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all right I'm going to call the um board meeting for Thursday April 18th um to order and the first thing to do is the pr Pledge of Allegiance everybody will stand I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all okay action item 3.1 is the adoption of the agenda do I have Madam president I move that we adopt the agenda as presented thank you Mr Alexander do I have a second I'll second thank you Mr Russell all those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed all right motion passes 5 Z and up next we have The Shining Star Award in Dr Nelson good evening I am honored to introduce you to Mr David Marquez he is a sixth grade teacher at Middle School North as well as a coach and middle school north teacher of the year for this year so um last month he noticed a student who was struggling to breathe and a student was making the choking um action and Mr Marquez uh effectively did the heick maneuver and saved the child's life from choking at school so this evening we would like to present David with The Shining Star Award this is an award that our school Community gives to someone who goes above and beyond um and in this case uh he saved a child's life and so thank you so much David for all that you do for our students and thank you for making sure our students are safe at school every day we're proud of you congratulations and David um I'm gonna have this family stand um David is with his wife Kristen who is in the back and then his father-in-law Mark so thank you [Applause] con all right and up next we have the CG Spotlight and this month it's Center Grove High School so Dr Henderson great thank you for the opportunity to be here and to celebrate some of the wonderful things that are happening at Center grve High School um as I'm sure you're aware what you're about to see this evening is only a small sampling of all the great things things that are happening at the high school but um we certainly appreciate the opportunity to come before the board tonight and share uh these successes with us so the first thing we're going to start out with is we have um a featured certified staff member a featured support staff member and featured students and then we also have some various organizations that have had some great achievements uh collectively and individually for students and so we're going to have some other folks come up and just share a little bit about those achievements as well first of all I'd like to um identify uh Kathy campara Kathy is here in the audience this evening right up at the front Kathy if you would stand up Kathy happens to be Kathy happens to be a certified staff member at Center Grove High School in charge of our special education department she is our special education case conference coordinator and department chair and uh is very responsible for not only supervising the department but ensuring that all of the teachers in the building are well informed about the kinds of services that we provide to students and making sure that um we are delivering exceptional educational experiences to um lots of our exceptional Learners in our building so uh we certainly want to take a moment this evening and recognize Kathy for her contributions and hard work at CER Grove High School up next is a former certified staff member who has actually returned to the line of duty in a support staff position so this evening we'd also like to uh recognize Carrie Moore kri serves at the high school as an enl aid she was a former teacher at the middle school level and came back to the trenches to serve students at Center Grove High School as an aid so we are extremely grateful that she has brought all of her years of experience and expertise um back to the classroom and is supporting our students um in our enl program so we wanted to take a moment this evening to recognize Carrie up next we have two students who have achieved something that isn't directly connected to school but certainly is uh an example of the kind of students that we have here in our Comm community and we're incredibly honored this evening to recognize a couple of students who have won Congressional Awards so Congressional awards are the highest youth honor that Congress can bestow upon a citizen and those awards were established to recognize initiative service and achievement among young people so the recipients must set and Achieve goals in four program areas voluntary public service personal development personal fitness and Expedition and exploration each of those program areas has a specific set of criteria that a student needs to work within can't be a for-profit business can't involve proti for a church can't be something that you're receiving high school credit for or being paid to do there's lots of criteria associated with each of those um program areas the program's open for all individuals from the ages of 14 up until their 24th birthday so we have two students here um who have received Congressional awards that we want to um to recognize um for their service to community and their personal development those two students are Zoe Carpenter and Audrey Boer so as you can imagine students who participate in this program are really really busy so Zoe's not here tonight but Audrey is so we certainly want to take a moment to recognize [Applause] that all right awesome moving on to the rest of the program here we have have Megan Kramer our director of our Student Services Program who is here to present some information to you about some individual Award winners that we have at the high school as well sure okay can I first have Austin Lynn and Nasser sanari up here please okay just you and me tonight looks like hang out right here for okay so um are you Nasser yeah okay all right so Nasser is one of our two um National Merit Scholars and the College Board recognizes them to um be considered for this these two students have demonstrated outstanding academic performances in their coursework as well as Community involvement so there is a lot that goes into it so we're very very proud for the both of you [Applause] okay and then can I have Alan when okay so Ellen has been the nominee for Indiana academic allar Allstar for Center gr high school every High School in the state of IND indana gets the opportunity to submit a student that we think is wonderful and would represent us well and so she was chosen as our regional Allstar so we are very very excited for her um a little bit about the program like I said every high school has the opportunity to nominate one student um out of the entire school so she was chosen for ours and these um nominees are selected based on criteria such as number of ADV classes taken standardized test scores extracurricular activities in both academic and non-academic leadership and Community Service as well as involvement so she is exceptional in a lot of ways and so we are very excited to have her be our All-Star while we're getting that photo taken I'm going to call uh Debbie Nolan back up to the podium to talk on behalf of our students uh with BPA I'm going to ask my students to join me your list I do I'm good so thank you so much for recognizing um business Professionals of America this this year we had nine students that while competing at our state competition are qualified to attend the national competition which will be in Chicago this year in just a few short weeks in May these students have shown academic Excellence increased their team weeks work skills and displayed a really strong work ethic like many of the other students that we have here tonight they are involved in multiple activities so we could not get all nine here um but I'm very proud of the ones that are here today so first I want to introduce Mahendra mandala he has been our chapter vice president for two years and has been very involved in recr recruiting new members he has also ran for and won a state officer position this year he had to give a speech in front of over 1,400 students at the state competition and run a campaign to win those votes next year he will be our state BPA vice president NRA Place third at state for prepared speech has qualified for and will be attending Nationals in Chicago he's also going to step in for a member who can not go for website design and they need at least two members to compete so he's going to jump in and help website design team so they can go to Nationals so because he is our prepared speech winner I'm going to ask Mahendra to come forward and pass it on to Mahindra to give us a little background about who else is is here this evening and a little bit about BPA all right before I introduce the state winners I'd like to talk about what BPA has done for our members this organization has given our members an opportunity to shape their future by participating in events that relate to their chosen professions with all these experiences our seniors have transitioned into the very professions that they competed in during their years at BPA with this real life exposure they can easily enter their careers with confidence and a deep understanding of their industry by participating in PA we not only develop our communication skills our work ethic and most importantly our leadership skills but we also gain practical knowledge and experiences in the fields we participate in BPA is full of people who strive for excellence and this mentality has helped us succeed in many ways but this year we're taking it a step higher and participating in the BPA National leadership conference and this hasn't happened in three years to get to Nationals our members have worked very very hard and we by fundraising and also by placing in our events but still we couldn't have done any of this without our amazing advisers Mrs Nolan and Mrs Aeris okay now I'll introduce the state winners you can see why he's doing the speak okay monis K is our outgoing region 11 president and he's representative of Department in many ways possible and he's also the executive captain of Robotics and he's also a Statesman torch Award winner Dominic Burke who will be attending Nationals has gotten first in device configuration and troubleshooting third in C++ programming and he will will also be attending Nationals and okay next is Ryan reichart who will also be attending Nationals and he got second in business law and ethics we have another we have few more members who've not who are not here right now and they've already um they have also qualified for Nationals we got Camille short who got first in personal financial management rupes Vats who will also be attending Nationals he got second in fundamentals of web design and second in website design team we got Daniel Lou who got second in Java programming a Newar who also reigned for the State office office he got second in website design team AR of nir who will be our region 11 president next year and he's and he he got second in U website design team and last but not least Quinn Smith who got fourth in Python Programming thank you thank you okay while they're getting their photograph taken I'm going to invite up Daniel Meyers uh on behalf of our HOSA organization good evening everyone good evening school board members I am beyond thrilled to stand in front of you um I'm actually standing in for the true HOSA adviser Miss Andrea tan who could not be here tonight um although she wishes with her whole heart that she could um but we're here to celebrate the incredible achievements of our HOSA chapter for the 2023 20 24 Indiana HOSA State leadership conference we have over 100 members and a staggering 85 of them competed at the state level and our HOSA Club stands as the largest and fastest growing club at Center grve but it's not just about the numbers it's about the remarkable dedication and passion that has been displayed by these students with 15 gold medalists 14 silver medalists seven bronze two Barbara James award Award winners and 45 top 10 finishers across various events our students have truly exemplified what it means to strive for excellence we are immeasurably proud of every one of our members for their hard work their commitment and their success speaks volumes about their determination and dedication to their studies I want to expend uh extend a special acknowledgement to shria Jane uh Lena Ferris and Sophia crawl our president co-president and Indiana State historian their exceptional leadership along with the rest of our chapter's officers has been absolutely instrumental in our chapter's success and the success of Indiana HOSA I would like to ask shria and Lena and uh Sophia to come up and join me please um I would just like to ask for a quick Round of Applause for our amazing team our future is is incredibly bright with these students leading the way um before I introduce our gold silver and bronze medalists as well as our Barbara James Award winners I just wanted to invite these two ladies up to share a little bit about what HOSA has meant and has done for them um thank you I've been in HOSA for four years and I have loved every single minute of it I'm working along side my peers and alongside Mrs T and Myers um I have grained so many connections and have really just explored the world um of the medic medical world and I'm really excited for what the future holds so um I am a I used to be I served as a state officer so I'll just tell you a little bit about what HOSA is so HOSA is a student Le uh organization that's focused on Healthcare uh profession so we're preparing students to enter the healthcare field um we do a bunch of comp ative events uh where like knowledge events uh for specific Healthcare aspects we have like job skills where they can actually choose a job like for example veterinary science and then they can compete in events like that uh we also have a bunch of educational symposiums where students can learn vast aspects of healthcare because it's truly a large large field and so it not only just teaches you to prepare to become a healthc care professional but it also teaches you to become a leader um I've grown so much through this organization and serving as a state officer for the past year was an incredible experience for me I've gotten to meet people members from across the state and uh just truly grow as a person so thank you so this year um our club saw eight uh actually to go back a little bit let's cover our stats there were 3,000 members from across Indiana um in HOSA and almost 2,000 were in attendance at this year's conference among all of those competitors uh Center Grove HOSA won 15 gold medals 14 silver seven bronze and had 45 honorable mentions so when I call your name if all of our first state champions could come up and join us uh we had Magna poai in career developments Kelly Wang in chemistry Mary Wang in human growth and development na palai won a second first place for medical law and ethics Lindsay Ponder and shria Jane for public health Elizabeth floro for job skills job-seeking skills Laurel Sullivan Magna poai Mary Wang Ana mjal Ashley Aldridge and Nasser sanari for Creative problem solving and sigy ring and Lindsay Ponder for health career display next I would like to introduce to you our second state Runners up we had McKenzie nuttle for Family Medicine Ana Shasta for chemistry Mary Wang human heredity Magna palai for occupational health and safety ivy mcleman for physics Muhammad Khan for medical math Kelly Wang clinical specialty Zoe Carpenter EXT extemporaneous writing will will McCrae Scarlet Brink Ivy mcclinon Andre Veta Anthony cuadras and Ethan Zang for Creative problem solving and our third place finishers with bronze medals was Addison matern for Family Medicine Nasser sanari for biology Magna poai leadership Laurel Sullivan microbiology Ashley Aldridge for human growth and development Lena seferis for respiratory therapy and Maddie Brown veterinary science thank you guys finally we just want to uh give a special congratulations to our two Barbara James Awards winners um these winners uh are recognized for their 100 to 175 Community Service hours and that went to Ava borhan and Ryan Zang [Applause] all right and while they're getting a photograph taken I'm GNA invite coach stuck Meer up [Applause] that's all right well I want to first of all say thank you and I am extremely honored and proud to be here to speak on behalf of two of our girls basketball players um audrian and Rachel warts I'll have them stand maybe over to the side over there so you can see them um we are recognizing them tonight for their individual honors of being selected as Indiana all stars um in the state of Indiana um so just to give you a little background about the Indiana all stars um in the sport of basketball in Indiana um you have Miss basketball which would be the top honor of the best senior in the class would be chosen from that and not too far behind is the in in Indiana All-Star team so these two were selected for that as two of the top 12 players in the state of Indiana so and it it couldn't have happened to two better young ladies and individuals um we've talked a lot I can speak about these two but our entire team this year from Varsity on down um especially our Varsity though were just a phenomenal group of girls led by these two and um some of their other teammates um but they are just a phenomenal representative of what we ask at Center Grove of student athletes um I tell people all the time um girls basketball um I won't say we have it tougher than others as student athletes but they play on a Tuesday night in Bloomington South and then they turn around and play in plan field on a Thursday and get home at midnight and these two um are as strong as students in the classroom and leaders in the community as they are um basketball players um in the sport and the craft that they so choose um so just honor to them um audreana I'll speak just briefly uh about her and um give you just background of her future plans um obviously um incredible basketball player she has um been awarded the opportunity to continue her playing career as a student athlete at West Point next year um so she will play for Army if you've ever been to our Banquets I could sit here and talk about these two for probably an hour each so I'll try to keep it short but just a little bit about Audrey That kind of makes her who she is as a basketball player and as a person um as I've talked about her before her attention to detail is second to none um she just has an ability to have that detail of The Craft of what she's doing that um we want everybody to have and her dedication to that craft day in and day out is just incredible and and that's obviously shined through with um the awards and Honors that she's gotten in particular this one um so Audriana um Rachel WS our second um Indiana Allstar um she um will be going to Villanova next year to play and continue her athletic and academic career so Rachel came to us as a sophomore um she was actually a homeschooled student in the district and again just a representative of what our school represents and um her willingness and her family's willingness to want to become part of the center community and she'll leave a legacy that carries that forward with what she does but just what sets her apart um just her hunger to improve at her craft so Audrey has the attention to detail Rachel's not too far behind and you hate to give specifics of one because they both have are so high in um many categories but her hunger to improve at what she does really shine through and her commitment to that Improvement and her humility through that she came to us as a phenomenal basketball player with such great potential and um anybody with such potential and ability um sometimes know that they're really good at what they do and she had a quiet confidence about her and a hunger and a humility to just improve at what she did and obviously that's paid off um into what she's um been as a high school player and you are going to just see that as she goes on and continues her career at Villanova just one small story about these two just kind of exemplify it um I think it was after their sophomore years um we were okay we're a decent team um we had success um but they came in almost daily in the morning from 5:45 or 6 o'clock knocking down the door and forced me to open the gym for them and it wasn't me asking them to do that um too much it was them asking me and forcing me and um just getting kicked out of the gym and that's just an uh just an illustration of the commitment they have and that's shine through in their individual efforts but basketball is a team sport and it's the ultimate team sport and we talk a lot about leaving a legacy um as players and as a program and as a group and our Legacy we really tried to stand on the idea of high integrity High character um being great teammates um doing it for the team and putting selfish Ambitions aside but still having a strong commitment to competitive excellence and these two will just shine through and I'm so honored to be able to represent them and honor them tonight and the fact that they'll be able to have their Jersey hung up as an Indiana All-Star in the Vandy gym is going to be phenomenal Legacy um obviously I brought my daughter here tonight she was just ecstatic to come here because these are two of our favorite players talk about the Caitlyn Clark phenomenon of WNBA and women's basketball taking but you see that at the local level and these two are representatives of girls like her and just the um support that we've had from the community the board the administrators and everybody is just phenomenal and they are just um making it to where everybody falls in love with basketball but more because of who they are and we're proud of our team and them for representing them for that so audon Rachel wartz while they're getting their photo taken I'll invite up Jess Goodman and Alice Thompson hi I'm Jess Goodman and this is Alice Thompson and we are the sponsors for the Center grve High School student council we brought with us tonight our um all student body officers we have Alice and Cohen come on down uh Mary Wong um Ellie win um Ray Robertson Roberts Roberts sorry Ray it's not in front of me and I'm all nervous um Nasser sari and arv AGA these are our top six of 140 students in in student council at the high school um these are our leaders they make sure that we do the things that we need to do they manage the Committees and the classes they make sure that our weekly meetings run smoothly um we are constantly in contact with these six kids just making sure that we are um helping Center Grove be the best that it can be um serving our student body um tonight we're here because we have been awarded the National Gold Council of Excellence from the um National Association of student council to um earn that uh award we had to prove that we are a governing student body that we um participate in service to our community and to our school district um and then that we operate General activities that you would expect of a High School homecoming um pep rallies spirit days uh things like that and so um Nasser actually was our a major component of that this year he had to do several writeups um to to apply for this gold Council of Excellence um and so we learned that last week that we were awarded that [Applause] so all right up next I'll invite up uh Jen Dice and I think Jared is not here I think it's just Jen just Jen um before I start Mrs Goodman over there she's a former student of mine so I'm G to brag on her for a moment because she didn't mention this but we had an all student body um performance a convocation this past week we haven't had it since before covid um and we bring the entire High School into the gymnasium and they get to watch some of the performing arts groups um we get to award some of the students who are in clubs and activities and it's amazing to me that we can bring our whole entire student body and they can be fixated on what is happening and her group um put that together and ran the show and so um congratulations on that was excellent this past week but I'm here to talk about choir so I'm GNA do that now um we had a fantastic year at Center of choirs um we have about 112 students in our two Varsity show choirs and these four are company managers which is just the theater term for president and instead of bringing the whole crew we just brought them and they're going to talk a little bit about who they are where they're going to school they're all seniors um and some of the things that they have gained as a part of being um being a part of the choir program over these past four years hi I'm Eli Emmons uh I'll be going to the University of Cincinnati next year um I'm going to be discussing leadership it's something that I've really appreciated being a part of um this is my first year and only year of being a leader in choir and um it's given me a lot of responsibility and um not a lot of people get the opportunity to lead such a big group and it's putting me in certain situations where I need to think logically and critically and it just prepares you well for the future on whether on when to be serious and when to have fun and compete and I've really appreciated being in this position over the year hi my name is Ella Springer I'm going to Indiana University to study nursing I'm the counter part to Eli Emmons and I think one thing that I've definitely learned I think these ladies have also learned is how to work with others whether it's like communicating with the students communicating with your counterpart or even communicating with directors because you have to use a different voice with each type of person so knowing how to change that and kind of change your tone with that is something that I really will apply to life thank you hi my name is Lane Foley next year I'm going to Purdue University and I have been in devs for three years years and that has taught me and given me so many things and one that stands out the most of me are the friendships and bonds that I've created with these ladies and being the leader of them this year has just given me the position to lead these group of girls and just make connections with each and every one of them and it is something that I will never forget being a part of 50 some girls and everybody wants the best for each other we all love each other we've lost and we've won together and it is something that I might not get again and I have definitely cherished it over the past are yours hi my name is Meredith Ln I'm the other company manager of the debtones I'll be going to the University at University of Cincinnati to study U music education and I'll be discussing how choir helped with my future goals so I want to be a show choir director so I have had many years in leadership in choir which has provided me um opportunities to lead a group and then I also had the opportunity to Cadet teach for Mrs dice this year for the accents which has really helped me prepare for that goal so she's also very humble she's had like every leadership position you could possibly be she's been a section leader a dance Captain she has led um like she said the accents she has a group called The Trojan nuts that she just started up because you know she felt like we needed a counterart to Shaboom so um she is going to she is coming after our jobs for sure um and so we're well aware of that but um the choir did a great job this year we both won nationals it's such an exciting experience for us to get to go down to Nashville to compete on the grandal opery stage which is just amazing to think oh yeah Carrie Underwood was here yesterday and now we are here so it's so fantastic for them to have that professional experience um and to win is even better so um it was a fantastic weekend for us to be down there and we really appreciate it I also just want to give um I know we're recognizing the students but I would do want to recognize a couple administrators too um we after we had won we had some personal Cong congratulatory notes um from Dr long and from Dr Nelson I just want to let you know how much we appreciate that that really means a lot to us that we know you're thinking about us and then of course I have to mention Scott Alexander who um has kids have graduated but um any given Saturday um you may find him backstage still helping to move risers on stage and off and we so appreciate um our alumni and our support and uh that's how we can do what we do is we just have this Army of parents and alumni support and we just appreciate all of you and so we just want to thank you all from for supporting the choirs in all of our endeavors so thank you get pictures last but certainly not least I'm going to invite up Heidi Shackleford to talk about Scholastic art Awards computer went what's that the computer well there we go all right um my name is tidy Shackleford I've stepped in today for Miss uh Jackie Fowler who's the department chair and she is is right now at the um indoor percussion competition where I literally just got a text that said that they just their place Fifth and they're going to perform in the semi-finals tomorrow so that's pretty awesome um so but what I'm here to do today is to um celebrate the artists that we entered in the Scholastic art competition for this year um for those of you who don't know the Scholastic art and writing competition started in 1923 it's an over 100e competition um one of the most prestigious ones in the state of Indiana that recognizes um creative teens um every year we take student artwork that we feel um will fill in the core values of the Scholastic art competition which is originality skill and vision and voice um we have a lot of kids coming up to coming up through us from a lot of talent um but what I want to share with you today do I have any of my art students here with me I don't think any of them were able to come there all working and doing all the things that teenagers do after school um but I'm going to just briefly share with you guys the silver and the gold key winners um the silver and the gold key winner the gold key winners um automatically get entered into the national competition um so I'm not sure where they all stand I think that that's still going right now but I'm going to share with you guys the um the silver and the gold key winners so this is gold key for photography for naria Basera as you can see nari Basera is extremely talented um I also have her in Fiber Arts everything she does turns to Gold this is jayen Redmond this is um a Ceramics piece of hers she's also in my fiber classes so I can test to that this is Reagan Dugan um this is a drawing just so you know this is a colored pencil drawing wow so we should just admire that for just a second very very good she is very very good she is also the um she is also in charge of the um Art Club and she does an amazing job um this is chance burus he is uh he is all around the art department but very prolific in Ceramics this is a silver key this is uh Brena H's ceramic piece as well with um some three-dimensional relief sculpture on the outside side of a throne base this is Elena MCA this is ceramic and um hand painted relief piece just absolutely beautiful if you're not familiar with her work man you should come and see the art show this year she's a little Shameless plug she's very talented we have a lot of talent um this is uh Jessica and aness silver key this is a graphite drawing self-portrait this is Emma Barton this is also a color pencil drawing not a photograph we should just stop and look at this for a second I look at I'm like it's amazing this is also Reagan Dugan silver key this is a um self-portrait piece as well done in graphite this is Jaylen Redmond's photography Jadin Redmond self-portrait and photography capturing that uh beautiful spider with do on it and this is Nicole Reed um and this is uh one of my fiber students this is a batique so it's done with a lot of wax and Dy this is Hannah Terry photograph or photography uh Sophia Jones this is her digital art Visual Communications she takes with um uh Mr Jones the new Mr Jones I guess the new Mr Jones the new Mr and it's so funny is they're both our Jones yeah okay and this is Chloe loots silver key and this is a difficult one to see I can see it on the screen but this is a photograph so we'll just keep going since you can't see that one Tommy Hall this is a silver key photo photograph and last but not least I just want to plug the Fine Arts Festival this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as what we the kind of talent that we have um if you're not familiar with the Fine Arts Art Festival it is a it is all of the schools elementary all through the high school it is so impressive just so stunning to see all of it together um for those of you who are high school kiddos or high school you're at the high school often after we do this the um High School portion of the show moves into the Hall of Excellence so that we get a little bit more time to see all that but if you have not had a chance to see what happens in the halls of the Center Grove art Department I highly suggest that you come check it out so thank you so much so again we want to thank you for the opportunity to come and just share a small slice of the great things that are happening within the walls of Center Grove High School it's always a pleasure to bring these folks before the board and let you see a little glimpse of of what we get to deal with every day um you know with all the Doom and Gloom that exists in the media and all the things that are negatively portrayed about society and the News um getting to spend your time with high school students who do these kinds of things makes you very optimistic about the future so it's great to be here thank you so much for the [Applause] opportunity all right well next up we have uh jod Vamp actually who is our Johnson County Public Library representative and he will be presenting about the Johnson County Public Library explore summer program and updates that's a hard act to follow um you know I thought I did pretty well in high school but now I'm like I'm just going to go hide in the corner for a little while you know I don't think it works that great I don't know that was a long time ago I probably forgot all the good stuff I don't know but um anyway I'm happy to be here and uh as she said I'm jod and I'm with the uh actually I know most of the people in this room and um representing the library which I've been working for for four years as a marketing Communications manager and um I appreciate the time that you give me to talk about what's going on at the library and our upcoming explore summer program so um you have your handouts which you can look through as we go or follow up with later um want to look you part of it is the 2023 year in review and um this past year these are things it just I started there may 2020 midst of Co the branches were still closed and two weeks after I got there they opened but so it's been a slow growth back to where we get to where we are today but um checked out more than 1.2 million items last year and if you look at the if you look at this that is just not um that still the majority of that books magazin 67% of it we do a lot of digital things but people still love to hold their book um and so I think that's a great thing about community that people are still out there we've had more than 330,000 people through the doors which is just another um incredible thing um you know we our staff has worked very hard we work at a lot of different areas a lot of our people volunteer in various organizations but um we also the big thing is connecting with the residents through around throughout the throughout the county and connecting with the school districts and so I appreciate the opportunity to come here um you know we we do more than just books as people Library would think you know um we have hotspots so students who don't have internet home can come and borrow a hotspot we have Wi-Fi in all the branches and you can sit in the parking lot and use that 247 it's available there um you can if you can't a lot of people would love to have some streaming things we've got them with the LI free with your library card you can stream movies and books and TV and music and um the library of things which is nontraditional things this year we've added metal detectors acoustic ad cars Cricut Joys blood pressure pressure monitors therapy lights and a bunch more board and video games so just non-traditional things that you think of and I I work um although I'm in the ad I work out of the admin Center um every other month I work a day at at the circulation desk at one of the branches and just the people who come in and for different things and the printing services that we offer I'm just amazed at how people just they don't have a printer at home and they think it's really valuable it's a valuable service we got people we use fax machines we file taxes for people it's pretty impressive what we what um we all offer and continue to look for ways to uh to serve our community differently one of the ways that we did that this year was introducing our JCP on Wheels which um is our bookmobile which um I thought this was the person who designed this is a Franklin High School graduate in art and went to Heron school and I thought she was pretty talented as artist to come up her F first month in the job to come up with the design for that and then I saw these art students tonight I'm like okay well I won't go back and tell Bailey what I saw but um she's very talented and this is a great thing we've we have seen a lot of growth in this we we're now we've gone I think we got 85 stops now that we do with it and all parts of the county and as the weather gets nicer nothing like launching it in November but um as the weather's gotten nicer we've seen we've seen attendance grow 242 per from February so we're very happy with the with the results from that as well um the other thing that we do is programs come into the library what can we do for you what you can learn meet other people and and um if you look at at what we do here we've had 3200 programs last year and 74,000 people who attended so we've got read read with a therapy dog if you uh look up in the corner the kids come in and they for 15 minutes they sit with a therapy dog and they read to the dog and I I when I first learned of that I'm going these kids reading the dog and they're like yeah that's what this is and I'm like oh well okay so I've been learning the library um a lot we've got Dia which is our the children's book Festival that is coming up again in the 28th the last Sunday of April and um authors at jcpl we bring bestselling authors in and there we are lined up down the street waiting to get into the uh um into the Artcraft theater and so we've got uh got another one Monday night and um we've got more in the works for the year too so um authors of jcpl is a great thing we've had people drive from Chicago we had people fly in from the east coast to see Jack car so they get it um one of the those benefits of bringing people into the community that's not our goal but it's nice to see that we impact more than just those here project prom this year we gave out over 200 prom dresses 60 suits um plus shoes and um and accessory items and project prom was back coming out of postco and doing multiple days as well so we're really happy with um the way that goes explore summmer is our big program which um again recovering from covid as we all are has is back to last year year we read 3.4 million minutes together and that's just those who report their reading and so we try and um grow that every year this year the goal is four million minutes and so we expect to see um that grow as well as we see people come back into the branch and we learn new ways to to promote it and get people engaged and it's for all ages it's not just for um kids it's kids teenagers parents adults anyone can enter it and um partake the last part is a story time I how many story times do we do a month I have to edit every one of these programs in here but I don't count them but I do know I spent a lot of time going through story times in the other programs that we do so um yeah there were things last year like a tornado like Christmas day going into the White River Branch to help clean up because it froze and a pipe broke and um we're very very fortunate to see the recovery of that we recovered very quickly from both those incidents um the Clark Pleasant Branch when it was damage we reopened in a week and although Lisa is not here I will tell you that the reason that Branch reopened in a week is for sheer willpower of her we're going to have this open and we did and the contacts that she has in the community and the people who are willing to come and and and do that um like I said Christmas of 2022 the fire line at White River broke a week later we were open with that as well so some things happen that you don't really expect but um you persevere and move on these these are um a lot of things that we just do new things that we do thanks to the community and for the community is we open a steam exploration walk thanks to the rotary clubs of Johnson County who set it up and donated the money to it and so up in the lefthand corner if you go to the Clark Pleasant Branch there's a trail around a walking trail and then there are these experience stations along there for kids there's some flowers that are musical instruments there's this is a um a water a Water Works where kids can run water down and you just on a warm day they love it um we were also able to bring the first public Arts culture uh celebrating women in Johnson County to the Clark Pleasant branch that opened last year um on the lower left is our um is our uh Mary Prairie Festival which we hold at at Clark at the uh traelo branch and that is a festival that we on the usually the first Friday in December and brings in about 5 to 600 people so great turnout for those things those are the ongoing things that we have and then um the ugliest building in Franklin Now is one of the most beautiful buildings in Franklin um The Book Barn as we call it next to the Franklin Library thanks to the folks at um at the Johnson County Community Foundation and all the volunteers who came out and painted that building and we were people saying you know you really ought to knock that down and now I think if we knocked it down we'd have a riot so it's a it's a great asset for the community and um it's where we store all the books that we have for our book sales so um that's been a that's been a neat benefit too and then um the the meeting in the lower right is one of the first visioning sessions we had to remodel and revise and rebuild the White River Branch we've held ones in Franklin as well those are both on the agenda so um some of the updates for this year that we've seen so far is um we're updating the Strategic plan and we've completed feasibility study for the enhancements for both those branches as I mentioned and now we've got to start putting together the plan for what those improvements are how we're going to fund it um both those buildings are just a couple years short of being 40 years old so it's time to to do those the population obviously has grown in both location and so um it's something to meeting the needs of the community and also keeping the buildings in good shape we have a new five-year strategic plan that began this year and um that we have three pillars of action and that is first to welcome Library users with access to resources and great customer experiences the second is is to create connections engage our community and reach out to Residents so we've actively been saying what are things that we haven't had that's the the bookmobile is part of that but other ways we can get involved in the community and the community can use the resources that the library offers so the third thing is to expire Inspire excitement for our programs experiences Innovation and that lands a lot in my department is like okay we've got all the things going on how do we tell that story how do we let people understand that there are really exciting things going on in the library and I go to almost all of the big events and and it's just amazing um the reaction we get from people and always look for what's the story um biggest thing space day was um bigger than we thought on the eclipse one of our one of our programmers said you know what everybody's talking about Eclipse let's do space and she and she remembered in high school she or middle school they brought in in a planetarium so she found out it still exists got the planetarium in first Saturday in March we put on Space day at the um at the arm Armory in Franklin and had 1,600 people show up and we thought we might get 800 so it was a crazy busy day and I think you know what one of my favorite stories was this this grandma told me that she went there with her grandson and he was five years old and he just like they we had an demonstration of how Eclipse works and he goes oh I get it now and then and then they're walking out and if if you know our library mascot bibli the big green book horn walking out he goes Grandma this was great and I got to meet an alien and so we're like and she's like that was just so great and so those are things that um you know you just don't get to do and to see the community come out and you know we we' get phone calls uh how much does it cost to get in or do I have to have a library card and no anybody can come out and that's what we do with those things and so it's just it's just really great it was a really great way to kick off the 20 24 eclipse for us and um we also did an incredible number of eclipse programs in March through April um all branches did we had 15 educational programs with free Eclipse classes we worked with our community matters team to create an eclipse safety tip sheet that was distributed in various locations throughout the county and we just keep looking at um at more ways to get involved in how do we how do we share information and resources with our community so we're looking forward to our explore summer program which will be is highlighted on the cover but also the details inside and um we thank all the sponsors who make that possible we give away prizes and we don't want to be using tax dollars to give prices to people who read so we go out and the community backs us on all those programs as well um as well as the friends and the foundation they also donate to support that program so if you um want to promote that we would appreciate it if you would promote that to your students to your family to your friends and get them involved into in in the explore summer program we do kickoff events with wild animal with a wild um Wildlife coming in so we always do some different things with that we'll celebrate explor summer with a foam party which I didn't know was a thing so I learned something too and um so all of it's there for you and so I appreciate your time um I can take questions but if you really have questions Lisa is the one to talk to and uh and her phone number is there as well as her email so thank you for the [Applause] time Jody I'm a part of that 67% I like the the book in my hand just so you know yeah me too yeah y my my wife is All Digital and I'm like I can't do it yet but no I do some but if especially history anything biographies you gotta have the paper be able to flip back to the pages and five minutes go I agree I agree thank you thank you thank you okay um action item 6.1 public comments I don't we do not have any all right so um the consent agenda does anybody have any questions discussion no all right M president I move that we approve the consent agenda as presented thank you Mr Daniels do I have a second second Gary Gary thank you Mr Robinson all right all those in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed all right motion passes 5 Z and and up next I'm sorry my is the adoption action item 8.1 adoption of the curricular items I think Dr Taylor are you you're pres yes thank you Mrs count I'm gonna call on Miss Shannon Carol fry to join us and Miss Marcy Sol sh stack sorry about that Marcy um there are directors of Elementary and secondary education Marcy's going to kick us off by sharing some of the elementary textbook recommendations good evening tonight I would like to recommend the following Elementary textbooks and materials in science for kindergarten through fifth grade kindergarten teachers are roping science supplies to provide Hands-On experiences for our students first grade in science recommends adopting science na National Geographic and in grades two through five we are reopt Pearson Elevate science in health healthed Pros is a program aligned with Indiana academic standards for health and wellness and focuses on safe choices drug awareness and human growth and development for grade five this program enhances student experiences during Red Ribbon Week also in art the art team recommends adopting Flex curriculum and pro learning from the art of Education University it is a digital subscription to support our K5 art courses and professional learning for our teachers and finally in music for elementary the music team recommends subscriptions through Quaver Ed smart music education music play make music and West music to support the Indiana academic standards taught in our K5 music courses as well as recorder instruction I'm going to hand it over to Mrs KL fry for a secondary textbook thank you Marcy uh the Middle School list is also relatively short when we get to high school that's another story um it is science adoption this year I'm pleased to say that um will be recommending a bundle again this year so that and again remembering back to co when we had adopted a bundle it put us in the position to be able to shift to um e-learning in a much easier way than we would have had we um only been using paper materials so I appreciate the support of that we've been in that process for a long time here in Center Grove I do want to point out when you look at those numbers on the far right we're representing them a little bit differently than what you would have seen in the past fast because what you're seeing is a six-year subscription cost per seat so we're no longer passing that on to parents and a fee so you're going to see us representing it a little bit different as we move forward as a board if you want to see things displayed for you differently we can always shape that but this was the easiest way for us to get into that process for showing you at the especially at the secondary level so when you see that $139 you can actually divide that by six and think about what that would be per per student and what we did was we went back to what our previous costs had been six years ago and what you'll find is with the exception of it being inflation Etc our costs are comparable if not lower in um situations our teachers um also do a lot um you'll notice if we can shift over to the high school you'll notice that there are some of our um courses and you me remember last year with mathematics that we made the option um of recommending for Algebra 1 Algebra 2 geometry to not adopt outside materials and instead to use our canvas course materials that had been um developed by our teachers you'll see on physics when you get down to that one they actually have shifted not to their own materials but to an outside um textbook Source that's not paper it's all computer-based um and it is a extremely low cost for us so our teachers are considering all of our options and we're working to move our costs and keep them as low as possible I do want to also point out that as you know we have a lot of turnover in our profession right now and we have a lot of new teachers and teachers that are joining us with potentially less training than what they might have come to us in the past when that happens we want to make sure that we can still offer a guaranteed and viable curriculum for courses where a teacher might not especially in our high school might not have a lot of content depth knowledge yet so offering a um solid curricular material set of materials to our teachers allows them to still have resources of lessons they can still if they have a family they can still go to the baseball game and know that they can pick up those teacher M materials that have already been vetted and developed for them and take some shortcuts towards being able to offer high quality instruction in the classro rather than having to design it completely from scratch when they don't have a lot of experience so you'll you see a balance of recommendations at the high school level and um I'm happy to talk about any of them in particular that you might have questions about the only other one that you might that might have stood out to you is the um the officiating course that we'll be able to offer um some of our other um high schools uh in the region are have been able to offer it will be able to offer it this next year we are not paying for the students to actually take the tests to be able to finish that so they'll have to do that to make their own but we're able to partner them with an instructor here and help them work through that course it's a unique offering in terms of the curricular material because that particular vendor allows the students to take that seat with them so if they can if they want to go back and touch up on rules and regulations it functions like a consumable so um and it allows the students to go back and continually get better at that so um these are the offerings for middle school and high school that we are recommending and I'm happy to field any questions you might have about it the only other thing that I would say is our process has not changed we work very hard in the the um to take advantage of the Science Tech or the textbook Caravans that are offered usually the January before the year that we do selection we then in the first semester have our teachers reach out to any of the vendors that they might choose to want to look at um we vet them then for making sure that they meet criteria that will allow us to um not have bias in what we're providing to them that they if Ed reports are available for them we re we lean into those other um rating systems to be able to check those out our teachers then pilot in lots of situations once they have those those samples and we also make the um make parents off an opportunity to take a look at the materials it's I believe it's a two- week time frame prior to this meeting by that time and usually much before we have the materials that are being recommended out for public uh review and if they're an electronic we have a a QR code and allow them to to view it that way so we're happy to answer questions that you might have about the recommended materials for K12 well just clarification we're still on like a fiveyear we're still yes we're still functioning on a six-year cycle it's been a very long time since the state the state used to to lock us into a six-year cycle it's been a very long time since they have done that but we have followed that for budgetary reasons obviously if we were to just say oh everybody gets to adopt we would have a lot more expenses in that year so we're still following a six-year cycle in most situations um if for some reason we have a readapt or we need to wait a little bit longer and Marcy's had that might want to speak to that sometimes it'll be a shorter period but if at all possible we want to try to go for the longest contract in in the least expense I like to hear the term reopt because that means the choice is right in the first place I appreciate that on that one uh do we still keep uh I actually like books going online for certain reasons it's easier for the whole classes to you know work with each other um but do we still think about keeping a classroom set of books actually in many situations it goes further than that it's still when when you see bundle it means that the student has a paper text that's their individual copy that they may use and they have electronic access and there are usually also um teacher site materials in which so all of those things that used to just be the teachers Edition they'll have simulations and all kinds of additional assessments and things that become bundled into that and I appreciate but yes if we don't have a on to one at the secondary level we usually make sure that we have at least a CL available I appreciate your statement that with new teachers it could take two and three years to build a curriculum that you're going to teach with your subject matter that the more resources we have for them the better and something that is noteworthy when you mentioned a reopt in science and Elementary this year we're reopt um for one of the main purposes you may have heard the in the last legislative session in 2023 it was passed um a curricular advisory list was going to be released by The idoe and schools were going to have to adopt the materials on that list and we have not yet seen for elementary um the science list and so we're reopt um and kind of waiting for more guidance on that state so that we're not adopting something now and then a list comes out and we may have to shift so that reopt is only for two years in elementary until we can see some of those advisory lists thank you Miss Shack and Miss Carol fry I'm going to share some information about the financials with textbook rental great job appreciate your help um in the past we normally would would follow this uh item with another item that is asking the board to adopt textbook fees and while they both shared the cost of our textbooks the fees have changed um a lot in our state and I wanted to provide the board with a little update of where we stand and what we've done for the calendar for the calendar year 2024 um this chart it well it's got a lot of numbers on it we'll just focus on the bottom totals um we have a little under 9500 students we did in the in September this year and you can see our average cost for curricular materials was about $380 um this includes the fees that we were typically charging parents plus it includes the cost of the technology that we were providing um and the software to manage that technology so that's why it won't match up specifically to a textbook bill um from the past um typically we would have saw K through 5 closer to that 100 to 150 range but we had been encumbering another $100 in management software and instructional software on those devices that we were not passing along to parents and so what we've done here is the state asked us to prepare this report um and we provided our total cost of curricular materials by grade level you can see that broken out for Center Grove and this is um our estimates for this current school year it was $3.5 Million the state set aside a pot of money $60 million for all students Statewide and simply divided that by the costs that were submitted by the school districts we submitted every penny we could to get the highest Reb return we could um that number came out to $158.2 per child in Indiana and you can see how that number times our student count added up we received about $1.5 million from the state this left us with a shortfall of $2 million to cover our cost again we were covering some of those costs already through the technology funds but felt it was prudent to share this what we weren't covering was as you can see below um we couldn't just say we were covering $2 million out of our technology cost and so we actually set aside $850,000 of new Revenue last year in our education fund and our education fund is 98% staff salaries and benefits that 850 came out of that pot and was put towards this this um and then in addition to that as part of our reoccurring go bonds we have included 1 Mill million doll in our reoccurring bonds each year to purchase student technology devices so we can continue to maintain those just wanted to call out those those numbers that's why that $2 million shortfall isn't something we're um really sweating right now we did come up with a nice plan to satisfy most of that and then through some cost reductions and some read-options and just tightening our our processes a little bit we think we'll be able to live within this budget um we would still Advocate that the state increase that allotment um as more and more schools adopt new material and the cost goes up that number also needs to go up and it needs to be tied to some inflationary rates and so I've probably shared more than you would like a little passionate on this area I am so pleased that our state is providing free textbooks Indiana was one of the few States left charging parents that's a real win unfortunately we had to pass that cost off to some other areas that really did hurt last year and we're still currently going to continue that unless the changes made are we anticipating a similar deduct from the education fund yes next year's Bud we currently not planning to reduce that number we will keep that fixed over the years if we can find some more revenue from the state or if we find that our costs truly come in under our estimated numbers we would reduce that number first and we would reduce the debt number second okay thank you no great question okay any other questions or discussion on the topic okay do I have a motion Madam president I move that we approve the curriculum materials for the 2425 school year thank you Mr Alexander do I have a second second thank you Mr Russell um all those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed motion passes 5 Z and action item 8.2 the Energy savings project and I believe Dr long you're going it yes thank you um tonight we're asking the board to approve the second contract with cmta as you know cmta is our guaranteed Energy savings provider this contract is in is for 10,433 628 with a firste guarantee of $258,200 in utility savings this contract includes the following projects the new ground Mount solar array shared between Maple Grove Elementary and the transport maintenance center and the geothermal HVAC renovation at Maple Grove Elementary what's the length of time from when they start to work to the uh was it oh the total or um the buyback period of the completion of the the completion of the work well they as you know the last month we approved the first part of the contract was uh which was new solar at Cent Grove High School and Center Grove Elementary uh controls at Center Grove Middle School North and uh and the Walnut Grove recommissioning so they'll have different endings of that uh they've started with the Walnut Grove solar project uh fixing that um I'm not sure I've got this total when are we projecting we'll start getting money at the end of next year okay so but all their work is going to be done in 10 years oh no it'll take um at the probably end of next year Sol right right many antip this is it this is the second part yeah yes and I know we're excited about this project for a couple reasons one is the you know Energy savings um the other is the guarantee right so I trust that we've reviewed the guarantee and it's exactly we expected that this should save us money in the long run yeah exactly yes we we expect $1.3 million over 20 year $1.3 million each year for a 20 year period now that's when they're done with all the work and a couple of these projects will probably run into 25 but most of them will stated to be done now in 24 and so we're we're looking to start seeing Savings in 25 and that will help with that number I spoke about earlier on page 48 guarantee starts in the contract we carefully looked at that exactly yes yes thanks sorry great thank you all right any other discussion Gary no all right do I have a motion Madam president I move that we approve the second part of the CMT design build contract as presented thank you Mr Daniels I have a second second thank you Mr Robinson all those in favor signify by saying I I I I any opposed motion passes 5 Z thank you yeah um up next our next executive session um will will be May 23rd followed by a regular board meeting starting at 7 also on May 23rd um I guess does anybody have any board comments Jack do what you like to start just a few things uh we had another successful uh Education Foundation gala last Saturday night this Reiko did a wonderful job with her board uh raising thousands of dollars for uh teacher grants which these days comes in very handy um the board recently attended a National School Board Association Convention um down in New Orleans we got out of there just before the flood started so that was a good timing on our part uh but a lot of good information um the best thing at these conferences is when we get to talk to other Schoolboard members from other areas who have similar you know challenges like we do or we learn things from U those uh other school boards uh this coming Saturday and I may need your help Mrs Rico is our softball alumni game uh it's kind of bringing back Decades of our softball players um and it's a it's two three games isn't it okay uh and we hope to see a lot of our girls back so thank you do steing I want to personally thank Jennifer riko for the wonderful job she does with the education we're lucky to have her in our community we're lucky to have everything that she does did a great job with g again so thank you for that also very impressed with what we saw from the high school here tonight all the extraordinary kids that that we put out and go forth and do great things in the community so we're lucky to be here all of us let's you know keep Center grow great yeah I'd like I'd also like to thank Jennifer I had a great time at the the Gayla um I'm also excited you know I my kids are still young so I have one going into high school next year and I have one going into middle school so I think it's excellent to see all of the opportunities and things that our kids get to do and I will tell you that I had to push my high schooler my soon to be high schooler out of her comfort zone a little bit but um I told her I was like you are not going to be a follower you were going to be a leader and you were going to do things out of your comfort zone so anyway I I'm excited to see what she accomplishes in high school so I just appreciate and I'm very grateful for everything that we saw tonight because I just think it shows how wonderful our community is and I think we need to talk about that more great night um from The Shining Star Mr Marquez I know he's gone but uh fantastic teacher coach and what he did all the way to U all the academics and seen some of a lot of former students to girls basketball and a number one ranked team that almost did it to have two go to bovan Army and then the art Department wow every time I go to that that's amazing and uh my youngest daughter's learned to love art by going to Center Grove High School now she's an art teacher in the Washington Township uh school district and then the last thing for me is uh Mrs McCracken and Mr poor I appreciate you guys being here I really do because you uh bring insight and um you you're good for our community and uh uh we like you to come we like your thoughts so that's it for me okay so just a reminder for the board uh on um April 23rd is our ambassador graduation here in the boardroom you're all invited it's at 8 o'clock um am am yes yeah and and one additional item uh that we wanted to talk about or just announce I guess we've decided to enter into um contract negotiations with Dr long to retain him as our uh permanent superintendent so I just wanted to um you know thank you for everything that you've done so far and uh we look forward to to to the next step so thank you thanks all right well earned all right and with that I will close the meeting

4 3 2 [Applause] 1 hello and welcome to Around the Clock I'm your host yalanda Greaves right now we are going to be interviewing Ian and rock in welcome back to Around the Clock hello so you are here this year again because you have been the winner of the pinewood derby for the second time in a row yes yes what was that like winning it for the second time like I don't know but it just fit I just didn't know I was going to win I thought I wasn't going to win how much did you win by like literally 100 of a second hundredth of a second now how many how many other cars did you have to compete against 81 81 cars yes is that the same as last year or a few more than last year few more than last year few more than last year so how old what's the age range of the of the participants of the pinewood derby well there is the the well there is an open division which is which like anyone can participate M so if you're including the open division basically any age okay so but and those 81 cars covered all the divisions the your Division and the open division yes and you want to against all of them you won against 80 other cars what do you think made it so that your car won again this year Well we adjusted the ma the center of gravity a bit M how did you did you adjust it down or up I think we just yeah op we did op a bit okay does your car have a name Black Thunder and K2 Black Thunder and K2 can you shoot it toward me this way let's see look at it wow very nice now so you made this car ooh it feels a little different than last year what are you given to make this car what do you mean like well you don't get to decide how you you get you are given certain things aren't you to make the car out of well basically everyone does it the same way yeah basically everyone gets gets a gets a block get a block of wood mhm four nails of axles and four wheels okay okay so you have something special on the front of your car what made you decide to add that this is a 3D printed front spoiler to make the car a bit more aerodynamic aerodynic aam wow 3D printed did you print that at home yep my dad has a 3D printer I see cool and the wheels do you get to pick the wheels or do they give you the wheels they give you the wheels and okay I mean it is I mean it is against the rules to get custom wheels but you can get wheels of different colors but you can't get like the custom wheels what's your what's your favorite part about the pinewood derby well the races yeah yep so how many races did you have to participate in I me participating I think it was like four okay wow that's all only four and that's what deter that you and are they all timed yeah so each each race has four cars okay and whoever reaches the end faster wins the race I see so and it also checks the speed and the time it got down there okay cool cool so this is your second year do you think you'll try to do it again next year I'll try to make it better next year better next year well Ian I want to say congratulations on the second time winning the Pinewood Derby I know it's a really big event here in Ashland and I want to thank you for coming back to around the clock and sharing your story about your car and winning again this year you're welcome okay good luck and maybe we'll see you next year okay okay thank you Ian you're welcome and that's our interview with Ian Andrew from the Ashland pinewood derby and he is the winner the second year in a r thanks for watching

e e e there we all set all right good evening this is the ashin school committee meeting for April 24th 2024 we start by reading our vision statement which is the Ashton Public School strives to be a model District that creates a culture of inclusivity where our diverse students and staff who feel safe and supported are empowered with the academic and social emotional skills to pursue their chosen path and embrace their roles as positive contributors to local and Global communities uh this meeting is being recorded by waca cable TV our agenda for the evening will be um this open uh the call to order which we've done the opening procedures um reviewing and um adopting the agenda which is um to include public comment presentation from the student advisory Council good to see everybody here our administrative items a make a wish club uh for out of state trip request for November of 2024 Eagle Scout presentation followup with Nathan Gan Nathan thank you for coming back um public hearing on school choice participation for the 24-25 school year an assistant superintendent report superintendent report warrant approvals and then for consent actions we have uh gifts and donations uh review and Adoption of minutes from March 24th um any committee reports of activities member updates and action items and then we will journ um so I will ask people just to indicate that they're here and if they're okay with the agenda Marcy here and yes Dina here and yes yes you're not here no okay and I am here and yes too all right um with that let's start with any public comment is there anybody here who wanted to make a public comment and also looking to the screen I don't see anybody who's participating remotely so we can move right on to our presentation from the student advisory Council who's here to speak on that want you come on up and please introduce yourselves at the mic um when it's your turn to speak yeah uh I'm rugid I'm a senior ashon high school I oh yeah go ahead okay sure yeah okay so ashon high school they recently had their uh Europe trip uh there were some students that went on it uh they went to London Paris and Madrid and uh they had a fun time there um they might have also seen like historical stuff which they may have learned in their history class so there's a educational connection we have over there and um finals for seniors they're May 28th to 31st and it's to be decided for all the other grades um there was also the Japanese student visit so students from the Toshi M GAA High School in Japan came to the um came to our school and they basically just like uh they were toured by students from our school they went to they follow them to their classes and all that stuff and uh course selection window it was open and then closed so 9th 10th and 11th graders were able to choose their courses for the uh next year thank you left this over here sorry um hello I'm Vanessa Thompson um so spring Sports for the high school are in full swing with many teams playing today with the girls and boys lacks at Med um playing Midway baseball and softball are playing Millis and girls tennis are playing Millis as well and then there were cards made during Teacher Appreciation Week um that was run by the stucco members during xblocks and there was a lot of turnout for that so a big chunk of students um participated making cards that were then delivered to the teachers and we had surveys go out during Xboxes um about positive during it was the positive community Norm survey which related to The Stand posters that are posted around our school that just have to do with student data and Anonymous information though and it is optional but it's highly effective for understanding things about our student body thank you Vanessa hi um so upcoming for seniors is senior week and graduation oh Emily sorry U I'm a senior um we're having Senior Week the week before graduation so graduation is on June 7th at p.m.

