solar and storage through the seu your rates can be cheaper than what it would be if you use traditional energy and got a generator so there are cases there's a rationale here for leaning into storage and of course we have financing options that are available uh to make that happen there's multiple different Pathways that we're exploring the meu study came out and showed a wide range of estimates and you're going to hear a lot of conversation around this uh the reality is no one knows what the truth is uh and the reason is because there are a few things that go into a municipalization process there's the value of the assets outside your door if you look out the window you're going to see pulls and you're going to see wires that's actually the easiest part of the system to do an appraisal on so we did kind of a random sample in a phase one study a phase two study is something that's being discussed that's an actual appraisal that's that's saying what we would offer for those assets that are at our door so that's one piece of the cost of buying the infrastructure another piece is the stranded asset costs this study looked at stranded asset costs in some cases we made a very strategic decision good or bad that we would minimize stranded assets so there are certain situations where equipment serves an arbor and it serves another Community a stranded asset means that we take that asset whatever it is let's say it's a Transformer we take that which means DT can't serve this other community that's a stranded cost courts will make you pay that cost you you can't take away someone else's right outside of your Municipal boundary to get power so what we decided was instead of saying okay we'll buy the old infrastructure we said nope they can keep it we'll build a new infrastructure to serve the community and so that's how we cost it out to minimize stranded asset costs but a phase two would also look at that and the phase one did as well the third piece is the most variable piece and the one that no one is going to be able to give us an answer to except for a court and that is what's the value of going concern that means um kind of simply put our franchise for electric has been ruled in perpetuity multiple times it's made it to the Supreme Court it has been rued the Michigan Supreme Court it is in perpetuity that has a very different value right of service and what the courts will decide the value of that franchise is has never been tested and so you see this range of estimates coming forward from very little value for the franchise to quite valuable for that franchise that is why we have this variability in cost estimates it also means excuse me that in year one we could have slight savings by launching an meu to extremely high increases in rates and we don't know where the truth will lie they also ran a 20 year analysis showing that we still in 20 years uh could we could have some savings or we could still be paying a premium by municipalization I want to be clear none of this counts the cost of investing in the system this is buying the exact thing that is outside your door right now it is not making improvements the cost of those improvements to that system it is not upgrading that system it is not assuming that system is being upgrade to handle the amount of electrification that we see coming down the pike that is not good or that is not bad I just want to be transparent the study was a snapshot in time and that's what it had to be because we can't see the future blah blah blah this is long you guys are probably so glossed over uh the study also looked at how it aligned those three options or utility structures aligned with the city's energy criteria and principles and ultimately we're at the end here the recommendations from the consultant excuse me you heard me say this a full a few times which is we'll we'll have to top off as they call it with probably renewable energy credits or something again these are Consultants recommendations regardless of which Str strategy we take we take they recommend that we pursue the seu to accelerate solar deployment and resilience within the city that we competitively procure recks through virtual power purchase agreements they also recommend that we competitively bid that out that's how we competitively procure excuse me and they recommend that we decouple consideration of municipalization from pursuit of 100% renewable electricity but if there's interest in pursuing municipalization we need to think about acquiring those Renewables those top off those virtual power purchase agreements through means that are transferable to a municipal utility the good news is vppa are so that's what the consultant said I'm going to end here by what staff have recommended so just a few weeks ago we recommended to the city administrator and city council that we put the formation of a sustainable energy utility do a vote of the people uh we are going to recommend that that go to a vote in November we want to do that for a few reasons we don't think that we have to do it but this is a really big policy decision and we want to ensure the public is supportive of this optional opt-in supplemental utility if the public is not supportive of an optional opt-in utility chances are they're not supportive of a fullon traditional municipalization effort and we want to understand what public support looks like second it gives us a chance to do education and engagement around the seu which means if it were to pass we also would understand what demand would look like which means we can roll out much more quickly and effectively we also recommend pursuing grant funding to launch uh the scu's second fease which focuses on micro grids I'll be working on a grant when I get off the phone with you all uh that's focused on that and then third we recommend initiating a request for proposals to generate new additional M Michigan renewable energy systems that we could acquire here in the city of an arbor through what's known as a virtual power purchase agreement so those are staffs recommendations in terms of moving things forward that was a lot I will end where I started which is all of this is on a website there is so much more information go thank you missy um I have the feeling that there will be a number of questions from this group um and I do want to um ask us to pay attention to time because we do have one more speaker um so um I have questions but if anyone has some queued up I'd be happy to call on you looks like I go first um I see I I think that one of the things that that would be of interest to me is to understand from the seu and I know that there are multiple options for it but how many people would be served and what's the Baseline number um in terms of like however you measure it is it residences is it is Does it include commercial um what are we talking about for a scope of users and maybe the one of the counts is number of meters yeah it's a great question so when there there's a model that is behind the seu uh that we're actually third party testing right now with a rate firm to make sure because this is this is really important your question is really really important what we know is the startup costs are the same you've got to have staff you got to have a maintenance grw right you have to have the same things so you need to have enough subscribers to cover those costs and have the cost be comparable uh to what we're currently paying or savings the good news is that's actually not a lot um I don't have the number in front of me but it's I don't have the number in front of me so I'm not going to speculate I can try to pull it up in the back end after that though those fixed costs are those fixed costs right installing a system the beautiful thing the thing that excites me about the seu in particular is for those of us on the line I think many of us do already have solar on our home we know that asset already has value I mean it's going to pay for itself over a certain period And so this just makes that this much more accessible to more people in the marketplace so you add people on and you just get better you get better economics effectively you get scale the way we modeled it though was residential and small commercial so we didn't look at really large commercial because they were on a different electric rate we can build that into the model but that's just not where we started and is that like do you have a I saw something like a range of like 6,000 to 12,000 some um oh in the good good question so what you can see in the technical report is we had them do three seu scenarios what would it look like in a low adoption to a medium adoption to a high adoption rate I think the slide I showed I'll pull it up here was it was just one of them one of those scenarios but they you can see the economics for all different scenarios and you can see what I mean about the more people that subscribe the better the rate is because those fixed costs get spread over more people but the rates actually work even in a low adoption scenario and but what's the denominator of that the cost of it's the fixed cost uh starting like staff no it's a different question if you've got 1,200 that would enroll how many are the total who could enroll if you magically you had 100% it would be every household yeah how many is that 55,000 okay yeah so 12,000 was modeled the 55 that's right okay thank you yeah we and we did it by 2030 to be clear right that's what we modeled so you would continue adding as you went but we picked that's the timeline we modeled okay good question right um anyone else oh John mki as might be expected uh so I have a number of points and I appreciate hearing Missy's response to them and um first of all Maybe I can start off by saying uh or giving the update on the energy Commission meeting which I don't have to give at the end of the meeting which is this is exactly the topic that we covered in the energy commission meeting along with a resolution of support for the seu um so first of all I think it's maybe appropriate for me to to state that um I'm on the record publicly supporting the seu so I think this is um something we should definitely do um but I I have a number of um let's say concerns or issues that I just like to raise first of all I think um the the situation is changing so dramatically with the energy transition and Technologies and I mean just look at preira and post Ira I mean huge differences and so I think this is something that we're going to Contin have to continually reassess um first of all I want to secondly I want to point out to everybody that when we talk about 100% renewable energy we're talking about electrical energy and even at 2030 we're not going to have 100% renewable gas and we're going to not mean natural gas or fossil fossil gas as some people like to say or 100% renewable gasoline or diesel and so um we need to be clear as when we're talking about scope and costs and timelines and everything this is talking about electricity um I I know that things have shifted um back and forth on CCA that we should all remember Community Choice aggregation was assumed as a pathway um and I know that some of our elected representatives feel that it's not uh a very good pathway on the other hand um you know districts have been redrawn we control the Democrats control I should say all all three branches of government and so I don't know that we should um forget CCA and I know Missy has also stated on the record that um CCA is a good thing because if it were to happen it would benefit every community in the state and would give them options that they don't have right now it's not just something specific to Ann Arbor um one concern that I have and this something that I provided back in October is that all of this analysis um stops with 2030 and that that's reasonable given it's pretty far out and as I said a lot is going to change but we have to be cognizant of the fact that costs for example are going to continue to um ACR and have to be paid for by taxpayers and one of the slide that Missy showed is a slide of costs and there's a line item on and they're called non-recoverable costs um and those are costs that at least the report says that taxpayers are going to have to bear and in the a20 plan um we have for strategy seven action for went back and looked um an assumption that we are going to pay $10 million in total costs for Rex now um the costs that are shown in the report as Missy pointed out are going to be changing because of the new state renewable portfolio standard but the costs that are that are in the report are substantial between 2023 and 2029 um it's you know this is it depends on the choice but it's roughly $10 million so that's equal to the whole amount that's in in the a20 plan and in 2030 alone it's going to be for the option shown DTE plus plus seu is going to be 12.5 million and those costs continue to uh have to be born by by residents and so I think we just have to be honest with ourselves and residents that these are substantial costs that are going to have to be recovered somehow they're going to be in the city budget um um another thing is is that we're assuming the port resumes that all a20 Targets are going to be met um you know I think that's a reasonable assumption and we want to we want to do that on the other hand I think if anybody goes through and looks at the a20 report and looks at uh indicators of success timelines and assumptions there are a number of things that we are not meeting the the timeline on so if we're not meeting the timeline costs will be higher um and then just the last um comment um well two more comments um GTE CEO has said publicly in an arbor at the end of January that he wants to partner with the city to meet our 100% renewable energy goals I have no idea what that means um it would be really wonderful if DTE would outline exactly what they mean by a partnership and meeting our goals because well I'll I'll leave I'll leave leave that as a blank and then people can fill in the blank um so but I think you know if we're if we're asking all these questions and what we should be doing and a a statement like that as being made and he there's an advisory committee being made for washingon County where he apparently personally is going to be leading these meetings and the two first two meetings have been set um then I think it's really important that all of us be asking DTE what do they mean by that and a partnership to me means win-win and it doesn't mean win lose or lose win it means win-win um and then finally I know there was a lot of email exchanges back and forth um with the commission that Aaron for Ed between uh anti- Republic power representatives and the city and um I would just encourage everybody you know there was there was some um criticisms of the report from A2 P2 there was a rebuttal from Five Lakes um and then there was a rebuttal to the rebuttal from a2p P2 and I would encourage energy Commissioners to look um at that and and judge for themselves my senses and I need to look at these more carefully is that there are um there were rebuttal from five lakes that really didn't address a number of points from A2 P2 and I'll go back to my very first point that's why I think we need to have an ongoing conversation about all of these issues so thank you for allowing me to ramble on there that's it that was great I just want to respond to a few short things here yes the landscape constantly is changing that goes both ways right certain things are more complicated some things are better battery technology is much cheaper it's much more advanced than where it was even when we started the analysis grid forming inverters are stronger and more marketable than they were before so just just think of vehicle to grid coming exactly yeah the the four four three to four Tesla power walls so absolutely absolutely um to the seu one thing I just wanted to note is we are going um SE are proposing that when we go to council we will not just ask for authorization to do electric uh we will ask for authorization to launch District geothermal Network geothermal systems as well so we don't close that door we get authorization so we can start tackling thermal which is what you brought with heating and cooling transition uh CCA we I've said this publicly and I'll keep saying it we will work with any regulator that's ready to introduce legislation we have drafts ready to go so uh I invite our legislators to step up to that challenge and and if not we'll work with anybody uh the I just did want to note that while the report stops IT 2030 it doesn't for the me it actually models out into the future for an meu with increasing cost uh escalating cost rates through DTE so just note that um Rex are always going to be a cost or virtual power purchase agreement but they are meant to be a stop Gap because we're never going to stop it's not like we stop working in 2030 they're just a bridge to continuing to close emissions so excellent point um timelines are slower in some areas and they are faster in other areas of a20 I'm delighted to share uh that we're this year we'll finish I think 10 a20 strategies so so that's great they're different we're finding some things we just going slower and you're right that's true uh and then the last thing to your last Point rational people often disagree on things that doesn't make one right and one wrong it just means there's there's room we're in Uncharted Territory with our kind of franchise that people are going to disagree doesn't mean anyone is less skilled than another people just disagree a lot of them are lawyers and they get paid to disagree it would be great if there was a forum where people could just disagree and and challenge each other I don't know if that's yeah we may have that um so I I want to just add that um I would appreciate the opportunity for um a discussion of of not a line between the meu and the seu but more the combination and so I haven't heard that really discussed and I think that would be useful um because I don't think it has to be one well I mean I think that's probably true but I would say Stafford are operating under one goal and that is what council's adopted and that's a20 and so our goal is 2030 and so we're going to continue sprinting at things that allow us to achieve the 2030 goal and so that's I think an seu could grow into something else uh for sure it doesn't preclude a formal municipalization effort but it doesn't have to be formal municipalization effort right it can just be a supplemental or it could be the foundation for something else but the reason you don't hear me talking about municipalization is I do not believe that that is a pathway to achieve our goal even though it could be within a short period after that date maybe potentially and maybe not you know I I don't know all right um thanks um all right I would welcome questions from anyone else and if there are none going going we'll move on to our next speaker and thank you see thank you thank you for bringing that information um and now we'll have some information from Greg Woodring who is the president of anber for Public Power we have um had Greg here as the speaker in the past um and he's here to talk about annab from Public Power and the potential of moving forward with a phase two um feasibility study for looking at how this could potentially play into an Arbor's future so um thank you Greg for being here thank you so much uh chair Mitchell and Commissioners and council members I really appreciate you having me here to speak to you as well and I will also try to be as brief as possible as I know that we're nearing the end of your scheduled time here um but and I'd also love to entertain any questions that all of you have so we in Arbor for Public Power as re mentioned uh we've been I've been here before to talk to you before but essentially we're a Grassroots organization um or 501c4 technically and we're working towards achieving uh what we believe is the spirit of the a20 plan which is true 100% Renewable Power uh and you know there's a lot of different ways to consider uh Renewable Power however we are considering it as it is actually the power that we are consuming that is coming 100% from Renewables uh and that's what we're working towards um and so the general problem that we have is DTE is not transitioning to Renewables fast enough as you all are aware this is dte's most recent energy fuel mix apologies I didn't update that Source there that should be updated with the most recent numbers because I just pulled this graph off of their website um however they're still at 54% coal 14.2% natural gas and yes uh there have been some great winds at the state level to make their goals more aggressive to make it clean however as I'm sure many of you are also aware uh they have considerable carve outs things for renewable natural gas for hydrogen generation for um nuclear that are not necessarily the renewable energy that we're looking to go towards right it's a clean energy standard rather than the renewable energy standard which is a different standard than what we're working towards in ant Arbor um and so as we see the solution is municipalization um and the reason for that and municipalization as I'm sure all of you are aware is essentially has taking over the electric utility as Dr stls already laid out uh it's worth noting that there's over 40 Municipal municipalities in Michigan that have some form of Public Power whether that's co-ops or communities like we're discussing creating there's more than 2,000 communities across the United States that have uh Public Power um and uh a big advantage of it is that it's legal in Michigan right that uh we have a clear legal Authority granted to us by the State Constitution and the Ann Arbor City Charter to municipalization is the right option for us is reliability affordability local control investing in our community and as I'm sure uh those on the commission today are uh most interested in the environmental aspects of it right so uh DTE is the slowest utility uh in Michigan to return power to customers after an outage right uh and the difference is rather staggering um dte's reliability as I'm sure I don't have to explain to you is abysmal and it's been getting worse over the years uh and when you compare it to other publicly owned Electric utilities uh it makes it clear that this is not an issue due to geography or anything related to Michigan's specific climate this is an issue due to the system of power that they are using right they they have underinvested in their infrastructure to an extent where they're not able to withstand the normal weather patterns of Michigan and uh it's also worth pointing out that well reliability isn't directly related to climate it is a climate issue right reliability is going to continue to get worse as weather becomes more and more erratic due to the effects of climate change and so we're in this situation now where DTE was a is and has been a major driver towards the climate crisis and they have underinvested in their infrastructure to an extent where they cannot stand up to the ravages of it um and we're seeing that play out in our uh backyards across the state um and we can see the uh what we believe is the obvious solution right next door to us in communities like uh Lancing Chelsea Holland Trevor City um and they do all of these these Public Power utilities do these things well charging considerably less for their power right so this is updated with last year's numbers um and the way that I pulled these numbers is that I averaged the different um rates that they charge so they charge different rates at different amounts of energy you use is is probably not actually accurate to the actual demand but it's is a relative ballpark right and I did this across all the utility so hopefully it's fairly even um however you can see that when you're looking specifically at residential rates right which there is a big difference especially after the state allow DTE to separate their residential and Industrial and Commercial rates um res Donal rates have been going up and up and up for investor owned utility customers and that has not been the case in publicly owned utilities across the state um we are paying under DTE um about double uh what many utilities or close to double slightly less than double a few cases um what public own utilities are paying for their power um and they're so we are paying a lot more for a lot worse power and I'm not pointing this out to say that this is ex ly what we're going to be seeing if we were to they're paying a lower cost of capital which means all of their projects are cheaper compared to investor owned utility projects due to cheaper debt financing versus uh much more expensive debt financing and Equity financing and also all of the other activities that DTE does like their uh lavish salaries and bonuses for their Executives the lobbying the marketing all these various different things that DTE does to maintain their position uh of power within our state additionally this gives us uh local control over our utility we would control our rates we would control our source of power we control when our infastructure is updated it is a form of democratic control that we are regaining over our daily lives by reclaiming uh Val uh and you know one of the most um valuable uh utility Commodities that we are being served electricity is absolutely a need and not a want in the 21st century um and furthermore it invest in our community right um there is an argument to be made here about the amount of uh money that is paid back towards the general fund um in Lancing uh in 2020 that was $23.3 Million I think that Trevor City was 1.6 uh Holland was 78 or so um you know it's a lot of money that is being paid back to the general fund is in addition to keeping the jobs in uh the area um allowing us to advance unionization um and various different things and also the just value of having resilient energy grid right we can begin to improve the um resilience of our energy uh and that is going to have a lot of different benefits right for one it's um a health and safety issue for many people but it's also uh it's a determining factor and for a lot of different economic activity if you don't have reliable electricity that is going to dissuade people who are looking to potentially invest in this community and there's also the fact that many developers are looking to be electrifying to be building larger developments um and they simply cannot build it due to a lack of capacity provided by DTE with an investor with a publicly owned utility instead we'd be able to work with these types of entities to make sure that they're able to um be provided the capacity they need to build these sorts of developments and finally um as I'm sure that all of you are the most interested in is the environmentally responsible choice I've already mentioned this is our only real path to 100% Renewable Power in terms of how we are actually consuming yes we could buy Rex we could buy vppa we could buy Rex from DTE um and there may be some uh potential to get some of our energy uh demand service by an seu which we absolutely endorse right as much as the seu possibly can we should be pursuing that aggressively however as the feasibility study uh uh showed that was just discussed it's only projected to be serving about 10% of our power Demand by 2030 um and well you can make arguments one way or another about the timeline of municipalization it may be reasonable to say that we're not going to get all the way there by 2030 this will get us there in a reasonable timeline it's not going to be quick it's not the easy path forward but is the path forward that actually gets the job done um and then there's also other things that we can talk about how um you know there's caps on community solar and distribut generation those caps have been raised which is great however 6% in my opinion still too low um and this is something that would be at the discretion of a public utility right we could remove those caps um we could um reinstate net metering we could do all these different things that would incentivize so rooftop solar a lot more than we currently can do under DTE um so how do we do it uh this is kind of I think the part that's valuable um that you haven't heard before um so we've completed a phase one feasibility study which is a huge win um and well uh I'd be happy to answer any questions that any of you have about um what you've been sent uh earlier today or tomorrow or yesterday um regarding uh some of our critiques of the feasibil study we do believe that the high-end valuation is unreasonable um however uh as I think that many people in the city have already concluded we believe that even if you take the study on face value there's enough reason there to believe that it is worth pursuing the second state uh stage of the feasibility study which is valuation study and as Dr stz already mentioned what that study would be doing is it would be looking at what price are we going to offer DTE for their assets right um now and that's essentially the next because after we uh um make an offer to DT for their assets and you know there's some kind of discussion you could set up governance that could be the seu board right if the city is looking to establish an seu um potentially whatever entity is servicing the seu could evolve into Municipal utility right and that could be a very uh viable path forward for Ann Arbor to pursue um however ultimately to um do the acquisition of the assets we're going to need to make an offer to DTE and DTE is is almost certainly going to say no it's worth more right that is DTE is a for-profit company right they're going to try to make an argument to get more money out of us than we are willing to pay um and what that valuation study does is it gives the city a strong argument to say this is what we believe your assets are actually worth it is exhibit a in the legal case that's going to come up because DTE as I already mentioned earlier is legally obligated to uh surrender their assets right the city has the right to force the sale to condemn dte's electrical infrastructure within the city boundaries um the only point that DTE can contest us on is the price of those assets right and the feasibility study provided a range of um potential costs that that could be valuation study should uh narrow the city in on a legally defensible strong and in my opinion advantageous to the city uh argument for what um the price of those assets should be um and so that's what we are hoping that the city council will um approve in their budget it was a um item included in the um budget proposal however April 15th we'll see if it made um the administrator's uh recommendation for the budget um and so we are hoping to see that um and we're hoping that we can pursue the phase two feasibility study uh in parallel with the buildout of the seu this seems like uh best potential path to aggressively pursue 100% um uh 100 100% of the an arbor being served by public electric utility while also not waiting for the whole thing to be finished before we get started on something um so we go through that legal battle eventually the court is like either we settle with DTE or a court makes a decision on what the cost of those assets will be and then that is put up to a vote of the people staff recommendations did recommend a vote prior to legal proceedings we're not sure um exactly what the justification is for that um and we'd love to hear some more information from the city on that um we're not certain if that's necessary at this point however one vote that absolutely is necessary is the vote to approve the funding so essentially um and apologies I I kind of um spoke over this already but this is our arguments for uh the phase two fusibility study but um essentially the way that uh municipalization acquisition is finance is we are going to take out revenue bonds right revenue bonds are essentially like a millage Bond except for instead of being backed by taxes they are now backed by the revenue generated from whatever you were invested in so that's why we were looking in uh Dr stl's previous um slide about what the change in cost of electrical rates would be is that the cost of acquisition would be paid through the electrical bills that we are already paying right which is why we're um it's uncertain whether the cost will go up or down if if it wasn't for the cost of the acquisition the cost would certainly go down right that is why these other Public Power utilities across the state are able to offer such lower prices compared to DTE however the cost of the acquisition does um play into what the ultimate cost will be but as uh uh commissioner mki um rightly pointed out earlier the cost of reaching 100% Renewable Power is going to be born somewhere whether that is in tax dollars paid out to Rex or vppa or if that's paid out through our electrical bills and municipalization actually provides a realistic pathway that would actually lower costs rather than increase cost and so for that reason we strongly believe that this is something that is at the very least worth aggressively pursuing looking into with a phase two feasibility study and putting up to the voters to decide if they want to uh ditch DTE and uh build our own Energy Future so that's uh our position on it I thank you for your time I'm sure that uh many of you are hoping to get out of here fairly soon but I would be happy to answer any amount of questions that you have thank you Greg um and so here we are an opportunity for questions and I know that we are at a close to an endpoint but I would really appreciate if we take advantage of this opportunity [Music] um to here okay missioner mki quick question and a comment um I've read somewhere recently that if there were to be a municipal utility that uh there would be an immediate 6% savings because uh we pay sales tax when we pay an investor own utility and the you don't pay sales tax when you pay Municipal utility is that correct that is correct yeah public entity is exempt from sales tax um and that is often uh the justification for What's called the city fee so the revenue paid back to the general fund from the utility and legally you do have to be careful that you're not um paying out too much to the city from the utility however on average it does turn out that Public Utilities tend to put back more into the general fund than uh the investor owned utilities do in taxes so the comment that I had was um I would like to speak out in favor of a fake two study um I know I think it's a million dollars that's the line item in the budget that's a rough estimate that is a lot of money without a deliverable at the end um but I'd like to remind everybody uh about what Boulder Colorado did Boulder Colorado was unsuccessful in its municipalization effort but um and it spent $25 million but it uh was a very very well publicized uh activ ity and in the end Excel Energy its utility energy um Excel Energy ended up making significant concessions um on uh what kind of goals it was going to have that affected not only Boulder but all of its customers in Colorado and in Minnesota and possibly in other states and I think we should really be keeping the pressure on DTE and I think this is one way in doing it and and I know that you council members are going to have to weigh a million dollars here versus a million dollars there but I think this is something that really would would push um and DTE as well as make us much better informed about what kind of decisions we should be making in the coming years so that's all I had to say thank you thanks commissioner mki um commissioner grber thank you Greg I just have a question about the timeline Dr staltz mentioned that she didn't think it was possible to have this it's not really one of her options because it didn't meet the 2030 goal and so on your slide road map to municipalization I you might not have an answer for this but is it possible to put that road map on a timeline um you said you think that it's possible to get it this by 2030 but I also question whether it's feasible so I I'd love to visualize the timeline that's possible yeah um I will say that I certainly cannot tell you authoritatively how long it's going to take and I think that it's entirely reasonable to say that it might take longer than 2030 I will say that I don't think it's well Justified to say that it can't happen by 2030 um there are many examples of uh cities that have done this quicker yes it is probably more complicated in Michigan because it hasn't happened in a 100 years um so 100% acknowledge that right the legal um case may be more drawn out um in Michigan I have I'm not seen from any of the legal work that we have done or anything published in the feasibility study an argument as to why our Perpetual franchise agreements would make this significantly more uh lengthy or costly other than the fact that we would not be able to cancel the franchise agreement which is a uh pathway that many communities pursue however there are uh options available to us that don't involve cancelling the franchise agreement and it's also worth remembering that we're not purchasing the franchise agreement right we are not on there we should not be um uh um we we can't P purchase the franchise agreement DT will still have a franchise for an arbor instead what we are getting is the infrastructure and we are using the right that we already have by the home rule City act to service that infrastructure right um so yes it may take some amount of time I would say that you know a lot of that time time is a little bit in the hands of the city um in terms of how quickly we pursue some of these next steps you know I hope that we will get started on an RFP for a phase 2 feasibility study soon I know that Dr St said in uh um energy commission meeting earlier this month that if city council funds it she would be looking to um be doing that in May um you know I hope that that will be aggressively pursued um and that we will select a contractor as fast as is responsible and that we will put some amount of pressure on the contractor to finish in a uh diligent but uh reasonable time frame because that will increase the amount of time that uh or decrease the amount of time that it takes um the legal case is um uncertain you know you can look at other examples across the country of how long their legal cases have taken no Jefferson County Washington took about a year Winter Park Florida took two and as um commissioner mury pointed out Boulder Colorado took 10 right now Boulder Colorado had other legal complications that came up around with that I'm very confident the city of an arbor can avoid those however yes it it is a question mark you can't say that um confidently one way or another um and then as far as uh the amount of time that it takes to interconnect and things like that um it's it's difficult to say it certainly probably will be longer if we um pursue the feasibility study 1's recommendation of building 10 new substations um I hope that the phase two feasibility study will um at least in investigate the option of acquiring some of those uh substations not saying one option is better or the other however it seems like both options should be considered thank you Greg other questions right um I think one of my concerns has to do with the um scope of coverage of people in the community um people in businesses and so could you comment on that um aspect for the municipal utility option yeah um and I think that that's a worthwhile thing to point out I mean the municipal utility has one advantage of if you know day one of its operation it's going to be servicing 100% of Ann Arbor because we were going to be acquiring all of those um connections through the acquisition process the unfortunate side is city of an arbor cannot service area outside of its City boundaries due to the foot act um and if desired I can go into more detail on the foot act but essentially that's what gives DTE its Perpetual franchise agreement um and we can also look at cases like poer Colorado where they were attempting to acquire infrastructure outside of the city boundaries and that is a large part of what led to that prolonged legal battle um so in our opinion despite the fact that we would love to serve as the county n I actually uh to confess something I live in ipolani um and I would love to serve as Iolani um but we don't think that that's probably the um most reasonable we don't think that that's an advisable path for the city to pursue um but hopefully if the city of an arbor is successful in municipalization this will reduce the barrier of entry for other communities across the state to pursue something like this um it will chart a clear legal pathway for communities to follow and other communities um maybe and surrounding areas might even be able to pursue this option themselves and then work together in some sort of joint agreements with an Han Arbor Municipal utility which we're not certain but think probably is legal thank you um all right um going once twice for additional questions um I will want to thank you very much Greg for um joining us tonight and um so was very informative for me and I um hope that we'll continue this discussion among ourselves and and um we'll also uh be able to send questions to through Aaron to you and to um Dr stz think that would be great absolutely really appreciate you having me and happy to answer any questions at any time thank you um all right y we are really at the bleeding edge of the end of our meeting and over it um so our next um order of this business is reports from committees so I'm going to um do something different which is just to ask if any of the Committees have a particular announcement that they would like to make um and I'll take those that are ready to speak otherwise I'll just tip through them biodiversity circular economy commissioner C go ahead biodiversity for biodiversity we've drafted up changes for the pollinator websites for the OSI and for nap and those are both review by the different city staffs and for the pollinator Corner that should be going out in the OSI newsletter and some of the parks newsletters later this month great thank you um circular economy water quality uh just quickly we're continuing with our work with uh looking at options for a construction and demolition uh ordinance uh this month we spoke with representatives from the city of Chicago about some of the trials and tribulations they've EXP experience there with their ordinance um common theme across all the places we've talked to is the problem with tracking trying to get accurate information to know what's going where and what impact is being made um we hope to speak with one more uh representative probably somebody from a recycling industry organization to give us some broader State and National perspective on it and then what we're doing is putting together a kind of presentation or power to kind of explain what do we find what do we think the opport are do we think the challenges are as a way to start uh discussing that with a variety of different groups both uh City staff and others in time great thank you uh let's see um city council would you like make any account either council member dish CC rman yes um yep I wanted to let you know that we have a reading of for an ordinance change related to the open space and Parkland preservation plan um it expands the boundaries includes uh this is also known as the Green Belt sorry it also uh includes an overlay for um looking at surface water so want to let you know about that and then we also in our last meeting passed a resolution in support of the rides proposal to look for other options on the us23 corridor project than adding a lane so trying to stay true to our sustainability plans and the rides long-term plans for utilizing Park and rides as a way of minimizing uh traffic and increasing accessibility that's it sound great good uh okay our next it group is energy and we heard from commissioner mki I think if you want to okay let me just leave it at that um um uh commissioner Maran is not here for pack um Planning Commission well Planning Commission is deeply working on the comprehensive plan you know the comprehensive update um I can't think of anything that we have passed recently that it is of direct interest to this Commission um but there was there were a series of public meetings held at the an arbor District Library focusing on downtown planning and there was a lot of work with maps and bike lane you know projections and what you know what do you think would work and um it was very exciting very well attended and the meeting that I went to had a real range in particular of Ages that was very Str of the people who participated so um yeah I can't think of you know anything specific right thank you thanks for that update it's great good to know things are moving um as the chair report I don't have anything specific to add so I'm gonna um pass it off to Ain who gave us a report Erin I don't know if you want to make any comments on the report that you provided us sure yeah I think um council member Dash covered one of that them and um there's a link on there to all the materials that were presented at those meetings at the library if anyone didn't get a chance to attend then I think commissioner msky covered um my other item um about what the energy commission's been up to um with regards to the resolution and then the only other thing I had on there was that the um the Gman site U the EPA has opened public comment for the npl list the national priorities list um under super fund so public common is open on that until May 6 great thank you um and so moving on from there thank you Erin um uh our next schedule meeting is April 25th and guess what one of the things we're going to talk about is the Gman plume and we'll also have some other water discussions um ideally if it if it works out we'll have a representative from um Michigan's Department of Environmental great great lakes and energy to talk about groundwater contamination in Ann Arbor some of the sites that are being treated um and with that I want to move on to our second public commentary session um and this is an opportunity for persons to speak for up to three minutes please call 888 78899 and enter meeting ID 962 6453 City staff will select callers that have raised their hand by calling out the last three digits of the phone number in order to electronically raise your hand please press star n on your phone you'll hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak press star six to unmute your phone and when speaking please move to a quiet area and mute television or background sounds so that we may hear you clearly please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments and uh eron are there anyone is there anyone writing to speak to us yes uh caller 245 H go ahead see if I can figure out how to do this right there hello can you hear me yes yes um my name is Kathleen Murphy I live at 315 Lind vist Street in Ann Arbor and um I'm calling uh to let people know about a meeting that's coming up that I think would be very interesting to people given the topics that were discussed tonight and I'm speaking for um anab for Public Power the organization and we are having a meeting next Thursday April 4th from 6: to 7:30 p.m.

