Select Board: March 5th, 2025

001e e e test test test hello hello hello want us to get closer e e e we have also put it in it's posted in the senior center in the monthly newsletter that started in February and that's continuing ongoing until our membership is up um I personally went to one of the more well attended lunches were about 45 people and said to the people there we are here for you you you would be great members to be on our Council on Aging please join us and I gave everybody a little reminder in case they wanted to join as to when the the uh meetings were which is the first um Thursday of the month at 10 o'clock um we have a couple of members who are in both of the Lions Clubs and they are

002presenting to their Lions Clubs members that they There's an opportunity for people to join the council and to spread the word and also people there are certain people have said oh there's someone I know that I might think might be interested so we are continuing to do that and though the newsletter um reminders will continue to go out we have had uh four people have put in Talent Bank forms and uh I have an sent invitations to multiple invitations to those folks and a reminder on Monday that tomorrow is our next meeting um H so thank you for considering our vote we want to make sure that we as a council can continue to function in other words to have a quorum on a monthly basis and if we are met with the problem of

003having more people interested than could currently fit at the at the reduced size we would be more than happy to come back here and say you know what we think we should expand the council because we have a lot of interest so we we are just that you know we are taking it is part of our consent agenda tonight to reduce you from the 9 to the 7 so that will be happening by the end of our meeting okay terrific uh and one other thing the Council on Aging is for a second year has a community hero award that with the help uh of Susan Roby has been put on the Council on Aging website nomination forms it can be a senior who has done public service and volunteerism for the ashy Community or it

004can be an individual a group or an organization who has done particular work to support Ashlin seniors so I would like to invite all of you to go on that website if you think of anybody who you would like to nominate please do that and as well as the wider audience thank you very much for your time great thank you Don I appreciate a really quick question sure go ahead back before sorry um so just just for the people that are watching can you talk a little bit about what the Council on Aging does and what kind of like if if there's programming or things that you know what what people um what your what Your Council does yes the Council on Aging as I said it meets once a month our meetings generally last

005about an hour and a half two hours maximum and our primary role is to uh provide advice councel support um you know commity Community connections to the for the senior center and to support the senior community in Ashland the uh Senior Center Director and her staff meet with us on a monthly basis and we go through the programming we talk about their needs we kick around ideas um we help Advocate or bring up um you know cons any concerns that we might have or particular concerns about particular seniors groups of seniors trying to expand our reach um you know in support of the ashin senior community anything else thank you uh so just a [Music] reminder which one are you you're Town Hall okay um yes so I just wanted to say we're seeing a

006lot of stuff on our screen if you're on Zo you're seeing that as well our Board of Health yesterday did have some Zoom bombing so we are not letting anyone take their cameras off uh and okay um so we're not we are not allowing you to take your video off and we are not allowing you to unmute we will unmute you that is why if you want to share uh during Community participation you need to use the raised hand feature if you're not sure where that is if you look at at the bottom of your screen where it says reactions you push that and at the bottom it has the raise hand feature so you can go ahead and um raise your hand uh seeing none right now oh okay um we're going to keep

007moving forward there's some stuff going on technically but that's okay we have a legal update Lisa me our lead Town Council is here Lisa welcome uh make sure you turn on that microphone and pull it a little bit closer to you there you go uh to give us an update on all things legal thank you very much Madam chair and members to the board at least some things legal anyway legal um so um just to start off I'm going to go through um high level some litigation that you know obviously is not strategy but just to tell you where things are um so you might recall that case with NSTAR and eversource energy um that we haven't heard anything since 2021 and we continue to not hear anything which is good for the town um

008so they've not had any recommended decisions at this point not really sure what's happening but that's where that is um the um the issues with Burnham Circle are being worked out um so hopefully that'll be settled um in short order there is a draft settlement agreement that's been circulated and um so hopefully that will be resolved um ugc and Gainer uh there was a trial uh on the case of U GC versus gainor um about four weeks ago now maybe three four weeks ago and um we participated in that we had some witnesses that were there um the judge indicated at the close of the trial he thought that there would be a decision within the week or so um well because it was because of the kind of the decision they were taking verdict

009slips and not actual like not an actual findings of fact um but that decision hasn't yet been rendered so oh um we're still waiting on that um the other case is Gainer versus ugc and the zba which we are party to um and that is um gainor's um challenge of the 40b approval and um of course the that case hinges on the decision of the other case because the case is challenging whether or not ugc had site control the other case is about the purchase and sale agre so um but that has um that is supposed to um have a trial this year there is a pre-trial conference scheduled in April so it's you know one hopes that the ugc versus Gainer case comes out soon so that will help um resolve or dissolve um

010the other matter so that's what those are it could it could I mean the the bottom line of the case the zba case is that there's no site control and if the court says the pns was valid and awards the pns accordingly then that's the end of that right um we have been very busy with the town uh since last fall um buying and selling and exchanging real estate so um we of course closed on the faford property at the end of the year um the uh we've closed on the purchase of the uccc land recently um we are haven't yet closed on the conservation restriction purchased by the subb valley trustees because the conservation restrictions being reviewed by the Commonwealth and so um until that's done there won't be any technical closing on that

011but that's in the process um as you know as part of the Main Street project um there is a lot of underground utility work happening in order to help facilitate that next door with the Kramer property um tonight you're going to have on your agenda the granting of an easement to Kramer to allow his utilities to come through the driveway at Town Hall um so we've been working on that um it's been a very interesting process um related to tital issues so if that's something that you're interested in like we are um that's been an interesting process nonetheless Diane actually has been the motivating force behind that and so that's just about done and hopefully we'll be have that all resolved and recorded by next week so that won't hold up that process at all

012uh the Hopkinson Land Trust Parcels that um were finally approved uh at town meeting uh the attorney for the Hopkinson Land Trust has all of the Deeds that we drafted for that uh and we're waiting on his review uh we had an exchange um yesterday actually um he's out of town until next week so we still don't um we don't have their approval of it but one once they approve then you you're going to have a vote that says you accept it and we'll go forward from there so I don't I don't see anything in the in the way of that uh and then uh the final thing of course is theou and the lease with firmingham state with the Warren Conference Center that Jen's been taking the lead on um and I've been helping

013her out with the theou and the lease agreement so that's um that's actually coming around full circle as well um additionally um we've been doing various troubleshooting with the old fire station next door and the um soon to be opened um Brewery um couple of weeks couple of weeks um but if you need a pallet go next for um the we've been very busy with um the planning department um obviously we did a lot of work to get the NBTA zoning passed in the fall um the uh Adu zoning uh will be up the revisions for the Adu that were as a result of the changes in the law at the end of last year those final regulations um were adopted at the end of January and so um Pete's working on revising the um