this is a game the Spartans have been looking for all year long we're starting out on the draw Megan morno with against schil on the circle Ali Thompson and Kenna Marino and also on the circle Sam Goodridge and Sophia seago for the Spartans and we are about to get started here Josh starts out right away and the draw control is won by morno she is just going to take this thing right down the sidelines they are chasing her but she is in the offensive zone looks like seago is going to they're going to go manto man and it looks like seago is going to play monno at the end of the day monno used the draw stick she comes back they're holding the ball so that she can get back into the offensive zone and they have it they've swung it around to Addie Jordan top goal scorer for eam mea what are you expecting to see tonight she's already moving she is moving and grooving she's got it and she fires it into the ball low left hand great start for one zero

for the pledge of of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible withy and justice for all Madam Vice chair will you do the roll call please pres Terry pres Michelle here Kate hereis here here Lauren here Richard janelli here okay thank you at this time Dr Casmir are you going to do the recognition sure will okay um we have Dr Jill Russell Benner come up to the public stand for a moment the danry public schools have been selected again as the best community for music education the ass otherwise known as the N foundation for the sixth consecutive year so Jill you did it again and we'd love to find out how you did that well all I did was fill out the survey it's really going um it's all of our staff members it's the things that we're able to provide our students in the dver schools and music program that make this possible usually I've been singing all week and teaching Elementary music like Z usually I think about when we when we come here how important it is to hear our students and to see our students perform but I think this time around kind of got me thinking like what exactly makes us the best community for music um and it starts with what their award means which is that it's recognizing school districts for the support and commitment to music education and efforts to ensure access to music for all students excuse me as part of a education we were one of 975 districts Nationwide and one of I believe it's 36 districts in Connecticut that would us um some of the things that we do have in the community that support us in in the theme of community it's the qu Club of danber is one example they have a wonderful program called music is instrumental they get donated instruments uh of all kinds B string classroom keyboard guar name bring in we've been able to and um then they go right into the hands of students we have West United State University which is for many of us our Mo but also we have a great relationship with them we have a lot of student teachers and student observers that come in our high school goes there performs and Umar but instrumental program as well D music center is right in town we offer scholarships to our students every year Music learing Center is businesses that not only D surrounding Town also for instruments private lessons Etc and if you do a have trick you have seen many of our schools perform and they're pretty awesome uh some things that we've been able to require over the years we have we sa music Foundation School District so we're up to nine schools and eight elementary schools that um that have been given a core band Grant um that includes 32 instruments uh includes music music whole professional development over time that's able to give us access to kids music well which you might heard of K rock is another organization we work with they provide us with training modern band instruments um spread music though is the place that has been highlighting our students and our teachers the students and teachers of the month and um and they have Kota every year which is just a really wonderful accumulation of of everything that we do you to have one teacher Department that's been uh nominated as a brand new music educator so she's in the process of completing her application hopefully makes it for it will be very well deserving for this teacher and and also for the district thank you very certificate for if you want to come on take a quick photo board chair I do have yeah know thank you very much for coming thank you chill thank you thank you congratulations than you [Applause] the board welcomes public participation and ask that the speakers please limit their comments to 3 minutes speakers may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them the board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the B public school system thank you uh first I going to sign up list I have Kon evening I kelseyi School DS has been overed ever since I in school I've been in classes that extended capacity to the point where there are enough deaths for every student in between classes the hallways are so that students can't get to class in time but are still fought for it class for students and teachers to have to share guidance counselors to provide acad support to each student that need there AR enough resources for students to learn such as academic texts and Noels for Eng class students AR even able to eat lunch due to the long lines that stretch down the entire cafeteria having this allice I have not seen enough action to find a resolution as a long solution I suggest providing alternative for students such Asing the school into two days of academic students could be offered an opportunity to to attend school after the regular school day for 4 hours or the state minimum alna to the regular school day this can limit the amount of students in our building at the same time I hope that this program will be considered as an ongoing program for a solution to over our space is extended to the newest so that the future students of G have a school that thank you thank you for bringing your comments to before the board thank you is there anyone else that didn't get an opportunity to sign the sign up sheet move on I need to um move with the consent C yes I make the motion that the board of Education approved consent calendar exhibit 86 as recommended motion made by second by C discussion on the agenda concerning the consent Cal see now all in favor could I hear I I any oppose any Obion motion so move thank you very much uh education sta hello everybody good evening good evening I feel like I just saw most of you last night so it's nice to see you again so I have a couple of things I want to talk to you about tonight um the first is the issue with our members reporting in large numbers that many of their tax returns have placed on hold by the IRS so this afternoon um we sent out a survey because we weren't really sure of how widespread the issue was and we s the survey at at 2:00 and by 4:00 I already had 30 confirmed members who have had their taxes placed on hold so we're really concerned about this obviously I don't know if you have heard about it in other um groups of employees I know the administrator Union has also had some numbers have the same thing happened to them so I just wanted to kind of let you know that we we spoke about this back in January and we were concerned when we were issued uh the wrong W2s and we had the district had to issue us secondary W2s later on several weeks later um because there was inaccurate reporting on those so we're tracking this and my guess is that with 30 responses and not every rep has even sent the survey out yet that we're going to see a lot more um you know we're we're almost at 5% right now um of our membership so we're going to be tracking this and we'll share the data with you but we may be coming back to you and asking the district to take responsibility to help us fix this because it is obviously something that's putting great stress on a lot of our members if it we do connect it back to that W2 issue um the second issue and I know it's on your agenda for updates this even evening um is the reduction in force issues as you can imagine our folks especially are untenured folks are worried and unsettled about all of the the rumors that are flying around and the facts that are flying around about position cuts that are looming so we're looking for updates on the number of positions in specific areas to be cut including most specifically the central office positions and we are expecting as the largest bargaining unit we're expecting that heavy cuts to be made at central office that will restore Staffing to central office at a minimum to prepandemic levels teachers are reporting to us that they are seeking out letters of recommendation from their administrators and beginning Job searches elsewhere no one feels like they're safe from impending upheaval and that's very understandable as we can all agree many of our veteran teachers close to retirement continue to ask us if there will be any sort of incentive packages offered for early retirement I strongly urge the board to consider a package offering for these folks to reduce your top top step salary expenditures for the next few years that is something that I've been asking for since 2020 when we still had extra Monies to work with the sooner that we can move forward with a plan of action the better it will be for the mental well-being of our staff being in a holding pattern of uncertainty is creating Havoc as we enter the last two months of school this afternoon any held a reduction and force workshop for un your teachers as you could imagine it was widely attended the third issue that I wanted to bring up and this is probably one that's not on your radar but it's one that is really disturbing and actually very annoying um to elementary teachers specifically um um it is what we think is a Danbury school lunch program overstep so we were notified um a few weeks ago probably about a month ago um Elementary School teachers there was a new policy in place coming from the school lunch office to um go through a series of steps in order to book a field trip and have lunches ready for our students in days of old ever since I have been a teach sure for 20 years our kids go on a field trip we order lunches for them like we do normally for any other day except we ask them to be bagged lunches simple as that take lunch count that we do every day well this year the school lunch program sent us uh a list of things that we need to do in order to take our kids on a field trip I want to go through the steps for you and you can kind of just play it out in your mind how long this would take so first is a PDF that must be filled out two weeks in advance before field trip and provide it to the kitchen so they'll know how many meals to prepare no problem there that's what we normally do the second is an Excel spreadsheet the spreadsheet must be filled out by the teacher to include the students district ID numbers as well as their first and last name for all the students ordering meals both of those documents then need to be scanned and returned to Douglas language operations manager at the school lunch office at the time of lunch teachers need to check off on the same spreadsheet so open the document up again and check off which students then receive a a meal then we have to scan and return those final documents to the school lunch office the day after the field trip to do all these steps takes one full 40 minute prep period so as you can imagine this is time spent away from planning and readying our lessons it's an unnecessary and non-job related task placed on only Elementary teachers so rather than the D School bu program employees doing this they have decided it was okay to pass this on directly to teachers which we to greatly so those are my three negative issues if you want to call them that but obviously as a teacher I like to talk about positives and we all know we had such a wonderful evening last night so let's talk a little bit about the teacher of the year ceremony last evening was such a lovely celebration of all that is good in our schools the celebration of teachers and our teachers of the Year from each school was a joyous event and a much needed boost of positivity for our community I went to school this morning and people had Smiles on their faces and obviously the teacher of the year was from my school so we were all in a very happy place it's so important for our district to continue the teacher of the year award and ceremony having a teacher of the year award within our district serves as a powerful me means to recognize excellence in teaching and it's crucial for several reasons as you know teaching is often a challenging and underappreciated profession highlighting exceptional Educators through a teacher of the year award allows us to celebrate and showcase the dedication passion and hard work of our outstanding teachers it's our way to honor their contributions to education in the community it also serves as a motivation and morale boost we need that being recognized as teacher of the year can be a tremendous morale boost for educators it not only validates their efforts but also motivates them to continue striving for excellence moreover it inspires other teachers to improve their practice and aspire to similar levels of achievement it also is great for professional development the teacher of the year award can serve as a platform for for professional development winners often become ambassadors for their profession sharing their best practices Innovative teaching methods and insights with their colleagues I want to once again congratulate all the individual School teachers of the Year sitting on that stage last night in the presence of so many outstanding Educators was both empowering and energizing and I know everyone here knows just how lucky we all are to have such amazing Educators in Danberry absolute best of the best last evening during my remarks I urge the audience not just to celebrate teachers with lip service on one day of the year but to work together to come together as a community to advocate for Real Change Change in funding that lets us show our teachers that we value and appreciate their hard work and ensuring that they have the reasonable class sizes support tools and resources they need to succeed for our children of course I finally want to extend a heartfelt and personal congratulations to my friend and colleague of many years Sarah sealon who was named the DPS District teacher of the year last evening way Sarah is such a wonderful Choice she embodies all that is good in teaching and if you don't know her you should get to know her because she's a pretty amazing person she has an unyielding passion for teaching and she exhibits genuine enthusiasm for instruction and fostering growth in her classroom she has a tireless commitment for her students and she really cares about their well-being growth and success both academically and personally and she is the best Communicator the nicest Communicator both in and out of the classroom she actively engages with the broader Community forging Partnerships with parents to enhance the educational experience for all of her students and her families she also is a leader in our building whether it's through mentoring new teachers colleagues supporting professional development workshops or taking on extra leadership roles in extracurricular activities Sarah is the go-to helper for our building most of all and this is the thing that strikes me the most about Sarah she demonstrates empathy and understanding and builds positive relationships with all no one I've never heard anyone say a negative word about Sarah she is as kind as she appears and she Fosters a supportive and inclusive classroom environment once again Sarah we are so proud of you and we're sending out many hugs of congratulations to her as always honorable board members thank you for your attention this evening and I will see you in two weeks have a great night thank you next on the uh students represent do we have anyone from the high school no so we have Ace hello good evening members cabinet community members thank you for allowing to represent speak on of the Alternative Center for excellence a is happy to announce the students SER four sessions in theis which has a 10 session residency movement this bring a during our time movement is a movement residency that bring together students abilities ages and backgrounds together to create a student Community students goingn together how to express themselves through collaborative inal movement with physicality and humor workshops focus on social emotional skills teamwork collaboration and self expression Jo HS in the a journalism class we also like to invite you all to check out articles in the alternative times the alternative times can be accessed at Ace alternative times.com and as a alternative times a like to invite you all to Happ day on Saturday May 11th from 1:00 to 4:00 the EV will to appreciate and Ace we will have guest speakers Community organizations music face painting frog painting hamburgers and products merchandise T pleas special days the E project is called means of healing for pro the students are creating large butterfly forms decorated with spring graphics and a personal personized message of heing and hope these will be delivered to the cancer center during the first week in May children L for classes continuing its second year collaboration with Miss Huntington's thir class at El Elementary School the a student serve as reading mentors to the third graders they also partner with the grade school class to draw illustrations for the a students original children's books which is the final project for the children's lature class Ace post accompanied by Dan diardo will be Hing St Rock Reserve in Washington Connecticut at the sen they will sit for one hour without talking texting music to listen to the sounds of nature and draw or write what they hear and see po will will share their work and have together this is the 10th poetry he since Inception in 2017 K and K CH will be Ching 10 students in the van to visit the American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday May 14th students attending asy and in the African American black and classes thank you for letting us share the speci hoing the scen A and good night good night don't go on Kay thank you on behalf of the board for always being here and being supportive and bringing us information from Ace thank you so very much you okay we're going to move on down I know this is something new on the agenda but I discussed it with all my or chairperson so we're going to start with Community relation committee okay sure I don't have a tremendous update for community relations we do have our next meeting um tomorrow evening at 5:30 p.m.

34 sites and Facilities meeting uh for April 24th 2024 and uh we have a couple of things on the um agenda for tonight so I don't want to waste too much time since we have another meeting right after this so I'm going to turn it right over okay so thank you everybody um I think I might be in your in your seat but we can we're just going to do that right um so uh you know we've been uh I think the last couple times this group has gotten together there's been some discussion around the C site and the naming of the building and and so on and so forth um we've been having some conversations also about the the site itself and the usage of the uh the square footage the the space utilization um in particular in light of of a couple things one you know looking at everything VAR with a scrutinizing eye because of the budget situation that we're in but also a revisiting of um the plan itself as we have um it's been quite a while since the original conception of the plan and so taking a second look at our enrollment um and really trying to maximize everything that we're doing over on on the site and on the campus um I think uh very early on I think we all gasped at the cost of a 360 seat middle school and uh the the scalability of you know really um lack of economy of scale when you're talking about having to bring all of the same staff setup over nurse secretaries custodians social worker psychologists um you know auxiliary staff for 360 um the same amount of staff that you bring over to to do a school setup can be the same for a 700 seat facility so you really lose a lot of a lot of scalability um in that model so it really wasn't quite a setup that I think anybody was really comfortable with but it was part of a very early um project idea with a population bubble that was moving through so it was it was a thoughtful process to to help with a population uh group that was coming through however that group is kind of in our middle school right now and is trailing into the high school which is causing kind of a little bit of overcrowding at the Broadway middle school and also the big clog that we have up at deny high school and so in looking at some of the enrollment numbers I'll talk about two things one some a new idea to utilize the space for some economy of scale space utilization return on investment but then also um some exciting things about what we can put in there and and then a little bit about the enrollment pattern um that's coming where I think we can take a second a look a step back and say maybe we don't quite need all of the the space that we thought we did um and can we um slow down a little bit and be obsessed some of that so I'll get into it um maybe I gave all the good parts away but um make it moving there so obviously this is the uh Dan Career Academy this is the architect scale drawing super excited about it um kind of an earlier addition I think the one of those little components has been since uh changed but generally um that is what it looks like so the original idea was uh the entire site ex that it was housed the the bed offices the high school side would have about 1,40 uh students and with two emies and again the other main site would have fourmies and then the Middle School side of that building would have 36 students and that was the the part when you saw the presentations around the cost to open up both the high school and the middle school side they were almost equivalent and you're like how is that possible with 1,40 seats versus 360 and it's because they had existing staff at denb high school that would also come over to the new site not all the staff but existing teaching staff that would come over you still need secretaries you still need nurses you still need custodians um so that was the original plan and on The Middle School side of that original plan it's only 360 students so you're only pulling a few kids off of each grade level at each school so it's not enough to make that impact for the level of investment that we were going to be putting into that and so a revised plan and revised thinking is to still create the scale the economy of scale by utilizing the space for the high school more contiguous space the staff that's exists at denbur high school because denbur High School still has a lot of kids left in there and so this would the a little bit more and you create that um more more ideal conditions than uh than what we have now obviously and even in the original plan and have threey add a third Academy to that model continue with the model and utilize that space for Boe and high school and so then the question is well what about those what about our Middle School overcrowding problem how are we still going to handle that so here's where it gets uh I'll get to the numbers in a second so again original propos plan 360 um the plan was only meant to serve a small amount of students the use of the building site for the high school creates more eony scales I mentioned several times um and we still need to explore some Middle School options because we do have even though um the numbers that we think will be going to be passing Us by right now that bubble that's in there we have some concerns about a grade two you've heard us talk about a grade two bubble the group that's coming up that has a much larger enrollment over a th students so what's going to happen if we don't do this plan and this bubble comes up are we going to be okay so here are the high school enrollment projections in the original plan so right now you had 3850 at the high school when we opened up ctis under the original plan uh with a kind of remaining at 80 that would still leave 2730 students at Denver high school with a revised plan to make um everything on the car aside a high school plan you would have 2,370 so a little more breathing room at the High School better utilization of the spaces that are there less crowding less fighting all goes together so the Middle School enrollment projection so if you take a look at the total capacity on the last line on the on the on the bottom so total capacity 2824 all the way across and what that number is comprised of is Rogers Park uh capacity Broadview middle school capacity and Westside middle school capacity so there's three numbers so when you combine those three numbers together it's 28 24 so that's what we have to work with currently um and the capacity is usually determined by a space utilization study we've done those in the past um we're due for another one which will happen in June and I'll talk about that in a second so I want to just point out a couple of things the bubble that we're that we're talking about I don't have here get up the if you look at the 2728 column that 101 number in grade six that's your current grade was your current grade 2 students so that's the bubble they'll hit that those second graders will hit uh the middle schools in 27 28 so I just wanted to point out and so to follow them see where it goes 10 10 10 10 10 10 across you're following them through middle school and as they move through the middle school you take the consideration the other numbers of the other grade levels and you add those up so when you so currently right now 242 next year for 2425 um we will have project did um in our internal projections meaning the kids that we have in seats right now is 2,666 the slam study which are our de our demographers they they predicted um at the last time that we did the study in 2022 that we would have 2783 um so you know somewhere in there lies the truth and we get kids rolling in all the time so those numbers always fluctuate um in 2526 our capacity is 28 4 we'll have 2627 you see the number there where we would where it starts to get very tight it's 27 28 now we're still okay but it's tight and where it gets kind of you know hot a little bit on the hotter side is but not super hot it's 28 29 and 29 30 and if you look at the numbers it's we're still remember our capacity is 2,824 we're in the Red Zone there if you look at the number the high projected number that we're supposed to get from slam according to that study we'll have 2,876 currently in the seats right now physically we have 2,851 that we think will roll up but when you take the 30 or 40 kids difference there across three schools it's not that much I think to build an entire to have an entire site dedicated for millions of dollars to do that it's kind of this is kind of a situation where you kind of hold your breath for or two you get a couple extra desks we make sure that we're utilizing the space appropriately um and that we're maximizing our classrooms appropriately um and creating some space rather than maybe adding on somewhere I mean I'm not saying we might not have to do that because we're still 28 29 30 away and what we'll determine that will be that June 2024 slam study where they come back in they say okay it's now 20 you know uh 2024 and we're going to do a projection we're going to do the next round of projections now those projections could go up higher and we may want to come back and have a conversation about are we going to need some Portables somewhere um or a couple classrooms or can we get by or maybe they go down and we don't need anything which would be amazing and ideal um but after the red after that kind of tight squeeze there the numbers start to Trail off so the numbers that you see up in the in the orange there are the on the high projection numbers so if that's true if that holds true you know it would actually be a waste of money to build on the Middle School side when we kind of would could get through a couple of years of some type you know a type building but um I don't think anything like you know what the high school's experiencing but you know certainly as a teacher I've had we've had those bigger years and small years are fluctuations so that's kind of um some of the rational behind some of the changes and we just think it's a better use of space tax money um but also there's some um oh here's the cost I'll get to the great idea at the end um so the cost difference on this just look at the grand total overall when that's the difference between adding the Middle School Staffing and the high school Staffing so when you add everything all together 13, 82300 but when you just create the high school space it's 11,133 so that's again um 30 less FTE are needed when you use the high school model and so it's almost you over2 and5 million year-over-year right and then in addition to that um you know you have uh the idea that you got you know there's 30 less FTE for the city there's I there's medic all that stuff we self-insured so it hits many different ways that we haven't even calculated yet um that would be far greater um in addition we'll take we'll take a much closer look at the transportation because I also think there could be Transportation Savings in there as well um but we'll have to study that and we're just getting in the middle of the process of redoing our transportation contract so um I think that there's going to be some Savings in there on top of that in addition to the savings on just not having three additional ft books so I think that that's that's going to be great this is just another way to look at it what I did was the the green boxes that you see under theis column is is what the Staffing would is the difference between the high school Staffing and the the other Middle School Staffing um this is just another way to look at it um so if you go straight across at a full High School model 912 you can see the the Revis cost um there still total up to the sa it's just a different it's just a different way of looking at it so overall it's a pretty big saving to head in this direction um and ask question yeah you can take I'll take take a couple years ago I think I was off before that time the the budget produced for a concept here was like $13 million with 6 mil 6 and2 a piece and I was outraged that it came to like $20,000 but 300 kids and I went to list we had conversation and you said that's the way it was Britten and legislated body or the way the body and I said well for the taxpayer or damber that's a significant savings what is has that legal been satisfied now that we're able to get away with not having this as a middle school yeah so the original it's my understanding the original legislation was a 612 It Was Written in 612 it had since been ADV that had gone through an iteration and so um and I had you know Antonio went and investigated it and found that that's no longer in the current iteration of the legislation that the high school component piece that that the 612 wasn't uh the necessity that um we could actually do a 912 and it would be I don't know if you want to speak to that but that is that accurate yeah we we vetted that out and um the language is pretty open to in much better that that was a barrier yeah was exactly he's got a great memory we did struggle with that anybody else on the commit anybody else from the commit question yes I do okay um so looking at this chart right here I understand the 6 through eight raising that out no Middle School in the core staff have we made any adjustments um I know adding another Academy right you're say add an academy but have we made any as far as the Staffing the detailed of who that is have we made any adjustments based on the suggestions that came from the board earlier or or do you just want to talk about the building itself do you want to talk about the staffing yet clarify what Staffing here we has uh we had been given a list of what staff would be required for for that transition to the academies yes we talked about administrators we talked and um some of the discussion that we had at the board was could some of those positions um be shared okay talking about the administrative in the new in this year's budget we had U just the initi budget we had those 5.5 administrator positions in there and the and the answer the answer is yes what makes it a lot easier is we will not need it won't be a principal of the academy it's just an assistant principle so that's one so we're not trying to open up a middle school academy so needing an administrator for that and an administrator for the for the the other side but we still need one administrator for the additional so for adding an academy there still needs to be supervision so it would be um an assistant principal level position instead of having a middle school principl is what we had originally listed there I think to her Point try maybe I'm not getting what you're that's right I think you have a question I think you uh one was trying to refer that early on you were asked about sharing right and that we're talked about between the middle school and high school at that one location sharing maybe I misunderstood you so we have um people I believe I don't know if they're already on the budget to make the transition this spring and and that's right people going up so those those that was to get the building open and hopefully that they would be the leaders of the two the middle schools and the high schools to get those to help you know with the scheduling and getting everything set but in this in this model it's contiguous kind of with the high school so it's not there's not a need to have separate different type it would be so right now we would have two of our current um assistant principles come over to the new site in the original proposed plan this would be this would there would need to be a third person that would come over so the administrative Staffing piece do we need two different people to come over to get to get it started for the next school year no and um there's been an increase and I'm I'm assuming that's because of the Staffing of the third Academy right from the original was to the revised it's good to decrease 30 FTE decrease so in the original model um we had so for example uh we would had to have uh 15 teachers so Pi you're a middle school model the 360 you need 15 core teachers just core teachers alone to come over and because they um there's not enough staff there to take the current staff out to separate them they're brand new staff you have to hire 15 new new cluster teachers if you will in this model you're probably bringing over like seven Court teachers because they already exist at deny high school a lot of the staff we just removing the kids and and majority of the teachers that go with the kids over to the new site you still are going to have needs you're still going to to have some teachers but you're also going to have um you're going to bring some staff over but you're still going to need a secretary because there's 360 students there you still need a half time nurse you're going to need still need of those things do you need five secretaries for the middle school no you probably only need two or three so the Staffing numbers decrease significantly because um a it's a contiguous it's all high school so you know you're only going to need one attended secretary as opposed to having one in each of the different things along those lines so overall um 30 we're we're you know estimating that we have 30 the need for 30 less by making it high school because they coming over as opposed to hiring new staff at the middle school and the net difference is about 2.6 mil okay I guess uh for me I don't know about anybody else I need to see the details of the new of the new Staffing and what that means sure um as opposed to what the original plan was that we received okay sure okay um to really and with the ad same thing with the administration um I can yeah the transportation f um yeah I would like to see what that Staffing and administration means I'm sorry Dr K what is the latest number ofies confus first six seven or uh so so we have a Freshman Academy at the high school so that's a fresh that's for all freshman it's not necessarily themed so we call it Freshman Academy which is right which is so you have four main themes of the high school plus freshing Academy and then you have twoy over at the heart any questions from committee members before I open it up can you just maybe have you had the opportunity to look into the transportation I see that it says there savings and so is that just rerouting there could be and that's what we have to we get a plan from them to say okay we'll we add 360 High School Kids versus the middle school kids is what does that do to the routes what does it do to the tear um and because in addition we would be you know be changing it significantly the routes from Den high school with CIS um they have to redo a whole plan they would have to redo a whole plan so they're going to have to run all new numbers and give us a projection of how many buses at a certain time we would need um as opposed to um you know the existing one which was high school middle school elementary this is now more High School little less middle school and how does that change the te and the runs and the number of buses yeah so we're still we're still going to study that thank you yeah um does anybody who's here as our guest want to contribute or have anything to add to car's presentation about this change over I think the next couple of slides coming through would probably U First anybody not on the commit I just as we look your vision and we're talking about the 360 if I got if I understand this right 360 students are middle school students so they're going to be continuing at their middle school so and I think when we first started talking about the academy and I know my concern was um the sixth graders especially when you're talking about boys and girls intermingling with those ninth and 10th and older kids you know and how stuff is carried on with with kids so my understanding is and I I don't know all the ANS of this plan but to have them stay in a a sort of De Area Middle School area and and let the high school stay in their place but we're talking about a third Academy at correct correct and to to your point M um it makes it heck of a lot easier in terms of scheduling the lunch waves PE and all that CU trying to keep the high school and the middle school separate was you know really deliberate plan to do that which creates constraints in a schedule to try to separate kids so when you're working with all high school kids it makes it a little bit easier to schedule use of the rooms I have a few questions it's okay y okay um my first question is slam has done studies they typically do a usage study not a demography study is that right well it's kind of a combination of both so we've got we've had you know they they ask us for all the building plans and the square footage and and then I think they actually do the site visits as well they can actually come in and because it changes so you can have you know you can have a building that's utilized in one way and then all of a sudden you know this whole area is are now maybe they're small group construction rooms or ESL you know ESL rooms and so your Capac might change a little bit because You' changed the per um so they'll do that study they'll also look at birth rates and uh they they pull building permits they they find out where all of the housing is GT is coming from and the neighborhoods is coming from um so so they'll they put all of that together in a pretty big package and they'll present it to us um we hoping in June was hoping for a little bit earlier but um June is actually not too far away at this point and so um we usually update kind of our plans based on on those studies as you recall the last you know couple years or so we've always outpaced the projections even the high projections um so I'm very interested to see that's what they come up with um you don't we just don't know and and or where the population is going to be so we could see the pattern but you know we we don't know if we're going to be expecting any surprises yeah that's why getting getting real close in that in that red I know um and then I wanted to ask you about the Freshman Academy uh component of this because my understanding was that was going to stay at uh the main DHS campus yes so how did the numbers work in terms of uh students going into these Pathways like you're going to have three uhmy at the new site you're going to have fourmies at the the main site it's really fivey right it's the Freshman there as well yes so that's a big much bigger one that's the whole freshman class it's one one group and we have them on teams personalized learning communities a little bit smaller so we're talking about like a thousand students at that level and then each of the emies is going to have roughly how many students we think it's it will vary a little bit but generally we you know we've gone between 4 and 450 for like an academy and then the individual Pathways will be a little more differentiated based on the the requests that we get and then also the capacities that we have and that that will fluctuate a little bit every year so how many sections we can offer of each of each section offer two or one um in those specialized uh electives um so I actually wanted to at some point have Dan come back in because the students have made their selections and he has all of the breakouts and the calculations and um how many kids got their first choice and second choice and we're actually quite pleased with the result so I'd love to have the team come in and present it be wonderful and talk about the Freshman Academy curriculum the coming another meeting um but you can see all the breakups and where all the kids are going to be be had great yeah I want some clarify question about the slide that we saw with the um original plan and then the revised plan with the numbers yeah I think and maybe I'm maybe I'm seeing something different than you are W to but when you look at that slide and it talks about here was the original plan for the high school and here's the number that we were planning for the high school that number jumps up right in the in the revised copy and and maybe is that kind of getting at like soer for 6 I think it's the next slide May so moved up yeah right so the number just mov just two different ways of looking at it it's a little easier for me to explain it with the green that's for but so so for so if we had stayed with the original 6 68 model the staff those main teachers would cost $2.5 million when you move to the to this High School plan it's only a million in one you know you're still bringing some teachers over because you can't split the baby with with the high school all together so it's it's a it's a good number of staff that comes over same thing with the with the administration you're not hiring a principal you're hiring an assistant principal on the Paris support you only need you know a proportion of that not all of them would have to come um other supports that could be you know psychologist n and social workers um you know we don't have to share with the middle school we can we we extend that staff here um so overall you know we're going from 100 120 people with meeing benefits to 90 so that's the 30 F reduction so that number goes down significantly as well Transportation materials would be the same whether they're high school students or middle school students we just leave that alone for now um and then of course the transportation is something we're still looking at so it's really just the volume of staff that you that you no longer need by converting to a high school model okay but those are still additional High School like three numbers are still additional SCH still high school green is now High School Green is revised if you do high school correct right which is why we have it kind of both ways to look at it differently right thank you yeah the number just goes up and then all students once they select a specific Academy if they don't like it to change so they're allowed to change once and it's going to be based on availability so hope that you know the research shows that when a student actually gets to pick and choose that they tend to stay in those areas so hoping the research continues to Bear out but when they're in a pathway and you're in an academy they'll have an opportunity to switch um because the core that that 10th grade core class kind of can allows you to go H in a couple different directions just to that point rich I don't know uh how different it might be but when I would schedule a student at the high school for any elective they had a window within which to make a change after the window closed they remained either they made a change or they remain so I imagine that it may be similar it's Stucker unhappy it's something you know we lose the enthusiasm of the students so as long as they have the flexibility yeah if it's available so really no difference that is if it's open and it's available they can and so I was just wondering if um if you could share the slides sure and then there were uh slides that you presented at a prior meeting in which um you talked about um having teacher leaders the kind of heing yeah I tell you I like the concept of just going straight High School up in a at at the West Side uh I think think that will from the safety portion at the high school will levate some of those addicts um and you know I'll I'll say some other comments for later on uh and goes back to when Dan was here and I made a comment about having that one principal being in charge and looking for the future probably having Sports there so in Stanford you know the West Hill High School where I work we're about 2,200 uh 2200 students okay in Stanford High School is around 19 and change so if you're looking at the ratio between uh if we're in the same boat here goes back to my original comment to Dan is that we need to have an administrator there at a principal and we might consider having Sports there and I know we don't have a budget I got that right we're not too far yeah I mean at some point it would be but I'm just saying yeah I'm a proactive guy y okay so we skip ahead a little bit so we had talked about the name and uh I think we were kind of excited to at the opportunity to name the site however oh I went backward I ruined my dramatic effect oh hold on keep going forward push forward jeez let's move forward Bo that was a real there we go okay um okay so the legislative uh the legis for the Academy goes back to 2019 it was actually even before that um in different sessions and and Tonio can really speak to this probably better than I can but um you know through some of the inquiry around can we make these changes you know is this possible you know the idea that we would change the name on this project Midstream sends up a whole bunch of flags with the state and they're like well wait what is this is this you know is this the same project that we agreed to fund and so it's just really not a good time to change the name um that could cause any Jeopardy to us being able to move swiftly and that we would you know come back and revisit the name the name will be part of the package we're going to you know we're not going to create a $100,000 sign uh on that says Denver K Academy that will be the Minimus in this in the package with the with the state um and that we'll revisit the signning the signage on this once we kind of get through the the process with the state but right now changing the name would signal a change in the Pro the project and is not really a great idea so we're going to back off on trying to rename this this project does that make sense so the super exciting part this is where I start to get a little what floats my boat um is being able to um really conceptualize what is the next level of Academy work that we can do with students that is relevant that is timely that is um based on research and when we were coming up with the original plan and it took two years to come up with again all of the research behind the different Pathways andies that were selected um the the national career clusters where the jobs are growing where the markets and sectors were growing and where the the need and the the man economy was was growing and we did have if you look at one of our the original on the original Pathways Under The Business and Entrepreneurship we kind of have a hanging chat it was a renewable energy pathway that's in with sort of the business and then we have a greenhouse over there and we didn't we really wanted if we could have made another Academy this is where we were going with it um but instead we just had enough to do a pathway and so that's what we did so now that idea that Vision now can can actually come to fruition and become its own Academy and when I tell you the amount of uh funding and jobs that are growing and the positioning around green and clean energy is unbelievable there's an unbelievable growth in that area and so um the idea of having fre Pathways clean and renewable energy Green Design and environmental stewardship and sustainable food and living systems I think would be a really exciting opportunity for the students um and really educate them in a in a home growing area that we really don't even talk that much about in schools as much as we should so those are sort of the Big Ideas behind the the the other the usage of the space um and again I'm already out there pounding looking at brants that go along with these with these ideas and I can tell you there's a lot there's a lot of them for this type of this type of opportunity any questions on that okay so what do we do now this is all kind of moving very quickly and I just I want to thank the city team because you guys are like so responsive and you know running to get information about about all this but um they're amazing but in order for this to work we would need um this this group would have to take action to say okay we're okay with this with making these changes um then the board would have to take action on it we have to craft Ed specifications so I would work on that I did it for the original one and I worked with with Antonio group um to revise it for the high school programming and then the sites committee would have to take action on all that as well we do some official some official documentation with regards to that and then we would have to lock it all in by June 5th for this to for this to happen um and then there have a ton of work to do on their side to make the you know necessary changes that was going to be my question how does this impact construction as we as we're where we are right now so um the project is um I don't want to say it's on fire but it's on fire uh we're pushing the contractors every day to order materials get the materials in um but we've been chatting about this for a little bit so we've already had several meetings with a contractor um and just remember this is specific to one piece of what is a very large project um and the changes that we're looking at making are not drastic to the sense where you know we're going to add an addition take an addition out it's really interior fit out work uh which we can do relatively uh easily uh based on uh where we're heading with it and the fact that we already had conservable number of classrooms uh they were all in very well sized they're going to fit in pretty well with the high school concept um so as soon as you guys endorse making these changes and we get the Ed specs updated um we're going to continue to talk to the contractors about what changes we're making we're even considering stalling some of the work in those areas uh to perfectly accommodate the Ed speec that would be revised so yeah there'll be an impact but it's not something that would be a a show sto uh so so it's not going to delay our our move over there I'm sorry it won't delay our move no it shouldn't uh uh we I'm going to be honest with you we did hit some unforeseen conditions at the job that has created some significant challenges and we're working through that but that wouldn't really be uh related to this change and it really wouldn't impact uh that any further by the changes that you're thinking of making here about financial none of these changes where Financial Health CH so there there'll be some um so we were just taking a look at bathrooms right although the bathrooms may change location wise the total number of bathrooms doesn't really change so those are the money drivers like you have to you have to scope in the project there's a bid item allocated to that we just have to reprogram it into a different space so there shouldn't be that big of a budget issue you I mean I know it's coming from the city's budget I'm just I'm still a taxpayer you know so I'm just like you know yeah some of the unforeseen conditions obviously drove uh have a a price tag to that we're working through thank you any questions on this I'm hoping that there's some like because I know we were having issues with se you know keeping the two the the middle school and the high school separate so hopefully that alleviates some of those issues that I know that we were looking at at that time right so hopefully that helps head we we worked really hard to keep these uh two schools separate in a side and it was a challenge cuz it's a big large building um but I think we did a pretty good job everybody was comfortable with it but this is going to make so much what I okay good so almost a win more than a absolutely all right all right that's it for you that's it for me okay anybody have any more questions on the Career Academy I want to urge you guys if you are you know sounds like you're pretty serious about changing the name um deliberate it get it nailed down um obviously we can't implement it until a little later in the project but knowing what you want to call this building will give me a little bit of a heads up to where you want to go with it and I'm going to do what I can to try to accommodate that unfortunately all the great paperwork causes Danbury Career Academy it would be it would be a nightmare to kind of go in Midstream now start changing the project name but once the Project's done we can call the building and the school pretty much what we want um so yeah I would say keep working on it uh deliberate it out when you come to uh a name that everybody feels comfortable with just let me know and we'll keep that in kind of in the back of our half great thank you so off the table is a couple of weeks ago we had a conversation and of a time table I think when here calling you the West Side something that no longer exists okay fine less pressure I just want to add a comment um you know we did a lot of data diving into this and I think a lot of that speaks for itself um from Dr km's presentation um but I do want to mention um the little bump we saw right so I know when this was originally planned we're thinking of planning for them now but when we looked at this I think we're planning for much longer term um however when the new study poed out I just want to say we are immediately ready have had conversations about expansion when it comes to middle school if needed um about modules classrooms that we're going to have to be seeing about five years or so so we are ready to have those conversations if there are concerns of that nature um I think otherwise this makes the most sense for the congestion we've seen a g high for so many years that hopefully can be a much longer taking care of issue sort of in Sanda thank you thank you thank you don't for all right so if we're done with that we'll move on next item on our agenda thank you so this is just a quick list of some updates uh regarding our buildings um a quick note on our science lab Renovations for this summer uh we were over there today meeting with mover everything is in order um the move out will begin right around June 10th and the actual construction will start immediately as all the kids out of the building uh the day following graduation um we did learn and this is sort of still unofficial that we are going to be receiving the HVAC Grant award for about $28,000 so some good news there a little bit of bad news we under budget on uh sorry we were over budget on some of the moving expenses associated with science lab so that's really just going to get TurnKey make sure we can have safe disposal and storage of the chemicals and all those science labs um during the construction so either way it works actually about the same so um did uh a few things in light of some of the comments that we heard at the city council meeting two weeks ago from students um which not called pest control company and had them come out um and just do an assessment to make sure that there was no issues um there there were there were no real pest issues that were uncovered but um you know they found some you know some old unoccupied pests and things that were able to clear out so um there was there was really uh nothing to be concerned on that front so we were um one thing that uh we're excited about is the capital budget has the El Ellsworth roof slated for repair and uh it comes at a unique time because there's solar panels up there which will be taken down which maybe could get repurposed into the clean energy Academy so we looking at opportunities to do things like that and uh we'll talk more about the Sol panels and some of the the complications that are going to trying to those um upcoming plan projects uh we have a big summer ahead of us assuming uh the the planned budget stays the same for for Rich's Department um we're going to be adding vestule at uh milridge primary we're going to be replacing some cabinets at pbrook they have some old cabinets there that just repeat water and splash and kind of rot it out so that uh we're going to be doing some painting in the uh DHS Auditorium uh replacing floring in KSP uh also flooring in midridge primary for one of the pods and we'll also be replacing some flooring um uh in the west side uh uh portes uh we car mentioned this a little while back we found some some issues so we're going to keep working on remediation with that um we have a company that's going to be sending us an estim to do some Advanced repairs just to make sure there's no that's that's pretty much any questions for Dr CA during the council meeting the kids the students made it very clear and at least left me with the perception and I'm glad you pointed out the test control because that ble me away so we don't have to discuss that but they made it sound as if the high school was fallowing for they made references to an outside wall that was crumbling they couldn't sit near it or something inner walls were falling apart what what's being done or is that a factual situation is that something that is safety issues and is that going to be attended attended to because literally a good part of that conversation that we have the students coming up and they did a phenomenal job in being eloquent but they made it sound as if the high school was you know literally falling apart and uh I just want to get what is actually happening there and and what scheduled to be repairs are any safety issues so rich Antonio can jump in on this too we so we've gone through some of those comments and and and are kind of carrying out a little inspection of some of the things that were raised everything from bathrooms to some places where the steps and the you know things are crumbling um to determine if it is just something superficial or if it is a need of Greater damage so we would have just we'll have a little bit more information on that as we continue the the inspection process but Rich um there's um there was an exterior facade wall um in the courtyard area where the cafeteria is uh where this winter water got behind the brick and just popped the face of the bricks off so my guys went up there and removed it because we didn't want it to potentially fall on anybody but that wall is probably this High um so that's probably what they're making reference to um we are looking and working with um the principal in that Courtyard area to see how we can repurpose it uh to help out with a little bit of the overcrowding kids love to go out there and actually eat lunch um so we're working with him on that and we'll incorporate uh that wall repair with uh with that project um but other than that I'm not aware of this building falling down I'd probably be the first one to know about it and and um you know we're in there quite often um some of the issues and my guys are in there working all the time in the tunnels uh if you see pest they probably will be in the tunnels there there's no evidence on we have we have a integrated Pest Management um set up that every school and we have a pesticide management company Al they they do a walk through of all the schools every month they touch bases with the head custodian uh if there's any areas pointed out you know typically um you know it's more ants sometimes cockroaches um but we really haven't had any rodent issues per se or R issues if if it's possible if you can give us a status report at some point what I'd like to do is is one of the things that we don't do we should do and and I want to respect these young people coming forth and speaking their mind is basically to tell them that we've listened to them and certain things are being uh being taken care of and done so that at least their words are are heard and it doesn't go on dep ears thank you very much I appreciate it yes and um so which if I can just piggy back on that we have to get the communication back out to whoever brought the concern even if it's to the building so that they can put it in their School newspaper we were heard uh this is what happens this is how the school takes care of it they are monthly if you have an issue here is who to see in your building just some you know um so I just wanted to Pig you back on that um I also want to thank you for uh visiting with me to reach an Endeavor um I went back what a difference um they had the uh panel ceilings the drop ceilings and um I didn't know but above the drop ceiling are um what are they skylights skylights but it never reached the classroom because they were so thank you they were able to put in clear panels and when I went it what a what a difference I it just thank you for following through that that it did make a big difference well the credit go rich and his team Mike I think spends a lot of time over there too okay yeah so let mik know yeah if you will let them let them know um even um when I stopped in um kids are so funny um but one of the panels had fallen well of course it fell out on its own um but you know what I'm saying they went in and they did the silicone around so that that handled that um and I'll just tell you prior to that it was openal remember they had knocked out well there were books up there and pens and right rappers and so we know coming down but thank you so much um I did have a question um you said the that's the city's capital budget for the the roof project for the roof project and so but that is that the one where the monies are coming from the state as if it's approved on yeah that one won't be a state project that's just straight go to bond for okay um is that the only thing that they will go to bond for I know what was on there also were the walls at King Street primary that's a separate uh State bond that we looking at as well yeah City BS 3 million of our own every year for city capital projects and that's what we chose to do this year one project happened to be 3 million so that's how we work out okay so that will be the root that El and um and you talked about the V going up that's the that's all project right that's our project that would be ours um are there other schools that we are considering that are in line for vestibules yes is South Street School one of them please put them on your list we can put it wherever wherever priority over time we want to get them all so yeah we could we can keep them on our radar when I went into visit and you get buzzed in if the um resource officers his desk is right there but if he's going if he's somewhere else yeah the secretary has to determine whether or not she's going to buz you in based on who's standing there and her office cannot see outside right okay um so set up yeah just because of the setup so I just wanted to mention that and um I think that's it for me right now thank you anybody else questions Melle just uh to one quick one is I know that we had sted about um security some measures that we were taking some of it was just strike being like things that we could do quickly I know the vules and stuff like that with some of that where have we moved on that front I I haven't heard much on that I'm sure yeah doing as much as we can yeah we've done a number of things with signage and you know everything from uh welcoming signs I think we were in the process uh we've gotten a few of them up but just like visitor paring designations things like this so the advocate knows this is the visitor and when they left the building their car left with them and you know they didn't right go somewhere El so yeah we've been slowly chipping away at that list um something else we're going to be pushing on this summer um especially if we have any unused funds from you know anything we were able to squeeze out of the remainder of some of these other projects cuz I know some of those weren't so expensive could tackle you know security and then the other thing was you had mentioned that we were going to or brought on just a couple of weeks ago online the service indust you know like this the Aging report on open warranty items I'm going to call it between the city and the Board of Education which is where all the communication falls into this dark hole and we were apparently switched over to a new program I haven't heard what it's called we haven't been updated like can you please speak to that yeah so the new work order system it is called uh operations hero uh we've been rolling with it now for about 2 months 2 and a half months uh Rich works at uh rich and his team work with it daily um you know the guys that are out the field they get it on their their phone or their iPad and you know they mark it uh you know completed or in progress or weing apart um the principles have been on it we haven't I haven't heard any questions about you the old one we had it was all manually done it was a um kind of Excel spreadsheet and and you know we had manually updated every couple weeks um so the principls have been logging in kind of looking at their work orders and um it's just really sort of we as a committee get a copy of what that report looks like is that something that we can get at every site's kind of update meeting or a report that we could log into because that's where the communication yeah it's like a dashboard there's all sorts of different reports you can run to so we can figure out what that looks like cuz that's where all the commun that's basically what wondering like we were talking about bathrooms that were several years not talk you know like just issues that you know you and I have spoken about like have we been able to tackle them has something kind of risen to the top so that we can address those thank you um and to speak about the work order program and uh to be a little transparent um I have sat on the mayor's advisory committee um for the education of it and one of the things I I've met with the city um s oops and I forgot his name and um also met um with Mike Rich um one of the things that we will be bringing up from that committee is um the two different systems how much is our system costing us can you give me a round I don't just Ana and then the cities paying for their system and yet um is there a system that would be able to combine number one to save money and number two to be able to see what are the work orders that go in that are City responsibilities work orders that go in that are School responsibilities I was also looking for the date it went in who it went to who sent it who it went to um when it was completed um because there are a number of work orders in there but and who does it go back to who do we notified that it's done um so that's kind of what I was looking for in a work order program and so we are going to be recommending as part of that committee to the city to look into how can we um save money by working with the same I know this is a little off of the agenda but I know last board meeting we had a parent very concerned about usage of bathrooms at the high school is possibility you can address that has that been taken care of yeah um so this was something that kind of fell into the the people Services Arena so it wasn't really a facilities related I fig that yeah um so Kelly could probably speak more directly to it um what I can say from the facility side is there you know this is not you know this is not an issue unique to Danberry um you see it happening all across and one thing that schools have started to do is to just change the way bathrooms are set up right so instead of a you know a boy's bathroom and a girls bathroom there are you know there sort of private stalls right it's not like a stall where you know the top of the bottom but they have these sort of private you know stalls and then there's a sort of communal sink area um there's been a lot of thinking around how to reorganize and restructure bathrooms for schools you know for the schools of the future and some of the new construction that we've seen going up in places like I just saw one in Minnesota um had these and they've had some really great results um but of course that's more Capital that's more money and you know so that's something we was certainly you know pushing on at the state level you know hopefully we get some money and be able to start making these sorts of changes where I work in Stanford uh what they've done is they allocated two bathrooms as um unisex but they have a key they have a key and the reason I also bringing out to address it Antonio is that you know I don't again you guys know you better understand what the construction in a new building and maybe that's something we're going to need to look at you know in the new building yeah there's a there is some um there some trending going out there that speaks to exactly what Mike was talking about but it's all over the place everybody has a different take on it um I tell you the whole industry is struggling on how to deal with this B situation so we're kind of sitting back waiting for some guidance documents to come out where somebody endorses sort of a philosophy you guys can endorse it and then we can implement it as a design feature in our buildings uh but it is everybody's we I understand I mean we have students in our place are asking the faculty for their key to go into the faculty's bathroom that's all that if there's anything else I'm just going to jump on on what you're saying here it is a big concern and then we are designing and building for the future and these are questions being asked today especially with you know our own position in this nation in the country regarding sports right and how how are we dealing with the locker rooms and you know that issue I understand we might be waiting for guidance but I I don't think as a parent I you know for answers and if we're designing a building and I would like that conversation now as I'm glad Al brought it up definitely something I think we should be discussing now well I think if it's something that pertains to facilities we can you know we could talk about adding anything pre Services we'll sa that for a different committee not necessarily sites so that I'll I'll her that word to GL to see where she wants to that discussion but as new construction we're talking about yeah conru dealing with anything the construction or sites related we'll keep that within this committee I don't want to you know kind of go past what is it our purview um so um if there's nothing else pertain to this we're going to I guess get a May schedule a May committee meeting on the books and a June committee meeting on the books and then uh just for our committee I'd like to get more regular sites meetings and I think that'll help us get you know get regular followup and and get a regular system going these committees were already prescheduled and they were really sporadic so um we can do monthly meetings I think that'll help everybody kind of keep up on things that we want answered and follow up with type of thing okay so there's nothing else yeah I'll make a motion to adjourn okay second all right meeting is adjourned thank you 6:3 thank

Emerson versus North Arlington and in prime time 2 p.m. game 2 Cliffside Park versus Richfield some upcoming important B for the athletic C thank you is May 1st uh at cide Park Middle School and May 21st at Lincoln School in fairie there will be informational meetings another important date to put on the calendar is June 4th because that is the day of athletic physicals and athletic awards night is June 4th 2024 so we look forward to closing out our seasons for this year and we're already starting to work on Seasons uh for next year you can see that we have the resolution on the agenda we hire some coaches and I will be aiss if I close my remarks without congratulating my colleague on the board uh briany had just been reelected and serving another term Mr joap Pano has been reelected to serve another term Mr Gara is reelected to serve another term and although he's not here with us this evening Mr Russo as well so congratulations to my colleagues on the board for all winning their election think it's okay Dr I just want to interject I I I want to thank the support of the the board here in place and uh very instrumental from U our mayor uh to also uh B mayor uh Steven Russo and Paul Juliano and their team for being instrumental in assisting us as you know putting the children first it's the most important thing and a special thank you to Marcos and Mike Russo as we stuck together as a team as we always do here on I can't forget also um clayon he he came out and helped a lot walking we did together and meeting with people so I do [Applause] want June 4 oh the on the field yeah I think it's on the field that's it's been the last couple it used to be in the but hasn't so it doesn't say here I would only assume that it's yes you have the report first um anything you want to tell us about we have the our second blood drive the year upcoming it's going to be at the end of May so excited for that the first one really well we had an influx of students first time get everyone and they're giving us money back so we're hoping to almost draw the Hat type of scholarship so I think um three students so that would be great um recently we' just had our P rally which is really good a lot of students were involved so I'm going to Simply say that there are 26 Personnel resolutions and what's interesting I think about an April agenda with this climate teacher shortage that's out there um in addition to closing out the 2324 school year you'll note that resolutions 35 and six we're asking you to ratify and approve four staff members for the 2425 so our professional staff has been working hard recruiting trying to fill vacancies now I I hope that pattern continues looks like among all of our schools we probably have about 15 vacancies to fill between now and September 1st again kind of putting in front of you for tonight and hopefully we're getting off to a good St and I truthfully have to thank Mr Alano for all of his support this has been difficult striking salaries and meeting people with their requests and every one we do we go make sure that we can ratify it to you ask you to ratify with the parameters of the budget actually I want to congratulate to you on number seven it's very difficult to find a culinary instructor and I'm very proud to say CLI side still has that program because so many high schools had to do with the program you can't even find instructors anymore so who for finding someone thatr I would love to take CR that I can but I was with uh jelle yesterday um she's very very impressive and I think she's going to be a tremendous asset in addition to com I think continue great person great teacher and for the benefit of the people watching It's The Culinary instructor so we're manary Arts here andol a lot of schs have not able to do we're forunate to have that I believe we still have wood cide is doing a better job than most in keeping uh you know our training programs going so certifications any the only other resolution I wanted to speak to is resolution 29 under policies and procedures um I thank the board of education for their support feedback D the 2425 calendar complex school year and we'll be able to send it based on your ratification tonight we'll be able to send it out to the county ofs tomorrow public consumption it includes a prospective graduation date of Friday June 28th it includes one snow day as of right now and I think after we make the professional development there's one left but I'll firm that up and have that by tomorrow and again it'll be on the website tomorrow so again like thanks to the Board of Education that's it for the super the last three resolutions 54 55 and 564 asking fa uplo resolution we got temporary tenative approval last week we should up resolution also temporary trailers mod resolution 55 and resolution education for 2425 resolution 56 as I was U forming the board earlier we about to do our end of year analysis Surplus diagnostic May and we will positioning and we will also start to prep for our full year 24 audit in the coming months we're going to try to do a bring our auditor on board early to do kind of an early prep session in regard to uh asking the auditor to uh guide us in regard to some key especially Grant component of the business this year with our expiring uh we want to make sure we're buttoning up all our processes for the 23 24 school year and we also engaging uh the board on summer facilities projects uh we've got many projects going on the biggest project we spoke about was our gym Lobby renovation which will kick off May 28th we will start the external demolition we'll keep everyone posted on that Dr Dr haes I think we need to clarify the calendar it seems to be some confusion comme so it's it's going to be one snow day because we added that additional day off uh so that number 183 students in on March 31st right then right it'll be 182 I'm sorry uh2 on the bottom there 182 that 182 should be 181 right this is not correct it correct right it's got to go down to 181 this has to be Chang right I added that last minute so we didn't change the bottom yet so what I said is correct well you have start you have a cushion in my opinion Mr Memorial this count as four day Memorial Day weekend so that'll get you one day back right there then if you need to expunge again most District to be clear your position that we would not add days after June 20th you would take days off that a that would be my recommendation and position way at the end so everything I've always looked February is too early to take back things you can still get more snow in March yes ail but come April if we didn't when I usually see calendar adjustments directly if you haven't the same that come April when we're relatively sure no more snug then we start picking more and forgiveness F so then you're going to take away I wouldi that's every District I've ever seen do I've seen add for sure I just think you have to be careful because it's not always snowing you can you can have days that you need to call the district we call them snow days but there's so many other reasons I mean I've seen districts [Music] have valid I the calendar can be revised as we go along things happen we can get a torrential hurricane in October and like I think we I don't want to use this terminology we're making a mountain out of it I think we should adopt the calendar with the understanding that the calend may need to be amended as we go along we've had hurricanes where we have we had schools that were flooded we don't know we can't forecast Mother Nature one one snow B is in there now but you know we'll see what transitions if we have the staff come back September 3rd the students come back September 5th let's bring the students back September 4th there's there they are professional development those days for the St so students are come back to fifth right doc students come back Thursday the 5th staff comes back Tuesday the third tues Tuesday pull it back one day instead of extending pull the students back one day so you I would say to you no no just I'm just thr out there profession professional development those days a lot of new teachers coming on we have a huge new program at learning the only thing I would would suggest we adalar as but Lisa has up a very valid point in my opinion because I've seen places that have had to take take back days that were off and people make plans and stuff I would ask if Dr Hayes and the committee go back and look at a plan for if we have to um take back days off so that St I have seen that done in District that they said if we have to use more than theot snow day the first place they be taken from is this next place be Tak up this way everybody knows before the year if we plan on adding to the end of the year or taking back and staff would know because I think one day in this day and age when we see so many natural disasters more than I I'm used to see in my lifetime I think that as long as we have a plan and that staff and parents can know you know this would be the first date hit if uh we have to use an additional day if we could do a plan absolutely good example of a plan that we can amend right now Friday before Memorial Day is used as a day off there were times where Mike would uh change it you know he would put it in as a school day and then he would make it the Ed so you can do that too but I get at this point let's let's continue the calendar like we discuss this in our work session and we can amend it that's the possibility on for instance that day the 23rd Let's cross that bridge when we get there we may not have to amend it or we may have to these are things that go in motion I understand everybody's opinions in fact they're all valid I think we should adopt it as we discussed it this evening and then am and we have come back don't you feel the have tocuman Hur so I'd like to give Mr savan the credit and if you look at the last sentence on this account basically does say that but I can spell it out more detail we saying that should should circumstances require that the calendar be extended beyond the closing schedule day president's weekend Memorial weekend and spring res may need to be adjusted from you want know the the you have a super time almost keep that's it for the superintendent thank you from the public no they want to know about the count I'll make a motion to move the agenda second okay that Mr gcia correct take vote now Mr Mr yes yes but I want one com 29 that if we don't use this suay we would also give backun as so if the calendar permits it we make that off yes correct that's my thank you for that Mr R Mr yes yes I'll make aot I'd like to just inter um I want to congratulate my colleagues again on their re-elections well deserved it was an honor for me to see that occur this cycle um I want to everyone that there's going to be a middle school Society events on the 30th and as far as resolution 29 ad it this is a calar that's be respectful for for the thank you to everyone I hope you have a wonderful

with class day earlier in the day and so the senior officers have been working hard to um figure out what kind of things we're going to do we're going to go to canaby Lake Park and do a boat cruise um in a senior banquet night with um the yearbooks being given out um and then recently stugo had Bingo night which was the largest in school history according to Mr wixer um and we raised about $2,800 um and then the last day of senior classes will be May 24th um and AP tests are coming up for the School they'll start the first week of May um and run through about the third week of May and then um I'm going to speak on Karina's behalf because she's not here tonight but um prom for the juniors will be on May 17th um like with the grand March before at 4 p.m.

um and I hope folks will be able to tune in for that it is going to be conducted via Zoom so uh I look forward to seeing committee members and starting some conversation around some of our initiatives and uh that's about it thank you K curriculum committee so um so we have our next meeting um on May 22nd um the last meeting we were talking about theis and um and the next meeting we'll go over a little bit about the curriculum and the programming for theis thank you finance Mr Janell um I first like this evening to recognize that Mr Spang is not here he is on his way to visit with his daughter who's expecting a baby on Friday uh and to be with a son-in-law that'll be their first grandchild um so on behalf of the board I'd like to extend congratulations and best wishes for a healthy and happy baby this is a great a great time I know being a grandparent is is tremendous as well as well as being a first time parent um that being said we we had a u finance committee report on April 10th it was attended essentially by Bo members except Mr H in addition to that uh pretty much all of the board members the excepting Mr was also at attendance at that particular meeting we opened a meeting um by turning it over to Mr Spang and Mr Weaver who went through the financials for March 28th but was an early uh cash uh cut off they explained that the expenses for the balance that month were encumbered um they discussed the various uh variances and some of the exceptions and the expenses essentially indicating that the unencumbered balance as at the end of March for9 mon was approximately $320,000 favorable uh that being said there was a comment made uh by myself which indicated that we had anticipated in the month of April an unexpected charge of some $70,000 that will impact this that's yet to be um to to be to be seen or or materialized um there were comments made to references to the sched that were attached to part of the financial statements um that pretty much covered the the financial aspect of that uh we had recommended as a committee that the board accept the financial statements at this particular meeting um Mr span then went on to discuss his uh reduction plan that he had uh that was sucess if you recall in the beginning of the year there was a shortfall of approximately $4.7 million um and then John Spang and Kevin wson Went before the atoc committee of the council and was asking them to take down up to if needed $3 million which was still outstanding part of this particular plan was uh to be put in place and as of the 10th of April John explained that all of the uh all of the strategies that were used to transfer funds to out of the operating budget into some of the existing uh Grant accounts that had available monies as well as getting um I'm going to use the word waivers for the eser money balances um that there for about $1.