it's okay okay so um before we have a little technical break we um you were telling us about um six Chestnut Street that they have we needed to continue it until until April 11th yeah so just re to to re re reiterate to anybody that missed it uh online is that U we have to continue it to April 11th due to a a butter notification uh technical technicality um and we will do that but all the information uh is up online uh to re be reviewed and and they the applicant did go to the conservation uh commission last uh Monday night and and did kind of receive a uh a favorable um response to the project regarding the work in the riverfront area uh which was which is a positive note is is that part there is that process done or not done just the first meeting just the first meeting they didn't close out they didn't make a determination however they just kind of heard the application saw the site plan um and kind of and is that their their process is also moving along uh and so but I would just say no you know with the proximity to the to the river um it kind of uh it makes sense uh to have the conservation in the concer on in the conversation sooner rather than later so but we'll open that up on the 11th and we'll continue on any questions on that project motion I make a motion to continue the six Chestnut Street site plan approval application to our April 11th meeting I'll second that and a roll call vote de D Anna teski I marcelona I Katherine Jers I and Trisha Kendall I so six Chestnut Street is continued till April 11th next on our public hearings we have 151 Main Street this is the Clover Road um Brewing um that is looking to come into the old um fire station correct so I can give a little quick update on this uh in that the applicant kovera Brewing uh in custody of and or care of uh John mun um was working uh with their his Architecture Firm to kind of firm up um a couple kind of loose ends regarding accessible parking and the the kind of the knee wall in the front but as it turns out that the architect that was working with the applicant at the firm Architecture Firm uh moved on and so therefore uh a new architect has had to step in and so uh they should have new in information to us regarding the building however I do want to just make a note that uh Beth Reynolds is here from our Economic Development coordinator uh and she just wants to make a note of the uh and and just take a couple minutes into talk about the trash enclosure in the rear of the property um Alvaro did send out a quick there was an email email from Beth that kind of explained the um the the tra the trash enclosure which I I I'll let Beth take care of however uh just to make a note that uh it's on the town and and it's under the town responsibility uh since we're making some some forward steps with this property um that we would like to put a fence we're going to put a fence up along the back property line um and right now it's obviously wide open to the tracks and so with this new uh this use being there uh we are moving forward we like to move forward with that fence installation uh and maybe also with the trash enclosure at the same time so uh with without further Ado I'll ask Beth Reynolds to to um come up to the microphone and I will make her a co-host um so she can unmute herself and uh put her video on hi sorry hi Beth hi um Peter can you bring up the drawings or do you want did you want me to do that no I'm happy to I'm just going to take a it's going to just take take a second terrific so thanks everyone so we've had plans um since the town moved decided to move forward and Lease this property um we've always had a plan to put a fence along the property line um just to secure it without having police and fire there um we wanted to do that so that um chain link fence is going up on Monday um that was something that we've been working on for five months so um the fence is there but then in the whole conversation with John and clover Road the dumpster came up um in question so I wanted to let you all see on our plan where that dumpster was going to go it will be a 10x10 enclosed fence for the dumpster that Clover Road will be in charge of maintaining you know just making sure it's not overflowing they'll rent it um on their own but we are dividing the fence because we want that fence to stay there should Clover Road ever leave um so this is the yep uh if you you have to scroll down a little bit more P to see the dumpster or at least from what I'm seeing I'm not sure yeah one minut I'm having a uh Adobe technical issue oh there it is there it is yeah it is um so it is will actually be um put on the asphalt um in sort of like a it it's like one parking spot that will go into their um into like this I don't know kind of grade out area um it's there's no parking there now um but it is 10 feet away from the building which is what the fire department requests or requires and um it is going to be on asphalt which the Board of Health has approved or the director agent has approved um so that is what we are looking at yeah and I I would say um just to note if you're also you know purchasing the dumpster is that the pl you know the one of the things that we're always looking for is that the dumpster is lower than the fence obviously so that the dumpster doesn't stick up above the fence um but uh so that's just something to keep in mind with the with the planning Beth do you want explain what the fence is obviously I think you you put it in your email but it will have blastic uh kind of slots in it is that correct y yep it's a the black chain link fence that will match the um the fence that's going in um and the full description um it is a six foot high all black chain link um it will have the the slats in it so you can't see through um yeah it and I mean it has the specifications of like the top Rail and the coral oil wire but yeah it'll be six feet tall and it will be enclosed so be locked I just want to follow up with um Trisha's thing that it it's now become in our standard conditions that in a dumpster the dumpster has to be below the height of the enclosure so we will probably be putting that condition I'm assuming right with the um any decision but I I would just make sure that um that's well coordinated before you install it because we've had other businesses have like they're still they still exist right that the dumpster above the height of the fence so I don't think we want to bring that to another area in town sure I'll double check that on Monday um that's good to know all right any other any other questions in this project right now like Peter said we're waiting but for the new architect to step in and then we're waiting for the details on the the little wall in front and the clarification of the parking which is just kind of mismarked I guess I have a um question on the schedule because that I looked at it's January something so I mean I think it's 90 days without it's 120 days so I counted today so we have up until so the application came in on January January 4th in 100 days uh since then brings us to May 3rd so we have some time before we're we're up we before we have to um obviously uh make any final decision um and I think obviously since the this is a town property and clover road is going to be a tenant I don't see foresee any issues with that but I think hopefully we can get this closed out prior to May 3rd so um obviously we are well Beth can I ask you do you have any other uh questions that you while we're here that you want to ask or good at this time okay that's um so are we looking at uh or April 11th is getting is going to be a little busy um just so people know but I think we just have these you know hopefully some of these projects it's it's a smaller time frame as we kind of move through them and I um I I think it's I think it's going to April 11th we just might have to plan on that being a longer meeting so in the in the spirit of full disclosure I'm out of the state on the 11th in traveling uh I should be able to attend remotely because my flight lands prior to our meeting but I just wanted to folks to know that I would be remote for the meeting any other uh questions comments on this project at this time all right otherwise um someone want to make a motion to we're moving till April 11th again I'll make a motion for 151 Main Street site plan approval application to the April 11th planning board meeting I'll second it and a roll call vote I Anna tus minitz Iona I Katherine Jersey I and Trish Kendall I so we will see 151 uh on April 11th thanks Beth all right um next on the agenda is um the public hearing for 9 to 49 Homer a um last time we're reviewing comments in blue this time I have taken off um the comments in blue that I think uh we had all agreed on are talked about or went through and then the new things or things that were still in um in wording or whatever are now in kind of a purple fuchia fuchsia kind of color um and I think there's a couple little spots in yellow uh that still um need uh factual information yep that kind of I was able to take care of those today okay uh and most of them so for the last couple days where is that so we will just be now so for the special permit sorry yeah the special permit you'll see that those highlights and purple for the uh site plan review we never kind of got back to looking at the um the site plan review conditions findings sorry findings um most of them uh you know related directly back to the ones in special permit you know they different wording of the condition but they're very similar so but we didn't actually go through those so I want to take a a pass through that and then of course through the remaining items on the special permit plus um any obviously any other questions um people have uh preference on where to start um special permit or site plan review I think this special permit because they might copy overrate yeah they might so so I just want to make a note from the application team we do have Charlie zudo here and Mr Rong Fork so if there's any questions we can refer them Attorney Terry Morris was not is uh is feeling under the weather tonight so he's unable to join us okay so uh just first area of it looks pink when you print it out but um was just on page five that was just the um addition to the documents of adding that um rendering of the pergola sorry are we in on page site plan review page four or no we were on special gotcha okay sorry you said special permit Kate right yes sorry sorry sorry sorry yeah so special permit page five yep it was just adding that rendering of the pergola that um we looked at last time that wasn't in the list yet um the next thing I think I see oh um I'm gonna stop at page 11 even though there's no pink on there um because this this will come up on the um the site plan review if under number six um the last two paragraphs under number six do you have what you need sorry I'm just looking at um deepa's version and mine match but yours looks a little I printed mine at home oh gotta sorry so I have my notes on that's okay just like are we all looking at the same thing yeah yeah no sorry I um they should they should be the same that's okay um but uh so on I'm looking at page 11 number six it's not there's no pink on it but if you look at the last two paragraphs under number six it's just repetitive like the first sentence of that says the board approves the non-conforming setback for the existing building at 9 to5 hom RAV and then the second paragraph it it's only a sentence but it's it's all about that the board also approves the current setbacks of the existing commercial building to remain it's the same building that we're talking about so I was going to eliminate the first sentence and the further of the of the middle paragraph since the second one is more detailed think that makes sense okay I noticed that actually when I was looking at the site plan review on um so you got that piece mhm and then the next page page 12 is where we actually have a uh more pink this was about the survey um and I don't remember actually where we had this one last time if we just we did discuss it right it was are we looking at the wording the inspection the the survey yeah um so yeah we did discuss it and then um that is the that's that is the newest that's the newest condition that we had I just want to make a note that some everyone else is you'll have you'll see green green was uh just some language that when Lisa me reviewed this decision she just had a few edits uh this paragraph for blasting didn't really change but she just wanted to reflect a few items and then the second par this the paragraph Below in green um just has um you know information regarding um consent of the adjacent donors Peter that's second green section I think it's meant to say to the extent with a T at the end okay do you see how it says to the extend with a d to yes I do I think that's that's supposed to be a t got it makes sense I also looking at the first screen um I promise I'll I won't go backwards uh looking at the first screen as the planning board reserves concerns about the possibility of blasting and then we have a sentence that actually says blasting shall not be permitted so I'm I'm a little I don't want us to sound uncertain in that first sentence where we're like oh we kind of reserved the right to be concerned rid of that first sentence maybe we just get rid of that sentence entirely and just say blasting shall not be permitted it just kind of creates this uncertainty like are they just thinking about it or are they saying it's a bad idea okay I think we are saying don't do it so maybe is that uh does that sound good to folks all board members I see a lot of heads going up and down with with one exception though because I totally understand what you're saying it made sense the first time you said it but I reread it and and I and and I think you said this was reviewed by Lisa right corre the way after rading it a little slower I think there is always the possibility for whatever reasons when you start an excavation that you end up needing a certain type of technology to get the job done so there's no there's no way to full proof that somebody's going to say you will never need blasting and I think that is the intent that Lisa put in here or I don't whatever this came from if we had it and she fixed it is that we don't want blasting and that's the first thing but in the event that is needed then there's got to be a certain set of procedures and I just want to highlight that it's impossible to foresee what you will find when you make an excavation that's just the world that's the way it is so I don't know if that's the intent so yeah that that might have come out of um cuz I Peter and I we're probably trying to write that condition based on um uh gcg's um information and we also we're considering that often times or I I I'm not an expert so I won't say often but sometimes um the blasting is actually people think of blasting is a huge blast and sometimes it's more like a firecracker and sometimes it's actually the less obtrusive Thing versus home ramming which is constant and so I think it was kind of saying yeah we don't think it's going to happen here we reserve some concerns but there may be a case where that's actually the better option you know um and that's and it would have to be supervised by experts and by complying with whatever state regulations there are so so I I I don't know if removing part of it uh I'm okay with it staying as is I think the point would still be made without that first sentence the first sentence I don't think the first away I think actually because it every it says it's not permitted until you're in compliance and the follow on of our concerns are expressed by gcg why you wouldn't want to do it I mean I'm fin leaving it but we try to be as tight as we can so it's not going to hurt till he did but it's not a big difference but yeah I I see I I think since Lisa has already reviewed it I think just leave it in yeah that's fine by me you know I just I'm okay with it as as as is I I do think we you know when Lisa gives us input we still have the responsibility to review it and agree to it um but I'm okay with it as is if it's not going to harm us to leave that sentence in I just felt like it wasn't necessary right agreed we're fine okay so the uh the inspectional survey um so that really um has kind of two parts one is about the 300t radius um and again this is uh the surveys is always happen with the um approval of the homeowner they don't have to approve someone coming on their property to survey um so that's why that language is put in there and then um for the uh for the elevation markers it's the abing properties mhm um to see if the if there's any changes in the ground that was from G CG so if the my only concern about that second part so I think if you say no one can take pictures of your foundation you're kind of on your own the second part if nobody lets them put a marker how are we going to measure and check for settlement like wouldn't we want that anyway can you do it against the will of the owner I don't think so trespass I don't think you I don't think you can but but I didn't say to do that I said like is there a way to do it which is maybe on the edge of their property or something I don't know I think I think we have to figure that out um I I I think the procedure is pretty clear and it's in the interest of everybody to to participate on it some body doesn't want it you cannot control everything you're given all the guarantees and safeguards that people deserve you cannot force somebody to be helped I'm not sure that I don't know if it's about the helping of other properties necessarily like if somebody doesn't allow like I I I haven't been to the property in a little while since our site s sidewalks but if one property owner says no that property owner's refusal to participate could harm somebody right next to them who says yes why so presumably these properties could be sharing elevation in theory that could then right this is what we're concerned about so I I don't necessarily think a property owner say not giving consent somehow allows the harm I think the decision is meant to be written in a way that we can monitor the end result I am not a technical person so I have no idea if there is a way to place the elevation marker on this property to kind of not rely on the placement of it on the adjacent properties but if there is a way it you know that might be more reliable than a photograph it's hard for me to imagine how you would take a photograph to prove to prove that there's no no you can't use the the photographs are like if if there's ho ramming and your foundation gets a crack right the settlement is the issue with groundw something could be it has to be monitored but what you all are telling me is if nobody around gives it then we are just saying n sorry you can't Monitor and I don't think that's acceptable I I'm not a lawyer to say what we can do I think this might be a gcg thing like can't you just put it on if no a butter allows it then can we ask for it to to be put on that property does that I mean can have some experience with this where they' be willing to put a elevation marker on their own property if there's a lack of consent I mean I just don't understand the problem though I mean yeah you you the instrumentation this is this is a technical thing and to to instrument a you have to survey and repeat the procedure scientifically to prove settlement if you don't have the instruments in place you cannot do it why why wouldn't somebody not want to do that I don't know presumably that that could be the case if somebody says I don't want anything on my property okay but just from the legal point of view don't you on any other case do you lose your standing if you refuse to to help with proving that you were harmed I don't understand the legal part of it but I just everybody's given open opportunity to make sure that nothing happens to their property what else is needed I I just don't see really the need to go further the Project's also going to have building per you know building permits affidavits the building official is going to be there every control construction but but these are the that is the way you check for that I mean this I I'm pretty sure when we were doing the big dig this actually happened to a building like I don't think this is a madeup condition that can happen right so no it's not it's not a madeup condition but um you know um so we're saying that the the property owner I mean there can be settling on their own property right it's their property and that's one condition but if if the owners of the adjacent property don't want to have this information and don't care enough then who so as long as you're saying we have no culpability then because we made a condition and nobody went with it and then doesn't matter planning board so worst case of building caves and everybody doesn't matter right case that is that is not consistent with this Cate because so the way this is written the way this is written it seems like the intent of the draft is that we're going to make sure that there is no um what is the technical term here we're trying we're trying to avoid a problem relative to Elevation that's our intent and it's a property that's very I think it's fairly dense and other things that are there so again my concern is if one owner is not Cooperative or not reachable or out of town doesn't participate doesn't like it's not necessarily the intent of the owner to be annoying or reject or rejection maybe they're not available and therefore somebody does not quote unquote consent I would be more comfortable making sure that we as a board come up with a different way if there's a technical way to do it like why not ask the applicant they've built properties before is there a way to measure this without sticking the marker on an adjacent properties if the adjacent properties are not Cooperative can the applicant creatively think of a way and if they can why don't we okay I see Char so I see the applicant with their hand up so Charlie uh I'm I'm please unmute yourself I I did make you a co-host and so uh please help out help us in this discussion can you hear me yep loud and clear so Pete honestly we I've been doing this for a long time Bild we've never had to do this only if you're doing blasting they make you do serving on the properties around I mean have you done this to all the other developments in town that if somebody's building a like when they were digging the streets for instance they were doing major work for the new develop for the new roadways did you survey all the properties around this is something that's only been done when you do blasting not for regular site work or anything like that oh I I I understand that Charlie and uh yeah this is a new condition that this board is putting on and so um but no this is a blasting condition I I I see only for blasting or for everything no that this part of the condition is for settlement like in digging the basement or water or something like that it's not really about the blasting so the so this is not just for the project in general it's still got to be done not only just for blasting correct okay so this is something new that the town has adopting as a ordinance for anyone doing a building so if I if I could please um I I think that the way to think about it is that each project in my opinion each project gets to be viewed relative to where it's located and so this is not just the board randomly choosing a new condition we are cognizant of the fact that we're looking at an area that is downtown and we as a board have been attentive to that fact relative to this project so just like because you're in downtown we have been thoughtful and flexible with you relative to certain conditions and certain elements of the project and how we're designing it how we're working with it we're also I think appropriately considering things like settlement in an area that is high traffic high visibility highly important to the town of as highly marketable related to Economic Development etc etc so it's a perfectly reasonable thing in my opinion for the board to consider unique conditions relative to downtown and I don't think how many times do you want this survey done so over the I I think it's over the course of the project to confirm that there's no settlement Charlie so I'm going to have to have a survey go survey every house within 300 ft of this property ongoing for the course of the project no it's a budding it's only a budding property Charlie oh okay cuz this thing says 300 foot radius that's the first paragraph that we're talking about the second paragraph okay now on that on that note what uh what Anna said it's it makes sense but the caveat to me is that you can go so far I think that there's going to be a a substantial excavation in the site and this is taken care of you know measures to make sure that nobody gets impacted by it so just just so hold on so so uh trying to come up with scenarios that could be what if this what if that I don't think that's the the board's job either I think we have a gcg that provided some recommendations we have Lisa has reviewed this there is a there is a system in place recommended I think we should just uh um trust the building code procedures the staff in the town that's going to be reviewing those inspections the professionals that are doing this under lawful techniques that are approved by the code and not come up with scenarios like what if something happens I I think we could come up with a thousand different ones we'll never end did is that ccg language though with the consent of each do we have their um because I don't I remember it being something like explaining how to do it and how often I do not recall them linking it to another property so that's what I guess no I think the explanation was putting some initial market and reading them I think monthly over something like that I remember but and so I think that that is the issue if it has to be tied to an abing property or not to me I think it sounds like everyone agrees with a professional recommendation a reasonable Condition it's it's thec um trying to understand if it has to be tied to an abing property and I'm not clear that it has to be but if you mention their foundations you have to I'm going to make a suggestion I don't think this board has the technical expertise to create a condition that would place this elevation marker anywhere other than the abing properties the way it's drafted so it sounds to me sorry hold hold on hold on talk one at a time hold on I'm okay with the language as is I'm changing my mind because I don't think we have the expertise to make it different from the way it's drafted um I'm learning as we go here that I need to educate myself more as to how these things work technically um I will say I have some grave concerns if the applicant is already kind of um views this as cumbersome as it's drafted um I'm concerned about our ability to assure that it's actually followed but I will put those concerns aside and I would hope that the applicant will follow the condition and actually make good faith effort to reach out to the abing owners um and if they're not responsive to follow up Etc That's My Hope just a note before I'm going to let Charlie talk again um that uh that um the cumbersome I think is more um uh it in my mind more unusual that this is an unusual condition um it it was not part of the other projects we you know it was an unusual condition and so um and it's probably unusual for him too and I think that's fair so Charlie did you was there another comment you wanted to add yeah so what the survey can do is they could take the top of each Foundation where the foundation meets the framing and use that as the marker on each property I I'm just just concerns like it I've never had to do this before and if I'm only getting if this is the only project that this is going to be used on or if it's going to be in the zoning code for now on for every project I think um I think the there's some new things here because this is the first downtown project that's been done in in a while and certainly and certainly by this board so that's why um and and and we know that the project has kind of a high water table so that's why this has come up so um I understand your concern I understand what you're what you're saying Charlie um it's we we're kind of figuring it out so Kate so I mean this has underground we we had residents at some of the very first hearings having concern about construction near other buildings and digging down and I think full circle we're doing our best to to understand that this is not the type of construction we've seen before so I just want to I I want to recognize that that the public raise concerns we know that buildings get built like this in Boston but maybe they haven't been we acknowledge that in Ashland and that is part of us trying to do our due diligence and and and just to add to that this it's not really that unreasonable to to test that when you have a Butter's next door in a downtown situation and and I think other projects that come with similar contextual um parameters probably will get the same condition I don't mind doing it I just want to make sure that I'm not the only one doing it that it's for every project in the town like if there's if you're if you're trying to set a standard I'm all I'm very happy to work with you on that but it should be a standard for the whole city okay hold hold on if I if I could I think that it's Our obligation as a board to constantly evolve and learn and look at project in a unique fashion that it is but also reflective the environment around it so I'm not comfortable guaranteeing that every single project downtown is going to have the exact same conditions I think the nature of our work is that we we're going to continue to evolve and learn um that's my position on that okay so what I'm going to suggest is that we're going to take a little breather on this condition and we're going to come back to it because I want everyone to have a few minutes away from it you know um to let it let it settle a little bit no pun intend yeah okay so um that's a good planning joke right there thank you uh so uh so we'll come we're going to come back to that um make sure you keep track of that where that is okay um 14 shared parking again this was um just to try to clarify the relationship uh between the uh you know basically borrowed parking from 20 Homer AV the train station and what should happen say if one of those properties it's sold and the new owner says no way know how no one's using my parking you know that kind of thing so um I believe this was this condition also reviewed by yeah this is review by Lisa uh Town Council and this is the final uh draft that she has posed did she have feedback um on I I think our thought last time was to request that an easement go into place if ownership changed like at that time as a term of sale and that's not that's not it Just reflects that if there's a change of ownership the shared parking agreement shall I think that was our concern last time is that that agreement would there's not like an enforceable way to carry that over um said in the event of the use or ownership of either property change in the future the parking agreement shall remain in place I think that was the concern there there there's it says it goes on to say that it will be filed with the registry of deeds I just I think our concern was that an easement would run with the property it couldn't because they're owned by the same owner right now you can't do an easement now but you could as a term of sale in the future and I think that changes not reflected I wonder if Lisa had it sounds like she's she's drafting this as like a general General condition of like whatever needs to happen shall happen right like it's almost like implied like said share parking agreement shall remain in place right implied in that is whatever legal instrument you need to make that happen should happen okay I think that's what she's doing um I don't know if we necessarily need to dict the legal mechanism that's utilized to make that happen as long as we are all interpreting that sentence this is a directive this shall happen it shall stick around um I guess the question becomes um what is the obligation for us to kind of Follow that through when that transition of ownership happens like who who has the jurisdiction to sort of pay attention to that is that the building inspector like how does that work yeah I think it's really all of us in town hall The Building Commissioner too you know he's going to be the one that signs occupancy permits he's the one signs building um is there is there a way to indicate like um but if there's a sale what would trigger that right is there a way when the sale happens is there maybe we should I'm just suggesting maybe we should add a small note that when the sale occurs we would be notified like the town would be notified it says the sh sh parking agreement shall include a requirement to notify the building office should a lease within either property be terminated for any reason uh so you're you're you're thinking when the ownership changes the lease will terminate not terminated by any reason that would include a sale I just I don't know I don't know if that lease would terminate at this point of sale maybe we're just too worried yeah I I think that too deep into it I think we're probably okay the way it's drafted I've talked about it with her she's she know I discussed everything she's done this you know many times and I have full faith that this draft and this condition can be implemented okay perfect that's that's great if she I just wanted to make sure that that was the discussion about transitioning from a shared parking agreement to in easement I I just wanted to make sure that was switched for like intentionally and for a reason that's that's perfect be comfortable moving on um number 17 is the mural um I think this basically stayed the same we did put it back into the conditions um yeah so um again it's just that the applicant is offered and the planning board accepts the wall space um and that the planning board will work with the applicant to develop a process for implementation artwork shall be mutual mutually acceptable to both parties um that might need to be mutually but it's not a big deal mutually Mutual acceptable I think mutually right mutually how do we feel about putting some time frames on that like right now the way it's written in theory it might never happen like at all um is there any thought about if the applicant is comfortable of kind of working with us on this within I don't know certain type of time frame year two years I think I think given that there's no building permit there's uh there's a site demolition delay there's we couldn't even we don't know who's going to be handling the mural we don't know I I I think I'm I'm good with it just leaving it General as something that we're going to work on together and we'll see down the road how that happens me too I'm comfortable because it says we'll work with like the ball is very much in our cour shouldn't fall off radar when the time is right yeah when the time is right I I it sounds like the majority wants to go with as is I'll just say that without some time frame like hey within within a year of issuance of the permit or whatever um I think it's very likely this will get buried um but that's just kind of where I'm at with it well if the planning board at that time is not interested in pursuing it that will be up to them I guess you us or them whoever people I guess that's what I'm saying I think we're pushing the buck on something that is being given to us um and without framing some kind of um reasonable time frame for a Cooperative process like if it said within a year of the issuance of the per all we're doing is we will work with the applicant the applicant that point might say I don't really have an idea yet but I'm working on it like it gives us some framework to achieve this otherwise to me this is just like a lovely paragraph that there's absolutely no incentive not to cut you off but Charlie has hand up if you want to make a comment yeah sure Charlie if you want to jump in on this I don't see his hand up anymore okay I'm sorry he did have his hand up so yeah so I I just I I really strongly think we leave a general we're still learning about this whole mural thing Starbucks is a case in point it's we're learning as we go I I'm just not into putting more any more detail onto it and we don't in a way we don't know what we're doing yet so um Charlie does Charlie has his okay Charlie you want to jump in yeah sorry about that you I mean you might want to change your mural every two years so just put something in there that's like a permanent thing you might paint a mural and it might not be you might want to change it as the seasons go on if this school system has an hot team that wants to change it every you know Season or something we're we're fine with that yeah so it's something that can be an ongoing thing I think it's just a description of an ongoing partnership and we'll leave it at that is agre General agreement yep okay all right moving on um some of these are just recording things that we um hadn't recorded last time the building brick um doesn't really have a um a colorful name like gray slate or Pearl gray associated with it so we uh just put in transitional brick that's what is L is labeled as provided to the planning board or an approved equal um which is a typical way of doing it in specifications um the pavement brick we put in um uh those information about the brick from downtown so we put in that um information about the brick used in downtown or again said approved equal in case for whatever reason it's not available or we can't get that exact batch or whatever um pocket park pergola um obviously just tried to ex um describe what we saw in the image and the um you know the basic comments we made at that time about Pera and then referred to the drawing and that was the drawing added earlier who comment Who's the um approved who approves the equal if there is a change um well that's a good question I mean and uh usually it's the architect um like like it's it's usually the architect but so yeah you're not going to have the applicant approve their own or equal I don't think that would be the intent of our decision right yeah no I mean so um I would just I could we could put what without unreasonably held by the planning board you can just say approved equal um after Consulting with the planning board yeah or something like that just we just need a consultation hey this one is not available how about this one yeah we can that could be a simple procedure equal approved equal after Consulting the planning board approved equal are we looking to color match what is that deal it's not the spec of the brick what are we trying to get is it getting color match to yeah it's usually this brick is no longer available is this one okay it's a color yeah it is a color match just a little subjective but yeah yeah so you can just put them both both of those locations got it okay all right any further questions on that um exterior materials okay um next page is pretty simple uh just adding a phrase there it was just no some pump shall be allowed and then um it was added in to be no sump pump shall be allowed to be connected to ashin storm water system so bless bless you sorry um the next page is 17 where this was where we were looking um at the um exterior elevations and if anything was added to the exterior elevations we talked about um the normal events and things that are available from a public Street need to be um they're not currently shown in the elevations must be carefully placed aligned so as not to Marv the approved elevations and then we were we were discussing the placement of mechanical electrical or other equipment or vents the pink is what was new um originally said is not allowed without approval from the planning board um this is where I will just call it the Starbucks situation you know and how do we uh how do we prevent that from happening um so um and the problem was that without that pink section there's no um there's no differentiate between um something minor and something larger yeah you establishing a baseline establishing a baseline yeah I'm okay with it makes sense so so anyone have any comments about that okay I I hope nothing ends up on those elevations but yeah it's construction and then I think the last pink comment is on 21 is that yeah about the dewatering um can we can we just the two words submitt in there so it needs to be if a dewatering is required a dewatering plan shall be submitted for approval to the Department of Public Works period that's my recommendation y you got that Peter a dewatering plan shall be submitted for approval to the public works yes yeah okay all right so then let's um skip over still not going to go back to uh so I think we caught everything in there right I just had a very quick clarifying question on the sign I know we don't normally talk about signature pages um for the special permit that we just went through uh and Amanda is noted as na associate member no vote cast and no signature um but for the site plan review we we are having aanda sign so I just want to make sure there's some consistency oh uh between those two things yeah that was that was just left over gotcha oh you copied it over without yeah that's just I haven't filled that out yet because oh no no what I mean is on the other one oh it's not an NA on the other one it looks like Amanda is voting so we just need to like be consistent okay is the asso number voting or not and it should be the same on both documents or is she signing both or just one right like there has to be some in general we should make sure we're consistent yes okay so you put it from your house oh okay right got it thank you I'm getting confused in my own stuff okay yeah and then just to make a note the decision so the decision the documents are record in the decis in the conditions are going to be a mirror image for both documents the only thing that's changing is the uh the meet the finding section okay so then we run into blue at um in the in the um findings um and again this isn't um we reviewed them we reviewed very similar things in the special permit but these conditions these findings criteria are different in the in the site plan review than they are in the special permit so it doesn't copy over exactly but the phrasing um should be very familiar of of edits that we've already made so I think on under number 11 that's um page 10 to 11 is the same um repetitive um thing about the uh the setbacks so in the third blue paragraph We should take off the first sentence that says the board approved and then take off the word further page 10 yeah it's the same edit we made before I mean I feel like all the edits should be just replicated because it's the exact same language so like yeah yeah so um yeah so it's repetitive with the last paragraph there which is more detailed okay so after Dimensions yeah we're taking off the board approves the non-conforming setback existing building at 99 to 15 take that paragraph off the sentence off oh the sentence off and the word further and the word further okay so it's like the board approves gotcha yeah and that will be consistent with what we did before on page 11 that word exit um was already there we've already gone through that we just hadn't done these comments um did we we ended up not changing anything with the blasting is that yep we stuck to the blasting thing as is the only change is in the inspection survey the extent extend versus extent with a t Okay M I think the rest of it is the same parking mural it's on the next page right wait no did I miss it yeah go back down in your green oh go you yeah yeah ex yeah okay okay and so and then it's down to just U number 29 that we just corrected um unless someone has something did you go P page I'm was going to finish I'm fix proved equal yeah we can take care of that if do want plan we submitted to the depart public submitted for approval that's that then we need to go back to six page 16 number 18 whereafter um or approved equal I can't remember exactly what wording or approved equal by the planning board yeah approve yeah approv by the planning board for [Applause] EX this is a very minor thing but under affordability in the findings or sorry in the um under special project conditions affordability at one point we used the the new um eoh see and then a few lines down we say dhcd oh yeah so just to have it be the proper yeah organization gotcha is paragraph 11 supposed to have some kind of filling of the occup occupancy permit like a little L the sidewalk sorry for sidewalks and curves yeah I'll just say the first I'm sorry where are you uh paragraph 11 that says sidewalks and curbs the last sentence has a blank right in front of occupa occupancy permit y um it looks like this like a oh like a little place to fill something in it's supposed to say first okay yep I fixed it thank you I'm looking at the other my earlier version okay so those little Corrections are made on both documents yep I'm making them right now okay so um I think that puts us back I have a question I'm not finding it now but was there and I might I might have mixed it up with another decision that um like if it's not if the permit is not exercised Within two years it's two years because it conflicts they had three but that conflicts with the bylaw yeah so I went back to the two years I just want to make sure to make the line it up with the bylaw awesome y I took care of it um and then I think something I wanted to bring up and I I know there's some uh language it's fairly standard we've been doing about third party inspections but I know a the downtown is um high profile for the public for the board for the town and when we were talking about um the Chestnut Street project I talked about INSP in independent third party inspections and everybody said given that the last small projects in town have not been built with the planning board wants and I think that's not great for the town I think that's not great for the planning board so when we get projects that don't end up getting built what's approved I feel like we have to make sure that our at least every condition is getting us to the best result of that once once we approve or not approve we don't actually control it but it's it's a little bit um egg on the face of the planning board that something got built that wasn't what it was approved so I I guess I want to bring up that are our conditions adequate and is that the best possible is everything covered the best possible so we can try to get what we asked or or we're going to potentially