014bylaw and I've been working with him so that'll be on the Springtown meeting warrant did Le if you don't mind did we have to make a lot of changes did we because we didn't have an Adu bylaw did we or um I think you have some kind of accessory dwelling bylaw but um so that it'll yeah it'll be a wholesale change yeah to to meet the new requirements so they they've approved it at planning and have they had their we haven't approved anything yet okay he's drafting it okay right okay right but it will his goal is to have um his goal is to have it done in draft form in the next week for my review and then it'll go to the planning board for public hearing and okay and then but it should

015be ready for Springtown meeting oh yeah definitely be ready I me it has to be right well it doesn't have to be I mean you know it's not like it's the MBTA 3A zoning right so the the law is now that essentially an accessory dwelling unit that's 900 square feet or less um and or half the size of the existing structure whichever is less um can be built by right on a conforming piece of property period right right and so if you have that basic information you can go get a building permit for that today the issue is there are some things that you want to control around that um and also it's good to give guideposts and maybe uh the town and I don't know what Pete or the planning board has in mind

016but maybe you want to let have byright ones and then maybe you want to have some that are by special permit so for example I have a a more rural community who doesn't mind if the Adu is a th000 square feet right and um on a certain size lot and therefore they're making those on special permit right so there's some nuances that you know the planning board may want to have but the basics you want to have in a bylaw just so there's a you know a clear path and that the building inspector knows what he needs to look at and move forward anything on a non-conforming lot um it can be by special permit for non-conformities from the zba like anything else is right now or you could make it by right that would

017be your choice but you don't have to okay great um and then of course we've been very busy with the Main Street uh 40b project um and reviewing um all of their submissions and the peer review and as I was saying a little bit before the meeting um with Miss Bennett that um we just got our response from the traffic the response to the peer review response to the traffic so still waiting on our peer review person to review that response but there is a the continued meeting is this Tuesday um evening um so that is on there and then uh the town had a new 40b project filed uh which we anticipated on Waverly Street um and that opening of that will be on March 27 is that 24th 25th but it's that week

018in March um and so that will be an opening with which will be similar to the opening of The Main Street 40b where they'll um do a presentation introduce the um project to the board and then the board will um approve the hiring of peerreview um folks and then they'll be off and running so the board CBA is going to be very busy over the next six to seven months going back and forth between these two projects in addition to the the regular work that they have and U you'll be seeing a lot of me and potentially Adam but you know mostly on these projects um we also did an IMA for Regional Health Services um you know we have miscellaneous um items that we've dealt with um that's litigation that is just things that

019we can get rid of in a pretty timely fashion we had a case um that um involved the a a criminal matter um but there had been a public records request associated with it or a subpoena associated with it so we had to handle that in the district court um same way the town was sued as a defendant as part of a condo collection um condo fee collection matter which is not unusual so somebody doesn't pay their condominium fees Condominium Association sues them under chapter uh 183a section 6A and if the town is owed any taxes or anything they're made a party to that lawsuit just for notice purposes so what happens is we work it out and figure out where all of that is and make sure that our lean is it has priority

020um and then we don't basically don't have to do anything else but we do have to be involved in the beginning of that so um we had one of those cases um uh Jen and Diane and us we worked as a team to avert two bid protests right which is really good congratulations um very good and then of course we have various enforcement matters public records and open meeting law but um it's been a a pretty busy uh four or five months I think always um Lisa just to follow up you and I so here as a board we've talked about communication and things like that you and I had a conversation earlier and I just want to sort of review that so that if any of our members have questions so right now how

021we handle it we get an email in to us as a board and I as chair respond to that person without copying the rest of the board and one of the things Le said chat about she's like yes that's a good way to do it but we talked about what the next step could be so that instead of a conversation with someone if I take my email and give it to Susan and ask her to put it as part of the board packet moving forward so that you see my response or whoever is chair uh and then if you feel like you still want to communicate with that person you can then reach out to them directly and that will then keep us from conver either having you know a discussion via email or any

022open meeting law right so the the the base rule is that even though it's an inquiry from the citizen to the chair if the chair were to include you on a response if it's a matter that's under your Authority which is just about everything right so if the chair responds to that person and includes all of you that's actually a deliberation right so it's a violation of the open meeting law and so when I talked to yoland I thought this was the best way to do it so if she provides that to Susan and then you all get it at the same time when the packets are made available it's not a violation because it's distribution material and then you can see exactly what the communication was and if you wanted to follow up yourself

023with that person individually you know have at it if anybody chooses to do that I think it would be best to let the chair know that you're going to make that response as well that way we're working on the same thing and not the left doesn't know what the right's doing right yeah that that's a great idea but that that'll complete the full circle so it that's a great idea because that's something I know that has been uh you know a concern of mine just just right making sure people get responded to you know it's sort of out there this is out there is anybody you know so um would it be too much work for Susan to perhaps instead of waiting for our packet to forward us she can't so right so that's we're

024trying to avoid the only reason she can include it in your packet and not have it a violation of the opening meeting law is that once that packet goes out it's a public document and so everybody can see it okay so got it the the process was instituted probably seven or eight years ago because what was happening is the chair would then copy everybody and it and it's a violation and in fact we were had a chat with the Attorney General's office on a number of times because of it okay very good thank you I appreciate that anybody have any other questions for Lisa or yeah go ahead Claudia I just had a couple of questions um excuse me what potentially the cgc court case in that what implications are there for us in that

025mean the ugc the ugc yes so um the um the first case the validity of the purchase and sale agreement in and of itself we have no interest or liability or anything like that we were Witnesses for certain reasons but we're not a party to that lawsuit it does however impact the the um Gainer versus ugc and the zba because the decision in that case will fully inform how that the zba case will go and the impact for the town is is if that comprehensive permit is found to be invalid well that's a big deal for the town right so um that would that's the impact for the town in that case we go forward with the trial on the Gainer versus ugc and the zba it's like any other zoning case in Superior Court

026so we would be participating in a limited fashion um always the applicant carries the water is what we like to say in this instance and so ugc would carry the water on that you would have some legal fees associated with with it but not as if we were actually trying Cas long well the pre-trial conferences in April that means the trial date is set I believe it's in not may but it's it's the summer and um you know it's the case isn't going to be as long as the other case was no because it's a it's a pretty straightforward zoning case but it's a zoning case based upon one issue was their site control or not Superior Court and then if there was and so that's why the trial beforehand that's going on now we're