at the high school um and tickets are being sold all week by the Juniors and recently the school bands performed at Micah uh which is the Massachusetts instrumental and chorus conductors Association and both the middle school and the high school won awards at the competition with one band winning goal great awesome thank you and um I'll speak on Norah's behalf so she also had something over here okay so um there was the Chicago musical uh it was a big hit it sold out every night uh there was a chus solo um the NHS talent show the fundraiser was for why not Devon and a lot of money was raised and a lot of seniors are committing to uh colleges their Ashton commits page on Instagram it's pretty active and yeah so a lot of uh exciting events going on nowadays yeah thank you all right anybody have any questions I I wasn't sure if you coming back up to the mic um anybody have any questions for our students thank you all no thanks thank you and for your seniors enjoy the last few weeks yeah all right um our first administrative item is the make a wish Club out of state um trip request the shields in company all right can you introduce yourself to the mic as well um hi I'm Kylie I'm a senior and I'm treasur of the make A- wish Club hi my name is Maya and I'm the Give Kids the World coordinator I'm also a senior thank you um the make a wish club is looking for approval for our 10th Annual Give Kids the World Service trip this past year each student completed around 35 hours um of community service and we plan to do the same next year um our Target dates for this um is November 7th to 12th but they are subject to change um this trip gives students the opportunity to help make a wish come true it also puts into perspective all like the impact of all the work we do all year um and we had amazing an amazing time at Give Kids the World last year and we left wishing we could stay longer all right thank you and we we've received the packet of information anything you want to add Miss Shields to the details of the trip hey everybody um the the dates are tenative we work really hard to um with our travel adviser um to get the cost as reduced as possible uh right now the tenative costs are about $1,550 uh a lot can change in two weeks with the airfare and stuff but we're estimating that um last year we had a student withdraw from the trip and we were able to have another student who really couldn't have afforded to do the trip was able to go and really uh impact to Give Kids the World like we've never seen so um we are going to do our best to ensure that he's able to travel with us again because he was a force to be reckoned with there um he's a very active Club member and really makes a difference so it really has shed a lot of light on um making sure that all can go um and it is our hope that we can make that at least defay the cost but if not cover the cost um as we move forward and make some plans thanks any questions for the group I think on that uh you know we we've approved this it's going to be our 10th time approving it right so it's a great trip um but we also talked with other trips about something very similar to that and and what can you do you sounds like you had a you kind of fell into a really good opportunity to uh have that student uh be able to go on the trip but what can we do to ensure that students will show interest without any regard to to the cost so that we would at least know the interest and then have the opportunity to to try to make sure we can include as many of those as as possible so when we introduce it to the club members I always make it very clear if cost is an issue to please seek me out and have a confidential conversation it's just always been there um we do have a small amount of funding that has been donated um to help offset I don't know that it would cover the entirety of this trip plus thinking about other trips that would need help but I think we'll start thinking about creative ways through the helping our own fund to access some additional funds that can offset I don't know that we'll ever be able to cover all of these expenses but between the advertisement of possibility as well as the private conversations we can explore options good anybody else no I think this is I want to goor I know I know I I I love that you do this and and hearing about it every year is so uplifting so I'd love listen you know we would love everybody to come it's very hard for them to even get shifts enough for us um I'm being fa but I would love to go we would love everybody to to um experience it you your life has changed after you do it and you become addicted that's the reality so um it is our hope that more and more people discover it and go back there and and play an active role we actually have um a student being granted his wish on Monday and he is going there and we're I I don't know who's more excited you know about how this unfolds for him because we just know it's going to be a magical experience for him so absolutely I think it's wonderful there would be a good team building we agree maybe we should we should do rat and of course you'd have to take me because I know the ropes right you can't go on yours you can't go on ours Jen can you just um tell us briefly how many kids are involved in the club and how many get to go on the trip and how they're selected okay so there's 220 students in the club right now um we've had to weed out a few because there was no involvement whatsoever throughout the year but 20 20 220 active members right now um we will put the applications out next week if approved um everybody will submit their applications with a small deposit to hold their spot um and if more than 35 or 36 applicants happen we will actually look at the attendance at the fundraisers as well as um club meetings and really pick the top most invested um club members for the trip great thanks is there a motion I will move to approve the mega wish Club out of state uh travel request as presented is there a second second Marcy um all in favor hi hi I and I for me as well thank you or nothing thanks appreciate it thanks for all your work guys all right Nathan your turn come on up and if you want to bring bring Mom with you you can suppose um how we doing all right thank you so why don't you to introduce yourself as well and then um just because you are recorded some people wouldn't have heard your first presentation to us why don't you just tell us briefly what you're what you're talking to us about in terms of Eagle Scout project okay well hello my name is Nathan grovin I a junior at ashon high school and a member of Boy Scout Troop 232 um in Ashland and I'm working on my Eagle Scout project um environmental sustainability is very important to me and when I started to think about completing an Eagle project um my goal was to help promote this in our community and here we are sort of as a result of that um can give read the background that I gave you guys I think yeah and we and we certainly recall what we talked about before I think there's interest in your project but there's some practical things and um I think you were going to kind of think about some of those things and come back to us with some other ideas yes yes do you want me to give like full background or should we what do the members want to hear I mean I'm fine with the updates but okay yeah I why don't you just update us on where where things are okay so sort of as I added to the little blur about it um after our last um meeting on March 7th I met with Mr Adams U Mr Murray and Miss stur in the high school cafeteria um and we talked about the project we answered some questions you guys had I took and I've been sort of implementing these parts to it um we walked through the cafeteria we agreed on the placement of the structure I I sent you guys the picture I don't know if you want me to present it made a little drawing of yeah where would be in the rough we've been given a copy of that with our materials lovely y um yeah the rough dimensions of the project um and you can see sort of the additions we made with the wheels and the handles and elevated off the ground in the splashboard and stuff like that these were all things we talked about for practicality of the project um yeah I think that's sort of the main update as we discussed it I've gotten a little bit farther in terms of just figuring out what what it's going to look like what it's made of I've had more discussions with my project project advisor and miss iner and you guys um yeah I guess I'm here to answer questions on it um all right so Mr Adams kind of or M iner sort of where are we in terms of just framework are we s point you think you have what you need to be able to feel comfortable making a recommendation to us sure so so conceptually uh when we met with Nathan and myself and miss anur and Mr Murray uh we did talk about Nathan's um drawing shows you we talked about having cures on it so it's easily movable uh the idea of where Nathan wants to to have this house near uh one of the windows in inside the cafeteria was fine the backsplash so he's incorporating a lot of these things into um his project which uh Mr Murray and I and Miss aner had asked him to do so conceptually this was certainly something that that we're good with in terms of where it is um you know the the concern that that we still had was making sure that what it's being made of making sure the material was appropriate and and from my standpoint Point um moving forward with the project as long as the material is something that is approved by Mr Murray uh certainly we're 100% behind uh the project is the material issue sort of a sanitation issue or sanitation there's sustainability they they're a MRI of I don't want to speak for Mr Murray but certainly those are the things that he certainly brought up yeah Ian that's one of the questions I was going to have for you because the last sentence in that update talks about coded with uh and but we talked about uh uh uh the materials last time and you know expressed a concern about a uh you know a coding wears off right it's from a maintenance perspective but also some just so did you have you thought further about what that what that's going to be or or what you're going to make it of or yeah certainly um that's probably the thing that's taken the most of my time the L share of my time since I was here is actually what it's going to be made out of um I've done a fair Fair bit of research whether it's Google or Consulting professional opinions um and sort of doing research on what it would look like while we're building it stuff like that the material which I sincerely believe is the best decision for us to make would be coded wood instead of composite I can give you my various reasons why but um that's sort of my plan going forward is why that's better I can answer questions on it if you so desire yeah I think I'd probably lean on our you know director facilities who you know after you're gone from the high school uh they're the ones that are going to need to ensure that five years from now this thing is uh still functioning as as you intended right because you want to want your eal Scout project and we want it to be something that's going to last and and and look as good five years from now and function as well as it does uh the day you you do you install it right so one question and I know it's not the scale and that's why I'm asking the question it it's in front of it's kind of near that window uh I'm assuming it's obviously not the scale but there's not going to be an accessibility issue Ada perspective we actually brought out um when we were there we actually brought out a cart that was similar uh in terms of Dimensions iig I fig you probably had covered especially with John but U that was the question I had when I saw that where it would be just it's really a perfect spot for it uh we all agreed yeah 100% And and having it on the casters is is one thing because you know what we thought about was when we have uh the use of of the auditorium for instance we rent it out uh this is something that we could then utilize and wheel out to uh the lobby uh and have folks there recycle as were appropriate so yeah Marc I just had one other question in terms of you know you mentioned in here that the um environmental action Club will be emptying the bins as part of their bi-weekly um you know kind of emptying of the of recycling and whatnot and just want to make sure because I use bi-weekly in different ways so do they do it twice a week or is it every other week with the volume of water bottles if it's every other week I'm afraid that's not going to be enough so I'm just curious what what the frequency is well the truth is that it is every other week that's what they do obviously um changes can be made like flaps could even be added to close off the top if there's genuinely a problem with it I think there is a difference just to sort of qu the concern of bottles there's still going to be a difference between the amount of bottles that are bought the amount of bottles that end up in there just because although a lot of kids literally just buy a water bottle and empty it out because they're not a fan of our filters at school um I bring my own water so I guess I can't make a comment on The Taste but um I think a fair few are still being taken with whe with students um or faculty whether they're going to a sports game after school or the recycling it in a school in a room recycling bin I don't think that volume will be a concern but certainly that can be addressed if that is I didn't know if that came up in your it yeah we feel like we're comfortable with it and and I guess after our conversations uh and and how this iterated because before it was you were also talking about compost and things like that has this now is this only going to be bottles Plastics or is there going to be you know what recycling is it single stream of multiple things or is it going to be purpose built for for bottles or it's certainly created for bottles it's created to targ the water bottle being bought in the cafeteria okay so are we at a point where I mean sort of subject to Mr Murray's approval on the materials we can go ahead and approve the project are people comfortable with that this point yeah yeah okay so why don't we ask for a motion um along those lines so I would move to approve the E Eagle Scout project uh for a recycle container uh subject to a approval by our director facilities is there a second second okay all in favor I I I an I for me thank you Nathan really appreciate your your contributions to our school Community thanks for being flexible and working through the MRI thank you guys for meeting with me visualize things we can add great okay right you're all set thank you thank you thank you all right uh our next item on the agenda is public hearing School Choice participation for 24 25 school year um so I think what's that she was deciding if she going stay for oh you don't need to stay you're good yeah you're off we talked already we're just gonna unless you want I say unless you unless you have a different opinion of what we should open up than this guy does she does not you'll tell her when she does right okay all right so why don't we do this why we um U Jim you want to make a presentation with your recommendations then I'll open open the public hearing for the public is not here um then we'll close it and then we can have our deliberations so um at this point I'm not opening the hearing yet but Jim want you go ahead and thank you te it off for us uh so as you know and I'm sharing the screen here uh each year we're um required to determine whether or not that the school committee will enter into um the ability for our district to to participate in school choice uh so students coming into our district from other districts around the Commonwealth and as we've we've looked at the numbers continuously we look at our enrollment numbers and we look at uh you know over the past five years we've seen a significant uh increase in in students so we've actually reduced the amount of our uh school choice seats over the years uh I did some research however in the past uh three years we average uh less than 50% um filling a fill rate if you will of of students um who are um coming into the district so last year we opened up 10 spots uh we had five we opened up five in kindergarten and five in first grade if you remember last year uh we had five kindergarten zero first grade uh the year before we had 30 seats uh we had 10 students uh across the district uh in in District so as we are looking at the enrollment over the next few years uh we wanted to make sure that there are there are a couple things um to be aware of uh kindergarten numbers still at this point for next year's enrollment um we have about 181 enrolled that includes uh the students who are at pway um so uh we're we're anticipating you know another 10 to 15 throughout the summer months um when we're looking across the district our numbers our enrollment numbers do not fluctuate significantly once the season School season starts we have kids who move in and kids who move out so it's it's been pretty flat in terms of uh we're not anticipating an extra 40 kids once school begins um and that that was important that the data we went back and looked at we may have had 75 new enrol le during the school year but we also had just as a number move moved out right um and so that's important I'm also very thoughtful of where we are from a financial perspective um while $5,000 doesn't seem like a lot of money um when we have school choice students going out um you know even just having enough school choice students in uh to offset that cost is is significant um but we utilize as you look at our budget we utilize school choice funding um significantly uh to balance our budget um that's not to say it's the right thing to do if our numbers were um exploding um you know we we potentially could you know theoretically get enough money um from Chapter 70 uh per per prle but that's not necessarily the case um I'm not saying that's a financial ision that I'm for the recommendation tonight but it is certainly something that that I think about um so as you can see here uh and I shared with you um this is our anticipated enrollment um for next year uh and currently uh the 24 we have 34 total students in school choice coming into the district okay we anticipate 12 of that 2821 if you will uh for anticipate enrollment next year 12 students have been accepted at Keef uh so those students we anticipate going out so that number would decrease by 12 okay um and then as we look at and and that's actually going to be five less students than we currently have at ke Kei um next year um and as we look at the numbers we feel comfortable and what I said with Kelly I actually we called I talked to her I said how do you feel if I asked again to add students at each grade level at the high school she said it really doesn't make a difference to us uh because not every kid is going to be grouped into the same exact classroom uh all five together all the way through at each grade level they're spread out in class sizes are anywhere between 17 and 23 to begin with um so that's important to understand too yeah so on that point I assume that that's different than saying for example 20 cumulatively at the high school like so they could all be nth graders which because nth graders can be blocked a little bit more and it spreads out over time she's not interested in that correct okay yeah right so we used to do 10 10 10 and 10 we used to do 40 students at the high school alone so the last two years we actually had Z or last year we did zero um and what we find is we do have students who are Midway through the year right seniors we have a policy uh that if a student uh a family moves partway through the senior year we allow them to stay in the district technically they're school choice students once that occurs right so because they're no longer living in the district um but we allow them based on policy so we this gives us a little bit of flexibility with that scenario as well um because you might have a freshman with with you know entering into the third quarter fourth quarter and really disruptive for a student uh to allow them that flexibility um so here we are I'm looking at the only grade levels I do not and would not want to see um are any of those above that 230 range uh which you'll notice um 245 at the at the third grade 232 at the 5th um 234 at the 6th and 232 at the eth um those are are really large classes um and we just don't feel comfortable adding any students there at this point in time um so that so the recommendation is to add in those spots um and I'm just sharing with you where our kids come from I do that yearly of the 34 students uh you can see the majority are come from Framingham uh 16 of them um but we have 10 who are seniors this year um so our number would drop to um students who would be if they assuming they all came back and that's not always the case so sometimes it's just the you know um um they gave it a year and then they decided you know what I'm going to stay it's been too much of a commute so families who are choicing in coming from marbor might say listen it's just it's because we're not responsible for transportation right y it's too much for them and they're like we we worked it out for a year and now we're just going to continue um we're going to go back to wherever um so just to summarize J can you um scroll back down sorry I'm read me up sorry up so your your recommending opening up five seats at all grade levels except grades three five six and eight okay okay any um anything else you want to present before I formally open the hearing for the crowd no okay that's it so I will um formally open the public hearing on school choice participation for the 2425 school year anybody interested in making a comment should come to the podium now there's an empty room here uh is there anybody on screen there's not okay um then I will close the hearing the public hearing having received no input from the community and look for the the um School committee's deliberation on the topic anybody have any thoughts or questions for Mr Adams Jim just to remind me make sure I'm I'm not remembering it incorrectly when we uh accept a choice student they are in our district throughout unless they withdraw and the seats in and not opening up a seat in the next grade doesn't impact them right they're they're they're one of our pupil Point soon as they're in Choice they're in Choice until they determine they do not longer want to be in choice or they graduate and so all of these are um opening up it's an addition to any choice we already have corre 100% right and we and the reason why we've got to get this out to communities we have had uh 13 folks within um outside of the as Community who've inquired about school choice for next year it's not to say all 13 will apply but there's a process to apply to get to a certain date uh and then um then it's a lottery if we have more than five students it becomes a lottery situation just because of financial impact can you talk a little bit and I think people here might know this but people might watch them whack or whatever might not um how the funding works for students who require special education or ell services anything else that's is there any other adjustment beyond the $5,000 per kid coming yeah great question and good point um the the conversation once a student we we cannot deny a student into choice if they're an El student or special education student it that does not matter I I want to be clear we accept all students into the choice seats however if if a student is on an IEP for instance um and or receives any other special services we have the ability to then build back to the sending Community uh percentage of of the um services that we're providing uh to that child so so instead of let's just use an example of $5,000 uh for student who comes in if there are services that we're providing uh that account for another thousand there's a percentage of that that then gets reimbursed back to the um to the the receiving district from the sending District thank you similarly when we have students out right who are going to it goes both ways so it's not just you know how many students do we have that we send out on school choice we have I had that up there we had 133 oh okay sorry I no no worries yeah yeah yeah yeah well what I thought was interesting looking at that is only six of them are really going to other districts like ours right correct there I'm sorry seven there's six going to hollon one in Framingham the other ones there's one that choice out the other ones are the other ones are virtual it shows the six virtuals right yeah there's six virtuals uh and I can tell you of the virtuals um there are four siblings so yeah so that's a family pick another way come back after Co to be honest yeah and Jim I've never really thought about this until we were just talking we looking at k um and now I think back to us going uh tuition free and I'm just trying I think the answer is doesn't matter but if the sending Community is not tuition free it's still the same it's still the same setup right there that's correct anybody else have any comments or questions okay is there a motion to approve um superintendent's recommendation on school choice okay I say or I say or I suppose some other motion but um all right so we've got a so moved we have a second all right Marcy second all in favor I I I I for me as well pass for nothing thank you Jim um Mike assistant superintendent's update sure um we finished off Ela mcast before April break uh special congratulations to our third graders whoever experienced that for the first time they should be ready to go for math coming up um in May and and science as well for those who take the science ncast our five tal Special Olympics is on Friday we are participating once again and that this year it will be in Millis and um as was alluded to by our students uh AP tests are happening in May uh we've got over 200 students taking AP test this year for a total of about 450 tests so kudos to those students who um have decided to take that challenge and take the advanced placement in the organization that has to occur to get that time yeah yeah thank you Mike and and uh do we we get sort of um you know synthesized data meaning without students can we hear a little bit down the road about how our kids are performing on those on we try that data for you I assume that's not available till the fall or something like that yeah okay yeah we do a spreadsheet each year Kelly will provide to us over the summer once the grades come out I don't think you're lit up Mike that's okay um I'm sure everybody heard yeah uh and the reason the reason I I particularly highlight that obviously I have no idea how our students will perform this year but you know there was there was a year a few years ago where ashin students passed more of these tests um than any other school district in the state and we my view didn't do a great job advertising that as the success of the district and successes of our students um but I think it was something that we used to talk more about that the AP program here really is a distinguishing factor in the education we offer our kids and um I'm just looking forward to hearing that data and how it all plays out because I think it's something I suspect if we were successful we're doing before excuse me um we probably still are and that's something we ought to be sharing with our community that's great well and it'd be interesting to talk because there as we talked about more engagement involvement and and taking on those challenges I wonder whether a success would be that not necessarily that all of them are performing at such a high level but just the numbers of particip participation because we want kids to challenge themselves and even if they don't get a high score if they're if they're getting a competent a nice a nice score and a competent score in that we got a lot of students at that level that might be also a big win for us right yeah I think certainly the participation alone you know is is you're right it's people challenging themselves whether they get a two or a three like it's not not the only thing that matters okay thanks Mike uh Jim that's a good point um a couple things one uh I apologize for the raspy voice um we uh just got back permission to be brief if you wish I will be I I chaperon was one of the chaperon on the London Paris Madrid trip it was fantastic our kids as I said to the group um on our way back uh you know they represented uh ashin the community the school their families uh very well um we learned a lot uh it's tiring uh it's on the go it's um up early uh bed late um Cory does it McAn does an outstanding job getting it organized and I think uh for the most part um that the kids were um engaged uh we had a wonderful tour guide and that makes all the difference honestly with this um so the only other thing because we were on break I did make an announcement yesterday uh we we have hired uh Miss Aaron L Chappelle um as the next Middle School principal of ashin Middle School uh we did uh under took interviews uh with candidates uh we had 133 applicants initially um um and interviewed requested interview of four one of them dropped out because they had received a middle school principal um offer and then we so we brought in three um Aaron uh and another candidate were actually pretty highly thought of and uh we did some research and um we believe Aaron I believe 100% that Aaron's the best fit for ashon Middle School uh and I'm excited to welcome her aboard the leadership team in a different level uh she's very well thought of um when you talk to high school parents and families and uh staff and uh I fully anticipate she'll make a great transition into uh the Middle School principal yeah I think she just knowing her a little bit through like State Council she just seems to have the disposition that would be really do really well at that Middle School level so congratulations yeah all right great job retaining I know it was going to be too much longer probably would was being recruited heavily so without a doubt all right uh Paul warrant approvals yes uh between March 28 2024 and April 24th 2024 I Paul Kendall authorized by my signature payables in the amount of 1 million 55,8 4148 this includes general fund expenses of $886,000 $154,300 expenses of $1,265 91 and meals tax expenses of $79 64 and I guess we're uh European now we're using commas instead of 're used to all right thanks Paul um to save Jim's voice um I'm going to read the gifts and donations for this evening um so we have uh two different donations from Warren school parents and students um for books for the Warren school library one is in the amount of 1,143 66 the other is for $6,195 we also have um donations from area Merchants which apparently have the listing on um excuse me gift cards and prizes for AHS student um student council Bingo night the amount of $3,569 plan aid for $333 48 the ashon PTO $2,934 another from planet Aid 46795 and from GPI us Inc um $500 to the High School principal's fund for a total of $15,508.57 Rhythm tonight I will except for the time that he jumped in I know Paul screwed up um all right all in favor hi all right great passes for nothing thank you uh minutes from March 27 2024 anybody have anything on those minutes good to me okay uh can I get a motion to approve the minutes as presented so moved Marcy second you're going to be just as good as Preston before you know it all right um all in favor I I hi I've got no opposition I was going to say did she did she uh has she experienced the Preston town meeting oh wow hope you're going um all right member updates Marc anything you have um the only thing I wanted to say is I've been sitting on several fields and it is a thrill to have the scoreboard at the middle school working tracking every minute and every goal and every you know thing that the kids are doing it's awesome so um thank you got a little smirk out of Chris there you got it's awesome it's great thank you great Tina um um John the update so a couple of the things were mentioned by the students um you know was at the Micah Festival both of my kids um you know take part in the music programs and they did a great job they um actually won a gold medal this year for the first time in many years which then put them into a lottery to perform um at estate um kind of all of the different districts um put their gold medalists into a lottery to play at a at another concert we did not get picked to play in that concert it's a lottery um it's also very short notice and it was the first Sunday of vacation so I don't think we would have been able to field the full band because there was not enough notice um beforehand but um but they did a great job I think they were all really thrilled as was um Mr Maul um they all the bands did a phenomenal job um uh there was an ashack meeting last night so it's always you know I think that Britney does a great job of of answering all of the questions keeping everybody up to date um about staffing issues you know the the budget was something they asked me about let them know kind of where things stand that we passed it as it was presented but we're just waiting for the town to rubber stamp it and um hopefully that shouldn't be an issue um that's all I can think of there may be other stuff but that's all I got Paul yeah I'm sure like her I'm sure there's plenty I'm forgetting but uh from Mendes's perspective one of the big things so the site was very busy over break uh probably the most noticeable change for people is we added a uh uh another egress Point uh from the parking lot so our uh once we got in there and operated the school what we noticed is uh particularly during uh dismissal we have a queue of cars that come into for pickup but we also have uh some vans that are in the parking lot and also our faculty need to be able to leave but we do not want people passing even though there's plenty of space we do not want them passing queued cars where kids are being dismissed to so uh we added another egress from the parking lot uh kind of merges in front of that uh of that queue so uh that's probably the biggest uh bonus I mean even if it wasn't that I mean it was kind of frustrating having to go around the whole Loop when you're doing that so uh see people will notice that um and I think I've mentioned we've mentioned it here before but I guess I'll talk a little bit more about just where we are with the uh inflation reduction act and um our tax reimbursement even though we're not a taxable entity uh I think I mentioned before uh there's a change this year with uh the uh with the act that tax exempt entities are also able to participate in that and uh they just get a cash payment from the IRS and so we've hired uh I don't know if we G gave this update before so we we have hired uh a tax adviser out of New York who's doing this with other um uh districts or or towns uh as well it's it's very new uh I think the the first submissions are literally going in next month um so uh we're still in the process of trying to figure out what can be uh part of that it's also uh in discussions with the town uh determining whether we're going to include the public safety bill building and some of the the things in there uh as well but it should uh it should be a fairly Hefty Hefty sum of money coming back that we can uh then once we go to our permanent round of borrowing uh not have to have to borrow and and can can lessen that tax so it would be the funds would be dedicated to the debt on the new building or the financing of the new building or does it come back to the town general f it it comes back to the town without any strings okay but uh uh I I certainly my expectation and I would I would be shocked if uh if Michael had a different take on it but we you know unless there was something very compelling we would we would rather not borrow right and and not not impact the TA you know basically if we can take uh you know it we're expecting a seven figure uh you know check from the government so where's the decimal point on that the commas okay right but uh so yeah so it comes back there's no there's no constraints on that on that fund it's a check from the IRS so uh I also attended a webinar that um uh Senator Mary hosted uh then it's uh uh undaunted K K12 undaunted is the is the the group that kind of has spearheaded a lot of this and and advocated for it and so uh just to give you more context on it at all this also if you wanted to do electric buses or other so it's it's not just kind of these things but it's all these other green initiatives as well uh the percentages and how how it carved up is a little different uh charging stations and different other things as well so um and for us we're if this had quite frankly if this had come out and been announced a year earlier we might have pivoted a little bit on on the project and gone all electric but uh because just the if you uh say our whole system uh which is over $7 million package um uh was eligible it would either be 25.5 is the lower number percentage of uh reimbursement uh up to 34 if it's if uh at least 50 or 40% is uh domestically sourced so that would be a you know a fair so with our project we have to take um and determine what that percentage of of the costs are for the things that are the sustainable the geothermal uh the pumps and all those different things that do not use the fossil fuels uh but it's still going to be a a fair chunk of change so but that's in progress um it's you know it's exciting but it's also bleeding edge we don't you know uh we're very happy with with our advisor they they they have I think all the all the answers that anybody would have at this point um so uh so more to come on that but that that's that's definitely in progress great anything else I'm sure there is but all right I'll just provide a brief update on today's um site council at the high school um most of the conversation was around cell phone policy um which will only really come to the school committee when we approve the high school handbook which we do annually um there's a lot of discussion about I think staff in particular are really looking for a schoolwide approach um rather than sort of what has been sort of as a in effect not by writing but by practice sort of teacher X will have one approach to a teacher while have another Etc and it seems the staff it seems like a majority of the staff I it's hard to tell from the data we have um whether it's a strong majority but I think that it is um are are looking for something that just kind of more consistent more uniform the idea if we're all doing the same thing kids are going to know expectations better um so that that conversation's ongoing and like I said um you know Kelly said that once the handbook is finished this is we be a part of it we typically see that either in June or maybe over the summer um as just sort of one of the perun things we do every year in terms of approval so that that's one topic of discussion um the other wasn't there wasn't any substantive discussion on the weighted grading issue again today it was on the agenda but um we had an hourlong meeting and we were at minute 53 when we finished the cell phone thing um and I just confirmed with Kelly that whether she anticipated making a recommendation on anything this year she she does not um and I wanted to say that for your all to be in the loop on it but also obviously the community has been um interested in the topic I know I've gotten a few emails personally from parents that are expressing concern um most of which you seem to be able to calm down after they find out it probably would be for an incoming class so those who are high school parents like wait my kids a sophomore like oh okay they let it go do change but obviously for people who have middle school students or lower that there's there's some viewpoint on it um but anyway so the there's sort of research on some of the points that were raised here tin I think you sent an a fairly detailed email to Kelly with um some concerns and those are among the things that they're Gathering data and researching and I I don't anticipate that we would have any kind of recommendation till probably mid to late next year um looking for the year forward I I'd be surprised if it move faster than that so I just want to provide that update um action items I don't know that we have anything to put on the action items um our next meeting is the what's it with this eth right um so um I guess at this point we'll just look for a motion to adjourn so move Mercy second all in favor of adjourning I I anybody opposed to adjourning can stay okay motion passes for nothing thank you we are adjourned for

million was successfully approved so in essence the case is pretty much closed in terms of our need to go back to the council and ask for that particular $3 million not to say that we may that need something in the end of this year but that particular issue was uh was resolved I'm very happy it took a lot of cre ity on the part of I think Mr Spang Dr casm her staff in order to be able to accommodate this this is a great savings for the for the district Mr jela do you have any additional meeting plan for your finance committee do you have an additional meeting plan for your Finance Comm not yet I have to wait for Mr spank to get back so we confirm up the date okay cling okay thank you uh policy K so uh policy committee we're in the middle of going through the 4,000 series which relates to school Personnel U and we will continue that work on April 29th at 6 p.m.

we also have a meeting sched for May atth 6 p.m. and we will be scheding the meeting for June as well thank Z Louis thank you madam chair um we just our last sites and facility sites and Facilities committee meeting prior to right before this meeting so it's h fresh on our minds um we had a very productive meeting uh Dr kmo updated us on the academy and we that uh stands far as construction and move forward and the adjustments and changes that are kind of flowing through that um but more importantly um the district um has also uh looked into a lot of the concerns expressed by the students and the City meeting so I'm happy to let everybody know that they have been on it they have been looking into a lot of the concerns that the students expressed and anything else we will report back um they're still ongoing so we have another SE facilities meeting that we'll have in May and another one in June uh dates to be determined um so we will continue to follow up on all of that thank you were any committee members have any questions to the chairperson at this time before we move on this your opportunity yes to Res uh the sites and Facilities there's a update about the artist building how we're going to use it yes so the update is we are going to rather than having a middle school and the high school we're going to move it all to a high school and that because Americans speak more that is it still going to be two cies in that building go so 3D so instead of having a 360 seat middle school so uh what we did was we looked at the enrollment we went back to look at the enrollment projections coming up to re-evaluate the need to have a such an expensive project dedicated to only 360 seats at the middle school um and to reevaluate that space for better return on investment through the expansion of an additional High School Academy model and so through that work uh we did in fact come to the conclusion that that was the best best case scenario for us to explore that um and so we're going to continue to work in that area um the high school the Middle School um as you know have just some crowding in one of the schools right now it's mainly uh due to the distribution of students as opposed to a capacity across all three um and so while we've uh the original project called for the Cara site called for a 612 project that was due to the enrollment projections way back at the conception of that original design and we have since lived through that enrollment bubble it's it's there now and it's moving into the high school that's really where the the big problem is we have a second grade group that's coming up that's on the larger side that we're going to keep our eye on um and we're going to look at our our slam study that's going to come in in June to reassess whether or not we think we need to maybe add a couple of Portables somewhere to help with that bubble but um but right now it doesn't look at the moment that we'll need to do that and that we'll be able to tolerate um a little uncomfortability for a couple of years and then will stabilize and so kind of pound for pound square footage the cost of the project it's far um uh it's far less money to expand the high school that the square footage to high school um then to have a separate middle school and high school compl so the academy so we have six those there's going to be three at that pepp brid and three at ctis so four career connected theme cies at deny high school and then there would be three instead of two at the caret site so we couldn't we expand the exra one what is the subject going to be so we discussed uh very exciting uh green and clean energy which is a very um upand cominging and highly needed uh research based um concept um that is part of the original design we had a renewable energy um pathway we wanted to if we could have had an extra Academy at that time and we were building it that would have been one and so we're really Reviving that original idea and expanding on that renewable energy concept thank you you're welcome Madam chair you do have some additional um workshops coming up or meetings or sites in facility that we can fill in and and board members can get a better understanding as to where we're leading concerning the information that Dr CL just gave us right yes okay thank you so move on down the agenda I want to thank uh my chairpersons uh for this report I have been trying to move the agenda in this way to make it a little bit easier because at some time when we have the meeting we can't be every place and then when we get to action item we got to sit here for two and three and 45 minutes to go over these questions we can sort of kill some of these question questions and and get through because we have a lot of work to move forward to do and and I know you guys are ready to work so this is not going to work for you just tell me we'll uh look at it again but thank my chair person again action item a Teresa a March 2024 financial report motion that the Board of Education accept the March 2024 financial report as recommended by the finance committee in accordance with 24-87 motion made by Teresa could I hear a second second about the Reon any a discussion seeing none all in favor of the motion could I hear I I any oppos any Obion motion so Carri action item B Kate I'll make a motion that the Board of Education accept the letter of resignation from board member Richard Holly dated April 2 2024 and in accordance with exhibit 24-8 motion made by K second second about Teresa Michelle oh I'm sorry Michelle I'm sorry Michelle second about Michelle are there any questions uh the attachments in the back the date of the resonation in the back it's okay just so anyway uh we want to send Mr Harley a letter uh thanking him for his time that he served on the board and I appreciate what he brought to the board I worked and served with him quite a few years before and U the process is now we as a board have the opportunity to fill this position I think on the stature or the law states that we have up to 30 days to his position his resonation was sent to us on April the 22nd so we're looking I think it's 14 days K you can help me out you know 14 days then the applicants that are applying for that job it goes to the newspaper all the areas around Community groups and the Republican Town committee and the Democratic town committee uh get the information and people wanted to apply okay we know that this is a republican seat okay so but you have to be fair send it out to all the other agency okay and after that we the board will set up uh time to interview those candidates that have applied for that position and I think we received an email today around about the 13th to 14th we sort of realize that that's not going to work for us on the 13th because we want to be up at the high school okay so we're going to have to only 13 so we going to have to work let me work that out with Carol tomorrow okay let's not get excited let's work it out we can change it yes Teresa uh the 13th they're having the honor ceremony so just let me look at the schedule and see how we can work this out but we had sort of had car looked at the DAT that we can look at doing this Within a time frame because it has to be done with the time frame to do the interview and and put that person in place so we looked at the 14th that's why that dat came out first because that would be within that initial time that we need to bring that person in and get an interview and get them see so uh let me work on that okay okay am I okay K okay thank you so V oh I'm sorry I thought we did all in favor of accepting Mr Harley resonation with you know with s a heavy heart and all in faor say I hi motion so Care thank you all superintendent report thank you um so sometime last year towards last spring um Senator Richard glum's office US every year on an annual basis posts for um solicits for funding requests um for high impact Connecticut based projects that be can be completed with the assistance from the federal government and so um the de Public Schools threw in an application uh related to the Academy's curriculum design Project based learning um teacher training all related to um redesign to re-engage students making sure that all of our ccul is accessible and exciting and engaging and um we were awarded a $1.8 million appropriation for that um application so we're super excited about that um right now we're in the process of um they just had a webinar for all the recipients um that just happened yesterday there's a process where you have to set up a.gov site to start receiving Communications and entering it's uh there's a lot of monitoring uh there's a lot of oversight process we be assigned um some on Federal who who will oversee the grant the grant spending and all the parameters around in there um that that go with it and so we'll have an opportunity to readjust some of the plan because the plan's already a year old so any work that we've already completed or things that we want to do we have a little bit of an opportunity to TW to tweak a few things um but we'll work with our U the person who will be assigned to us um to learn about how to appropriately spend Congressional appropriation um and to do that efficiently um we intend to uh engage in a lot of professional development for our teachers I'm happy to report that's coming in a great time uh right now given what what what's happening um and we'll be able to provide them a great deal of professional technical support um related to that so um we probably get some supplies in there as well depending on how we make some tweaks so given the circumstances that we're in we'll be looking to maximize every dollar and that I don't think we're going to be saving any staff members per se um because it's one time funding certainly will make the most of a of a plan that is efficient and and supports the teachers as we go through this curriculum change um together so very happy about that um and as we learn more about how we are to engage uh with the federal government around this we'll be repor that um is there a sub date so it's a oneye it's a one-year Grant um it doesn't necessarily sunset in the sense that you can't continue to spend money beyond the year but the scope the grant is a year it's actually kind of hard to spend $1.8 million in one year by the time you you give up I'm pretty good at at spending it but it is just from past experience um you know there's a lot of work so you have to articulate and orchestrate a tremendous amount of work in a short period of time and so it's not as easy as it as it appears um and by the time you get lift off and organize and organize it um you turn around in the year's almost over so um I have some questions around that with our um with whoever it will be assigned to us on how we can navigate that process so I think we'll be able to extend the expend expenditures Beyond a year but generally the time frame is for the the fiscal year that you're that you're Award of the appropriation thank you you're welcome okay and the next item uh under the superintendent report is really about the reduction enforced process and we're not necessarily going to talk about the categories and the the staff in 's meeting um that is coming and then during your term but we thought it was really important to for that folks would understand what the process that we're engaging in right now and what that's going to look like um because folks are nervous and we're super super sensitive uh to the stress that everybody's under um we're feeling questions all the time um you know especially some of our our younger newer staff um you know I tend to be nervous and sure Aon is also feeling lots of questions so we're doing our best to to a very thorough process and I thought it would be best if Kim could speak a little a little bit to that process so just so that the board understands what is happening behind the scenes and what will take place once those decisions are are released and then um you know what how we proceed to close out the year with that thank you thanks um I I want to start by saying you know whenever we go into a process like this there's a couple of things that really need to be our Hallmarks and our our true north star um um one is collaboration with Union leadership um and so I appreciate actually eron's remarks tonight we have had some experience in the past with reductions in force and um those conversations have always been marked by collaboration um in addition to being their union members they're also your employees and so we try very hard to make sure that we collaborate that we're all on the same page with how we go through the process because it gets a little bit complex um the second Hallmark or the second guidance I think needs to be transparency um it is really critical when you were talking about people's jobs and people's livelihoods that we communicate as much as we can um and we walk that fine line between alarm and transparency but transparency really needs to be the second hmark and the third really needs to be sound communication and so what we um Define as we go through this process will be um a an effort at really comprehensive communication for all of our employees um this is just a difficult process this district has not been through something that size in quite a very long time so um I think that that if we can maintain those true north um as we go through this process that will be important um I want to start just by giving you a little bit of an overview of what we have here what we're looking at um we have right now 1,31 teachers um and we have just under, 1700 employees and that's with quite a few vacancies in our educator rank so um you know you're you're bumping up around 2,000 employees or so um all of which are going to be touched in some way by this process so it's important that we remember that they are spread across eight different collective bargaining agreements they're all different they all have different processes for reductions in force they all have different recall procedures so this becomes very much of a of a manual um we need to lay out all of the manuals bargaining byg un and and we need to follow the road map that is in those um agreements as we go through the process of reductions and how people get placed um so those become critical documents for us and then where there are gaps in those documents um and I'll talk a little bit about some of the Oddball situations that we had we need to look at practice and we don't have a whole lot of past practice um in this area but we need to look at house practice and how we um walk through the reduction and then we need to that we are collaborating with our with our union leaders so with that in mind um the other group of folks in addition to these bargaining unit um and exempt folks um who are all employees at will are we had uh about 150 leaves of absence this year that was a really big number for us um and so we also need to think about those folks who have been out temporarily who are planning on returning and making sure that we have home for them as well in keeping with these rules so let me talk through a little bit about what we've been doing in anticipation of getting to today um and and just to give you a sense of scope um this is uh myself and the cabinet working on what these positions look like but also it's myself and I have two people in my office um I'm down to two and those will be the people that will be running these this information for me um all of the work that we do will come out of Tyler um Tyler has work real well for us on the HR side and so that gives us a really solid database for pulling um basically employee information so the first big project that we have come around and completed is a list of open positions um these are all openings that do not currently have bodies in them there are not currently people in them some of them might be fractional positions some of them might be duplicates um that emerge over time um of them are hard to fill positions that we we're using overages for so this list of vacancies needs to be clean and accurate and the reason why is because as we talk about eliminating some positions the first place those folks go is into open vacancies okay so that list of openings becomes really critical and its accuracy becomes critical um it's a little bit of a moving Target because we are now getting retirements and resignations in so we we're trying to keep a stat list that's not super satic so issue number one era that we'll talk about is kind of when is the cut off going to be and how are we going to make sure that we get all of these open positions available for folks who may be um displaced um we've been double-checking that Tyler Run and we've run it several times now to make sure that we have an accurate list we've been double checking that against our hiring list and our internal protocols to make sure that we haven't missed anybody we haven't duplicated um and anything that we have taken out of that list that vacancy list has gone onto a master cut list so that we can start keeping track of estimates of what we think has been saved by cleaning out that list and making it accurate we have looked at the list of all of our leads of absence um and for those folks who are requesting an additional year of leave or making some decisions about making those positions open and available um possibly for next year but we've also made sure as I mentioned earlier that we have a spot for folks who are returning and that they will then filter into these rules about reductions and Force and and bumping so that piece has also been completed the next piece was to look at all of our resignations and retirements um FYI I know this becomes a budget issue but we're up to eight retirements so far um we did budget for more than that I expect we will have more than that this is just kind of the number of the moment um with about 30 resignations to date this year so that's also part of these open positions that are showing up um we'll continue to monitor that list and from what I can tell right now it looks like about 125 open positions about 55 of which are for certified teachers so that's the number I think we're zeroing in on now is open positions where there are no bodies in them that as we have to reduce those will we will filter displaced teachers into those 55 spots and I'll talk about how we're going to do that in a second um we don't think that's going to be enough um so we need to also make some critical decisions about what the other positions will be and that's a conversation that happens um with building principles with central office and those decisions are being finalized now so those are conversations we'll have you about that so I don't have that information yet and and and waiting on that piece um but that's going to be the harder work and that work is going to involve things like um you know enrollment decreases where we can collapse section restructuring those kinds of things so um that work is what's being done now um but not finalized we're still pushing and pulling the next piece is to make a list once we finalize that of every person who is in a position that is going to be eliminated and that list needs to be name needs to be location needs to be positioned needs to be date of hire which may or may not be the same as senority date um we've had some people work for us as Subs who then come on in workless or in other positions they may have been out on leaves and come back so seniority date becomes very important and area of certification for teachers also becomes very important those lists are run I actually shared one with eron I think a couple weeks ago um and we continue to update those so that they have accurate information she mentioned her riff meeting so that's all critical information that we've been sharing as we go along other bargaining units has have also received similar census of their members so that they can start looking at those lists and figuring out the impact um the next piece then becomes tricky because we now have a list of folks who've been displaced and we have to figure out once we fill the open positions where did they go next how do they B now in selecting some of those positions there's different kinds of rules for example um in the past we have had sections removed out of an elementary school when we remove a section out of an elementary school we take any volunteer first and if we don't have a volunteer we take the most Junior person to the building that's another seniority dat so we have to figure out who the most Junior person is in the building and that will be the person who goes onto the displacement list in areas that are programs for example several years ago we reduced a language arts coach specialist in that situation it was seniority to the program first and then seniority districtwide so a slightly different seniority list so for each one of these reductions we're making the first effort has got to be how do we select folks that are going to go on to the displac list the par educator um contract also has Lanes so because certain people are being eliminated in one lane does not necessarily mean they have bumping rights into another Lane so another contract that needs to be reviewed we sit with the Union leadership we all we look at the names we agree that we're doing this the right way so when we follow all of those rules to then determine what happens and who's going on to this displace list when we've completed filling the vacant positions where do those folks go next so the next list that my team has run have been who have we hired and we've gone back two years just in over the caution we don't want to be running these lists over and over but we've gone back a couple of years and we've organized new hires by dat of hire in some cases it's down to the minute we do digital hiring now and we have had that situation where somebody signed at 4:00 and somebody signed at 5:00 um I would anticipate we'll get to that situation um but we look at the new hires and then we determine whether any of those new hires may be bumped out of their position by more senior teachers who are only dis licensed okay so that pumping needs to take place now we can't necessarily take the bottom 20 people because some of them are special ed certified some of them are social workers and let's say that the teachers were eliminating our math certified so the bumping process becomes really tricky and again in the collaboration and cooperation the plan here is for us finalize these lists to sit in a room with Aon and her team to say this is how I think this goes do agree are we missing something um because I think that what's the expression you measure twice and cut once like we're going to measure eight times um again because this is really important to people I mean these are people's jobs and so we need to make sure not only that our lists are accurate but that we're using the right kind of seniority date that we're using the right bumping rules and each one of those targeting is is different so you're not looking at the people who were hired under the Esser Grant you're looking at the total pictures in other words uh by position right our work is without regard to source of funding our employment work is without regard to source of funding so it gets complicated um so once we do all of that um then we will take a look at each bargain units rules for recall some of them have a 2-year recall period some have a threeyear recall if we cannot offer a comparable position to someone who's displaced then they go onto a recall list and they sit on that list for however many years the contractor requires and if a position opens during that time then there's rules about is it certified do you call by phone how do you communicate with these folks to say hey um par educator we now have a new opening and it's yours for the offering um so that's another set of rules that you know we put in the parking lot for a sec um if there be situations where we have additional retirements that we didn't expect or people leave or we have a you know a flood of folks who who leave the district we may have more open positions and I think we'll be in a situation where we need to use the call because we're going to have already moved we have to pick a date and start and we'll have already moved some people so that's going to be a bit of a moving Target for us this so um that's a long way of saying it it's really complex um I my eyes are going a little funny with all the spreadsheets um some of them some lines are quoted red and some are blue and some are yellow and we're doing what we can to make sure that um Tyler is accurate um we are running what they call position control which means there are only so many boxes for only so many positions so we kind of can't screw it up that way we can't create anything new or you know eliminate anything that's that's already there um so we're really trying hard to make sure that that is completely accurate um and we're really making sure that we've got the right lists with the right information so that we can work with our partners to make this as transparent as possible and that we communicate to folks what the rules are um I'm sure I heard car reference earlier and I think ER did too um I'm starting to get emails and and I appreciate um greatly that people are nervous um and I think that we are moving a lot of data with a very few number of people in a very short time so um that tends to be a recipe for error and I'm really trying hard to make sure that's not the case question Mr this is logistical nightmare yes Mr Janelle could you speak into the mic so we all can hear your question please this is not I said this is a logistical nightmare I assume times of the essence with you indicating yourself and to other people what type of timetable are you putting on for for this so that at least you have all of theator and eyes and cross thees relative to the uh bargaining units etc etc so I know we reached out I think and I don't know if you've seen that yet but we've reached out to try to schedule a meeting for next week with eron I am hopeful that we will have at least um the world of positions um and that we can talk through some of these odd situations with different seniority Gates so we can have those conversations um next week is May 1st so we need to this as quickly as we can so that for folks that are being displaced that they can look elsewhere um I think that um with our par educator population um we do have a lot of open positions in that bargaining unit so I'm reasonably comfortable that we'll be able to provide you know some sort of um comparable position to those folks um but the teachers I'm more worried about and so that really is the the focus of the next week or so um we have probably already put in just this week alone about 35 hours we're kind of tracking how many hours we're putting in and what we're doing with them that's just um really Kelly and I were we really looking at um special ed folks recently we've been looking at the buildings recently to try to make sure that we've captured everybody um my team has has you know they've run their list and they're ready to go so I'm hoping that we'll get those kind of early meetings with um any gurry done in the middle of next week so that we can actually start I haven't even thought and I don't know if Aon has about how we're going to be transparent and communicate with folks I mean we're talking about a lot of people is that virtual meetings is that group meetings we haven't even approached that topic um and we need to kind of come around a way that is fair that makes people feel that it's hum need um but we're down to only a couple people that are going to be doing that so I don't know whether we spre heal on that that's those are the conversations that we need to have about how we're going to work with our with our employees these are folks that we recruited we invested in we've trained we've brought them in and we want to make sure that you know we can keep them and then you're treated respectfully yeah can we as a board then be a priz so that um the the procedures and the processes as they continue we updated so that we are at least aware of the process and not caught by surprise of course of course yeah I think the worst thing would be that you all start to get bombarded with people saying I don't have any information that's the worst case scenario so we really need to stay in Fr of that uh one thank you um for that report and I don't know um who would have the answer um whe care um and so the data that you're giving realistic and everything and as I have brought up before this board over and over again I'd like to and we've talked about the teachers union we talked about the Paris un um I'd like to have some type of detailed report of the effect of the cuts that will be happening on the administrative level um I think our goal as a board is to keep the necessary people in front of our students um and so tonight we've talked about uh the numbers and you know it's their jobs and um you know the the effect I think I heard a number 1,31 teachers um right 1,31 teachers I didn't hear anything about admin um I you talk about open positions I don't know if any of those open positions are just um professional Educators or do they also include administrators um so I as a board member um I'm requesting some detailed report of how the cuts are also going to affect the administrative level and the uh the cabinet on the board level thank you I think I can respond to that um certainly I I didn't mean to exclude any group we have eight bargaining units and we have exempt staff so on our list um we have actually run total numbers um I think that's important by tab by group so that we can look to see the percentage of the group that may be effective so that's why we've run T you know totals for every bargaining unit in each tab so that we can see you what was the percentage of exemp staff that may have been cut what was the percentage of Administrators nurses um so there are as I said there's eight groups plus exacts so there's nine groups really to be worried about so I I agree with you and and I think as soon as we can make those reports um available once the decisions are made about the positions there are open positions in all bargaining units on that list of go ahead okay so um I'm not so much um okay open positions I did mention that I guess um you've already you know you're talking about meeting with the teachers union and how many and this position and um how you have to go through the resignations the retirements the elim list of um having a list of every eliminated position I guess what I am looking for it's already been established from what I understand is the um actual professional educator positions that will be affected please put forward my request is to put forward before the board the list of administrative and cabinet positions that you are putting up um for elimination or being affected by the cuts that's the the work that's on that we haven't made decision focused on so let me just follow up so I I understand but rich just asked about a timeline we're headed to Med and so we're looking at a timeline for those also um and so that should be just as important as what you're bringing before the board tonight I I don't dise yeah um so just address that so and I think you know there's there's going to be expected Cuts in all all categories um I think you know I thank you for explaining tonight and perhaps maybe because Aaron was here you're focused more on that on that on that but there there'll be reductions in in all areas at different levels we're still having discussions um based on um how to reorganize so there's one thing to do uh to have a reduction in elimination uh when you're talking about the administrative ranks someone has to pick up the work and still do the work so it's it's complicated to redistribute and to reorganize so there don't have to be some we're still working through through the process of um what administrative reductions look like in certain ways so I you know I I will respond and probably because just you know we're just trying to uh get the wording out on the table but I assume when you say that somebody has to pick up the administrative when you eliminate professional Educators somebody has to pick up what they were doing on you see what I'm saying I'm not I'm not disagreeing with you but in terms of you know unist we're still working through that I guess Point great thank you to and uh you have um that number 125 positions to be eliminated no no sorry 125 vacancies right now and about 55 of them are certified staff the are an AUM of others those are open positions that we do not have bodies in right now now what is the dollar amount gold that you're trying [Music] to that's a tough one um so because we you know our funding request was based on the full need of needing of everything so it's really a matter of prioritization around um a combination of how much can can we tolerate to reduce and still achieve some level of operational effectiveness and so it's hovering around on our side around that $10 million mark from the current existing um structure that exists now as of today so that lights on budget um so we need to reduce around $10 million in order to achieve some of the things preserve the core of what's on the left of that light on budget while still ating things that are truly needed that are to the right of that in terms of the new asss um I know you said that you're going to be meting there and we're going to get names you know of their actual positions and everything like that and Rich had asked that the board be surprised with that but is there a point where the board is presented with the information and there's like a discussion about um the positions and how this all came to be before those final decisions are Joe Mo's really out the door kind of thing yes okay good thank you yes you know I want to say that I'm really frustrated in the procedure the process because this is a cat Mouse game historically we've never been in this position we've always had differences between the superintendent budget or spending plan versus the appropriation but never never in the magnitude of having this differential and I don't ever recall as how of losing or letting go teaches because it's always been that we keep teaches in front of the classrooms but my frustration is with all of this work that's pending and the possibility of people being informed of losing their jobs I'm a poana and so let's say at the last minute we get additional funding and therefore it's an embarrassment but a nice embarrassment to go back and say you've been saved we have X number of dollars so my frustration is with the way it's working I would consider that under this situation that there' be a serious talk with the mayor as to ultimately what is is in in the plan what's NE game plan okay so that we don't go through this exercise and mislead people or hurt people and on a positive side need can bring it back because we have this in addition to that there may be other issues on the table that we could throw into the pot such as utilizing the reserve that would add some extra money to this particular issue we understand the reserve is a onetime spending but the budget does allow for onetime spending uh items there as well so I guess what I'm saying if we have more components of what we have for the revenue side it would certainly make this exercise a lot more fruitful and not as much of a I w't say a waste of time but to go through a whole lot of pain and ultimately I would like to see a positive reaction to this so maybe something like that can be considered in the course of the unique times we have the May might be able to you know reconsider or you know not want to hold this Rel a whole to to uh to to talk about at a particular meeting because time is I'm talking about the many council meeting because times of the essence so it's it's a consideration and I think it might help in the at least in the process that you guys have G through thank you and I and I agree with you you know it it has definitely crossed our minds that there could be a late um you know funding source late in the game as as the final iation of the state budget you know then turns into something that the mayor may become aware of I will say I you know I do feel confident that Roberto and I have an open door communication right now which I feel good about and so I feel like if we knew something coming or if that was you know going to happen that that we he would be really good about making sure that we knew about it right away I do know that there's a lot of hard work happening um in Harford on our behalf I don't think um you know I think the thought process on this though is that whatever if we did get a late infusion of any kind whether it be something that came down from the state perhaps some additional exra money that gets that's tossed around there there's a lot of decisions that Harford is still making um you know I I don't necessarily think it could be used to save staff um because of the timing that it would come to us as well as the fact it would be one time a one time funding and so one of the thought one of the things I would welcome any amount of funding that would come in right now um something that that would likely be used for student laptops copers infrastructure some of the issues that we have that we can fix one time and the reason I would would say that is because one of the things that concerns me is that 2526 is going to be equally as challenging as 2425 and the thought you know the the amount of hours that have been going in I mean this is a night and day process there's a handful of table at people at the table that are doing this doing work and it's extraordinarily overwhelming and the thought of having to go through and so I'm not even thinking of the people doing the work let's put that aside for a second I'm thinking of the fact that if we um don't you know do the cuts the right way we could be back here in 2425 rebump everybody again um you know because because it just continues that bumping effect continues and I think this is going to be really a disruptive process in 2425 um I think going to be difficult for everybody um and I and I you know would rather I guess um make sure that we're not inhibiting you know creating a double a double cut process that where we have to do the same thing all over again disrup teachers across all the levels and and move staff again so um any late infusion that that we get if we get it in order for soy to get something I think we have to be really careful about how we apply funding type of funding um and making sure that the funds that we get from the city that we can rely on year on year over year are the ones that we using in with the thoughtfulness of the Staffing component so um again I will take any money on the record so that or not but I agree with you it would be wonderful to get I agree I'm not advocating that we you know gr to the payer so Kick the Can down the road again and using one time money for for current liabilities andr expenses um but if we can just get a finalization on this so that it it sort of puts us all on the same page and and we can just move forward with a clear conscience to come in with an additional infusion of onetime money if there is that million dollars or even greater than that we could use as you and I discussed for the computers uh that can have utilization for those funds that are part of our budget but not necessarily personel all right thanks M um I just want to First say thank you because I know that this is a huge lift I know that board members have been here and that people are really working 247 is when I'm thinking to try to you know make this I want to say seamless as possible you know um so I just want to say thank you to everybody for that and my request is just I know it's a snapshot in time because of all the moving you mentioned 125 open positions 55 certified could you just like let the board know what does that look like monetarily like monitor like we're looking at 10 million to try to cut and we're looking at this and we had just had a meeting on sites and Facilities about trying to um we're saving some positions that we might not have um utilized and so what all those numbers kind of we drill down are we looking at because you had mentioned some here some today how far are we really is I'm wondering as a board member how far are we you know looking at cutting or what is that number like reality with everything you've been looking and turning over every Lea which I appreciate um I just want to see if you could provide that to so okay um so you know we're talking 100 you right now it depends on them so you're talking about a pair of professional certified teacher versus admin administrator so when you kind of put a lot of those in the bucket you say somewhere between 125 and 145 positions that's that's around $10 million so that's you're in the ballpark of that range of around $10 million Bas in the configuration of the staff so not not all staff and if you say 125 staff members and the bulk of thatare professionals that V1 cost but in terms of you know the bulk of of of Staffing opening and things that we're talking about now that's around 1010 million so we're close to so all Essence we you we're positions are and where certifications are and where those openings are are completely different different uh matches so that's the match game that needs to is that me yeah that's the match game that needs to occur um that you know it's not going to be a pretty matches yeah I'm assuming 55 gives us a different um yeah it's a different number than the other than the remaining so if you could just try to get us something to give us an idea of where we are and how far we need to to go thank you any other questions Kim no I just I want to than Kelly and Kim in particular this last week has been they've been in the office nonstop like lights out here after meetings I just want to say thank you agenda um I think at one of my meetings we saw brought up to have a discussion about cellones and I know we've been so busy that we didn't have but eventually we're going to get to having cell phones in the classroom because that was a topic and then I think government ofont have given a big recit on on 6:00 news weeks ago So eventually we will get to that discussion okay you have anything for information board chairperson report I'm going be very brief I just would like to say to my colleagues I really want to thank you for showing up on April the 11 to support our Administration and our budget and those that could not be there you let me knew ahead of time that you had other obligation and I just certainly appreciate it we were there I've been on this board 32 years and out of 32 years I have only seen three people stand up and go before the counsel and support our budget we had six seven people down here supporting our budget and I really want to say thank you thank you thank you because we all could be doing something else and when you have made Family commitments it's very hard to sort of break those ties and and and go over to something else so I just like to say thank you last night was beautiful it was a beautiful experience and I am just thank our leader who was there and she hugged everybody she embraced everybody and it was beautiful and I had the opportunity to just really I couldn't hug everybody but it was just nice being there to see what a wonderful group of Educators that we have working in our system so again thank you I'm Memorial Day Parade we have a CL so and and her husband is going to provide us supp Flo and we'll get that information um to you as we get closer toori parade um chair person my final thought is and I say this from my heart I love working with everyone I would say every time that we have a meeting we will continue to work together Republicans and Democrats we are educational people that's here to make sure that we support our educational system and I want to say we I continue to look forward to working each and every of and if you have any concerns if you don't like me call me up and tell me don't send me to text them okay call me up we have a discussion about it okay so I just want to say I enjoy working with you I like the communication that we have between us and it has not always been that way so let's just keep up the work and keep doing what we need to do to move this District forward so with that and nobody else have anything else to say okay I'll be great um I just want to give a quick shout out to dran and also to brra and I apologize not mispronouncing anybody's names um I understand that they helped uh some of our Broadview middle school students in 8th grade applied for um participation in the Scholastic art writing Awards and that we had uh 12 students who on a total of 30 different awards that were given out on April 7th at M College Castle so thank you to those teachers I need a motion to adjourn I make the motion to adjourn so motion made by Al second by K all in favor all wait a minute afterwards yes