approve is it a are you asking a question about a condition yes I am which which one um well there there's um like the third party inspections if we I don't think it has um like it doesn't have a timeline or when they should be performed or how how are we going to prevent I mean actually I take that back is the next even Starbucks is also an example it was we think we have a way to recover but that's a smaller issue but buildings that were not built to what we I mean it keeps happening so I I guess I want to be part of a board that tries to prevent that and I'm I'd like to bring up what what kind of inspections are you thinking of well how did the a building uh almost across from town hall get built not to the plans and there's other examples so I think that inspection has to be fairly frequently what kind of inspection so are we thinking third party inspector that the town pays that the applicant reimburses us or are we thinking the building code requires a specific set of inspections that they have to provide by law and the Building Commissioner will get those so are you thinking having a condition that somehow reflects a report of that inspection to us like how would we frame the well there there is language of third party inspections and it's and you can do that by Mass General law that's how it's written what I guess I just don't know what you're getting at what kind of inspections that will will fall out of what the code requires well buildings got built not to what we approved apparently they were code required so if that's the best we can do them then we can't do anything I guess but I I'm not sure I believe that though so are we talking about technical code construction or planning board conditions because it's very different yeah I'm talking to so I would assume that it met technical building code and what are we trying to say I mean they're going to have to comply with that right but if how if there's currently like we're we're it's right across the street a building that got built not to what was approved that was that's a situation that took place during in the middle of Co and I can tell you what happened and I can tell you how we fixed it and we've wred the ship hold on I I don't know if we need to like go back in history to a different project I think the question is do we have jurisdiction as a planning board to require some kind of third party review on the spot I try to look it up I can't find how it works in Massachusetts I found New Hampshire allows it allows planning boards to do it um but Anna before we go to knowing the jurisdictions we need to know what are we trying to ask for I think what I'm hearing is a concern that because this is a downtown project do we want to have some kind of communication close the communication gap so that the planning board has more awareness relative to any kind of third-party review it sounds like it's already required by law but there may be communication gaps because it's a downtown project do we want to maybe reference it and say to the extent there is a third-party inspection per state law that the applicant will communicate the results of that inspection to the planning board do we want to maybe create some sort of closure of the communication gap so that we're we are aware of when the inspection happens the planning office is is uh notified that gives the planning department the ability to double check that everything is going smoothly so that we as a planning board have done what we can we're not putting an additional requirement we're simply asking to be informed so that we can assure compliance how is how is this not covered in item two third party inspection which I'm sorry I mean I so I don't think that says a um it's daily It's weekly it's whatever right it says we're allowed to do that but I don't think that it says um they there every time constructions going on they're once a week once a month I I that's the part that I think but that is enforced by The Building Commissioner because they will not get a building certificate of occupancy if they don't comply with what's required and the the billing commissioner has a lot of discretion under the code for administration so uh I just there's inspections going all on all the time all the time and I just don't I don't understand what lack of communication has been I think the process that we go through been one year we've been going through all this communication to get to where we are I don't think we need to micromanage every single piece of every single project moving forward we set up conditions the building inspector requires to make sure that they comply if something happens that is completely out of the bounds of the conditions I'm sure the bill inspector will notify us or directly request that they fix it but I I I think it's very easy to come up with a with a number of potential potential situations I think I think we're distracting ourselves our job is hearing the conditions and I think they're very clear we we're being we're being f studious about making sure they're clear I think we should stick within the bounds of that beond that is just making an effort to go way far into the future imagining potential I'm fine with that if we say we we did our due diligence and if it doesn't look like it was approved that the I'm sorry the planning board had nothing to do with that why are we apologizing in advance of something that we don't know because we are honoring the fact that it's a downtown project that that we care about downtown and want projects there to reflect our intentions and our decision so why do we one second but why do we feel the need to say that I think people that see these meetings will know that we've been working for that very reason on all this we we don't have to go on and publicize that we care about things I don't see the need personally we this the process I think for me it's more about understanding I want to make sure that we've done our our piece of assuring our intentions are understood and so one of the things I'm looking at like to Trisha's point is this paragraph enough what I like about the paragraph is that it says that if if there is an inspection official they're going to give the planning office a weekly report that part I really like the part that I'm curious about and that I would like Peter to explain to me is how do we decide how does the town actually decide when we would when would we choose to hire a third party official under what circumstances like if I had a better understanding as as a planning board member then I could agree with marcelo's point but I don't have a full understand when we notice as the project starts the engineer they come in the contractors chosen right and they're going to give us a schedule of work when are you going to do this X Y and Z right when are you going to do the UN you know the the storm water infrastructure right that's an item where we typically say yeah we want mik Carter to come out and do a full inspection to make sure that the subterraneum storm water is taken care of right but I don't think that's never been in a decision our our water department goes out when they're connecting to the new water meters right our our Sewer Department goes out when they're doing all these inspections right so over the course you know they're do we're doing inspections over the course of all projects and so it's usually something that's set up within a preconstruction meeting within that preconstruction progress you know and then I'm usually involved in that process it it's it it it's kind of It kind of rolls a little bit with the with the project so what can we how what can we do to catch the things that are not do not involve some kind of Staff like the the examples you mentioned are there's already like a person from our town that has to get involved sewer so there person Road opening DPW all all of us but there are things our daily job thinking of the Starbucks project forget Co postco thinking of the Starbucks project there is no human there when those electrical panels went up on the wrong side right so how can we as a board make sure that the design element of the building like the setbacks all of that is honored for that part we're not there when it happens so you well a number one the building department has to be issued right and that's going to take into account the site plan the building setbacks all of those elements right and typically that's how you kind of can confront that and then sometimes there's there's you know for this one well Charlie has his hand up but they're all going to be you know put through this building permit through this decision we're always doing inspections and then the final outcome is a as Bill plan to make sure that that asil plan reflects the approved site plan yeah let me let uh Charlie do you want to weigh in on this so even even not only with the city even with the bank it's very important for them so when we dig the foundation as far as the setbacks go we have to have the survey come out and Survey the property while while we do the foundation and that get certify we send that to Peter and we also send it to the bank so the the bank will not let us move forward if the the building is in the wrong spot yeah I think it's more about these little the little things that that happen later or or trim details I mean if we looked at 128 across the street you know just kind of they kind of winged it after a while and we're just putting up different kinds of exterior sighting and different kinds of exterior trim because someone said hey that might look good this isn't this isn't you Charlie this is someone else and um and it kind of been it had to it all had to be undone right you know because they just didn't follow the drawings I don't know they just didn't understand that they had had to follow the drawings that that were approved anyway well I already I already learn my lesson with you people on that too yeah I'm talking to the board here um yeah so um so but I think um you know I I agree with Marcelo that that I think we're we're trying to uh we're trying to baby proof the world you know in a way um and it just came can't it can't really be done in that way and um I think you you have to let it play out a little bit you have to have some trust in the players that are in place and in the recourse that comes back to the planning board does that mean everything is going to go perfect all the time absolutely not it never will no matter how many conditions you have in place it's going to happen anyway and it comes it comes back right so um I'm not sure we have to so test everything I'm okay not overly managing every single word and having some trust I'm okay with that up to point to me it's it's about building a relationship so um building a relationship with the applicant right making sure that there's open communication um I will say that prior to my time on this board there was a project not far from where I live that Charlie you're involved in it's the project you have on 126 and there were neighbors that raised to me as a new planning board member hey this project was supposed to have a pocket park where's the pocket park and that was elevated to me when I became a member of this board as a warning from residents on the 126 Corridor who said oh good luck because sometimes as a planning board you guys make decisions that don't actually get um don't actually happen as you envision and so as I remember as a new planning board member that was something that was was really important to me that I would make sure that to whatever extent I could projects would actually come to be the way the planning board intended so for me it's about building a relationship and frankly Charlie I'd like to hear your thoughts how will you make sure in this project that if we leave this paragraph the way it is that you would communicate with us and communicate with the planning office in a way that would actually honor all of those things that we've included in this decision and I think that's a fair question because it's about building Trust so that we don't have to micromanage every single sentence I I agree with you and so let's go back to Pawn Street real quick the problem that happened with Pawn Street was the wrong set of plans got submitted to the city or town so we built off those plans and there were a few things that were the plans were almost identical but there was a few things that were different and the architect sent me the wrong set of plans I said sent them to Peta no none of us knew until the building was already built that we were working off the wrong set of plans and it was just it was like trim detail stuff and siding details and some color details but there was never a pocket pack on any of the plants or anything we submitted with the town for that project so I apologize if people thought we were going to put a pocket pocket pack there then on on this project we know we have to build it to the plans it'll be built to the plans and we're going to pay more attention to making sure the proper set of plans get submitted to the city town I'm sorry and you know before it just was things looked exactly the same and we were rushing to get the plans to get the permits pulled we will pay more attention to that and we will follow the plans if you look at all the other projects that we've built we never had problem I'm not sure about the name of the of I can't recall anymore about the label pocket park and when that kind of came in I there were some Landscaping things um at 12 Pawn Street but I can't I'm not going to recollect I can't recollect the exact term we I will say it was way before my time so and I was there but I can't I don't want to turn memory I can't and I do appreciate Charlie's uh transparency yes as to what went off the rails and that does help me and I I appreciate that because we're having that discussion publicly and it's on the record and I think words do matter and and I think that I'd like to find a way to to believe those words and and I think it's a move in the right direction to have that kind of conversation so I do appreciate that Charlie thank you I think that condition then is in place in my mind I think it was put in place was it for 100 Chestnut Street maybe that we first it was really for 100 Chestnut Street and then then it we folded it over to 501 py and it's there to have you know gcg come out and do site inspections and do spot inspections when need be at the proper times that are decided in the preconstruction meeting to make sure that storm water storm water structure is put into place and properly put in place that connections to our water and our sewer are put in place um but it doesn't call out a certain kind of consultant it calls it that's up to the town the type that's up to us right if somebody need to be need be so it seems that to me that there's the Trust In relationship but if a warning Bell goes off that this thing gets triggered and say now we need someone now that trust has been broken now we need someone who's checking it out you know um and and this and this goes into effect that was always that was always my impression of was I'm glad we're having these conversations um I'm learning on the go I think that it's great progress for us as a board to have this kind of condition um and I think it's really important and I appreciate Charlie speaking about it openly and and you know I do think words matter it sounds like Charlie wants to be a man of his word and do the best that he can and we're all going to do the best that we can to make sure the correct documents are attached and that they're followed and and hopefully we're not going to have a repeat of this conversation all right so um are we comfortable with that condition the way it is I am I I think I am is if Charlie's on board my representation of what I'm hearing him say like does that make sense to you Charlie that we're kind of going to trust you to to make sure this gets followed and the right documents get filed yep that's what we're only going to do it the right way okay so the remaining condition I think we we we still need to go back to inspectional survey is that right at the one remaining condition so um Kate you announced about exactly what gcg said oh G G's the Le I going close it off sorry do want me to read or do you all all right so um I'm just TR to this is a question about um requirements need to be listed about what the preconstruction survey includes so gcg wrote a video and pictures of the exterior of adjacent buildings and property should be provided so that's in there and then said an elevation on the side of each building to be checked over a period of one year after completion of construction um um and then talked about monitoring they just said submit an elevation report every month until one year after completion certified by a professional liced surveyor so so what I'm he's talking about exterior of adjacent buildings and property should be provided and so I think that doesn't imply it can't be on the property and I maybe that's a question for Charlie like can this be so if if the adjacent property for any reason they are just not available and you don't know that they are refusing they're just not available can that be placed on the applicant's property to follow that monitoring of settlement I think Charlie alluded to that because the what what what I think is being recommended here is a marker a marker is anything right mhm Charlie said well the surveyor could with his or her instrument determine like say the the Inception of the s in between the foundation wall a a place that is fixed in the building and and and looked at it from the other side and confirm elevation changes based on a on a datum that that would fulfill both well and so I think that's I guess the point of the purple wasn't gcg wasn't saying go to the adjacent properties and get their permission and do it they're saying this is how you would do it so that I think is the only confusion here so what if we put in a sentence like this if adjacent properties cannot be used for elevation markers other suitable locations for El for elevation markers will be found so if all the property owners say no no no no one can can't use my property can't mark my building we'll find other suitable locations whether they're on the property oop nope it doesn't work like that they can't be on the property we can go deeper into the site maybe two houses over says yeah you can monitor mine right we can find some other suitable elevation maybe you can monitor along a telephone call like I I don't know right so but that's where gcg would be involved in those finding a suitable marker if no one absolutely no one wants to do it then I mean then you can see as something on your own property but that's all the options there are right you ask private homeowners he has the building across the street yeah let's be honest with each other he owns the building across the street so you can monitor that you can monitor that and you're trying to create a baseline that's all you're trying to do is create a baseline okay except that's not in our decision so no so that that a proposed modification that TR yeah if that's a proposed modification that works I think just a suitable if if the adjacent home or some other suitable location as approved by it should be approved by gcg or a third party that sounds good I mean okay think that's a reasonable so where should it be inserted um I would just put at the bottom of at the very bottom at the very end of that pink paragraph are you ready I'm going to take that I don't you won't be able to read it okay sorry okay all right so um if so what's the 300 ft radius that's for the that's for the blasting that's for 250 or 300 ft is pretty typical for the blasting well it's not just blasting is they're they're required to do that any anyway cuz I trust me I mean my Foundation was shaking with with a project near me like think they said we could do it for home ramming as well but it's the typical I think 250 is the typical range for blasting when it's going through the fire department which monitors blasting so we put it in here for whole ramming for for any just to do the survey whether it's whole ramming or blasting or that they need to do 300 ft I think 300 ft was suggested by their engineer no fair enough but that's in both the paragraphs that's under blasting and inspectional Survey so if this 300 ft radius was for blasting why do we have that under inspectional survey category CU you already covered that in the previous paragraph that makes sense because I remember the conversation with the engineer was exclusively on blasting cuz that's covered I because that that's I think that's what was Charlie's question to begin with why do you have the 300 ft because that's throwing and there's nowhere in that report that talks about so I think this line you're saying the mention of the you're saying the mention of the 300 feet in the inspection under blasting and inspection so so should we just are you just saying just to take off the 300 feet and then it says including inspectional surveys and the next section is inspectional surveys and then you read about inspectional surveys okay so I can we check the gcg because I didn't read it that it was only necessary for blasting I think I thought that was a recommended condition in general I mean I I see that often we should read it think to blasting but the 300 thing also creates a limited Universe of where you need to care so I I would think we want to keep that there I don't think we want to get rid of that and make it like applicable to everything I think we need some kind of you said yeah so if it says 300 I would I would stick with that if this was cut and pasted from their report yes yes so the in my mind the um there's the condition about the blasting right um and we can take off the within the 300 ft so we don't say it twice a compl completely separate condition is the inspectional survey that says prior to any site work and with the consent of each owner the applicant applicant shall complete an inspectional survey of ab budding properties within a 300t radius to set an existing conditions Baseline for possible construction related impacts it does not say what kind of structional related impacts um so it it's a separate condition you have to follow it separately than the first condition so whether it's h ramming or it's blasting um I confuse things because usually it's a condition associated with blasting it's usually regulated by the fire department but we had talked to the engineer um I think the radius is usually 250 he set off and they put it at 300 he was comfortable with that and so that's what we did is that I could C 100% you know we've had these conversations and this condition's they've been in there so all right so feel comfortable with it so in the blasting we're taking off the 300t radius but we're saying but we're leaving including inspectional surveys which then makes you read the next part because it's related right um and that's about the inspectional surveys okay um so um okay so are we do you you took off the so we're taking off the 300 feet in the first one right um we're leaving including inspectional surveys and we're only taking off within a 300 foot radius where I'm so sorry where are you removing the 300 ft from the BL I only see it once in Blast right there and it's here okay including inspectional surve it says including inspectional surveys so then you read immediately condition two is about here's got okay right I'm I'm so sorry I'm confused which 300 you're removing are you keeping it in the blasting section the top one under condition one so what radius will it be in you have to read inspectional surveys and then it the next Point fair enough so you don't have the same information in two places got it that's F clear I thank you I just couldn't as long as we're not removing the limitation I mean there should be containment so we're good okay so at the at the end the pink then what we were talking about if adjacent properties cannot be used suitable oh let me when if adjacent properties cannot be used suitable elevation marker locations so what do you say suitable or alternative alternative is fine um locations will be used as approved by third party inspection will be used as approved by that's fine or third party consult thisway after the building is complete one year after the building is complete during construct the the elevation survey are monthly during construction and for a year after are we seeing that here it says elevation markers shall be monitored over the course of construction and for one year this just says over the course of construction I don't know what do with monthly for the course of construction and for one year after an issuance of occupancy permits okay I don't recall if I just read that thing but I don't recall if it said monthly it it is monthly because it says on a monthly basis a monitoring report shall be submitted the belly commissioner by professional license surve it you could clean up some words to make it not that you didn't have to read that next sentence but it I mean if you're confused maybe other people I just didn't read that next sentence I just stopped where I stopped so I'm okay with it with not making so many all right do you want to read that sentence back to us sure says if adjacent properties cannot be used period alternative locations will be used as a as a approved by thirdparty civil engineering consultant nobody can see that no civil engineer yeah if adjacent properties cannot be used comma alter alternate alternate or alternative resp alternative locations will be used as approved by it's probably should say a professional license so oppos no but the third party third party third party consultant thir consult ading properties cannot be used alternative locations will be as approved by should you say the town's third party yeah I would just say the town's third because they are the ones that have followed up everything so they should do it okay okay so those have to go into the other site plan yes yeah so that will have to be Chang hell yep Charlie how you doing hold on pal patience um Charlie okay go ahead so even when we do excavation you I got to do the survey for 300 feet the survey just the survey of the 300t radius is the typical um is the typical radius for blast T in but in this case we're also doing it for home Ram H ramming or whatever it's just the typical survey um but not for not for digging a foundation Charlie I think when pre pre this pre-construction we're going to ask you to do a survey of all properties right and to just to kind of to view the existing conditions to set a baseline yeah that's what we're asking to do but it this thing says every month doesn't it that's for that's only for the that's for the uh the settling the adjacent properties to make sure that there's no settlement and or grade change yeah so not 300 R not just for the adjacent properties for the settling only for one time not every month right once a month this was this is from the third party consultant it's going to probably cost me $5,000 a month to have the surveyor come out and Survey these properties every month it's it's only like one marker on each adjacent property it's not it's not 300 Properties or within it's it's just the ones adjacent to the site like connecting to the site you have like two sides of your site honestly I it it I'm baffled by this if you want me to do it at the beginning I'll six months or something for every month well at this point at this point we're not going to change what our third party consultant recommended okay so I would suggest that you look at some real numbers on it if you're paying someone $5,000 a month I I think I should become a surveyor so if you got to survey five properties that that's they charge a th like a th000 bucks maybe 2,000 to surve a property for for the settlement you don't have to survey the properties what we have to survey is the elevation markers that were set up at the Baseline to make sure they haven't settled so the surveyor will come and verify those elevations and report what they find you don't have to survey the properties every time the survey is only a survey of elevation markers I just hope that this is something that that you're going to adopt for your bylaws that every developer in town going to have to do not just downtown then downtown where this is this is really DSE let's say dense areas you know we we don't know where every project is going to land so if all right that's fine I'm sure we would given that this is somewhat new we would appreciate feedback along the way on it I I would like to feedback along the way to see how it operates in real life so okay so I think does anyone have anything else on this list that that we missed that we that was pink and we forgot about it that okay so um then at this time the first thing we would need to do is to close the public hearing right now the public hearing is still open once we close the public hearing there are no more questions to anyone online is everyone ready to do that yes okay I'll take a motion from the floor meeting I'll make a motion to close the open hearing for uh 949 Homer Avenue uh special special perit and site plan approval I'll second it Anki I Marcel I Katherine Jers I and Trisha Kendall I all right so is there any further discussion about this project or comments or all right is there a motion on the floor if there are no comments I'll make a motion to have to do one individually for each process uh yes yeah so I'll make a motion to um approve this move on through other agenda items and after the uh at the conclusion of the meeting I will ask everyone to sign and then tomorrow morning I will file this decision with the town clerk's office and so uh a copy will be sent to the applicant and that will Kickstart the 20-day appeal period all right um Charlie I see your hand up I just want to thank all of you for your patience and time to and the approval of this project and I appreciate it and we'll make it come out nice make everybody happy and I I thank you for your patience as well obviously we are constantly working to do better for the town um and uh I know that puts some frustrations on developers as we go through and try to have a better and better process so we appreciate your patience as well any other have a good night thank you all right I just say okay so um next on the agenda we are Switching gears Roberta you are on um we're um going to have a presentation um regarding the Ashland open space and recreational committee's um open space and Recreation plan so okay Peter yes oh you have a hold up do you want uh do you want me to control it from my computer so I can share it it doesn't matter I'll just tell you if you want to do that I'll just tell you is your last name pronounced Su sulman mm sulman yeah I always feel like I get it wrong hold so I'll just share it from this screen I have to tell you to find it tell you oh man okay that's on you robera EMG can you just explain upfront that we're not what we're doing here tonight because I don't sure I want everyone to be um thinking that we're approving something um all right so if you want to start the slideshow there go okay so first of all I want to thank you all Forbe we should wait just a minute till Marcelo gets back okay so I made you a co-host okay so therefore you let's see if we can do this yes okay so then you can just toggle okay back and forth and then um and this obviously is just there but you won't be able to see that on the screen okay thank you no sweat okay so those are your toggle B okay great thanks so much okay hi thank you everybody for maybe this will be like a little refreshing break for you I hope um thank you so much for giving me a little bit of time from on your meeting tonight I really appreciate it um what we what I'm here to do tonight is just to explain a little bit about the open space and Recreation Plan and the New planning process that we're about to embark on and the reason that I'm coming here to the planning board is that the while we would run the plan by um for review by all kinds of committees and commissions in town it starts with the planning board in the sense that the planning board is the only required review and comment that we are required to have by the state and attached to the plan before we submit it which we're months away from doing so um what I had emailed to all of you before uh what was emailed to all of you is the plan that is currently in existence that expires at the end of April because the state requires that you periodically update it because Community conditions change development affects open space all kinds of things change the community demographics change and what people want will also change so um this particular plan the open space plan is very prescriptive in terms of the structure and the content and the requirements um in that way it's a much deeper dive into open space issues than the open space portion of the comprehensive plan that the town is currently embarked on so while they may intersect and overlap a little bit there's much more that that happens in the open space and Recreation plan with regard to open space and uh preservation conservation restrictions historic preservation th those kinds of issues okay I was instructed to toggle oh it's not going it's not moving did I do something wrong yeah that's weird what happened and actually you could put your microphone on yeah okay yeah there you go okay great so these are some of the required content areas and pretty much each one of these topics is a separate chapter in the plan there are about 10 chapters in the plan including all of the references and and the maps that we're required to do so we need to set out what our planning process is and how we're going to engage the public you're required to have a certain number of public forums you're required to do a an open space and Recreation survey you're required to do specific Outreach to the environmental justice neighborhoods in Ashland and every one of the nine census blocks in ashin is an environmental justice neighborhood um determined so by the state according to the criteria of the demographics which in this case is minority demographics and one of the census tracks is is an environmental justice neighborhood based on minority and income so we're required particularly to do handle that neighborhood which is a lot of the downtown area along Pleasant Street and um Cherry Street and and that area is is tagged as um a specific environmental justice neighborhood for minority and income we have to do Regional context which means do a demographic portrait of Ashland Visa the other five towns in the Metro West area Holliston hopkington Sherborn Framingham um we have to put it in the context of all six of the towns six of the towns together we have to talk about the history of ashin the archaeological finds um history since you know with before 1846 going back um a long time the demographics current demographics at the time the plan was is being done but also demographic trend changes um growth and development changes increases in population changes in the types of developments from single family homes are there more Apartments now or more all the condo developments whether we're at buildout things of that sort we also have to do a natural resources inventory of water bodies and open space and forested areas um and a list of environmental challenges like if we have Wetlands what does that mean in terms of protecting open space and development if we have floods what you know chronic flooding what does that mean for open space and development how does that have an impact and other kinds of environmental challenges we're required to do four L land inventories survey all of the open space that's state-owned all that's town-owned all that's um owned by nonprofits in the area and then other Parcels that are undeveloped at this time that have protection and are privately owned or Parcels that we might be interested in protecting in the future and then uh Community Vision with goals what is the community want in terms of open space and protection and recreational opportunities for their population we also have to do an analysis of different kinds of needs around resource protection Ada needs how accessible are the recreation areas how accessible um is the open space how accessible are the trails when we did the Riverwalk we put in a piece of the trail and an observation deck that was the first Trail Public Trail in the town that was handicapped accessible and and gave people an opportunity to um enjoy what the rest of us can enjoy by having easier mobility and ability to get places we also have to do an action plan based on um serious input from the community so that action plan would have a set of goals objectives and activities and we have to prioritize them um in terms of like high medium and low um what's going to be most important under each objective to do what will be medium importance and what is low importance at the moment we have to record public comment and submit that with the plan and then there are lots and lots of required Maps GIS maps that have to um visually demonstrate the narrative if you say that there are environmental challenges where are they we have to locate them on the map Point them out if you say you want to protect open space where is it we have to show it on a map where are the water bodies and each one of these Maps has a different overlay and is is going to be very different these are the current goals that are in the plan so these are high level goals then there we have objectives under each one of these goals and we have activities under those objectives but this at least gives you an idea of the broader framework and the values that the community um had when we did this plan and we receed their input they want to preserve protect connect and enhance ashlin's conservation and natural Land Resources provide maintain and improve diverse re uh recreational opportunities preserve the quality character and health of Ashland and build a strong constituency of open space and Recreation Advocates through education so if you think about each of these goals you can also realize that there are very real living examples of how we have pushed those goals forward over the last um five to seven years of this particular plan for example preserving protecting connecting and enhancing conservation natural Land Resources we have the town's um prospective tree bylaw we have the wetlands protection we have conservation restrictions on certain pieces of public land because we're required to if we bought them with State money and the CPA we also have storm water management now that is a part of protecting the water bodies and Water Resources in the town under the second one recreational opportunities we have the trolley Brook Trail and the connectivity of mult multimodal trails the Ashland upper child's Trail the Riverwalk um safe roots to school is a project that is listed under the the open space and Recreation plan and generally um making the town more walkable and more bikable for the third goal improving the quality character and health of Ashland's Community we have things like remediating degraded lands such as Cadillac the Cadillac paint site that is moved forward um establishing a downtown historic district and nominating sites for the National Registry to be protected historic sites for protection those are just examples of some of the efforts that were listed in the plan that have um progressed along through the town and then the final one on building a constituency we've done that through sponsoring open space events hikes workshops educational events in Warren Woods in the Town Forest we participate in cleanup Ashland from an environmental perspective we also um staff tables at the farmers market in Ashland day to distribute information and also to collect Community input so our plan expires at the end of April and we'll be starting a new one and these are some of our next steps we'll be establishing a process for Gathering extensive public input because we're required to but also because we want to and because the plan should be based and has always been based on the input from the public and what they value and what's important to them we may need to secure resources for mapping and anything else that might need to be outsourced um we will review other Municipal open space plans from other towns um we've always done done that and we'll review their updated ones you can get a lot of good ideas for implementation from what other towns are doing we'll review the current goals and objectives and activities in the context of new public input and revise them as we need to we'll also update the narrative especially the demographic sections because things have really changed and changed rapidly and we'll be meeting with Town committees and commissions to get their input um as we formulate goals objectives and activities and listen also to the public we'll ask them for meeting time as we're formulating the plan but then afterward for review of the draft we'll also have an open public comment period for the public to be able to review the draft then it gets finalized we go back to the planning board because we'll need a letter signing off saying you reviewed it and you're you support it um excuse me and then we submit it to the ex itive office of energy and environmental Affairs their division of conservation Services which is the agency that has final approval and once it is finally approved Ashland is eligible to apply for state grants through the division of conservation Services um for projects in town they're eligible to apply for States uh grants and get the money so I'm happy to take any questions this will be will be launching this you know soon um trying not to certainly conflict seeking public input at the same time that the comprehensive plan is doing that we won't be ready to be doing that doing ours certainly in April but you know could be over the summer that we'll start doing some public Outreach especially at the farmers market and then into September at Ashland day and doing surveys and and the like um happy to answer any questions I'm happy to um come back again at some other point um to keep you informed of what's going on and I'm also happy to sit down and let you get on with your meeting because you have a long evening I always do um thank you for that presentation I just I just wanted to clarify or make sure it's clear to the board because they they received your initial email as well that originally you said that this needed to be approved at the end of April that there was a rush and and and but yeah that's that was kind of a misunderstanding of the schedule there's clarifica I received clarification today from the state so so even though your current plan expires at the end of April that doesn't mean that you have to have a new one all set in place at the end of April you can't and they don't expect you to they expect that there they are going to be months some some municipalities take a year or two to develop their plan depends if they have a consultant do it or if they you know have volunteers do it or whatever ever but you know you can submit it at some point when you're far enough along and it can get conditional approval which will allow you to apply for Grants but you won't get the check or the money until you get final approval on the plan so so because we're undergoing the comprehensive plan process doesn't necessarily mean that this can get delayed right so because if there's a gap then we're not going to be able to get funding is right right so we we need to get our ducks in a row in terms of our planning um and so we may start some other things other than you know public surveying or that kind of thing because I don't want our survey to come on top of the comprehensive plan survey which is on top of the Dei survey and Survey survey survey people just won't fill them out after a while so I'd like to give people a little bit of a breather um yeah from what I understand and you are on the steering committee the the survey and the meetings in the Box for the comprehensive plan the deadline is April 26th right so I think you're going to be good to go right after I think what I'm I'm kind of curious about is obviously your work is going to be very important to the comprehensive plan steering committee because once you that that plan whatever it is once the planning board approves it can be helpful and beneficial to the steering committee so it seems like the timing is is good and the sooner we have it here the better because then we can deliver it to the comprehensive plan folks as well right and I want to be clear about one thing um that the executive office of energy um and environmental Affairs says in their um open space plan workbook guidelines is that when we do a draft and we come before a board or a committee um for the for their review even the planning board it's not that the planning board or any other Municipal committee your commission approves it they just have to say that they looked at it and they they might have made comments and requested you know changes but they're okay with it because they were very clear that the only agency that has any right of approval is the state the division of conservation Services any questions anyone so when do you um and you may have already said this but when when do you see that having this new document do you have a time frame when you might you might I don't yet our our committee hasn't met yet to talk about that we're meeting in a couple of weeks and um we need to figure out the resources that we're going to need to push this forward and if we're going to need to apply for any money to Outsource any of the tasks so months to a year out probably before it gets back before the end product gets back to us okay yeah all right I would just uh say when that time comes as you can see what our schedules kind of look like to give us as much time as much as possible especially given the length of the document we we'll want to go through so absolutely all right uh any other questions thank you all right thank you I I just wanted to ask um if you are here for a particular reason like were you looking I I know our schedule Sy NBTA communities but we're not we're not talking about that tonight were you so that means we can't comment tonight um you have somewhere in your agenda you have public comment yeah we do we do have place for our public comments that's fine I just that's fine I didn't know if our agenda um no implied that we were having a larger discussion okay all right so that said sorry I lost my agenda it's here somewhere oh okay Starbucks okay so um next on agenda is the um discussion of the proposed modification to 