027waiting on that decision right because that's going to tell them right but I I suspect if that decision doesn't come down the judge is going to go forward but that there's two separate cases so right yeah and then the other question I had was um about 61 Waverly so um the fact that you know that has been sold to a new developer and we weren't notified or anything have are you is there anything that says that that's inappropriate No in fact it says quite the opposite so um there are um Michael asked me to to look into this so they're allowed to make a transfer of ownership um even after a decision has been made but before a decision has been made well it's during the project eligibility process so long as that person qualifies

028as dhcd or eohc and the Mass housing would review it they can do it so it's not it's it's a f there's a provision to allow it in the regulations can I follow up to that because the plan that we see now right is drastically different than the than the plan that we responded to Mass housing about correct but it's the same number of units either one pick one and turn it on pick a mic so um it's got like different entrances and so so why does Mass housing asks for comments because the regulations tell them to okay because I guess it's hard for us to kind of wrap our heads around this because yes the units are the same but the site plan is different and we felt that Mass housing was looking for

029comments on not just like the size of the building but actually they make it make it very clear they don't care what we think about in terms of the size of the building but some of the other aspects like the safety and the traffic so I just but those are all going to be so I think Mass look we I'm happy to direct a letter to Mass housing saying what did you do here and the answer is going to be we're allowed to do this under the rigs but I'm happy to direct letter their position's going to be their position's going to be that all of that gets reviewed in the comprehensive permit process Mass housing doesn't approve a Project based upon the they don't approve a Project based upon the size the entrances the

030the storm water the traffic that's not what they do right they do eligibility Shi you know I mean you know you've submitted comments that raise all of those things and what happens it was almost IGN you can address this through the zba process that's exactly right and so that's exactly what they're going to say it's the same number of units and the the developer meets the requirements of an eligible developer and that all of those issues will be addressed during the Z process we don't have any idea why that um transfer took place do we why the other developer decid decided ultimately to not that I'm aware of I don't have any idea well it's it's the same with 10 to 60 Main Street right the initial project that was done before us not before

031us but before zba three years ago was a different developer and then when it came back it was they had changed devel it wasn't a 40b then was it no it wasn't it was no it wasn't a 40b but still it changed yeah well I would imagine it change from one develop to to the next I mean the fact that um that CH that changeed to be a 40b is Right different right where this was yeah okay the other you know it could have been you know who I don't I don't know but there's a you know a Litany of what reasons why financing experience availability you know all kinds of stuff I was kind of hoping there was some something going on that might ultimately cause its downfall that's what that's why I ask

032question never know maybe still good any other questions comments concerns for Lisa no okay thank you it's greatly appreciated that you come in and give us an update pleas nice to see all of you good see you see you on Tuesday yes you will thank you uh so I think Mark might have had a problem or stuff something was going on Mark I do see your hand is raised we are going to allow you to unmute but we're not allowing cameras on so if you want to uh if we can unmute Mark and Mark Sony to give Us's I think hey Mark because you can hear me yep we can oh yeah I was on I was I was waiting for everything to get set up and um I even put the my TV on

033for the YouTube channel and just to see if I missed anything no we just had some technical difficulties so what would you like to comment on today Mark okay um through the chair chair woman person to our to manager can I go can I do that yep go ahead okay did the town manager receive my latest email Mark I don't think it when when did you send your latest email I I I'm a few days behind so you sent it within the last few days I have not seen it oh it's it's the um I commented on your town manager article and the project overload part of it oh okay well thank you and I put I I put in a a pretty good um two paragraphs of a comment okay well I can't wait

034to look at it and um the other the other thing is um I went to no yes wait second no let me redo this again has there been any progress when I came into the office on my idea uh no you uh believe you were going to go upstairs and talk to Pete correct yes which I did and which I did which I did talk in the planning board too oh that's right because you were going to speak to them the next night yes well that's good I'm glad you got a chance to do that Mark so I was just wondering you you you to you told me on pizza that night that once the comprehensive plan gets done then it be that would probably be a good time probably to start stop that um

035it's not a bad idea yep I think that was the I think he steered you in the right direction is that is that would that be the same way as you're thinking maybe but Mark maybe we should talk about this off line you think um well because I'm not sure what he's asking right I know that's one I would say Mark maybe follow this up with a direct conversation with Michael in person or you know over the phone it does not sound like it's quite related to select board information um well it's it's it's not it's okay it's okay no okay I'll I'll end it this way to Mr T manager can you send me an email yeah once um once yeah why don't we why don't we why don't I do that Mark and

036I'll respond directly to your email how's that that's it yeah okay thank you that's it no cameras right no no cameras thank you Mark thanks Mark thank you okay commuted him again great uh next on our agenda I'd like to welcome Rob Sher former chair of the select board still our representative to the MBT PA advisory committee thank you for continuing to do that Rob and he's going to give us some updates on public transportation uh we went I've given him 15 minutes to give us an update I believe there's a presentation yep it's on the board uh on and back of us uh there's going to be some changes coming with the commuter rail and we felt it would be good to share with us as well as with the community right and I

037think it's available on that computer Rob yeah I see it here okay and uh can we share it via Zoom as well or I just need camera be able to pick it up hey by the way thanks uh great seeing all you guys again good to see you too Rob Mr retiree yes um you know every time I leave an organization things get really challenging you know actually you know I mean anyway um I don't uh I'm not sure how to advance this do I use the arrow oh okay all right so um yeah so I have 15 minutes there was a number of things I just wanted to touch on I originally asked for um you know this meeting to talk about the fiscal cliff but one of the updates of course is that

038the governor did includeed in the budget for next year to fund the te using what what is colloquially called the millionaires tax and you guys probably know the actual name for it but I don't remember but it was it was earmarked for education and transportation so it's really resolved that problem at least in one year but I would just say keep an eye on on that um all right so I'm going to do just a brief and most of you I think are pretty familiar with the MBTA Advisory board and the fact that I'm your representative on it uh but just for the sake of um a quick review for anybody who's watching um you know there's like 174 member cities and towns of the MBTA system and ashlin's one of them and actually it's

039as you all know it's commuter rail Services is and rail service in general is very important to Ashlin both for folks using it for work and for social reasons and for general transportation both both blue collar and Commuter so you know we're very interested of course in the quality of commuter rail service and that's why we stay involved in this so uh this is just a a quick uh blurb about the member um you know there's a new deputy director Hannah uh SW lowski and she's um she's our direct liaison in the commuter rail committee I am of course in um you know I was hoping to have her come and meet you folks sometime I think it would' be good she's a select board member in um I actually don't remember but it's like

040Canton or some time like that so she's uh she's on the firing line as well so um you know and you know there's a number of committees I as I said a chair of the now newly named um Regional Rail Regional passenger rail committee and the idea there is that we're looking beyond the traditional commuter rail to more Regional Rail and I'll talk a little bit more about that uh in a moment because I think there's some issues for us there as that grows but it's you know the idea there is that um commuter rail is changing to Regional Rail and not just commuter schedules as as we've experienced you know uh one of the updates they give us is that rail ridership uh kolis is telling us has returned as measured by them the