e e e this is the April 25th 202 for electronic meeting of the environmental commission this is held remotely in accordance with executive order set in place in 20120 by our governor to affect social distancing and to mitigate the spread of covid-19 we've continued we intend to conduct the meeting similarly to an in-person meeting please be patient if there are technical issues public comment is welcome and will be by telephone only to speak at public comment please call 888 788 99 and our meeting ID 962 6453 this information is available on the published agenda in the public notice in the Public Notices section of the city website and on the broadcast of this meeting on CTN channel six and on channel 16 AT&T channel 99 and online at a2gov.org CN um and with that um I would like to thank Aon Donnelly our environmental services manager for the city of Van Arbor for providing staff support tonight um and I'll ask um eron to read the land Heritage statement thanks Rita I acknowledge that the land the city of an arbor occupies as the ancestral traditional and contemporary lands of the Anish abay including adawa aju and Bame and wi do peoples I further acknowledge that our city stands like almost all property in the United States on lands obtained generally in unconscionable ways from indigenous peoples The Taking of this land was formalized by the Treaty of Detroit in 1807 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 Erin would you read the roll call please council member Amman she was absent today is that right Vice chair Brown uh present and an arber commissioner Cowart absent commissioner Curtis here Ann Arbor thank you commissioner Dale here in an arbor council member dish here in an arbor thank you commissioner Graham absent commissioner guber here and an arbor thank you commissioner Marson abent commissioner mki absent chairperson Mitchell here in an aror commissioner nedrich an arbor and commissioner weing absent that's a quorum right one two seven out of 13 okay I think we just made it so is it seven or eight um well if we're not a full fully seated isn't our count based on the number that we have seated I think you know if we were at a full 15 then it would be eight so I think this counts does anybody else anyone weigh in on that parliamentarian person I'm gonna assume I'm right um okay so thank you very much um I would now like to um uh ask for um approval of the agenda is um is all in favor of the agenda as posted raise your hand say I see my Commissioners okay it is passed thank you um and with that I'd like to call for approval of the minutes from our March meeting March 28th raise your hand say I if you approve for the minutes that were provided I oh can we do a moved by and a seconded sorry okay all right moved by anyone would like to move to council member C Curtis seconded by council member grber thank you um sorry um and uh all in favor of approving the minutes from last time and um opposed abstain Council commissioner Dale I know you were not present so thank you um understandable all right um that's sorry could we get an approve a moved in the second for the agenda just for my okay um record are the let's move to approve the minutes we did the first and second didn't we or for agenda for the agenda okay sorry um back to the agenda uh a motion to approve the agenda from someone C commissioner dish seconded by commissioner Dale thank you thank you um sorry approval of the agenda please raise your hand I think we're okay thank you all right there's so many faces and many are not those that get to vote um all right um so now I'd like to move to um public commentary and I'm supposed to read a statement which is um this is an opportunity for persons to speak for up to three minutes please call 888 78899 and enter meeting ID 962 6452 53 sorry 6453 um City staff will direct callers that have raised their hand um by calling out the last three digits of your phone number in order to electronically raise your hand please please press star 9 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 sounds so that we may hear you clearly please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments that statement uh so Erin are there any calls for tonight yes and I'm sorry I just saw um commissioner Graham is coming in um so yes there is a caller 245 and let me allow you to speak it might take a minute okay caller 245 go ahead uh hello my name is Kathleen Murphy I live at 315 Linda Vista Street in Ann Arbor W five and um I just like to first of all say hello um and environmental Commissioners I understand uh that tonight's meeting you'll be considering a resolution to support city council funding a phase two feasibility study on municipalization at the last city council meeting the proposed budget included a million dollars for the phase two study but it wasn't clear that was really a viable way of getting the funding so um I think I hope that Source uh needs to be could be reconsidered nonetheless a resolution to support city council funding a phase 2 feasibility study on municipalization is a positive step forward on the road toward possible municipalization so I support it and hope you will also thank you very much thank you thank you a are there any other callers I don't see any other cols with their hands raised great um with that I'm going to move on to um what we have labeled as new business but it's actually very very old um and we're fortunate to have two speakers who are very qualified in addressing the issue of the galman plume um which has um a status as being close to being listed on the national priorities list of the EPA I'd like to introduce first um Dan bnell who's president of Global Environmental Alliance who discovered the contamination 40 years ago um and whom the environmental commission has plotted with um recognition for his ongoing work to support clean water for the city of an arbor and surrounding communities um so Dan thank you for being with us tonight and um I would be very interested in hearing your comments sure um maybe eron we could pull up part of the presentation or the presentation sure yep I imp PDF so let me um we can get started and I will I'll pull up the uh the PowerPoint yeah the PDF would be fine oh okay sure um well maybe it's best to start with uh you know what is super fun we've all talked about uh how the federal government can come in and help us with this Gilman dioxine plume that's been moving around um if we go to the next slide please um what you see is that um the comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability act which is commonly called cira and known as superf fund was enacted by Congress and it was about 1980 when they had problems with Love Canal and the uh cira was there to address the dangers of abandoned and uncontrolled sites but the the law does is it creates attacks on chemical and petroleum Industries and provides very broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threaten releases of hazardous substances that could endanger Public Health in the environment and in the federal superf fund program where this money is used there's two components of it there's the side that actually has the money the super fund and it's used to clean up a toxic waste site where there's not a viable polluter who caused the contamination however there's a second side of it and that's where probably Gman would end up and that side of the program is super fun enforcement where the requirements of cira are placed upon the polluter they're called the potentially responsible party and they then uh are required to spend their money to do a cleanup and the Superfund program in the enforcement Branch works with the Department of Justice the US EPA office of Regional Council and they require that the potentially responsible person enter into an order with them like a consent judgment if you will to perform the work to US EPA criteria currently about 70% of all the Superfund sites are super fund enforcement lead sites where the government works with the industry uh through this administrative order to have the industry clean up the site if we go to the next slide um what happens however is if this potential responsible party does not agree to expend their funds and enter into a Circa administrative order on consent the government will issue them a unilateral order in other words telling them this is what you must do and if they refuse to do it then the superf fund money will be spent on the cleanup and at the end of that process the US EPA will bring a circle cost recovery action against the polluter uh and recover the money spent on super fund as well as the administrative costs incurred by the agency uh currently uh they have obtained about7 billion in cost recovery actions against polluters who refuse to do what is asking them to do for us at the Gilman site uh we have a viable potentially responsible party who can pay for the remediation Gilman was acquired by Paul Life Sciences which is now a subsidiary of danaher Corporation and as you all I think know danaher is a multi-billion dollar corporation uh cira holds current and past owners responsible for mediation of the site so it's quite clear that Gman is responsible underneath uh circles underneath the Superfund program to remediate this site if this becomes a uscpa Superfund Site um if we go to the next slide a little bit of background uh this Gelman site has been a listed Michigan contaminated site since 1988 unfortunately the dioxine plume continues to move in high concentrations toward sco Township residential Wells and Arbor Township residential Wells the city old west side City West Park and Barton Pond which as most people know uh is where we get about 85% of the city drinking water the eagle has made numerous Promises to the community to improve the remedy but that's not been able to occur in court and currently we have a 2023 fourth amended consent judgment in other words it's been changed four times from originally back around 1990s uh and it still is not constructive recent studies in Scio Township and anber Township have shown that the plume has now polluted approximately 43 residential Wells and it's getting closer to the hon river which again supplies about 85% of the city drinking water the Plum's moving in Northern western eastern and southern directions and it doesn't really have any effective offsite control I have a figure here which shows where the plume is uh you can see uh the nice colors thanks to Roger rails uh figure here and I've put uh some indications of where the sciot township areas are where the an arbor Charter Township areas are that have residential Wells and the plume is again moving in a north and an Eastern Direction currently it's about four miles long and two miles wide and as you can see there are very high concentrations in this plume the drinking water criteria for the state of Michigan is 7.2 uh but uh the plume has you know a th to 2,000 parts per per per billion in it uh which is which is not good for any of us if you look at the second figure that I've provided this shows again the plume but it shows the fourth amended consent judgment extraction wells in yellow where they're located but importantly it shows in these blue arrow indicated areas where the dioxine plum is already past these very limited uh extraction Wells and moving freely to the north and to the east which is again towards the S Township and arter Charter Township and Barton pun uh so this is not a good situation these Wells have been uh there for quite some time but they're very ineffective and that's what allows the dioxine plume to continue to migrate uh further away from its core areas if we go to the next slide again what we're under is a state order currently and that's the four amended consent judgment and it was entered into in 2 after much discussions however it allows still the migration of the dioxine plume in all Direction uh stopping this plume from expanding and that presents again a risk of Municipal Water Supply hover private water drinking water wells building occupants from Dio Vapor intrusion and workers in a trench who are in contact with this shallow polluted groundwater uh the amended consent judgment essentially allows for the taking of private property owner rights to use their well rather than halt the dioxine plume and preserving the aquifer so the land owner can use their well what happens mechanically is because this consent judgment does not stop the plume from migrating towards the township and residential Wells it is contaminating these cont these Township Wells and leaving them with no real alternate water supply uh what should really be done in these cases uh is that uh the plume should be stopped and therefore preserve the ability of the property owner to use their uh well for drinking water if you go to the next one please and this speaks really to what uh we're here about this is the status of how us where USPA is um to give a quick history uh the townships and Sierra Club filed a petition with usca to conduct a preliminary assessment in 2016 the objective of that was to determine whether the Gilman site may be able to qualify as a US EPA superfunds site uh and what was found in their conclusion in November 2017 is that it does qualify however uh we had to wait a while uh to get a concurrence letter from the governor saying that she would support in this case a US EPA super fund fight and that occurred on April 12th 2021 on December 23rd 2023 uh EPA completed some of their important work which is which includes a site inspection and the site inspection and a hazardous ranking score concluded that the Gman site does qualify to continue the process to be designated as a USA superf fund site in fact on March 7th uh they announced in the Federal Register that USA intends to make the Gman site into a US EPA super fund site commonly called the national priorities list site and they requested that we provide comments as a community on whether this should occur or not currently there's a 60-day public comment period that's open it closes on May 6th um and what will happen is when the USA receives these public comments they'll review them and make then a final determination on whether the Gman site should be a USA super fund site or not if uh people are inclined to make comments one way or the other uh this is the link that they could uh use and if you just look under the browse document tab you'll see uh where you can add your comments this should be a designated USPA Superfund C or not some of the questions that come up are what's the benefits of a US EPA Superfund Site and in the next slide uh you see that what uscpa will do is from similar USPA sites where they've had these type of solent problems is they would actively restore the aquifer to drinking water criteria they would at first extend the municipal drinking water supply to any Resident who may be potentially impacted by the plume they would halt the expansion of the plume and do and by doing so they'd prevent contamination of Barton P they would require a full monitoring Well Network to establish the breadth of the dioxine plume which is not known at this time well and they would establish a comprehensive drinking water well sampling and analysis program using the best uh scientific analytical method that they have at the time if this becomes a uscpa super fun site they'd also offer a community Grant so we could have input into the Superfund Site cleanup process they would use the technical administrative and legal resources uh to EST protective administrative order again restoring the aquafer pting the plume and this would uh be overseen by the United States Department of Justice and the office of Regional Council U importantly this United States administrative order which would be the federal order that they would give to G would replace the current state fended consent judgment so essentially the US EPA would start with a clean sheet of paper uh work with Gilman to establish an administrative order for Gilman to do the work which would be overseen by uscpa the Department of Justice and officer Regional councel and they would in that administrative order ask Gilman to restore the aquifer uh provide a municipal water where is appropriate and take active to the aler uh to drinking water criteria so that's kind of the Seven Mile High view of what Superfund circle is all about and the benefits that one would have if this was a Superfund Site this is a flow diagram of uh what we've been going through for the last eight years here since the preliminary assessment in 2016 uh you see on the left that a preliminary assessment is done is the Hazardous ranking score over 285 it has been you do a site inspection which looks at soil groundwater issues you then revise the Hazardous ranking score and if it's over 285 then you go on as usepa excuse me has done to say that yeah this qualifies to become a super fund site and we're seeking your public comment on it it should be noted that the Hazardous ranking score is was 50 which is the highest you can have for groundwater because of all the potential receptors we have here to this dioxine contamination so that's that's where we are in the status of US EPA uh working towards making this into a national priorities list super fund site thank thank you Dan um I'll ask the commission and just say that we're we're g to try and keep on track for time just want to call that out but if there are questions that the commission would like to ask um Dan bnell at this point I would like you to ask them m Curtis So after the public comment is closed do we know when a decision would be made it'll take probably three or four months commissioner for them to make a decision because what they'll have to do is they'll have to look at every comment and they'll have to provide a response to every comment and then they'll have to make a final determination of whether yes this should or should not be a uscpa Superfund Site Mr Brown yeah thanks Dan um it's long overdue but um I just had one question and that is is there are there any current examples of contamination sites um that are undergoing cira treatment for dioxine one4 dioxine and um does that do they give us any indication of how long it might take to um to amend uh amend the plume as it's uh progressed so far yeah there there are many sites that that have solid and contamination like the dioxine all about including forign Michigan and the classical technology that they've been using is really to its groundwater extraction and treatment which we have out here very limitedly so if EPA came in likely what they would do is they would expand the number of extraction Wells to capture control this plume uh because the plume is so big uh it will take a long time it'll take 20 years you know for this to be halted and remediated to drinking water criteria at least if not there are larger sites this are dioxine contaminated matter of fact there's one out in Beth New York that's about eight times as big and they're doing groundwater extraction and treatment the other thing that they are talking about is com metabolistic U where sorry to be overly technical but bior remediation where you inject a chemical which will be easily biodegraded and part of its biodegration it will start chewing up bits of the dioxine they call that com metabolistic bio remediation because it's two things working together but that's not uh coste effective uh in a situation like this this the most costeffective and this has been going on this is nothing new you know when I worked with the agency back in 84 we were doing groundwater extraction and treatment classically so this is a classical problem unfortunately we have a polluter who refuses to do the proper thing and after 40 years uh find I think we're going to be able to get some federal support to help push them along or if they refuse to do it just uh spend the super for money and do it in assing cost recovery yeah thank you missioner nadri uh if you're speaking Sarah we I think you're muted that's so funny sorry hi thank you Dan that was really interesting um I just was um wanted to take a step back and think a little bit more about like the amount of Technology involved in taking such a massive groundwater plume down to drinking water level um from what I've seen that is a really really challenging thing to do um and it also is you know very very expensive so I just kind of wanted to I guess put out there that you know what I've seen as far as EPA and super fund um is yes they can they can require more cleanup out of a liable party but to get down to that drinking water level that is going to be really hard um and it also you know I think a more reasonable goal is to prevent the plume from expanding which it currently is as far as we know doing um and preventing it from getting it to Barton um so just kind of setting sort of like a realistic expectation I think is important um and I guess another question I have is um what happens legally um to the consent decree when super fund takes over I'm assuming that consent decree doesn't just disappear because it's you know it's based in the courts um has the city like looked into that or are you involved in those conversations Dan do you have any knowledge of that yes Sarah um the on your first question actually it is quite easy to get down to the drinking water criteria 7.2 and it's done all over the place including the four sites in Michigan um it just takes time it takes time to do that and so again the USA objective is to Halt the plume migration and restore to drinking water and they been able to do that uh all over the place using groundwater extraction and treatment when I was a US EPA super fund enforcement officer and in underneath the circular program in 1984 to 85 we did this all the time and it continues on it's just classical treatment technology that can easily be done it just takes time and money um what happens with this consent judgment it's a state consent judgment and what we'll be doing is we'll be going for a federal administrative order and the federal administrative order will will if you will Trump the state consent judgment so the state consent judgment goes away there's no uh requirements for Gman once they are receiving and agree to an administrative order uh that they have to follow under underneath the state consent judgment it is set aside okay well I I definitely hope that right and um I love your optimism um thank you for that response but it's not but but but it's not optimism those are the facts uh the the federal the federal government uh administrative order will supersede the state consent judgment now a lot of the elements that are there right now such as continuing with the groundwater extraction and treatment that's being done underneath the state order will be probably included in the administrative order that the federal government gives them under under Circle okay so they're not just going to tell Gilman well just wait around you don't need to do anything there will be a a seamless interaction between the work that the consent judgement under that the state is asking them and what the federal government will ask so there won't be any laps in time when nothing is going on at the site or no active remediation is going on at the site that active remediation even though it's very limited would continue underneath a a US EPA administrative order makes sense thank you welcome all right thank you all um any other questions if not I would like to introduce Roger rail who's the chair of um citizens act active for remediation of dioxane or card and is also chair of the Scio residents for Safe Water we've as an environmental commission have also um commended Roger for his long dedication to following the data and speaking up for clean water in the community um not only in his immediate area but outside in the whole city of an arbor and the townships so um Roger thank you for your ongoing work as well and um I know that you have a a short presentation for us and I'll appreciate viewing that thank you and hello all uh couple people on the screen I haven't seen in a while so that's good to see you um it turns out that the way this uh Zoom is set up I can't can't share my uh my screen I can share uh windows so I'm going to have to switch Windows I'm starting off with the the one that I use to create a lot of the images this is a Google Earth matchup but I'm going to switch to um what's basically a set of slides that I had uh prepared so let me get this ready to go and didn't do my switch over here on new share here's my screen mine's going to be really quick uh thanks Dan for the excellent overview of the super fun and and and the Cirus uh process and and what's going to happen uh as this proceeds and and this can be cleaned up it like Dan said it's going to take a while so this is what's happened uh over the last uh 31 years um we've got a map by the way these maps that I produce any of the colored portion except for the yellow is is based on Gilman Maps themselves so you can see my cursor all right I presume yes so this is the plume in 1992 the first one of the first uh total plumes that we Mar that we had and you can see the size of that it was already expanded into the Evergreen area which was at that time in s Township and sense had to be annexed to the city order to provide water and this is where it all came from the Gman property in this lower corner here and then we jump to 2023 this is where the plum has expanded over those years because it hasn't been first defined enough to uh know where all the dioxine is to go and intercept it but also because of the the amount of cleanup was not what was needed so uh 31 years of cleanup we went from this to this so it's really time for an EPA enforced cleanup because the EPA has the enforcement capability and uh something that the state hasn't been able to do all these years this is a close up of the two 2023 and um this offshoot to the north is a surprise this is these are the sampling that s Township did and even there's one hit that was brief at an arber Township and then the orange Donuts are where the state came in and resampled those sites and found most of them they would have found all but the state doesn't use the same uh best available uh analysis method that the township used so like Dan said there's about 40 some hits some of them are a lot of them are right here to the north right out of the Evergreen uh offshoot uh near 465 dep Pont there's some that are in uh Elizabeth Street that have been going on for years there's a new hit here next to the KFC property that's going to be developed and there's one over here on in breezwood that uh is now solid hit these other Donuts are where dioxine has been found over the years uh this on Google Earth is actually a four-dimensional display where you can watch the hits as they occur over time now this is a similar uh map but overlaid on it is Eagle's rockworks model that they created in uh 2020 and the area that they were studying is shown by the white rectangle and it pretty much matches the high concentrations that were shown on the Gman maps in the previous one here again these uh everything the yellow is where I've outlined where dioxine has been found and everything uh the tan and all going to red and purple those are actually from gan's own maps that I extruded up to show the 3d effect etc etc in the I've superimposed on here uh Eagle's rockworks map to show that it's you know that covers pretty much the whole area there's a few places where there's not enough data to show the model can't really say what's going to happen in those areas and that again points to the lack of good data to know where the dioxine ends which way it's going and this part here ites completely missed this is almost a mile north of the boundary and it's only less than a half a mile from my house right here so I can see this coming and I'm in the same aquifer as these Wells are so after 30 years um it's time to get the proper cleanup done so there's more information at srswor and at this point I will stop my we stop my share briefly if we need to go back to anything else I can bring it back up again and then we'll take questions thank you Roger that was great I I think there's nothing like really seeing it in a in a diagram in that way so I appreciate that it's even better when you look at it interactively two or three fours right yeah so um Commissioners are there additional questions for Roger okay well I just want to say that when I see the the comparison from the 1992 to what is it 2023 it is really as standing the um expansion and during that time there has been treatment going on and so um it's really frustrating to see that and to know that things could have been done um so with that um I want to just ask Erin um to put that slide up that we talked about that for anyone who wants to uh capture this information and we can send it certainly to the commission as well um the which um Dan had displayed earlier this is how to write to the EPA on the um website and I highly encourage you to do so and to share with people um you can use the link that's displayed and there's an arrow that shows that you're supposed to go down to a box that's called comment on the on the there's a a page gosh I can't even see that um called browse documents and then click on a comment button Ain was pointing those out um I think it's really important that we show the EPA that the community has um concerns and um we have information that we can give them as well and um I want to just really thank the um um Roger and Dan and all of the volunteer people in our community as well as the professionals who have tracked this issue for years and years um and stuck with it it's been a really hard problem and um prevention is like our best friend um so we need to keep that going um Roger I see your hand what's up yeah just a couple more things um uh I'll share my screen again here so on srw um you can go to this feature section and you can click some of the links here and get some background information as well as direct link to make your comments that's just another way they did it and all the same images that I showed are over here on the right if you want to look at it in more detail that's great so you can have reference information at your fingertips and pull that into that's right we try to keep this up to date with breaking news and there's a lot of history too you can always go up here to the the search button and look for certain terms and find things from 20 30 years ago okay great so that's srswor right srswor um right there yeah um thank you but I I I got to give you some other news because um I I got the all the references sent to me today for this npl listing um and it's very good it's very complete I'm really impressed with how complete the EPA has put together all this stuff in what's really considered to be a short period of time uh it doesn't have it all because we have some locally here that you know needs to be contributed but we can do that over time so it's it's really good that we have better information and better organization of the information and the whole idea of card was to help with that to have all the local stakeholders contribute what they know about this site and keep everything up to date so that all of the decision makers have access to all of the relevant information instead of having to go and dig for so that that's the last point I want to make and that and it's going to make this Superfund Site easier to clean up because of that because we have a lot of active people on the ground and and concerned and and the local governments and all the all the player all the stakeholders are on board with this so let's get this done and uh and Beyond with it so thank you thank you both Roger and Dan for your long service to the community to our water that's so important all right so I think we will move on with our agenda um and our next speakers are from the Michigan Department of Great Lakes uh oh Eagle the first one environment Great Lakes and energy please excuse me um we have Andrea Munoz Hernandez the district supervisor of remediation and redevelop re remediation and Redevelopment division from the Jackson office um and she has um finally um gathered information to talk with us about groundwater contamination other than the Gman Flume um here in an arbor and these are important things that are are part of our community and certainly I appreciate the work of eagle in in addressing them and it's really um helpful to know what's happening right outside our doors thank you Andrea and staff who are with you and I hope you'll introduce them so as you mentioned my name ises I work for the Michigan Department of environment rels and energy I'm the remediation and Redevelopment supervisor of the Jackson office so we cover five different counties washt is one of them and I have with me several project managers I mean they are the experts they today people that are working on these projects so if you have questions they are actually like people that can be you have more details about the questions that you may have I also have with me the project manager of the calan sit r b so if any of you have any questions or any clarifications associated with this side we're more than happy to provide any additional information um and with being set so my the size will be presenting and even though this theme is associated with one contamination there are other Pathways associated with Vaper intrustion they will be actually covered by different projects in here so we will have um Chris matthewson he will be presenting about articles Ashley leser will be presenting about the a former MGP uh then why will'll be talking about Armen and again Chris is here if anybody has any questions associated with thanks and quick question so Erin are you gonna be like sharing your screen with the slides or should we just kind of like each individual project manager share theirs yeah happy to do whatever it is easier for you guys is that okay with you Chris asley and then or I don't know how to share my screen here F by we use teams guess that answers our question yeah happy share sorry I probably could figure it out but I I am I am slow to the zoom crowd as well but I am semi functional so here we go got get that Zoom training uh yeah hello everyone my name is Chris Matthews I am a Environmental Quality analysis here at Eagle uh I'm the project manager for Argus I should say I'm overseeing this this site as it is a liable party site uh so Eagle isn't doing the investigation directly but uh I uh you know look at all the reports and talk to the liable party and their consultant uh next slide so this is a little overview here uh we call it the Argus buildings facility uh because there's two buildings associated with the source uh Argus one and Argus 2 uh this is located in the old west side of an arbor uh as you can see it's mainly residential in the area uh there is a elementary school Bach Elementary School to the South here though I will Point that's like upgradient of groundwater flow uh and it was uh sort of investigated early on uh you can go to the next slide so a little background here on Argus uh they manufactured Optical and photographic equipment uh between 1931 and 1963 uh they actually had a variety of industrial processes using lots of different chemicals however the main uh processes associated with the soil and groundw contamination we are seeing in the area uh were Vapor degreasing uh and chrome plating and that's mainly chlorinated solvents and then additional to that uh they had some underground storage tanks which were which contained fuel oil uh that was used up until 1982 and so we're also seeing some petroleum impacts in soil and groundwater next slide thanks um this is kind of just overview of the area again uh uh these green lines here represent uh the Allen Creek drain uh so it's just kind of an illustration that there is a storm water convence underneath Argus one I'm sorry Argus 2 uh and there's also sanitary lines and things like that that sort of run parallel so those are some of the preferential Pathways we're looking at or the liable part he looking at um you can go to the next slide so a little bit here on the chemicals of concern uh for chlorinated solvents uh we have pce tce carbon tetrachloride and they sort of breakdown products and then there's also petroleum uh products which are related to the fuel oil tanks next slide thank you um so the current status of the investigation uh as I mentioned uh there's liable party here it's ozam salvania uh there consulted as Geo Tech um and they uh so initially soil and groundwater contamination was found on Argus 2 uh Argus 2 is actually owned by U ofm and so they were doing investigation related to the fuel oil tanks because they are the reliable party for that particular contamination but at that time they also discovered coronated uh contamination and that sort of brought in the new liable party uh and then more recent sampling by geosync has confirmed that uh Argus one is a source of contamination uh previously it was kind of unclear if it was migrating from Argus 2 or not but there is extensive soil and groundw contamination on Argus one and so there it's also a source uh and the ground contamination has migrated off site though the extent of that contamination uh is not currently delineated so we don't really know how far it's gone uh that investigation is still ongoing uh so when we think about health risks we usually think about it as exposure Pathways exposure pathway is the way a person may come in contact with the contaminant uh so in this case Vapor intrusion is sort of the main pathway of concern uh so the chemicals uh that or the contamination we're seeing here uh has a potential to volatilize or turn into vapor and uh enter buildings or homes uh that's both the chlorinated uh contamination and the petroleum contamination though petroleum contamination tends not to travel as far uh there have been some mitigation systems installed in homes in the area um north of Argus 2 and uh currently uh east of Argus one some mitigation systems are uh being um they haven't been installed yet but they're in the process of being installed uh so the drinking water pathway uh the city of an arbor is uh supplies municipal water in the area so that's not directly an issue uh here um and uh there's also the groundwater surface water interface pathway otherwise known as GSI um it's sort of uh you know under investigation I mean the Heron river is about a mile north of here uh and as I mentioned the alen creek drain does I put Argus one here but Allen Creek drain does run under Argus 2 uh however it does the groundw does not intercept that drain it's probably the groundwater maximum depth or yeah the highest depth is about six feet from the drain so it doesn't mean the drain could not be a prenal path prefer sorry preferential pathway but it uh the the groundwater not an intercepted it means that ground mon was not likely to enter enter the drain at least at Argus one and Argus 2 uh next slide so uh the current status uh we at Eagle here uh received a groundwater investigation plan um which was submitted in January or I'm sorry it was approved in January um and then there was also a GSI professional pathway component to that uh as a separate plan which is approved in March and uh Vapor intrusion investigation ongoing so the vapor intrusion investigation's been ongoing since like 2019 so it's been it's been going on for quite a while and this is just some figures from the most recent uh some midles we received from GEOS uh I just wanted to point out to show where like sort of the groundwater sampling Wells are at uh these green ones are the proposed Wells uh they're going to be at varying depths uh you know one thing to point out with coronated solvents as they tend to dive because they're heavier than water uh so these will be uh nested Wells which have shallow and deep uh sampling areas um the red the red uh Wells are what have previously been installed so they've mainly just been on site uh so uh we're looking forward to seeing more data offsite and uh you know dilating the extent of this contamination next slide uh and then for the preferential Pathways this is kind of hard to see I think but uh they plan to do passive sampling uh in the manholes on on uh sort of along West Williams Street here and also upgradient on Fifth Street uh so they'll be do that's that's Vapor sampling so they'll be doing passive Vapor sampling uh in the uh sort of storm storm holes storm conveyances here then they also will do some uh soil temporary groundwater Wells and soil gas sampling along here in the right of way sort of near the uh storm storm sand lines in West William Street and that is it for Argus uh went pretty quick so I probably got some time for questions all right Commissioners questions Comm Curtis So for the new wells is there an expected time frame when the wells would go in and how long there yeah so um I don't have so they're they've they have permits pending with the city so they're in those City rights away I think that's kind of what's mostly been uh they've been waiting on recently uh and then they also added some additional like the preferential pathway investigation was not previously from the January report uh in their permitting that they were asking for so they had to amend that uh so I believe you know uh as far as I know it'll be sort of like this summer is kind of when the uh time frame is but uh I don't know for sure if they've gotten their permits yet missioner Brown yeah so yeah thanks uh Chris um is um I mean that deadline that that time is the expectation for monitoring weals but um it's not clear to me what the goal of the remediation project is what's the goal just to prevent Vapor improve in in people's basements or will this will there be some kind of groundwater treatment uh well I mean there is no sort of the you know the the program is that is a risk based so as long as they manage the risk they you know whatever the remedy is for that uh you know if it does manage the risk then it's acceptable so treatment could be one thing I know they've talked about Source removal on Argus one uh I guess some of the issue is uh Argus 2 and Argus one are both you know take up the whole parcel essentially uh except for some part you know where the at least where the majority of contamination is so it's difficult to access with the building on top um you know there are ways obvious or you know that's there are ways that could be done but yeah I sort of I guess at this point that hasn't been discussed very much um and that uh right now they're just sort of investigating to see if you know if there's receptors for the contamination and if there are risks to those receptors mitigating those risks so hopefully that answer the question um yeah okay I mean so with the vapor intrusion treatments I guess it's captured um the uh usually so if there's a vapor trusion issue the solutions usually a mitigation system installed in the home like a radon mitigation system that kind of system uh so it's not it's not treating the contamination it's just preventing the vapors from entering the home yeah yeah or it's just dispersing them outside yeah right okay and there are sort of like air quality things that are involved with that but oh so I just want to say I'm very familiar with this area it's very close to my home um and I would like to know um if there's ongoing monitoring of those homes that have the VAP for intrusion systems yeah they commission them for at least a year so they there is a commissioning process when they install mination system uh it is eventually handed over to the homeowner um but uh yeah so usually it's uh up to a year of uh sort of making sure the the proper uh vacuum isene in the mitigation system and then after that it's handed over to the home number so um those are terms that are not exactly familiar to me so um do you mean that um there's something that the resident can look at some kind of monitor that says this is an X level and things are good yeah so they uh what when there's not uh across the board always the same thing but geosc uh there is a visual uh sort of Mag or Magna helix or magnetometer so it tells you like if there's pressure in the system or in this case negative pressure in the system and then there's also an alarm uh so if the if the uh fan stops or the fan loses power for sets of great of time and like the geosync is alerted through like a remote sensing um but yeah the home owners the homeowner also given sort of a operation and maintenance uh sort of manual uh to go along with it uh once once it's handed over so it's really all about air flow not about what actually comes into the house so we don't know the chemical content or what yeah so the the idea the mitigation system is nothing enters from below the slab because it it creates a vacuum so uh yeah there should be no you know like the air underneath the the slab over the basement would not uh would be sort of vented out rather than being able to uh sort of exchange with the basement ER right so I'm just wondering I guess when I think of monitoring I want to make sure that the people in the house are are okay so is there there's nothing more than just the pressure monitoring that that we know of yeah uh yeah the you know the idea is if you have the negative pressure nothing like that nothing from the subsurface can enter the home so yeah as long we're not usually not measuring specifically there may be some indoor air uh measurements if there was previously indoor air um samples taken to show that the system's working like if you had previous prior to the installation um sampling done and then post installation sampling done you can kind of show that you know indoor concentrations have decreased but in general if the mitigation system is properly commissioned and installed uh it just prevents those Vapors from entering the homes so they're sort of like not more sampling as far as like the concentrations of contaminants and one last question for me anyway is um the um the responsible party are they going to continue to track and identify the um the plume as it moves because it seems like there's some unknowns yeah I mean they they have responsibilities under the statute to define the contamination so that's kind of part of it so they have to manage the risk and they have to you know well maybe first is divine the cination then manage the risk so uh yeah they haven't done that yet so and we've uh I guess that's been kind of a point uh between us that we've been uh sort of hammering on them so uh as I as I showed they have submitted some work plans now that they're um working towards that so once we have more information you know things can change but at this point we're just looking to see how far from Argus it goes and then we could kind of figure it out from there right and and do you provide reporting regularly to um our office of um Environmental Management uh I mean not directly I mean uh everything is pable but uh yeah I mean I know uh for some of this the work done in the right way the city has received some reports from GEOS synx since they got um you know that was part of their permitting process um but other than that I guess yeah I'm not sure okay thank you anyone else okay thank you Chris yep hi everybody I'm Dan I give it a me sorry I'm on it uh Dan wild uh another eqa project manager I manag the north half of Wasa County uh that's my area so I the project manager for arm and cleaners we're we're doing some work out there right now uh let see Arma cleaners is a former dry cleaner uh was active commercial dry cleaner located in downtown an arbor Primary Residential area in 1985 improper handling of dry cleaning waste was documented and a release of tetrachloro ethine pce or perk in soil and groundwater was first discovered uh pce is a non-flammable colorless liquid and a known carcinogen mainly used as a dry cleaning agent and metal degreasing solvent a lot of work has been completed since 1985 as you can well this is more recent on this map uh but included a limited soil excavation in the northwest corner of the property that was completed by the owner under Eagle supervision and many off-site investigations to develop a conceptual site model of the source area and migrating plume every house in the migrating pathway has been sampled for potential Vapor intrusion but only one home was identified needing a mitigation system and three of them are and the three of them are sampled quarterly to monitor for air quality and subsurface conditions so those are the three uh directly touching the arm and cleaner site boundary there next slide please we're completed December 2021 the building was abated uh then we demolish the building in January 2022 February 20 22 we did waste characterization sampling uh the slab of the building was left in place so we are looking to sample for future disposal and then we were delayed until 2023 due to some issues on site and with a RightWay permitting next slide please so our sampling plan to characterize for Waste we separated out our hazardous non-hazardous soil disposal we split the property into five separate areas collected samples from the 0 to 4 4 to 8 8 to 12 and 12 to 18t intervals like a big old layer cake uh you can't see it but everything highlighted in yellow is was determined to be hazardous for disposal so that's a big increase in cost but we were able to save money by separating those out uh Sarah nedrich was kind of the the leader of that push before she left us all right uh next slide please so we had to re-engineer our remedial actions uh so we decided to do insitu soil mixing so we the property was split into 25 cells with six to9 columns in each to mix the top five feet of the site was excavated and disposed of to account for swelling during the mixing an excavator with a 12-ft arm and rotating augers on the head of it was used to mix the soil down to about 20 feet below grade across the site and during during soil mixing sodium persulfate and Portland cement amendments were injected injected from the mixing head to oxidize contaminants and then solidify the soil to the appropriate compression and compaction requirements next slide please current status uh this was taken about a week ago uh they should have the straw thatched down now with this with the grass seat and but remedia activities were completed this month uh damage sidewalk we just got the go-ahead for the permit on that that should be poured this week and the site will be restored with top seed and soil top soil and seed mix that one up all right uh next slide please and so future work uh Pathways that remain are still potential are vapor intrusion groundwater surface water interface and drinking water protection so I think the biggest concern right now for us is the vapor intrusion pathway uh based on the most recent sample results future work will include verification sampling on the arm and cleaner's property to determine the effectiveness of our remedial mixing uh other sites with similar contaminant levels have seen a 90 to 94% reduction in contamination so I'm pretty excited to see our results we're currently working on that work plan now uh following that to address the low-level residual contamin contamination in soil and groundwater offsite uh we plan to develop and Implement two phases of offsite remedial injections um within the offsite plumes at 220 West Mosley and 628 South of Ashley uh that'll include uh monitoring on the site and off the site um and that should also prevent contamination from um back flowing back onto the Armic cleer property as well that's all I have any questions course it's Sarah the former project manager all right go ahead hi Dan thanks I guess I thought it might be kind of fun to share um so this is like a state funded project all the money for this where did it come from and how much have you spent doing the remediation that's more of a u question actually uh since you secured plenty of funding for this before you left um so a million dollar is from squi funding um I don't know what that acronym means off the top of my hand I apologize uh and I can Google it Sarah you know it off the top of your head anymore have you forgotten that all it's surface water quality protection fund thank you there go thank you I don't know the exact acronym but that's more or less it's for protection of surface water yeah I haven't thought about that in a while um so that's where a good chunk of the funding came from rest of it estate uh from our normal funding sources um I would say that's tough so we essentially had to fire our contractor that was previously hired they were not able to complete the work per our specifications so we parted ways with uh we had issues with dewatering due to the soil quality or a lot of silty silty soils they were not able to dewater enough for our engineering controls to prevent volatilization uh prior to dewatering and excavation um so we kind of went back and forth with them on that the problem was they weren't dewatering so therefore our engineering controls wouldn't work uh we had misters in place and it only works on desaturated soil so since there's still water in the soil we couldn't uh prevent volatilization um so their dewatering method was ineffective um we're also delayed due to the uh water I think the water M being redone on West Mosley so I think we're around the $ three and5 million range for State funding um and that doesn't include the approved 700,000 for the offsite injections that was approved last year as well I think that's more than I had budgeted for three years ago uh disposal two or three thanks thanks to co and corporations uh costs have gone up for not only disposal but uh everything else uh new Michigan funding as the other source Thank You Cher well um I have a question about um across the street on Ashley there appears to be some work being done is that related to this cleanup there's a a large apartment building and uh to the northeast of the site to the direct east across actually yep uh that's that's been done hasn't it that was built a couple years ago yeah the building is built but right now there's some activity oh yeah yes uh yeah they asked if they could use our area as kind of a lie down yard uh and we said no for liability reasons uh I can get you that information that's buried in my emails somewhere okay that's curious so it's unrelated to unrelated to us yeah thank you yep so um now that this property has been remediated who is the owner and what's the long-term plan for the property do you know so the owner no I don't know uh short answer the owner Remains the Same they're non-liable party they allowed us access uh to this site we had to kick out the the dry cleaning tenant prior to the work starting uh they will remain the owners and they will most likely sell it uh to a developer this area does remain in the historic district so they have to comply with the hor historic district uh rules and regulations so they would have to go to that board uh so I could see it only being you know single family residential houses that are built here uh they're not going to get a giant high-rise in this location unless the historic district approves that one right and what's the risk of um Vapor intrusion or whatever in the adjacent sites ones where you have the Stars so the property to the north already has a mitigation system that had been installed years ago um and then we're those three houses on this figure they're the ones undergoing quarterly monitoring for subslab and indoor air um following our injections I have two different contractors that are working on this they're going to work together uh following the injections to monitor the air quality and subslab air quality for all these properties um the houses Beyond this have already been screened out for Vapor intrusion uh the vapor pins remain in most of them so we could go back and Sample them if necessary um so I'm sure there's going to be a post-closure monitoring plan in place maybe monitor for a couple years if levels are the same uh we'll probably cease that or reduce the frequency of monitoring maybe maybe an annual event or something okay okay thank you anyone else problem okay also near my house in quite the area get out of an arbor right thank you very much for your presentation not problem thank you everyone all right if we're ready hi uh good evening everyone um my name is Ashley ler I am an environmental engineer project manager in the dist Jackson district office and I'm going to talk about the Broadway Park West site uh next slide yeah so uh you may know this uh if you don't know it is Broadway Park West you may know it as the manufactured gas plant uh long the hiran River on the north side of Ann Arbor uh former mishcon site it was originally built by Ann Arbor gas company later reincorporated as Wasau gas company uh and then uh it came to Michigan during consolidation in 1938 it continued to operate um until the late uh 1940s and was formally decommissioned in late 1950s um after that that uh mishon developed a service center on the property and uh from all of this former um coal gas manufacturing uh there's a number of contaminants characteristic of of those types of activities uh volatile compounds like Benzene toine ethylene and xylin that we call betex uh semivolatile organic compounds uh polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons those are your like heavier petroleum compounds and you know tar oily materials then you've got a number of heavy metals and also cyanide um various uh environmental investigations uh by mishon began in the mid1 1980s and they've investigated remediated and stabilized various uh areas of the site over the years um there were some underground storage tanks and structures they removed obviously stained surface soils um they ran some pilot studies uh and so on but for today's presentation I'm going to focus on the most recent remedial actions so roughly what's happened over the previous decade uh as well as the current plans for redevelopment there's a number of different parties involved um DTE Energy is the successor to mishan and the party responsible for the environmental remediation overall and I have their most uh recent groundwater monitoring results um over the last 10 years to share the current owner is lower toown Partners LLC they're a single purpose entity to hold the real estate Roxbury group will be the developer of this property and I've been in close communication through uh the process with their uh consultant smme they have also formed a nonprofit called the lowertown riverfront conservancy and uh that was formed to manage the proposed public use areas of the site um the developers activities specifically the developer is of course a non non-liable owner completed a baseline environmental assessment on the property when they took ownership uh so they've been able to receive some Brownfield funding uh through Eagle uh and I can provide an update on their site preparation activities so the site uh which you see here um I'm sorry the text is so small but I'll I'll try to walk you through it um it's 11 um 11.38 Acre Site and the Western portion that you kind of see in green there um was historically uh undeveloped although it had uh stock piles in storage the Eastern portion where you see those circles you know those were like the gas holders that were part of the MGP operation um you see in the gray there's a big foundation that's where the service center was so the Eastern side of the property was much more heavily developed um by by mishan uh to the north of the site you have the hiron river uh main Channel and then just uh just above that just north of that the uh Argo Cascades uh and its outlin into the hon River uh just off of the map on the very Northwest uh upper leftand corner uh that's where uh Argo dam is and this property know way back a century ago uh was was filled there was a former River channel that was filled in through the central portion of the property uh but even though the area is in a flood plane uh water levels here are are well controlled by Argo dam being immediately Upstream uh so getting a little bit into the development plans for this site uh in 2018 Eagle uh received and approved a response activity plan uh from Lower Town Partners the current owner of the site um you know through their developer and consultant and their plan involves dividing the property into three areas that will each be addressed um according to its use so you have the um Western portion of the site um extending over into the riverfront toward the East and that will be the public use area um focused on you know recreational use open to the public uh then there will be on the Eastern portion of the site uh commercial building I believe they're planning a small hotel uh and on the uh Southern portion of the site uh Residential Properties so town homes or Condominiums and there are appropriate uh site specific criteria selected for each um the specific environmental response activities uh will report the proposed uses of the property so on the public use areas because those will be green space uh they have done a lot of excavation of contaminated soils um in areas where they have not uh done excavation there will be exposure barriers either uh composed of clean soil or uh parking areas Pavements building foundations um to prevent direct contact then for the buildings um because the petroleum volatile compounds there will be Vapor mitigation systems designed for the buildings at the time of construction and then there will be restrictive covenants placed on the property to restrict the use of Wells uh for extracting groundwater and that will preserve the elements of the development that are protective of Public Health in the environment next slide so um back in 20 9 uh DTE Energy uh conducted some remedial investigations uh that identified uh oily materials and tar materials in the shallow subsurface soil along the shoreline of the hiron river as well as in the central portion of the property near the former uh gas holders and tank structures um in response to you know this information uh they submitted a response activity plan Eagle in 2012 and conducted um we approved that and they went forward with the work which consisted of uh dredging nearly 50,000 tons of sediment and Shor loin Shoreline soil uh and then they installed uh what you see here this uh schematic shows their uh napple trapping cap system uh on almost a thousand feet of the hon River Frontage what this does um napple is non aquous phase liquid uh it's pretty much I'm calling it oily material just for uh just to get away from the jargon um but essentially that's that's what it is it's um oils that are either that are you know their own phase within the groundwater so sometimes you know floating on top potentially or if they're denser than water um sinking as a as a body of contamination um so this cap uh installed on the shoreline uh helps these materials from reaching the hon River uh groundwater at the site is relatively shallow um as you might expect being next to the uh next to the hon River it's between two and 2 and 10 ft uh below ground surface in uh sandy soil flowing toward the Northeast uh but there's a hard silty clay layer below 10 ft so the napple that we're seeing is is isolated behind the cap both both by the cap itself and the geological materials beneath it um the the trapping cap was constructed with sumps uh which allow um DTE to monitor this the function of the cap and note whether there's any you know oils accumulating behind the cab next slide so this is a schematic of the site in 2013 post construction again I apologize it's so small um but you can kind of see the gray um gray stone line along the hon River that is the cap itself um and in 2014 uh based on the completion of this cap uh mdq granted no further action status for this Nearshore area of the property um and the sediment between Argo Dam and Broadway Street Bridge next slide they have continued to uh monitor though uh over the last 10 years when we talk about managing environmental risks we think of them in terms of exposure Pathways as you've heard from Chris and Dan so where there's a potential for contaminated groundwater to vent into surface water we are using water quality criteria that cover all uses so protective of Aquatic Life Fisheries drinking water sources and people who may be using the water bodies recreationally as we know uh next to the next to the Cascades with all kayaks um our criteria cover all of those uh potential uses um we specifically uh approved um site specific mixing Zone criteria for the site back in 2010 and those were updated um based on the proposed use of the property in um 2019 I believe also to uh to cover acute um acute risks to uh Aquatic Life after they installed the napple trapping cap uh DTE committed to a 10-year monitoring period for the GSI pathway and we just received their final round of monitoring uh like last week um they have continued to be below criteria um there is still contamination present on the interior portions of the property um but those sumps I said where they could monitor if um if those oily materials were actually reaching the cap uh DTE hasn't seen napple in any of those sumps over the full 10 years of monitoring uh nor have there been any exceedances of criteria at the compliance Wells placed between the interior portions of the property and the river uh that 10-year monitoring period uh is actually based on a conservative estimate of groundwater flow rate um so it takes 8 to 10 years at most for groundwater on the Eastern portion of the property where that contamination is uh to reach the hon River if it were going to um so at this time you know I just got this data but based on a preliminary look at it um it seems that they will will not need to continue monitoring and at that time those Wells and sumps will be removed next slide so uh moving on to the uh to the current of the property Redevelopment um I got to rewind to 2017 um as they were preparing for redevelopment uh they conducted a shallow soil data Gap investigation on the western portion of the property I believe this was done by lower toown Partners Roxbury group um but it was focused on the uh what will be the public use areas of the property uh historically part of the coal gasification process involved removing corrosive compounds by passing the gas over trays of iron oxide and that was to capture contaminants um sulfur and cyanide that that would make the gas unusable but then those waste materials were deposited um on the undeveloped portions of the site primarily the Western um Western portion um these soils are actually like visually characteristic they're they're bright blue like Prussian Blue like the paint pigment um they're not particularly Mobile in the environment so they're less of a groundwater issue uh but they are a direct contact Hazard and needed to be removed prior to the Redevelopment so the 2018 response activity plan proposed by the developer consisted of uh proposed Excavating all of the blue soils to a depth to the maximum depth um where they'd found them of 8.5 ft and then everywhere else in the uh where they had previously identified um petroleum compounds heavy metals and coal tars those areas were excavated uh the upper two feet um as a you know reasonable distance where somebody might encounter them uh who's using the property ultimately the goal is to have 2 feet of clean soil cover in o over the entire public use area uh whether that was existing uncontaminated soil or soil that was imported as clean backfill everywhere else um buildings and parking lots would be used as as the cover um so this excavation work was completed uh this past fall and winter and we just received the results of verification sampling uh which is kind what you're looking at is is the map of the public use areas and where the sampling was completed all of the verification samples were collected within the top two feet uh which would be that Clean Cover um exposure barrier Zone using a method known as incremental sampling so you've got the site divided into 18 units and grided out and from each of those units um 30 increments of soil were collected and composited so that significantly improves the quality of data that you get versus a single discret sample um then you then they also took a triplicate sample which they could use to compare um to compare statistically to ensure that the data was actually representative of the material which is always a challenge when you're uh when you're trying to um assess materials for direct contact the decision units outlined in lime green are the areas that were excavated and backfilled and in those areas the verification sampling was mainly to confirm that the soil brought onto the site was not contaminated so you see a slightly lower uh sampling density there like in six in the central portion of the um of the West half of the site the based on past investigation soils in the remaining decision units those are the ones outlined in magenta uh were already believed to be below criteria based on previous data uh either because there was no contamination present or because they were part of previously remediated areas and in those cases the verification sampling was conducted to confirm um to confirm that with better data quality all right next slide um I just want to go over what's next um we're still uh looking over this data it's very recently the last couple of weeks and uh the the next step for the site is for um I believe Lower Town Partners intends to submit an NFA for the property they're going to have to get some data from DTE to complete that process um but in order to qualify for an NFA they have to have all of the different exposure Pathways covered so they would need to have the restrictive covenant in place and they would need to have the vapor mitigation in place and obviously these buildings have not been built yet um so that's coming down the road and we're currently uh in discussions with them about the the best way to way to achieve that uh that's all I have at this time happy to answer any questions you may have right Commissioners you had a lot of information provided to us today commissioner dish council member dish it's mine either way um thank you for all of that information information um this project is an eagerly awaited project in my ward um and people are wondering why it is taking so long for them to get started and so it's you've told me a story about indeed they have started and there has been a lot of Labor and they have finally cleaned the house and now they'll be able to build so that's that that sounds really really great I mean pending you know your review of these latest St samples but I think everyone can really feel good that this has been an extensive cleanup I don't know Rita if you want to raise the issues around um uh um erosion that yeah yeah thanks um once when dis and I were at a meeting just last night and a neighbor of this area um said that he observed in the recent rainstorms some flooding in the westmost area that that the water kind of came into its natural path um in that floodway area I saw some ducks um and I my concern when in thinking about that was what happens to that surface layer that's been placed there um is it going to erode is it going to result in some contamination of the hon River um and will there be some um placement of grass or other green ways to prevent erosion of all this work yes yes um absolutely that would that is something that uh was proposed in the 2018 response activity plan obviously they're you know in the middle of site work so um ultimately yes a vegetated cover will be needed to stabilize the soil um as far as you know contamination of the river we're we're mostly focused on um those those surface soils being a direct contact Hazard and not necessar a concern um to to the river itself not a concern to to groundwater so um right now the site is fenced people shouldn't you know shouldn't be accessing that site so they have a little bit of time to to get that in place as part of the development okay but do you expect it sometime perhaps this season this growing season it's all there right now that's a good question I don't have that that information for the developer right now okay than anyone else Brown yeah yeah thanks um thanks Ashley I have a few questions um out of all the contaminants that have been um detected so far on this site um which ones are expected to migrate the fastest or easiest in groundwater wouldn't that be like Cyanide and the metals uh that would be the purpose uh primarily the napple trapping cap um dissolved uh dissolved petroleum related compounds um the cyanide actually is not a particularly mobile form that's also why it's still here after decades and decades oh okay and um and so what's the estimated lifetime of that nap cap and why are they why are they going to remove the wells and the sumps because wouldn't that remove um opportunity for you know testing in the future because as we all we've all heard about landfills uh caps and about there's no landfill that's been successfully capped for more than a decade in my know to my knowledge so I'm just wondering what what precautions there are in terms of um figuring out when uh when that cap has been breached through natural processes or flooding or something else and how would that be tested if it were if there were a breach so what what we're seeing based on the data is they haven't actually seen an apple move from the interior of the property to the um to the sumps it has not reached the cap itself so while the cap is capable of trapping those materials the the materials are are less mobile than um than I think was originally feared granted I I've been um my experience with the site is relatively recent um I just got involved with it about a year ago so a lot of the decisions associated with the um with an apple trapping cap I'm I'm still learning about myself yeah I'm just a little concerned that they've decided that 10 years is long enough to decide that it's it's done for Infinity you know so I hope that there's some kind of a plan and they're leaving means in place uh such as sumps and Wells I'm not sure what the rationale is for removing the sumps and the wells and um because it does kind of reduce the opportunity of detecting whatever contamination that might show up and I don't see any reason why it can't be tested um over various periods of time in the future just to make sure that you know the theoretical um the theoretical success of the tree of the containment has actually been achieved or not but certainly something I'll be keeping in mind my understanding is that it was um has been approved by eagle was approved by eagle in the past and that was based on um Based on transmissivity data um based on the the groundwater flow rate so in a sense that 10year per period has been the test that's that's my current understanding okay thank you Steve good question I guess my question associated with that it seems like it's a no cost issue to retain those sums and and so why not um yeah uh anyone else all right well um I want to thank um Andrea and your staff everyone for joining us and providing this information it's in our backyards nearby everyone and um your efforts to track and keep us safe are very much appreciated you're welcome Rita thank you so much for heing us here thank you for hear the opportunity for the project man here to present some of the work they have several projects some of them are state funded so we're constantly working trying to protect based on our regulations um like you say will be maybe nice if anybody has any questions said with Alma Chris is here like Chris information is available or I can provide that information to you um or any project manager for additional information happy yeah thank you all right um all right I want to thank everybody for hanging in this has been a another packed uh agenda um and I will move us along to our next item which is um it has to do with the green streets um program that we discussed last month with Jen Lawson and Jerry Hancock and um the the issue has to do with now we were presented with um a resolution to consider um advancing forward with our support um and I guess I would like to know um if anyone has any questions or comments about it or if we'd like to put it up for review um and figure out our next steps on this um yeah for you right thanks Aaron thanks bringing that up um is it okay if I just unmute and say some of my my thoughts yeah please do okay um well admittedly I was not at the meeting to hear the presentation although I I did watch it um as well as the discussion for the recording and um I feel like even with the the Q Q Anda you know the questions and things that were answered written later that I still have a lot of questions um before I would personally feel like I wanted to vote in favor of it um it was it was on the environmental commission at least when this conversation started what 10 12 years ago a little bit longer than that um and I I from what I what I understand about the proposed changes there are some things that seems like it makes a lot of sense um like I I understand why we'd want to maybe change the title um from Green streets to to just something that's more specifically about storm water because it's not necessarily green although I have other questions around that too um you know I I appreciate the um that this would go not just from Curb to curb uh but essentially widen through the right of way and be essentially sidewalk to sidewalk and so there there are a lot of things of about this that I think you know factoring in underground utility projects and stuff like that um requiring the maintenance plans to be reviewed I think all of those things make a lot of sense but there are some things that I have questions around and some things that give me a little bit of pause um and one of them is um if we I understand it's not always possible to have the the green portion but um you know if we're looking at the other potential benefits of the vegetation portion of what was the intent of the green streets projects I mean these are things that are addressing heat island effect and other things so I think if one of my questions is if if that is not explicitly being encouraged by this to the same degree than it was before I'm wondering if that's also going to be um addressed in other infrastructure projects you know is is that part of um you know Landscaping ordinances or or something else is there is there other stuff in place that's going to make sure there's as much vegetation as possible for the other benefits so that's one thing um something around the um you know the addition of bike Lanes being a challenge to implementing the green streets policy as it's written so I just have you know questions around that like the bike Lanes I can think of the the additions are not widening the streets so I I was a little lost in why that is um a challenge to implementing the policy um you know and and some things just about in general changing even if you have to tweak something changing something from a policy to a guideline I think it it weakens it and I and I'm not sure how I feel about that you know if I if there are some changes that need to be put into place so that things can be implemented um then I then I understand that but the switch from policy to guideline makes makes me pause a little bit those are some initial thoughts I have others but I don't want to totally dominate I want to open up for other people's thoughts on this yeah thanks Anna um well I'm really glad to see Jerry Hancock here oh my gosh you're still here that's great um are do you feel um that you can jump in and address some of these questions because I also have another idea of how we could approach tonight but let's go yeah just just a couple thing so um the idea of changing from policy to guideline it's it's not changing it's it's called a a policy statement and the previous version was a guideline and it's still a guideline um and then as far as taking out the green um the green streets we were doing that because of the expectation of the public with the green named the green streets policy and we weren't able to um put in as much green as we had hoped over the last 10 years so this is just kind of acknowledging the reality of doing infiltration in the right of way that more often than that it's probably going to be underground but certainly where there's um where there's space we prefer to do green um and sometimes it uh would coincide with some of the um uh like pedestrian and bicycle changes where you're making um intersections more pedestrian friendly introducing Islands um that could be the green storm water component so the changes aren't uh encouraging or discouraging any any of the green it's just kind of to set the expectation that um more often than that it's probably not going to be green because of the space constraints and that and that just kind of reflects the last 10 years of us implementing it Mr Brown I'm sorry Chris had his hand up first oh I'm sorry I missed that I'm sorry Chris please Pro see Stephen you can go first anytime Jerry I presume the ultimate repository of these guidelines and standards will be the orange book correct which um is no longer called the Orange book but you are correct thank you I'm glad to see him in there very good yeah they're they're ref now that is a live document instead of a paper document and so if this change goes into effect we it will be inserted into um the live document on the web very good thank you yeah so so let's see okay are you done Chris yeah um I'll um I was just you know I am a bit confused just as Anna is I didn't I wasn't attending the last meeting but I did look at the presentations and it's certainly a complicated topic but one thing that immediately comes to my mind is that there's two aspects to storm water there's the runoff the flooding Hazard and then there's the uh contamination of the river you know that comes from and we the city is under a consent judgment you know to reduce its phosphorus pollution and um I'm not sure what the exact numbers here for Ann Arbor but traditionally maybe about half of the phosphorus pollution comes from storm water runoff and other communities in the in in the Great Lakes region so I was wondering the Green Street policies don't seem to address this aspect of it they're mostly trying to address the uh storm water management uh in terms of flooding is that correct Jerry it's it's the opposite it but infiltration um par all right so the standard if you notice there's three different standards and but the minimum standard is the first flush well 90% of all pollutants and runoff occur in the first flush so that is our minimum standard so um in it primarily is a W uh is a water quality issue infiltrating though the more we can infiltrate then then you do start to get into controlling volume um so first and foremost it is a water quality treatment and but we this policy exceeds the infiltration standards in the washing count the rules of the Washington County Water Resource commissioner so we're basically trying to um infiltrate even more than what the the normal standard is um and base it on the site conditions basically like if the site conditions allow we're going we're going to exceed the county standards that's that's that's sort of the the Baseline of what this policy does sure um but you know what I've seen most of the major projects I've seen to control the flood involve large underground reservoirs like you know near Pioneer High School and like at the University campus uh near where the irion sculpture is some and so in that in that sense you're just you're storing a lot of that first flush in those tanks so I was wondering how how that um how those T what's the plan for um you know for maintaining those tanks to you know to control the the contaminants that might be in the sediment that's accumulating in them so for example the the tanks that are under the under Pioneer they there is such a large Watershed draining to that point that that even though that's a large facility it is only treating the first flush from it's it's like 200 some Acres of developed neighborhoods it's very it's very large area so um we worked on that project with the county but the city has maintenance responsibility and that particular one and so our uh Public Works staff uh have uh periodically gone into it um they're very deep and they have to go in there people have to go in there to to clean it out and they and so it has been cleaned out so we we use City Works to put it on a maintenance schedule um I don't know the specific number of years how often we're going in but um it is on our maintenance schedule and city um crews are doing that okay do you know where that settlement goes it's well it's removed from there and out at the out at Wheeler we have um containment areas they take it to and then they dispose of it after that oh yeah I'm just wondering where it goes I'll ultimately um I'm not sure what I assume that it's landfilled yeah most like yeah but it's first decanted at the at Wheeler okay uh commissioner Dale yeah um first I I appreciate you coming and I I trust that you know all the answers all the questions I might have and I still have an awful lot um and so you know and some of them I think might involve probably more conversations we might have time for this today so um you know some of them around some of the um you know how the city and the county and the DDA and how everybody works on these projects and um and how involved the city is with the designers and the maintenance plans and you know sort of how this all RS into the cost of Maintenance and um and I think some of you know some of the concerns that sounds like it may have made it difficult to implement in all the cases that otherwise people would have wanted to and so I I I think I I feel like I have a lot of questions that are sort of big questions and it this I think this is a really important issue um and so I'm wondering you know I know that people want to move this along but I'm also wondering if there might be an opportunity for us to push back voting on this here until the main meeting so that maybe there could be some conversation like a a you know a work group where we could have some conversation with Commissioners who are interested in learning more and having sort of you know talk to with you more and and maybe some other so that we can fully understand the proposed changes from from the original to now because I I'm also I probably could use refreshing and looking at the last policy or guidelines better as well MH I mean it's fine with me um but your your opening statements you did pick up on the most significant changes I would say that um so you already have a pretty good a pretty good um handle on what we what areas we changed I think you mentioned like three three things and they were the top the three biggest changes so um I have to say that this is one of the situations where um I appreciate that um the city staff have brought something to our commission for discussion and um it would be great and in my opinion for us to take the time to consider a little deliberately unless there is some Rush some reason reason for moving forward quickly if we could have um one more month to have the kind of discussion that Ana described is is that anything that you can comment on Jerry in terms of timing um I can um the timing is that I am going to retire from the city and on July 10th I won't be a city employee anymore all right okay I'm not happy about that but Jen Lawson was hoping that I could get this as far as long as possible before retiring that's that's the timing right okay um but there's not any City administrative issue and I don't hear from Anya that there would necessarily be something that would be a huge change but I think it would be a level of confidence um for a vote and um I would like to propose that we do that that we identify some um members of the commission who would be interested in um joining with I assume commissioner Dale would like to do this um and if there are others who would like to join in and um have an opportunity to talk with staff about this particular change in the goals I feel like given the discussion or the inclusion of the reference to vegetation that that's one of those things that um kind of clicks with me with respect to our our natural features and incorporating that as all of this process um so I'd like to make sure that that even if the title green streets doesn't remain that there is a green component that we can rely on council member dish thanks uh thanks chair Mitchell um yeah I just want to ask a clarifying question um if I understood you correctly Mr Hancock your statement was that it is due to space constraints and not budgetary constraints that it is not always is possible to um to have a vegetation component for infiltration primarily yeah I mean just if you think about a road RightWay it's not just what's on the surface it's what's below the surface you know if you you have water sanitary storm sometimes multiple other private utilities um and that's that's really the driver behind um how much um storm water control we can do is usually it's more well the the the site conditions that are laid out in the policy about slope flood plane and soils those are first but then then after that it's how much space do you have in the RightWay to put controls in yep that's really helpful I I appreciate you're saying that um now I granted I read it quickly so I'm not sure if I caught everything that's in there but what you said when you were talking to us about about this is that where there is space there vegetation would be the preferred method of infiltration is that spelled out in the new guidelines it's not but there is a reference to um a a manual in there and most of the examples in the manual are green okay sorry I'm just trying to take understand this because if it I don't know if it's coming to council but I don't want to be I want to be able to be clear about it so yeah it sounds like a great idea a to have um another session with Mr Hancock if he is willing to do this if he has the time um so that we can air everyone's questions and I don't know if there would be any ability to make language changes but oh yeah in view of the fact that the title is changing in a way that makes that that um invites a concern about the city backing away from a commitment to Green um it might be great to add a sentence that that kind of emphasizes that that remains the preferred method but that you know as with everything else you know we're going to go drill some holes too for geothermal and we're going to find that there's a lot going on under our roads and so you know we can't always have it so I wonder if in the language of the guidelines um themselves there there could be just a little bit more reassurance for people so that's that's all um you know that's all I wanted to say and I would love to be included in this meeting if it can be scheduled at a time where I can be free sure um just one clarification the T the title didn't have green streets in it before but the body body of it did mention Green Street so um and we and we have kind of scrubbed that out of of there a little bit in this [Music] version right thank you I think um I would like to proceed with that um approach to set a meeting within the next um let's say three weeks so that there's some preparation time actually two weeks would be better if possible um so we can prepare whatever material for this for our May meeting um um and so um I see that um uh council member dish and commissioner Dale are interested who else may be interested in joining this group Mr Brown Brown Curtis anyone else okay I'll consider myself a maybe and put myself in the list but I may not okay um thank you um so let's consider this um is it all right do we I don't think we need to vote on anything let's consider it sort of tabled temporarily or however whatever term might be yeah actually I considered this the first reading because um the actual um policy wasn't included the first time so that works out well because gonna have the second reading in May anyway so that's great yeah thanks Erin do you think you a went to meet or something Erin would that be possible or or what's that oh yes yep yeah scheduling like a when to meet or yeah I I find those the easiest actually but other people have their own preferences for those things yeah that would be really helpful yep I can do that great thank you all thank you Jerry thanks for coming this two in a row um Aaron would you be coordinating that meeting or um is that something you would like me and Jennifer Lawson to do yes I one of at least one of you would be helpful I think to help answer those questions but we can touch Pace after okay okay yeah thank you Jerry that was a surprise um me promoting Jerry to panelist so um I don't think you expecting to answer question I really appreciate that you were here because I think it really helped us get to this point so um thanks Jerry and I I anticipate that we'll be able to move forward next month but great better to be confident I think yes okay great um so with that I'd like to bring up and um you all it's 909 I know that we're past our usual meeting and time but I would like to consider the last final item um the feasibility study res resolution that was in your packet um and um I know that there was some in some information that came late um which included some notes from the office of sustain ability and Innovations um commenting on the original version of it and so I kind of put together um a version that kind of in that included sort of a Redline version um that shows the changes um and is that something Erin we could look at right now yes um I'm gonna um can you remind me I I'll just yeah if you want to tell me which um okay document here I can pull it go ahead and pull it up thank you um if we could do the let's do the one that's called the redline version two so people can see yeah okay oops I see it that one doesn't look like it no um that looks like the npl thing isn't it yeah that's not it oh it is sorry but I can't see the resolution oh my goodness okay so we need this is my email to you okay so if we can click I don't know what we'll open right now um let's do the PDF of Redline version to up in the upper right corner yeah this one okay yep that work I don't see it yet oh it's not sharing I know no I see the email oh oh I wonder if I shared the document sorry it's okay there we go Mr dish yeah while we're getting technically oriented I just wanted to respond there had been a comment from the public about um a concern it sounded like about the funding source for the $1 million for the phase two study there that funding source is Rock Solid and there is a million dollars in the budget for the phase two study just wanted to great news that's great news yeah so really what we're doing is is supporting the what the council has done or what's proposed in the budget right um and so this says red line but it's really green line um I um inserted some corrections that were identified um and so you can see the actual cross outs and the insertions um and I would say that everything um that we see here we see that um we're looking at a feasibility study um we've got climate change going on just a simple kind of a typo about a20 um I accepted the comment about achieving a just transition for CommunityWide um carbon neutrality um it just acknowledges that our current electricity is from Dirty power um we have power outages next one down then the short um whereas Claus um accepted the note that says um that under some scenarios both Municipal and sustainability utility um electric utility are feasible um and then the biggest change um crossed out most of the um last big whereas CL so whereas a phase 2 study of municipalization would provide a comprehensive and authoritative estimate of the likely total cost to the city and would support the Public's informed decision making there let's go forward with the feasibility study so the language that I um included in that is not exactly as um was recommended by staff but I think it it is allows us some flexibility and still supports the the concept so I offer those um changes and ask for any comments commissioner dish yes so I have a comment on the um the the final whereas Clause now my understanding is that the phase two study will not provide an estimate of the total cost to the city of municipalization because the goal of a phase 2 study is to better assess and value dte's assets but it would not provide an estimate of what and therefore it's very important because clearly we want to go into court DTE is going to say our assets are you know worth 100 pounds of gold and we want to be able to say no they're not they're worth 50 cents you know so obviously I'm exaggerating but but but the phase two study will not tell us what it takes us um what it would take us to what investments need to be made in order to make the dte's equipment reliable so I either taking out total or just making it clearer um I mean well I think total just doesn't work there because it it connotes that we're talking about the or it can it invites the under the um interpretation that so I don't we just take out the word total let's do how about that uh uh well um I would say possibly authoritative as estimate of the value of dte's assets um and of course I'm not entirely confident of that language but but um yeah yeah because this I mean the phase two study is a valuation study is it not that's my understanding of it but but I think so what what here's my intent um and and maybe we can clarify with this um the intent is to um support whatever the scope will be of the yet to be written RFP that's all um and not to overly constrain that um at this point but the no matter how it's written the phase two study is not going to include the cost of making dte's equipment reliable yeah but we're not talking about reliability in this statement at least that word doesn't appear but when you say total cost okay but if we take out total we'll just say the cost or the value the value it's value right value and cost are not the same so R can I interject because Dr stz answerers some of those questions in the Q&A the the first one the the phase two is only going to be the value of the dte's assets the polls the things like that there's also going to be a cost that the phase two study won't address which is how much do we have to pay to to basically buy out DTE to not have allow DTE to sell Power in within an arbor that's a cost that gets decided by the judge right and then but but that's still you know when you say phase two cost they're going to have to do that's going to be the total of we're going to have to pay so I think you know what what the OSI wrote is probably more accurate and more you know the reliability comes even later after that that's another one further down the road let's look at the um last statement on this that shows on the screen with what Erin shows phase two study provide appraisal of the system's value which would be necessary to provide the public so it can make an informed decision about next steps condemnation proceedings right I think that um you could just put that statement in there right all right is that so would we like to vote on that as a group because I think I don't feel totally confident of that but go ahead we we could put that to a vote to include or not include that as an amendment you mean to substitute yeah yeah yeah would so I'll just ask the group is that a motion yeah I'm G to move that we um include the statement as indicated by Dr stals so it's stated in a positive in place of the in place of the green out y uh I second it okay uh all in favor of that change five two three five is that 100% except for me I'm going to vote on no okay all right um the eyes have it um yeah I I was trying to avoid including the condemnation word but that's okay um okay so here we go and then um if that is the amended version of our resolution um can we proceed to vote on the resolution I have one other question Rita yeah um I think it's the fourth paragraph it talks about uh less than 133% um of clean Renewable Power when I was looking at the executive summary I thought it was 19% % as on page three of the executive summary I think that might have been updated you know so I probably took this from an earlier document so we could put 19 in okay with that yeah okay so that's here yes okay okay and then the 87 would change to 80 81 also right okay there have does someone want to read me the language I can put it in or I will okay okay here it is um whereas a phase two study M done for number four okay here it is sorry um whereas a phase two study of [Music] municipalization would provide an appraisal of the system's value comma which would be necessary to provide the public so they can make an informed decision about next steps regarding a condemnation proceeding and Total Takeover of dte's assets is this like apostrophe yeah I think so okay yeah because I don't think systems value I I I think it does mean possessive yeah and there is a typo in the next sentence as well uh in the next resolve Clause sorry sorry if you scroll I can't see um probably it should be either advises that the Anarbor city council pursue a phase study phase two study or yeah or advises the annarbor city council to pursue a phase two study whichever you want but but without either one of those it doesn't make sense okay right that looks good to me and maybe just do the paragraph on the resolved at the very last it's really the last sentence there it'll all go on one page once all the changes are accepted okay accept all changes I me to unbold these acceptable to everyone looks like there's some Bolding I put in up above I was trying to make it so people could see right um and with that I would appreciate a motion to approve the resolution moved council member dish second council member C commissioner cith thank you and um all in favor raise your hand I'm done looking like uh all but one anyone opposed D all right believe this past so thank you all thanks for your patience now we've got another couple of pieces of the meeting to do and that is um I would like to ask your um preference as a group do we want to go through the um reports by the um it's getting late so I asked you you whether you wish to do our reports out report outs as we usually do or move further no one cares no you're saying no everybody saying no okay I'm actually okay with doing that um we need to okay I will ask you all to um let me know items for the next agenda certainly one will be a report back on the um storm water management um for that group that will be meeting our next scheduled meeting is um Thursday May 23rd 7 o'clock Zoom um and just a note for you all this is the um I see a c commissioner Curtis um this is the uh time of our um appointments for election of officers so I have served um and I certainly welcome anyone approaching um and stepping up to uh chair the meeting or run for vice chair your your choices um commiss Curtis yeah the energy commission voted on the seu to support that should we have the similar thing from the environmental commission [Music] um um and I so I think that needs to be a little bit investigated because I um I know that this particular one that um I was interested in presenting this to the group because of the budget coming up and wanted to make sure that we had our support and advice to council um and so I don't know if that's the status with the seu but we can find out yeah the seu was to support the vote of the people in language right right well not really the ballot language but just to put it on the ballot right okay okay um let's look into that and um anything else so that would be a future agenda item thank you um okay we have a second public comments session this is an opportunity for persons to speak 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 your phone number um 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 any television or background sounds so that we may hear you clearly please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments thanks aarin um and do you see anyone who's raised their hand no no one all right I will entertain a motion to adjourn commissioner Curtis second commissioner dish thank you all we are adjourned good night thank you thank you bye