399 Starbucks thank you Anna um Peter give me an update on this or us an update on yeah I'll give everyone an update on it so um I think we've discussed this at our last meeting everyone understands the situation out there is that the electrical boxes were put on on the side of the building so since that point the applicant Greg Salvador who's the owner of the property uh he came to in in Starbucks right uh came to us and asked if we can move the mural from the side originally approved which would be facing uh easterly along West excuse me along Union Street to the front of the building and so I think tonight uh that is being proposed um this is the area that they are opposing to move I cannot um that's the area that we can put you know the mirror would be located um and then secondly uh within the packet Starbucks does and and has in some locations and and is proposing in this location to provide screening elements uh of those electrical boxes uh those screening elements can be seen on a sample detail uh here I just want to make a note that that ladder this is a sample and I hopefully tried to make that clear in my email that ladder is not going to be there it's going to be on the rear of the building so let me reaffirm that's a sample um however this is just from Starbucks there also is a detail sheet of what these kind of screens look like um and furthermore you can kind of see it from this back elevation here the ladder will actually be installed right around here uh if you look at the actual construction drawings of this building with that said I also printed out a landscaping plan as you can kind of see uh there is going to be a Transformer box which is going to be surrounded by um some U's which are kind of uh commonly known as arbores smaller arities and then there are also going to be in in the front area some ink berry Hol um now I've kind of talked a little bit about this with Trisha and I think the idea if approved would be to um allow me and our conservation agent Becca Solomon who has a wealth of knowledge within the plant of plant specimens to try to see if if approved to the front of the building to see if we can work with the applicant to I'm going to say add some Pizzaz Andor some color to the screening around the Transformer box in addition to the screens being located um to help block out indoor um help could you describe that pizaz a little bit more what are we talking about colors on WE colors on like flowers with colors well here's the thing right I was talking to you know there's a number of you know there's there's number of examples you could kind of use right no Evergreen is going to flower right so if you're going to have something 12 months out of the year for screen as a screening element you're going to want it Evergreen right however if you want some flowering shrub you're going to have you're going to lose those obviously leaves right and so there's a couple elements that we could look at um and I'm not going to start naming plant but I think it would be allow us to to work with the applicant to kind of replace those 's which are non non- native arbores with different species with a different species can I just get I'm so sorry I I'm just like a little bit confused because there's like the pizaz idea then there's the the the screen idea maybe the Paz was the wrong term but like which one is being proposed the screening or the trees or both yeah so so let me explain I think that the thing was that oh yeah the electrical stuff got put on there probably everyone's seen it by now right it's not small yes so um obviously the applicant proposed the front to the building um yep place for a mural when you when you're coming down looking at it you can kind of really picture something kind of cool there right so I think I think that was a great plus but to me that still left the discussion we had as a group that this building has three sides that are bounded by public ways and public views and by our bylaws it says that those three sides are supposed to be treated relative equival equivalently they're not this is the back of house side and in order to rectify that when it was a debate we came up they proposed the idea of a mural right which is a was a good idea we like the idea and I think the greenery on this um was in ipation actually of that mural right it's low um it it it allows the mural to express itself you know whatever the mural is supposed to be the important part so once the mural went away to me we go back to the question of having a a facade that's kind of like right so the screen comes into place which is basically just so that you don't see I assume the electrical stuff the door you know whatever and then it goes to the greenery for me like how can we just both right screen first then the green the box has always been there we've always been disguising it that's always been there you know and will the Box be behind the screen no the screen is closer to the building I think you can see that yeah sorry I'm thre dimensionally screen is for the electrical boxes got it the green is for the Transformer now I imagine now I got it so it's kind of like this layers so what I'm saying is that when I when we're all coming out of CVS assuming go there like I do that is there a way to give that facade some layer a little bit more layer it's not meant to overall it's meant to can we trade this plant for that one to give it a little bit more life on that facade MH I don't know a thing about plants and I don't think Peter does either no I do not so do not hence we thought Becca would be the proper person for this job being able to say Swap this one out for that one it's part of what she does anyway um uh to make sure they're native she knows the different characteristics and then it doesn't have to come down to I assume six people seven people seven people that unless someone's hiding a secret Talent don't really know a lot about can I ask if the barrier is meant to be the entire side of that building like the entire will the will the fence I don't know what you call it a whatever that this is is it going to cover the whole side where the electrical stuff is now hanging I believe it's it's it's like right there like 2/3 of the way so the screening that's what I mean was uh Starbucks did I remember that correctly like Starbucks corporate or they wanted it or we asked for cuz I like to me that screening jumps out is like not better it if they want it I'm not going to say you can't have it or anything but I I I'm not seeing that as better yeah I'm kind of feeling more green and less screen screen the screen feels to me kind of it's just another instit pull my eye in more to it than the more natural Landscaping but I think they both are going to play together the the screen looks like a nice screen uh and I think I would rather have that to have like layers like plants the screen and then the electrical boxes that I think really makes it go away I I would prefer to have the it's kind of like it's kind of a layering a depth a layering sure am I understanding the screen would be closest to the building and then there's the Transformer and then there's the plants you can kind of see the line on the pl carefully you can kind of see the the line where the screen is just on the other side of the sidewalk there's a I do not have a secret Talent so I I agree that like that but my one question that I might pose is that like because of where the electrical boxes sit they're here are not small um is there a way to get a second tree to like to have some symmetry with this tree here like that would go a long way towards visually you would Vis idea taking away that those boxes yeah I don't know based on what's underground right there and and you know whatever but there's a lot going on underground out there though I think I would step away from a tree but Becca can make that ass and I think we can make that assumption I mean no we not assumption excuse me we going to make that we'll work with back going to make that assessment yeah yeah mhm mhm so your secret Talent is to figure out balance obscuring large electrical boxes all theologies they're very useful we figured it out we fig she lik so it seems so this is obviously just a an approach um and we're trying to keep it that it seems reasonable reasonable approach as long as we don't start putting a mural on the screen and El are we that was a joke are we going to comment on the mural part on the location of the mural no no at the location I think like we discussed it last time I I just have a question cuz this graphic shows like a highlighted area where the mural can go um and is is is this is this what's being proposed kind of U as a concept because the bilding has a plint and a top with different materiality and I think the mural should be on one or the other but not on both that's just my personal opinion I think the box is what Starbucks is offering oh I see I don't think it has to be what we're taking I see so that said I think the cultural Council and the muralist the muralist have some suggestions oh or maybe but if the planning board has a you know a a preference or a suggestion then I think we can I think all I'm saying is that my preference that's just personal I think we're not just Plastering a mural onto something should be part of it and for that should be following the architectural lines of the building so so it looks natural not something imposed that that looks like a like a bad addition so it should be yeah exactly it should be either on the lower wall if that's what they want to do or on the upper portion only but not I think we should let that line kind of read and and be part of the building so it's a mural with inside a building not a mural that somebody attached to a building it's it's a great time to view it right now because that upper part is yellow right yeah I saw I that's why it came yeah so it stands out as um to me the upper part is what looks like the mural to me like so it's visible from all all the way when you're coming down that Hill um but I'm also not a muralist and so um but that could be if if the whole board feels that way it could be our suggestion with with possible of with the artist and and I would say it depends on the intent of what they want to achieve if you take the upper part it's a mural that is for for for viewing from a distance and and and the content should be developed accordingly if conversely what they want to do is something that has detail that you that you experience when you walk by it then it should be in the lower part so that it accomplishes that function uh so itend what they Tred to achieve part of part of what I recall the planning board wanting to achieve is to connect this to Ashland and have it be visible to the public as we drive by or walk by and and maybe I think some of the things we brainstormed about was you know it could be anything from a rendition of the Boston Marathon to you know some connection to ashlin's history and I think the rendering that we had indicated that historic connection that would be visible to the public so this could be a happy accident in a way where this makes it really visible it's a much more marketable spot and hopefully one that would make it more uh exciting for Starbucks to the extent that they're involved uh to Showcase in a way that they like um but I I I think a suggestion from the planning board is fair like we could suggest that we prefer for it to be more visible and therefore on the upper part but we certainly understand if maybe the budget limitations or artistic preference or Starbucks preference places it towards the bottom um but I for one don't think we need I mean I think if the board feels really strongly about marcelo's position I I support it um but I I think I would trust the artist and Starbucks to kind of if it bleeds into the bottom in a thoughtful fashion I would have no problem with that it could kind of tell a story that is both visible in a distance and and could be enjoyable up close so there there are ways to make the space work for the artist budget Starbucks that I'm okay with whatever happens but I'm also comfortable with the suggestion like we prefer the upper space I would suggest I would suggest um that given our conversation here which seems like we're we're kind of in agreement on the next step is that um is to put together kind of a short letter or memo put something in writing from the board um so that it's documented that that we're good with this kind of solution and uh and and we we can move on and that's something yeah I can write up a quick memo for that and I think that's something that's easy to do uh I agree with you Marcel address into into three items to follow the architectural lines and to make sure it fits and they're not poting something Plastering something up and I do want to just make a note of because I heard it from the culture Council and I just want to make a note the culture Council email I emailed with Stacy Lewis uh and they are in full support of this move uh but also cost right and obviously the bigger mural the bigger cost more maintenance XYZ right and so that's just one element that needs to be kind of looked at uh but no I think we could take your suggestions and then kind of create a memo you know there's one item but I obviously I don't know if it's included in the budget that they're thinking but I don't know how Starbucks sees it but how is the building going to be illuminated at night because well the mural depending on how the light of the building works or the site yeah could right now there are three there sconet going across the just down down and up that's a two-way sconet okay so and at the mural of the mural position would there be others I I'm just curious probably not because that was not plan original I'm just saying that the council whoever is addressing that should consider lighting be considered yeah what the reality of what the lighting is going to be cuz that that mural works at day but it also works at night right so I can work with Peter on that memo unless anyone else wanted to be involved I feel opposite to what Marcelo said it feels like using the verticality would help in this because the material palette is kind of monochromatic for Starbucks and looking at that kind of that rendering on the last page where it's probably an entry feature that one vertical element breaks and actually draws your attention towards that versus all the vanilla um exterior and I think that verticality using that in the front will help um again if those three boxes that you're seeing here are literally light fix pictures that's a fun challenge than the artist is going to have because the light seems to be on the two sides of the light picture but um and then the other thing that I in connection with that tree that we talked about there is this patch of top soil that's on the exterior it feels like if we really landscape that part of it that's really going to help help conceal the kind of that fence Transformer and that's what you're going to see when you're coming out of CVS for example because when you're stand sitting at that light that's what's going to catch your attention not something that's a little set behind so I think Landscaping needs to be Revisited and not do a hotch poch of stuff here that tree do replicating that tree is not going to do not going to help us in any way because that scale of that tree is not it's going to be high the Transformer footprint is so huge the tree will not be successful in that location so uh I to me revisiting that entry landscaping and really looking at this mural as a larger element so that your eyes distracted with mean at least attracted to a mural versus all the other Utilities in the site would be my way of looking at it but I I think the the revisiting of the Landscaping is limited in kind of the it's just yeah I don't think it's up for redesign I think it's up for some swapping um you know but we bought the mural right that mural was agreed for a full whatever that square feet wall was we it was not something that we asked for relocation or redesign it was a mess on their construction part and I think the square footage that we are looking to swap is almost the same what we already had right before no the original was here just the lower part yeah just the lower part wasn't the full height no not in the diagrams we were showing here's the thing this yellow we didn't make this up right they did that's their diagram so if they're offering the yellow that's really generous and I think we should say thank you and take it and and then I think we should say if the budget and the artist allows it please take as much of that as you can I I think to to deepest point I can see it both ways I can see the point that Marcel is making the point that deep is making I think both of you have a design eye that's value ad but this is where for the first time ever I will say I think it's to up the artist and corpor and budget to make this work and I think both views are valid and it can be done in both views art is really kind of within the eye of the beholder um there is something exciting to me about this very generous fix and I don't want to say no to it I that my gut instinct is let's take this this this seems like a fascinating solution to a problem we did not anticipate that could actually end up being even more exciting than what we envisioned yeah I mean I think I think our memo can outline some possibilities but really leave it in someone else's hands so and obviously that's something um that'll come back to the board you I don't think there's a I don't think there there's a rush on this level of detail at this time no I well the culture ccil is trying to move forward with with muralist right to try to get a picture of but I think to say yeah okay you know we're all in agreement that this is a good move and then we'll kind of take one step time when is this opening uh it's a great question Deepa it's not from marath Monday are you thinking are you are you thinking are you thinking pictures of us should be in it and we should be standing next to it yeah we'll be marath M they're trying I won't be that picture you know I can tell you right now they so um the owner has built the shell right and that's that building permit's been kind of closed out now it's up to Starbucks to do the interior so now Starbucks is going to come in and build out the interior and do all that work and so that's the next step in the project and then the site will be kind of finished up and completed I don't want to obviously get I I think it's most likely going to be around July 1 in the month of July IND oror late June okay so we have a way of proceeding then that everyone's happy with okay all right I'm going to um Shuffle up the agenda just just slightly and um we'll move up public comment um it is quarter to 10 so I am going to limit content I am going to limit public comment as we usually do to one time to the mic 3 minutes a person so um but I will open up public comment at this time we're back the rang to jar to High Street burner restaurant the last meeting my husband and I voiced our opinions regarding the MBTA Community zoning then the members of two boards responded I would like to thank Anna for saying that the Homer a project is exactly what you would like at burnhams we absolutely agree unfortunately it is not true that we can have this right now without any issue Peter was almost right when he said that project is 29 units per acre the Homer a project is 29 units but not on three acres as suggested it's three lots for a total of 91 acre that comes to 32 units per acre all of you voted to leave us out of the MBTA zoning plan leaving us at 10 units per acre instead of 32 and to say and and to say we could have this right now is false because without Zone owning by right we would have to go through the special permit process we are a property owner not a developer our only bargaining chip to sell the property is to have zoning by right that meets the goal of a homer resque style project we do not have the time to wait for a developer to go through the special permit process a recent Boston Business Journal article said the following in 2021 the state legislature passed the MBTA act tradition Al developers must obtain special use permits that require a special review process to develop multif family housing units these special review processes Take Years stifling development process the MBTA act enables the development of multif family housing where it is most needed near public transit systems I will give you one example the mixed use project for the mill building the conceptual plans were completed in April of 2020 presentations in public forums followed then the project was withdrawn it will likely return as a 4B so far the process has taken at least four years with a long way to go and blaming the developer for delays is irrelevant to us it's just part of a lengthy process after looking through ashlin's public records recently I would like to repeat that no one who actually lives on Pleasant Street has expressed opposition to or even commented on mixed use development on our street the opposition is from people in other areas even on the opposite side of town there are also two interesting emails in support of hire density near the train station in closing if the select board had received correct information comparing the Homer RAV project to our site we believe that some of the members would have voted different so therefore we are requesting that a new vote be taken thank you thank you is there any further said it All I Have Nothing any further public comment good evening Mar Soni 49 on road I would like to say to the board themselves that sometimes it's like pulling hair and teeth together progress going together I want to say quickly that the agenda you be so long you do one one project that um all the details take good amount of time and this is why CZ participation gets pushed down but that's as that's being said from me I'm going to say to the board and all the members living in this town so long understanding different boards understanding reasons why the boards are around I have filled myself with information and ideas and idealism what things work out that when citizen a citizen comes out to speak like myself I am am informed I am full of not Pon but I am full of information and I'd like to have the boards understand that a person like me can be reached out for ask questions too and maybe get answers that You' be surprised that I do know for that reason Peter is the only one that knows me about the zoning and the um form base coding that I got in this town the rest of the boards I done other things for them too and they got got things going and comprehensive plan is at my next landing spot so I'm trying to say reach out to a person like me I will email me I will email back and if you don't believe that I can be inform informative test me thank you thank you um seeing no other public comment we will move on with our agenda so the next item on the agenda is item six a replacement representative for Precinct one I don't think we no update on that that's still in the town manager kind of um Arena okay I'm just going to express that's really disappointing because at April 26 we're ending the public engagement and I mean that was that was the reach out right to cover to try to get public so whatever believe he's been trying so it is disappointing but not well I mean the trying was supposed to be the the next person but if not it should come back to the select board and planning board and try to do something like I I don't think we should leave it to one person it's something that important can we just step back a little bit because I'm not sure the rest of the planning board is aware of the context of the issue which is that um the select board and planning board in choosing the steering committee for the comprehensive plan wanted if you remember we wanted to have a representative of each Precinct part of the steering committee there is a Precinct rep for Precinct one who has resigned there was a list of original applicants if you will for that position it sounds like it's been difficult for the town manager to reach people on that very short list of I think there was a total of maybe two or three that made it the final list um I I do think that it would be really important for the planning board to think about working together with the select board to come up with to release an a reach out for a Precinct one rep sooner than later because yes we're going to probably miss the deadline of having a Precinct one rep be part of of the of this round of public input there's going to be multiple other elements to this process and so the sooner we have a Precinct one rep the better it would be great to have somebody soon like while the public process is happening if possible so in in my opinion I mean not that I think this is the direction the planning board wants to go this evening but it sounds like there's a list and you're going down the list and it's not happening going down the list finding a person to say yes isn't going isn't going as quickly as you had hoped we don't know I I haven't re I don't do we have an update from the town manager as to how the reach out is going you know what I I haven't talked to him on this topic in a few days to tell you the truth so um I I can't give you a I don't want to I don't want I don't want to speak uh without the correct information without up to date information last I here we still you know we were still talking with the next person on that list and I could not confirm where that conversation went um but I I'm happy to reach out to Michael again um but I know he's been trying his best and it is one of many things on his agenda in or to-do list so do you just wanted to express that we hope this position can be filled as quickly as possible well I think there's alternate ways than leaving all the work with one person that we know is very busy like there but but you certainly you don't want multiple people calling the same person saying please please please join the I don't I don't I mean plus it's was I'm asking what what okay I left the the comprehensive plan steering committee saying I'm going to reach out to the next person I don't actually believe that the project management group had a next person but we don't need to be picky there was some people that got interviewed and if one of them take it I'm okay but if we're getting a stumbling point need to regroup and like maybe you have to open it up maybe you just have to say Precinct one is now open and do that process some version of that process again I don't think um one person needs to be fully responsible for this and it's very critical so I think it has to go back to some process I'm sorry it it doesn't seem like a huge issue that needs a group but um but maybe it does D um sorry I must have missed but how was the town manager nominated did for this task who nominated him the town manager did he he has a list he was in office somebody must have given the Michael volunteered he volunteered yeah I think Michael stepped up and said I'll take care of it so just we I recall we had an agenda with the select board to discuss it at that time there was no information now it's been what what is it a week and a half since then and we still have no information I I think that the next meeting of the board is in two weeks from now and then the closing of the period happens so essentially we just need to come to grips with the fact that by having Michael do it and Michael is busy we actually have no Precinct one rep for the period that is critical which is the public input period so it is what it is my suggestion would be that the planning board can lead here and the planning board can say if we choose to that we have a recommendation to the select board which is that we should advertise for Precinct one we should find the old ad advertisement and we should release it and then we should see who responds and bring those candidates back to the process which was the select board and planning board working together and I would suggest we we advertise as soon as possible so that we have a chance to get somebody prior to the closing of the public okay data period do okay well let go ahead sorry I just uh do we have to go through this select word or can we just say if Michael can't get a hold of people in the next you know this week we open up the Talon Bing form next week I think so sure so that maybe we have some applications or for the next plan but I I also feel like that's to your point like if he's been reaching out since the last meeting like it feels like if he can't get a hold of anyone or no one's sort of biting in the next week or so like we open up the townmate for yeah at that point I think there's no biting for 3 weeks which is plenty of time for us to know that we got to do something okay so let's have a suggestion from the planning board that if Michael cannot fill a position from the list um in in the next in the next what by Wednesday um since he's been working on it that that the talent Bank form opens up before next weekend to fill that spot is that is is that an appropriate suggestion to put to Michael and to the select board who are our partners on this that seems reasonable okay is everyone good with that that seems reasonable okay so we'll compose a email send yeah I can compose an email it's not a big deal okay um and I think we had a prior language that we used to get this out which we should be able to find and just edit to make it about Precinct one I think the prior prior push was like for all Precinct it was all six precincts so we just need to edit it and say one whatever that means we will get that out we'll get that to Michael tomorrow all right that's an easy thing that's an easy left I can put an email together um okay so that leads us to various updates and meeting in a box at 10 p.m.

to however long it takes planting new like planting a new Garden a prairie Garden so that'll be fun to see especially since research Club has been planning that for four years so like actually seeing it will be really cool to see so a lot going on and we're I'm excited to see how it goes for the rest of the year awesome very good great yes um pretty similar stuff going on at dgn we all just got back from spring break so most of us came back from wherever we went to 30° weather um and yeah um next week is like she said the solar eclipse week that'll be super cool I know I have some friends that are like driving down for the solar eclipse to Southern Illinois um but I'm super I was really really hoping that the school would do something like that so thank you um one thing that a lot of people have been bringing up I think it was my sophomore year the school made a really big deal out of March Madness and it was like really fun like we had like March Madness like playing on all the TVs and there was like all this stuff to do and it was so fun and I feel like it was a really really good moment for like bonding in our community like I remember like i' talk to people i' never talked to before we were all just like watching March Madness game together uh we didn't do that this year it was so sad we should do that more um but other than that um next week we also have we also have our p so my sister gets to take her first standardized test and um all the Juniors get the joy of taking the SAT um and we get the day off which is awesome um and then yeah our prom is coming up too um at bowling book Country Club so I think that's on May 4th uh it's just a lot of getting ready to wrap we're in like that weird spot in April right now where it's like we're not wrapping up the school year yet but it kind of feels like we are because it's like after spring break so everyone's just kind of in that like okay we're just gonna muscle through this month and I think the school's been doing a really good job of giving us fun stuff to do like the solar eclipse day I think is really good for this specific time of year and it's only four minutes and it's only four minutes wait are we going back into school after that are we think yeah they can rally you huh if they can rally him in yeah really got to Wrangle everybody get the hook out all right item number five Workshop items Hank I'll turns over to you uh so each year uh around this time of the year we recognize staff that's received tenure a reminder this is granted by the state of Illinois not the board but uh we have pretty big list this year so congratulations to all of our staff members uh that have have reached this Milestone yeah congratulations to all yeah [Applause] because it is a big deal yeah it it is a big deal uh the next item is Bond notification I'll turn this over to jury to notify you that we've sold the bonds we sold the bonds a few weeks ago will be closing on Wednesday and so the documents in the board packet are uh crafted by Bond Council and just gives you the specifics of the bond sale did anybody have any questions no okay good job thank you thank you so now we can get our scoreboards and our uh life safety and all of that good stuff so that's a good thing under way and I'm seeing Julie giving me the sign that we have no uh visitors so I'll skip item number six and then item number seven can I get a motion to adjourn so moved second a second all in favor I motion carries we are adjourned all right thank you very muching know sometimes I get that one or sometimes I get that one I'm really high up [Music] too e

Us website we have a really wonderful website platform now from Crow City and um I don't think it does do that um so try going to wendl mass. us to see what it [Music] does all right yeah okay I could show you a little bit on my phone it's kind of hard to see but when you click on the meeting it it puts you into this format where you have an agenda and an agenda packet and you can click on either and then you get a preview of what it looks like and then the option to download the agenda um so it's not just kind of automatically oh yeah and I can even on my phone I can zoom in and out it's really a platform issue I think um yeah being able to add it to your calendar having like a calendar link and have that yeah that sort of thing yeah but I feel like the schools recently went through a website transition am I right about that and yet we're still not it's not that great we like moved up a decade but we're still very behind in some of the technological advances yeah like I'm surprised it doesn't seem to have like a a meeting mod well let's see okay well okay here's something I'll I'll share my screen this is kind of interesting [Music] um all right so normally if I'm going oh okay I need to look at the executive committee agenda I'm going to go up here to school committee is it an executive subcommittee and then I get this list and then I this and then it downloads but there's this other place that I just found whoops I just deleted that whole window we do that share my screen so if you scroll down and down and down and down eventually you come to upcoming events and you can click on Executive subcommittee meeting and you get this and then you can click here to view the agenda now that's probably going to download it for you again oh it just takes you to the executive Community page but my point is that there's this whole meeting module thing that I wasn't even really aware of and you can add look it has Google Calendar you can add Adam so it just feels like where you have tools on the website that we're not using correctly um I can discuss that with the superintendent and see where we end up so um me share thank thank you for uncovering that yes all right it's 12:20 and I want to move on I want to talk briefly about the um search I want us to be done by 12:30 so it would be okay if we um table the rest of a working session for another meeting okay and I guess one question I have is um kind of feel like we did some good work today I'd like us to like I can maybe give a report to people on what we did today um and yeah I think that's it I'll do that at at our April meeting so people know the work is progressing and um we could get people to kind of share some of their ideas about some of the the goals that we identified for the committee so righty um yeah I think that's good I just want to say one um other thing in terms of goals and um please stop me if you've already talked about this um but it just um seems really important um like if I were going to pick two goals I would pick the one about student achievement and uh the other is that we have so many conversations about enrollment and um a lot of people have a lot of different ideas about what's behind enrollment um but we don't really know uh why people come or go um in the district because there hasn't been a survey we haven't really done any research um into that and I uh noticed that Mohawk has a really good school committee goal about this um in terms of surveying people in order to identify why they uh enroll there or elsewhere or move on um and that would be my second choice like I said if I were going to pick two goals for the committee to work on if it were me uh I I don't know what other members would um think about that but that just it would be a top priority um to me so I wanted to mention that do do you feel like it'd be too crazy just to ask if they might be able to come to the meeting next week and talk to us a little bit about what they're doing who mohawk mohawk oh oh uh I don't know uh I I said hello to uh Martha I think think from there who was at the uh day on the hill training and I spoke to her very briefly about that uh goal of theirs just to let her know I noticed and I think it's admirable um yeah I have no idea how it's going for them or you know how they're conducting their surveys or um trying to go about achieving that goal but uh yeah it would be great to have input from them yeah I was going to send out an email probably in the next couple days um touching base with mohawk and with Gil monu and Pioneer because they all expressed wanting to maybe join forces on getting today on the hill um to just kind of see where they're at and let them know about the future Zoom meeting which is on April 25th I believe and I can send a separate email to Martha and and ask unless somebody else wants to do do that I don't know if she could just come next week but maybe she could come uh if not May then June or something I don't know yeah probably isn't urgent yeah let's see if um if you don't mind putting out some feelers to her and see if she might be willing to come and and just tell us what they've been up to it' be great okay [Music] toaw else on um on our working session on all these things um before we move on to the school committee vacancy oh that's what you wanted to table the working session to discuss I'm sorry I didn't write that down correctly oh no that's okay okay to discuss the okay um yeah so basically we have um I think we have three letters of Interest one from Melody Goodwin one from Jesus Lea is that his last name and one from Isaac Mass um I personally would like to have a much more robust pool of um of applicants um I wonder what you all think about whether we should possibly extend the deadline or um um even consider doing the appointment at our May meeting instead of our April meeting our policy doesn't really require us to do it on any particular time frame from what I could see in our in our policy I'm totally fine with having it be in May and extending it I don't know if we'll get many others I have my own feelings about what I hope that we can find in the applicants um and I don't know how how you want to have the applicant discussion happen I'm assuming in an executive session no actually it happens in an open session okay yeah in the past um yeah it's awkward I that's how I came on I applied for an appointment to fulfill a vacancy and they did actual interviews of us um I was thinking of skipping the interviews and doing a meet and greet from like six to 6:30 of whatever meeting it is where we decide to do it and then um at the meeting allow people to make uh personal statements but then just do the vote assume that school committee members have time if they want to reach out and have one-on-one conversations with people but I don't feel a need to go through a performative interview process really so so we should feel comfortable reaching out to the applicants and talking to them I think so yeah they're not on the committee so you're not um in in it's only discussed with too many school committee members where it becomes an open meaning law issue okay yeah yeah uh I I support that um if someone is interested in uh applying they should take it upon themselves to um talk to the members if they want to and I think May is fine not attached to timeline um I do think in terms of the number of applicants it's the same issue that we have with a lot of other things which is that people don't know and um so I would like to see about um disseminating the information that there is a vacancy um as effectively as possible I would imagine there are people who might be interested if only they knew there was one so uh I don't know what you think can be done to share that widely yeah could we do a City press release could we utilize the um City who what's his name Matthew M Kai MCC um maybe yeah um I could talk to um Christine about whether she could reach out and ask for their the mayor's assistance in getting the word out on City channels um we could make a flyer and put it on the um Greenfield family groups there are a lot of there are like three main groups where a lot of parents yeah talk about all the PTO issues and there has been no chatter about the school committee vacancy at all so I'm wondering if these parents who are really this the most concerned and involved citizens they don't even know if they knew yeah if we had a press release that was a image we could post [Music] it yeah [Music] um I'm a member of all of those groups not all of them are public but I'd be happy to post it if or you could post it or someone yeah no I don't think I mean it's public information so I don't think we need to um I don't know exactly how to think about it but it seems like if any individual member wants to you know take the information and format it and and share it on social media and other groups um they should do that and I can also talk to the superintendent about how to get the word out and in newsletters and you know parent updates and things that go out if it hasn't already and um we can just be trying to broadcast the info yeah I think the newsletters would be helpful the newsletters and the superintendent's update um that goes out by email would be helpful and uh in terms of uh posting it online I don't know if uh when that press release is put out so if we could request that the recorder specifically put a post out um online about that I they make a number of uh social media posts but they don't post everything so uh I don't know if that's an inquiry that could be made with them uh might be helpful you could talk to buzz Eisenberg too Glenn and put out um like just let him know and maybe he could make a little um radio blurb on his talk to talk about it yeah we could even pay you know for a for a radio ad if if we needed to um sure there's a school a budget we could have for for that okay so it sounds like we where there's consensus that um doing some more Public Communication and extending the deadline might be worthwhile to see if we can reach more people who may not even know that there's a vacancy yet any objection to that I agree okay objection all right um we'll see because I think we put out a tomorrow as the deadline um but assuming we don't see a big influx of of applications by then then I think that may be the course that we take so sounds good all right um I would hear a motion to adjourn so moved there a second second Move Motion by Kate and second by Elizabeth any discussion let's vote Kate yes Elizabeth yes and I'm a yes and we are adjourned at 12:33