041pre-co levels but it's not the traditional commuter patterns it's um it's what they call clock facing so it's around the clock and also weekend trips I don't think it's the kind of intensity you know you know Randy and I and other folks take the train and you know you know the parking lot's not as full as it used to be but uh there's more there's the same number of of trips apparently so that's kind of a big uh big thing so this is just a quick blurb on you know and you guys I I had this you got it so you can look at it at for reference um and here's the MBTA service District you can see there's the core communities around Boston which have subway bus and commuter rail and the outer ones

042but we are actually pretty involved in the MBTA because we of course host a commuter rail um station here so that's that's kind of a big deal so that's um just kind of my quick uh review of The Advisory board and the Committees um so in terms of the commuter uh the regional rail committee if any of you folks as always have issues or concerns or questions from tonight I can bring it back we meet at least on a quarterly basis with MBTA me me uh management and also the kiola CEO uh comes uh personally to talk to us about uh rail issues so you know again if there's questions or concerns that come up feel free to let me know and I'll I'll I'll bring that up so um like for example we're meeting

043uh the week after next for an update on the spring schedule but also we're going to talk to them about the recent audit report that came out that I'll mention briefly it's not on my list of points but I I I should say I sent you a list of four brief points I did remember that we should also at least touch base on the alustin project project um we had a meeting um we had a meeting with Dennis and Brian and Hannah Dennis um of Senator spilka's office and also representative uh uh Jack Jack Lewis Lewis don't tell Jack um and but it was that was one of the things that came up and Dennis was quite concerned about it and Ryan who's on the n and I don't know maybe yoland you've heard something

044but of course that's a huge project that's going to impact both our commuters and people taking the Pike in but briyan seemed to be saying this is Brian Kane the executive director saying that the funding's on hold and it's not you know a huge issue Dennis had a different impression it was quite concerned but so I want to follow up with Dennis about that uh but of course and you folks probably know more than I know about of course the federal funding is all in question now so how's that going to affect some of these big projects I don't know oh interesting hav't thought about that but that is something so I'm going to you know stay stay involved with that and see you know what's happening with that because we're going to ask for

045mitigation and what your plan and you know keep them you know stay stay informed on that so um but I I didn't have that on my list but I think it bears at least bring it up the other thing was just um and we'll talk about briefly is the um the state UD just released a report came out I think yesterday or the day before which I looked at it brief briefly uh where they audited mbta's management of the kolis commuter rail contract and they had a number of issues which we can touch on briefly I don't know if any of you heard about that or had a chance to look at it yet um but that's just that's like breaking news um so I think I mentioned earlier that the fiscal cliff is resolved

046for this year um oh so the commuter rail procurement so kolis is going to have the contract for this year after FY U 26 and probably another one but the thing to keep in because I think they can extend it if I understand the uh the timeline so the t is I guess likely to extend it because the terms are fairly favorable supposedly but the new procurement is going to be quite expensive is the is the word you know because costs have gone up so much and um the idea is that kis has been a bit under uh under stringent requirements but again looking down the road a few years potentially big cost increases so um just a quick update on that and we've we've made it now a commuter rail that we're going to

047have or the regional rail committee still having trouble with the new name um that we'll get periodic updates on the procurement and how it's going and what the issues are so that's going to be a big deal especially for us the quality of you know what's happening with the with our rail service um the other thing I wanted to bring up was the East West rail project and um I don't know if folks if you folks have heard a lot about it I suspect some of you have um I didn't I just heard about as a general term but actually it's it's been going on for years and it's um it's be really being pushed by the cities like Boston Wier Springfield some of the western cities and they've actually moved pretty well Along on

048it now this is the East West is basically from Boston potentially to Albany now right now that's service is done like twice a day by Amtrak but they're talking about um major expansion and frequency of of trains and trying to be high-speed trains from Boston to Wier to Springfield at least and pushing on to Pittsfield and so those those plans are actively underway um they just finished doing the Worster Union Station over after about two three years really to make it suitable for that for the East West Rail and they're they're investing probably billions of dollars in track improvements all all along the line so I think that's another thing that's that's been underway you saw the blurb that I put in uh I think everything's probably in question now with with the change in

049federal funding but it's something that we should be monitoring because of course on that whole line there's as you know four grade crossing two in framing him and two in Ashley so that puts us in kind of a unique position in terms of of impact most of the other communities are not going to be dealing with grade Crossings but we will be so the one thing you know the plans call for something like 10 trips a day so that's additional trips that we're not experiencing now how many trips do we have now do you know I'm I made a mental note to myself to look at the schedule and do that number but I did not but then my grandson came for a visit that's a good my I think it's like 20 if I

050had to say off the top of my head so we're talking about about potential in you know increase and then that leads me when you're looking at traffic impacts here are people that's what I was thinking yeah yeah especially downtown are they thinking about it there's a lot more trips and stuff so yeah so I think you know this seems to have a lot of push behind it and so um I think our best role is like you know mitigation or being aware of how it might affect us and keeping an eye on what's going on and what the discussion is uh framing him will probably a stop uh I think um and the next stop would be Worster so um so that's something potentially you know ideally those crossings they shouldn't be great crossings

051they should be submerged or you know something like that so you could have real highspeed rail but so that's that's an ongoing issue I should also not not note that um um I forgot to on the The Advisory Board are are representative on the um MBTA board of directors is Mayor Thomas K of of quinsey but we also of course uh mayor cisy of framing has been named to the MBTA board so uh we do have some you know some input in this process of course along with our Senate President and representative Lewis um so that's something to keep an eye on but these things uh you know would be impacting us if plans move ahead and they're like a fiveyear plan now that's probably all up in the air now add real quick to

052the east west so I'm familiar with it uh probably three years ago they created a commission and there are members representing the different areas of mapc as well as the other planning organizations so the Metro West Regional collaborative um I was asked if I wanted to sit on that because I was the chair at the time and we asked an map staff member so uh L Robbins who was our coordinator at the time actually did go out and do all the different hearings and to hear stuff and there is a lot of support as Rob said for this East West rail think about it you're in Boston you want to go west if you don't have to get into a car and you can get on a train so there's a lot of conversation about

053it and certainly from a sustainability perspective let that's easier if you're you know on a train versus cars and stuff like that um so I think you're right R we do need to be aware of it I don't know what what mitigation but certainly we can look at that yeah well you know thinking I'm remembering the quiet Zone and so right you know thinking about it do you want a quiet Zone that could be if there's a lot of trains that could be good on the other hand if there's a safety issue you want a quiet zone so you know there's that kind of thing to think about so um uh the only other thing on my list was uh this recent uh the audit report that came out and uh I'm not going to