there we are live Mr Bing so whenever you want to go 7:30 when 7:30 HS [Music] so we're at 7:30 so I'll call the meeting to order start with the pledge Alle United States America stands Nation God indivisible liy and justice for all Mr Davis here Mrs Reed here Mrs hilock here Mr Allen here Mr Golden here Mr Juliano here Mr Jones Mrs orian here thank you all right I'm going to do a motion in a second please to approve the Action meeting minutes from the March 18th 2024 meeting motion all those in favor opposed or obain we don't have a need for an executive session right now so I'll turn it over to Mr Lee for presentations okay great fun stuff how's everybody doing tonight great good thank you all for coming we are going to begin our you pict look at that we're gonna I'm gonna I think do it over on the side we're going to um present our student of the month awards for the month of March and these are for our outstanding students for any number of reasons um but we're we're always really excited to have you all come so thank you all for showing up together this evening we are going to start with JFK our first student of the month award goes to selan churn say that right next Everett [Applause] Brown Sophia Kella there must be like a draft and a Sixers game on Alesia Ward Ella Nelson Jack slowski there we got one congratulations just stay right here for me can you hang out here for me awesome Jude molski congratulations great job right over here H Fernanda Tes sorcia Kaylee kums zoei tierno Chloe Lee oh hang out up here Chloe Quenton Allen congratulations can you guys go over can I put them over there and yeah you shoot this way come over here with me guys wor good job thank you guys all right next we have our students from Eisenhower first student the month award from Eisenhower is Lincoln Bender Helen guier Max Gul Tracy Tes sorcia Bobby fields Rex Bannon Kayla [Applause] Rivera and Benjamin harra come on over here guys you gotta get a picture sorry everybody look happy guys thank you so much everyone for coming for the awards um please feel free to get up and leave now you do not have to stay Thank You job students than are you hot no it's all right I'll never hot I didn't turn this up though J probably turned it up so you was just saying that she loves the 90 degree weather not not um at this point we're going to open the meeting to the public for um comments on agenda items only can I have a motion and a second motion second hopefully can I have a motion in a second to close the meeting to the public motion second all those in favor oppos orain all right um superintendent report you're thank you all right so first two things on the report here are the district commission statement and also our goals which uh need to be updated I I mentioned to the board that we would be um proceeding with strategic planning uh process I actually have a phone call tomorrow um with school boards to start the process of setting that up so we can develop our goals we're going to look to start that in September um just to you know clean sleep and that will be a pretty large effort for us because we're going to invite in teachers students board members community members and try to get everyone's input uh in there for the Strategic plan um I know that many of you have gone through it before um I've gone through it before as as a principal and I think it's an awesome process because it really gets us to align everything um and then our school goals align with the Strategic plan um and then teachers goals align and so it's just a it's a great thing to have and we're we're past still so it's it's time to get that rolling um next on the agenda here is item C which is our Safety and Security drills fire and safety both at JFK uh and DD uh also monthly reports up you all have access to the monthly reports for special services building and grounds technology coordinator prcum instruction and principles at each one of our schools next we have item F which is our harassment intimidation and bullying report we did have one report at JFK this past reporting period and it was a confirmed hit item G is um just us affirming the reports um that we that the board was given um last month so there were two reports both found not to be hid so we need to vote toir can I have a motion a second please motion second any questions Mrs orente yes Mr Jones yes Mrs Helma yes Mr Juliano yes Mr Davis yes M alen yes Mrs Reed yes Mr Golden yes all right item 11a is to recommend that the Board of Education approve the district calendar for the 2024 2025 school year I started working on this as soon as I showed up basically uh worked closely with the Pine Hill superintendent and the clemon superintendent uh we have two common professional development days with Pine Hill so we'll be able to share some Services there it also helps for transportation and things of the like um Item B there is to acknowledge the following names that were certified as school volunteers um just this month so there are four uh School volunteers that we have to approve we have a motion and a second to approve discussion items uh 11a to 11b motion second any questions Mr Jones yes Mrs Helma yes Mr Davis yes Mr oranti yes M Juliano yes M Allen yes Mrs Reed yes Mr Golden yes uh item 12 is field trips uh 12a we have four field trips it's that time of the year it's field trip season um so we have uh YMCA Johnson's farm mory's pier and Cedar Run Wildlife can I have a motion a second to approve field trips in 12 a second any questions Mrs Helma yes Mrs orente yes Mr Jones yes Mr Juliano yes Mr Davis yes Miss Allen yes Mrs Reed yes Mr Golden yes all right number 13's Personnel um item a is is for our we we were somehow we're able to get a substitute school nurse um just just wrapped up the process of of hiring her today um and she will be available for days where our nurses are out or uh trips and and the like so we always always always someone tells me we need a substitute school nurse I'm like bring them in if you're interested come on in uh Item B is unfortunately to accept the resignation of two of our staff members item C is to approve uh sick leave for three staff members item D there is a student who is coming from Kim to County College who is going to be uh Shadow sh shadowing our occupational therapist item a is a long list of names and and salaries um this is to approve our staff salaries for the upcoming school year so can I have a motion a second to approve personel items 13 a to 13 e motion any questions M Juliana yes Mr Jones yes Mrs Helma yes Mrs orente yes Mr Davis yes Miss Allen yes Mrs Reed yes Mr Golden yes item 14a is our new ESL three-year plan so we have to put out a three-year plan um for our students who have English as second language um that population is increasing every year and so we've I've been much more involved in that over the last couple weeks um working with the um supervisor of curriculum to not only plan for three years but also look ahead and see how we're you know what are what resources are we going to put in place for those students can I have a motion a second to approve curriculum instruction item 14 I motion second any questions m Mr Jones yes Mrs Helma yes Mr Davis yes Mrs Juliano yes Mrs oranti yes Miss Allen yes Mrs Reed yes Mr Golden yes well it looks like you can continue to do your section because you did in a very timely and efficient that was the only I said I'll take over mine so you have to be fiss um all right so I'm gonna move along to business and finance if I can start with a motion to approve um business and finance items 158 15 q and then I'll go through each one all right A through D is just our usual um financial report for the month of March 2024 there are sufficient funds to meet the financial obligations for the remainer of the year no line item has been overe expended the treasur report and the secretary's report are in agreement and there are no changes in anticipated Revenue amounts or sources e is our bills list which um Miss Juliano and miss Allen reviewed and signed off on all of them this evening um f is just our March 2024 source for teachers listing with the associated pay rates on there that are within our contract G is to approve the cafeteria dispersements for the month month of March 2024 in the amount of $1 19,6 6456 H is to approve the care dispersements for the month of March 2024 in the amount of $1 16,640 10 cents uh I is for some travel and professional development for some of our staff um as you'll see some have zero cost some of them are online trainings or through the state and then others have some costs associated with them um Jay is to approve the memorandum of agreement between the Berlin Township principes and supervisor Association and the Berlin Township Board of Education for the term of July 1 2024 through June 30 2029 um our negotiations committee for that really works really hard I mean we're done in two meetings um it was a really great um professional working relationship yeah it was it was great it was it was seamless um K is to approve the SR ARP homeless Grant Amendment this was just to change some of the Appropriations um nothing changed as far as the bottom line just moving the Appropriations for a contracted service L is to approve the contract with learnwell for homebound instruction services for a student placed in a medical facility it's $55 per hour m is to approve the 2425 addendum to extend the agreement with ESS Northeast that's source for was formerly source for teachers and the pricing plan they were uploaded to the portal for your review and is to approve the Professional Services with Burlington County Special Services school district for the 2425 school year we prove this every year there are some services like evaluation services and things like that that they offer to us um should we need them if we can't get our own to do them um o is to approve the agreement with with the Camy County Educational Services Commission this is for the services of Early Childhood preschool consultation and stamping services this is a requirement by the preschool expansion Aid um grant that we funding that we receive so this is new and we're able to contract with ed services which um I got that recommendation from H Hill they're also using the same um service um p is to approve did I miss anything no p is to approve the agreement with positive behavior supports Corporation to provide bcba and RBT services that was also uploaded and then Q is to approve the following budget transfers the first one is just to move it into some home instruction Services as you saw the one above there was someone in for um medical we just needed to transfer some additional funds to cover a few home instruction contracted services for this year uh the second one is to cover those legal costs this was sent to the county office for approval because it's an an administrative line um so that's to cover legal services and then the next one is to cover child site te related Services we've had a some large increases in these just due to some needs with some of our students um so we are monitoring that it has been increased for next year um and I just talked about this in finance committee they're going to look to see if there's ways to restructure some programs or or see how we can um work through this but those numbers are are really up right now for the related Services um and that's all I have does anybody have any questions Mrs oriente yes Mrs Juliano yes Mrs Helma yes Mr Jones yes Mr Davis yes Miss Allen yes Mrs Reed yes Mr Golden yes all right thank you all right so next we have old business which I don't think we had any old business um committee updates for negotiations obviously the btea has been um resolved all those retro pays were processed um and BT PSA now we have a um a memorandum agreement for them so Joe Bentley will move forward on you know putting those items from the memorandum of agreement into the actual contract and then you know moving forward but we'll be set to go with that for July 1 when that starts um oh yeah Mr Murphy was there too it was a seamless process right yeah um finance committee uh we met they signed off on all the bills in record time um all our revenues are coming in on time um our state aid our tax levy um some miscellaneous Vue we don't have any changes to special ed placements there is a student on home instruction that we're looking to um for an outside placement but it's hard to find those placements in May almost um so their child team is exploring a lot of different options to see um how quickly and efficiently we can find the right placement uh funding information or concerns we don't really have any other than we supposed to have our public hearing tonight but because the county office got our budget approved so late we're just going to have that on May 1st now so I'll see all next week um we're just watching those tuition Transportation related Services legal service costs at this point this is a time of year where things start to implode a little bit um so we're just looking at all that um the Esser American Rescue plan amendment was submitted and approved These funds still have to be spent on Co they're Co related so health and safety So within that Grant we're getting two new buses that are close to being due to needs to be replaced um Chromebooks and bright LS a floor scrubber upgraded air condition in the it office and a new serving line in the cafeteria at Eisen hour that's all been approved we've already started to extend those funds um they need to be all spent by um September 30th we'll have a probably a summer virtual program um for some of the kids we'll have some I believe Mr Lee put in his notice about that care Solace um so we'll have them kind of do some there's a mental health component to the grant um so we'll have that as well so that is pretty much all we talked about in finance so moving on to to the next um School boards I haven't seen anything come through for school boards I know Mr Lea he's talking to them about um setting the district goals and things of that nature so they'll be more to come from them and services anything Michelle they did have a meeting in April the next meeting is next Wednesday okay that's the that's our I'll go that and then come to this I'm multitask there is really all day go there there is pretty there are pretty quick though you remember they're really fast uh Kim Pine Hill well I had my meeting last night um we went over the budget and it was actually a really quick meeting with the exception of our executive session um but other than that it was basic our next meeting is May 14th okay perfect um Camy County School boards I haven't seen anything um from there so now at this point I believe we have both of all um board School Board candidates for our vacancy so Mr Golden if you want to kind of take the floor at this uh so we have two individuals uh interviewing for the school board position so what we'll do is we'll do one after the other um I'll open first to ask the board do you think that it would be valuable to have one of the whoever is not being interviewed step out or it is it's the same set of questions or do you think it doesn't really matter uh I know done it before with both people in the same room but it was suggested so I wanted to throw it up there see if that's a concern anybody has think the same thing then then we'll go with that process uh so it's going to be a couple of questions we'll ask again the same questions to both sides uh near the end of our meeting we'll have an executive session we'll come back and confer to decide who we think would be the best choice uh and then after that we'll come out and and make that announcement um and then there'll be some coordination for that individual with our business administrator for background checks and things like that that are requirements as well so we'll start we'll just go alphabetical order I guess is the way to go so that would be Stefania mislinski I'm gonna move up some more [Music] talking thank you for coming out and one more time how the name masinski but staff that'll be a much easier one uh so as I said there's seven questions here and we'll sort of work our way around the room so each of the board members gets an opportunity to to ask if so inclined um and feel free to to speak as much or as little as you feel you need on any of these particular topics uh so the first one I guess would be uh why do you want to be a board member um so I I've seen like vacancies recently several times and I kept thinking like I should put in for that I probably have a good set of skills to assist with that um and then this last time I said you know I'm going to do it but I also just kind of feel like there's there's two reasons one is that I I do feel like as members of a community we're all kind of responsible for working toward the betterment of that and I the school board I think has a unique position in that it interacts probably more so with our community members than any other kind of facet that we have I mean maybe public works or something like that but really um I think most people in the neighborhoods the one way that they have any sort of community involvement is through the school system um what's specific skills would you bring to the board um so I am a public servant with the Department of Human Services for over 25 years um and in that capacity I've worked in various things I've worked um with children with adults with developmental disabilities with mental health I've worked as a hospital administrator um I've worked as a social worker I currently am a quality Insurance Specialist um with the division of Developmental Disabilities but I think I have a really long history of um knowing how to work within systems uh to I I I have a I'm a professional I understand um kind of the parameters of what guides a lot of our policies and stuff like that administratively in the state of New Jersey um I also um have a ability to kind of like problem solve and troubleshoot being the social work background like I um right now like for instance will look for like when somebody's having um an issue I know how to look for Grants or different ways that we can fund them to support them um and write those kind of proposals for them so sorry please give specific examples of the abilities and skills in working with teams or committies I think you kind of touched on that yeah so I so currently um a lot of what I do is um assist um nonprofit agencies with coming into compliance with Medicaid standards um and doing that I have to call in like all the office of Licensing the Department of Mental Health so I collaborate with a lot of different teams to make sure that people are reaching that end goal um I also am in charge of running the Statewide um human rights committee I'm the chair of it so I uh have to make sure we operate on consensus not majority rules so I have to direct all of our decision-making toward a consensus vote in order for us to be productive so um so in those ways I work in like a collaboration with a lot of different [Music] teams what do you see as a role of a Schoolboard member um I mean I think they're basically as I mentioned probably like a kind of conduit between the community and the school system I also think that they're here to kind of um work in conjunction with the superintendent to help you know move along the budget and to help review and approve that sort of thing the administrative policies and practices I think you touched on some of this but please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences so I haven't had any for-profit experience I don't think um I've only worked nonprofit um uh yeah on top of so 25 plus years of service in the to the um state of New Jersey and the public sector for Department of Human Service services but also I mean I've done other little things I I work I'm on sit on the school climate committee right now um my son's going to graduate 8th grade though so I'm guessing that I'm going to be not sitting on that committee any longer um you know other things like the Wares animal orage and stuff for them fostered animals there but that's probably my nonprofit experience is mostly through my job gotcha thank you what areas would you like to strengthen in our district um I mean would love to see us build up a little bit of our extracurricular stuff for the students um I see when I go to you know um after school activities and games that the teachers are there I I think they have the motivation to be supportive of the students outside of typical school hours I see them involved a lot um it's impressive and I so I think the desire is there and I think if we could build upon that it would be fantastic for our students thank you are you aware of the time training commitments and ethics law disclosures required for school board membership um I am because I booked it up I don't know I can't say that I'm aware of how many hours like training is but I did see that you're required to have training every year and the um I with my job I have to do ethics and fingerprinting and stuff like that so that's not a and that's not an issue I guess okay thanks uh so it's not on here but I'll just tack this one on as is there anything else that you feel the board should be made aware of before you know anything you wanted to touch on that didn't already get covered um I don't think so there's nothing I think no there's not anything specific um was there any any concerns or any other questions that anybody had for me no okay been with DDD most of your career um I started off working at um Anora uh and so I worked there for like maybe eight years and then I moved to the division um and I've been there since but uh I actually this I grew up on the grounds of Anor my parents my mother was a special education teacher there and my father was a social worker I kind of joke that we were like a government breeding experiment because my brother my brother is now a director in the division of mental health services and and I do clavia tance with the DDD so w yeah so it worked out well for the state they they had a good plan thank you very much who was first that was no no no who who was the first one that not sure was it her Hello thank you for joining [Music] [Laughter] us so basic format of this we have seven questions and we'll work our way across the room so every board member gets an opportunity to ask if they're so inclined sure uh feel free to take as much or as little time as you feel is needed to answer any of the questions uh and the first one we have would be uh why do you want to be a board member the dreaded question no um so I have thought about this since I've seen this posting um I have a son who's in JK now and then a little one will be there next year as well I love to be involved with my kids I'm like a helicopter Mom it's kind of bad um and I like to I think that it would be good to get involved with the school I want the best for my kids I feel like every parent does and if there's something I can do I feel like this would be the best thing to do if I can make a change with a good team of people um while also making sure that my kids are getting good education it's a good community that we have it's a great school that they're in so if I could be part of that I think that would be really rewarding and fulfilling as a parent thank you thank you what specific skills would you bring for the board so hard to talk about yourself yeah it really is well I mean I'm creative so I would like to maybe have some creative input if that is something that the board does um I'm really not too familiar with with things that the board does that's why I wanted to come to the meeting to kind of see what it was about um so I feel like I could bring some Creative Energy in some positive good energy in um thank you okay um please give some examples of your abilities and skills um in working with um Community groups or as a team member that I've done yes uh um I haven't done much in the community I mean I go to community events with my kids we do go to a karate facility in town um I'm at all of the school functions a lot of the the town community events that we do have we always attend I have volunteered for a couple of things over at the lukea park that that we go to that my kids go to but I'm usually with my kids most of the time um so I kind of like to be with them but I do try to get in when I can to volunteer what do you see your role as a Schoolboard member just helping make good decisions for the school board and that would it to make sure that things are good and question uh please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences so I haven't like I said I haven't been on any committees um besides what my kids are involved in I did years ago I volunteered at marlson hospital Virtua um I worked side by side on the ICU unit there because I went to school for a unit secetary so I volunteered there for a year just to get some experience um in that field much for the volunteerism part okay thank you welcome um what areas would you like to strengthen in our district I'm new to the district like I said my son's in preschool um I have met with the child study team which I think is fantastic for my little son I think from what I've seen as a parent so far everything seems pretty well like I love the school that my like I love the teachers I love the atmosphere everything um I was I about the school and his teachers because I'm literally um so I think it's great on being series I really think it's a great school that they're in so just to keep things moving forward as it is I think is perfect are you aware of the time training commitment and ethics law disclosures required for Schoolboard membership I did some research on that um and yes I am and then to wrap it up is there any specific areas that uh you would like to elaborate on or that you feel I wish they had asked that question that you want to close out with thank you thank you very much thank you all for your time I'm going to pull our other kind we're going to open the meeting to public and we're going to go into executive and then they would make their decision either once we go on Executive we'll probably just go in the other room you no problem you forget how hard it is to interview when you're having interviewed in I've been in my job for 12 years I haven't had to interview in quite a while I get it it's the and it's very like intimidating when you don't do it all the time one there's like to spread your ways a little bit right yeah all right so at this point then we will open the meeting to the public for um any comment agenda or otherwise you have a motion in a second motion second all those in favor right hearing no public comment we're going to motion a second to close the meeting to the public motion second all those in favor iOS all right so at this point we're going to go into executive session so I guess we can um go in into the back meeting room if that's good since we still have people here so we'll we'll discuss this part come back make that announcement and then cover the rest of our executive is yeah if you'd like to do that we can certainly do that so that way we don't keep them waiting more we need to y yeah absolutely I mean we can St back in the room it's easier so you all have to um do you want to do that do you wanna because I have huh are we I'll have um Jacob we'll just make sure that the new microphone is actually all right so yeah so if you guys want to go sit out there is that good then we'll come back out and get you come back into public we'll make a motion to to move forward on Mr Murphy you're fre to go all right I think they're talking fine all right have a good night thank you a second did you leave us the M Jody did I'm not but everybody everybody walked in thinking that's what it was being set next month mouthwash if there's toothbrushes here next time yeah I I have my toothbrush in my office I brushed mine before after IE my's gonna do that e e e like six months and then it had to be on the ballot to cover the unexpired term which was also a year and then I had to go again um I don't 26 think so yeah I'm gonna double check but I don't think because right because it's a that person was just appointed so is it for the remainder of the term or it's just until the election we'll double check with you we'll double check that always gets a little dicey we'll double we'll double check worst case scenarios go on the ball but it's a vacancy right now anyway so the likelihood that's usually people go and it's like one two three go do my research right there you too that's good I look him up on Facebook yeah Facebook Facebook check them all right so I think we are good I think we are good to go so at this point we're going to do a motion in a second to approve Sarah rote thank you Sarah row to fill the school board vacancy pending that criminal history clearance can I have a motion a second motion second thought I thought so so we're going to go with um Mrs orente yes Mr Juliano yes Mrs helmo yes Mr Jones yes Mr Davis yes Mrs Allen yes Mrs Reed yes and Mr Golden yes all right so you are approved for the first step we just have to get that finger thank you guyscome apprciate all of you thank you for your time and my all right so at this point I'm going to tell um Jacob that he can shut down our stream because we're going to go into executive one more time for the superintendent evaluation but that is not going to result in any action when we come out so um you can have your discussions and then we can uh close and adjourn so once he shuts us down we're good to go into the second executive to discuss

e e e good evening at this time I'll call the meeting to order let the record reflect that all board members are present and we'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you uh next we have item B1 audience with individuals we have we have okay thank you all right moving to item one superintendent update thank you madam president uh just a quick update um tonight I'd like to recognize um some contest winners from the friends of surprise library The Bookmark contest and we have three winners for that so it's Luther Campbell and lordana bord and Eden amerman so congratulations to those three students and that's all I have this evening next we have item C2 governing board update there'll probably be a couple of ditos here tonight I'm sure but uh anyway I participated in the second annual Walkin Row for inclusion uh fundraiser and along with the other board members attended the hero dinner and congratulations again to all our guysart heroes and then last week is volunteer appreciation week and then next week is St appreciation you so just thank you to all the staff and volunteers and just everybody in the district for what you do every single day for our the student and Dent we really appreciate it okay on April 15th I was honored to join our national Junior's Honor Society at Freedom um they have been collecting snacks and drinks for our first respond ERS and so we got to um load them all up and take them over to the surprise PD and fire and they were estatic um so I just want to give a shout out to miss um Carlovich for putting that together the kids had a blast and surprise py and fire were so excited so thank you to her for all her hard work um I also attended the daart hero dinner Awards and congratulations to all of our award W winners and then last night I went to our daart um student broadcasting Awards and that was amazing all four of our high schools um they put these great videos together on what they've done throughout the year and it was amazing we got we have a lot of uh bright future students um that are going into broadcasting so congratulations to all of them so thank you I will say ditto I also attended the DI Art Heroes award dinner and it was a job well done with our PR team who put together an amazing dinner experience and it was an honor to be there to support and to honor our teachers and our staff who worked so hard for us um it was just it was very well done so thank you to our PR team and everyone who worked hard to put that together and thank you to our di Art Heroes for your continued hard work I too attended the DI art hero award dinner um just want to again as everyone has said congratulate Our Heroes um who obviously it's more than one night for them that's um they go above and beyond every day um for our students and and our families and just uh was great to be a part of it was wonderful too to be at a new venue this year I thought it was really nice um so thank you to Dr croo and our PR team and everybody that was involved in that it was lovely and uh I think there's even some things I like a little bit better about it so look forward to having that again um and also thank you to the um ptsas or PTA groups that put together the baskets for the silent auction to help the um daer Education Foundation they were wonderfully done and um very much appreciated so thank you uh I also attended the dice art hero dinner it was nice having an actual dinner this year it's the first time we've been able to sit down and have a meal with our heroes uh since the since covid uh so that was just really nice and refreshing um big thanks to all of our uh Heroes that that were awarded but also anyone that was nominated and just really all of our staff for all that they do each and every day um last night I also attended the daer um student broadcasting award event and that isn't just an incredible event uh every year seeing all the work that they do and special thanks for our culinary students across the district that put together a really nice uh dessert table and that is it okay um at this time I'll move to D1 I'll entertain a motion River governing board approve consent agenda items as presented motion carries okay moving to item F1 Dr croo thank you madam president uh tonight we have a few appointments of directors in our district and Dr polling will take us through this item good evening Madame President School Board cabinet and Community Administration is proud to rep present a recommendation for the position of director of curriculum instruction assessment 9 through2 charity aguiler is being recommended for this assignment for the 24 25 school year she has received a masters in curriculum instruction from Grand Canyon University Miss agular has extensive educational EXP experience as well as 9 years administrative experience with Glendale Union High School District she will will receive salary and benefits for the position her education and experience and a resume is attached for Board review a comprehensive selection process was used to identify charity agular for this position and I will stand for any questions and Miss agular is with us tonight you I move to approve the appointment of charity agilera as director of curriculum instruction and assessment for 9 through 12 motion car [Applause] congratulations moving on to item F2 Dr croo thank you madam president Dr polling will take us through this recommendation Madam president members of the board cabinet and Community Administration is proud to present a recommendation for the position of director of federal projects Mrs Sunny Rush has been recommended for the assignment for the 2425 school year she received a masters in educational Administration from Grand Canyon University she has extensive educational experience as well as 15 years administrative experience she will receive salary and benefits for the position her education experience her resume is attached for Board review and she went through the same comprehensive uh selection process and I'll stand for any questions Mr R is here as well thank you Dr polling I move to approve the appointment of Sunny Rush as director of federal projects motion carries congratulations congratulations Sunny okay next up we have item three Dr Cotto thank you madam president our last item this evening is an approval of kindergarten early entrance process and Dr asai will present this for us good evening Madame President members of the board it is my pleasure tonight to present on a new process uh that we want to take before the bo board for early entrance into kindergarten um State Statute says that any child born before September 1 of the current school year we can admit however it gives the governing board discretion to create a process for those born between September 1st and really December 31st prior to January 1st uh this be got on our Radar really because we've had increased requests in our schools for kids to attend at this age we have some surrounding districts that have started doing this and also last year when we did the in ah the retention enrollment committee several parents brought up that they would like to see this in dier we've outlined a preliminary process there would be a form this is an online form that people could fill out if their children were born during this time spand uh they would set an appointment to be screened at The District in June or July it is a one-on-one screening with a kindergarten teacher we would have to pay to have that primary teacher come in uh students would come in in person for testing and the parents would be notified afterwards how their children did there are several criteria that we are going to look at um literacy and math do they know their letters do they know their numbers but more than that are they able young age to have a decent attention span how are their listing skills are they willing to follow directions and also assessing their fine motor skills can they hold a pencil and their verbal skills because this is an optional opin program that we want to make sure kids are ready because we know they're already going to be young and we want to make sure they're going to be successful going forward uh what's involved in the screening so the screening can last up to 30 minutes uh we have consulted with surrounding districts we have a format we are going to create our own screen but we are pulling on resources from our sister districts uh the child will work one-on-one with a certified teacher to take a variety of short assessments uh it will be parents won't be in the room it'll be the uh the child and the teacher because that's what it's like when they go to school to really assess that Readiness and the screener um like we said before will be scheduled online we are recommending a $60 non-refundable testing fee because we are going to have to compensate our teachers for coming in uh during the summer to do this our next steps uh in approval would be to assemble a committee of teachers and administrators to bet and create the screening exams and Associated rubrics uh to create a web page and online platform where for request and to make sure our community is aware and then to recruit teachers um who want to come in in June and July and administer the assessment I will stand or sit in this case for any questions I just want to confirm that we will have a process in place for families who may not be able to afford the $60 fee that's a great question then Richard we must certainly will you and I do have a question so say we get a very Advanced young four-year-old who turns five December 25th well okay bad bad date December 21st um what if this child is admitted into kindergarten early and presents a behavior problem maybe isn't maybe has the cognitive abilities but isn't emotionally ready to be a classroom setting and we've given we've given it a few months and it's now October and it's clear that this child just maybe isn't mature enough so our committee plans to look at that we haven't nailed that down yet because we wanted to get approval first um but other districts have a contract where their are Behavior the child goes out maybe to the preschool program or go uh stops and then starts again when they're of age okay I just want to make sure kindergarten teachers don't get even more overwhelmed admitting cuz I've seen it where kids in our kindergarten early maybe at a charter school that has free kindergarten and then the teacher becomes the free daycare yeah and that was one of our concerns when we looked at some districts just had a um an academic screening more of an academic with the letters and numbers uh but when we looked and really said let's look at are we are we following directions are we able to listen to the teacher interact with the peers that's important as well probably more so thank you and then does the kindergarten teacher have of this classroom that a student will be placed in does that require extra work for the kind kindergarten teacher above and beyond their normal duties or they would just be a normal student in class so it would be we would follow our class ratios that student once they get approval to enter kindergarten early they could um they could apply for open enrollment if there's open enrollment Spot somewhere so we don't know really where they're going to land but we would still follow class ratio and they would just become a normal member of that cohort okay as long as we have some sort of system in place where if you know come October November the teacher says okay I have tried every intervention in the book this child just it's they're wonderful they're smart they're Advanced but they they just they're not emotionally ready we have a system to where that kindergarten teacher isn't going to suffer for four months we will make sure we have that I wrote it down to for when we have the committeee that that that's a paramont concern of the board all right thank you I was G to I think that's actually a really good idea not thinking of that behavior piece of it um that when we say kindergarten Readiness it is just more than the academic Readiness so that's I appreciate those comments that's a good idea and to touch with the the fine motor is that is that going to be including like tying their shoes it could include tying their shoe um we would all like that um picking up a pencil can I hold a pencil can I do basic task okay and what about being potty trained I think the committee would recommend because it's above and beyond that the child should be potty trained yes and then are we looking at our [Music] preschool program to try to get some of those kids ready for kindergarten to are we going to revamp that and look into that to see if we can we most certainly are so we are next year at Countryside we are combining our ESS preschool and our growing Minds preschool and so really looking on how we can ramp up some of that curriculum and get kids ready if they want to enter early that's an option but just overall so they're basically ready for kindergarten to have a great start okay thank you okay um I move to approve the early entrance to kindergarten program beginning in the 2024 2025 school year motion carries thank you okay next up we have item G1 request for future agenda items doesn't sound like we have any okay moving to item H1 I move to establish executive session to be held immediate immediately during a recess and the regular meeting second motion carries e

to flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay the first thing on the agenda tonight is to for a motion for consent agenda items do I hear a motion motion motion from Earl do I have a second second second from Travis all those in favor all those opposed motion carries okay uh committee non-agenda items uh is there anyone who is here this evening that would like to speak on anything that's on the agenda or any other topic okay hearing none we'll move on and Nikki is going to introduce our next yes so we are lucky enough to have two presentations this evening and reminder uh those presenting were being live streamed so you're also live on the web and can look at this again at home later so we will begin this evening with um Mr Brooks from the high school with Touch of Class and they recently competed in a competition I believe they'd like to share that experience with us Mr Roller yeah uh first before I turn over to touch class I did want to update you guys really quick black cat racing did compete today at Purdue University um I just before the meeting got the report third in their stem report first in community outreach first in the feature race and first and third in season points so five trophies from the uh black hat R and then speaking of trophies uh our Touch of Class went down last week into Dollywood in a competition and uh received a superior rating in first place and I will turn it over to Mr Brooks our choir director um to tell a little bit about what they've been doing so we had a busy week last week and the choir department where come up the camera can see better if you guys are up closer go this way all right so uh the choir Department had quite a busy week last week um Thursday at 5:00 am we left for West lafette to go to Pur University for the men's Glee chorus Clinic which featured over 370 teners and bases from across the state and across the country as well which was really cool um and that was a beautiful experience um and then the next day we were up at it again uh leaving at 8 a.