e 6ul all right certainly Cara Caston Ken Dawson here Chris trosa here cherelle Fuller here Jenny hagstrom here Terry pavich here Don Runner e tradition um of celebrating our teams and individuals who are successful in the Realms of activities and Athletics so we have a lot to celebrate tonight we're really excited um I just want to welcome everyone that's here tonight too um I'm going to kick it off it is South High recognition but I'm going to ask um Dr DeMent to join me for the first one because we're actually celebrating d99 Hoops um which does involve students from daugh Grove South and students from Downers Grove North so we are um presenting our team two second place silver medalist with we're so proud of all of you and I'll let Dr DeMent introduce the coaches and then um we'll have the coaches come up and explain what happened all right um thank you all for being here tonight this is such an honor for us to be able to recognize you we are so incredibly proud of you and I'd like to call up our coaches Arthur dren and K zinsky come on up all right actually Elizabeth nolles is going to come up and say uh something she's a senior at South my girl hi I'm Elizabeth noes um I am a senior at South this is my second year of playing basketball for d99 Hoops um just wanted to to say that I enjoy playing basketball because I love meeting people that had the same they like the similar sports that I kind of like and have the same drive to it and just getting to know my team better while we play along and getting to know some facts about them um our team played 15 games this year and we took second place in state tournament that took place on March 8th and and Ninth at State ill um Illinois State University nice job Elizabeth uh my name is Arthur dren I'm one of the coaches for d99 Hoops um we have a total of four basketball teams in our program with around 50 athletes um with students from north south and transition um our season begins in November and uh goes through January and there when there's a Special Olympics um regional tournament and then there's a state tournament in March if you qualify for that so we're very thankful um for us the support of the district um we have great facilities to use at both uh North and South we have great uniforms and a lot of support um Mr wazer helped us get uniforms um Dr the's come to the state tournament a bunch of times um Miss Martinez help helps us with whatever we need our principles are always there supporting us and coming to senior night um and just want to say thank you to everybody and thank you for supporting uh our Special Olympics basketball program I'll call the athletes up by name and then can we Jill told me she wants to take a picture so we'll have um Angelina Rosco worum freshman from uh from South we junor we from transition South H sophomore at North the sophomore at North Junior at South student coach [Applause] J [Applause] transition sophomore at [Applause] North so you take a few steps back right there so then we can see the numbers we're not important G look weird at me sitting okay look over here one two three one two three say cheese [Music] say [Applause] you're not done yet all right just keep it going all right we have one more recognition for the d99 Hoops uh Team two uh this is a proclamation from the village of Downer's Grove uh that says uh the d99 Hoops Team 2 comprised of team members from Downer's north south and transition Center uh won second place and were awarded the silver medal at the Special Olympics Illinois basketball tournament in Normal Illinois at Illinois State University they recognize the ambition hard work and drive of the d99 Hoops two team and is an exemplary representation of the partnership between Downers Grove and the Special Olympics uh so therefore the mayor of Downer's Grove uh mayor Barnett uh hereby congratulates the Downers Grove d99 Hoops Team 2 of Downers Grove North South and t99 and Proclaim Thursday April 4th 2024 is Downers Grove d99 Hoops team today in the village of Downers Grove okay um our celebration continues tonight I'm going to introduce um our girls cross country head coach Doug plunket um Doug is going to talk about Holly who as you can see um placs 25th in the ihsa state championships earning her the very prestigious recognition of all state so I'm going to have dog and Holly please come join [Applause] me all right well nobody told me we had a talk up here uh but I want to uh congratulate uh Holly Johnson she's a junior at South uh for outstanding cross country season this past fall uh as uh uh principal lip said uh she placed 25th at the state cross country meet earning All State honors this is her second time earning All State honors uh in cross country and uh uh hopefully not the last time too and uh we're going to get her healthy and uh uh keep her going here but uh congratulations and uh she's one of the best Runners that we've had at DJ yes so really proud to to work with her [Applause] so like put him all the way out of the way don't want to remember that all right there you go I could grab one to we'll do it crutchless right all right than than you thank [Applause] you oh I just want to say thank you coach funket and all the coaches that helped get me here I know I couldn't couldn't get here without them so thank [Applause] you all right there next we're going to celebrate football I'm going to have our head coach Mark Molinari and Josh manaki another All State Allstate player um come on up and they're going to talk a little bit more about both the season and Josh's accomplishments this [Applause] year first off uh thank you for taking the time to uh honor Josh and all the athletes that are here uh it's really important that uh we recognize some of the athletes and the teams that work hard hard we have many of them that do but reach Elite status like Josh did I'd like to take a lot of credit for Josh but really his mom and dad deserve the credit uh Josh came in very big to Downer South and and he made himself I've never seen an athlete turn himself into um the size that he did in the little bit of amount of time that he did he had some goals that he wanted to accomplish and uh he wanted to be a division one athlete um we didn't agree on the position he should be playing as a freshman but we finally got to a common ground and uh I think the rest of it speaks for himself Josh's work ethic is unparalleled um he is going to be at the West Point Academy which is the elite of the elite and I'm very proud of him for that and he was one of 22 All State uh football players selected in a uh it was he was selected by all coaches um so I mean I obviously nominated him but it was his work ethic and what he's done on the field um he deserves all the accolades that he's received so congratulations John [Applause] uh thank you guys uh for recognizing me um taking the time to recognize me for this award but um I really want to thank my parents first of all for supporting me in my career and then I want to thank my coaches as well for giving me kind of the support and the um guidance to become a better football player then I really want to thank all my teammates for um being there to support me every step of the way and um you know helping me out when I needed it and I'm really looking forward to continuing my football career at West Point and going on just serve the country [Applause] awesome thank you congratulations good all right so um in the world of activities um we're going to celebrate Deca and Coach Paul cck you can see up there we have two state champions uh Sophia and Riley um again I'll let um Paul Crick talk about it and Sophia and Riley are going to share um a little bit too about what it means to be State Champs in Deca so I will turn it over to coach [Applause] Crick uh thank you for having us here and and honoring These Fine athletes and students and and their success here I also like to thank one of my co assistants here Ruth white and Patrick FY who's not here this evening um but without them it would be hard for us to have success that we've had um so as we are acknowledging them this evening um they competed at state which is a little over a month ago there was over 1500 students competing there um so it was a huge contest that was run and they did a great job on facing the way they did they've kept this uh streak of Downers Grove South Winning State like five years in Aon now in at least one event um so I'd like to call up in fourth place Nala come [Applause] on was fourth place in professional selling she was also double state champ last year in two different events um so now you want to say something yeah um I actually didn't know like only top three get like trophies so I didn't know that I got four until like I saw the Instagram post so like honestly like I was just proud that I got up there but doing like going to state every year is just a great experience even if you want to go into business or if you don't like it's just a great like way to get out of your comfort zone and go out there so yeah and thank you coach Crick for the opportunity Rihanna Mara and SEMA were third place in their uh business service operations and also last year they were a state champion another event last year if you guys went to come on [Applause] up um I'm super super proud of my team we put a lot of hours into this project and it's I know it's just a business Club but it feels so real and when we when you put in the work and stuff like that so it's nice to see results and then thank you to Mr Crick because this club really means a lot to me and it really helps it showed me what I want to do with my future and everything so I love ducka and I think that we need to push it more for the incoming students I know North does a good job of pushing it but South we got to get on that um and yeah it's just been a great experience and I'm super like sad to leave it behind but it's been so amazing and thank you for recognizing us it means a lot thank you um we're also incredibly thankful for Deco we feel that uh State especially has been an incredible experience and allows you to meet a lot of new people that are really business oriented and career oriented um and we also really appreciate having Mr Craig and Miss white as advisor so thank you so much yeah I'm so thankful that I joined this club my sophomore year like the experiences I gained from this club have been incredibly rewarding and just having this team it's just been an incredibly incredible opportunity and then having such good advisers has been really helpful our last group to come on up will be um Sophia and Riley who were state champs in the business solutions management project um they are also going to be competing at Nationals um at the end of the month in Anam California where there's over 16,000 um competitors will be at it and these ladies were there last year but this year it's during prom and they're choosing prom over National so we started working on this project back in September and we actually worked with with the forge lont Cory if you ever heard of them they're in lont and they're like a zipline Park and we were really lucky we had a lot of great people there who assisted us with this project and like kind of took us through what it would be like to really create like a Business Solution PR and we'd like to thank like all the Deco advisers for helping us and every past Deca member who sitting in here who helped us and kind of guided us through this project yeah it's just been an awesome experience to meet so many new people and to just like Ry was saying we were able to work with such an amazing company and it helped us learn like real life skills that even if we don't go into business that we can use in any field and then all the members everyone who's helped us along the way to get to where we are we're so thankful for the advisers and the members just so we could learn how to become state champions and we're just so excited to be able to compete at the next level hopefully we'll do good at Nationals so for that what do you want everyone i' like everybody up there before we do the picture for Deca we have a proclamation as we have uh state champs and uh this is for those of you we have a couple State Champs in the room this is a change for this year so we're trying to get better at recognizing everybody and so is the entire Village so uh they got in on this this evening as well and has recognized Sophia and Riley for uh marketing uh well let let's see what do they say here for being state champions having successfully completed at the DECA 2024 state competition in Rosemont and recognizing that the organization prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs and uh recognizes our coaches especially Paul Crick for being the marketing educator of the year and then recognizes that Sophia and Riley have demonstrated that they possess the critical thinking skills and confidence needed to develop solutions for business and to forge their own successful careers and uh the village has named Tuesday April 2nd after Sophia and Wednesday April 3rd after [Applause] Riley yeah we'll take a picture of you guys and then all the DECA students if you guys I don't want to be say Business Solutions [Applause] I do want to recognize Paul KK as marketing educator of the year he was nominated as a Deca advisor and every Deca adviser in our area voted and Paul was the recipient of it this [Applause] year all right um we are um our final uh recognition of the evening is for All State Theater so this happens um as part of Illinois theater Fest and you are selected and adjudicated um to be there is Nathaniel or Hunter here I didn't see them okay and is Nick here I didn't see him either okay they are not here but we are going to take a minute and celebrate them anyway um just the commitment that it takes to compete in theater and theater Fest unless you are like in it and immersed in it it is so hard for like non- theater Minds to understand the time and commitment and so just to Nathaniel and Hunter for kind of setting the stage both of them Nathaniel was the state director and Hunter was the state Scenic designer and then Nick served as the Allstate stage crew so it's like the idea of like an ihsa state competition but for theater and we really at dgs like celebrating it the same way and having the same recognition so just congratulations to Nathaniel and Hunter and [Applause] Nick just in closing I wanted to just say one last congratulations to everyone you students are such amazing leaders for your peers your peers look up to you in every aspect of leadership that you provide and so as your principal I just wanted to say thank you and congratulations again [Applause] any comments from the board questions just amazing amazing these are the best kind of meetings yes well you're all welcome to stick around for the remainder of the meeting but I'm sure that you all have homework to do and those kinds of things so you're welcome to step out if you'd like to thank you for being here this morning you [Applause] um I personally think she's a better Pastor than she where else did you guys love I mean she's a greato I've been off always but you know days know she is I have no idea get out Kaitlyn Clark cool that's the last time I've paid attention she's about that level of wom's College yeah for for what she's done for women's college basketball going to DC next week get out of here for what visit friends good is Sean going to be out there when you're there uh I don't know I have a meeting with his office but I don't know if he's going to Chief staff so what are you going to do meour around the capital I know I wasn't here I was going on on the hill I think they're I think they're in session we can close that if we keep this Chew Chew 34 yeah just can't she's not wearing she's hardcore tonight all green hardore you have to take a lot of PS she means business when are you losing yeah because this is this is like the national championship last year I know and she lost or she won she but it was close it was it was a nail by that is awesome water Bott I don't know I absolutely love it but young person expert on water bottles what it do student board member yeah student board members yeah it's up to you here first okay all right okay before starting I just wanted to say I love the like recognization thing because today we were actually talking about it during lunch and one of my friends just like came up to me and she was like oh one of my highlights of this year was speaking to the board about the French trip so keep doing it like even the little things really matter so with that with South uh coming up next week is the SAT PSAT days so that's the Freshman sophomores take the PSAT while Juniors get to take the SAT so that's fun for them but while seniors get those two days off so I know all seniors are looking forward to that junior sophore freshman they're not looking forward to that but I mean hey so then and then with those like those two free days I know that a lot of like AP classes are also doing like mock AP tests so that way they're like used to how the AP test is and it's actually really helpful like me taking it last year as a junior it would it really helped me get the score I got when I did my AP test and then also next week Monday is our solar eclipse day so we're going to have a shortened schedule and everybody's going to go out there and get like a pair of sunglasses and then watch the solar eclipse got to have the right glasses the proper glasses they're going sorry sorry I forgot one word solar eclipse glasses they're going to watch the solar eclipse so that will be that will be fun hopefully everybody wears them that's the answer and then um right after yeah so the next week after that we're having our cultural week so there there's a bunch of different culture activities throughout the week so that way we can express like the different cultures that DJs has and at the end on Friday so April 16th they're doing a food trucks so there's going to be five different food trucks of five different places Mexican Hawaiian Indian all different types that students can go and purchase food and that'll be fun to see something different in C on campus and then the week after that we have our Earth week so that will be another like funfilled but earth green Specialties which our research Club is kind of organizing so there's no food truck but there's a lot of like paper saving activities so I'm part of that so that's why I'm saying this so and then um and then I think maybe the week after there's prom so prom will be an exciting feature for for all seniors and maybe even some Juniors so that will be fun for seniors to have that one last thing and then actually this weekend sorry there's a lot going on in DTS in the next few weeks which is good because then they'll speed up like the process of school but um so this weekend we're having our planting sorry not the not like in the process of like yeah I'm not even going to get into that yeah yeah I'm a senior okay you're just digging your ho deeper so this week we're having our planting for the Prairie Garden outside of in the corner of norfol and Dunham so we're all going to be there from like 8:00 a.m.

okay good morning and welcome to the Greenfield school committee um our first executive committee subcommittee meeting um look like it's just the two of us are we recording on Zoom Elizabeth are you recording for your own purposes no I am not okay neither am I um we'll do a roll call um Elizabeth are you here I'm here and I'm here and Kate is running late so we'll see if and when she joins us um let's see there doesn't seem to be anyone from the public here so no public comment so let me pull up our agenda had it Oh I thought I had it open see it now there it is okay [Music] all right um so we're GNA suspend our normal Rules of Order um and have a working session so let's have a vote to suspend our normal Rules of Order I'll make make that motion Elizabeth will you second I will second any discussion all right let's vote I I'm a yes hi and you're a yes so um that motion passes so now we're in kind of a working session um thank you I'm taking notes and sort of minutes at the same time okay great and um we should have some staff support from um Administration to work from the recording to do the minutes as well but whatever you could do is back would be great I I do and and um Annie has been really helpful it's been it's really taken quite a burden off and she's done great notes so I'm really thankful oh excellent that's wonderful to hear yeah she I spoke to her briefly today she sounds great I see a phone number has joined us is that you Kate you're muted so far yes this is Kate Martin hello he there hi Kate hi I I may um hang up should at the um doctor that I'm waiting for walk into the room but uh I will rejoin you if so after great and I think I forgot to say we probably convene the meeting right at 11:30 and Kate is joining us now at 11:33 um terrific and we just suspended our normal Rules of Order so we can have our working session Kate um great the first item is the school committee goals and I'm very grateful to Elizabeth for drafting those for us um let's see but one approach I thought would be well I think it would be good for us to kind of look through them I feel like some of items on there maybe operational things that I might be able to just um just make happen as chair and other items would be goals that really require the full committee's attention so I thought it might be useful to look through your list Elizabeth from that lens just to see which ones we want to have be kind of official school committee goals that the Comm committee um deliberates about and decides upon as a group and which ones are things that I can just do or someone else can do in an administrative capacity so um so Kate you don't have eyeballs on us right no I don't okay so then I think we should just talk through them one at a time um so these were our brainstormed draft ideas that we did in hyanis and then a little bit with memb ston Wonder too so some of them are you know we we it was really just a flow of ideas yeah great I'm glad we we're starting with a wonderful brainstorm that's great thank you so much for doing that pre-work it really helps not to be starting from nothing um so you had a student outcomes goal can you talk about what that is Elizabeth the student outcome schol I think that one of the things that we were learning was that um we needed to have really uh we needed to have a a set goal on where we would want to be with the student outcomes in a certain amount of time like by this time next year we want to see these outcomes be met or these goals be met for student achievement and then talk to the superintendent about it and all agree that these were benchmarks that we would want to meet and then be able to uh sort of look at it as we go and see are we progressing towards it and I think that something like that occurs within the framework of the Strategic plan but I'm trying to remember exactly what we thought about that Kate might remember more than I did but one of the things we're just being really clear on benchmarks I think you might have a little more faith in my memory than I do but um I think the um the consensus I have from prior uh committee meetings is that uh the committee would like to focus more um in a more prioritized way on student outcomes and in a more organized way uh and put student achievement more um at the center of what we are doing so I would like to see a uh a committee goal related to that nice I wonder if one place to start would be just to have I mean I don't think we need to go to the committee and say do you want to have a goal about student achievement that seems like a fairly obvious thing that we should be doing as a committee I wonder if a place to start would be asking the superintendent um to make a presentation to us where are we currently with regards to student outcomes and achievements what goals do we currently have and what role can or will the school committee play how does that sound to you each it sounds really good and I think that I was surprised that she sort of made one during the budget hearing and I was so thankful that she did include that sort of where we are at slide yeah um because I feel like that kind of encapsulates what a little bit of that goal um but it would be great to to have it be regular and prioritized like Kate said maybe you know once a quarter we could receive a really in-depth information packet for that I I'm just throwing that out there as a way to slice year I was going to say that yes um it would be great to have have a presentation brought forward on that um but to as far as I recall we've only had one um maybe two like that in my time on the committee and I would like to see that be on a more regular basis and also um using data that is uh consistent so that we are comparing Apples to Apples and I will rejoin you in a few minutes okay okay we'll see you so what I mean it it seems like oh if it's just going to be something that's distributed in packets maybe quarterly but if we want kind of a full presentation on student achievement data um maybe that's something that we would want twice a year sure I just I really liked seeing I I really thought that that the presentation in the budget hearing yeah um was really what we needed to be seeing more regularly because if we are um if there is a downturn you know that we that we're seeing using the consistent data or if it's an upturn that will affect the kind of oversight that we need to do yeah and that will then potentially shift our priorities if things are going great maybe that means that we have a little bit of extra time and energy to focus on other things that are important and if things are not going great then we need to take a look at why but to not know and then to just know randomly is kind of confusing yeah makes sense and it would help when constituents talk to us and say you know oh things are terrible then we can point to it and say well actually what we have what we have been doing and fostering is this and it's increasing in these metrics you know or we can say well let's look at that yeah help us be better cheerleaders for the district right especially since we do seem to be headed in the right direction now yeah all right let we can out to discuss this with Christine at one of our meetings right um great let's talk about the next one how come I'm having challenges um get back there I'm glad we suspended the normal Rules of Order so I can be a little bit challeng trying to find I'm in the wrong that's right I'm in the wrong Google Drive Al together okay let's take your time just GNA write our notes all right um open working sessions and open meeting law training and parliamentary procedures training um it seems like we're well we're having a working session right now we have a working session scheduled for um around the superintendent evaluation training thing I guess it's more of a training than a working session but it will be eventually we'll have a working session on that topic um so I think that's kind of a a format that we want to use as needed as we are achieving other goals does that sound right yes I think so I think it I think we've all been having some really good working sessions so far and that the committee in general is open to doing that I think I remember we wrote it down because back in May of 2023 when the mayor was censored we voted on having an open meeting law training and a working session and starting that practice and then that never happen so I actually don't know if the committee feels like we need open meeting law training but that's that was what we voted on as a remedy for the censure so it's like a circle back like we said we were gonna do it but we didn't well it's interesting too because chair pretti was the person who had made that complaint and so the resolution to have an open meeting lot training was to address her concern and then she had the power to put it on the agenda and did not so I guess she felt her concerns were addressed other by some other means because I never heard that she was dissatisfied with the committee's response to her complaint but yeah and so I'm not inclined to try to have an open meeting law training in reaction to a complaint that was filed by a member who has since resigned from the committee but it may speak to how do we do A needs assessment of the current school committee and our professional development needs I think we agreed that we would like training around superintendent evaluation but um are there other things so maybe maybe the goal is to develop a professional development plan for the committee I haven't heard anyone say that they feel uncomfortable with open meeting law no I don't yeah and the few times that we've like bumped up against it we've just sort of looked it up or talked about it and it's been fine so nobody has said that they feel confused but then maybe I don't think anyone feels uncomfortable about saying that they're confused if they are yeah but I don't know maybe maybe a like a professional development survey on like what topics people feel like they need more training on but there are trainings under masc for open meeting law like you could go and take it yeah completely so I'm not not worried about the open meeting law training I hav't not heard that as a concern from people other than people who are no longer on the committee because I think there was an open meeting law mistake but there anyway um yeah parliamentary procedure training that's something I feel like I need or want I'm not sure that the whole committee needs or wants that I would do if you wanted to take some sort of course online or something I would take it also maybe that's that we could have the district pay for if it's a cost thing yeah I don't see why we couldn't take a course online we could I was looking for one and they all looked pretty bad like just it we need to have like we need to our own like parlamentary procedure for hipsters like something that would be more fun and engaging than some of these trainings but if we can find a good one I would love to take it I took the class at at the at the conference in Hy the Parliamentary procedure one and I put the notes up and it kind of seemed like if you're really going to do it you need a parliamentarian you don't have a city parliamentarian on staff right yeah C thought kind of plays that role for the city count so a lot of committees were talking about how they do suspend Robert's Rules of Order a lot except for in the voting portion I see so but it doesn't work for other committees because they're really large there are some committees that are like 20 plus people and some committees that are our size are even smaller and it doesn't end up being a problem if you if everyone is you know a able to raise their hands and you know be really mature about the discuss it seems like we've done okay um I feel a little bit like someone could come onto the committee who's very very familiar with Robert's Rules of Order and really use those rules to advance their own interests and the committee would not be very well prepared to handle that so I feel like it's a it's a potential vulnerability but [Music] um but it hasn't it doesn't seem that parliamentary procedure has been our real problem for us it seems like we all know enough just to not get into trouble like we can go up like everything seems really smooth up until tabling tabling and friendly amendments we don't do right and like haven't done them right since I've been on okay um but we never go further than that like we don't make amendments to amendments to amendments and then have to dig ourselves out so right as long as we don't climb that mountain but that we have the books we can look in our on our handy dandy cards yeah those those tools have not been useful to me I did buy a copy of of Robert's Rules For Dummies but I haven't really made much Headway in that book either does feel like I need someone more interactive um so um I don't know if you'd be willing to to do a little search and see what you can find um that might be useful training for us and then okay I'll put it on the list yeah and then we could um you know bring things back to the committee that seem like like you're saying like the the places where we need to get stronger around Robert's Rules we can start to educate and Implement those things but I wonder I don't know if Stacy's maxed out but I wonder if they might be willing to take on as an individual project um drafting a a a tool to assess the um committee's um professional development needs it seems like that would be in their their wheelhouse yeah I bet they'd be really good at that I just don't know how busy they are do you want me to reach out to them or would you like to reach out um if you'd be willing to that'd be great okay so I'm GNA search for parliamentary training and reach out to Stacy for a I'm sorry what were the words that you used again a um uh needs is professional devel velopment needs assessment thank you professional development needs assessment okay okay all right the next thing is forensic audit budget audit ask Jenny Jenny said to me several times that she might want to um do a forensic audit I have not heard anything back from that but when she told me I wrote it down in my notes um as a potential goal but I know that we need to learn more about the budget so that we can be better at asking questions so do you think that we could engage Andy pette and see if he'd be willing to do a like that might be a professional training to do do you think he'd be willing I know he said the balls in our court uh yes um so so I mean I just for context I think forensic atic means you're looking for potential crimes or am I not understanding that term correctly well I don't know those are the words that she said those are the words that I wrote down but maybe that's not what she was thinking so we shouldn't assume yeah okay um let's see but I think what you're touching on is is essentially another per professional development need of the committee which is around I feel like there's two things there's being able to read and understand our current budgets and then there's also been the interest in having the budget presented in a way that is more user friendly for more people um but um yeah so again I think that would be part of the needs assessment um maybe if Stacy agrees to take that on maybe we would in particular have budget open meeting law um Robert's Rules as part of um that needs assessment find out how much people want each of those things okay okay yeah I mean that comment is probably entirely for Jenny and I have no idea what she feels about that so but I know that even if we did something like that how would we be able to read the budget in the first place unless we've taken that training I guess is what I'm saying yeah okay um and then it says Capital funding for textbooks that was something that Kate wanted to explore because um what there are some things that we can get Capital funding for that we haven't and textbooks and curricula is one of those things um so we can when it's time to reup all the textbooks we can definitely ask the city to do that we shouldn't have to take that out of the budget that has already been set it can go it can come from another place yeah and I think that the that would be great so the superintendent gets a rep to the capital planning committee I believe and that was member pretti um I did kind of flag that for Christine as now that member Priti has resigned um what does that mean um so I can add um textbooks and check in about her design the capital planning to the agenda to my just a list of topics to discuss with her how often does the capital planning committee meet do you know I think it meets like on an irregular frequency like more often as they're getting ready to do the capital plan plan together but I don't really know the details I think I've asked the superintendent to report on that um for us like maybe I should ask her just to explain that whole thing to us um and maybe the mayor part of that then would go into the conversation in the future about having a budget calendar because having a budget calendar that we all understand and that's aligned with the city will help us know when these dates are coming up so that if we do have these kinds of capital requests like textbooks or like let's talk about the elevator at Federal and other things uh we know when to do it because in the past we've said oh what about that one thing but the meeting already happened or you know the decision was already made and we were too late yeah okay yeah and that's on your um your long plan item right it might be I'm sorry it was so long ago that we did it and we did it right before the election and it was just a brain like flow so not I apologize if it seems a mess that's fine no it's it I I really appreciate your mess messy notes here it's really giving us a good place to start so um but I I think we're gonna when we can make a note to talk about that when we talk about the year-long agenda um all right then we're on to item three which is committee goals With Many Items a through U on it um so it says ad hoc committee for handbook to be created in six months we have a draft that's coming to us already thanks to your leadership thank you yep we already did that we can move that to the done colum I guess yes yay um make sure we are on all school PTO mailing list so that we can attend events is that happening yet I don't think so no and we're hearing about it kind of secondhand and I know that like we're trying to make an effort to go to events like you did the band thing and Stacy went to the uh the play so but I'm often hearing about things late or secondhand like I'm not getting emails and I'd love to be able to attend the the fundraisers and you know we can go out to one of the sports games like we should be representing and in attendance at least one of us yeah be nice yeah that'd be ideal yeah maybe we could rotate it so nobody feels like they're stuck going to the mall or you know maybe one has more interest in one than the other yeah all right I could talk to Christine about that that's develop onboarding for new members um that might be done because on the new website all of that material that used to be sort of scattered is all in one place yeah I think it's been there for a while the boarding new members part but maybe you didn't get it when you came up and I didn't do anything to on board their new members to be honest this year like even tell them where that stuff was on the weite well when we first started and I looked on the website there's like a SE there was a section underneath that said like new member materials and so it gave you like where to go to get the training but it seems like it's been beefed up like maybe somebody's collected all of the bits and pieces and put it in one place it looks different now but that could just be me but yeah I'm glad that it looks better now um I think I would I mean we could discuss with the school committee whether we want to make that a priority um goal but I would I'd like to put it on back burner frankly not that it's not important but just that there's a lot of other things where I'm going to make a little someday maybe lesson put it on that that's a great idea and I think we put that also in our uh handbook draft oh did you I was gonna ask about that okay there's something in there it's in one of our content headers so maybe that is handled there's a lot of lwh hanging fruit on that list Kate has rejoined us at noon welcome back Kate yes hello hi there I am back um in just a sec I'll give you a little um review of what you missed um okay adding to a someday maybe list um on boarding for new members program okay I'm just keeping myself muted whenever I'm not speaking because I am in Boston and it's loud okay just so you know there's no noise on our end but it's fine if you oh that's [Music] really what you miss let's see um I'm going to discuss the student outcomes goal with Christine um about getting reports and all that um Elizabeth's going to check with um Stacy and see if she might be willing to do a professional development needs assessment um of the school committee like designed one for us um okay this the second section is all about um professional development stuff um and so basically Elizabeth and I were both saying that we each personally would like more training in Robert's Rules of Order um we acknowledged that as a committee we had voted to have open meeting law training but it was in response to a complaint against a member and both the complainer and the complaintant aren't on the school committee anymore and the training never happened um but maybe people will identify that as a need that they have um we we were talking about the need need to have Andy kind of give more of a training for folks in reading the budget and also for the committee to have a discussion about um what we would like in a budget to make it more user friendly and have having Andy work with us on that and then um Capital funding for textbooks um Elizabeth said that you had brought this up um and we basically I think that the superintendent gets a design to be put on to the capital planning committee um so it's on my list to check in again with Christine about that because Amy I believe Amy was the person that she had designated um and so now that Amy's not on the committee is she designating someone else and is that a place where that conversation can happen about the textbooks right anything else you want to add about the textbook issue Kate no okay um and yep so the uh handbook ad hoc committee has already submitted their draft for the uh the May for the April meeting um I'm going to talk to Christine about see if we can get school committee members included on all the school and PTO mailing lists um I just added develop on boarding for new members to a someday maybe list and um the next one says make a separate budget calendar and plot it into the main agenda um or yeah the main year-long agenda I guess basically um Kate I'm wondering if I don't know what your bandwidth is to have extra subcommittee meetings these days but at some point if you and the budget committee might want to work on looking at a yearlong calendar for the budget for the school committee had full participation in that I'm yes I'm planning on doing that I am trying to keep the budget subcommittee meetings in line with P um kind of precedent on when those meetings take place um during this season so my intention is to have one in late April and um that would be part of that agenda wonderful great um have a summer retreat wow just us just us or others we could do it with other um districts if we make you know good relations with other school committees we could combine forces and money and have a retreat together or masc could offer a retreat as part of our membership dues nice maybe we bring a speaker out maybe we um I don't know I I don't know what we need nice um perhaps that could be um aligns to the summer Institute with masc right like well that's what I was kind of wondering is could the summer Institute be the retreat is that what you mean Kate uh yeah I was thinking we could try to do something in conjunction with that the retreat itself has um workshops only part of the days those two days so we could feasibly plan to do our own activities as an add-on or even do something Loc Al after the Institute and have whoever agrees to attend bring back their knowledge from said workshop and do you think this would be like a school committee meeting kind of thing or is it more like in line with for example the advocacy training that we just had that's less like an official school committee meeting and more just a mask oriented training I guess well as I recall when we were discussing this in the past and it was a while ago now the idea was to um have the committee work on our own uh evaluation and action taking on that oh okay so it would be first have a school committee self- evaluation and then have a workshop based on the needs identified in the um evaluation yes and to um have the ability to have an extended working session aimed at improving school can be Dynamics and functioning okay y well I feel overwhelmed thinking about it it sounds like a great idea but um we can certainly include that as a goal to put forward to the school committee and see if folks want to uh take it on treat all righty um let's see where are we complete subcommittee goals lists we have that item um as a separate item um to go through um discuss increased meeting possibility for more bite-sized experience I think we're already doing that though like we're naturally doing it yeah like our main meetings are shorter but we're having lots more other smaller meetings yeah it was just an option because all of the Committees around the state just do it differently they do whatever works for them we can do whatever works for us and that was just one example the other example was having having a really big meeting like a long one and not voting on anything and then coming back like a week later and just to have a voting meeting so that everyone has time to digest like there the they gave us different ideas of how it could go I love it that's great yeah I agree that um that meetings are I mean we don't have that much um in terms of uh instances to point to but at least the last um you know most recent meetings have been pretty efficient which is great and I think there is a good amount of Delegation um going on in terms of subcommittees so that's helpful um to Elizabeth's point there was um there have been issues in the past where I think members were um Ed to digest an issue and vote on it immediately and also um those instances didn't leave much room for um public input or feedback um because of that timing and uh I have observed other committees um agendas in which an issue is brought up for discussion but then voted on at a subsequent meeting so that people have the ability to think about and um consider all relevant information before they're expected to take an important position like that so um I don't know as that um means there's I don't think that means there need be more meetings but I do think that it would be helpful to have that um layout kind of expected for important issues not housekeeping type things but yeah got it so for for example um the handbook item will be on the agenda for April maybe we could just have a meeting have a the goal is a shared understanding of of what the handbook is and says and does and some preliminary feedback from people on it and then maybe we vote on it in the um the May meeting yeah yes yeah I do feel like the consent agenda has been a really useful tool in getting through a lot of business more quickly and we'll see it seems like that is the primary Innovation that's allowed meetings to progress more quickly although I think the other issue was that a lot of work was getting done um on a pretty tight time frame ending in December and then we kind of didn't our our major projects at that time would seem like were kind of had just been dealt with um so hiring a superintendent and um approving the uh transition plan the um redistricting plan but yeah there is like a there there was a lot of talk about shifting our mindset about the year and that we're on the school calendar so our year should end in June and like June should be the time that we finish our business and then July we sort of take a a meeting to really reflect um December is not you know is only the end of the election year the the you know the year year where the numbers roll over not when the when the work stops do you know what I mean yeah although I think we're on a fiscal year July through June calendar anyway but yeah okay um searchable policy manual um yeah I hope the superintendent is still able to make progress I know she wanted to try to get it done in time for for um transitioning to Karen um at this point that process has been through will have been through of is it four superintendent Jordana Judy um Christine and then Karen so and most committees get it done like within a year I don't know I don't know what got hard for us but um I think partly it's maybe our size is the school district and the school committee the school um superintendents you know needing to do this in addition to everything else they're already doing but clickable agendas on the website what does that refer to wait what read it again clickable agendas on the website oh what was that Kate was that some sort of idea of um putting like there's something where where you go to click on any business on the website and it makes you download it onto your device or onto your desktop there's no way to just have it a viewable only oh thing I think it w it was just like I've heard from a lot of constituents that it's clogging up everyone's devices clogs up my device like I didn't realize section I got downloaded four times like there should be like a an easy readable like it should immediately go to a digestible way to read this it's a formatting thing I believe what do you think Kate I do not remember sorry that's fine it does sound like it yeah it's that issue where you click on something and it's it's a PDF and on your phone it's just downloading it and there should be a way but I I guess I can check with the superintendent about the I don't know who manages our website or what platform it is and what other options they might have for us and how to present information I know if you look at the wendle mass.