054belabor it but um the state audit are so under her under her charge she audits various State agencies and MBTA was one and they selected uh the K this procurement um oversight management of the K is commuter rail which is logical because that's an enormous contract it really is far reaching and so they had a number of um uh it was all about the meaning performance requirements but they the the they are saying that they did this the T failed to collect 3.3 million in um uh possible sanctions for Kil is not meeting their performance targets that's kind of the the the headline but they say that t doesn't have uh sufficient policies and procedures and monitoring in place to to um uh to to uh manage the Kess contract and I've seen some of

055that myself where you know you're not sure when you report something where it's going or you know if there's really good systems in place um um and they talked about fair not collecting Fair revenue reports not being adequate and Fleet Maintenance reports things like that so I could send that um I could there's a general uh an executive summary I can send along yeah that'd be great um to you guys uh and it's just I think you know as well I don't know Randy if you had a report on Revenue collection what it's like but I know in the Wier run it's they've been getting better they're about 60% collection so I don't know how they're doing on on the other side of it but uh yeah I would say um there's definitely more more

056Revenue you know more more ticket checking than there was um part of it I think is because for a long time there was staffing issues on the on on the commuter rail I think it's a little bit better some days not so much but but um most days it's relatively staffed well and if it's staffed well then they'll check tickets so um but the ridership is definitely up I can I can see that um you know it's it's it's the the rush hour Express trains going into Boston are packed so um you know there are times where you know I wonder I I like debate on whether to go to Framingham or not and then I don't want to go to Framingham because I want a seat on the train as oh yeah right you

057know um so there's there's that too but but I think that the the um the renovations we we did a year or so ago on the train station have been really good I think this winter it's wintered much better like the stairs and everything well that's good to hear because someone asked me they said so those Renovations that were done what did they actually do and did we benefit from anything or did they just no this the stairs the structure is is in a much much safer much safer place I would say that you know they still throw I mean I'm sure you see that the salt everywhere and I just feel like like it's going to just eat away at the at the concrete let's that goes actually the monitoring you know is anybody

058from the like I complained directly to Mike meller the head of operations for the te about salt they really need that much salt that's just like an un like it should be somebody coming out and say well an inch layer of salt everywhere is not really necessary you know right like what's going on here yeah so that it's yeah stuff like that I did I came there one time during a heavy rainstorm and rain water was just pouring all over the platform out of these the spigots were obviously clogged and then I called and they said oh yeah they checked out they checked out immediately well they needed to clean leaves out of the gutter right I mean come on you got to clean your gutters twice a year yeah it shouldn't be me make

059calling the tea to say y I did have a couple questions I was curious you know when we were going through the whole thing with our maintenance um issues I know that there were other stations along the line like Southborough that was having similar aging issues has has the commuter rail like are they are they making maintenance a priority do you know if like so first like one is I'm curious if other stations are going through what we went through a year or so ago and then the other part of it is um do they have a real plan for like regular scheduled maintenance on a regular basis because I think you know I I I think of what they did for our station not as sort of an upgrade but as sort of deferred

060maintenance yes oh definitely that was definitely deferred was definitely not an upgrade deferred maintenance um just repair what there's a term what's the term they use um right or repair no yeah no um state of good repair yeah so that's what they're supposedly aiming for and doing under this new guy okay so that that would be their answer but I can ask specifically at our meeting like what's the plan I mean I'm sure there's a plan uh but I've have not seen any work I mean that I've noticed on the other stations other than Wier which is like brand new now yeah yeah still working on okay and then the other one one other question I had I had somebody asked me about EV charging stations at the train stations and I don't know if

061that's something that's on on the mbta's uh it don't believe it is because it comes up periodically people ask those questions and um it's I don't think there's a direct plan right now that I'm aware of but you know I'll bring it up again because it's a good it's something they should be continuing with there is a sustainability committee as part I'm sure that's something they're pushing and actually the te is big on electrification they're moving ahead they decided not to buy they bought some refurbished diesels but they didn't buy any new ones they're going to try to keep moving towards Electric uh you know what do they call it um there's another term push pull or something where they're generating um there's battery powered but then it is assisted by overhead catenary line so

062they're they're they're looking at pretty widespread adoption in the next you know 10 15 years of of electric U locomotives so that's good thanks and thank you for for you know advocating for us yeah you know for ash it's good it's you know it's an interesting thing to do and um it does touch on us a lot um so anyway yeah happy to update you guys and come in yeah go ahead if you know my manam CH Rob uh thanks for doing what you're doing I appreciate that um just to follow up with the update on U the maintenance of the uh Ashland station um I don't believe all the work has been completed yet I have they painted the uh The Pedestrian crossover I I know that um they s they sand blasted it

063but because of the weather when they done they held off on painting it know whether or not that was going to be something that we see maybe late spring you know before the summer before the summer time that's a good question yeah and secondly is um have they ever thought about putting solar panels you know in the parking lot it's another good one you know like like we have over at the high SCH school and things of that nature to generate income are letting us do it yeah well my my point being you just just just a thought I mean there there was a conversation probably seven eight years ago where we saw what happened in the Framingham train station where it was taken over by the mwrta right so they did the renovations they

064handle the revenue coming in and out and at one point when it was the previous um when it was Ed car we were like oh well do you want to do something similar with the Ashlin train station where they would take it over and we would help them and stuff then of course with Ed Ed stepping down and with Co and things like that there's been no further conversation and for a while it was very little parking now it's starting to ramp up again y right just a thought just try to resurrect that those discussions if I was a tea I wouldn't do it right so anyway I think it it's interesting um when you think about using it more to go destinations be other than Boston right yeah you know if it if if

065it does go further west maybe Framingham becomes a destination because there's a lot of businesses and Y and that um you know just kind of an interesting or even getting out to if you can get on a train here and go to Springfield right if there's something in some people would like that stuff to see in Springfield or out to Pittsfield and see some of the great things about the Six Flags trip is that there go one thing though I'd ask though based on your history um when you depart from positions I would ask that you just let us know if you're going to depart from this position because we do appreciate what you do oh thank you well we would know because then we would have to appoint somebody else to become the M

066because yeah I'll stay long yeah as long as it's easy as long as there's plenty of funding there yeah then I'll yeah well thanks so yeah again anytime question thanks for the update greatly appreciate it if anyone has questions you can continue to reach out and thanks thanks for all you do guys yeah thank you all right because that means none of us have to well I know he's passion that's okay you're good great see you rob thanks Rob no no no that's we we understand us too okay [Laughter] okay uh well moving on in our agenda next is the update from our recent tri board meeting um I'd like to hear people's input what you thought and I think this might be an opportunity to also let Michael know what we feel we want