[Music] a long time ago my granddaddy fought in a [Music] wall but my daddy's battle was fought on a stool in a bar [Music] 11 years old will always be such a young [Music] age and somehow I thought that was how a man was made won Mak so man how do you know you getting it right one day at a time giving your [Music] Ro it means be the wrong kind as you can sometimes it takes a to make a man I have a name that I'm proud to hold and I feel the same as I do when I [Music] get 11 years old always be searching young AG that's when you taugh me how man made so one makes a [Music] man how do you know you getting it right one day at a time giving [Music] your it means be strong and kind as you care sometimes it takes to make a [Music] it means be the kind as you can it takes a to make a make a sometimes it takes a sun to makeen [Music]

at so um go ahead well thank you so much I'm once again so grateful that our select board has been supportive of looking into technology safety over the years and many of you know that we became sort of a pilot program here in the United States where we became the first Public Library to put a radio frequency radiation detection meter on loan and I just got word today that centerland public library and centerland mass has just done the same thing Welsley and for had done the same so thank you guys for listening I'd like to introduce Dr Rob Brown who is a radiologist and he has additional information about his credentials uh Susan are we able to give him screen sharing privileges should okay Rob if you are able to do screen sharing then we'll listen to your presentation for the next 10 minutes and then I'll come back great okay thank you okay hold on one second please let me just uh okay can you see that yes yes great CC thank you for inviting me to speak with you today uh yes I am a diagnostic radiologist I work for a group called Radiology Partners in Phoenix Arizona and I'm also the vice president for the Environmental Health Trust uh for scientific research and clinical Affairs so this is a passion of mine uh I deal with ionizing radiation at my day job and in my spare time I'm concerned about the wireless the effects of wireless communication radiation which is becoming all too prevalent now this is considered a fringe science to some and I think the reason for that is because it does border on the intersection of four different scientific disciplines they include medicine biology physics and Engineering with my education and career I have some background in three of the four my experience with engineering is not great but I do have the Good Fortune of working with some excellent engineers at the Environmental Health Trust now first to for you to understand what radiation is radiation is actually a word that means IR radiated from a central point and radiation travels in waves and those waves have a frequency the frequency of x-rays is so powerful that can cause ionization and we know that that's dangerous but the one thing that I want you to understand is that the radiation actually travels through the body we think that we're solid we look at our bodies and we think that we're solid because we only see the surface but when we're exposed to radiation that radiation does not respect our skin surface except there is some reflection off the skin but the radiation penetrates into the body so what we're looking at here in an x-ray the darker areas are those areas where the x-rays have an easier time penetrating through the body and the lighter areas are those where some of the x-rays are being absorbed now light is also a form of electromagnetic radiation and again we're used to seeing light reflect off of the surfaces of of things such as this F finger on the left but if you shine a bright light on the fingertip as the image on the right shows you can actually see that the light is transmitting through the skin and you can do a simple test at home go into a dark room close your eyelids turn on the light and you will see light come through your eyelids even though your uh even though they're closed MRI is a technology that uses radio frequency radiation and magnetic fields if radio frequency radiation didn't penetrate into the body and magnetic fields didn't penetrate into the body we would not be able to get images like this MRI uh of a shoulder now radio frequency radiation is also being emitted by our devices and here's a a short list uh at this point there's probably many many more but each one of these devices is a source of radio frequency radiation and many of these are found in our homes and what happens is you have this source of radiation which is demarcated by this uh rounded figure with the spikes on the left of this uh room the radiation uh projects waves of energy that reflect off the surfaces penetrates and becomes absorbed and you can see that the figure in the middle is being bombarded with radiation from all sides but this isn't really accurate what actually happens is that radiation travels in waves that that scatter and so we end up with really more of a cloud effect and the cloud effect uh reflects and refracts and does all the other things that waves do and we can consider this a form of electri pollution I mentioned that radiation travels in frequencies the the range of frequencies can is represented on this electromagnetic spectrum and I put the three images that I showed you previously where they are where they belong respectively on this uh Spectrum 5G is in this area right here now if you will remember uh old style radios the AM radio had a dial on it and you can see up here with this Arrow the AM radio was around 600 khz to about 1.6 mahz on the dial and you could turn that dial about five or six times to uh go through all of the stations on the AM radio from one end of the bandwidth to the other and each time you would hit a station it would go from a static to you'd hear the sound clearly 5G is encompassed by this oval here you would have to turn a dial about 275,000 times to go from one end of the 5G Spectrum to the other that's how many frequencies are in 5G now we I'm sure you've seen these antennas in your in your town or if not in your town than in nearby towns these are 5G antennas the longer antennas are transmitting the lower and mid bands of the of the uh Network and these Square uh antennas which are really comprised of a n of a grid of small very small antennas are the high Band frequencies these high band uh frequency antennas are also being installed on poles and here's one in front of this house now you may walk by this pole and you don't hear anything you don't feel anything and you don't see anything but if you have the right kind of detector you can actually measure the radiation coming from it and I'm going to show you a simulation so this is a detector that I have and you can see that it measures from 20 to 40 GHz which is in the range of the high bands if I aim it towards this uh antenna I'm getting values up to 10,000 microwatts per meter squar which is very high and background should be zero this is not a natural form of radiation now the second thing I want you to understand from tonight's talk is that non-ionizing radiation can cause damage to your cells it does so in the form of of cellular oxidative stress what does that mean stress is like any kind of stress if you stress a bone you can end up with a stress fracture if you don't take care to me to rest the stress fracture you can end up with a complete fracture when cells undergo oxidative stress they are not functioning normally and what happens is you end up with too many ions and those ions can then look to steal electrons from other atoms and you can end up with uh damage to cell membranes to proteins and enzymes to the DNA itself and to mitochondria which are the powerhouses of the cell now the the the parts of the body that are at risk is Up For Debate and it really depends on the frequency that you're being uh exposed to the lower frequency bands penetrate deeper into the body and the higher bands penetrate less so but all the superficial structures including the thyroid gland the testes the elements of the skin including blood the immune system neurons your eyes and even the brain and heart can be affected by these bands of radiation the thyroid gland is particularly radiosensitive there was a study done at the bottom of this uh this uh description here in which medical students were study they use cell phones for one hour a day and after two months they had hypers stimulation of their thyroid glands now that might not sound like such a big deal except that the thyroid emits thyroid hormone and thyroid hormone has remote uh actions on different parts of the body including the immune system so if you're hyperthyroid or your hypothyroid it can cause a depletion of your immunity it can also affect your heart and people with uh thyroid abnormalities can end up with arrhythmias this type of radiation can also affect sperm SPM Studies have been done on animal models including rats and mice as well as on humans and the sperm can lose their motility they can have abnormal morphology and they can actually lose their survival their survivability and this may be one of the reasons why we're having uh a problem with male fertility in this country particularly for men who place a cell phone in their pocket the radiation is traveling very close from that pocket through just a very thin barrier of skin to affect the test itself I mentioned that if the thyroid is abnormal you can have immune effects well the thyroid uh the uh radio frequency radiation can actually affect the behavior of the immune cells themselves it can affect natural killer cells macroasia all different types of cells immune system and this can uh predispose you to develop viral infections this is a particularly concerning effect that has been shown on the blood uh this is done by a technique called live blood cell analysis on the left is a smear of blood that is considered normal the same patient was exposed to 10 minutes from a Wi-Fi router and her blood was R resampled and you can see that the blood cells are all clumped together this is called rof formation it's a reversible phenomenon but the problem is when you're in this state of of aggregation you're predisposed to develop blood clots it also en hampers the ability of the blood cells to deliver oxygen and for them to remove carbon dioxide from your tissues now all the things that I mentioned don't cause symptoms so you wouldn't have any clue that they were happening to your body until it was perhaps causing a disorder but there are people who are having symptoms from these forms of radiation and the the ones that probably will ring uh familiar to many of you are insomnia difficulty sleeping idus ringing in the ears and a short-term memory loss and anomy or thought block not remembering what you're going to say that these are all non-specific symptoms except they're increasing in frequency and I do believe they're being caused by this wireless communication so what can we do well some people talk about you know jokingly uh or disparagingly they talk about this the tinf foil hat of course now that you know uh that this can affect your entire body that would certainly have no effect at all on protecting yourself but what you can do is you can increase your distance from antennas radiation follows something called the inverse Square law so when you double your distance from the source of radiation you're actually diminishing your exposure by 3/4 you can also turn off devices when they're not in use I don't even own a Wi-Fi router anymore but when I did I turned it off and I wasn't using it you can also hardwire devices like your computer your laptop top your TV your peripherals all things that are now available with wireless options but you really don't you know what's the problem with having a wire from your mouse for example to your computer you can spare yourself the radiation when possible and finally I recommend increasing your intake of antioxidants because antioxidants help uh restore the balance that gets Disturbed from the presence of radiation so it's a very brief uh talk but I hope that gives you some information I want to thank you again for the opportunity to talk and Cece I'll hand it over to you all right thank you doctor now just before CeCe starts is there any uh should we wait hold our questions to the end of the presentation or is that the okay go ahead uh CCE and doctors please stay on online okay thank you Susan do you want to help me pull this up what you need to do just as a note I I think you know we should have some time for U discussion and question and answer including um some folks from the audience are physically here so um I will um I will ask for that when we get to that point if you're if you're on remotely and want to use the raiseed hand function um if you'd like to speak okay so are you all set CeCe I think I am let me go into presentation mode okay so um when the video from this is available I will go ahead and um put this on my YouTube channel and include our slides from both Dr Brown and myself so what we want to do um I won't go through how I got all involved in this but I'll leave this for you anybody is welcome to look at the uh links that'll be included in my slides and um what I want to talk about about is the solutions so as Dr Brown alluded to it's not rocket science to fix this simply run ethernet cables from the back of your router you can get something called a switch that allows you to hook many different devices up at once even in a classroom you could hook up 20 or 30 devices at the same time and then you just need to get separate ethernet cables for each of the devices like your cell phone or your laptop with a little adapter and then that's step one for hardwiring the second step is to go into the settings of each one and turn off the wireless the Bluetooth the hotspot the locator and any 5G antennas that you might have in your devices today and then the third is to measure because the industry is forecasting that we will have 200 wireless devices in our homes in the coming years that's 5G in The Internet of Things So as Dr Brown said that is a whole lot of electrolution that we're going to be immersed in and we're already well on our way so let's look to see what our exposures are here in Ashland that we don't have control over 247 with your personal devices you get to choose how you want to use those but these Wireless utility smart meters for electric gas solar water propane they're putting these radio frequency radiation transmitters as part of that we always paid employe employees to walk the neighborhood and get our readings industry came in and said hey we can save you some money let's just hook it up electronically and then you don't have to pay those guys well when we did that we started doing a big trade-off with our health and then the other area is the cell towers and macro the big antennas and then the smaller antennas for 5G for those small cells and then the wireless access points in our schools and our public buildings that transmit this radiation 24/7 and we know that children are especially vulnerable their DNA is still developing their immune system is under construction their central nervous system is under construction their skulls have a thinner bone and their brains have a higher water content so inch per inch our children are absorbing more of this radiation than you and I and it's not good for you and I and then we have to acknowledge that risk is cumulative with dose as with any toxin so the longer we leave ourselves immersed in electrolution the more we can anticipate that we're going to hit that Tipping Point and if we're not already seeing it that we will be seeing the Fallout that Dr Brown mentioned uh the Centers for Disease Control has something called the allara principle and the goal with radiation is to get to as low as reasonably achievable and it's not rocket science to fix we know how to do it okay one of the missing pieces to my puzzle when I fell down the rabbit hole back in 2013 is as I'm reading all the signs that Dr Brown highlighted I kept thinking surely somebody's got to have our backs on this and then in 2015 Harvard Law School Center for ethics came out with this free 59-page report called captured agency how the Federal Communications Commission is dominated by the industries it presumably regulates so we have captured agencies with the F CC the FDA the CDC and more and sadly it goes all the way up to the World Health Organization if you do a quick search on electromagnetic radiation you'll see something that makes it look inconclusive you'll be hardpressed to find this link that shows you that when our government completed a $30 million study that showed clear evidence of cancer and DNA damage and the ramazan in Institute in Italy concluded another one on cell towers found the same thing they have reopened their investigation at the who but it's not easy to find so Dr Martin Luther King Jr taught us that when we have important changes in our society it comes through three channels first the public becomes informed which is what we're hoping to inspire here and then gets engaged because there's no Cavalry coming we have to fix this at the local level the courts do their rulings and eventually public policy gets enacted so I'll spend just a moment going through some really amazing inroads that are happening in all three of these areas but we won't hear about it in mainstream media because it's owned by the industries that promote these toxic products so here in Massachusetts in all of our towns everywhere the industry rolls into town and says here's our applications we want to put cell towers we want to give you you know better service what they're really doing is building out capacity for their next Revenue stream by law we only have to be sure you can make a phone call we don't have to allow them to put Clos range cell towers next to our homes for all these other services that they're spinning up with streaming and iot and all of that that's not what the law provides for that's their revenue Stream So they come into town and say oh if anyone says anything about environmental health concerns those are just the nimes not my backyard folks well that's not true there's more than 150 groups across the United States working on this and here uh we can see that with um just local towns you can see that people are working on this throughout the Commonwealth okay okay so these are all cell tower actions and then towns themselves are stepping up and protecting themselves the city of Boston has filed with the FCC to say we know this is not safe they sued the FCC along with Mayors for many other um towns across the country they didn't win but it's showing that people are paying attention to this Burlington came up with a small cell policy that had the industry withdrawing their small cell applications and I can teach you more about that later but became part of a national example with a group called Americans for responsible technology that has a whole toolkit to help our towns get to Safe technology we did a presentation out um at the hansam Maria Town select board with these towns and others have started adopting these policy changes that I've been asking Ashlin to take a look at for years and then look others are doing this all throughout the Commonwealth and uh Dr Brown was actually part of a panel that I was invited to participate in in Stanford Connecticut but I was on vacation but after presenting the facts Stanford rejected the governor's plan which had been cooked up with industry to put 5G small CES right outside of people's homes in the public access way so with education there's a lot that we can do and these kinds of actions are happening all over the world now legal Solutions there was a docket open with the Federal Communications Commission for six years there were thousands of pages of scientific and medical evidence of harm along with citizens who have been harmed the FCC completely ignored it the FCC got sued and lost the courts found that the FCC was arbitrary and capricious meaning they didn't do their homework they just said we're going to stick with these 1996 radiation limits which have nothing to do with the way radiation is exposing us today the face school here right in Southboro there was a little 10-year-old boy who kept getting all these symptoms at Dr Brown mentioned or many of them and it turned out it was the wireless radiation in the schools and there was a federal lawsuit that for the first time us courts recognized yes there are biological effects and it has nothing to do with heat it's these low level non-ionizing non-thermal radiation exposures that are causing great harm and and did you know that the Massachusetts Board of Health at the state level has legal guidelines that now has four pages in it about Wireless radiation and there's a big lawsuit happening out in Pittsfield right now where Verizon put a cell tower right on top of a neighborhood where everybody got so sick they had to abandon their home so there's so much happening but we won't know about it until somebody like me presents you with the facts and then as a town we can decide IDE how to use technology but without the harm so the third area is public policy and we have six bills right now that first one Senate resolve 155 has been voted re uh voted out favorably by the consumer protection committee to do a commission like New Hampshire did which is that report that I shared with all of you a few weeks ago the smart meter bill is still out there too with an emergency Preamble because we should not allow these industries to roll in and tell our towns it's mandatory it is not mandatory and everybody should have the right to choose an analog meter that doesn't radiate into our homes and there are bills all over the country as well and you can look at other things there in my slides so School actions the New York Times did an expose on what Silicon Valley executives are doing they're sending their children to schools with no technology not hardwired not wireless and they're going so far as to have their nannies sign contracts that there will be no screens around their children yeah they know Claudia they know the Netherlands and F no they won't report on the radiation in the article they have too much conflict of interest with their advertising Revenue NE because we did talk about 10 minutes so yeah okay so there are so many tools and resources is to help us the Massachusetts breast cancer Coalition has already built kindergarten through grade 12 prevention curriculum so we have everything we need to start protecting the children um and so next steps we need to have an opt out here in Ashland on all of these utility meters we should not voice these toxic exposures we should continue to educate the public and I would love to partner with you as our town leaders to conduct forums and please invite the industry they generally don't show up but go ahead and invite them um there's some examples of where we've done this in other towns and let's see if we can protect our kids as soon as possible when you flip those Ruckus wireless access points over you see that there are two ethernet ports all you got to do is drop a cable down at desk level use a switch and plug all the devices in and then just turn off the antennas and you have not only safer technology but your signal is far faster more reliable you're not Buckshot the children's data out into the air for privacy and data security issues so aside from convenience hardwire technology Beats wireless hands down every time and then um when I was talking with our planning board Lisa me our town attorney was there and she I asked her if she's a specialist in Telecom law and she is not in Burlington they hired Donna Brewer who came in and helped them to write their policy on small sales Andrew Campanelli is used all over the country he used to work for industry so he knows the Playbook when he figured out what they were doing he switched teams so it's not long money to get an expert in here and get our town as protected as we can be so thank you and we'd be honored to answer any questions I'll go ahead and all right scre um so I I believe the board does have some questions um both for you and Dr Brown but is there um did we have anyone who wants to question I think one of the the things that we're dealing with is the strength of these uh the research studies and the connection to uh health effects which we have at least I have not experienced it as a conclusive study so I I know you've made certain representations and I think is there anyone either you know online that could address some of these research studies or fill out some information on broad-based epidemiological studies that show these kind of connections I'm i' see um that would that could be Dr Brown do you want to point them toward the Environmental Health Trust where you can actually sit and read the science it's also on website at Massachusetts for safe technology the epid sure I'll tell you yeah there are tens of thousands of studies that have shown these effects tens of thousands and if you talk to anybody who is is in this area they recognize that the science is conclusive there's no question about this you don't know about it because you're not taught it and it's certainly not being covered in the media but the science is done it's it's full baked um the problem is politics so if you want to look you if you want to do some research and go to like one site where you're going to find you know a 100 papers to look at and and study the uh the group that I'm of the VP of is called the Environmental Health Trust their website is eh trust.org they have a lot of science there um tons to look at and of course every study that you look at will have tons of references and citations so it's a great place to start all right well thank you um so I will I believe does the board members have questions um that they want to and then we'll see is there I see my husband online who's member of the Board of Health all right see David up there and I it's hard for me to actually see him but he can unmute himself and uh David Kinsman is a member of the ashin Board of Health and I think he had something he wants to say so go ahead uh David are you yep he on there he is good go ahead yeah thanks Rob uh yeah David Kinsman 6 Lucy frenchway um member of the ashin Board of Health um I have a few questions for Dr Brown um I apologize Dr I didn't get to see your entire presentation from the beginning um but my first question is uh so you're you're a doctor of radiology a radiologist is that correct yes okay so um so what is what do the effects of um this radiation look like in the body like what are the if if somebody comes in and they're complaining of headaches or so forth um from the effects of uh this radiation what does that look like um in your radiological Imaging but there is no there is no specific finding because you're not talking about an an an anatomical insult to the body you're talking about something that is is so uh it's it's Atomic we're talking about the generation of uh we're talking about what happens actually to the cells is the cell membrane has ion channels in it and the ion channels open and the the interior of the cell floods with calcium and that causes oxidative stress and then the oxidative stress causes cellular damage so that's the mechanism of injury okay and so it's not it's kind of like well you're it's like if you're exposing somebody to radiation uh and you don't see any physical damage how do you know that any damage has occurred we wouldn't know that ionizing radiation caused damage either except for what happened in uh the bombs with Hiroshima and nasaki where we actually could figure out while people were so far away from the blast site that they were had a certain risk for developing cancer but if we didn't have that data we probably still wouldn't have regulation for ionizing radiation either right but I I guess I'm confused then because your specialty is in medical imaging and you're saying that you can't see these effects with the medical imaging so I'm so you want to know how I got involved not necessarily um so the next question I had was um in your presentation which of course was kind of all over the place um in that it doesn't really seem to deal with science so much as it seems intended to scare if you if you pardon my characterization um so on your slide there we have the radio frequency radiation emitting devices I noticed that everything there is something that's come about in say the last 20 or so Years yet electromagnetic radiation has been around us for much longer than that from from any device that uses electricity of course generates electromagnetic radiation right the the range of devices that you that you list here are all ones it deal with communication radiation but of course for some reason television is excluded and as well as shortwave and longwave uh radios so um I find it interesting that you've selectively identified things that are relatively new and somewhat less familiar than um other parts of our of our modern day existence would you care to comment on that sure well you know I I had 10 minutes to talk so I can't be too exhaustive I've spoken six hours on this topic and you're right electricity emits electro magnetic fields at very low frequencies extremely low frequencies it's you know 50 or 60 hertz and they have health effects too um there have been tons of studies done on what's called ellf EMF and television stations and radio broadcasting stations people that live near those have had health effects too and there have been effects on Wildlife as well so the reason why this is so important now is because these antennas aren on hilltops miles away from our cities they're on the street right across from your house or perhaps right on the corner next to your house so we've brought these emitters of radio frequency radiation right into our neighborhoods and people are walking right next to them people are trying to sleep in their room which might be 10 15 ft away from an antenna the game's changed yeah no I'm well aware of that because I live uh less than a quarter of a mile from one of those Towers that's at the top of the hill within uh side of the front my front window and behind me I have um power lines and uh my wife and I have lived in this house for um getting close to 10 years now and we have not noticed any any effects such as the ones that you've described um it's interesting people you know people have a different tolerance for it and it may be that um you know people have a different uh setup with their immune system some people have more antioxidants on board some people have other stressors that are reducing their levels of glutathione which is the master antioxidant in the body so you know everybody's kind of an individual and they have individual responses to this radiation it's like some people go out in the sun and they'll get a sunburn somebody else won't some people get skin cancer other people don't right and they're both some forms of radiation so getting back to your presentation there was you had some interesting you were you were trying to draw connections that didn't really seem to exist so in your um I don't you don't have numbers on your slides I apologize so on the one about the thyroid you refer to a study that that cre that caused thyroid hyp stimulation in students and then the very next slide of course is full of all kinds of scary things that have to do with hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism neither of which is thyroid stimulation so would you care to comment on that yeah there were three studies that I mentioned on that th I didn't I didn't go into each of the on you know in detail again because of the limited amount of time but there have been a lot of studies to show that the that the radiation can cause hyper thyroidism and it can cause hypothyroidism and they don't they're not quite sure what you know what the difference is except it may be chronicity of exposure so it could be kind of a learned helplessness response when you when you were first exposed to the radiation your thyroid lets out too much hormone and then over time it becomes depleted and you end up with hypothyroidism so it it more research needs to be done but there have been uh there's there are definitely many studies many more studies that I've included on that on that slide that have documented uh thyroid um activity or lack of activity from exposure right thank D just Dave could you hold on just a second please I just want to kind of pull the board we've got a a bit over our time we' put aside half an hour I I find this an interesting conversation I but I do want to get a sense from the board if you want to spend a bit more time with this or are we ready to move on or what are what are people thinking here well the thing of it is I you know I I would so my husband is a chemist he he's a researcher um he's done a lot of digging into the Articles and things that you have provided um so my personal perspective is if you know if um you know hopefully this conversation is sort of the I don't want to say the last one for a while but the last one for a while um on this topic um if there's questions that people have if Dave has questions and you know I'm I'm happy to to do that but I know we do have a full agenda tonight so Claudia did yeah I just I would like to just make a couple of brief comments um you know CCE I know that you had asked me a few weeks ago if I had read what the material you had supplied no but I've done extensive reading through the years back from 2013 you know in part because of my position um in the schools and um there's never been any conclusive um and and over and over again you will read that it isn't just the FCC that that um oversees the and sets standards for the devices in our homes it's the Food and Drug Administration it's um there's all kinds of medical use companies that provide standards for medical use uh nuclear power FEMA um the US Customs and Border Patrol actually provide some health and safety Authority United States health and safety Authority there's many many um you know organizations and agencies that provide standards in terms of what we put into our homes a lot of the research that's been done is on animals and if anybody delves into it they'll see that sometimes it cannot be extrapolated to um humans um many of your links CC in your presentation actually take us to um discussions about screen time and and students using and children using screen time and their time and and I think you know we could all have a conversation just about generally WR the use of of um uh screens and and that with our kids regardless of radiation um aspect of it um and and over and and I you know worked hard to find articles um that are in particular uh Health healthline.com had several articles um one you know that I thought was both very open to all the the ideas and all the different studies um and and provided some suggestions um about but the other thing is like cell phone radiation is often one of one of your articles too I think in reference to um this the Southboro family um the that that's really more about probably cell phone uh radiation than it is about Wi-Fi again and I know Dr Brown mentioned about as soon as you move away from these devices from the uh Wi-Fi uh access points as soon as you move away it's dramatically drop in the radiation so all those things um are true um and I I think that one comparison I see is that you know when we came out with a covid vaccine several years ago there was a lot of misinformation that was used to to frighten people and I feel that there's a taste of that a flavor to this um and so you know I just feel as though it's something we need to be continue to observe um and certainly study but to date there there is nothing that that surviv um really close scrutiny and so I would just uh Rob can I respond to yeah just a quick response to thank you for doing your research um when you were serving on school committee and when you were the principal at the what is now our new beautiful David Mendes School building that was back in 2013 in 2018 the US national toxicology program which is arguably the gold standard on Research in the world They concluded a 30 Mill million doll study that found clear evidence of cancerous tumors and DNA damage from cell phones clear evidence is the highest of five categories they can assign the FDA commissioned that study the gentleman who is in charge of the FDA today isn't the one who started this 20 years ago they're all long since passed away or retired Dr Jeffrey shuran Even though three days unpe unprecedented peer review at the National Institutes of Health concluded clear evidence of cancerous tumors and DNA damage Dr Jeffrey shuran went over to the FCC and said ah we don't believe that let's just keep doing what we're doing and you have to do the Deep dive when you looked into J uh Jeffrey sheron's background you see that he's married to a partner in a law firm that represents the wireless industry so we have these captured agencies up and down the chain and we have a huge regulatory Gap because not one single agency has done the top to bottom research that New Hampshire did with their legislative report um and if you're just doing cursory searches that's all mainstream messaging from industry they they intentionally impose doubt you need to talk to the scientists whose life's work is microwave radiation and we are fortunate to be able to put you in touch directly with them so it sounds Claudia that you've been drinking the cool a little bit well let me just so but I want to comment on those wireless access points if you look at the communic I sent out today there's one in one of our classrooms at Mendes there is no safe level of man-made radiation in the scientific literature I was getting readings in the tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands at desk level in the Mendes School in our sleeping areas the science recommends we be at 10 microwatts per square meter or less literally thousands and hundred of thousands in those classrooms and there weren't even any children in there during the open house so it is a very very toxic environment and I hope that we will keep this conversation going and as far as the articles that I did send on what Silicon Valley experts are doing with their children when I was brought down to the National Institutes of Health to run the technology panel for the health in building Roundtable conference Ronnie Raben is a New York Times Reporter and she was working on a story to talk about the wireless radiation effects and it got killed and this is what's happening in mainstream so I I do want to I think Dr Brown did mention that eh trust.org as a as a clearance so I suggest that people look at that um I do want to I do want to make a comment because you were talking about like research and I also had done some research as well I looked at the New Hampshire um document that you had sent I had done quite a bit of digging in some of the links and I also okay so what else the only thing I wanted to just mention was that you were you were saying that um get my you know I was looking at I was looking at some research including a a journal of American Medical Association article on um that looked at radio frequency radiation and cancer and the um and just I just want to read the conclusion in relevance it says the evidence from these combined strands strongly indicates that claims of an rfr cancer link are not supported by the current evidence base much of the research to date however has been undetermined by uh methological shortcomings and there's a need for higher quality future research Endeavors which I think is needed finally the role of fringe science and unsubstantiated claims in patient and public perception on this topic is highly relevant and must be carefully considered so I would suggest that you know I I was looking because I I figured if if there was all this data which I actually didn't see like causational data in anything that I looked at something thatand can I ask what came out 2022 and theth um I would have to there's a lot of Industry plans even with trusted that used to be very trusted sources there's heavy industry influence so and I and I I I I just I just find it very troubling that if there is all this evidence it has not risen to the point of publication in mainstream well-known um Publications like the Journal of American medal Medical Association or the New England um or the New England Journal of Medicine like like where is the research being done you know we we look at things like lead paint in the 80s and what had happened with that and there were clear there there was clear studies cause and effect of things this is not a clear cause and effect the symptoms that are described are literally every symptom known to man and if you can if if there is evidence that is clear that actually shows the the the causation DEC tumna that's the C so so I hear you I hear you but I'm saying I cannot see any evidence that that that shows me that we should take action on something that to me is not clear science I so that Noe nope that I'm I'm just G to I'm just going to say that like that that's my that's my personal St on it so we have one person with a hand up all right but let's um Joe or I'm good thank you all right I just want to let CeCe know that I did read that that report took me a while to get through it because I don't have the uh the knowledge that everybody else has when it comes to you know that scientific U report but I did read it uh I have some sort of understanding to aort again I'm I'm trying to to learn yeah basically and that's what we're asking for as Community B all right thank you Joe and I see there is one person with their hand up uh virtual so if you can unmute yourself and maybe identify yourself and your relationship to this hearing yes thank you my name is Janet Fitzgerald I don't live in ashin however I am one of many people who are part of Massachusetts for safe technology and I would like to speak up on behalf of people people Millions really of us who are sensitive to electrolution and to let those who are doubting the science what's the science there's a lot of Science and there's tons and tons of science that the FDA refused to look at for 27 years this is a follow the money story now I'm going to tell you a personal story I happen to have come up close to a 5G antenna in January while on vacation uh but Lake Placid anyway within about 50 ft I didn't even know it was there but all of a sudden I was in a stairwell on my way up you know touring and I became very faint and I had what I now know is tacac cardia I also had a massive migraine I went back home here to Massachusetts and saw a cardiologist explain what happened I had to have testing and he told me yes we are seeing a lot of this okay yes they're seeing it this is for Real and I'm telling you you whoever wants to doubt this why don't you go up close to a 5G antenna and sit there for a while and see how you feel because it is not fun it is scary and by the way I'm a cancer survivor and I don't want this anywhere near me I'm hiding out in a smaller town in Massachusetts right now my husband has a cell phone brain tumor right here where we hold our cell phone okay um as did many of some celebrities that we know John McCain uh Ted Kennedy Bo Biden can we swear they were by cell phone we don't know but pretty coincidental it's right here anyone who wants to say there's doubt or that someone's trying to scare them that's a judgment call not based on science and by the way speaking of science um Mr Kinsman you said you missed some of of Dr Brown's presentation it might have included the part about the ruo effect you were saying well what what can we see that shows that something happened to someone's body go inside the body and that's what Dr Brown was trying to tell you and on the slide about the low effect matter of fact on this call right now there's a very famous scientist named uh Dr Magda Havis and she's in this audience I saw her and I happen to have witnessed a live demonstration that she did of this relo effect before and after the exposure to RF radiation and it's blood clumping blood clumping serious and Dr Brown can tell you thank you I think you know our time is I appreciate your your testimony this life in depth stuff I'm telling please do not cut this whole topic short you can cut me short but please listen to CC duet she's a nationally recognized expert she can lead you to all the experts in the world and Dr Brown also and M Dr MDA I certainly appreciate I think we appreciate your passion no it's not passion it's I'm I've been effective but Tel has is the largest and most powerful and most evil okay thank you I appreciate that we just um we are a small town select board I we appreciate people taking the time and effort to educate us and bring these efforts to us uh I don't think we have the resources and the capability to spend a lot of time on this um I for one felt it was important enough to have this hearing and that you've given us some um good information I appreciate Dr Brown and the others testifying and CCE I think we all acknowledge your passion and concern on this we've dealt with you uh for many years on this um I think you've given us some information that perhaps the board members will feel that they will continue to consider as we go through this um I think our you know ability to um act individually is somewhat limited but I think you know we've been given some tools and some awareness and uh you know if that's how the science keeps moving in that direction perhaps that's something that could be um that could um you you know uh affect how we make decisions I would you know I appreciate Dr Brown's um um you know website with the with the information and that's something I'm going to try to take a look at um and uh were there any other other concerns or or thoughts from the board I think um so with that I think I will conclude this portion of the meeting but uh you know CCE thank you again for coming um and perhaps we've started you know a longer dialogue we can continue on this and I do want to um thank you for the concrete you know things we're talking about that things affect us such as being able to use um wired devices versus Wireless and you know how we handle our cell phones and things like that so hopefully there's kind of more certainty to come on this that will uh help us make decisions in this but so thank you yeah and I appreciate you continuing to do your research because I think once you get away from mainstream and look at the actual credible peer J Journal articles you will find the answers CU they're all right there in front of you so thank you and I hope we will partner to bring further education to the community because tonight children could be sleeping better parents could be sleeping better headaches behavior issues could start calming way down with just a little education so thank you thank you and