Uh let's see. Members, we only have one measure on the agenda. So we're going to hear all the testimonies and then open up to questions. So the first item being House Bill 2577, House draft 1, authorizes Department of Health to require the Department of Education to report coronus disease 2019 potential outbreaks or other public health emergencies and related information in a manner most appropriate to public health and safety. as determined by the Department of Health repeals the requirement to publish the report on the Department of Education's website. And starting out with our first testifier is Keith Yashi. Aloh Vice Chair Kim, members of the committee. Keith Aayashi, superintendent, testifying on behalf of the Department of Education. The department stands on its written testimony in support of this measure. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you. Department of Health in support Kim, members of the committee.

to 6:00 p.m. with a break for the regular school day we are licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services in accordance to our license each employee is required to obtain 18 hours of training a year which we exceed here at Higley each of our locations follows a ratio of one employee to 20 students and a ratio of 1 to 12 for our prek students when school is not in session we also provide kids club camps for our families which includes fall winter and and spr spring break and throughout our summer during these camps we utilize 15 to 20 rooms at our hosting elementary schools each Camp has a different theme and each room has a purpose aligned with the theme these students do not repeat activities during the camp our incredible staff puts a lot of work into designing these handon engaging activities related to the themes of the camp so for for example Our Last Summer Camp was hosted at chapparel elementary and the theme was summer at the movies we rolled out the red carpet and we transformed our parent drop off pickup room into a box office students played minute to win a games they reenacted Scooby-Doo they also reenacted scenes from their favorite movies such as I'm still standing from sing and much much more our fall Camp was hosted at Cortina and the theme for this was fun at the farm at this Camp students took a field trip to Mother Nature's Farm in Mesa roosters Cog burs and we even had some on-site animal visitors students participated in various science experience experiments made paper bag owls and had some more fun engaging activities our camper celebrated winter around the world at our camp at Bridges Elementary students made passports and traveled on our own Higley Airlines to different countries around the world we made cookies from various countries and we learned some important facts about those countries with some more of our Hands-On activities we also celebrated the holiday season through field trips at the Majestics theater to see elf and the Grinch finally just a couple of weeks ago over at HTA we hosted our spring break Camp the theme for this year was career Quest where students learned about various jobs and career so for example our fourth and fifth grade ERS went to Peter Piper Pizza and we got a behind the scenes Tour on how to make their own pizza and what it really is like to run a business on site students practice sewing skills and design their own patent Stitch we owe a big thank you to our Gilbert Fire Department for showing the campers and sharing about their jobs and how the fir Truck Works we got to learn some more important work of our own husd maintenance team and to see what they do to keep our schools operational safe and looking amazing finally our students learned some more important careers at the airport through our field trip to the Mesa Gateway Airport the pre even prepared for this trip with a little bit of their security training each grade attended this field trip for the behind the-scenes tour of what happens to our luggage visiting in a hanger and those important safety protocols that actually happened on the tarmac in addition to Kids Club Community Education also offers after school enrichment clubs in courses for Elementary and secondary students these site specific opportunities are led by District employees mostly our teachers who want to extend those educational opportunities outside the regular school day throughout the year our fabulous husd staff provides enrichment courses and camps showcased here are Mrs Leatherby's Mandarin Thrive class over the summer exploring the Wall of China through 3D virtual Quest and her Mandarin summer fund students Mrs paa over at Power Ranch provides a creative Club she also leads a slime club for the students after school as well also highlighted on this slide is Miss Schmidt from cornado elementary and her wooo Club performing at the husd Chinese New Year our higgle Youth Sports league is a Recreational Sports League that offers basketball soccer volleyball flag football baseball and cheer our focus of hysl includes player develop ment skill building teamwork and fun Power Ranch Elementary is our current site that hosts hysl on Saturdays we also have Monday evening basketball our cheer season for K through six practices from October to march with a showcase to wrap up the season hysl coaches include District staff and many amazing parent volunteers to whom we are incredibly grateful so we're always looking for coaches so let me put a little plug in to our community we do need you so reach out if you are interested in coaching sports for next year for hysl as I mentioned hysl Al also offer also offers an inclusive chair program at each of our elementary schools from K through six we had our largest turnout this season with 416 cheerleaders our showcase was hosted at the end of the year at Higley High School on February 28th in addition to our cheer leaders and their families our awesome coaches we wanted to recognize the higgle High varsity cheer team the JV palm and our Higley instrumental Association for participating in this event speaking of a good turnout as you can see our registration in community ed education program has increased over the last three years the mission of husd Community Education is to provide quality affordable academic recreational and enrichment programs to all and we challenge to inspire all me members of our growing and diverse Community we continue to work hard into to achieve that mission we also had some fun organizing our own little District employee in chural League which supports a healthy Higley initiative so far we have hosted softball volleyball and we're getting ready to kick off our husd Olympics this quarter we've got ideas to bring some employee yoga and Hiking soon so stay tuned to learn more as we continue to expand those opportunities for our employees Community Education believes investing back into our schools we have act we have actively pursued grants to help fund some major projects over the last year $600,000 of grant money was utilized to upgrade playgrounds at various elementary schools shown here are the upgrades of the rubberized chips on Coronado's playground the obstacle course that we helped fund at chapparel repairs to a climbing structure at Bridges Elementary and swings interactive panels rubberized mulch to the Kinder and the first through six play areas at Cortina as we speak the HTA kinderg ground playground is getting a much needed makeover as well so finally I want to highlight our staff since 2021 we have also grown from 74 employees to 160 many of these employees include husd student workers from Higley High and williamsfield we provide a learning experience for these students as they imply interview and on board within Community Education for many this is their first job so we want to help them learn grow and be their very best for our husd students and families that we serve I invited two of them to briefly highlight their experiences so at this time I'd like to introduce to our kids club and hysl staff Mr Jared and Mr [Applause] Rigden good evening my name is Jared Gunnell and I've been working here since October 2021 I started out just doing kids club and at the beginning of this school year I started coaching for hysl sports leagues um I love kids club but coaching really is the most rewarding part of the what I do seeing these kids over come little stuff like shooting a basketball from a certain spot or seeing them progress through the season learning different ways to improve themselves and build up their teammates while being a good sport the whole way our program has brought students together who otherwise wouldn't have got an opportunity to meet each other become friends and uh one of the most touching things I've seen being a part of community ed was a student who really struggled um with his confidence in shooting the ball um one of our most recent games he it was the first possession of the game he just pulled up from the three-point line drained it over like the biggest Defender it was it was awesome um it was really great to see how how his demeanor changed and and how his teammates like rallied behind him and and uh it's really inspiring to see uh this job has open my eyes to education in general and has inspired me to further myself and pursue teaching um thank you for the opportunity to speak about my experience this evening and being a part of Community Ed hi my name is ricken Owens I'm 18 and I'm a senior at hickley uh on June 17th of this year it'll be my official second year working for kids club uh in these two years I have hands down transitioned into a way better person uh I walked into this District terrified uh not even able to hold myself up uh and I just not even knowing how to talk to an adult uh this job has forced me to embrace the things I never wanted to do like public speaking uh major leadership roles and relationship building with kids club being my only ever job I've ever had I've had so much work experience here over our summer at the movies uh Camp my job was to be an usher I greeted families uh helped kids get to where they needed to be with the fun themes of Camp we've also had themed job titles to match it during fall camp we had fun at the farm I was a farmand and held set up in the morning field trip organizing and just anything that was needed this job has taught me many things going into real life besides those very real resume building things I have also learned valuable lessons whether that is how to hold an adult conversation CPR teamwork and lastly to understand how important jobs with kids truly are this job has truly shown me that we workers make a difference in these kids' lives sometimes we are only their we're their only examples and that is truly terrifying but while that is terrifying it's also amazing to know that I have a purpose and create an impact lastly I want to say thanks to Kim and bell for creating a program that not only allows these kids to have fun and learn but that allow for workers to flourish and learn thank you and we also have a little guest speaker from chaperel come on up Miss Ken would like to share some words as well thank you hi my name is Ken banon and I'm in second grade at chaperel elementary I've been in kids club since kindergarten it is a fun way to make new friends learn new things and go on fun field trips during Camp all the teachers are so nice all the kids are learning while having fun I've even learned how to sew and crochet I brought a few examples of some projects I've did during camp and school first this is my I learned how to sew and crochet a button and uh do a cross stitch with that and I also brought one that I did from school which was um a rainbow coming out of a pot for St Patrick's Day that I finished at home because I didn't have enough time at kids club and my teachers are Miss Martha and Miss Debbie who taught me how to sew Miss NAA Mr Jared M Lisa Miss syia Miss Maddie Miss Cheyenne who just had her baby they all make kids club great I have known Miss Bon's kindergarten and she makes everything about kids club amazing and fun kids club helps me have fun till my mom gets off of work thank you so much for letting me share What I Love About Kids [Applause] Club so as we look forward to summer in the 2024 and 2025 school year we wanted to remind our community that summer C camp registration is open our theme for this summer is cruising through the decades and that includes a celebration of American pop culture we want to share that kids club rates and fees will remain the same for the 2024 2025 school year and that being said as a part of our ongoing commitment to providing high quality programming we will be researching some rates at our neighboring districts in May propose a rate increase to the board for 2025 2026 school year so I'd like to close by thanking our community for your continued support in a role that Community Education plays in our district and I happy to answer any questions if you have some thank [Applause] you phenomenal work thank you for sharing all that with us um Jared and Rigden the is correct well done and and welcome to working through your fears and working with kids you grew up a lot I do want to say you are appreciated more than you could probably ever know because just as you have the butterflies in your stomach each day probably at least at the beginning so do the parents um my kiddos went be before school or after school and in the summer um it's a life-changing experience and you guys and all that you work with really do help these children to feel comfortable being away during the summer and missing their parents and helping the parents to just keep on and know that they're in great hands so thank you thank you everyone thank you okay um moving on to information item 6.2 Mrs Johnson you have information about benefits tonight president president Anderson members of the board um I'd like to invite um both my benefits manager Miss Isabelle and um Miss Jennifer Sherman up to the podium they're going to help me with this presentation tonight and I can't top that I just there's no way oh wow what work they're what great work they're doing with our kids this is awesome and our new employees right up and coming so tonight we're going to talk about a benefit update and and this is the schedule of benefits for our employees that they will have choices three different choices and you can see the costs are there as well and the monthly cost in uh is across the board so this year we experienced an average of 6% increase to the employee benefits the district husd will be covering that cost uh for the employee the only group if an employee chooses to stay on the choice 500 they will see an increase of approximately $593 per month for their own health care so a very minimal cost to our employees this year and there are no increases to the dependent or the uh the dependent coverage for this coming year next I'm clicking I got it got it so we have next is the uh on celery uh the voluntary benefits that people can select or employees can select you will see that there are some increases to both the Delta Dental and the total Dental administrators at a rate of three and 4% respectively the one new thing that we were able to negotiate this year if you look under the metti um this is our uh short-term disability policy in the past an employee had to exhaust all of their General leave before they could tap into this benefit even if they had purchased it and everything and paid the premiums now that will no longer happen they are eligible at the time of when the short-term disability kicks in so they will be able to use their General leave to offset um uh their missing work and then also they would get their short-term disability payment as well so that was thanks to kyus this year we negotiated that with them and they went to metti for us and said hey we want this and this is a great change for our employees who choose short-term disability next I am going to let Jennifer talk about this new addition of the nurse Navigator program okay uh kyos had instituted a program called nurse Navigator program um I think it's going on four years ago now and have had um incredible experience great opportunity for savings but more importantly also improve improved outcomes for members um some of the areas in which the nurses get involved with the membership include on the page that you see in front of you helping to find in network providers we know um as the industry faces Financial struggles those provider networks are shrinking so our nurses are available to help people find the right doctor at the right time um help with prior authorizations we know sometimes people struggle to get the paperwork and the steps push through the system for those prior offs so the nurses help push that along um post discharge Outreach reach from a hospitalization the nurses oftentimes May reach out to the members to make sure they understand their um treatment plan and have access to their um Pharmaceuticals that they need and um all other things to help them get better care coordination is another way that they get involved just general how can we help you manage your Care Mental Health support a year ago we actually realized um and invested in a mental health focused nurse so our team is made up of five nurses today we're looking to hire another nurse one of those nurses does have a mental health focus and she is specific Ally in place today to help members find access to counselors which again we've seen postco has been a struggle for people to find um they help with coordination of EAP again um assistance with mental health support they do claims review and monitoring so oftentimes members will um have say a hospitalization and they receive a myriad of bills and statements and they're you know concerned about what do I pay what do I not pay what's my responsib ility we immediately get them in touch with the nurses and often times we find that sometimes there's double billing or something of the sort and we work with the healthcare providers to fix those processes and refund the money to the members um resolution of questions and concerns again there really isn't an option for the nurses to say no they're there to provide a service and to support our membership so very service oriented they're there to help in many ways even going as far as helping people find um access to food banks if they can't afford groceries versus prescription drugs we're going to try and eliminate all of those barriers to care and finally prescription support um for anybody that's had a new prescription medication you know sometimes it's challenging to understand why the costs are so high how much do you have to pay before you can pick up your medication those nurses have helped many members apply for prescription assistance funds and the like so they're available for that level of support additionally um within the Navigator program one of the ways that they help with Administration is they are doing claims data review so say for example we'll see high cost claimants and we do meet with Higley on a regular basis and review those claims sometimes we'll see a claim that comes through and it does seem egregious in the amount that it's being built and those nurses are diving in to find out why is that cost so high for a procedure when we can see benchmarked it shouldn't be that high of a cost identification of lower cost service options so they are firsts in pulling data out of a claim system and being able to say well it looks like if you go to this place of care you would experience maybe this type of payment option for a service versus going to that type of care one of the biggest resources that we found is helping to move people out of the hospital system when possible for services like labs and x-rays and advanced scans if we can send you to a freestanding facility we know it'll help save money for the member and for the plan monitoring of high cost in RX and Medical Treatments we we talked about that already monitoring for claims inconsistencies I kind of stole my own Thunder there and finally worksman workman's comp is another area that we have found a lot of success oftentimes members when they have a workman's comp claim they may not even just talk to the HR people or follow the right processes and they go to their doctor and give their insurance card well we are able to look at those claims and realize that might be a workers's comp injury and reverse those claims out of the health plan budget and push it over to workers comp it should be placed um new this year to chyos we're very excited and we think we're going to have tremendous um support for our membership is a program called Kum Health Kum is something referred to as a center of excellence Kum actually works with providers Nationwide whoops to find the best type of provider for certain types of procedures and you can see on that page um the procedures include cardiovascular care major Orthopedic procedures and some Cancer Care but if we do find somebody that qualifies for those types of procedures we're able to connect them with Kum and Kum is able to connect them to centers of excellence or the top quality providers in the area and sometimes not even in the area maybe in another state to receive that care if they if the members choose to work with a car and provider we know that those costs are a bundled charge and they're much less to the Higley Health Plan um their managed costs and the member actually has access to that care if they're on a PO plan they pay zero for that care if you think about average cost for a hip replacement a knee replacement or worse cancer treatment um to be able to provide those provide those services at zero cost is really a powerful thing for our membership we're very excited to be able to provide that solution um if a member was on a high deductible health plan because of IRS regulations they will have to meet their portion of the deductible which in this case the IRS requires $1,600 but once they meet that then zero cost for the remainder of that care this is a voluntary program as I mentioned before it's available to anybody that is enrolled in the plan that includes active participants as well as Cobra enroles take a moment to brag a little bit because last year Isabelle our benefits manager put together an awesome program to go out and service every employee at the sites one onone and her and her one other person Valerie are going to head out and do it again and so that open enrollment for our district begins April 22nd and through May 10th there it will be a passive enrollment but yet there will still be available to everyone one-on-one support if they need it they can sign up we have a EGU and a guide book that between those two women up there have put together and we'll work with our employees to make a selection over that time frame I'm really excited about um the service that we provide and hoping that our employees will make some great selections for their health care and the next one is questions for myself or for our guests president Schultz I'm sorry president Anderson um I just wanted to know if there's any uh risks associated with being self-insured yes ma'am anytime um an employer is building a Health Plan there's risk associated so risk if you're fully insured or self-funded um this is not a one um easy conversation to make those decisions um as we started talking with Higley and the team we did go through a thorough analysis of Financial claims and also provider Network benefits and we're able to determine in making that move that not only were we able to provide a comparable if not better solution and service options but also were able to save the district approximately $1 million in the first year embedded in the self-insurance product if you will we have a a solution called stop-loss protection so that just means that any high cost claimants that hit the plan there is a threshold at which those claims go up to a certain level and then the stop-loss or the reinsurance carrier picks up that additional risk so we do feel confident and we do have evidence after the first um year and change with Higley that we have demonstrated that that stoploss has actually been effective and the plan has still been able to save money over that fully insured platform I hope that answers thank you so much yeah no other questions all right thank you very thorough and I appreciate the information that you shared tonight thank you um next we have item 6.3 um well several items that we'll hear from Mr Walker good evening president Anderson members of the board um 6.3 first read for EBC emergencies um we're bringing forward a recommendation that miror language from ars1 15- 341 that just includes language that emergency response plans uh includes how to communicate and provide assistance to students with disabilities there any questions or comments any additions okay thank you Mr would you like to take us into 6.4 on the JKD student suspension I'd love to 6.4 and 6.5 um they both have the same statutory requirement update um that's um revised the K4 suspension um stipulation uh that was passed two years ago in legislation it's been since updated um it provides some language that the suspension for students in grades K through four um cannot exceed uh two consecutive days or an aggregate total of 10 days throughout the school year um prior to that there was a Prohibition on suspend ion in grades K through 4 um and then students under the age of seven there was a complete prohibition without any circumstances other than a firearm and so the firearm uh expulsion requirement has just been added to this policy um it's already existed elsewhere but it's just been included in uh both JKD and jke so you'll see the same language updated in both policies JKD is student suspension and jke is student expulsion no comments or questions thank you uh do you want to roll through 6.5 as well or do we feel like we covered both without a doubt I'd be happy to do that so 6.6 uh jlh jlh is policy missing students um the title is a bit misleading what that policy in regards to is the administrative uh window for School requirements uh it stems from HB 2060 that Chang as a result of ars1 15-8 28 it increases the window of time from 5 days to 10 days to request um records from students coming from a different school or school district and that was borne out of uh the request through legislation to reduce the administrative burden and give more time to process the documentation so again statutory language just mirroring what's in the statute thank you all right item 6.7 review of the fiscal year 2023 classroom SP Report with Mr Moore please good evening president Anderson uh members of the board tonight I'm bringing forth the uh FY 23 classroom spending report uh this is a request from the board to review and so I'm presenting that tonight so if we go to the next slide uh very short presentation but I'm actually going to take you to the link but I wanted to provide a little background on on how this report came about and uh why the auditor general does it so annually the auditor general takes our annual Financial report and puts it um and compiles it into a classroom spending report and that's what we'll go through in a second um this was introduced um in statute um and started back in 2001 so this practice has been going on for about 23 years um and so uh again the auditor general is completely independent of the district they take our financials and then U provide an analysis um and this link uh that we're going to go to right now is public link that any uh Community member board member or um uh staff can can go to and so uh this is what our uh higly unified classroom spending report looks like again this is based off our fiscal year 2023 annual financial report so that was uh the year encompassing july1 2022 through June 30 2023 and so I have a few highlights I'm not going to go line by line in this report um but a few highlights uh on how we fared across um our peer groups as well as as our district so first and foremost um I think the big uh thing that that comes across right the big piece of the pie is instruction um we uh across the board um have one of the highest levels of uh expenditures in instruction and I do want to clarify this is all expenditures this isn't just m or one sort of bucket this is all expenditures um compiled into this report and so when you take all our expenditures um 60.7% of those fall into that instructional category um that is 7.6% above our peer groups and about 10.8% above our lowest member in our peer group uh and you can see how uh we've kind of fared on the bottom there across prior year we've actually increased over La over fiscal year 2022 from 59% to 60.7 moving down the page keep going a little bit farther the auditor general right here the auditor general also analyzes um percentage Point spending by area as well as per student spending by area um each one of these areas kind of uh again resembles all expenditures but um you can see from uh year to year um our expenditures in in instruction have increased as well as student support and instructional support and just to remind the board what those categories kind of entail uh instructional support instruction is pretty obvious that's our teachers our classroom supplies um everything that is involved in providing instruction to our to our students instructional support is our Librarians teacher training curriculum development um special education media Specialists and instructional related technology um and you can see that was up over last year um or excuse me to student that's student sport um student support is up over last year I got this wrong student support is up 1.4% that includes counselors speech pathologists nurses social workers and attendance services our instructional support is about level or flat um our Administration is down over last year over fy22 excuse me plant operations are down food services slightly down and trans transportation is relatively flat um looking on the right graph you'll see again comparison per student spending by area um pretty much increases across the board um a lot of that is derived from our our budgetary um numbers and our again our total expenditures increasing from fiscal 22 to 23 the one area again I want to point out food services down uh the the main reason that is down is because Co relief funding um in 22 co uh meals were free the federal government issued a a memorandum that had meals be free and so in 23 that expired and so you'll see that expenditures not every student was now eligible for meals so we spent a lot less money um in that food service category if we scroll down the page please we'll look at operational efficiency measures um again this graphic um takes our operation categories measures them against um the state average our peer average and then you can see our district average and so um across the board I think we farare very well um amongst our peer averages so Administration um just for example the state average uh per student is $127 um our peer average again that's peer districts who have similar ADM or or student uh size is is $1,116 per student and whereas higgle is under $1,000 and again I've I've I think I've mentioned this to the board but we operate very lean in our Administration and it's resembled in this independent report you'll see student per administrative position uh Higley is 81 um 81 uh per student so whereas our peer average is 65 and so it just tells you how many more students our administrators are are basically handling on a case-by casee basis and so that's where you get the spending relative to peer group average on very low um some of the other highlights um kind of again with food service um some of the reasons we track very low uh a lot of this kind of depicts on our our demographics um we are not a high freeing reduced population and so um coincidentally we don't have a lot of those High meal costs because we're not providing a lot of free meals and so um being you know some of this is demographic based and you can kind of um grasp some of that information off of this page um when you look against some of our peer districts who have very vastly different demographics um they'll have a lot of high spending in food service and transportation where maybe those families don't have the means to provide or send their student with a a meal from home or the transportation to drop their student off they utilize the school bus uh or the the Food Service meals that the district provides and so that's where you see kind of Transportation Food Service trending very low in our district some of that's demographic based if we scroll down the page keep going right here so we'll look at scroll back up just slightly there we go so this is average teacher salary um this has been an emphasis by the auditor general ever since the uh 20 X20 plan and to really track and um highlight some of the efforts that districts are doing across um teacher pay um you'll see our teacher pay our average teacher salary is 66,000 um and they actually break out the exact amount from classroom site fund again that's averaged um across all our teachers so when when you see our amounts on our um salary schedules um you have to take keep in mind when you average that across pro-rated teachers who who work part-time and full-time teachers a lot a lot of times that number will be lower than what is listed on the our salary schedule because it's averaged over a mean of of all our teachers so some of the highlights um I think we're $3,800 above the state average um on a on a average teacher pay um just three years ago you'll see a graphing at set we were below the state average so um kud so the govering board and the district for for making uh vast strides and getting to a competitive Point um in terms of teacher pay our average years of teacher experience is 10 years um next year we'll actually um um have a a TI teacher experience index um uh boost on our on our budget very small but we have now kind of creeped up into the area of U meeting um kind of the average or just above the average teacher experience uh amongst districts and so that means we have a a larger experienced teacher staff um and so we're not we're not the young higgle anymore we are we are uh we are growing up to some extent um and so it's represent here you'll see our average years of teacher experience 10 years so um they do they did a new comparison this year with um first year teachers within their three years and then teachers four years or later um you I could have told you how that would that would have paired out you know younger teachers generally have less experience um whereas teachers you know four years or greater have more experience which is why their pay is is is slightly different in that sense um if you move down the page this is a graphic here that where I was um alluding to where we were below the state average in 2020 and so if you look at the line um that's that's going across the page that's the state average for teacher salary the pink amount is the amount from other funds so for the most part that's M um and the gray amount is the amount from classroom site fund monies um that supports that teacher pay amount so um you can see as of 2021 uh we exceeded that that state um average teacher salary and now we are well above that that Mark um and and regarded as one of the the higher paying districts for teacher pay um amongst not only our peers but um nk12 education Arizona so again um I do want to highlight though that gray amount within that that bar graph um you can see a large majority is coming from that classroom site fund and so that six cent sales tax um does play important role in and again um not only supporting the level of teacher pay that we're at now but also increasing it and so um a lot of factors go into that number and and it's it's the illustration I couldn't created a better graph so this is why we're we're looking at the uh AUD jour's website because I think it's Illustrated well here if we scroll down um keep going down the the two years ago um they added um if you scroll up just a little bit so we can just scroll up a little more there we go okay they added a student achievement section um and again I think it's no secret that higgle is an overall um High achieving District um and again it's represented here not only um so you can see our district represented in the gold and our peer groups represented in in dark blue and then Statewide represented in light blue and so um you know it's not just me telling you we're High achieving that the data in auditor general is is um showing the the data that that this district is Contin continually achieving above not only state average but our peer groups um and several of the categories such as math English Ela and Science and so um with that I'll be happy to take any questions but again this report is on the audit journal's website it is a public report um and anybody has access to go view it and do a deep dive into the data president Anderson Mr Moore I just want to go back to the portion where it shows the student per teacher and that we are averaging about 17 18 students per teacher yeah I mean the footnote there right right below it um that is divided by the total number of certified teachers um and that includes specials Arts music physical Ed um so when you take in a lot of those classes when you go to a high school PE class that you're going to see very high but when you look at some of our specials they Trend below um 20 kids for student so um again it's averages it's hard to depict that as um you know general education you also have special education in there which are are a lot lower than 17 um so just keep that in mind thank you thank you um if we can scroll back up to where you were at the beginning talking about the percentage Point change in spending area um when you went over it we were on the fiveyear comparison so I just want to show that we can toggle that to the one-year comparison oh I'm sorry that's okay just look a little different that's all and then again Open Access so anybody can sit there and toggle between the years and and look got it but this um this has changed over the years too it's definitely more detailed and have more data which is so nice to see and then you can look at other districts sneak into theirs and um it's just not limited to everybody there any questions or comments okay thank you Mr Moore um next we're going to move on to information item 6.8 the citizens committee recommendation oh Mr MO is back on yes uh good evening president andon members of the board T I'm going do my best to uh present a summary of the citizens committee process um I want to I'll get into it a second but um so again I just want to remind the board about the citizens committee um again it was uh an item brought forward from myself to the board to um kind of change the process and how we've called for elections um in the past and so um there is several community members as as well as um uh individuals in our district um that wanted a more uh involved process and so this was my um recommendation to try to um achieve that result and so again we um brought forth uh this this um notion um all meetings um were open to the public information from each meeting and the minutes are all available on our website um or thanks to our PR team been uh doing a great job of keeping that updated as the meetings have uh transpired as well as uh any of the minutes being approved so um if I don't do a good job of summar of this you can go and do a deep dive into each one of those meetings just to highlight the the timeline so again I brought forth this recommendation on November 15th uh the governing board approved that recommendation the district received about 80 applications for this um and as a reminder um each governing board member got to nominate an individual as well as well as the District administration um Pick 10 at large from those um 80 applicants so um the series of five citizens committee meetings occurred between January and March um there was five meetings um I tried to stick within an hour but there was a lot of questions there was a lot of good questions um there's a lot of information to cover and so I think cumulative we spent about 10 probably 10 to 11 hours and I don't know what individual time each member spent but um between these five meetings tonight I'm presenting um the committee's recommendation um again doing my best to summarize that process um I do want to highlight though tonight's recommend is just to the approval of this on a later agenda item is just to give me direction to bring forth a formal resolution so those who've been through the election process Miss Reese understand that the this is not a a resolution to call for an election this is a recommendation from the committee I will still need to bring back a resolution um drafted by an attorney um that officially calls for the election and so that will take place on the May 8th meeting pending um the board's decision tonight so um just want to highlight the citizens committee um I know a few are in the audence and maybe they can stand up um I appreciate you know all their time that they spent um maybe we can give them a round request um I I appreciate all the time they spent in in not only just willingly coming to to learn about this um but but being deeply involved in it um asking a lot of questions um and again I feel like the recommendation tonight um is expression of the committee as a whole um I do want to note Jennifer Newton has missed the first meeting and then at the second meeting she did um indicate that she would not want to be involved in the meeting and so the committee voted to just not fill that position so ultimately we went forward with 14 members uh not 15 so all right so let's get a highlight of the committee meeting process so meeting number one um I presented the the same school Finance 101 uh presentation that I've done to the governing board um that present that presentation covered a high level um uh information about school funding formula and how H HC calculates its budget also at the meeting uh we discussed the M override history this is a snippet of the of the history um it just represents the snapshot of the last three years but the full timeline is actually on our website um that timeline dates back to 2003 when Higley first passed an M override and at that time that was a 10% override but I do want to highlight so this graph shows currently we are fully funded in through fiscal 25 I've mentioned that in my budget presentations um in 26 and 27 uh there's a phase down while it's a seven-year authorization there's only five years of fully funding and so again if um again pending the board's decision to move forward with an election um and that it passes on a ballot we would proceed into that 26 um phase down period that' be phase one and that' be a reduction of 33% of that override and then again pending any uh uh further elections um in 27 that' be a phase two down phase two and that would be 66% reduction and then if we get to 28 with no uh ballot initiative passed to continue this override that would be completely phased down and just for note that was $13.1 Million on our last budget um adopted Budget on meeting number two um we had applied economics uh in and do a updated demographic and enrollment analysis report um again the committee also recommended of High Ground Consulting conduct a registered voter survey uh I'll cover that in uh meeting number four when the survey results um when I actually have the survey of results in here but just to um give some preference on the applied economics demographic report uh semiannually the district does a deeper dive into our demographics um by way of third party Dem graphic report so applied economics is one of the the state's best demographers or demographers um and this data in this report represents um what they presented snippit from what they presented to the committee and so looking at the first graph on the screen this shows history back um from 40th Day headcount back to 20201 um on the uh on the blurb to the right you can actually see that enrollment Skyrocket from f th000 students uh in 200201 to nearly 10,000 students in 2010 to 2011 uh that was the period in which Higley went through a hyper growth phase um that represented a compounding annual growth of 30% um even despite the Great Recession and so during that phase a lot of our schools our elementaries were built in that time and funded by sfb because of that growth number now uh looking at the current year you can see our growth has kind of leveled off um and we'll jump to the next slide where I've uh looking at the detail by grade and so looking at grades K2 represented in red 35 represented in purple and 68 representing green as well as 912 represent in blue um as I've highlighted to the board of my budget presentations we've seen um at most recent the last couple years a decline in elementary education or education enrollment and that is representing that the red graph as well as the purple graph where you can see over the last couple years ever since Co we've seen a steady steady decline in those numbers on the flip side you can see cohorts in grade 68 912 as I've mentioned have seen an increase um and with 912 Contin Contin continuing to see a steady increase ever since uh 2016 2017 now I don't expect you to read this um verbatim but I'm going highlight the bottom kind of cell that I have highlighted there in the in the light blue um this is a deeper dive into the numbers um but I think it provides some context and some important um information to the board so uh the First Column reading left to right so