067to see at the next meeting that's happening on April 5th I think we took some notes on that um but I think especially Makita new Claudia you haven't sat in on one of these meetings be have you done a have we done a tri board meeting not not not since you've been on the select no yeah might I'm sure you've sat through so might be helpful just to give folks an overview of like sure before we start discussing okay sure I'm willing to do that so for the public who's watching to makita's point the tri board is a meeting of the select board the finance committee and the school committee we do it as part of our budget process not always it depends on how the budget process is going it's a way for us

068as the elected people who manage the majority of the budgets as the select board we manage the general government side the school committee they manage the the the school committee side the school budget and the finance committee they manage and help with both and it was an opportunity for Michael to give us an update on where we're at in the 2026 budget process as well as for those of us who who weren't able to attend some of the school committee budget processes to understand the challenges that our school committee is currently facing with some of their needs and increased uh requirements of some of the students they're having to educate and I think it was a productive meeting I think it was a good first step uh I took some notes so who wants to

069jump in I think that gives a good overview and thoughts comments uh I just if I may Madam chair I was um I was impressed with Jim uh superintendent Adams's U presentation especially when it came to uh special education and and and the the needs uh of several students uh uh that fit those those requirements and the changes I mean there's nothing there's nothing concrete I mean they have figures but those figures are constantly changing with with the needs of a student especially a new student that may move into town uh that has these these needs uh so that's a that's always a revolving door so you can never really put your finger on one figure and that's constantly changing and that's that that's a difficult boat to you know to to steer during you

070know a budget process um it's kind of difficult to gauge where you're going to be at a certain time frame in in a school calendar year uh especially if you have kids that are coming in Midstream uh where you already have a budget set so now you have to change that those figures all around uh so it was very educational on my on on my part anyway I hope for everybody else uh with respect to you know how difficult it is and and how uh important it is to make sure that the needs of all those students that that require that special training and special education uh is met you know forth with without any uh you know delays because it's important educate one you educate everyone and not and not leave anybody um Mike's

071presentation on Town side I thought was very upto date modern uh respect to you know the challenges that we face and what we meet I know some of the big challenges that Michael brought forward was uh new development which you know even though everybody thinks that you know all these things are coming up you know coming online they're already accounted for it in some respect in the budget so when you start looking at those figures that are coming in with Revenue those figures are a little bit lower than anticipated higher uh so then with say the uncertainty of what's Happening Federal level with grants and other funding that many cities and towns and States uh look you know look for the need to use uh is now in question and so that's putting things on

072hold for a lot of you know not just Ashland but for everyone uh with the respect to that so these are definite challenges that uh that this town is facing uh for May and hopefully there'll be some resolution with it but I thought overall presentation was very uh detailed but very concise you know it was understandable I know Mike's presentation uh is online I know Mr Adams's presentation is online in School site so if there's any questions or concerns that people don't you know totally understand just go on those sites and take a look at uh the figures are what they are and uh they don't tell a nice tale but it's it's it's they're accurate it is what it is and they're accurate and uh we have to deal with it and deal with

073it the best way we can and hope everybody understands that if you want want the services that you're currently getting and to continue that well it may be it may cost a little bit more than what we anticipated and uh it's just the way it is there there nothing to do that you know the economy is flux inflation is increasing and God only knows where all these actions are going to lead to down the road that just taken over in the last 60 days and and unfortunately we can't not balance our budget we have to have a balanced budget when we go to town meeting so uh who'd like to go next thoughts what you'd like to see us follow up within April I I I'll go ahead again I I I do want to

074say that uh you know on the town side Michael's presentation and school side uh you know school committee Jim's presentation very very clear um easy to understand I'm glad that those are online and I would encourage people to take a look at at at what what was presented uh so that folks understand Joe I think you gave a pretty accurate recap but I think the thing to understand I think on the school side and on on the town side the focusing on a school for a second you know I think that there are a lot of challenges and not just exclusive to to special education but you know I think there's some there's some challenges here um in so far as some of the policy changes that you talked about coming down from the federal

075government there's uncertainty at the top and at the bottom or on all sides of this thing and you know I think it's it's important for us to realize that there are a number of factors and a number of uncertainties and it's kind of hard to point at one thing um to say that this is why this is happening you know oh blame this or this that or the other thing I think that's that's not where we want to have this conversation I think the conversation it goes back to exactly you know what what Joe said you know I think folks are um accustomed to a certain level of service uh in town and we're going to have to make some very difficult decisions about priorities and you know what kinds of what kind of level

076ex of service will be acceptable uh to folks here in town uh on Town site School site Etc going forward um you know we don't have a crystal ball you know um I don't even have a magic a ball I gu tell you you know those are fun and people sadly do make a lot of management decisions with them I'm convinced of that but but I I'm not saying anything at all Michael but but uh despite that moment of lity levity which is greatly needed at this point uh we are facing some very Ser serious challenges here um and I think that if if we um you know the boards and and and us as towns people can approach it from from that direction um and try to try to figure out how we can

077how we can we can make decisions that have maximum benefit to us uh and and being able to discuss these things rationally and and um you know and and together and collectively I think that's uh that's the point That's the Way Forward um so thank you Makita Claudia yeah I just um have a few comments and thank you Joe I thought that was a really good recap as well well um you know I think one thing to think about is really even before what we're going through right now in recent the recent 60 days with all the uncertainty and and potential dramatic changes um they just even since um covid really you know the the rate of inflation has been very dramatic and you know we really haven't kept up with that in terms of

078how we pass it on to the community and I you know at some point that comes and you get to the wall on those things and I think that we are fast approaching that you know one of the um things that I think is significant is is items that are in the budget that we end up not funding or whatever but that are in the budget or in the budget request I should say over and over again and we're not in the position um to fund them that that's those are that's an important data point I think um and then you know finally just in terms of the school budget and Joe did a nice job of talking about um you know I think certainly the the part of the school budget that is the

079most challenging tends to be the special education portion I think you know it's it's hard sometimes to have conversations about that because I think that we all believe um that we want to support every CH single child that comes through our school district and make sure that they get what they need um um and you know some children need a lot more than other children and I think a lot of us live in this world and and we don't know um the severity sometimes of the needs of some of our students and so um and you know we do the right thing by them and as we should and and I think the school Department's done a tremendous job of building programs that have kept students in District and um whenever possible and providing services