e e e good evening everyone and welcome to ashin planning board meeting Thursday April 25th just a reminder that the meet meeting is being broadcast and recorded and I am calling the meeting to order at 7:16 um as always first item on our agenda is the clerk's report that goes to Kate we have had one correspondence from the public since the last planning board meeting and Keith are we up to date more or less on responses that you have that you need or have gathered um the one that we got between last plan our meeting is uh one that's specific that wouldn't be the agreed upon clerk response okay so that does and I can resend the ones I I have probably five or six I'm not sure they've been responded to that might be a good idea it's been such a crazy couple weeks that don't want them to get lost in the show sure okay thank you all right next on our agenda is um our public hearings we have two public hearings tonight the first one is six Chestnut Street uh Peter can you just give us an update before we start sure so tonight we have um our applicant and uh his representative Allen and uh he uh they are here just to kind of give a update uh an overview on where the pro project stands uh this past Tuesday night the applicant appeared with front of the design Review Committee um it was it was a long meeting um but they do plan to go back to the D design Review Committee next Tuesday night um and so we'll be there for that but um in short um the applicants uh um excuse me engineer has um submitted a revised plan it did come late there was a couple uh iteration ations but the latest is uh came in in everyone's packet and then also just to make a note I did print out the email that came from the applicant um the applicant's um representative Terry excuse me the engineer um who was here presenting at the last meeting and it just kind of tried to answer some of the the Plenty board's questions um I know at the last plenty board meeting there was that question about um volume in the storage of um water and Terry did the math did do the math and um the applicant is able to account for all required storage um on the property and so I know that was one of the bigger the big the the sticking points um and obviously was clarified and the applicant's um engineer was able to uh obviously get over that hurdle uh other than that uh I'll let Allen uh talk about any of the uh the other updates but um just to make a note the the parking area in or the parking spot on the entrance to the property coming in off a chestnut um you'll see that they did locate a bike rack there and that was from also from one of the comments made from the design Review Committee to have a bike rack on site and so it was placed there obviously to to locate the bike rack there but also to minimize indoor to um take up that parking spot that we kind of deemed as a um a red flag uh so with that said I think I hit the most of the points Allan do you want to talk to any of the uh other updates no that's that's you pretty much hit it on the mail everything uh has been uh addressed for the last meeting that we were here um the orientation of the parking spots has been moved so that it's no longer facing that that exit so the safety concern has been addressed and while still a quotee unquote parking spot to appease the owner uh we are assigning that spot specifically just for the area so just want to speak into that mic I'm sorry Alan just so people at home we can hear no it's all right got it okay so the um the while the spot spots orientation has been moved as we mentioned the number 12 parking spot will remain as a quote unquote parking spot but it'll be assigned specifically just for the bicycles it's not meant for a vehicle the only reason it's remaining as a quote unquote parking spot is just to appease the owner with the with the numbers we don't actually need that parking spot but the owner has a concern wants to keep as many parking spots as possible so we're just trying to uh basically mitigate that from the owner's perspective as well as tending to your concerns so I did um so the design review committee meeting was on Tuesday and um I had requested that Alo send me the tape of the meeting as I watch them to see how especially how the first meeting goes you know after because we sound our planning board M like that sorry I did not have this on um so um so I watched the tape of that and another thing that they had mentioned um they said that or I think um Terry I think had mentioned that there was an email from the property owner Britain realy trust about the dumpster yes so one of the one of the abuts uh had uh made a comment regarding uh the location of the dumpster uh possibly exacerbating an existing uh rodent issue and to that to that note obviously we're going to have everything up to code by no means do we do we think that our operations are going to contribute to an exaggeration of the problem uh and if we do notice such an event obviously we will have P control take care of it okay so instead of um instead of potentially moving the dumpster which I assume meets all setbacks or whatever the bylaws or will yeah currently the the location of the dumpster meets all bylaws all recommendations and it's there so it's just a m you're looking at it as a matter of making sure those dump those dumpsters are able to prevent the problem as much as possible correct and again we by no means do we want a rodent problem ourselves so got it yeah um yeah I think the I wanted to does anyone are questions from the board obviously this is still in process but I um I have a few things um that that I wanted to talk about their next view to the design Review Committee um but I wanted to take comments from the board first I think the compromise with the bike rack seems great if if the property owner was willing to make that work so and the dumpster concern it's hard to know how to address it in light of the fact that we don't really know what's going on at the neighboring property relative to the rat issue I would think any dumpster in Ashland is a potential rat problem unless you have an outdoor cat so um as long as it's in code I it's hard for me to visualize why we would move the dumpster without more information as to the rat issue next door so I'm comfortable with what's been presented yeah me too the cine looks fine I mean I see why they moveed the parking spots that way it's a little odd that it's kind of counter the the the circulation but it's a it's a two-way circulation everywhere around the building right correct two way so I guess um my question Trisha and and I did not see that tape was was there a conversation on the first meeting maybe you can tell us about the materiality and and and and the finishes of the building that are being proposed so the architect herself was not present uh that night hence there were probably more questions than answers uh for that meeting um but regarding materials I'd be happy to answer any of those questions to the best of my knowledge so is the architect going to be present on the next they will they had a technical issue and they were unable to join the meeting okay yeah so I think um I don't think I don't think it's something we need to go into an our meeting because um it's listed you know as part of that should be part of their meeting yeah no I was question if it was discussed at that meeting but but what I do think is important um because the the Tuesday meeting was a in a way a little unfortunate because Terry was there who who presented us and I thought he did a a really good job um uh because he was there and he was answering um the questions as best he could with full disclosure that he wasn't an architect that he doesn't know some of these answers but he was trying to you know help be as helpful as he could and I thought he did a a very good job because there were a lot of questions and he was kind of there by him answering them for an hour and a half or whatever um so so the not having the architect there was difficult on the other hand I think um I think for that meeting and I was going to um you know have Peter maybe put this list in an email because I know at the end of that meeting they the designview kind of gave you a list of things to kind of look at for the next meeting but I wanted to make sure that they were very clear because the um and if and if if need be Peter can send you examples of another project right because typically that be greatly appreciated yeah because typically what we're seeing is not just that the 3D renderings but the elevations shown flat and you have some in there but or the architect has some in there but their line drawings they don't really show the color correct that is being updated as we speak okay there will be new renderings um presumably by next meeting yeah and then um and like I said I'll I'll Peter put all this in in the email but for for the architect working with you guys to propose what the new colors would look like you know what the new version of the building that would be all specified yeah which I you know so they can actually talk about that with you and the other thing I would say that um the um the the new vegetation that you're adding like the especially that one right near the street where we talked about which is really the the the storage for the storm water yeah on the renderings right now it's just shown as it's still shown as concrete and that's going to help your case a lot too to show that is full and green correct and the trees in the back to to really help because I I think there's a lot more in the project than the renderings are currently showing off and so I wanted to make sure it's presenting itself in kind of the best light 100% it makes sense okay but I will I will forward those so that Peter can get them to even if it's just a little checklist for your architect awesome okay thank you my minor comment is I think we appreciate the fact that you tried to solve our challenges that we put across for the bike rack and that parking spot but just looking at the flow of it um as much as that parking spot is a dangerous one for vehicle that's coming in I think it's far more critical for a bike rack to be there because that means people are walking cutting right across that it's not like you are going to have a continuous flow of traffic but now you have people parking their bikes and walking right across the traffic um it could have been an landscape element if you had brought it right up front next to that ADA parking and if you were to I don't know I don't know if I think it's easier for a car to reverse into that parking spot than having bike cracks which is kind of hidden in some way it's not up front near the entrance so that was my it feels like the flow is not there yet completely warranted and our idea to mitigate that was to paint arrows in the parking spot to direct the flow of traffic somewhat once they're in or out from the exit right the reason why the parking spots are oriented that way is ultimately to discourage anybody to go into that area so we're we're trying our best to avoid that situation yeah but that that's a good point though I mean in reality if you put the if you incorporate the the the bike rack into any of the other landscape items you could actually just use that as a parking spot I mean it's it's no longer impacting the sidewalk which was the Comon okay as long as it's not dangerous for the pedestrians I mean what's the difference so the so you're you're basically saying that the bike Ron itself can be relocated and keep it as a parking spot functional parking spot I don't see why not I mean the the the the the objection was not to the number of parking spots was to the way in which the car may actually hit somebody that's walking and and and a bike rack can be in many places actually maybe closer to the building to De pass okay we'll be happy to relocate that yeah I mean it could be the parking spot 10 12 my glasses did not work next to the ad no so the one next to the ad spot up front is that oh my God my eyes are oh yeah well this sp there or you can incorp right your landscape right up front yeah up front next to the next to the street where the people would come in the bicycle yeah I think it's easier to reverse your car in that parking spot I know you did that to accommodate our conversation last week but it feels it may be safer to bring the bike racks up front not a problem be happy to relocate it is that spot 18 next I think it's spot 18 that one all by itself the one next to the 8 that's all I can see right now it would be at then up front where the bikes aren't where the bikes get I mean I don't see this corner being any kind of a safety issue because it's so busy but or also your bike is it's near the entrance it's like you said it's safer you're not going to get hit by a car while you're yeah parking your bike there's a number of ways that The Rock could be somewhere around there an element more than actually a fixture on the site we would certainly appreciate any suggestions if you have and and relocate as such okay cool any other any other question questions on this okay do you have any other questions for us while you're here not really okay so obviously the plan will be to um have the applicant go to design Review Committee next Tuesday night they come back to us on the 9th and so hopefully on the 9th we can kind of uh have a revised plan we'll get design riew comments and then we can kind of move forward from that point yeah and I think Peter and I were maybe going to hopefully try to attend that meeting just to try to it seemed it took a little bit for the design Review Committee to kind of get into the project and understand what was going on so um we just thought it might go a little smoother to be able to answer any questions or to explain the explain what we had talked about over two meetings you know so yeah we certainly welcome any participation from you guys okay so I think at this point we'll just continue to the 9th and then we will uh move forward and obviously um like Trisha said I think you know I I myself and Trisha hopefully will be at that meeting and then we can hopefully help move that conversation along sure so great we appreciate it all right so we would need a motion to continue this public hearing until May 9th Excuse me yes May 9th I'll make a motion to continue six Chestnut Street site plan approval to the April 9th uh May 9th uh meeting is there a second second that Anna roll call vote De andai Anna tuski I marcelona I Katherine Jers I and Trisha Kai so we will see you on May 9th we thank you thank you all right and uh as always we'll be in contact as we have been and absolutely all right we'll see each other next week you got it all right take it easy have a good weekend thank you thank you by all right uh next on the agenda is 151 Main Street um I believe this is been continued but Peter can you give me give us an update on that uh yeah so this is 151 Main Street the uh former fire station uh tonight we do have Allan uh weit on the call uh Allan is representing Clover Road um in your packet under um item indoor tab number two uh you'll see an email exchange between myself and Mr John mun um and he is the applicant uh along with uh Allan uh from Glover brewing and they are uh requesting a continu it and I'll let Allan um kind of uh talk a little bit because I know he was looking to present IND or just to kind of talk to the board but they're having some uh some back and forth with their Architects and uh they just want to make sure that they they get to the board what we requ requested and it's been it's been SE semi challenge but I will let Allan kind of speak to that so Allan if you don't mind uh via Zoom can you please step forward I have made you a co-host so you can unmute yourself and just stay to the board you know um you know any you know the reasons for this request absolutely thanks Peter hi everyone um so yeah obviously we were hoping that we'd have those uh revisions from our architect um sent over by now and be able to discuss those with you guys tonight but um they've had a series of issues with uh you know the the architect that was working on our project um is no longer with that architectural firm um and uh and then you know we apparently they redid the the full drawings in instead of just making the adjustments that we had so it's it's gone back and forth and it sounds like we're really close but um you know we kind of missed the cut off for tonight so um so that'll be um you know we're looking to continue that on the in the next meeting questions from the board yeah I think I just I just want to um you know I just want to reiterate that I I think from our past meetings on this that um you know everyone is um I'm not going to speak for everyone but in in general support of the project we're we're glad that this building is going to be reused we like the things that you talked about as far as your business model um but we just can't it's hard for us to go forward without a drawing that accurately represents the changes that were made and the things that we talked about so we're kind of we're kind of stuck until we get that that final drawing that gets put into the files as an approval document so um we're we're here ready when when you are so just to to let you you know yeah I appreciate that I think it's been frustrating um all around and sort of some bad luck but um but yeah we're we're very much looking forward to getting to that uh step and getting you those drawings so um you know I I don't foresee any other issues but um but yeah so hopefully we're ready next uh for this next meeting did anyone have anything to add on to that discussion okay in that case we appreciate the report and we'll need to continue is is July or sorry July what month May is May 9th going to be uh enough time for I think Allan Allan you're shaking your head so I think May 9th is enough time and then we can kind of go forward from a procedural standpoint we'll need a motion to extend this until May excuse me May 9th but furthermore um going back with an uh an allen has actually cced on this email with John malun um from a um clerical standpoint that we do along with that motion is to extend the date of final decision to uh May 23rd and that would be um the Friday after our second meeting in May which I hopefully which I'm hoping that will give us enough time to work with the applicant I think you have May 24th on here which should be the Friday is that what you mean oh yes I'm sorry be the 23rd yes yes yes I'm sorry yeah so um it'll be to Extended to May 24th and so hopefully that will give us two meetings to continue to work with the applicant and if we needed more time obviously um if something arise is that we can make alterations from this that point but I think um that's what I uh emailed um with John about and he did concur with an email um agreeing to that extension okay so do we need we've done this before but do we need two separate motions for that or can we uh we can wrap it up in one I I believe I'll make a motion to extend the decision deadline for 151 Main Street s plan approval application to May 24th and uh continue this hearing to our next viable date May 9th May 9th is there a second second that Anna Anna teski I Marcel I Katherine Jers and Trisha Kendall I so we will see you hopefully on May 9th thank you thank you thank you Allan okay so our wow maybe you were right our public hearing um um for the MBTA which is next on our agenda is scheduled for 8:30 we cannot start that early so we will why are we being so efficient I don't I know this is scary this is don't yeah that's right okay so let me let's look ahead and um what we can um take care of we can um yeah we could start with the meeting minutes and work our way back I don't think besides the historical commission historical committee we're not expecting any other visitors are we um from from sustainability or no we are not ex I I did uh I did go back and forth with um the historical committee and I said most likely we'll take them up after um around 9:00 after the MBTA discussion this one uh yep that's historical stuff um there's three pieces of historical information there is uh a six page um looks like a uh PowerPoint um and then there's a map and that is their proposed local historical district and then they sent over a preliminary study report draft of their ashon Center historical district so um they just kind of want to get that to the planning board but no there are no other groups um um uh on the agenda that will be appearing besides the historical commission so obviously we could talk about uh item number six number seven um and really six seven minutes and kind of go from there well why don't first we get through any kind of updates and meeting minutes and just have those all done um everyone has the meeting minutes what are they in section they're right in front of t one not t one but right in the the regular Stu there's two sets of meeting minutes March 14th and then March 28th uh the March 28th ones are new um are new to the board um the March 24th ones I believe these excuse me March 14th were sent out on Friday um the March 14 28th were were completed [Applause] recently I can bring those up to share if that's appropriate Kate for the March 28th minutes do you know how many correspondences I mean I would suggest if we're not sure how many you reviewed we can be more ambiguous and just say receiving several correspondences I think it's something we can also fill Peter could fill in later after K either by viewing the tape if it's on there or giving a number and and that would call that a Amendment does it do you want me to make a motion do we have any changes to the March 14th is anyone still reading the 14th yeah oh okay it's good to me I don't know I'll make a motion to approve the March 14th 2024 minutes as drafted second roll call vote an tuski i i cther Jersey guy and Trisha Kendall ey so then we'll look at the March 28th for EX any changes from anybody I think I'm good I'll make a motion to approve the March 208th 2024 minutes is drafted well with the exception of filling in the amount of Correspondence correct I'll second keep doar good day an teski IA I Katherine Jersey gu and Trisha Kendall I so now it feels like it's time to go home but it's not okay so meeting minutes are done um if we just kind of take a minute to um let's say we're going from item nine down all of our reports and administrative matters we've I skipped it for a couple meetings um but if anyone has reports in there um I'll just say for the comprehensive plan we're wrapping up the comment period did we ever finish our meeting on boox um so if you have not filled out the survey yourself personally or anyone that you know I think the deadline is tomorrow so is the I mean so we had the um meeting a week ago right with with the with the consultant I thought that was really helpful and informative um she made a comment about the um touch points I think she was calling them about the percentage of people that we were striving to get um like and as involved in the process and mentioned that um that the deadline for that wasn't today but there will be other touch points for the public I didn't imagine this right yes as we go on yeah so so there there's um there's kind of the components of yes this is the big part of the drive obviously but there'll be other places down the road where public will be in involved in this as well is it yeah so technically this is the vision part and then you actually start the planning piece so technically the public is going to have input at the planning phase as like you come up with ideas to actually oh now that we know this is the vision for ashin let's come up with plans and then present it to the public so there's absolutely time for that but I think the consultant one of the consultant team folks was like very clear that this is the primary period for public input because this tends to be the Crux of it without the vision piece from the public it's hard to plan so we shouldn't we should try to squeeze out as much public input as we can now so that we can get the vision right so is is though like is the meeting in the Box stuff like I remember I thought I saw a deadline of today is that is that tomorrow tomorrow okay tomorrow um so you could do one tomorrow after this meeting I'm gonna be like um because I I'm asking because um in the course of the design review committee meeting um Bill novakowski who is the representative to the conference and plan meeting Kathy asked him about hosting a meeting in the Box this just on Tuesday at some point in the future with with his neighbors and and and he seemed like he was going forward to do that and I'm thinking maybe I got that wrong about that the meeting the bo part was supposed to be wrapped up and I I think he made a some someone made a comment I was again I'm just listening to a recording of a meeting but um but that could be submitted anytime in the process and it just might like I don't know if there's just a misunderstanding or if that comment last week a week ago today was misunderstood or confusing um it's not the way I understood it I understood it yeah I mean the way to think about it is the consultant team needs a deadline to be able to deliver a vision to the steering committee right so the steering committee needs the vision summary based on all the meetings in in the Box deadline tomorrow without that deadline the consultant can't give us a vision once we have a vision we can start planning could this random meeting in the box or extra meeting in the Box come back to the steering committee and maybe influence some of our later discussion I don't know the answer to that but it's not going to be part of the vision so I just want a couple corrections I think I'm sure you agree with consultant is not giving us a vision they're smushing together information that will be the steering committee no I mean it's steing committee develops the vision with the consultant's input which will go back for more public there will be a potential for public comment on that as well I don't I don't want anyone if they did here to think that we um hiring a consultant to tell Ashen what our vision is yeah no and I think that point was actually made very clear but I yeah yeah yeah yeah migraine talking but yeah absolutely so um I just I just wanted to bring that up because it was kind of people might be confused yeah because there's three members of the comprehensive plan meeting here and I thought maybe it should be uh clarified you know yeah I do think we I'll speak on my own behalf my opinion is that the steering committee should have been more thorough with the public is said the deadline for the vision piece like the deadline is tomorrow and I don't know how many people really know that but to the really important point is the public will always have the ability to reach out to anyone in the steering committee offer feedback and there will be formal additional feedback periods I would be concerned if Bill is confused because his meeting the box if it's going to happen next week will not be part of the materials that will be the strength of like the discussions for the vision that was my concern that that there might be some confusion maybe after last week amongst the members of the board so I'm just bringing that up because it's what I maybe it's just one person that would no I think that's a fair point and I would suggest that you reach out to the chairs of the steering committee and share that as chair of the planning board so that you know you you heard it and you can speak to that confusion I will do that and that might be helpful um the other thing I wanted to um bring up in these um just in the report um and I I wanted to do it separately appropriate or not separate from the public hearing um was about the design Review Committee process and I think it might be something we need to um I don't know if we needed going to need another Retreat after town meeting or something like that because my impression un listening to the meeting and this is if anyone wants the tape you know they can um be sent the link as well um was that the members of the design Review Committee who were there which were four members no one seemed to they didn't seem to review or reference the um the memo that we sent it didn't seem to be a part of the discussion I had I had um that they seemed sometimes not to be aware that the or not to have be aware of the material that was online that you know that's that's online and available just the same as we get it um and on the Friday before their meeting um elro had sent them uh the memo uh from the planning board um a link to the files and also at at my request um because I had talked to them about this before at least to to Kevin um a link to the planning board meeting and the minute at which we started our conversation for our initial meeting because they had noted that sometimes it's hard to know what the planning board said and they can't come to our meeting and their meeting so I said I sent it so that they could look at our initial conversation and has have that as a base like as you know to understand the project better and I didn't get the sense that anyone had looked at that either so I'm a little um and then given the way the meeting went um I'm just a little con I'm concerned that the process isn't working about despite our memos and um and at the end of the meeting at the end of the tape they were still looking at adding into their checklist things like checking to see if it's an all electric building you know and checking you know asking for interior plans which I thought I thought was very clear here I thought we really clarified that Marcelo and I back at in 9 to 49 Homer and so I have some concerns and I'm thinking that we're we're um needing another it's not benefiting them or benefiting us if if we don't have a clear process and I I think I I I thought it was much more clear than that and listening to this meeting I realized it's not clear I think the last time we met with them was probably more than a year ago am I imagining that time is flying it's been a while no it's probably yeah but but but the point is that it seems straightforward if what what I remember the goal was when we send this memo that memo basically is the agenda for them to address that for that project main agenda items they can discuss other things but that should be the agenda one by one because otherwise it's very impractical yeah so I didn't like I said I didn't want to I want to discuss it separately from the public hearing because I don't think it's related to that public hearing but I I wanted to make I mean I think they're like the key committee that's our support so having a yearly retreat with them would be a really good idea and I don't think Amanda was part of the prior retreat with them so I think it's always good to kind of reset once a year and I I think it would be really I remember the thing I liked that started happening is we did start to receive memos from them that were very well organized and res and responding to our memos so I felt like we took a step forward maybe there's some confusion or certain projects have not followed that so I think we should get together with them reiterate some of those positive steps and remind everyone of our role do you really need a retreat for that I mean it seems a straightforward process question the the plan board expects that this is the basis of a conversation I mean it could be another Memo from us but if they're not necessarily reading our initial memos I'm not sure they'd read the memo saying to read the memo well it's one of the but could also could also be a 15minute opening could be a 15minute opening in one of our hearings yeah just as a touch base but I don't know if they're all going to be here well they don't all have to be here but if if if they have Quorum they need to be what three of them four of them I don't know how it's one of the reasons I thought it would be do for like that if our schedules allow that Peter and I will attend the next meeting I think that's a good idea to to try because I thought too I thought many of these things I thought were clarified in the memo in our in in marcelos and I response to their 9 to 49 their 949 memo we were very very clear we tried to be extremely clear and I I don't know where that went I think it's fair I I would support you going to them to convey that we need their help and when we give them a memo it's really important for us to get a response to that memo I don't know if we need to say this is your agenda this is your only agenda because they're adults and they can develop whatever agenda they need but would they didn't say but only agenda we say that's theend we care about we are really like relying on you technically without their response to our memos we're kind of in a weaker position as a board so we need them to actually I have one comment like I think we we're saying so we the board asked you and Trish to mark up the 9 to 49 Homer but but to me that does not translate to process right because it was it was about that we got it we got it we got it here attention to these things right I don't think that was accompany with we never need you to review these things so I don't think it's actually been clearly established as a process I know what you're saying I I don't think that's true necessarily completely because the the the instructions way back then was based on the bylaw and say this doesn't apply you don't need to talk about that because it doesn't apply this does this does that does whatever so it's an instruction that was very narrow or trying to be very narrow so that the information that comes out of of the analysis is useful because it's not a free for all otherwise why it doesn't help anyone but helps someone especially what helps us is to identify here the points that are uh critical of this project or that project and say advice on this I thought that's that's the help for which this committee was created right so so again like my position on this is we if we have five questions for them we need those five questions answered I also think that we're we're all adults and we all make mistakes and we all have our own kind of interests and and interesting points we want to make and so if they want to make extra points above and beyond the five they should do it because maybe we miss something maybe we're not saying that you know I mean and so but the memo we give them should be responded to that should not be that should be the focus after that okay fine but but we will only be interested primarily on response to those it because that's why we sent it all right so I think um like Peter and I said are going to try to go to the meeting in order to um just provide the perspective and the background to the project that that we've been looking at you know um but also perhaps I'll ask for a little time just to talk to them in in in general terms about some of the things I that we thought were because these were planning board documents that that we' been reviewing and so it's um and that we we used in our process that it just doesn't seem like it carried over um so to talk to him about those things you know as well because like like Marcel was saying some of the things were um like as far as the interior plan one of our notes was that neither the planning board nor the design Review Committee should is has a right to do this right it's not in either of our purview right so things like that which I think is very clear to us and but still isn't clear to them and that's what some things we have to it might be helpful to encourage them to attend like that planning conference that happens every year um encourage because I I always find it useful Kate and I tend to go every year yeah no you know that might be helpful Des they're always welcome to do that do we invite them when we get those things yearly typically um I'll look into that you know um that might be good and then but I also just want to reiterate I'm happy to send if anybody's interested in watching the the the the the uh the meeting then I'm happy to send that out you know and um and just to get a perspective of of the conversations that are going on I think all right does anyone have any comment on that I just wanted to make the board aware so okay can I go back to the uh comprehensive plan so you done no it's it's okay um they when we do meeting in the Box they like a picture and I did say I didn't get one but I would try and they were actually happy so we should try to get a planning board picture to include what what they do with I don't know but they like to have photos of meeting in box yeah do you have some mascar I mean we better take a photo now at 8:00 yeah I know well I was thinking exactly cuz I was like there's no way it would have we finished at like after 11 we could make an effort to I can ask Matthew sure my phone is really old does anybody more modern mine's slightly but we're so sorry do we want to PB selfie yeah I I was going to bring the meum box to hold up but it's okay cuz sometimes people are working right ass we finished complete I think think have to go in some all right say cheese thank you thank you all right done what else you got Kate is there anything else you need blood samples anything no no thank you me all right it did get submitted so that the the um meeting the Box planning board did get submitted so we're counted so oh good good and I I submitted one from CPC but I did not get a photo i s sorry is there any other reports administrative matters anything on that bottom half of the list if not we still have a half hour and we could start to talk about either the specialized code or 10 to 60 main I mean why don't we do 10 to 60 main while we're sharp Okay so everyone had so um how you doing so everyone uh I did receive an email from Marcelo um and I didn't I and it came out late but it's printed out in everyone's binder and so it's it's there uh furthermore um there is the seven points uh that Mass housing does look at so that is right there too so that's right in front of the meeting minutes yep those two things uh the first in the front in the front yeah and everyone can kind of take a look through that through Marcel's email and then we can kind of go from there yeah I could explain kind of the the process because this was really like a stream of Consciousness it's not there's nothing special here the idea everybody can edit or adjust the the the what I try to do is to try to narrow the there's only one that I think of those seven parameters that Mass housing considers that we can in my view comment on which is the appropriateness of the project everything else is uh whether it's fiscally possible all these comments that I I myself cannot address so so what I Tred to do here is to set up and I expanded on each but just four basic topics that would def that that to me kind of help guide the the rational whether the project is appropriate or not um the first one is the relationship of the project with the historic Heritage of of the Town represented in the mill buildings themselves so there's and and and all these four aspects are based on on the kind of the the introduction of thinking of this site that this is not a a typical site this is a really special site it and we've because we had two years or whatever talking about this project before we've already addressed a lot of these things so this side is probably at least the way I see it the probably the most consequential site for the town for for the next decades because because of everything that that's in it so so these four points I thought could could address that so the first one is the historic buildings and the relationship of of any project that gets developed there to them the second one is the relationship with the natural environment and we're talking about uh the river walk the waterfall uh the river uh edge around the entire property it's it's a very special thing and it's the first thing you see when you enter the Town Center um the third one is uh what what I just said this project is Lally the Gateway project this this is uh what what is going to define the downtown and to me not not being carefully crafted to to to really be that is a huge danger to potentially destroy the fabric of downtown as as we think we we want it and the last one is the the architectural language that's been explore on what was submitted and I know they even said it what was submitted is it's kind of an opening right I hope um so so there's a there's a language that is inconsistent with a site of this nature in my opinion it's a in general if we just if if you make a caricature of it is it it looks like a like a fivestory wall completely flat that has some materiality and that's it with flat roof it's it's a big wall that a big wall as a Gateway on a town that has a lot more texture uh different uh uh a form based code for the downtown is exactly the opposite and so the the to I I I I thought that I'm sure you can get more I tried to get it as narrow as possible the and and and the problem to me in the way they they explained it and I think they have all the resources to to do a much better job and maybe this is kind of the way they were clear on the explanation that uh oh we we started with 250 units because that's what the project needs and basically work from there so it see it seems to me that the process that's one way to to do it I mean probably you have to do it if you if you're going to try to really test the project you start with that objective 250 units right because that's what we want and then we'll we go down to the side and and bang all the corners until we get them okay and that results on that now I think the important thing is to do the reverse is to start with deciding what's important about it and see what you can craft out of it and you're going to come with a number with a different number and maybe there's variations thereof so so but but but the point is even on the process that we went through before there the the we came to a point where they seem to the architect at that time seemed to get it it's like okay you're starting to translate the variation of heights the different roof lines the the the the markers on the corners and and and and that's what it's it's a long process now on the other side I also put here there's a couple of things that they are doing that I think are really good that I think are worth you know exalting like H having that entire corner by the r River to become a public place that's something that we were asking last time around and didn't seem to make make a dent and the fact that they're removing that really inefficient crazy weird parking lot that's in front of those buildings and making a green area that for The Pedestrian is is is a much better entry point to the downtown so basically that's kind of a summary of you guys can read it but that's what the intent was I was just wondering also you you had um Focus this on Item B of the seven points did you think it all it seems to me that some of it might also be C like there you said there was only one C is that the conceptual project design is generally appropriate for the site on which it is located so I it seems to me oh well I guess I guess yeah I applies to both okay that's fine I just wanted to I just want to see if you no no that's a mistake then absolutely yeah okay by definition yeah this I mean I agree with everything that Marcelo said and the way the framing is on point B I have the same comment on I think Point c as well I think and I think it behooves us to um put comments forward on any of the ones that we sort of have any angle on I think like my lawyer brain says like let's comment on as many of these as we possibly can I agree that to me be and C certainly you know and a lot of the comments about be I think work for c as well but just I think some of a lot of the public concern we've heard around this is you know the conceptual project design is generally appropriate for the site like you know concern about scale and things like that I think that comes in to see for sure and then the other thing I wanted to note is just and I don't have all the you I wasn't on the board when this project um was originally here for all of that time my very first meeting as a board member was the meeting that um it was withdrawn so literally you have fresh fresher eyes than but but what I wonder about whether or not there might be an opportunity to comment on G as to control of the site just with respect to some of the unique history on that site and the fact that there are EPA considerations there um and I think that we've received some notes from the public about whether or not um it might be sort of fully within whether or not there might be some restrictions there due to sort of the history of that site but isn't that a term of art like legally control the meaning that that that the ownership is is secure I think ownership and control are both terms of Art and you can own a site but not have unfettered control over what you do with it so I looked into that because this these this is kind of like a shorthand for the actual language of the of the language um and so in reviewing um the mass government chapter 40b handbook for zoning board of appeals which by the way talks about planning board role and all of this as well um the control is based on the applicant or related entity owns the site or holds an option or contract to acquire such interest in the site or has such other interest in the site as is deemed by the subsidizing agency to be sufficient to control the site so there's got to be a docu a contract of sours yes and so you know we I think the only comment we as a planning board can make is that we have no evidence of such control period and that it's to the subsidizing agency to determine if adequate control is there I am very concerned about control because as far as I know this is still owned by the applicant that was before us so this new applicant to me has zero control but I have no evidence of it because I've never seen any contract um so I think as a planning board I would be most comfortable saying I have no no comment and that the subsidizing agency needs to investigate whether this applicant has control so that's my interpretation of that isn't I mean aren't these seven findings the things that at least the way she explained it on site are those are the things she's going to look at so she is going to determine or the state is going to determine through her if this applicant has control of the site whether we know or don't know who has controll of the site it seems in a way irrelevant right because no matter what we say they're going to determine that and how how would we know I'm I'm just yeah it's so it's like are we really are we going through these even though but she did say that exactly at the meeting she said these this is the criteria that we are going to look at that's it we're not going to look outside this at all but we're going to dig into this and so any comments you have for this we'll we'll we'll read basically so the interesting thing is I I know that obviously they have this is what they're responsible for findings but some of the preliminary work I've done like there's a there's a design review guideline for 40b projects which I would argue that project that preliminary submission does not meet that and that's sort of an other of these things you could you could smush it under C but I I I disagree I think we need to be very firm and saying like it it does not comply with those other things we don't need to be we don't need think it falls under see um yeah because the design guidelines I read them they're not very extensive but they are clear that context and and context in the town matters right cannot be a disruptive mess that comes into a town well okay I guess I mean I I I could go with that I guess my feeling though is if we don't have to be forced to only comment on those things they should be applicable right but we don't have to be just that she said that that they I guess I'm I mean it's just a presentation like we want to be able to present the material to the state in the best way possible if this person who showed up on behalf of the state is thinking about these seven terms this your point fits beautifully under C it's kind of a separate point but it's the same no but Katie's right they they have design guidelines they have some points which are kind of what I was trying to address there in my own work so we can do it both ways we can reference the design we can put it under C and we can expand it it's it's more of like a presentation like how do you want to deliver the information to the state The Heading can be C and then you can just expand to include all of that the other question is for Michael because he's going to collect comments from many other boards so how is he going to like that was my question to Peter as well so hold on a minute so so Peter is already organized a couple of these feedback things or is in the process of doing it from other boards but do you want to talk a little bit about that yeah so we took it we took um I was we were on the ZB I was on the z i staff the zba meeting on Tuesday night right and the zba um obviously a little bit different because they're going to be the the board hearing this case um and so they were a little bit more impartial you know what I mean but I think we kind of identified The Zing board of appeals are trying to identify areas of interest during the application process that they were interested in the appli going into greater detail such as obviously scale parking traffic Transportation um Ingress egress kind of the meat and potatoes of a of a py plan process um but I am and Alvaro we are compiling them in more of a a memo format um into a Word document that we can kind of be squished together um and so what I would ask if if anybody has to email anything and so Marcel I'm going to take your email and obviously be able to cut and paste it and put into a Word document but at least I think it's to put it in a memo format um to put it in in an email into a word doc is the best thing for for me and so then I can kind of cut paste maneuver and develop a product that can be sent back to the planning board but then also sent to Michael umich I mean in looking at the the the handbook for the zoning board of appeals and the process like planning boards get to create their own written comment so I I hope I'm understanding you correctly that this will be a memo on behalf of the planning board that it's not like you're going to cut and paste what we're saying into another document from the town we will have our own memo on behalf of the board and I think we're a key we're literally the very first entity listed as an entity that needs to provide public comments so we should have our own memo that is gear towards our position um and I will add that one of the key elements at least in the guide book from the state is if we have a recent comprehensive plan we are the jurisdictional entity that should speak to that now we don't have a recent one but we are very involved in the comprehensive plan that's happening we've been part of a meeting in the box we have opinions about that and we're supposed to include that in our comment we should be thinking about just like to your point in your draft you're talking about some of those things like the vision for downtown Trisha was involved in the recent um changes to the bylaw in downtown like we should make sure to include those jurisdictional elements because that's literally what um I'll read you that sentence the planning board should be asked to weigh in on the Project's relationship to the city or town master plan if the plan is current and actively being implemented obviously that doesn't apply to us because we don't have a recent plan but we've been actively involved in the planning process and we should comment to that so I guess that probably better said than I say we we don't need to only focus on this right on these um six or seven things because we may be remiss in missing other comments I don't think we need to be forced to limit to these comments and I would be obset if we did especially given that you have the real deal I me I'm not disagreeing with you Kate I see your point what I'm telling you is all of these things that I've commented on can easily be fit into these categories like the comprehensive plan can be fit under the um B or C so I think there's ways for us to find it like I think the next step because we don't have a lot of time like I loved U marcelo's draft I think it's great and I think maybe all of us should kind of pick an element that we're especially interested in and try to augment and make comments for Peter free to to edit my draft too I don't yeah I mean I think um and let me know that I'm wrong you know but like none of the other elements to me um you know a d e FG like I don't have anything to say about the proforma like I right I have nothing I've known nothing about that I couldn't begin to tell you if that's working or not so to me the planning the what we do what we do as our as part of the planning board is B and C but I think also like you said everything that you've mentioned everything that's been mentioned so far fits under those and just like when we're putting out um we're going through the criteria it it carries more weight I think when our concern no matter what that is whether it's comprehensive plan or whatever it is if we can fit it into the criteria that you're considering I think that's what we do instead of making our criteria our own B you know I do want to comment on the pro fora because I think it's the most complicated element of this process um from what I've been able to gather the proor analysis is that the subsidizing agency does slightly different from the proformer analysis that the zba is going to do um because essentially my understanding and Peter can correct me if I'm wrong is that the agency is basically saying hey the project you're giving us the developer presents it can be viable which is a little different from what the zba has the power to do the zba can actually put pressure and negotiate less density and then there can be an argument made between the developer and the zba whether or not that is viable which is a different profor analysis so to the extent that we want to contribute to this profor argument one of the things I'm thinking about what I remember from our meetings with a developer is when we put some discussion or focus on density I remember we were sort of negotiating in a way with the developer and there were certain conversations about what would be or would not be viable I don't know if anybody remembers that um and I was under the impression that the point that we got to was viable and so I think that is a value add to the to the the point that we got the density that ultimately we landed on at the end that ultimately was not approved because the project was withdrawn my recollection is that that was not being viewed as not viable and I think that that is a value ad on the proforma piece that that's my recollection too but there's a huge difference is that back then Richard was and he said it many times he was looking for a partner because he did not have it so he was almost hedging his bets now he has a partner that actually is specialist on this type of stuff and they are the ones that's saying that they said it at the at the site they say this a contaminated site there a lot of work we have to do we're going to improve a lot it's very expensive to build so we need 250 units that's how they said well except performa is not up to the developer towns can actually hire their own experts and the zba has the authority to do that sure so it's not as simple as saying well they said it's not viable right age so I guess where I'm going with this is I think there is some benefit to our us as a board recognizing that for us less density appeared viable at the time of our meetings prior to the withdrawal and I think that is a value add common to the state what the state does a performa though I don't feel I can come in on any performa I haven't even seen it I don't I guess I don't have even the interest on on on seeing it from that point of view because then you start negotiating with from from from the point of view of I know what's viable and you think something different is viable I don't think the plan board is on that type of negotiation I think I think we what what what is not viable to me as presented is the the the negative impact that something like that would have in the downtown as it is and the downtown of the future and I I think that that would make the downtown not viable it will be a disaster if something like that got P so so we're going to given the time we're going to need to move out of this soon not that the discussion is done so we have two options we can look right now at our calendars to see when because we it was mentioned that maybe we can have a separate meeting just to address this issue you know but we can see if we can find a date and time that most of us can make it um our time is short obviously we can do that now or we can just table this and we'll get back to later in the meeting but I think even later in the meeting we're looking for a date I think we need a date because we need to draft something okay I mean a couple comments I think so one thing would be starting with your framework and maybe marking up so then things can get inserted they can still be messy as topics right because that I think moves it along but I also think I mean there's a arbitrary um date that Michael Herbert asked May 6 but the but there was an extension to like May 28th or 29th so I'm I'm all for getting things done but I'm also not all for like you got squeezed for a deadline that doesn't have to be and secondly there's a public forum May 7th and I think I do not think that we should be submitting comments until I'm not sure everyone can go to that or is interested but at least there might be some topics out of that as well so I don't think we explore if we have more time I think we can explore from Michael if we have more time since we are at the top of the list of planning comments personally in regarding to your second comment I think our letter comes from the planning board and not from the general public they're having their own forum and we are our own board with a different experience than the general public has and both of them are viable but our memo is coming from us that doesn't mean we might not pick up on something in that meeting that might influence we think but I want to for me that's very clear that this is a letter a memo coming from it absolutely is but we do represent the public and we may hear something that influence that's right but we also have to have time to process as well you know so can we come up with a proposed deadline to to run by Michael that is resp Michel tomorrow um both deadlines I'll talk to Michael I think you know moving forward and in no sense that I say a memo you know I'm I'm creating the ZB in a memo format and obviously we would do our own for this board uh just to clarify that but I think to to start things off I'm happy to talk to Michael I'm happy to forward out out uh excuse me uh marcelo's email um and then also you know if if you do want to have thoughts and ideas put them in writing I think that's the best thing to do send them to you and send them to me and then I'll start to compile it and I can send it back out to everybody else for our meeting for our meeting um or just in general you know I think if you're home on the weekend and you're and you're and you're looking into this stuff and you want to type you know just send it to me and and and Anna you're a very good writer and I think you have a lot to to say about this so I think just put it in writing and send it to me and then I can send it back out you know that's also important I think there's another one right coming up another 40 yeah well potentially well so this almost is going to be almost a template for us to correct to frame the framework from which the plan board so it's do it right yeah do it for both Anna if you could yeah I can send some thoughts to well I I was talking about the document you're you're referring to here if you could send either send it to Peter I I might have it already but it's just been a mess of emails Rec and I will I will say that the town of Brookline has a very detailed uh 40b website with every single resource you could possibly have on 40b I think I need someone to dumb it down for me right now because I just don't have the I don't either but the beauty you edit it send to me the best yeah the beauty of these documents is that they're searchable so like I search for planning board proforma environmental stuff to just kind of get your eye to it because there's so much material out there um but I think this document would be really good to get to the zoning board of appeals yeah if you can send us the cheat sheet that's what yeah no so we we're we're working on that with the Zoning Board of appears and we're kind of building that up and Alvaro has done a very good job in building up our zoning board appeals website with zoning board excuse me with ZB with 40b material and so a lot of the stuff um Anna that you're speaking of is now all linked on our on our website so great uh yes all right so do we want to look at a date for a date time right now or does anyone need a two-minute break before we uh start the public hearing for the NBTA communities to you guys I mean we can all step out when we need a breakr okay everyone steps out when they need to I didn't do the Google pool poll it wasn't really meant to be done because it's getting too complicated so what I'm looking for are okay so can I assume that besides me most people cannot meet between eight and five is that a that's a logical besides me a iCal assumption okay so then um I assume five doesn't really work either so if we look really between 6 and 10 because after that we know we all get loopy um are there any what I should say what nights are people like I cannot do it on this day of the week is there any of those Tuesday no Tuesdays okay what what time you say it between 6 and 10 in the evening let's say like that oh okay so but no Tuesdays in general for Deepa right Deepa the fourth Tuesday is challenge the other Tuesday I can you give me a date on the no um we're looking only at April right yeah uh May and that would be in person or that would be remote no don't know yet so is it April or May are we looking at ail on May now both uh I think may I think it's due at the end of May but you can give me the May date but we probably won't be going that far I can make it happen on uh when am I traveling um 7:14 and 21 is good tell me the dates that are no 28th no April 28th May 28th no May 28th and no that will be too late anyways I know but I'm just writing it down I think I'm traveling 15th 30th and 1st 30th April and 1st okay and I think I'm traveling the 15th and the 16th of May okay so wait a minute good okay so let me write this somewhere else it may be easier to find from the majority and then come back so wait so I went just really clear Deepa no 30th April no April 30th no May 1st and no May 28th okay are we thinking like of virtual 1our meeting to review the draft I don't know yet what did you say Amanda no I said no May and I also can't okay um anybody else have stop on I can't do my well is town meeting May yeah so no May 1 that's town meeting May first town meeting I can't do the second no May 2nd right mine is fluid it typically in general could accommodate almost every day but things come up things come up that that okay but so that I shouldn't I'm trying to El it I'm just trying to eliminate the absolute no goes yeah weekends do we have we have one weekend in between or a couple weekends in between are weekends completely out for anybody weekends are harder for me is hard is there a way we can like do like a like at the hour before one of our regular meetings like a 6:15 meeting right before our regular meeting something like that on May 9th that's a long time away though to we're trying to get this thoughts to do so we can start to Mush it together right anyone next a Monday night the 29th and the 6 still alive 6 is going to be the night before but I mean the idea is that work some work starts happening so by the time we meet Peter has received comments people everybody has had the chance to digest it and right mhm I see I see we don't start at that time gotcha gotcha got got well we can't really draft it in between among ourselves because that would no no but you're going to start seeing what everybody's thinking we Peter circulates it what about Monday the 29th you said no one no one mentioned a Monday what about this this coming Monday even if it's just for an hour 90 minutes yeah I could do an hour on Monday as long as it's after 6 the only issue is can be remote can be yeah we don't have enough time to to post oh that's right okay is that right public hearing yeah so Monday it's usually 48 hours so so we need to I would have to post it today for Monday can we do next and next Tuesday is bad for you the 7 the 30th you say Tuesday on Wednesday I'm tring Tuesday yes it come back Wednesday night okay could we do it Tuesday anyway to kick it off and is it okay just I miss I I don't know if I'm going to be in a room by that time you have this it's okay if you miss I just don't want to I mean there's no requirement that we do this or even have a quorum right um so if you want to hold it for next Tuesday if my day gets over and I'm back in the room I can always join and we can record it and you can add in yeah can we so if that's easier what about the what about Tuesday the 30th this coming Tuesday can we find can we just do it a little bit after 6 6:30 perfect 6:30 on Tuesday the 30th try okay let's try it Go post it I know tomorrow morning tomorrow morning that would make the deadline Yeah Tuesday we could still make the deadline you can post it Tuesday and then we'll see if we want that means we need to get comment to Peter like tomorrow I'll double check I'll double check with the clerk's office but usually it's 48 hours in advance um do we want to select another day just in case we have a so the way I'm mean in all practicality I'm looking at that is going to I'm not going to get comments before then I will happily come to the meeting but there's no way I have time to do that to push that forward I feel like that I know so I feel like that 30th could be just much more brainstorming bullet points and pushing it along for a next draft that's fine yeah that's what I'm thinking if at all practicality or we're mushing together a draft while we're sitting there something like that more working sessioning session mean I'll try to throw something together but like realistically it means giving it to Peter early tomorrow so he has time to squish it can you send me your document in Word I'll forward I can forward marcelo's document okay and then um and then and and really tomorrow I'll double check with the clerk to make sure that we are going to meet the guide the deadline um regarding the potion requirements um for Tuesday okay um and then we'll kind of go from there and what I'll what I can do is I can try to take these a through G's and I can try to take marcelo's language and put it under these and then add some of the things I heard about but you don't need to do that for tomorrow we just need to look at that on Tuesday right for Tuesday yeah so no need toel has already done that leg work hasn't he yeah okay yeah so we have a plan there great where we can hash it out okay and on Tuesday though one of us has to peel out and go to design Review Committee Dam yeah okay yeah okay that doesn't sound like a great plan no I no I think no no I think we can make it happen because it's uh it's about brainstorming like you said it's not a final document yeah we can listen to the tape we'll tape it right if we have it you know it's um so no I don't think we should I think we should stick with this it has to be done sooner rather than later let's to stick with it you know and obviously we should check with Michael if turning it in closer to miday works for him so that we could use our next May 9th meeting or whatever for our official wrapup I I yes I'll I'll talk to Michael about that and then um and then kind of go from there and if and if it all comes crumbling down we can um we'll work something out and we can organize by email okay all right all right um okay so next on our agenda next on our agenda is the MBTA um MBTA Community zoning bylaw public hearing this is continued from our meeting two weeks ago on April 11th Peter do you need to the whole thing again no okay I do not so um I did think that I should um go through the slides again I mean it's going through them multiple times but I think that we need that for a basis for the discussion both for anyone who's watching at home and and anyone online who's um who may have questions to try to make that as clear as possible um and then we'll obviously talk about our approach to for the next steps so can you you're looking for the slide presentation Peter okay okay great okay so first slide no need to spend time there so just to review for people who are unfamiliar with this um the uh restrictions given to us by the state to form an MBTA um uh zoning District uh that these zoning districts have to be at least 50 acres um within Ashland and we have to have a minimum of 20 of those Acres Within a half a mile of our train station the rest can be anywhere in Ashland each we it doesn't have to be in one big Zone it can be in multiple zones but if we break break it up then we each of those has to be at least 5 Acres it can't be smaller within each of those zones covering again at least 50 acres um we have to have a minimum density of 15 units an acre on each parcel and we have to allow multif family housing with no age restrictions so these can't be over 55 communities they have to be open to all ages right so there's another component of that and this is unit requirements because Ashen is a commuter rail Community versus a Subway Community or um a adjacent Community correct right have different requirements we're a rail Community because we have a Commuter Rail station in our town we need to provide for 15% of our um housing units by the 2020 census Ashland has 7,495 housing units we have to times that by 15% which gets us 1,124 housing units so that's the amount of housing units we have to provide so now our restrictions are we have to have at least 50 acres we have to have a minimum of 15 un per acre and we have to make sure that adds up to at least 1,124 units it's important to understand that none of these units have to be built Zero have to be built we just have to provide the Zoning for it okay next okay so back in the fall um I believe it was in 2023 I want to say September a working group was formed um between the select board and the planning board it it um included myself Trisha Kendall included Town planner Peter machek assistant Town planner um ELO Esparza and um select board member Joel manani and that was the working group our task was to find a means by which Ashlin can fulfill the MBTA requirements so in our group we outline priorities our first priority is to what we called use what we have ashin over the um over the years and especially in very recent years has um has um approved of a good amount of housing incl you know starting with Cirrus the Cirrus Apartments um but but other ones as well like the 100 Chestnut Street that's currently in construction so we felt as a community that we were already doing what the MBTA communities Act was asking and that we were providing dense housing around Ashlin so our first priority was use what they have or use what we have I'm not sure why they're all labeled one I one question on the calculation that you showed before projects that have been approved like that one that it's under construction those units count for that number or not none of that matters that the land can be completely empty or completely full what's going there now doesn't matter but if they so if that if that parcel ends up in one of those District we don't have to count not counting units we're counting area we're counting how many acres and we're kind and we're counting how many units per per acre were allotting to that zone what is built means nothing okay um so that was number one what intended to be number two priority I don't know where that disappeared was to hold the density as low as we could and I think that's for obvious reasons right um number three is that we wanted to respect the ongoing comprehensive plan process that the town at town meeting voted to dedicate $250 $250,000 to a comprehensive plan process we did not want to be making decisions for the town that we thought should come out of the comprehensive plan process so we were very very aware of that do you have a question I I just had a quick comment because I'm assuming you're going to present this a town meeting possibly possibly so I I was just going to say that it may be helpful to edit that second priority we're we're going to uh slightly but we're going to get there eventually that's fine right now I'm focusing on tonight okay next slide I I just wanted to say that there's been some critique in other communities that communities are uh trying to slide around the MBTA regulations and I think it's we need to be careful because I don't think we're sliding I think we're doing what's lawfully allowed and my only suggestion would be that priorities should be edited to say as low density as Allowed by MBTA zoning it's not that we're aiming for the lowest density possible ever we're we're respecting the MBTA bylaw or the requirement from the state yeah and we're aiming for low density per state allowance yeah we obviously can't go lower than what the state mandates so I exactly it might just be yeah okay um so what we what we started to focus on were three um districts so um the first one is in the rail Transit District there's two there's two partials in that one is Cirrus and one um is is paral a which is is is not uh is not Cirrus it's not developed at the present time the second is the Wildwood district and that where that's pointing at that purple that is the 100 Chestnut Street um project that is currently in construction and then pwn street so item D over there points to Pawn Street it's right on that ashlin's border it includes both the 501 Pawn Street Lot which has an approved project a project that was approved for that lot it is not in construction at this time and it includes the um residents of Valley Farm um um facility next door and and we did that because uh those Parcels weren't big enough to be included on their own so we put them together as a Zone okay so um just to go through these various zones um uh uh let me start with Cirrus which is at the bottom B just because the way the letters were um this is the one project that is currently completed and built um the current density of that it it's a little tricky in this Zone in Zone A and B because we also have to take into account are zoning that is currently in effect in those districts so in this District in the rail Transit District it says you have a certain acreage but you're not allowed to build on 30% of it right according to our current bylaws in that District so we have to Discount that a little bit right so in effect if we the current density say for Cirrus um on the books it would say 20 but really the effective density is only 14 because you can't build on 30% of the lot right and the state looks at all of that you have to submit all that to the state right so um so the same with ugc right the property a is ugc that's an that's been an approved over 55 friendly 40b Community um but it is currently in litigation that site um so the same thing with that the density is proposed dens it if we talk about both of those property as being proposed if we put it at a density of 22 the effective density is 15 because you can't build on 30% of the lot what why why can't you build on it's in our bylaws right now District this this is this is redoing the bylaws so I don't understand how I I don't understand that it's complicated right you still have to build that into your model and so when you get into your when you get get into your compliance is when you get into your compliance module with the state there's a compliance model right you have to build in certain aspects what's required open space parking all these other items right so we've had to do the reverse math into to provide what is the base of 15 units per acre once you start working within that bylaw and so we came up with 22 and that's going to work for us um and that was reviewed by our consultants and it uh it's a number that was kind of hit and I understand what you're saying like well why can't you just wipe it all out and start from scratch we can but it's complicated right it's complicated and if you remember our first premise use what we have right so but the part about 30% because our current zoning I I'm just having a hard time because this is this is new zoning that's being proposed yes and no yes and no I mean um it's not none of it is entirely new because even if when you're in the Wildwood District you still have to pay attention to the zoning of the Wildwood District you still have to pay attention to that you don't just get to ignore it so but but just to clarify what Kate is asking so what would pass in town minut if these gets voted positively would be an overlay District or is just for compliance with the state that is not a zoning District they are separate districts separate yeah yeah separate zoning districts respect the own L zoning District that exist I think I think Kate's point is I think what Kate is saying is can't we just rezone entirely from scratch and I think what Peter is saying is that this is a more viable option you take the zoning as is and then you essentially edit it you create an overlay District on top of it that's a separate one you're not creating a new overlay not overlay but Ed right and you're making them compliant right and because there's all different criteria at the state regulations and so what we're trying to do is we're trying to make a current Zone that we have RTD we're trying to make that compliant with the state regulations and we have to make some changes to it some edits right so we're proposing to make edits to the existing bylaw of the RTD to make that opposed to deleting it and creating correct that's why and that's what everyone's doing yep but it but it seems like you're taking more of potentially taking more of the parcel out which makes makes us look at other Parcels to be added right like I I guess the point is I mean I respect the process that we said RTD the town agreed 20 something years ago to make a rail Transit and if there's more acreage to be squeezed out of there for MBTA I I'm just wondering I I get it but right now this is the warrant that has been submitted we can't make any of those changes now right so I need to present this as it is now right and then yeah I I will say it is consistent with how other communities are doing it like it's consistent with practice to how this is being done yeah so there's a there's infinite number of ways we can do it this is the approach that taking at this time yeah okay so let's go on to the so that's that's real Transit District okay the other two districts um are a little simpler thank god um uh 100 Chestnut Street again the the current density what is being um what was allowed um what was approved is the density of 29 units an acre and we set that at 29 units an acre pwn Street has a a which was approved a a density of 32 units an acre we set it at 32 units an acre we did also have to include the residence of Valley Farm which is already built that obviously doesn't have the same density um but those two those two um projects are to those two lots are together okay so um what uh yeah something happen obviously that side is misaligned yeah sorry what is going on was it Mis lined on your screen as well yeah it is what's going on just put it up I think if as long as we can see everything a minute I think this was just about the this was I think explaining the unit count um there you go okay so this was just it's kind of almost aligned but this was just trying to go over um oh okay this was going over the um the ugc and the TW and the Acres that are going to come back to the town um regarding the development yes so was also trying to explain was also trying to explain as part of the complexity of this also having to do with the rail transic District once um once the last parcel of the rail transic district is developed which would be ugc in this case the Covenant on that property which is also still in effect and also still has to be taken into account the Covenant says that 20 acres are donated back to the town right so that's something we also had to take into consideration which lowers the effective acreage we have available in those areas so even though those sites seem very big they're not as big as they seem because of the layers of Covenant and Zoning that's already there and really those 20 acres within a covenant that we have when we purchase that land area within the RTD District um that land is going to come back to the town of Ashen right and so and that's with Ed development agreement for ugc and so one of the restrictions of the state from the state's point of view is you can't no town can Zone their own property right and so what we're doing here is we're subtracting that acreage excuse me we're retaining it to we're retaining that acreage so we're not even taking putting that into the calculator so we're not so we're not getting ahead of ourselves so we're not impacting public land correct Yeah in our future public land and we're taking account for it yeah so I wanted to have in that in there but it's hard because it's not quite reading it's not aligned but anyway that's what that slide was about let's hope the next one is aligned yes okay so this was where I was this is where I was trying to explain about the acres and the 30% I mentioned it earlier this was talking about taking the Acres minusing 30% and then you have the Acres that are left to work with so you're removing the public land no not on this part so you're taking away your 30% of the land that needs to be open SPAC indor imperious servic you're leaving the open space as is correct I think this is really important for the public to know and I'm not sure it's clear enough from the slides like we are not taking or removing open space we're not taking or removing public land like yeah that's really key let's get through and go back to anything that we need to go back to because it is really hard to understand okay but the important thing as we tried to I'm sorry for these alignments this align two weeks ago as you know because you guys were here you're such an architect like no it doesn't it TR you don't worry I'm like on the words I'm fine you guys are so much in pain yeah so but what what all this is trying to do is to show that the unit count adds up to what it needs to we have to tell we have to be able to say to the state we are Zoning for 1,124 units and the numbers we have placed on this thing on these four properties that we're dealing with add up to 1,124 units no buffer no buffer but we don't really need a buffer um Alvaro has already had a preliminary conversation they they agree it seem well it it's not like a it's not guaranteed till everything goes through but they already Tak a preliminary look at look at all this and it it seems okay we've already sent everything all the all the numbers have been looked at and reviewed by our consultant rkg that did the feas the economic feasibility study all the bylaw changes have been checked out by the AG's office okay so that's where we were let's say a month ago what's the next sline okay this is what started to bothers a little bit um of the projects that we have that we're considering on this cus is obviously built right it's highly unlikely that it's going to be torn down and changed um but the 100 Chestnut Street is in construction right it's it's going it's they got their Bild building permit they're rolling the other two projects which are 501 Pawn Street and the um ucg project um which is the friendly 40b are not in construction um not starting to be built and so there's a risk there that if we change the zoning in those areas and both of them are 25% affordable the friendly 40b is 25% affordable 501 Pawn Street is 25% affordable that's the agreement but if we change these two MBTA communities we're not allowed to put that restriction on them so given that those two projects are not yet into construction they could potentially say I withdraw my project I'm resubmitting the project at the same density without the affordability compon component except for 10% right that's the risk not the risk that you'd have more units the risk that you would lose the affordable component yeah so that it's a risk right so um that's what that slide is explaining so this is where we are today however many weeks ago two weeks ago maybe a little bit more I don't remember anymore the town received notice from the state that we have a 40b application for 10 to 60 Main Street um that um what is being proposed there now is 32 units in acre right on that site that's the 250 units so what we are wondering and this is this has come out of the working group and also some other voices as well um is if since now we have this 40b project that obviously isn't finished it's obviously not you know it's just the beginning of its process and we have a second 40b project that is looking to come in that seems to be in process I do not think we haven't received notice from the state yet on that project is that right we have not received it but it's imminent it's imminent so to us on the working group to the four of us on the working group to us we label this a GameChanger that this is new information that we didn't have before it didn't exist before and we feel that it's information that we should use in our process to make a better approach for Ashland um because things over the next six months can change quite a a bit both with the two projects that we have currently approved but are not in construction and with figuring out what's going to be happening with these 40b projects all of that information is up in the air and um we're now concerned or that the proposal that we put forth as the best option for Ashland because of the circumstance things changing totally Beyond anyone's control May no longer be the best option for Ashland so I as I expressed two weeks ago when we discussed this my personal view is that this should wait to fall town meeting so that we can see how these other factors beyond our control play out and thus Perhaps Perhaps present the exact same thing at town meeting or perhaps not depending on the how everything swirling around us plays out as much as it will play out in the next six months I think that's kind of the last slide that's where we are Trisha when you say play out can you can you define the the what is the upside and the downside like simply the um so forb come they start developing so what what will play out so what would play out is that the acreage that the the acreage that the 40b projects take that use right and again if we look at just 10 to 60 M what's currently proposed we don't know if it's going to be that way what's currently proposed is 32 units an acre so even if we said we want to use that property that's housing right that's providing housing providing housing near our downtown even if we set it at 15 units an acre half of what's being currently proposed we can use those acreage to lower the um the needed density on maybe ucg maybe on 501 it so that it makes it less lucrative for those projects to change pull and to eliminate the affordability component so it's it's all geared to retain that affordability that those projects are provided to mitigate risk I would say yeah so let's be clear a 40b right now is 25% affordability and the proposal that you're making is that we make that area by right which means the exact risk you're indicating that applies to Pond would apply to this project it's the exact same problem if we now make this Main Street project by right as part of the MBTA zoning we're essentially eliminating the benefit of 40b 40b scares people because they feel that they have no control that is a myth 40b allows communities 25% affordability in a real way and it gives the state direct regulation over how those apartments are controlled which we at the Town level do not have and so there are massive benefits to keeping this situation as is especially since no offense but the current owner of that property has a history of withdrawing projects so to me this is not a GameChanger I don't feel comfortable changing the approach based on the will of one applicant who has a history in this community of withdrawing applications and moving applications around and I personally think 40b is an opportunity for the zoning board of appeals in this community to negotiate correctly and the regul ations for 40b allow for a very substantive analysis of proor of viability and environmental issues that frankly by right we do not have if we make it by right if we Zone this for MBTA we're going to lose a lot of the statutory benefits of 40b that we as a town don't have we're not the state of Massachusetts so I'm not I don't see this as a game Cher if anything the 40b project of Main Street reiterated my position that absolutely should not include Main Street as part of the MBTA work that we're doing and I will add I will add one last point which is that our thinking before the priorities that we set when we started working with the working group as the planning board and select board together was to honor prior elements of this community that we already had public hearings on and we already approved actual projects with density this project no no one has had a public hearing yet no one has approved so to think about it as something that is a game Cher I strongly disagree with I think we we talked about this a little bit at the last meeting if we include that property it doesn't it doesn't impact their 40b they still go for it at 40b at the 25% affordable if they want to if they want to because we have no uh we don't need the threshold but I think but if they don't they would lose they would lose the benefit for them of it of right they lose theity it's a Hu so as Trisha proposed it we we could obviously play with the numbers but it's a drastically lower density that we would propose right it would be a major trade-off for them to sort of pull the 40b and and what they're currently proposing to reduce down to what it would be zoned by right for and then the unless they're in this room to tell us that they're going to agree to the density that we're going to establish by right and withdraw their 40b you're purely speculating we have no evidence of that letter finish but I also think that the it's not we're not saying this is what we're going to do and re and tweak for ftown meeting we're saying let's buy ourselves six months and information gather and give ourselves time because it's not just this property it's also concerns at um plot a and or Zone a and I think that we have the ability to gain more information and mitigate the risks that exist because the only our only path forward to minimize our exposure to 40b is Affordable units in town and we have two projects that are currently approved at 25% affordability that we that would be included in this proposal that we have exposure on if we go forward in this way and it it's sort of I think it was our best it was a fantastic proposal sort of and then now we have additional information and it's it's just a matter of we're not saying let's absolutely include 1060 in the next proposal or for the for a fall town meeting it's just saying let's take a minute and use the time we have between now and the fall to glean additional information and then make a decision is how I understand it and I'm personally all for just sort of getting some more information I I think that's that's exactly right this is not about oh I we have a new plan that we're just not telling you it's about whoa there's a lot of different things that have been happening there's a lot that could happen over the next six months don't we want to use that information to put together the best plan for Ashlin not that we not the one that we thought was the best plan for Ashlin two months ago wait but the best plan for Ashland in six months as close as we can get to having all the information that's just where that's where we sit on the committee after filtering through all this information for six months I mean with all due respect there was a ton of work done by um by everyone to get us here pushing this to fall gives the public very little chances at a second shot because we have a deadline with the state this argument that the better plan is to make Main Street by right is is exactly the kind of argument that should happen at town meeting the spring um I think that would be a really interesting argument to present I disagree with that argument I like to see the Public's reaction to that argument oh instead of making it by right the areas that we've already approved as density why don't we make Main Street density and I have a feeling that's not going to fly now if you want to push it to the fall and you think in six months we're going to have an approved project at Main Street that's naive we're not this project is going to take severe time it is an environmentally complex project project the state regulations are very vigorous for 40b the zoning board of appeals is just starting to look at their obligations there will not be an answer in six months all this will do is push it to the last minute with the state and that's not appropriate but I I don't think this is looking for an answer in that way I I guess I'm having trouble understanding all but I I get the points but adding that site at a different density is not at all an incentive for them to change the 40b it in fact is an incentive to just see it through and maybe negotiate with town to see it through because is is the owners and the developers is in their best interest to get as much density as they want that's what they that's what they're doing they're doing it that's what they're doing otherwise they would have done the project that Richard had had submitted before so I don't think that one is there's nothing to to what we're going to see in that 6 months and that's what I'm trying to understand I know that there's Joe said before there is a litigation on the other side that could be resolved in that period and that would be that's a risk because if if if if it if if if we go ahead and keep it I guess it could become an incentive for them to withdraw it realistically realistically they don't no one seems to expect that litigation to resolve itself in the next six months but if it if if it if the project if it did get the resolved and the project moved forward that's less risk because the project we the project we didn't approve it was the onlyon board of appeals but that project would be moving forward as the town intended right it's important to know that the 1060 project 1060 main project that we were looking at I believe the units had gone down to 180 that's correct is that right 100% y so at 188 I believe the density it's about 8 Acres correct the density would still be the project we were looking at the density was still 23.5 units an acre which that the proposed project is at 32 we maybe not having a right answer on this we could set it as low as 15 so it's really hard for me to understand how a 40b would be dropped at 32 units an acre but yet they could make it viable at 15 units an acre if they could great but I don't see that I I don't see that happening I think the proof of the process that we went through actually proves that that it would not because it was the argument was that it was not feasible then at that number correct and nobody partnered with Rich Gordon to move that project forward he couldn't Finance it correct so you're saying propose it at 15 and take density down elsewhere correct I'm not yeah just to take advantage essentially of the fact that there's going to be high density there anyway right on a project we have not yet approved so um it's a it's an interesting concept the problem I have with it is I we need to meet the state deadline number one number two is we've already have approved areas of density again this project has a history coming in and coming out approve it disapprove it it's a little bit of an unstable history so but that was not this project that was a project that did not have a partner that's specialist on there's we have no we have no evidence of control remember so don't assume it's a different project no I I assume it because it is in in the sense that let's let's let one person talk at a time Marcel can you finish your thought because a a project that that knowing the side and the complications that the site has which which we all looked way back then there's no way to me as an architect I I I and I think we mentioned it back then we were looking at that project so that project is not feasible not as being proposed and and they struggle with it because of that now what what what whatever they end up building here this is a project what that that Richard found a person an entity that does this type of work for for a living and and that that that got the interest only I think because they can do it at a higher density so in other words that that proves to me that there's absolutely no incentive for them to to go back on it the the reason before they withdrawn they withdraw was exactly what what what Richard was lacking that he now has Amanda you were going to comment yeah I think um just to build on these points I think the idea of including it at 15 units an acre Which is far lower than what it had gotten down to when it was before the planning board far far lower than what it's proposed on as a 40b again this isn't about what actually is going to be built right we could include that parcel and have it at 15 units an acre and it could say exactly the way that it is if they withdraw the 40b that's fine I think as a board we probably have enough information to say it's not viable at 15 units an acre for just from the experience of this project and where it its trajectory is so I I view the risk of someone I view the risk of saying like we're going to make that by right and then end up somehow the state and the consultant going to look at this if it's not viable at 15 like is that going to fly like are we going to if we if we use this it's not about what's being built it's just about being built they don't care they just they don't care it's about the Zone they're not looking at a per there's no perform just hedging to say like this is this is a property that is you know it is not going away I think is is what we had said last meeting like it it is it's maybe it does and it comes back in another form like it's not I think the idea that it's going to like completely evaporate forever is probably not true and so I think knowing that you know 15 years Saker probably not viable we include it in our analysis or in our proposal and retain what we what we do have that is valuable elsewhere which is the 25% affordability which we could lose because we have two Parcels in our proposal that don't have building permits out and aren't built and they could withdraw those parcels and complet and do withdraw those projects and do something completely new under that zoning where we lose that 25% affordability I think there's a loss there and I don't see a loss at 1060 but I also think it's not that's not even the decision we have to make today all we have to do today is say like do we want time to consider this given the information that came to us two and a half weeks ago that's correct 100% so the I don't understand why this can't be brought to town meeting and simultaneously evaluate because we will not have any other answers we we're still surmising right and so that it it does need time to investigate and unfortunately like the applications said we knew about this way back in January the town was notified I don't know if that's true but it's on the application so the the notion of a couple weeks ago I I don't think is true it might have filtered down to be considered a couple weeks ago but what's the harm of going to town meeting explaining all of this including where we are this proposal partially accepted reviewed town lawyer looked at it's all good and explaining that there's another option that we're investigating but get it voted on things can change none of the 10 to 60 Main Street will not be given an permit between now and November town meeting the other parcel that's in court I don't think will be decided withdrawn and submit a new application by to me I think that's probably nearly impossible and I don't know about um I guess there is probably possibly Pawn Street but I don't know what the holdup is but I know Peter talks them maybe we can get some more information but I also feel strongly about as I said from the beginning that town once people do not look like it's they're over a barrel you have to the first time I'm seeing it is November town meeting you have to pass or else we're going to be in whatever mitigation with the state getting sued like Milton or whatever if it doesn't pass I I think we're in a very different position position that to comparing ourselves to Milton I think we have we've that that view has surfaced a one a little bit of fighting back and not doing this but generally I think the town has approached it in a very systematic way and also shown over previous years that we are providing housing we are providing exactly the type of housing that they're asking for almost over 55 doesn't count can't be over 55 you know there's some little restrictions that we'd have to take off but we've been providing dense housing my my personal my personal question to myself is is as a person who has been working very hard trying to understand all of these bylaws and how they fit in and going through different iterations and whatever my personal question to myself is how do I how do I put forward something at town meeting and support it when I actually am not sure it's the best solution for Ash and that's what I'd say here and that's what I would say at town meeting that two months ago I thought it was the best solution for Ashlin and now I don't know and as much as I would like I said this before as much as I would like to just cross this off my to-do list and go on with my life I I think I still want to do the best job for Ashland and now I don't know maybe this is maybe this is the best we can do but I don't know if that's true so originally when I heard your comments I was concerned that you were proposing meeting the density by right if 15% is what you're proposing and we know that that's going to remove density at Pawn Street or actually I'm in a butter so I can't comment on that that it will remove the risk at the other sites right so if the M the math can be done there could be a point there like for me how quickly can we do the math how quickly can we see if we do 15% me Street what can we remove from the listan last meeting we were running it and this is the thing right with zoning bylaws right once we put have a bylaw we worked our tail off Alvaro I can't tell you how much Alvaro worked myself Trisha Joe we worked right but in the grand scheme of things you know our whole thing was we're not going to we're not going to include 10 to 60 you know with the whole process we stayed away from it the whole time right and we tried to work around what we've had what permits are already out there right but regarding what the numbers are so you do have a big major compliance model that it takes that's that's a huge process to to run the numbers right it doesn't happen overnight the entire situation is is that we have to come up with these bylaws and finalize them right way before our public hearing and advertis them in the newspaper right so there's just this lag time that goes in and forth this this approach and I'm can to tell you right now as a town planner was the best approach that we could come up with as a town taking advantage of it right but due to these changes things change right and that's what we're trying to do an is we're saying okay the the the the field has changed right it's starting to Tilt at a different angle so let's understand where the angle where the water is going to run and let's catch it and let's take advantage of it and then let's redistribute right and so what we're saying and and we've kind of said a couple different times is um we can re cture the numbers and redo them and reduce that stress other places but we just can't do them overnight right and we can't we couldn't do them at the last meeting in time to change the bylaw yeah well we can't change the bylaw in time correct but we could do the math we could do the math 110 where and that's what I think kind of finished that's what we want to do is we want to redo the math redo the model and see what makes sense with those pieces right now in the meantime I understand Kate your point regarding you got one vote you got one vote you know however we've worked with very closely with the state right we have submitted our bylaws to the attorney general we are working with the state we are trying to work towards compliance so I think we're in a different situation than a Milton right but I can tell you right now as a town planner if we have information for the next coming in for the next six months and we have six months more months of information to run and to calculate and to figure out what is the best option for Ashland I can tell you right now we can come to fall town meeting with a better bylaw for the town of Ashland and that's what we're trying to do and that's what we're trying to get for the town of Ashland and I don't want to think that the town's over Barrel in the fall but I want to say you have this is the best option to move forward into gain compliance but in theory we can come to tell meeting next week with this draft and the numbers of what would happen if Main Street was % we could we we don't need the full draft to have that conversation with the public but but I think it's just the ideas of that because 10 to 60 is just it's just one component what what about what about the other one which is what that's because the only new thing is 10 to 16 so what else could be changed well we have a second 40b that's knocking on our door right so there are other things maybe 501 Pawn Street will go into Construction in the next 6 months that will be that will take away like oh they're going forward right with the with the with the 25% as permitted right so there are there are other things like almost all everything that's not in construction and not built there's something else that could happen I'm not saying it will I don't know all I'm saying is that I would like those facts 6 months from now so that I personally could present what I think is the best plan in six months to the residents of Ashland that's not my choice that's our that's our vote together that's town meeting but that's my personal perspective that I think I have another opportunity to that I think I could do a little bit better given the things that have changed and I agree that with the concerns about you the public and wanting to give people an opportunity I think we all wanted to go for it at Springtown meeting for that reason at I think we were all on that same page I just think this is a very good reason and there are there are you when I'm at the regional collaborative meetings there are a lot of towns deferring to the false town meeting and it's not necessarily for like a super compelling reason like this it's because like there was a glitch with the consultant or the math was wrong or they can't like they can't get it out in time and like that I feel like we're not coming to the town of Ashton in the fall and saying like you know it it things were nuts up for whatever X Y and Z reason so we had to delay to the fall and now you have to decide and again completely understanding those things happen we're not in that situation we're in a situation where we're saying listen you know at fall time meeting we say we think that we we took the time to put a better bylaw together for the town of Ashland to come into compliance with this requirement that we have from the state this is why we're coming forward in the town meet we don't in the fall we're not we are not trying to put the town over a barrel this this is the context and this is what we have now and this is the best and this is why we believe this is the best proposal maybe it's this one that's in front of us now and maybe it's a better one so for me the Crux of it is 30 or 15 because if we're going to push it to fall and we're going to end up with 30 at that site that's a problem because then we're going to run out of time and we're going to present the public with a strict deadline by the state and we could be non-compliant unless we approve high density at Main Street so to me that's that's also a risk right because once we open that up I mean we're not voting today on 15 we're voting to open it up and have a conversation so I think we all just need to be aware once you open it up you could be looking at high density above 15 by this September so but I don't think that we I don't think that the working group would propose density of 30 at 1060 that removes the Strategic Advantage we we're not proposing anything right we're right now we're trying to say let's look at the things that are changing and see right if we can do better maybe we can't maybe we can't yeah let's see if we can do better let's have the opportunity to do better versus throwing away the opportunity to do better and it's that exact point that maybe pwn Street goes under construction and like the risk of that 25% affordability evaporating goes away any of those I guess what I'm saying is I am actually comfortable with that risk if I'm not getting 30% density of Main Street me personally and so I just want to I don't I don't want to be naive once you push this to fall there is a risk that you're going to have high density at Main Street above 15 I but that would happen regardless anyways there the chances that not by right it would be a 40b project that has State regulation including now right now but if you have MBTA proposal it would be by right at higher density but but remember that the mpta proposal is us it's us and we're going to have the we'd have to have the same forums which which we had in this time and we would have the same public hearings and the same disc discussions with the planning board and the select board it's not the four of us just sneakily putting numbers on things right everything has to be approved by the board everything has to be it's dis you know it's like and guess what I'm saying is we already did this analysis we already thought about density at Main Street we already voted against it right so opening this up simply because there's a 40b right in order to Red discuss high density at Main Street is directly contrary to the analysis we already had but I think we're not discussing density and Main Street that way the density is taking place we are reacting to what is happening so that's the this is the Mis misconception you have to let him finish his thought Anna so what I think more on the lines of what Kate was was thinking I think that the the town does have a like there is a pressure on the on the vote but it's not because of this the state is putting the pressure on all these towns to do this or else you lose these grants and that that is the real pressure the the this Vote or the vote on the fall is a decision on do we want to be more um conscientious and fastidious about the numbers to make sure the vote that we are being pressured to take is as as wealth thought out as possible that's really I I I I don't I I I think maybe if we getting too much into the WIS like we are not creating that pressure the pressure was put upon us right by the state so we are reacting and I think if there's a group and I trust this group because I was not part of it but I know there's a lot of work that has been done and by default a project or two projects of 40b that are coming it's a by default is a game Cher to the downtown is game changer I don't know where the other one will be we'll find out but it is it it it is another level of pressure why not consider it carefully I do want to have an opportunity to take public comment if anyone wants to talk about uh MBTA communities and that goes for online as well please raise your hand online if you wish to speak Peter can you watch well can you manage the yeah I'll manage you online but Mr Mark do is at the microphone how much time do I have our meetings only always go long so I'd appreciate three minutes Mark and no more okay thank you Mark the 49 hathon Road it's it's group talking group thinking but but it's a big PowerUp of what NBTA is putting the pressure on set forth the housing excuse me I don't want to yell the housing no wait a second let's get back the zoning before anything goes through has to be Rewritten and weo through town Meen and then bring over to the attorney general and have them then State out what they want to say and have pass a fail the math is the math is numbers but what I'm hearing is two words maybe and if if that can't get past those two words and hoping the Attorney General can get things going this is going to be a round round circle discussion with no in thank you jungen Friday one road um I'm here as a resident right now um I this just boggles my mind truthfully um but I'm trying to understand um there's a couple of questions that I have um if we pass pass it at in the spring if we pass the current proposal in the spring can you then go back and change it in the fall yes yes okay um to because to me so far I mean I think you all know I I hate the whole thing but that's beside the point is you've done a huge amount of work and I've totally respect that I I really really do I can't even imagine having to do it um but I do think that the plan that you've come up with is it incorporates be careful how I say this I guess but it incorporates how it incorporates things that are basically already built or planned for and I think to Anna's Point by opening up 10 to 60 Main Street the worst thing to do there is to allow them to build by right and I and I know what they're building what 40b is this close to that so it's I I don't really honestly know how you're going to come with the answer but I I guess if we go to town meeting and it passes in the passes the spring town meeting and and things change and you really realize that it needs to change then yes we have to come back to fall but for right now this seems to be the best plan for us um my other question is why can't add into the zoning 25% affordable across the board or or 12% or some number I I I I know but why I I don't understand why I I'm just asking the question are um are you asking it in terms of Ashland or in terms of projects at hand um Ashland yeah yeah so I mean we were looking at an inclusionary zoning bylaw um a few years back um that uh that didn't make it through the planning board meeting and so we decided at that time to wait until the comprehensive plan to have more input on the next hopefully iteration of an inclusionary zoning meeting we're not allowed by the state to make the MBTA zones 25% affordable we we actually had a consultant that came in and do did an analysis that gave us the numbers about what would be acceptable for the affordability the state will allow us to do 10% in MBTA districts and I think one zone which one was it Pawn Street the pawn Street overlay district from a financial standpoint would support 12.5% at affordable rate but that's all we can that's all we could put in our Zoning for these areas as part of the MBTA as part as the MBTA as part of the MBTA technically the town can always reone separate from this right we can always be the MBT process we can't go above 10% or 12 for that one District but as part of the comprehensive plan we could have inclusionary Zoning for the entire town or sections of it that are different from what the state considers viable for the NBTA District you just have to remember that there's other complexities with um inclusionary zoning you can't just put a blanket on something and say that now everyone has to provide 25% affordable because it has to do with property rights and the value value of property because as soon as you say now you have to have 25% of your property affordable you've now decreased somebody's property value instantly right because they have to provide for those units thus when we had the inclusion area zoning Proposal Part of That was if you had an increase in affordable units you you got compensated by an increase in density or a decrease in parking things like that so you're trading the value so it's a little bit more complicated you have to trade you have to trade the parking space you can't take away someone's property value with zoning the bottom line inclusion or zoning is a is seen as a density I mean it's seen as a density but SE it's a bonus right so if you're what you're doing is if if you're allowing 100 units you're allowing really you're asking them to build at 110 right so that 10% those 10 units are discounting Excuse me yes those temper those 10 units are discounting the impact on the town subsize housing inventory and there are other considerations too that other communities that have increased their um affordability thresholds are observing that they're experiencing far more 4bs and because developers are just choosing to go the 40b route rather than comply the difference is so small rather than comply so why go go through the town and go to the planning board when you can just do the 40b and have a very comparable affordability number so there's a lot of pros and con I think it's a complicated yeah the now around the head right there there's pros and cons to each tactic right and if you know areas of you know urban areas not Ash right uh east of us right have a have a higher sa have a higher um inclusionary zoning percentile right but also though their demographics their densities their their the value of the the property and the land those are also going to support a higher subsized housing inventory I mean a higher inclusionary zoning percentile and I think you know say it's 15% right um and so yeah what is the difference it's 10% but in some cases yes it's driving people towards a f 40b and they're asking for all waivers of a town bylaw and so there's a pro and a con to everything um that's what I'm pretty that's what a takeaway is so not to take away from anything that you work that you've all done absolutely as I said I totally respect what you've done I know it's hours and hours of work and days and days of work um but it seems to me that the state is now mandating 40b it's now mandating MBTA and it's mandating what we can do for affordable and I think it's just insane so that's just my personal opinion but um thank you thank you for the hard work okay good luck thank you okay all right so um another gentleman sorry yeah uh Curtis Hoffman um hildale Road forgive my naive in this because I'm fairly new to the um historical commission if the total number of units at Main Street were reduced though the number of affordable units remained the same would that not help with the percentages so you're you're saying so if the number of units decrease correct yes so say the project went from 250 to 200 yeah okay cuz I'm looking at a fivestory tall and what's the what was the Second Step but they the number of affordable units in that remained the same as it was when it was 250 correct So within a 40b process a comprehensive permit 20 the and this is a law that hasn't changed since for a long time right so regarding 40b conference and permits 25% of those units in total have to be considered affordable and those are protected to folks making up to or less than 80% of air immediate income which allowed the town to add all 20 units on a rental project excuse me all 200 units on a rental project to the the subsid the subsidizing housing inventory yeah no I understand that yeah so I'm just wondering whether if just hypothetically uh the Main Street project were four stories instead of five but the number of affordable units were the same as it was when planned with five if that would not assist in the percentages that you're trying to achieve but the MTH the mouth wouldn't work though yeah the the problem is that as as the number of affordable units goes up relative to the overall units no I'm not saying the number of affordable oh relative to the Rel right the project is more it's it's less it's less profitable yes for and and so they it doesn't get built ah so that's the other kind of risk in other words yeah you you the numbers don't work out mhm for them they work out nice for us but they don't work out for them okay thank you thank you I misunderstood so um I don't see anyone online our big crowd on these discussions so we do need to figure out what we're going to do with this tonight there are several options and I want to say that because this situation is unusual uh it's way past my level of experience earlier in the week I requested a meeting with our working group and with um Michael Herbert and with um Jen ball to understand to understand things from the big picture to see if I was missing anything from their point of view right um and they didn't they didn't really say that we were missing anything like why wouldn't and Joe and I were both like why wouldn't we wait until fall and they didn't they didn't think we were missing anything in that conversation that there were no risks except for the one that Kate has been fearful of um that there were no risks and in waiting till fall as far as the relationship with the state and and or anything like that right right so um then we had a I had a conversation with me Jen ball and Alo had a conversation with Lisa me to try to understand again the process are we doing things correctly how would we do this um and she gave us some information about ways that we could options that we options for us to proceed as a board and then finally I had a phone call today with me uh Jen ball and um um Adam Schuster the town moderator because because of trying to understand how these complex situations work at town meeting so it's been a very busy week um to try to get all this information to understand the best ways forward our ways forward are one we don't close the public hearing we're in a public hearing right now for any kind of vote to happen we first would have to vote to close the public hearing we simply don't vote to to close the public hearing if the public hearing is not closed the warrant cannot go to town meeting the meeting is not done we're still talking about it we're still thinking about it we're still potentially changing it right it's not done the me the it just stays open the public hearing stays open till the fall or whenever we want to take it up again right option two um we would recommend we make a recommendation to table we we close the we close the public hearing and we make a recommendation to table this warant article um until fall town meeting right whenever ever whatever date that happens on that it will come forward at fall town meeting um option three is that we close the public hearing and we make no we make no recommendation and I believe that was also a matter of that the the town um so with that option the warrant goes goes through because you don't make a recommendation so this has already been submitted so it is voted on I I believe that um that town meeting because it is a um because it is a zoning article the town meeting can't can't take it up because the planning board has made no recommendation that's true so here the the the public hearing is within 21 days of town meeting and so therefore there has to be a recommendation made on town meeting floor by the planning board fourth option is that we vote to approve it as is and the fifth option would be to vote it down as is um that's the one option that I I won't say this that's that's certainly one option that would look very bad at the state level that we turn that we voted that we voted it down so um but if the public voted votes it down at the meeting what is the effect on with the state would they wait for maybe the fall and see if maybe in the fall he passes or no under which if um you mean if we approve it and the town votes it down yeah um yeah you can is the same you can take it up again at at fall you can re as long as the planning board as long as the planning board makes a positive Rec recommendation in the fall then it goes back then it goes back correct now is it how is it going to be seen I'll tell you right now it's probably not going to be seen in the yeah I can imagine bright Sunshine of light you know and and it's probably and uh but I don't think here's the thing I don't think that's the mo of the town right the mo of the town is to reach compliance right so I think U my personal opinion uh if you're asking is that um you know if a if a negative occurred I think it's I think it it would link ashon with a to a negative in it would put ashon yes in a negative light and that but that's not the light where that we're trying to that we that's not the position we're in right we're in a positive position and we're trying to make the best plan for the town I I have to say I'm struggling and the reason I'm struggling is the history of this project is one that is very complex and I'm talking about Main Street where there is multiple years of very close work between the applicant and I'm going to refer to the applicant that we have worked with um and the town relative to this site and obviously there's been continued Communications through this 40b process since January so I'm struggling because I understood the process to be the planning board and the select board work together we had a working group that created a draft for that entity to work together which we voted for and approved and it sounds like that entity kind of separate from the planning board select board vote already sort of has doubts about this work um What entity the the working group so I'm struggling because whatever I vote for there is no person who's ready to show up a town meeting next week and actually support what the planning board and select board voted for so I'm really struggling and I think I will have to abstain from this particular vote because frankly it's extremely contrary to the process that I thought we were going to follow which is planning board and select board came together in a collaborative process we asked for the working group to draft something for town meeting in the spring we voted excitingly for it and now we have a working group that no longer supports it without any vote from the select board and planning board that we are concerned well the the planning board obviously the the the planning board is the one that sends voting uh um zoning amendments through so we obviously we don't need the select board to to send anything through I think the thing is that that um what I would say is that we actually followed the process exactly the thing that we couldn't predict are the things that were outside of our control and so it's a matter of do you ignore those things and plow ahead anyway or do you want to step back and say hey I'd like to take a better look at it now that factors have changed you can feel however you want to feel about it that's why we'll no that's fine I think Rich has threatened 40b for a long time I don't think any of this is a surprise or a shock or some kind of O we didn't know this was going to happen until two weeks ago I think this has been discussed openly for quite some time um it's come up at planning board meetings that 40b is a threat the planning board in Prior discussions with the select board has heard arguments that it's the planning board's fault essentially that we were not flexible enough with this developer and so I don't view this as some sort of new data I view this as a jeopard jeopard of a process that was working really well so I will not be participating in this vote well does anyone else have a um I guess I guess it really depends on how you what what what I wanted to ask um Adam Schuster about was would we have the opportunity and here I'm talking basically about the working group to explain at town meeting why we took the turn that we did you know um and and he it he was figuring out how it fits within the structure of town meeting because that also has a structure but he understood why I was asking for that and he is willing to accommodate that so that it isn't just um nope we're moving on that there's a a brief explanation why there's not a discussion why but there's a brief explanation why um so that's kind of where we stand Deepa you've been The Quiet One on this is it because you're right in the middle kind of I'm torn between the two sides of this um and after she asked as well what happens if the town votes and it goes forward you still have an opportunity for fall to change gears um so I am torn a little bit between the two um I hear your side of it and what an I was been saying but I don't think I have a clear path on this for me is that the and and I don't know how big of a risk it is of the two projects we've already approved but the risk that even if we wanted to change things at town at fall town meeting the risk is still open until that change happens right the risk is still there it's not we get a pause on the risk until we actually decide what we want to do that the risk is still is that is there then for that amount of time so um yeah so I mean is this that you know this is just this is just where we at if there had been no yeah I've explained it enough times so again the the options are um the options are just not to close the public hearing we continue the public hearing until the first meeting in September or the last meeting in August or whatever we want to set set it for that's correct that's correct and then we would read advertise obviously and then obviously that also gives time time and for the planning office to recalculate and to to reali the model understand what's going on at 1060 Main Street at that point you know let that project take take a little bit of shape uh love the second 40b you know obviously we'll get more information on that and then also from the information I am collecting I think they're going to that I am confident there'll be some movement at the 501 pwn Street project and so I think you know if that'll limit if if if project if process there eliminates our concern building permits are pulled right then yeah you keep it in and you can keep you obviously you keep it in and you keep it at that density um and then you could look elsewhere you know within you know look elsewhere in town you know 10 to 60 the second fl0 be a project then you can reone from that point to see okay this is what we need to do and this is where we need to go and it could in what we theore do we is we're depressing the the pressures right off the two projects that right now do not have any building permits out and that's the ugc project and the 501 Street project we by the Fall you're not going to have a permit for 106 minut no you will not have a project for that but you'll know but it'll be it will be filed it will be filed with the zoning Bo of appeals I believe at that point they'll be public heer for that and then you could take that land area and you could build it in at a minimum of 15 units per acre by right then you're adding that into your density calculator what in turn you can do with that right those units that you're plugging into the calculator and is that you're depressing the number of units in the other developments right and so for the 501 Street project right right now we're right up at the 120 we could therefore say okay going to be by right at you know I think it's 23 units per acre so you can drop that down to 17 units per acre so you're reducing the risk that somebody comes in to try to rep permit that entire project to get away from the 25% affordability the math was not done so I'm getting throwing out now I'm just I'm I am taking I've run the numbers so many times Anna that I can I can calculate the numbers in my head okay but I but these are no numbers to to to set a moing on I I want to be very clear that we need to be open that we're not proposing 15% density we're opening up the room for a conversation about density 100% so in the middle of a negotiation because a 40b is technically a negotiation with a developer we letting the developer understand that hey we might give you high density by right so I just want to be clear and not naive I'm not going to pretend that we're going to get 15% there I mean 15 density we could technically get 30 through this process just remember that you would be part of people that would be voting for that I already voted we already had a vote where we already evaluated whether Main Street should have density I already voted I remember doing that with the select board and we decided not to include Main Street in this analysis okay so [Music] um yeah so so but there's really just two options whether we continue the I have five options here but not all of them some are kind of a distinction without a difference right it's either it goes to the spring or not that's a variation within those options that's what they do right yeah one or the other that's really the Crux um so I think that's the yeah uh I think you know where I said I don't want it to go in Spring I want to take the time I want to do a better job I want to get all the information I want to go and fall Anna sounds like she is going to abstain is I I I I'm I'm inclined to agree with you I think I think there's value on that so that's that's my position I I think that I will have to abstain because I feel like this the way that this could play out is just not seeming like good public process and I feel like that's going to um I think we could recover from that by the option of not closing the public hearing and setting a very detailed plan and check-ins and how this is going to go because I feel um we did take a boat with the select board and planning board to go forward and then I feel like my perception of the working group was to bring stuff back to the board not to make decisions so I feel like that a little bit happened and I'm not saying it's for bad reasons but that all matters to me and it matters to me how it's reflecting to the public so um the option of not closing the public hearing with very detailed check-ins plan not what I'm afraid could happen is we're still looking because I know it's a lot of work but there's nothing and now it's like oh it's um October and the first time people are hearing about it again and that that's that's what that would be my concern Kate I can promise you as a town planner that this is not going to sit on the back burner and we continue to work on this through the oh I understand it will be worked on what I my concern is communicating to the public and among ourselves and to ourselves along the way I I absolutely believe you'll be working out and I believe that people didn't stop which is why we're here I I do get that so so you're saying Kate that so if with the with the meeting open right uh if there is a um a consistent schedule of checking in on where the numbers are things so that everybody hears it yes and we're getting better prepared along the way I I could support Reon it's reasonable I can live with that too all right so but I what I'm just going to be clear I don't want to what what would not consider support to me is putting here but we never get to it like I so we I I would make if we're making some kind of motion it really has to be way way better than it's on our agendas we have to figure out how that's really really communicated and on the website and regular so I'm I'm understanding this right right the that process is uh uh by means of its effects um leaving the time for the process to get done or or is different I'm trying to distinguish between I'm not sure I understood the question no you said okay we said what one option is to say no it's going to go to the to the fall town meeting but that's what this alternative one of the five that Lisa gave you that's what this would be doing only with the caveat that Kate says that it would not be just oh we'll we'll pick it up right before that no obviously work's going to be being done not so you're worried about not closing the hearing looking like option five which is voting it down I'm trying to to to understand that this the the the the difference because I mean in in principle I already said it I I agree with you and and I think I I I like the opportunity to get the best option for the town is that equal to this the option of not closing the meeting Trisha the worry actually voting it down the worry that like that looking bad to the state is more about like we as the planning board have like refused to put a Warren article forward and also like are disagreeing with our own proposal essentially that we right I mean I think um the option one about leaving the public hearing open is from from Michael's view from Jen's View and from Lisa me's view was really saying we have something in process here we're just not done with it we get done with it in time we're working on it we're not we're not saying we don't want to do it and they did not cuz that was one of my concerns that was one of the reasons I wanted to meet with Michael and Jen is how does this look from the outside I don't want it to look bad because that's not what we're trying to do we're not trying to not do it we're trying to do it in the best way we can right so they um um both Lisa you know thought that number one is is the is the way that she would go is to leave the public hearing open and for the town moderator's perspective separately he said that that was the best option as well is to leave the public hearing open so that accomplishes that and what Kate just added was that that we have uh an overview of the process continuously correct I yeah I think that's the thing like like like I've been saying it's like I wish I could cross this off my to-do but instead we're having El run more numbers right we don't know what the results of those numbers are yet right we don't know I think and I think they're going to be changing over the months as we get more and more information yeah you know we have an option of changing something in the uh the whole um rail Transit District if you wanted to eliminate that 30% we have that option too well I mean if we're leaving it and that's if we are leaving it open I I want a plan and opportunity to revisit some other things as well that I I believe could be tightened up I I think that's exactly right I mean none of those things have come up in any of these meetings but that doesn't mean that they can't come up as we go forward right it it it opens up to it it opens back up again and like I said I'm well let me be clear I I was a supporter of it bring and I didn't bring it up but I am bringing it up now if this gets some way not at Springtown meeting I would like that Revisited what Revisited um the the rail Transit District thetion that's left open because it was like an overview way maybe not the best way of getting the best um for the town right it was it's something we'll have to look at just just know that as as I keep saying it's not as simple it's not as simple as everything we're describing because there's covenants on the property it's it's layers of stuff so that's why it's you know that's yeah so under the option where we don't close the public hearing the warrant doesn't go forward at town meeting but the moderator is willing to let you give an update to the public and then we also retain it on our agenda for regular updates between now and the fall that's right we would simply be making a motion to continue the public hearing until I guess we would say C what C CA da oh I skipped that one but we can make it sooner an end date yeah without an end date I think the biggest thing the public hear for this right with for the zoning regulations we're always going to have to republish it right to meet the criteria of passing a zoning bylaw in the fall right so I think that's going to have to happen from a from your standpoint Kate is you updates where we going to go you know I think you know if we can have a month right now we have to get through town meeting you know things are very busy here and if we had a month we could say yeah let's change the numbers let's work on it let's plug this stuff into the to the algorithm of the model and then yeah we could come back to the planning board and and give a report and say Yep this is where this could change in the future this is where this could change in the future and in a month we may have more data about the projects that are going on in town so I think that don't close the public hearing like a technicality now for everyone to um essentially save face in a positive way that we are still working and It ultimately though has to get closed because it won't be the same warrant so that that's a technicality but um it it's not like it's left open until the fall right right now we you know but I guess that's where I I'm the one that say I'm willing to entertain that but I want a really really solid plan or or I will be abstaining as well um but I can see how that option makes sense and could work when you when you say you'll be abstaining you mean tonight like I I can't write a solid plan in the next few minutes that we have right all I can say is that I am willing to and I'm sure Joe is as well I will speak I will speak for the I will speak for the working group saying that we'd be happy to have a solid plan about how to proceed you know I mean we we have our own plan that we make and our meetings and our investig mations but I think we're we're trying to do this transparently which is why I brought it up two weeks ago as soon as I knew something about it and our concerns I brought it up I was transparent about it right so um so yes I mean our ultimate goal is to make the best plan for the town I'm not trying to say what that is I'm just trying to say I don't know what it is right now and so so let's figure it out and the more voices we have in figuring it out I think the better I mean in terms of pro like in terms of having a solid process and not being able to do it tonight like just thinking about I don't think the process as the working group did it this last time was wrong I think it was so like if if we sort of mimicked it just with the new information and you know the working group it puts together runs the numbers puts together options comes to the meeting presents the options like I feel like if if that whole process is just like rerun in the next six seven months like that seems to be a way to like keep it you know we had it on the agenda we had it regularly like we were checking in on this topic because it was so important I feel like would that be just sort of saying that or agreeing that like we we would just handle it the way we did this round I that's helpful I I yes and no I mean I think uh I think we we hand handled it really well could we do better sure we can no I think that process was great that's what I'm saying like if we reiterate that but just with the additional information yeah yeah and obviously like I said public forums we want to you know um it's just that we're being yeah we're just being hit by a lot right now and I feel like I'm I'm I feel like we're being pressured to make it a a decision because of these external factors that we're being hit with you know and uh I'm not comfortable with that I can't say I'm doing my best job so so I think the question is when would we we'd be making a motion to continue the public hearing um and do we have to put a date on that like the first week at First do we put a date on it to the first meeting in September that was what people threw out September October November but maybe it would be better the first meeting in August or the I'm happy to say the first me in August I think that's a good point so it's even we start the formal process even earlier and in and in the meantime between may you know in May June July um you know we will be running the numbers and collecting more information and and and we can bring these back things back up to the planning board you know in in a proper time timetable but uh obviously with a with a with a with a fall to meeting probably scheduled late November um but sometimes it's early November sometimes it's early November tell you right now it's an early Thanksgiving it's going to be on the 22nd this year um no I'm sorry it's going to be late it's going to be on the 28 I lied um but uh yeah I think you know the first Mee in August is probably the best bet so so in Fall you will go back with option A that you have in your hand and poten repl is potentially with with 1060 m is that how you'll approach the fall meeting no I'm I mean unless I'm misunderstanding you I'm saying that I don't know what the option is yeah that's why so when you go back would you take it as two options to present to the community or would it no we can't do that you have warrant is a warrant you have to within a public process without within a forum that we open the public forum we had two of them for this for this process we could say yep these these is this is an option to go here to go this way we could present a different set of numbers and I think within that public forum is where we would D gather consensus you know the working group we had two public forums um and we had people at the forums right and and they supported this option and I think that was all done prior to the new information with the 40b proc with the 40 BS and so I think that's but we can take those options to a public forum once you hit the bylaw regul ation you're really kind of roll you need to roll with one option so what's stopping us from swapping 1060 main for the spring for this upcoming town meeting and seeing how the community reacts we can't do that the warrant the warrant's written yep written it's not advertised it's not discussed there that we can't we can't undo what happens if this gets rejected and fall then we're the same thing it would happen if something got rejected in Spring and it got rejected in fall like that could happen too would fail to meet the state deadline that's what would happen which would open us up for losing funding it's a risk that we should be aware of yeah and we can come back in the fall with the same plan that we have today you know we're not going to there's no gold there's no star out we're not going to get a star because we applied because we adopted a only bylaw today you know this bylaw works and I'm going to make sure that this bylaw does work at the state level to make sure that it does get approved so we do have an option to move forward within the fall so um I was waiting for Amanda to come back so she just doesn't I know she can't vote but just so that she can hear what's going on so just we need a motion to continue right now correct I think we' be looking for a motion to continue Community public hearing until the first the first planning board meeting in August thought I saw her coming she's coming back I said she's I just don't want to yeah have things happen while she's out of the room for 30 seconds okay I'll make a motion to continue the discussion the open hearing for the MBTA communities to the first uh plan board meeting in um August is there a second second and a roll call vote de I'm abstaining Marcel I Katherine Jersy I and Trisha Kendall I so we will continue this until August I yeah and we will continue the effort and based on that deep knowledge that we have now we can start looking even broader even deeper at different options to get us like I said so that when we're ready to go in front of town meeting it's not the option that was best two months ago it's the option that was best its best at that time the closest we can get to where we are in in the fall that's what so I I apologize I really I think I have to have a hard stop at 10:30 okay um then we have people here from the umal kind you understand I but I do apologize so so just real quick joa Friday will present uh in your packets you do have a presentation put together by Joan um it is six slides we don't need the slides if you want I can do it real quick if you have just be done uh Jim neelon uh sent over a map and this is the proposed local historical district not on the warrant for this town meeting no we're going to put that forward in the fall so I want Joan to go okay she's we're on for her for the spring meeting next week yeah I'm sorry I'll just briefly say a couple words after she's done came today I'll give you all a chance to look at it I'm happy again at a different time hopefully earlier in the evening when everybody's and then the third thing was the third thing was s by you Joan correct it was a gym this is a preliminary study report draft um and so I don't know if you'll get this tonight but obviously I printed up for everybody to take home and to Breeze through uh and when John's concluded I'll just give you a brief some what we're doing what that's okay okay microphone is yours John okay hello all please don't hold my previous comments against me so it's really good to see you all in person I'm Jon G FR wsha Road member of the Historical Society or historical commission sorry um we're hoping for your support of an update to the demo um delay bylaw hopefully you've had a chance to check to look at it in your packet but if you haven't um currently a person anticipating a sale of their property with a dwelling over 70 years old can just go through the process and wait out the delay there are two changes we're proposing first the property is sold and the new owner must go to the go through the process themselves second if 3 years go by with no approved plan the owner would need to go through the process again we've just basically added a sunset Clause the hope is that you can support these changes to encourage owners of historically significant properties to seek out options that will preserve ashlin's historical buildings that's really that's really all it is so if um if there are any questions I do have a quick one sure it's one that I I think I I made in the past so I I I get it so 70 years is being the threshold for any structure just for the town to potentially evaluate correct whether it's historic or not and it comes before the historic commission they and and they they do an evaluation and say yes it's significant or not no it's not significant correct okay I guess my question is um wouldn't be and I guess this is probably more broad but would would wouldn't be also necessary for the historical commission or with the help of others to to to create a list that is known of what is significant because it's it's um it's kind of spreading the net out without to see what you catch whereas if there's a determination there's a let's say there's a let's say that this is the historic like this but this is a survey and there's a list that the town knows uh very specific houses or buildings that have significance uh would would wouldn't that be the way to address it from a more specific point of view I Jim Neilson uh Ramblewood Drive we already have done extensive work on that it's called the macis list and these properties are listed with the state um it's part of its in the back of the fly that I put out that gives you the actual properties that are considered historical in the town as we inventory more they're added to the list and registered with the the state so what they're what they're how old they are what kind of intrinsic artistic value it has or any kind of architectural um style that kind of thing so the change is just to to extend the demolition delay all this yeah this is just for the demolition delay because what's been happening people have been getting the demo delays and they're just sitting there and nothing's happening I can name four properties in this area right by the town hall they got the delays they waited the 9ine months cuz now it's 12 months but back then it was nine and nothing's happened and so they don't have to go through the process anymore what we're proposing that if nothing happens in 3 years then they have to go through it all over again this is not something that's unique I mean a lot of other towns have this it's just something we should have put in when we amended the bylaw in the first place and didn't think of it until we saw this happen again what what what what is the incentive that you're seeking with that that that that you you make the owner have incentive the the owner is supposedly theoretically supposed to work with us to preserve the property in some way um if they don't we don't have a lot of teeth to do you know it's it's private property you there's only so many so many things we can do but this is a prevent um somebody just just filing this and and and like sitting on it for three years and when they eventually get around to developing it um they'll have to go through the process all over again you understand what I mean it gives a sunset Clause it's a sunset Clause I understand the process I'm just trying to understand the the objective and how the the the potential pitfalls okay it sounds like it gives it sounds like it gives gives a second chance for a property to be saved yes exactly you know versus a one-time deal like you did the demolition delay and now from now until the end of time you can take it down whenever you want but but but isn't that the process of evaluation of a demolition delay like Joan just said before or maybe it was Jim the the the the delay takes place there's an evaluation they go they work with you it's established okay this building is significant or not if that is if that the decision is made then why do you have to go back to do that all over again I mean it isn't that the point of the demolition delay in the first place well I think the demolition delay you know it it there's only a demolition delay when it's judged to be architecturally significant no it's by time right if you're 70 years old no no but they still cons right so whatever property is no matter how old it is it goes in front if if they decide it's it's not architecturally certificate added on to too many times falling down exactly economically in feasible to to to fix it up had that happen we we don't vote on it that just goes and they go their merry away yeah then there's no delay no they can go on demolish it because you you confirm that it's not okay that's the process Hoffman 58 uh I guess the the idea is that we have people who are gaming gaming the law that is they're making they're taking advantage of the lack of a sun said Clause to wait out the process and this would put some kind of a limit on that yeah maybe maybe I said big maybe incentive to work with the town the commission to try to preserve some of it or parts of it or you know there's no there's no incentive to do anything they're supposed to follow all these um you know procedures and possibly move it all this other stuff which almost never happens because of financial reasons for yeah you know but but we have no no teeth to do anything as far as you know enforcing anything so this is just one one tool that we think uh will help the town and hold preserve some of these properties and the hope is that that someone someone comes before us they have the they do the demo delay it runs out in a year they still haven't sold the property but then they sell it a year and a half later and they sell it to someone who would prefer who would like to preserve it who who act and they come before the they come before the historical commission and we say yes you know we'll work with you and we try to help them to find the right help to get it preserved and I think the other the other thing is that um if it if they just run out um over time they have to come back and I think that's the as they said if it's property sold the new owner has to come right do it again yeah and the new owner hopefully will want to do something and that's you know and we'll work with them and I think the the heart well or not but I think that the hope is that um either we help the person who is trying to sell their property find a person who wants to buy it to preserve it or we help them to figure out how to preserve it themselves and we're trying to give that a second option was it just a second or that's in perpetuity does it renew time again or just one time for the same honor it's just one time I think I believe that's the way it's written it but if it changes hands if it changes hands clock starts restarts yeah yeah okay correct yeah okay okay and I'll just say um while I'm standing here um what this is is um we've hired a consultant a professional are you done I don't know oh I'm sorry oh you're sorry does anyone else okay any have any questions anyone have any questions question I question about this but when you get to it okay all right okay go ahead sorry just I'll be brief um because it's late um like again I'm Jim neelon I'm the chair of the historical commission and um when I first we first Recon uh cons configured the commission again back in 2019 um I was on the uh original board um and you know we have no histo we have nice signs on either end of of Main Street saying welcome to Historic ashin and those are just signs they don't signify anything someone just put them there um we do not have a local historic district and I was looking around with all these demo delays going on the only thing that preserves these local houses the the historic places like the town hall right here is not even the national register of of historic buildings it's a local historic district because that is the only only way that they're saved by the state in you know forever um there's a lot that goes into this um I I want I would like every I'd like to come back when we have more time so I I could take all your questions about what this actually entails but just briefly the map I'll give you the outline of what we're proposing will go from the Historical Society the ocean house across the street to the mill buildings yes I know it's all the mill buildings it's got to be contiguous that's the whole point of this it's a district that's contiguous uh the mill buildings whether they preserve some of the Granite structures or not that's still there um down the church the buildings next to the church around the corner down to a library next to uh Erica stopping there going back around um up Street to left on Main Street to Homer AV to the old train station across the street to the brick buildings so are still going to remain uh then we go up to the Post office then along Main Street back towards the ocean house to The Corner Spot here we're not including the buildings on with a bagel table is not like that because that's all been redone that's all new construction um now not everything in this district is going to be historical that's the first question I get like the the cleaners for example or the liquor store um but they're placeholders so if anybody wants to come in there someday and put if it's in the district they'll have to conform to what the district bylaws are and this would be a set of bylaws as a separate commission from the historical commission it's a local historic commission District commission and it'll have like bylaws and guidelines of what they can do to the outside really only allowed to deal with the outside structure of the structure what they do with it usage Interiors none of our business it's what you can see from the street as long as it's to preserve the character of what's left of downtown ashin you know so that's and other thing like what happened on the corner here doesn't happen in the down we and the reason we picked downtown first I mean Ash's got a lot of historic houses but they're spread out all over the place and we have to go through we get two-thirds of the town uh meeting vote and some some places like Somerville they'll do individual buildings um as a historic district because they can because they're a city council and it's a lot easier to get the thing past um here because everything's so spread out we figured that it would be easier um and there's also less residences in the downtown um because we're not about take we're not into taking anybody's property rights away or anything like that it's just simply the facade and the things that would be put into the um the bylaws there's some examples in here to be voted on but uh we wouldn't be concerned with like paint color or uh you know or air conditioners or siding siding or any of that stuff as long as it conforms why not why because uh a lot of that stuff is can be up to the individual we don't have like sturb Village out here it's already a hodgepodge of different styles and different colors and someone said at the meeting once uh well we don't want somebody to paint their house purple well we already have a purple house in the in the district and I she doesn't have to change it she'd be grandfathered in but that's that's kind of where we're going with that I I personally uh we don't like we don't have the prettiest downtown but it's worth preserving what we do have um as far as in some of these structures the histories are in here too are very historic and have been here since I mean the town hall is the oldest building in town I believe uh that's still used as a municipal building uh there's a few houses that are older but uh the church we don't know what's you know whatever is going to happen down the line then the uh the new owners or present owners will have to conform to that so I have two question go ahead go ahead um my question is just I was looking at this list and I was curious like 949 Homer for example yeah you listed that as contemporary style is there a reason like one or two properties in this list fall in that style as a contemporary style and why would you consider that theoric property the pre the preservation is she does this for a living her name is Stacy spies and she's from Hoppington but she does this all over the country that's the the uh the uh the name that she put on it because it's not not like I said not everything's going to be quote unquote historic contemporary style or different yeah go the terminology is contributing or non-contributing elements that's the language that the mass historical commission uses yeah and so that would be an example of a non-contributing yeah and therefore would not be subject to the regulations of the local historical district commission 9 to1 would be is I believe that's the brick building but that's the old eert drugstore and that's that's that's as is and that qualifies on its own as its own yeah style whereas you know which is completely different from the town hall or the house at the Ocean House Down The End of the Road there you know the different style so it's not going to conform to anyone's style and this does not also say that you have to preserve the facade as is but you have to try to preserve the facade is is what can be seen from the street okay so the for example if they wanted to put something in the back where you can't see it that's that's out of the district's purview um if it's already there it's out of the districts per of you but only if it's contributing as long as it's yeah yeah you wouldn't do it with the dry cleaners no no no but if the dry cleaner goes away and somebody wants to put something there it would have to conform to the district okay they couldn't put a a you know five three-story apartment building right there yeah not that they would but you know I don't think they have space but if they took the liquor store in that who knows you know so uh this will be out for public hearings the next part we are going to submit we got a vote on this and we will be submitting it to the state Mass historical commission for their feedback and eventually there's a whole process it gets approved by the Attorney General's office and eventually once it's all approved and voted on a time um at town meeting uh it'll be registered in the registry of deeds it'll be attached to every property here as part of the part of the property every contributing element property yeah yeah yeah so I just two questions I I in principle I agree that this is the right area to do it downtown I'm not sure about the the the details of what you just said um because I agree we don't have the preious downtown or or or or structures that are it's a m with some exceptions yeah that are like really um that significant um so so I I guess the IDE it would be ideal that that the the change incentivizes to to change what is not contributing not significant to become uh something that that is harmonious with that but my question to me it's just jarring to see the geometry of these district and I want to know what what what is the why you get to here and take take a turn if if we have a district my sense of a historic district would be like or the downtown if you will would be to have a recognizable boundary that you say okay you're entering like the sign uh and from all sides when you go in all these different directions it seems just theography that's topography the assessor Lots no it's not because in some some Lots you get to the middle of the lot and then you turn the corner and don't I don't know if that's complet I don't know if that's completely accurate like on this one for example yeah which one this is the topography here and and and by Homer renue is the same but then you turn the corner just include this one but not that one and and that goes all over the place the's say behind the library well that road is the one they the the library and next to the library Erica's no behind because that's included right we're not going behind the library that's just that's just included as see my point yeah like like here you go like that and maybe not this peninsula but the topography around here is the same but you go like that even but isn't it about looking at isn't it about looking at the street facade and not the plan I know it looks it looks kind of yucky on the plan right but it's about looking at where you're trying to protect the street facade right I think that's one of the considerations cuz the plan doesn't matter you know or but does it because I'm seeing that the the street I I agree that that there's the value of of of a pedestrian scale or textures materiality that's all important no doubt but but the the especially the I mean this town has an industrial birth right and and and is more like the the district itself yeah the the street and the facades are important but it's more of like like the experience of what is the historic district if if if if I can recognize it if I if I can if I can walk around and say okay they St District there's a boundary but but it's not like that and I get I mean I think it's just a because this isn't coming up obviously next week no this is so so it's just a point taken can I me just make one one comment to that because so Stacy spies said something to us that made a lot of sense and maybe this will help you to to picture it if you the the intent of an historic district is to be able to stand in the middle if you put yourself in the middle of the road in the middle of that district and you looked around that those are the historical buildings not so much the back of the building and the back of that you know it's not the it's not the the squares of the of the plots it's the the side of the whole downtown I also think we have to be careful because a lot of what's not in it is private residential versus what's in is actually quite it's more likely to be commercial and publicly owned that was exactly the point also that that is that was exactly the point we didn't want to include too many residential uh houses in this one because I mean they're other candidates for a neighborhood that could be but then you run into everybody you know worrying about taking their property what they can and can't do with their land however this is why we wanted to do downtown the commercial area and the public buildings first so that people could see that it's not the end of the world kind of thing and we've done it I mean yeah I think this is more likely to fly that H me relative to that I I have to say there's streets in Ashland like I that are like historic is obviously uper a definition and this is based on the state the state thing which I appreciate because it's kind of subjective otherwise so I like that I like the fact that there is like a state piece to it this is a state uh project we have to get approve from the state um and this is I mean I I've been to a couple different seminars run by uh the mass historical Commission on getting this going yeah I think we should we should just realize it's not people have tried to do this for years in Ashlin and it just gets stalled at one point or another we had a lot of stuff inventor back in 2010 which you can you can see online and some of that's Incorporated in here but we had about about seven or eight other properties added to that which went into what I spoke earlier of the macas list which is the the master list of historical properties in the state the one thing I was going to suggest is when you and I haven't read this entire thing but you may want to my understanding is that when you get State recognition there could be grants and other things that are available to us I would put that front and center like page one because that's a massively related to Economic Development yep um so like well this kind of dub tails in with a comprehensive plan the downtown revitalization the whole thing um I I think the timing is kind of ctitious so it's serendipitous thank you Kurt the I was looking for it's too late for me to speak to me it's important to underline it's not like a random thing it's actually State based state has to approve no no this is state approved y yeah so I'll I'll be happy to come back um we're going to be doing a couple of forums we'll be at the farmers market uh we'll be at Ashland day hopefully it doesn't get rained out this year I've got a big blown up map of that that little map there that Peter helped me make a while ago that uh you know for for educational purposes and one other thing we've done a we're in the process of doing like a fold out a walking tour of that area with QR codes so we're going to put those at the Town Hall the library blah blah blah people can take it out and give to give themselves a SE self-directed tour of a lot of these properties when you just put the co you know the phone on the code give you the whole macros listing will come up in the history of the building and all that stuff so that's almost done do you need anything else from us I just have one last thing and that is if I don't okay thank you I'm like to take them please feel free we are having restoring I would say next time when you need to come and talk about this remind us how that you were patient and waited and demand to be put on first thank you no one does can I ask one question about this like if there's some consensus that the planning board likes this concept I think it might help us as we comment on the 40b I don't think I don't think we should jump into a vote for something not a vote okay but that's fine we can yeah I mean yeah so I will be I will be looking at some point U with with this application from letters of approval from the select board and from the planning board so if if you agree that I at some point down the line I'll be in touch have more meetings yeah yeah yeah I'll come back and we can uh talk about that time okay okay because they do want to see the the state wants to see that the town is kind of behind this sure you know you want to have a yes vote before you yeah okay app thank you the only other thing is our on our agenda is the specialized code just just right now I I would personally recommend that we just don't take a vote on it we don't have to right we obviously have different opinions they haven't asked us to take a vote yeah we obviously are in different places we can discuss it more if we want but if we're going to take a vote obviously this is the only time we had before town meeting and I'm just throwing that out there I'm happy not to take a vote on it we we're not obligated to it's 10:40 you guys you guys know how I feel about it so of feels that way but just not no I I mean I I don't know I don't think it'll it's it's not going to be a unanimous voice a unanimous vote you want take aot right now but I'm I'm fine again I'm looking for I don't feel like we need to if if you three feel like we need to then we'll take a vote sorry what are we voting for potentially specialized code if we're going to offer the planning board support of the specialized code it's not a zoning Amendment we don't have to do anything we could speak individually if we want at town meeting I think if we're not required to do it at this hour I would not do a vote just for the sake of a vote I I agree I just want to make sure we're not going to say that we didn't support it by not voting like we're just completely silent and we're up to individual citizens is that correct that's that's my belief yeah the board is not we're not going to gu well I don't I I don't think that well I don't want I that was the question I don't think we should be presenting any position from the board not agnostic not yes not no what is agnostic no faith I would I would I would say that the V you know if asked which I don't have to say anything at town meeting I would just say that the planning board did not take a vote we you know we we had we had discussed it at various times over various meetings but we didn't take a vote so and I would email Ash just to piggyback on that just to say hey Ash just to give your heads up the Plenty board did not vote and we are not making a motion to go one way or the other just so as doesn't present at town meeting that the py board voted to support and to not support I don't think he would do that but I would just be clear that we would not want him to portray that the pl board voted to support indor voted to not sort so but if someone feels strongly that we should vote then I mean honestly almost 11 o'clock at night I think the messaging should be the planning board did not have sufficient time to discuss and vote this we're sorry like that's the proper message we're not required to take a vote everything we can speak individually as individuals and not as the planning board if we did so wish at the at town meeting right yeah get out of here see you later have a good evening have a good evening all right morning I think I think that is actually the end of our agenda unless I mean I have public comment Mark you spoke once are you good with that yes thank you make a motion to adjourn at 10:43 p.m.