the First Column uh represents our fiscal year pretty self-explanatory there the second column is our total households within the district boundaries so it's 30 1 133 and so you'll see that number continually increasing over the course of that timeline um as we've been as our 24 square miles that continues to be built out right we still we continue to see housing developments um but that land is starting to level off like we're starting to see some of those not as much vacant land within our district and so we'll uh anticipate seeing that level off on the third column is the total number of school age students within our boundaries and so that is represented at 23,24 the fifth column represents the percentage of households that have school age population students which is 74% so that means three out of four houses have a school age population student in them on average which is very high that is that is extremely high um looking at our enrollment uh column six uh that is our 40th Day head count again 12,920 you take the enrollment number divided by the total number of households and that gives you column s the percentage of households that have Higley students so again that's the percentage of households that have Higley students that's 41.5% column h8 shows the net difference of higgle enrollment versus a total school age population at 10,327 which would be a capture rate of 55.6% however you have to back out column 9 which is the out of District enrollment which represents [Music] 1839 and that determines our true capture rate which we take column 10 the district enrollment of 11,81 divided by the total school age population to get again a true capture rate of 47.7% so we in our 24 square miles out of the total eligible uh school age population of students we capture 47% choose Higley um and again that shows really our our competition right we we know that we have Charters across the street we have um Gilbert Christian right we have a lot of competition within 24 square miles and so that's it's um showcased in this in this number right here moving to number committee uh meeting number three um at this meeting we reviewed the current M override uh and the capital needs of the district um the M override was briefly discussed at the committee as I think the majority of the committee understood what it was already supporting um and so there's limited discussion on the override but I did provide the bullet points again as a reminder for the the governing board the majority of the time was spent on the capital needs and the proposed projects of the district um these were presented the committee and the complete detail can again be found on our website to summarize the 12.8 million for safety security and Technology Improvement represents a continued investment into security cameras classroom technology including display panels student devices and network infrastructure to support these devices the 25 million in essential maintenance projects represents the ongoing maintenance needs of the district for the next five years the committee reviewed the district's 5-year Capital plan which indicated replacement cost for life cycle items across the district including Roofing flooring weatherization HV in playgrounds on the next slide I'll cover the let me go back on the next slide there's the next slide but I'll cover the 40.3 million campus improvements but on the the 5 million allocated for buses the current a average age of our Fleet is 12.4 years um we have 27 buses over 15 years and two over 20 years and so um that number indicates a level that uh about three buses three to four buses per year uh to help us keep up with the Aging Fleet uh of our transportation so like I said the 40.3 million in campus improvements was spread across the two High School District or two high schools uh first looking at Higley High School the campus uh front lobby um does not have a necessary feature to Total secure the lobby which include um restrooms there's no public restroom so if it uh guest is visiting they have to be let into the campus uh whereas all our elementaries and our middle schools have restrooms uh where guests do not need to enter our campus to be to use a restroom number two and number three um well I want say the rest of this list um the main theme for the next six items relates to the school outgrowing its original design um higle high was built in 2001 which makes the school 23 years old uh with drastically different enrollment numbers from when the school was originally built and so again these these next six items reflect a lot of The Growing Pains that has occurred um during the course of that time so number two and number three would be relocating the ten courts to make room for additional parking to support not only the student population um but also the htpa as well as various events at the the Higley High host number four is addressing the Fieldhouse which was built in 2010 when the rollment was half of what it is now the plan would be to expand the Fieldhouse not replace it um at that time that uh the district Higley High was in a 3A um uh category in terms of AAA Sports which is we are now 6A uh again doubling in size in terms of our participation in athletic sports um creating some safety concerns with the the Fieldhouse and the capacity in which it can house students safely um as well as staff number five is addressing the practice fields um these these high school campuses are used almost 247 um as practice fields are not lit um so by lighting them it would allow for greater use for not only our um uh sports teams um but also for rentals um number six again addressing capacity issues would be expanding the bleachers to allow more occupants for events um our bleachers do not cannot even hold the entire capacity of our student body um is Mr field still yeah he is but um he has to multiple sessions when doing um any sort of um districtwide or Stu or schoolwide um student body presentations Etc as well as our games if you've ever been to a football game or any sort of event um those fill up rather quickly number seven is a carryover from the previous bond proposal but again addresses the lack of capacity within the gym facility and it looks to expand that uh gym again was built in 2001 to allow additional op options for the campus so again allowing for potential to host a stu a whole entire student body um events um allowing for the potential to host AIA events um we have outgrown that facility on the flip side looking at williamfield you'll see a lot of the same um themes um again our high schools have outgrown um the current um footprint of where they when they're originally built um the first the number one item is moving the transportation facility um you can see on the bottom of the screen Transportation facility takes up a majority of the that williamsfield high school campus um approximately eight Acres the district does have a vacant piece of land um behind Target and which um currently we do have the intention of building a new school um is perfectly uh zoned essentially for industrial um and so utilizing that vacant piece of land by moving the the transportation facility will open um Williams Field's campus up for additional options um which include number two U much like we did at Higley High School William fill the Z and capacity and there a need for a classroom addition um so that would be number two number three again Williamsville has the same issues Higgly high in regards to the front lobby um there's no no public restroom in that front lobby so when again guests or parents or anybody visiting that campus um needs to use the restroom they need to be let into the campus which prevent which opens up a safety concern number four includes moving the tennis courts and S volleyball courts to make space for number five which is an additional practice field if you look at uh williamsfield versus Higley um Higley has some additional options for practice field space um williamsfield does not that main field gets used 247 that is lit and so by moving those two u 10 scor and St volleyball courts to potentially where the transportation facility was um it does open that campus up to provide additional practice space for the sports that take place um and have to share space currently between football band soccer um Etc so uh gives that campus a little more flexibility and um allows them to bre a little number six again addressing capacity issues is again the bleacher expansion um again these were original bleachers that were built when the school was adopted and so um looking at our enrollment numbers we've greatly um outgrown that original capacity and again number seven much like Higley focused on renovating that gym to provide a space um to um allow additional capacity for various events not only their their sports teams now um but also hosting events um and then utilizing um that gym space in a a more effective manner again to host maybe student body um uh pep rallies Etc so that summarized meeting number three meeting number four the committee toured Higley Traditional Academy I want to thank I know she's not here but Miss Bacon uh she provided that to her um along with u Miss day um and gave us a quick tour of Higley Traditional Academy as one of our oldest schools in the district we have some buildings on that facility from the 1980s um in addition High Ground Consulting reviewed the registered voter survey results which I'll cover in a second and then the district presented the capital funding calculation showing the deficit in capital funding to maintain the current capital needs this was at request of the committee and so uh you'll see the the capital funding deficit calculation below what this shows is are major maintenance totals um across from fiscal year 25 which would be next year to 29 um this is based on life cycle replacement timelines so for example um within that 8 million there'd be several weatherization and flooring projects because at year 15 that is the general timeline in which you you replace flooring HVAC units are General um chillers are big um chillers and and cooling towers those are on a 20e cycle so those would be we we track that as a district and those would be we have a we have a realist or we have a should say realist we have an optimistic time in which we should replace those and then often times um we are kicking that can down the down the street because of budget constraints which is represented in the line number two uh approximately 16% of our capital budget is for maintenance needs and later on the agenda you'll see our capital budget there there's not a lot of Wiggle room um in terms of adding additional budget capacity to that um and so if you take that our annual maintenance capital budget that is provided by the state of 850,000 and we maintain that 16% um you'll see the deficit that we continue to track um year over-ear U by not replacing those items on the time in which uh they should be replace based on their useful life um so then we get instances where um for example High we went well beyond its weatherization exterior painting and so you know that that campus looked horrible and so we have flooring that has duct tape on it we have several instances where items are being stretched pel use for life and so um in a perfect world we would be able to replace those at the time in which those expired um but realistically we have been unable to keep up with those needs and um right now we are realizing all those needs at once because of of that hyper growth in 2006 and 2007 so all right jumping into the survey results again I mentioned in meeting to that the committee chose to move forward with a a survey of our registered voters um High Ground conducted the survey among amongst 400 likely voters from February 5th through February 12th the margin of error um according to high ground for a survey like this is plus or minus 5% um and so so what in his experience you can take these results uh to the November election and be within Plus or plus or minus 5% and so um I've snipped a few of the survey questions that I felt reflected the the results but again on our website you can find the complete results of the survey um to start off the survey asked some general questions about K12 education in our local community and you can see it represented here um that in general the question was in general would you say that your local community is heading in the right direction or wrong direction um generally um 53.8% say that our local communityi is heading in the right direction 33% said totally wrong and then we had 13% that did not know or refus the answer you can see the demographics on the the bottom half of the slide um age demographics also with kids or without kids the survey also asked um some questions regarding K12 education on a national level um and so the question was in general would you say that K12 education new community is heading in the right direction or wrong direction and so you can see how the trend um on the national level is vastly different than our local um question so 37% said um totally right whereas 45.8% said totally wrong and so um the theme uh and what I garnered out of this was on the national the national narrative is is is a lot different than what's happening in our local community um amongst our registered voters again this is our registered voters again same demographics on the bottom again kids no kids and so getting into um some of the the tests against ouro override and a potential Bond um The High Ground um utilized one thing I want to point out they utilized the actual language that will have to be in the ballot and so I think that's important to note because um this language is is tough to read um it is not read well if you're not um familiar with school Finance or school overrides um but they did test that exact language that the district would have to use in a ballot and so uh the question asked shall the governing board if higly Unified School District adopt a general maintenance and operations budget that means override uh which includes an amount that exceeds the revenue control limits spec specified by Statute by 15% for fcal 25 26 and for six subse additional years um again knowing just what you know now would you vote yes or no on this budget continuation and so again this was considered the pre-test I'll explain the post test in a second but um with that question being asked you can see um across our registered voters and who was surveyed 47.8% said yes 41.2% said no um after the series of questions the survey participants were provided a few additional statements regarding possible reasons someone might support the override such as Higley unified as an a-rated and district and excels academically and the budget continuation is not a tax increase in addition the survey partici participants were also provided statements regarding possible reasons someone might not support the override such as schools in our uh country are out of control and deserve don't deserve another Penny of our taxpayer dollars and even discussing that Higley has had its fair share problems and shouldn't renew this funding until the district gets its act together so looking at the post test so again after the survey members were provided that information um and asked the same question again would you support the override um I'm not going to read it for btim but you can see after that information the the uh results fared a lot better in in the favor of the district so 61.1% said yes 30.9% said no and so um looking at the net changes of that you can see across all demographics with providing some of the additional context into what this is for um a little bit about Higley um it to the one to the individual surveyed um it had them um change their vote and change their mind into which way they were voting um the one interesting to me is the biggest change it was the 65 plus over 20% so again we did the same thing on the bond and again the bond question was shall hegle Unified District be authorized to issue and sell General obligation bonds of the school district in the form of classb General obligation Bonds in the principal amount not to 75 million at the time the committee had not finalized the recommendation so that was the number that was used um but for the purpose of raising monies for school safety renovation and repairs and monitorization other General Capital expenses so again knowing just what you know now would you vote yes or no on the bond looking at those results um surprisingly it fared um above 50% 58.3% said yes whereas 32.7% said no and we had about 9% that said don't know or refuse and again um the uh post test well here I'll show again um this was asked preest um in addition we also asked the survey individuals about several of the items that might be in the bond um and asked um regarding how would you vote on the general obligation Bond and pulled various categories such as these again we weren't finalized with the citizens committee recommendation yet so these categories um may not all be reflected in the final proposal but um I think it provides some interesting context for the board um again the scale was one from one to five uh one being not important at all two being not very important three being neutral four being somewhat important five being very important and so um School Safety and Security improvements um as well as hbac and air conditioning and security cameras all fared um extremely high in this um in this poll um you'll see as we make our way down the list um some of the things that did not farewell or were just above mean uh flooring transportation and maintenance facility as well as williamsfield monitorization and energy efficient lighting so interesting information um from our surveyed voters um again they were provided a a post test um they were also again provided statements uh that you might might hear as as reasons to support the bond and statements that you might hear as reasons to oppose uh the bond the bond proposal and so you can see this fared drastically different um than the override in terms of pre and post um this actually the post- tested um this fared worse on the post test once they knew once they were asked both of those um statements um supporting the bond and opposing the bond um looking at the the comparison the net changes um across the board prettyy much um well I wouldn't say across the board so interesting under 29 it actually increased um 30 to 39 it decreased and then 40 49 it increased but then the rest either remained flat or decreased in terms of that post once they receive that information again um whether those statements regarding support or oppose the bond so with that the final question um again was asked if both budget and continuation and bond issues were put on the ballot which of these opinions come close to your closest to your own and so they asked um I would likely vote Yes on both um that was 44.3% I would likely vote only for the budget continuation I would likely vote only for the bond and I would likely vote vote no on both and don't know refuse and so the continuation if you add likely vote Yes on both as well as the vote only for the budget continuation you can see has 63 63% support the bond is the total of the likely vot both on yes as well as the 7% and that is at 51.3% um yeah all right the last meeting um we met at Higley High School in the new um building Edition um I know several members got to tour that facility and I think Higgly tradition was fresh on their memory um and so I know um that was a drastic change in facility um uh space but the committee received a presentation from steel reviewing the potential tax implications of the proposed emo override and continuation as well as the bond proposal in addition the committee took a roll call vote at the end of the meeting um and voted to bring a proposal at and present kight to be brought forth to the board um a couple of the slides I want to highlight from the steel presentation and include um this this snippet of the graphic below um our statutory bonding capacity continues to increase um that part the main reason is our net full cash full cash assess valuation so our property values um continue to increase and I think it's no it's no secret if you get your your tax bill you'll see your your tax taxable amount on your residential home um is increasing um as well as the market rate is increasing um but it's important to note that um uh assess valuation um net full cast is used for bonding capacity um and then um there's a limited assess valuation which is used for your tax rate but the the main point on this um we have approximately um going into next year an estimate them at $328 million in bonding capacity you'll see the recommendation doesn't even come close to that um we have approximately as of 9124 61 million and outstanding Class B Bond debt so that is Bond debt that has been issued that we're still paying down um I'm not going to have you guys read through this slide but this is a example of a debt schedule that would be potentially approved or put into a a voter pamphlet um the main things I want to highlight um are on this next slide which include um some of the estimated tax impact for the current proposed 83.1 million um a residential property um you can see the reflection of the first um the first graph or chart $287,450 is the is our Gilbert um right now um average uh assessed value residential home so on the on the average um residential homeowner for for Gilbert for this bond proposal it would be an estimated average monthly cost of $761 an estimated average annual cost of $913 um for a estimated um uh total cost over the course of the the 20-year Bond of $2,110 48 that's on the notes to the right um I'm not going to go over commercial residential but they're they're assessed on a different tax basis and you can see their tax impact being higher than a residential family I'm Sorry Miss Reese okay so the recommendation um from the from the committee again I I mentioned earlier overwhelmingly I think the continuation that emo override um was was holistically uh a no-brainer for the committee I think everybody was in support of the M override and so um when I presented this U proposal to vote on for the board um this was indicated as item number one um because again this was um unanimous in terms of the committee's opinion to to continue um demino override um where we had a discussion and where the votes came in um different were on the bond recommendation and so um we brought forth three recommendations represented on the top graph was the full bond package that I presented tonight 2A that totals 83.1 million um 2B was also presented um this was a a conversation that we had to remove um some of those short um those items that have a short useful life such as technology um transportation buses so um those were removed um and that represents just essential maintenance and campus improvements or excuse me um campus improvements and Safety and Security I said that wrong they removed the central maintenance and left in safety security and campus improvements option 2C uh was no bond and just focus on the m&o override um for this upcoming election and so on the right there you can see how the votes um hand out so seven votes came in for option 2 a zero votes for 2B three votes for 2C um one emailed a vote for 2A I did not get to share that with the committee in time um but I didn't want to note that I did want to note that and three did not vote um or were not present at the time we took the vote and so um with that I do want to I do have a couple committee members that um I invited um who who asked to speak um and wanted to provide um their experience on the committee so I don't know who wants to go first Vanessa or Eric but if you want to hi good evening my name is Eric Brown I um I have three students in the district uh one in elementary one in middle school and one in high school uh one's in special ed one is in the gifted program and one attend EV it too so we have had all of the benefits of the public education in our family um in my day job I'm a assistant Public Works director for the town of gilber and I have a deep understanding of the disconnect between local government and the public and so I wanted to use my experience for the benefit of our students um by serving on this committee um as I'm responsible for utility services in Gilbert I have to find ways to pay for the increased cost to deliver those Services um to our community and I know that our professional staff can get Tunnel Vision on the needs to provide the service and they can forget that we have to inform our governing bodies of those needs and the public that ultimately has to pay for those so my job is to connect all those dots and so I wanted to do that here because I suspected that Higley might have that same problem based on the results of the last override and bond elections so I knew going into this process that there were funding needs in the district but my eyes were opened to how many um the team did a great job Tyler Gustavo did a great job um detailing how funding is allocated by the state and how the district uses the funds and you just saw all that today um and then they just showed us the budget shortfalls that are just um fundamentally built into the state formulas and I was really surprised by that um even though I thought I had a pretty decent understanding before I was on this committee um now there will always be a chorus of people that believe that the district the schools and the teachers can be more efficient and can do better with what they have and although I do believe in that call for efficiency I also know that a ream of paper can be a valuable commodity to a teacher I learned that higgle is doing a great job with the resources that they do have but that the structural funding problem cannot be solved by efficiency the override is funding is critical to sustaining the success of our students as an infrastructure nerd I looked very carefully at the capital projects that were proposed by the staff to make sure that they were needs and not wants the safety improvements the large facility maintenance improvements and the transportation proposal are all needs that will improve the educational environment for our students um so without these the experience will degrade for them and that is what convinced me that we should recommend the bond package as it was presented today even though I was initially skeptical um and lastly I just want to state that um we have a responsibility to convey to the voters what will happen with these additional funds but just as importantly what will not happen with them and what will be cut um because that course of efficiency will say that you can do it without them and that and a silent response will make their view the default that the voters have to be moved off of in order to support these proposals now I know that the district cannot Lobby on behalf of any of these things but you have to put out the straightforward message of what will happen and what will have to be cut in an educational way not in a lobbying way just so that the voters can be informed and have an educational decision before them with facts and not conjecture and not opinions by others I had a great time um I I will say Tyler needs a um a little bit of time management an hourong meeting turned into two and a half hour we all but it was because we dove into these into these issues um we even lamented the state funding and and um spent a few moments um wishing we could fix our state but then we had to focus back on continuing for Higley and I feel like we got there as a committee it was a great experience and thank you for for having this committee and for the suggestion that Tyler put out there and for for going forward with it so thank [Applause] you good evening I'm Vanessa Shephard I'm a wife I'm a Mom I'm a friend I can sometimes be somebody you might not like when I'm coming around doing inventory but I am privileged to be able to say that I live in this community I work in this community with the finance department and I'm the property control specialist I see things I'm underfoot and people don't even see me I hear conversations and I get to feel it's not just about the job I get to feel the people I get to go into the classrooms and see the students we volunteer for breakfast and lunch duty I think everyone here at Higley is dedicated to the real main root of why we're here is our students and just like we run our homes just like we run our businesses we we can't run them with love and just air it doesn't work like that so my role involves maintaining accurate records standing compliance performing moderate to complex clerical and Technical accounting functions related to property management and inventory control of the district's valuable assets but one thing I learned about community and the reason I joined the citizens committee was because I grew up in a community that work together we if you didn't have milk your neighbor had milk and you had corn you swapped it out that th those are old school values that never die and my parents actively participated in our community my father owned his own construction company where he helped design and build homes schools and fire departments my mother was employed by the Richland County School District for over 20 plus years and retired as the Director of parent education so choosing to get involved felt natural being on the committee has afforded me an opportunity to learn more about school funding and land use it's afforded me an opportunity to have a voice in decision making it shown me where to lend my talents and expertise with the children and to serve this community speaking honestly My overall experience with the committee and the group left me with many emotions sometimes I went home sad because we seem to be losing sight of our mission many of us were looking in the rearview mirror instead of using that big windshield in front of us to guide us to the bright and promising future ahead I was so ignorant and unaware to what an override was what a bond was prior to becoming part of the group PRI prior to coming to this committee and coming to the school district attending the asbo and and the the continuing education workshops and all of the things we have at our fingertips that give us a better Insight on why we do what we do I took advantage of everything I sometimes paid for my own classes just so I can understand something and you can't go into something not knowing what it is so I did my research on what a bond was what an override was and I did I thought I knew what it meant to have a budget or a school budget but I quickly got a love tap of Revelation that is not as simple as we think I did I'm going to be brave and say I did vote for both the override and the bond because I feel that if you're going to take a risk and you want to ask for something don't ask for a little bit ask for everything because you might end up getting it so I have seen for myself what a difference it makes to be involved have dedicated employees that champion each other and have a sound financial plan and program with a guru like Tyler Moore at the hand him I am not just saying this because I work with him I say this because I trust him I trust you I trust the people in this room I trust the people in the classroom and yeah there was a lot of opposition and sometimes you walked out of those meetings and you're like boy I don't know if I want to sit next to this person in the restaurant we might not like each other anymore but then it made me really think that we got big brains we're not a lot of power we got a lot of smart people and just because we don't agree don't mean we can't come to a unified decision that supports the the thing that is the best and when I say Tyler is a guru and as y'all can see we had 25 pages of data okay I saw some shifting legs I saw some but an overall presentation like this takes a smart person it takes a person who loves numbers and that gentleman over there he loves some numbers okay and to break it down on a layman's term I got all the statistics we got all the yay and nays you know we got everybody up in an uproar about why this or that but when it comes down and and what it all boils down to is that Tyler he's an expert at Finance he's real respected by his peers and his colleagues I've seen this for myself and I also believe that his moral compass is navigating this District in a direction in which we can Leverage The District Finance to give our students the best and that's why I'm here I like being the best I got a feeling everybody in this room likes being the best and higgle is the best before my family and I moved here we've seen Arizona I'm from South Carolina I've traveled a good little piece of this Us in my career with Bank of America over 20 years I spent a lot of time on the road I've seen a lot of states and I've seen what people do but I love being the best so that's why I chose you I'm glad I'm here I'm glad we disagree because that lends to an opportunity so that we can agree so I encourage us to unify to support husd so that our children can see what it looks like to be the best and what it takes to be the best and sometimes being the best means that we don't always agree but we're unified in the effort to make things better and the best all the time so thank you for allowing me to be in this community thank you for allowing me to speak this evening and thank you the board for making the decision that I know that you all are going to make cuz it's always going to be in the best interest of higgling thank [Applause] you next time I'm going to review Her speech before um with that I be happy to answer any questions from the boardy president Anderson Mr Moore now we have seven schools that are below 60% capacity what are the chances of doing redistricting in order to provide more space for for instance like HTA which is close to H close to williamsfield to be able to do some sort of redistricting and be able to provide HTA space for our williamsfield students I mean that uh president Anderson Vice President Van Hook that is not something we have entertained um just because I I don't think the sheer capacity moving the entire School of hga across our elementaries that are not in that neighborhood uh are appropriate for our families who utilize the school as a neighbor neighborhood school so but that that is not something we have researched but we can certainly look into yeah I'm just I'm concerned because the fact that we have seven schools below six 60% or below capacity physical capacity we need to consider what our options are when it comes to being able to redistrict financially I mean that that's got to be something that we we do consider um we've got I mean the space the the funding for um water power like everything that we're paying for these facilities is it a possibility that we can consolidate um another I just lost my train of thought sorry go I I completely lost my train of thought go ahead if you have other questions president Anderson um along those same lines Mr Moore um you know looking and seeing that we're capturing just under 50% of our own students obviously that talks about our competition um that families are are getting needs met elsewhere um is there still ongoing conversation about um specializing certain areas to increase capture rates and looking at um perhaps some magnet schools kind of along the lines that Miss Van Hook was talking about without leaving an empty building the maintenance on an empty building becomes horrible um it it really actually becomes very expensive to maintain an empty building um and I don't think any of our neighborhoods want empty buildings but is is that ongoing conversation of looking at some type of magnet schools to increase um to increase our capture rate yes and president Anderson uh bo re um I know I've been with um discussion with Miss Lindsay um and looking at some of our elementary schools um in terms of other magnet programs I know we've done Miss Lindsay has done tours um and some of our elementary principles have done tours um and so uh those are initiatives that we are researching and still looking into um they require a lot of man hours um if you look around there's we're down individual in our in our admin team and that being a superintendent M Sher Richard has been doing a great job but we have been um spread thin this year and so um but that is something that we've been um ongoingly um researching and looking at potential options um to implement in the upcoming fiscal years well and some of these items that you touched on I mean they are bleachers sound like nothing but if you've been to the schools during events there's huge safety risks um that they're overcrowded they scare me actually um and so these are our needs um for some safety for our students for our visitors um and in addition we are in competition with our neighboring districts so um while it may not seem like a need to one it is a need to another it is interest um I'm just if anyone's been out there and has seen Hamilton's gym I mean I I get we're not as big as them but wow they have like I think there's three courts back to back inside you'll get lost I'm not asking for that I'm asking for us to be able to house our student body so um um and then have the opportunity to create Revenue I know some of our schools cannot hold certain competitions that are fundraising um because we're not big enough so um that eliminates certain activities from that as well so um I just as long as we're still having the ongoing conversation on how to utilize space I know that's important um and understanding demographics there's EB and flows and so we may we everywhere has seen a decrease in uh K3 education since covid and it's going to come back up and so most neighborhoods turn over every seven years and so you'll be capturing more kids and so we it's there I think we need to there is some things we can look at to continue to to better capture our own students but I think the potential is there yeah and I just want to point out president member re that I think the representation of this proposal reflects the the current um kind of needs in in of our district right we understand there's competition but we myself and Gustavo our director of facilities and mainten it's um really looked at what our needs were we try to internalize um what are we we understand we holistically understand there's competition but um you I don't know how you know obviously that can be decided on that could be influencing somebody's individual perception but I think we looked holistically at what our needs were in terms of our high schools being outgrown of the current facilities and that's where a lot of the project proposals stem from well and I think too it's also you have to understand some of the history like you said we went through hyper growth a lot of our schools were buop by sfb which were bare minimum they their items are coming if not past their lifespan um and like you said we've kind of band-aided them but at the same time that these were aging schools that would have needed those maintenance and repairs is one when sfb quit funding anything and two when we started losing um the state started taking money back from the district they started taking capital and I'm the way they phrased it is that they were they were only going to the reduction was only going to be 90% or um things like that so the time we had we would have been ideal and proactive in taking care of of some of these things that funding wasn't available we found ways to bandaid it other things have have come up and these things need attention so um understanding that when they would have or should have gotten attention we weren't getting the funding for that so um we had to find ways to try and get through Mr M I have a quick question about the the committee three people didn't vote did they attend all of the meetings and then just at the end chose not to vote or yeah president Anderson member Schultz I think this the the note to my time management skills um we you know several meetings went past six to you know and and so I think individuals had obligations um at the last meeting U we had to you know I think that attended the meeting then had to leave and before the vote can take place and so that's what those three um represent one did miss the final meeting but two one was online didn't stay on until the vote and one I think left early and so thank clarify I got some work to do on my time management I'm sure there was a lot of things to manage during that time president Anderson Mr Moore who's mistake was it to put the bleachers on the wrong side whoever build the school I miss ree has may you have more history than me it was the builder so why didn't we go back to them and have them fix it um has the time lapsed to where we can force them to fix it I think president Anderson Vice President Van Hook I think you know after the district signed off on those invoices that we you know somebody took ownership to to obligate that you know to authorize building them in that place and so I we don't have really any authority to go back and and hold that Builder accountable for something the district approved and signed off on so unfortunately I don't think we have any options in regards to holding the Builder accountable to change those so at the time of approving the district knew that the bleachers were on the wrong side and still approved it or we just didn't catch it I I have no context of of that time in which those were approved and who approved those so I don't I don't know who vice president I can look into that to try to figure yeah I mean I I wish that we I mean now it's it's too late obviously but it would um and and do you know when it was done well when williamsfield was built it that's how it was built oh so so I I mean it was that they were after it it right it those are the originals and so um and perhaps at the time whoever signed off on it that school wasn't nearly as big as it is now and so they could have looked at it and said hey I mean this it's backwards but the school's got to open and we're ready to go and we don't have enough students to fill it now in anyway so and I'm just saying I I wasn't there but that that's a potential because the school has grown tremendously since then thank you also uh president Anderson Mr Mo correct me if I'm wrong even if it were placed in the appropriate location as far as the away being on the opposite side we would still need the larger beachers for what we currently have as far as capacity right like I mean because they would have been the same size they just would have been on the opposite sides of the field right that's correct the president and member way that it the proposal addresses two things moving the bleachers to the correct side but also increasing the capacity of the bleachers to hold the student body and the current needs in the the school I I just want to make a comment that I I really um like what Mr Brown said um and he was very straightforward and and also in what he said about um having a straightforward message and how important that is um should we decide to vote to move forward with this of what will happen and what won't happen and I appreciate that and appreciate um your Insight as well no you thank you president Anderson uh um some things that I am I'm grateful for with respect to your presentation as well as the individuals from the community uh the committee that spoke out today um some things that I know to be true uh is it's very difficult uh to understand the way Finance is set up for education in the state and I recognize both as you know a member of this board a former teacher who taught in this District but as a parent and taxpayer um that it often feels frustrating that we have to make these types of requests um the way that the state structured it and its reasonings um are designed so they don't have to have the responsibility um and I can understand why they would like to do that because these are not easy conversations to have but it puts a pretty big burden uh on us to do so and that's that's a very difficult space to be in so I appreciate how we you know hope to go forward and and maintain the ability to try to educate individuals on what that means and why this is a necessity because if you are angry at this mere existence then get angry and and tell our state legislatures of these types of things um we've made me several mentions of the fact that we are losing enrollment which is true and competition uh and some of that enrollment loss from covid um there are other things that are at play there with respect to vouchers um some things that are new that I think are also important to understand because a lot of our facilities focus is on high school later years uh I think it's very easy for individuals to homeschool if you don't have a background in education at an elementary level but then as your kids get older and the needs of that those subjects and everything else that's part of the reason why they come back in middle and high school and why those numbers continue to increase because there's a lot of things that are there not only sports clubs academics and I recognize that home school kids still have the option to do those things but there are subjects that you just you're not an expert in everything and that's really hard to do and provide and so I think things to keep in mind that are important is as all of these things are true and we have all of these new builds and more new builds that are coming one of the things that people do is shop for and the look of things the offerings that we have is what