080to them in the district um they've done certainly a dramatic um job I mean very very good job of that of being able to service our kids and educate our kids in our district whenever possible because that's where they um so I I do think we have some difficult choices ahead I think in April um and that's what we're going to need to be looking at certainly we're going to take recommendations Jim and Michael and um and have to Hash those out a little bit and understand what the impact is and then understand about how do we uh do a better job of educating the public that's that's huge Randy so you know I I completely agree with with you know with Makita and Joe and Claudia we were one of the things that is

081um interesting about Mr Adam's presentation is just how much they are taking into account every single little thing that they can whether it's positions that they can consolidate or it's um changes in this in in the special education um amount or transp ation which has become a big issue on the school side um you know I I know we do that on the municipal side but I I was having a conversation with Jen kind of after after we were leaving Mendes um Saturday and it was a really interesting what she said really kind of struck me was you know Jim's presentation is like a unit because the schools are pretty much contain it's a one one issue bucket what our challenge is on the municipal side is we cover so many other really important areas

082of of operations so and it kind of all gets lumped together into this one like thing and so you know to to the point of Education we I think we need to do a better job of like and Jen and I were kind of talking about this a little bit too and it kind of goes into the communication plan too like so how how do we break it down so people understand what the services are that we're that we're giving people like what you know what it means for our fire department and police department how many calls they take how many what what percentage of time uh Chief Robi was saying at the budget session at the at Michael's budget session that there are times where there's we we send calls out on um a

083mutual Aid and we're not able to completely service our community how often does that happen What happens if that like so if we were to cut and this is kind of the same thing like because I want to know you know our our dilemma is going to be how do we close that Gap how do we close that the Gap in what is going to be our the revenue that we that we need and what the revenue actually the levy kind where where we are and and the issue is the requests that have been put forward and it's not even just the requests like I I I think it's like the level of service that we provide it's not even it's not even funding we're we're not even talking about like this is not the

084goldplated service standard that we would love to to Aspire to this is like how do we service the community that we have because and and minus minus requests even because you know we we know that the insurance the the money for insurance is going the the cost of insurance is going up and that that in and of itself takes up a good chunk of of the increase in the levy you know so there's so little wiggle room for us to even make any of these changes um so how do we make up that Gap and and we have two choices really we either can figure out how to use onetime Revenue uh onetime funds or we cut service and so you know I think for me personally when we when we meet in April I

085really want to see what that cut and service would look like like like specifics and not just on the municipal side on the on the on the on the school side too because does that mean that class sizes go from 24 to 28 or 30 for for an elementary school age does that mean less electives in the high school does that mean less opportunity for our kids does that mean increased fees on busing or sports or do our trash does do we have to really look at like how do we subsidize other things on the municipal side like it it's it's going to be a challenge and and I hate fees as much as everybody else does I hate the idea of paying more into taxes I also know that that we do have a

086really um our community ouru our community knows they can depend on us as as a government to service their needs and I also don't I'm I'm I'm concerned about cutting services because I'm concerned what that would mean for our residents um so it's it's but part of that is like this education component how do we educate people on what what is really going on behind the scenes because people take a lot of stuff for granted a lot of stuff for granted whether it's that they can go to the library during certain hours whether it's that that um there's a food pantry in town that is town that that that is Town run um whether that there is um you know police and fire and a water treatment plant here in town like there's a lot

087of stuff that people just really don't don't don't know so that's that's my that's my take on it so that's sorry like you had a response or a question or a comment um I I think I lost it but I did I did have one at one point that's okay it's okay okay okay but yeah I mean I I I do want to say that you know part of what you're I think you got uh the specifics down BR of what what I think I was trying to say like it's really critical that people understand when we're like oh we have to make some hard decisions oh we need to look at Services specifically helping people to understand like what services are we talking about and what could be the potential impacts of that you

088know I I think people appreciate they do appreciate what government does in this town I think they do they may not understand what it takes to provide the level of service that we do and even now you know I I'm sure and my colleagues probably he like you know there's some fantastic things that we're doing in town but people need and more you know so now we're we're here and we're talking about potentially less but to your point we have to give real concrete examples of these impacts and I think that's exactly what we need to see at that April in April so that we can better to your point communicate what some of these hard choices might be and and and before I let you unless yeah okay so one of the things that

089I think about is having sat through this in very different ways right since you're on the school since here as a select board member being a school Committee Member and the discussion and the the idea of level Services right so we look at what we're providing this year and what would it cost us to provide exactly what we're doing now in the next fiscal year right I remember those discussions okay we're g to we're going to look at level services and what does that cost and there were times when we had to say okay well we know we're not going to be able to provide level services so we need to reduce our costs by X perc for whatever reason and we had those we would look at that okay if we if we cut

090by 10% what would that mean and I remember having a conversation with Michael about this he said well remember that if you decide to remove a position and remember many years ago having this discussion as a school committee member with Claudia if you decide to remove a position you don't completely save those funds because you might have to then play unemployment or things like that right and as Jim was talking about with us they have teachers that retire at a higher end and it used to be we would we knew we could bring someone in at a lower rate to as a brand new teacher or a year a teacher who' only been a couple years in the in a position but with some of the programs that we have in place thinking about languages

091at the schools they haven't been able to do that I mean we had some teachers who had been in positions for 25 30 years when they retired I mean I remember one in particular they couldn't find someone to replace them so they had to bring them back as a substitute yeah so I think the the big thing for the community that I would like to say is we're having these discussions but we need the input from the community we need you to take a look at those budgets we need you to say okay I like everything that's happening at the library to be able to continue to do that we might need to hire some people what does that look like I mean I looked at the local pages today there were three pages of

092activities going on at our library now a lot of them are virtual but someone still has to manage them and currently they're all free and and and it's funny I I was chatting about that and it's like okay well they're not really free they're free to the participants but our tax dollars are cover cover in those events and the friends pay for the friends are paying for those events as well so it's not they're not free there's no cost to the participants but they are being paid for either by Don you know the friends donations or from the library budget is that something we want to continue right you were talking about the the things that are going on in our community center our senior community center there's more stuff going on there than has

093been for a long time right our food pantry has expanded part of it's because there's been more need from our community I think about our holiday programs at Thanksgiving and at Christmas now granted a lot of those are managed or not managed but there are donations made to help support that but there's somebody managing that there's a position in the budget that has helped managing that so I think it's important that we get input from our community what what services are you using that you that are critical to you and I think we need to get input on that go ahead think I was going to actually ask about that too because you know I think leading up to our discussion in April it would be helpful to get that input because I think the