two one good evening everyone and welcome to the ashin select board meeting for April 17th I apologize for the delay we're having some technical difficulties hopefully everyone has been able to join us at this point remotely and we're ready to begin I will um we'll start with the citizens participation is there anyone here for Citizens participation uh either on remotely raise your hand uh anybody um I'm not seeing anyone here uh for Citizens participation we'll um we'll go to our first agenda item which is the Comcast ascertainment public hearing good thank you all right um I will you know that reminds me I will um this meeting is being recorded and broadcast live by waca TV and line stream on Facebook remote participant available using the zoom video conferencing platform any disruption with this platform will result in us uh either shutting down the platform or removing uh the offender from the meeting okay a meeting will be broadcast on waca TV and live streamed on Facebook Okay so the first um we're a little late with this um public uh hearing but I will read the uh legal notice uh the town of ashin Select board is cable television license issuing authority under under mgl 166a will hold a public cable license renewal ascertainment here on April 17th at uh will be at around 7:30 at Town Hall as part of the town's uh Comcast cable license renewal process interested persons May attend and directly participate remotely through um this link that I've talked about um the other thing I just want to do to introduce it um this is our hearing on Comcast as cable license renewal and federal and state law require the holding of a public hearing for the select board to consider approval and execution of the town's proposed Comcast renewal license this is uh the Public's opportunity to have an opportunity to comment on the renewal and provides an opportunity for select board to vote on the we will be voting on the proposed renewal all right so um I'm going to at this point turn it over to um um bill uh Bill August who's our representative in this and he will I think introduce the Comcast uh contact person who is also here I believe so uh Bill why don't you take it away thank you very much uh we this hearing by the way does follow a prior uh public hearing so it it is a second one and I just mention that because at the um uh first public hearing um there was very strong uh testimony um in in in favor of uh the license uh continuing to provide uh funding for the uh local uh uh television channels uh the public educational governmental access channels um as well as many other uh uh consumer protection uh needs and interests and license Administration interests um substantively I substantively the the license has met uh the needs of the town and and I'll just mention some of the the highlights that give us a very very high confidence level about this um and I I'll mention at the outset Katherine Maloney the representative of uh government relations representative of Comcast is here um and I would like to at the outset thank Comcast for being very fair negotiation Partners I also see that Barbara Chisum is here and I think that should be noted because Barbara is uh the experienced um uh executive director or manager of the three local channels and local studio and we also thank her uh we being the town for the public I'm the legal counsel to the the town of Ashland Selectmen the issuing authority and uh barbar uh con we consulted with Barbara in great detail about their equipment um and Technical needs and budget needs and we have a strong vote of I I want to speak for Barbara but I this is so important to the select board because I I know from representing Ashland for like 20 years and through about three or four licenses that the select board has consistently you valued having a vibrant local studio and the government meeting coverage and the sports coverage and we have Barbara's uh Barbara will speak for herself but I know that I have uh my recommendation is in part based on hearing directly from Barbara that uh we have uh uh you know a very strong package here and in terms of the the the facts and numbers the annual uh funding the maximum permitted under the federal cable Act is 5% of gross revenues and that's what we are negotiated we have that in the existing license so we're continuing at the 5% and we are grateful to Comcast for that we could not do better in that that category which is the uh primary source of funding the second major source of uh financial support for this you know very uh uh important local uh channels is the capital and Equipment fund and also in this license we did better than we have ever done previously the expiring current license had to uh uh funding uh allocations for this what's we call the capital budget separate from the 5% and uh this uh renewal license uh Capital funding is approximately 25% higher than the prior license despite some loss of subscribers due to cord cutting so you know we're very confident that those are good numbers in terms of the you know thousand And1 little terms and conditions and not so little covering everything from you know uh restoration of the street after Street Cuts uh RightWay management uh you know five different kinds of insurance coverage and performance bond and annual reporting on complaints and the whole non yards through everything we are using a uh a licensed document um which has it's not the Comcast boilerplate it's really the municipal draft that we started with and we're also grateful to Comcast for working off our draft it's also Comcast draft to the extent that although it is not the comast spoiler plate it is a municipal generated uh draft that we have vetted and have the uh the test of time we've used a very similar document in about 15 of the last renewals we've done with Comcast over the past two or three years so we have a certain uh experience level and comfort level with the document for the benefit of the public I'll mention a lot of people ask why don't we have more competition um it is a non-exclusive license just like the last license uh you know we do have competition from Verizon but there is no exclusive everyone assumes there's exclusivity why are there only two companies or why is there only one in some towns it's a totally uh an unequivocally uh a non-exclusive license and in in addition to the annual funding I I would like to and the equipment funding mention one other substantive Point that's very significant um um this license provides for the first ever uh Community Channel that will be in high definition the current three local channels are in uh standard definition and everything is evolving towards high definition including the Studio's equipment they have production equipment to cablecast in high definition they haven't been able to use it for high so this will have high definition I forget if it's in 24 months or 36 but it um and it's uh the town should this language about the town confirming uh that it wants the company to install that so there should be a uh uh a reminder to the company to proceed with that um so that that's where I stand I feel pretty comfortable with it going forward the you know there is cord cutting going on uh people are migrating to uh some of the new technologies that are coming down the pike and that does create some uncertainty for the future so in terms of like long-term thinking I know that Barbara and the town you know have to keep an eye on that because we're hearing about Studios that're getting creative as the cord cutting continues cable still is you huge I mean it has you know with cord cutting and loss of subscribers they still stand as the single biggest uh infrastructure so it's not like it doesn't take away the need to continue with the cable license it's still the biggest infrastructure going up and down your streets for telecommunications and Communications it's enormous but it's but it's decreasing in size and people and that means less revenues and Le less revenues to Comcast means the 5% of revenues you get for the operating budget is going to continue to uh e and slip there will be some slippage so that has to be looked at in terms of uh access corporations looking for uh grants and uh uh um you know uh underwriting sources and uh some towns are seeking you know to to slightly supplement the budget one way or but it's overall good and I congratulate the the uh the town for it the last thank you I want to say which is the most important to me is because I couldn't uh Michael Herbert Sue Roby Diane mornon uh at every Twist and Turn they're so they get back to you with uh suggestions and and the details and the support you know to keep on uh plotting through this kind of long-term process so they were fantastic and Mike even took you know and and Mike did some of the important heavy lifting like there were some basic uh uh infrastructure issues about undergrounding and getting things over uh railroad tracks or a bridge that had to be worked out and Mike handled a lot of that very proficiently with uh Kathy Maloney so I'm very grateful to them uh you know they're they're they're perfect team for this that's all I have really thanks Bill so um is there and this is a public hearing so we'll move to the public soon but I think Barbara did you want to say anything um thank you rob um I just want to say thank you to Bill August Michael Herbert and to Comcast for negotiating negotiating us a very um great package which will help us keep our operation moving forward and being able to continue to serve the town um for the next 10 years so we thank you all for that and um we look forward to uh working with you all with all of you thanks Barbara and I think we appreciate the efforts uh your efforts and everyone else uh associate with the studio um is there uh any anyone else uh who wishes to speak on this at this public hearing about the renewal of the light license uh if you if you can use the raised hand function I think we have everybody we can see everybody on the screen right now is that right so at this moment I'm not seeing any raised hands um and there's no one in the audience that wants to speak on this um so I guess I will I think um in the public hearing part of this I don't know if we have to close the public hearing before the board makes comments so I guess we'll need a motion to close the public hearing I'll second that motion's been made and seconded all those in favor of closing the public hearing say I I oppos None So the public hearing is closed so board discussion on this I have a motion to accept but any questions or discussions about this before we move to to the vote to renew the license uh Mr chair just as long as Barbara's happy with the uh contract and uh ACA can work within the boundaries of that contract and then I'm happy with it as well we okay with that Barbara yes uh okay great youand go ahead no I was just going to see if there's no one else then I would go and make a motion the only thing I would say is just um you know thank you to everyone who's been working hard on this um and thank you to Comcast for being such a good partner with the town um and you know waca TV is a great partner to us um and we rely heavily on on them to help us communicate to the public and um so we're we're looking forward to working with Comcast for the next 10 years so thank you thank you okay any further discussion ask for I'll ask for a motion I move that acting in its capacity as the statutory cable television license issuing authority pursuant to Mass General laws chapter 166a and finding that the cable license renewal proposal of Comcast cable communications Management LLC reasonably meets the license and cable related renewal needs and interest of the public and town and finding that the Comcast financial and Technical qualifications and Comcast support for the local programming Channel Studio facilities and services are reasonable to meet Town cable license needs and based on support for continuing Comcast as a licy serving the town that the Ashland select board approved the Comcast proposed non-exclusive renewal license effective July 13 2024 immediately following the expiration of the current license on July 12th 2024 great thank you is there a second to that motion I'll second that motion's been made and seconded all those in favor uh of renewing the license as stated say I I opposed none the license is passed unanimously thank you all right thank you Bill and thank you bar thanks thank you all thank you for being such a supportive town to the whole project thank you thank you for doing it thank you thank you B thank you everyone thanks bar Catherine thank you take care um the next item in agenda is the proclamation um um May is mental health awareness month so I'm going to I'm going to read the proclamation um it's ALS uh May is mental health month in Ashlin Massachusetts whereas mental health is an essential part of overall well-being impacting individuals families and communities across Ashland middlex County and Massachusetts whereas one in five American adults experiences a mental health condition each year and everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health uh whereas despite its prevalence me mental health remains shrouded in stigma preventing many from seeking help whereas early intervention and access to Quality Care are crucial for managing mental health conditions and improving quality of life whereas May is recognized nationally as mental health awareness month provided an opportunity to raise awareness combat stigma and pro and promote Mental Health Resources therefore we the select Board of the town of Ashen do hereby Proclaim May 2024's mental health month in ashin Massachusetts uh we encourage all residents of ashin Massachusetts to educate themselves and others about mental health conditions treatment options and available resources challenge stigma by speaking respectfully and inclusively about mental health seek help if they are struggling with their mental health encourage others to do the same support organizations that provide Mental Health Services and advocacy create safe and supportive environments for open conversations about mental health together we can create a community where everyone feels empowered to prioritize their mental well-being and seek help when needed um signed Robert chair chair Ashlin select board um any comments or um thoughts on that I think we're all proud to issue this Proclamation and understand the importance of it so all right all right thank you well all right so the um all right the next is um public discussion about the sanctuary at Ashen Mills um the 40b project located at 1060 Main Street and as I think um as most of us are aware we started our process what about two weeks ago about putting together uh the public process in in uh discussing with the the uh the developer and Mass housing uh and our local boards uh about this project and um this is a discussion of that um just kind of a a touchbased discussion about that process and an update I think we have some more information to impart that uh I'm not sure what's already been uh put out on the town manager's newsletter I I understand we've gotten a number of um uh comments already and Michael do you want to just update and talk about the process that was discussed uh by this board on Friday about the um the for and things like that sure I mean do you want me to just kind of give a overview of the process probably makes sense in general review things um so okay as Rob mentioned uh the town was notified a couple of weeks ago by Mass housing which is a subsidizing agency that they had received an application from SLV development uh that they for a site eligibility letter uh for a development at the Mill site which is at 10 to 50 Main Street um Ashlin Mills uh that development was uh a mixed use development that consisted of 250 units uh 25% of which is Affordable um in basically a a building that can reach up to five stories tall if you look at it from the street it's actually six stories tall from know the the sunken um section of the U of the property and so what and Mass housing let us know that that we had received that and that's important because that is the first step of what they call a 40b process um and a 40b process it's also known as a comprehensive permit process and that is a law 40b is a law that's been on the books since 1969 and what it does is it promotes affordable housing by allowing developers to override local zoning and local bylaws to build developments that have at least 25% of their units designated as affordable so that mean when I say supersede or override local zoning what that means is that if the town has a zoning in downtown which it does that limits height to three stories a 40b application a developer doesn't need to abide by that they can go up to like in this case five stories and not have to necessarily worry about obtaining uh local approval to do that um again it's super preds the zoning so all the rules that a community puts in place um to help regulate growth and regulate development is basically for all intents and purposes null and void uh in the case of a 40b process um that's that's a very very simplified way way of putting it and so what happens now is Mass housing has asked us to provide comments as the community towards this on this application and uh they've graciously given us a 30-day extension so those comments are due on May 29th and so what happens is Mass housing reviews those comments they review the site physically which they've already done a site walk and uh so after reviewing that they will make a decision whether or not to issue what's known as a site eligibility letter uh and in almost all cases they do issue that and that is the green light for the developer to go ahead and submit to the town specifically the town zba an application for 40b so like I said that's a long way of of saying that we're in the process right now of determining basically our comments to Mass housing as part of the site eligibility process so what we've done is we've put the materials online and we have provided a comment form that residents can utilize to Prov provide comments on the proposed development um I have asked boards and committees uh to evaluate the um the project and provide comments to the select board uh by May 8th um and then we have also decided that we are going to hold a public forum on May 7th to talk about the project itself and collect further public comment um and that will be right now the the details are to be determined but we anticipate having that in this room starting at 700 p.m.