makes people come here we have great academics and we have routinely had them and that's part of the reason that people come here but not everybody is academic centered I was a former AP teacher and I'm not academic centered I think there are other things that public education can provide and do for the community and for those individuals who also don't have students and struggle sometimes to see the benefits our property values increase and it makes it easier for us to be able to do these things so it's yes a benefit to the students and ultimately that is the responsibility of us here on the board here as a district is to be here for our students and do what is right for them and in their best interest but for those individuals who may feel as if they don't see the benefit of this I I challenge you to take a step back and look at some of the things that not only the schools provide for the community but how that reflects on your neighborhood your home value and the desire for individuals to be here because that all plays a part into why these offerings which I'm very grateful to the committee for for doing and I recognize that it is a risk but I again you miss the shots that you don't take kind of deal and so I think it is important to keep that in mind as we go forward so thank you for that President Anderson Mr Moore um I you talked about uh or relocating the tennis courts at uh Higley does that mean um we would then have to stop paying um the church at that point too for parking for parking and I can't remember the amounts for the church parking no you're relocating the tennis courts at we're relocating the tennis courts oh yeah yeah okay then never mind ignore me but I thought didn't we all do we all we use the church okay I was like yes sorry thank you I thought I was right they just tried all night we just recently we just recently adopted an agreement with um the church across from williamsfield but uh moving Transportation would then open up more parking spaces um to allow for students then yeah to sever that agreement and then um move those individuals on the campus the church parking lot at uh over here across from Higley um that the church I think in in kind um lets us use that lot so um we do not pay for that so okay but they would have to stop crossing the street so that's safety right yeah you get them all on the one yeah okay thank you I just had a question just for clarification uh regarding the workout area um for the football what it called there it is um is equipment going to be included with that or is it strictly just building currently at this time it's just uh Person in Just building space we just need additional space for um locker room capacity um uh to help assist with supervision having students have their own space um and giving a space for each one of our programs currently there's a lot of shared locker room space um and so um expanding that to open up um to meet the capacity needs of of of those programs who have greatly increased since that was built in 2010 um yeah thank you and for the bleachers I just want to clarify it's new bleachers not expanding upon the bleachers that are already in place is that correct or has that even been decided I would new bleachers at this time that off top of my head yeah we can look into the opportunity of expanding to potentially save some money um but I know the age of those bleachers um we've had to do warranty work on those especially especially at higgle High um so I would have to I can't answer that off top of my head but we would look at options to save money obviously um but in my opinion I think they would be replaced due to the age of them I was just wondering what what you were talking about one or the other are there any other questions or comments regarding this okay thank you thank you for those that came and spoke tonight um and thank you for the committee members that that went and and gave um apparently more than an hour um each time to learn and participate and give input we really appreciate it um all right so that concludes our information items we're going to head over to the action items and action item 7.1 we're going to uh vote to approve uh the citizen committee's recommendation are there any questions or comments before we make a vote and and if if that's I don't know if that slide is going back up can that was the 15% for the override and then a bond for 83 million yeah president Anderson that the recommendation from the committee was to um put on the ballot a renewal a continuation of the 15% M override and um option 2A which was the 83.1 million bond proposal and again uh as I mentioned this is just to accept the recommendation the community to give me direction to discuss with the attorneys um to bring forth a resolution to officially approve it so tonight again you're not putting anything on the ballot you're just giving this is giving me some direction to bring forth a an official resolution to then vote on to put that on the ballot so there any discussion okay um I motion that the governing board approve the citizens committee recommendation as presented in option 2 a second all those in favor I I I all those oppose I'd like to explain my vote please um attending the committee meeting was enlightening but it also brought light to some troubling issues it's disheartening to see certain members push for a bond regardless of the recommendation by high ground or dissenting opinions many of the committee members showed up to push for a bond No Matter What was presented a member at the last board meeting said that the top priority for the bond was teacher pay and that is false the top priority for the community was Safety and Security she also told the committee at one of the meetings that if you aren't working uh if you aren't willing to work on the messaging then you shouldn't be a part of it I'm not sure what messaging that is the disrespectful treatment of M Bender from some committee members was appalling at the last meeting from one's Outburst to another's dismissive gestures and at one point Marty president Anderson and I thought one member was going to hit Marty another member had to use her hand as a gavel to stop the Outburst it's clear that the Civility and respect was severely lacking why would any Community member want to take part in such a committee in the future when this behavior is tolerated Marty merely presented the survey data and his recommendations based on that data meanwhile no attempt was made to correct misinformation being spread by other members instead the only person using the data provided was gaset the tactics by High Ground including deceptive survey questions were concerning as well I actually got the survey call and we'll tell you that based on the wording used for those questions were me were very deceptive if these questions were asked a different way they would have gotten different results their survey showed 45.8% think that K2 through 12 education in our community is heading in the wrong direction High Ground claimed that this dissatisfaction stems solely on national news which undermines the issues within our state in our district including ideological conflicts and many other issues affecting our students and families directly one member claimed that parents are pulling their C kids out due to Aesthetics parents are not pulling their kids out um due to superficial reasons such as Aesthetics but because of fundamental disagreements with the direction of education and I know this because I've spoken to many parents who are on waiting lists for Charters and private schools blindly approving proposals without considering long-term consequences jeopardizes Financial stability and public trust we've all seen the news regarding the superintendent that we have hired that should be a warning to all of us as to what could happen when board members rubber stamp everything that is printed presented to them instead of asking tough questions we have a board we have a board member wored about $8 business cards but not the millions that are rubber stamped by this board without question I said at the last board meeting that we can't make decisions based on the hopes that a bond and override passes and was told that if Mr Moore didn't feel confident that he wouldn't present those that option but at the same time say that if it doesn't pass Cuts will have to be made for me cutting programs for children is not an option that's that's why kids are here and I've said this before transparency in spending and prioritizing needs over wants is a must I've always discussed that we need to look at budget reductions because we have to go back to functioning without Sr funds the district has made permanent Staffing decisions with temporary funds we need to look at that as well we are to pay approximately $150,000 for the election to date we have paid 15,000 for the survey it will cost a uh $750 per question on the ballot 13,600 to applied economics and I'm not sure how much we'll be paying for stifle so not counting stifle we have already paid out $330,000 before we even consider a bond the true implications of a bond and override must be communicated honestly to the community while Ed that an override is not a tax increase in reality it is a prolonged tax burden we must uphold honesty integrity and accountability in all of our actions and with that my vote is no okay motion carries four to one all right moving on to action item 7.2 tentative approval of the fiscal year 2025 capital outlay budget any questions comments discussions okay um I noticed that equipment was listed on here twice uh Furniture fixtures and equipment so ones under Educational Services and one ones under under schools do we know why that is yeah president Anish member Van Hook um the highlighted section represents the department in which that budget is under so the educational service department has a instructional Aid Furniture fixture and Equipment budget as well as each one of our um under our school budgets each one of our schools has a Furniture fixture and Equipment budget so um the reason it's listed twice is because it's under two different departments each department has a budget for that purpose okay and um the instructional Aid um what would fall into under that category yeah so uh president Anderson Vice President Van Hook um that is utilized by the educational service department to to provide supplemental resources for our DLI programs um our traditional programs Etc um those um uh resources are annual obligations that the educational service department has to procure um annually and so um those are supplemental resources to support those programmatic schools and and this is based on funding we have currently correct yeah these are budget numbers based on the estimated budget um capital budget um for next fiscal year great thank you so sorry thank you any any other comments or questions no okay I motion that the governing board ten tentatively approve the fiscal year 2025 capital outlay budget all those in favor I I did I hear your name oh oh okay all uh so five eyes motion carries five to zero um I I'd actually like a motion uh to make a motion to table this item um and if I can explain um why that is um are you talking about 7.3 yes um I another statement written um so given my experience in the health Freedom world I've been deeply involved in advocating for protecting our citizens from potential health risks one of those risks is posed by electromagnetic fields emitted by Source sources like cell towers these concerns are critical to address especially when considering placing such Towers on school grounds there's significant data indicating that exposure to electromagnetic fields from cell towers can lead to various symptoms including headaches fatigue sleep dis dist disturbances additionally um there are well-founded concerns regarding the potential long-term effects of radio frequency radiation on health with some studies suggesting possible links to increased cancer risk notably brain cancer furthermore research has indicated potential neurological impacts such as alterations in brain activity and cognitive functions as well as effects on uh reproductive Health it's especially considering uh concerning considering the vulnerability of children whose developing bodies may be more susceptible to the effects of RF radiation Beyond health concerns residents nearby May view the tower as undesirable potentially leading to decrease in property values in the area moreover the risk of electromagnetic interference with the electronic devices within the schools such as technology communication systems and medical equipment a couple weeks ago two two residents in Washington won a right to intervene on a lawsuit against AT&T in federal court regarding a 65 ft cell tower going back near the um going up near their home the claimant is 100% reliant on a pacemaker and his exposure to radio frequency ra radiation can interfere with his pacemaker in 2022 When AT&T and Verizon rolled out 5G they were instructed by the White House to hold off on the roll out within 2 miles of all airports due to the possibility of dangers on PL um to planes given these risks and concerns the safety and health of our school Community must remain a top priority and the potential risk associated with cell towers on school grounds outway any Financial gains I can provide further research to anyone that would like to see it there are over a thousand studies related to health risks from these towers this is not communicated this was not communicated ated to our community no public input was considered snuck into consent agenda not necessarily stuck that you guys did it on purpose but it was in the consent agenda just to get a 5 and0 vote and and move along and then incoming emails today from 8:00 a.m.

at the ashin high school auditorium uh we will have more information about the warrant and all the articles that are going to be um on the warrant at town meeting uh that will be up online on our website and then also through our social media pages and um yeah we look forward to seeing you there that's uh just a reminder for everybody town meeting is our legislative body and it's where a lot of very very important uh decisions get made and so we really really need your input and really need your participation as residents to uh make sure that this town goes in the direction that uh that you would like it to go in So speaking of directions we're going to talk about a comprehensive plan here with Stacy Stacy and rerry um and I'll just uh I'll just ask you the question question what is the comprehensive plan and get into why it's important for for our listeners well that's a big question um I'll I'll take a stab at it first um hi listeners I'm Stacy Grant Lewis uh the comprehensive plan uh that we've named The Envision Ashlin plan is your opportunity as Community uh residents participants to take the next steps to what Ashlin will look like over the next 10 years so this plan runs from 2025 through 2035 and Beyond um we've hired a consultant a very Adept consultant to help lead us and guide us through this process on your committee sits 29 very very passionate community members me being one of them um we spend our evenings uh once a month uh working through structural Transportation community recreation open space sustainability all of the things that we think that we know are important to Ashen based on your commentary so um yeah that's a start rry hi I'm rajashri um and thank you for inviting me to this podcast of course um so with the comprehensive plan um I look at it as a forward thinking um document a forward thinking process where we're looking at a shared commitment where all of us are engaged in a shared vision of what we want this town to be um and we are acting together through this steering committee finding commonalities finding the differences I think that most of us they're you know we we're different uh but that's important so that diverse voices are seen um they're audible they're credible and that we all make this plan what it is great great and so you know both of you mentioned the comprehensive plan steering committee Stacy you mentioned the fact that it's 29 people right um so what is that committee composed of who who is it composed of so we have um representatives from all the Committees and councils town councils uh we have representatives from five precincts me being one of them I'm from Precinct 5 um there is the the select board members two of the select board members two of the planning board members and several others and you're there too yeah and for disclosure I'm I'm part of the committee too but nobody wants to hear me talk anymore and Peter Peter M Meek also is part of the yeah Peter Our Town planner Peter who actually has experience in comprehensive plans um sure he's the planner so he he obviously does exactly Peter I believe has been through two himself uh in previous community so uh it's great to get his experience and his expertise uh as part of the committee and um yeah you know I think just to give a little insight uh into how you know the comprehensive plan committee that makeup was uh how that Constitution was um was arrived at was a very long process between the planning board and the select board and myself and Peter and really you know we it's a big committee which has its own challenges U which we can talk about a little bit later but uh it was very very important to get as many diverse perspectives as part of this plan right as possible and I think that's why it's it's got so much representation on it like you said R I think we got six precincts now we used to have five now we got six um and then you know the rest are made up of uh different boards and committees like the like you said the select board the planning board but the cultural Council I represent the cultural Council yeah yes and like you said rri you're representing Precinct Five Stacy uh is part of the cultural Council U you're representing uh the cultur Council on the on the committee yeah may I add that those of us who are representing precincts each one of us went through a rigorous selection process um because we were not part of any Town Council we were not representing any committee as such so that process was long worse than a job interview oh gosh and somebody even checked my job you know the other professional space you know who you are so so it was a rigorous process did I tell I put you through a full background investigation before we did I wouldn't be surprised I wouldn't be surprised we we made sure we couldn't uh couldn't have any Riff Raff on the Comm no and I hid well you did well yes hid hid um for sure um so you know we talked a little bit about what the comprehensive plan is and you know why it it's so important but you know one of the things that that we talked about that's an important component of this is is public engagement yes and not just getting the opinions of the 29 members on the steering committee but uh representatives of voices from all different parts of the town and so what are some of the ways is you know the comprehensive planed steering committee what are some of the ways that uh we are utilizing to uh to get that input well we're in a really exciting phase right now phase two um there are four phases to the yes yes and uh we're in phase two public engagement and uh which will this part of the phase will wrap up on April 26 but that includes we're doing these focus groups with M which Michael will go through a little bit more in detail called meeting in a box and when we're meeting with small groups two to eight people at a time going through seven important questions asking for their feedback um for those of you who are a little shy and not able to attend a meeting in a box we also have a Community survey I will say this community survey takes about 10 to 20 minutes depending on your internet connection so just be aware um we have a crowd map which is kind of fun to use um it's where you can actually pin um areas of opportunity for yourself so for example if you wanted a sidewalk on Cedar Street you could actually go onto the crowd map and pin that there and say that's something that you want yeah so um these are tools that were provided to us by our consultant um JM goson and their team um so each of these tools you know all the steering members are aware of these and they will be reaching out in the next few weeks until April 26 um and talk to you about how you can be involved and so please look out for them um engage with us in whatever way you feel comfortable um you know there are people who are writing to us at the comprehensive plan um steering email address I want to be in a meeting in a box and so it's it's very resident Le um and so um you know your voice needs to be counted um you know you have an idea about the future of the town about the present uh conditions for instance you know we did an a meeting in a box with seniors um there is a lot of excitement with the construction going on in town but then there are other voices who are not so excited I usually hear from those voices both I heard both sides and it's important to have both sides because that's what is our Consolidated uh response system that goes into the data processing which the Goon will handle but it's important to give that input and and lend that voice sure and so both of you have been involved in several of these focus groups that we're calling meetings in a box and um you know I know i' I've had my own experiences with them and and my own takeaways but um for both of you what has been the biggest surprise that has come out of these these focus groups I just want to add on to what rri said there's so much that we don't know about our beautiful Town um there's so much history here um there are people have that have lived here their entire lives and people who are still considered new even though they've been here for 30 40 years so I think that unearthing that kind of information has been really exciting and then there's like the natural tension between that and people who have moved here more recently and who want to see progress in a different kind of way so I think kind of just surfacing that kind of information has been really enlightening exciting there is tension there and I just want everybody to know experiencing tension is not necessarily a bad thing we just need to hear from all parties involved right right so that's been really exciting yeah for me um you know I was exposed to um this group of people who have lived in Ashland for a decade or so but were completely unaware of Town's offerings um they are a cultural group and they now want to be involved with what whatever is going on in town they did the survey they did the meeting in a box and they want to take it forward so that has been exciting for me that I uh I was able to reach them but it also makes me wonder how many other groups are there that have not been reached and they really need to be front and center in this comprehens of planning process um and then there are other groups that are that have been vocal through and through um but they also realize that there is a certain set of questions and that kind of brings them in a certain at a certain Focus um and streamline their responses according to that so it's not a Haywire kind of a process when we when we are asking questions we do want the response that will help the town plan better right right and just to kind of ech what both of you said um one of the most interesting Parts uh and surprising parts of this uh whole process is for me I I should say is with the steering committee itself and I take for the granted the fact that I know all of you but a lot of you didn't know each other as you started this process and I think for me one of the most exciting things or fun things to watch is to watch steering committee members like build those relationships and um have you know get to know each other's perspectives uh Stacy I know like at the at the very early stages uh you had a a good conversation with Carl hackinson who is one of those uh gentlemen who who have been here his family has been here for generations and you come at it with uh varing uh perspectives about things um can you just talk a little bit about your approach you know how do you how do you approach those conversations and um you know making sure that you get your points across by but also being open-minded right um well I agree with you that the steering committee is kind of a microcosm of Ashland it's everyone who's passionate and willing to devote their time to this project that's on that steering committee so I want to Echo that sentiment I think open-mindedness is how I approach this process I'm a newbie uh in in the sense that I've only been here for 6 years um I'm also I still think of Anie to the state I've only been here for 9 years I moved here from New York where I was a hardcore New Yorker for a very long time and I moved to this beautiful Town Ashland where it's just gorgeous open space very friendly neighbors very friendly and approachable Town management uh all the things that make you want to put down Roots so having an opportunity to even talk to Carl in on a one-on-one you know uh basis was really new to me and really enlightening really eye openening because Carl had a wealth of information to share and just a different perspective and I just kept thinking wow other people should know this you move here and you get kind of you know set in your ways with your kids and your neighbors and the church or the synagogue that you go to and that's your world but there was a world here before we moved here and there are people who are moving here now to this new world that is here now and so I just think that there are ways to connect those points and that's what really blew my mind like okay there's something to be really offered here for everyone yeah and and rry how how about you what can you tell me one of those conversations that really kind of opened your eyes and enlightened you to a perspective maybe you didn't have before well there was many such occasions but um you know I Echo um Stacy's sentiments um I came to this country as a trailing spouse um and um which means if you do ever do a segment in on immigration MH that'll be a big one um uh but spouses who are wives are not allowed to to work for pay um but they're free to travel and do education so there were years when I spent not being counted um I did not have a Social Security I was given a tax ID because I was expected to pay taxes out of what I don't know um but not being able to stand up for myself um that was the hardest few years and around the same time is when we decided to move to ashin okay we thought okay let's make a change because this is not helping us um I was volunteering in different places I was uh working with um a women's studies program at bu um and I would take the tea and I said what's the next town that we can afford a house in uh where there's the tea option um and that was Ashland it was affordable and we just drove around we said oh we like it so so with that you know I I started to look at different opportunities where I could use my talent I could use my background um and I found that people in Ashland were welcoming to that um they could have easily said no it's okay you're the trailing spouse U but that didn't happen and as with the immigration process it was a slow um process but when I first came into um when I first came into the situation where everything was regulated for me and I I knew how to work my way through um the immigration process um I realized that there was so much more that I could do in town um and so when I have conversations with members of the steering about okay there's a health issue somebody is uh going on with um there's somebody who's passed on there's a personal aspect to each of these members on the steering that I connect with um and it's important for us as a as a community of steering members um to lean on each other because there are so many moments um that we feel like maybe we failed ourselves in this job um um but I've I've seen how people support each other um through arguments through um discontent um and through communication barriers but the fact that everybody comes together because they have the good in themselves and they're looking at how Ashlin can be a better place no matter which direction they come from that has been really um enriching for me oh great great wow that was ratory for me I didn't know that about you so I've known you for years rry and I you never asked I never asked yeah um but uh F that's one one of the reasons I love these conversations is you find out new things about people all the time and uh both of you have talked about you know some of the great opportunities that uh the conference of plan steering committee has has provided uh for you as individuals but um I just want to turn and pivot a little bit and and what do you think's been the biggest challenge uh well I think people are uncomfortable with tension I'm going to say that t- word again um I am a project manager by trade that's what I've done for a living for some time and uh in project management I can say that tension is a good trait but not everybody agrees that it is right so they're uncomfortable about how to navigate if they disagree or um if they are not aligned with the overall project there's like you know this tendency to think it's got to be black or it's got to be white when there's a lot of gray area in between so I think that's a human tendency and working through that that kind of discomfort can be a challenge with a group that large right so there are people who may feel like okay I just won't say anything or people who overcompensate and say too much um I think it's just navigating that kind of personal attention what about you Rog yeah so um I've worked with Community engagement for a very long time even in my professional space so I was dying to get into this public engagement phase because this is what is the Crux of the matter um but what I found challenging uh has been um that all voices are not loud enough in the committee and that I couldn't hear from a few people that was gwing at me um that you know there are some members who are able to vocalize what they're feeling or what they're um intending to say but the others were not and they were holding back for a variety of reasons it's maybe their personality maybe what they heard wasn't yelling with them but individual connections helped in this manner so I would go up to each person and talk about what really works for them what really attracts them to be part of this um and I think now they're they're blooming in their roles um you know in the recently in the in the volunteers breakfast that you missed but Stacy and I were there I was doing a meeting in the box so but it was it was great because there were so many of the comprehensive plan members steering members who were there and each one of them got up um to talk about you know they were publicizing the plan um on their own you know and so it just made me feel really proud for them except for Chuck Lids who forgot he was on on the comprehensive plan he's on multiple other he's on multiple other groups and he talked at length about that but I I told him we're going to give you a hard time so this is the hard time oh okay I think Chuck's been a little under the weather so we can give him a pass on that Chuck Chuck who's a member of the sustainability committee and represents the sustainability committee on the comprehensive plan steering committee uh does a lot of great work yes he does um we can pull his leg though even though he's had surgery about to say the one that not the shoulder but the leg yes um yeah I think probably the biggest challenge from my perspective is just the size of the grw yeah and um well you put it together so you deal I know nobody nobody to blame but me so um but uh yeah it was something I I I will say I underestimated a little bit is you know how big of a challenge it is to make sure that you've got you've got that big a group making sure that there's equal access and opportunities to make comments and I think you're right I I think some of the more vocal people myself included um are used to like speaking you know in front of groups or as part of committees and I think it's easy to take for granted that not everybody has that experience right right um but over time I feel like the trust is has just just bloomed like you said over time I think those people who are less comfortable uh are able to come up to both of us indid and they're taking on responsibilities can I do this can I do that and everything is so important and um it makes a significant change um to the planning process and and I will say just you two are are co-chairs and I think uh both of you have done a really good job of kind of laying that foundation and making sure that there is that opportunity for people to uh to get engaged but um I think you know speaking of co-chairs what what made you both decide to kind of enter your throw your names in the in the Hat throw our names you know what that's a good that's a good point not as chairs but I threw my name as for a member I wanted to be a member right yeah that's right you were kind of volunteered we volunte we were volunteered as somebody somebody recruited us Steve Steve recruited me gotcha and he said you know what she can do it and then you were recruited by by Steve yeah so Steve it's all your fault Steve we're going to we're going to blame you on this one so Steve's used to getting blamed for things so he can take it he can take it can take it I think we both uh there there was a vacancy um in in leading the plan initially and we we had said that you know we would do it temporarily until the group made a decision and the group made a decision and here we are still yeah uh leading so that's how that happened so I got to I got to ask you um you know these focus groups or when we've talked about the survey and and we get updates from Goldson about our community engagement and public engagement and how we're doing on that but um I have noticed in the different focus groups that I've been a part of uh very common themes come out and and I'm wondering if you two have had the same experience and if you have like what are some of those common themes that you've heard um so um they all love the open space and the green spaces here um some of them uh have talked about the roots they take from downtown area to mil Pond and then trolley Brook and Stony and stone stone park and you know so uh that has been really one of the common themes that I see um the other thing is um many of the groups are talking about places to gather um you know this is a social Town yes um and they're looking for spaces uh sometimes they talk about restaurants that are available but it it's not like what it used to be there were opportunities earlier apparently um way before I was here so um they want a replacement of something called news news Ash the ash news as news yeah so it's like Drop in have a coffee chat with people and leave um so that kind of opportunity and then the other opportunity for Gathering ing for cultural groups where do they perform there's no Auditorium um so that they're talking about you know is the Valentine's property available for that U so there are these questions um one of the young students uh who I interviewed um from Ashen High School talked about the fact that older kids have no place to gather because younger kids will go to the swing set older kids will be mocked you the swing is not for you so they were talking about why not the Dairy Queen be changed into an arcade kind of a mall so you know they can be indoor outdoor spaces um so there are different populations who talk about different things it depends on their needs um but overall there are many positives about the present but there are also positive uh aspirations that I see um among the groups that I interviewed for sure and and Stacy what about you I don't think it's a coincidence that I've heard the same exact um listen should know that those three populations that you just described are the on that are the larg in town so we have a big teen population 19 and younger um we have older folks and we have those people who are under 50 and raising families here who want you know to have a place to go so I think people are excited about the possibility the potential of ashin being a more ambulatory place where you can walk around downtown and enjoy outside activities but yes they are looking for indoor spaces um to gather and I didn't know about the News Corp until I had my meeting in a box EXA and how much people missed it and the bakery that was there um and so that brings me to another area of tension is history somehow having history integrated into the town so that people know where we came from and where we're going right I think um so I've heard very similar things especially when you talk about Gathering spaces indoor Gathering spaces yes you know we have uh we have the farmers market we have The Corner Spot Great Outdoor spaces but they're Outdoors they're limited um and so there's definitely been a desire expressed by a lot of people to have indoor spaces that we can utilize in some of the um less warmer months um the other thing that I've heard and Stacy you alluded to this uh is sidewalks yes um now I was hearing that before we even started doing the comprehensive plan but it's just amazing how consistent that theme is uh throughout the different groups that that we talk to and uh open space being another one as well preserving open space um I can tell you I'm surprised just because I I heard from I hear from a lot of people all the time um that's just that's part of my my job and it's actually one of the favorite parts of my job um but you know one of the things that I I kept on hearing from people was expansion of playing fields and but I'm not hearing that in the conference of playing process right I haven't heard that but also you know I think we need to uh interview the younger crowd more um maybe we'll hear it from them and in in those cases they might have that need but we haven't heard it as yet right right so um just kind of pivoting to to to yourselves personally um you talked a little bit about how long you've been in town and What attracted you to Ashlin um talked a little bit about your your professional backgrounds a bit um but what do you like to do in your free time oh I like I like eating like eating okay a lot a lot eating and cooking and traveling when time permits um yeah okay yeah what about you Stacy I am a fitness nut self-proclaimed I work out quite a bit I love being outside with my dog you'll see me walking around town uh with my big white dog you can say hello please um I love nature I love being in Ashen State Park in the Town Forest um and I love traveling as well I I'll be out of town a lot as rich as she knows as the weather gets nicer uh but yeah yeah reading eating traveling and walking and then you know the other thing that uh strikes me when when I look at the comprehensive plan and and all that we're doing you know in the past in in my professional space I have critiqued Master plans critiqued and it's very easy to criticize it's very easy to do it now I'm in the thick of the process um and I'm I'm part of this whole big team and you know we're we're going ahead with it it feels like how much I didn't know um and how much there is to learn um I'm I'm connecting different policies both International and National you know they talk about 15 minute city um oh yeah you know and I think about the ashon town in that respect and yes in 15 minutes I could reach many places from um from downtown if I start walking I could reach many places I could hike I could go to restaurants um when the farmers's market is on I could go there I could go to the library um I could go into the town hall for anything that I need so you know we are approximating that even though we're not a city and we're not an international in that sense um but the fact that so many of those realities are right here doable and thinkable too um that it's been amazing awesome awesome so I I got to ask you you know what do you think we can do to increase engagement in the comprehensive plan process this been one of our our final questions but um well really important I think people need to understand that for the focus groups you're encouraged to host these yourselves at home in your neighborhood um all you need are two other people um you'll be the person that enters the data onto the sheet we can you can drop the sheet off at Town Hall if you don't want to submit it electronically um but you're welcome to do that and share the the survey with your network as well we encourage that um I think people need to know that there's a tendency and I think it's human to just kind of say okay that's not for me um I won't be listened to anyway nothing's going to be done it's just that's the human tendency right so you kind of have to if you want to see change or if you want to be recognized step outside of your comfort zone and realize that that may not be true uh that we do want to hear from you we're taking the steps to hear from you and invite your participation I have never met a town management that's more accessible than the one we have right I would agree it's not multi-layered in the sense that you're going to get caught up in hierarchy yeah so just you know come out let your voice be heard yeah you know it's a really good point that you bring out Stacy that um people sometimes feel like you know even if they say something that they're not heard and you know it surprises me because you know one of I mean if you look at all the stuff that we're doing in town right right I mean a downtown project 126 project you working on the Valentine estate you know some of the new buildings that we've built uh Mendes and the public safety building you know all of those have were born out of community dialogue right and a community desire I mean a lot of people say it's like my vision or whatever and it's really not I mean like whatever Vision I do have it's it's really an amalgamation of you know the different people that I hear from and and listen to so like your voices are heard I mean some of the things that you know you're seeing happening are a direct result of your feedback as as residents and right I think that also that people need to realize that um although we are the steering and it sounds so lofty um each one of us is also a resident um we are resident first before we take on any responsibility to do anything else um and so as fellow residents I think this is a collective um task to talk about what we want to see in this town um we have a shared Vision about how this town should look like it's a it's a commitment that we we give to the next Generations you know how many more years are we going to do this um it's the Next Generation that we have to be uh thoughtful about and what are we leaving behind um so everybody has a say and everybody um it's a public Le event it's not a town government um they may have put it together but it will not progress if the residents do not feel comfortable being part of it and so we are making every effort to open the doors um every steering member can be reached um and and uh I think all the all the councils have to step up and start doing the meeting in our boxes to make it more accessible to people I greated and I think that's a that's a that's a good one to end on uh Stacy and rry thank you so much for being a part of uh part of the show I had to hit the button you know I found the whole uh whole podcast without hitting the button so I had to hit that um and just to remind everybody um you know there's different ways to participate there's the crowd mapping there's the surve there's the meeting in the Box um if you want to get to the website um I what I found is the easiest way to do to do is to basically type in Envision Ashland into the Google machine and it that's the first link that comes up and that gives you access to to all of those they can also go on the town website and it has a blue Rider right on top correct um and that'll lead them to to the website and our meetings are public come to one the next one is on the 18th of APR 18th of April um yes they are public you can show up in person or you can show up via Zoom because we do uh them hybrid but um again thank you so much for being a part of today's thank you for having us thank you for having us this has been fun and um again everybody uh make sure your voice is heard get involved uh Envision Ashland our comprehensive plan process let us know what you would like to see for Ashland in the next 10 years and um so oh but before I forget uh if you have any um comments or if you have any questions you want us to answer on air uh we have an email address set up for um for this podcast it's clocktown Chronicles Ashland mass.com I'm looking over at Melissa Hayes at communications coordinator she's giv me the nod that says yes Michael you did get the correct address so keep it kind keep it kind yeah kindness matters folks um all right uh everybody again thank you for being here thank you for listening and uh this is episode number two uh episode number three I haven't decided what we're going to do but uh it will no doubt be interesting and probably deal with some planning related aspects not comprehensive planning but some more acute planning uh things that we're we're going through today so uh anyway again my my name is Michael Herbert your town manager your host for [Music] uh clock toown Chronicles and I'll see you on the next [Music] episode