094next step on that is sort of like doing some and I'm not talking about any kind of complex econometric modeling but doing some like back of the napkin modeling about like with a few scenarios likely scenarios like if we decide to take this course of action to take the Jenga pieces out of here here what does that look like what does it mean I know we can't run we can't do like a do allar all scenario but maybe a couple of like possibly likely ones are are ones that that would would would be likely to be considered based on feedback from the community um and some of the things that that we're seeing as well you know nothing extensive like maybe two or three I don't know but that might actually help not just uh

095us understand impacts but will help communicate impact just a thought um just one other thing just um just to keep in mind too is that our town has the the demographics have changed in our town too oh definitely and the needs have changed in our town and so you know it's it's you know I think you know for instance I know that our um like our Police Department is doing a lot more with mental health like there's a lot more mental health component there's a lot of social work that's happening both in the police and at the community center and those are needs that are from what I gather growing in our community it's essential and so and in society right and in society so so you know we talk about the food pantry and

096you know that's that's part of it too it's like how how do we meet the needs of the the residents as they are now and so it's not necessarily about like just cutting programming in one spot it's it's really I I mean I think we really do need to to kind of make sure that um that you know because even you know jened made this point the other day and even if you know those needs are not going to go away so if we don't service those people it's just going to to shift it to another place whether people come to town hall whether it's people are showing up at the library because they have no place to go and the library is a great place for that but like they're not getting services at

097the library so it's it's it's that kind of that's such an excellent point just because and and I think I'm going to say it louder for the people in the back just because you cut the budget line it doesn't make the problem go away if anything it just displaces it EXA it may displace it or exacerbate it so that's that's I mean that was wonderfully put Brandy and I think that's something all of us as a community have to keep in mind as we go into this process and and if I if I may Madam chair sure um with respect to how the how the budget is is designed um Michael and his management team Financial team over the years have uh taken a a serious conservative approach to to the to the budget and

098um it only goes to show uh as a result of our AAA rating and U it's not like we're spending money haphazardly far from it if anything we have a very good um eye on on the on the on the ball as to what's going on and where the money is being spent and how it's being spent um we're just very cautious about where the money's are coming from and this year even more so uh with the way the state is you know making their decisions as to the type of revenues we'll see on our Cherry sheets and what's going to happen uh with the federal funding uh if we see any at all uh that's definitely going to come into play and I and I think people need to realize that okay there are

099serious going to be some serious hard decisions that need to be made and to bry's point what services do you want you want level Services well okay it's going to cost us a little more we have monies that are available those onetime fees the one time fundings that we have we call it the rainy day funding that we have that's available well if it's anything it's corn buckets out there pretty soon so we we need to make sure that we grow we do everything we have to to make sure this budget is balanced as as stated earlier and we make sure that it goes through the the services that everyone is is looking forward to and and there a they're accustomed to and it doesn't come without a fortunately okay we need just need to

100do that just a just a couple of points um you know in in terms of how to maybe engage the community a little bit I mean I think one thing might be maybe in Michael's newsletter to maybe some kind of a ser surve that just U asks gives a list of services and asks people to maybe to check all that they use yeah um be a good idea you know something along those lines and then the other thing that to me is very different this year and Joe you just touched upon this um that causes me great concern is that you know I feel like in in days when I've been involved in pretty heavy budget discussions um it you kind of you kind of had an idea of the direction and everything was going

101but I feel these days are so the uncertainty around what we are currently doing as a country um and the impact of things like tariffs and you know everything I hear is expect that the average family to have an additional $2,000 next year to pay for um some of these these as a result of some of these tariffs if if and and I just think some of the some of the things that are going on it's even very challenging to try to even predict what's going on so now we're trying to make some decisions when we really don't know what the future looks like and when we think about using one-time funds and you you know you're always gambling when you're using one-time funds because if that money doesn't come back then then you've got

102to make it up and I can remember being on the school committee and laying off a a teacher mid year because um we lost some funding and so you know these are it it's it's tough because I feel like there's an additional lay this year because we don't really know what the future I would agree with you on that I definitely think that because of what's going on at the federal level I mean I I've never heard questions about Title One monies coming through like we did Saturday with on Saturday and I think Jim bringing up the point about their revolving accounts and how much they're using but not knowing what's coming in I think that's important to just think about that so a couple things and then Michael has some comments I know we

103heard from uh someone on the school committee and finance committee wanting to look at the general government revolving funds so I think we want to see that um stabilization fund balances I think that would be good to know you know what is our rainy day fund balance at um and I think the other thing that I think is going to be important because there's a lot of new people sitting there is also just review our current Financial policies and you and I talked about this so we have some specific Financial policies about where the burden lies if we get additional funding but also where the burden lies if our funding gets cut so it's I think everyone that's sitting there at at the meeting I think it's important maybe we get it out to them

104beforehand but can have a discussion one of the things we talked about was possibly changing and looking at the special ed stabilization fund right as as Paul Kendall said it currently has a a cap that we thought was going to be enough but seeing what we're seeing now in those special education out of District costs and you know not being able to meet those we might need to increase that so that's something that we need to look at one positive or something that is being discussed at the state level is they are looking at trying to increase Chapter 70 to hold certain communities harmless from some of the changes and trying to increase that um there's also been discussion that they want to fully fund circuit breaker and they're trying to make that part of

105the budget unfortunately I still think the whole circuit breaker calculation is a joke because you still need to as a community support up to $40,000 of the CH the costs for that um so I don't think that'll change this year but I think one thing I've heard through different organizations that I'm a part of is there's got to be discussion about two and a half right and the fact that we can only raise taxes two and a half percent what does that mean um how does that impact excluded debt there's also been discussion about the whole building schools building public buildings how how can that be looked at as a state to support I mean we as a community have just built a school we've just built a public safety building so any changes we're

106not going to really benefit from in the near future but how can that be looked at okay Michael you had some comments I'll try I'll try in the interest of time but I I got a feeling if I don't say anything you guys will be disappointed so I don't want that to happen um so I think uh just I had a few points and I'll try to make them quickly just really to kind of go back to the special education discussion because I think you all made some good points and I think you know what I heard um on Saturday and and Jim and I talk about this constantly is you know with special education the the the problem if you will is not necessarily that we have to spend the money um it's it's

107that we it's it's very hard for us to plan because you could have a kid you know come in in the middle of the semester that you hadn't necessarily planned for and so that's really kind of where where the challenge is it's not the kid itself right it's it's it's it's the timing and the unknown that's really kind of where where the challenges are related to that um that should almost be State funding you know oh and much more significant something something something I've always said about circuit breaker and special education cost and i' I've mentioned this to a few people I'd like to say okay what are our special education costs in our community right and and I don't know offand what they are but what if as a state instead of doing the

108full you know the crazy Chapter 70 funding where you get this percentage or that percentage every Community goes here are special education costs and just find those because it's very possible that if they fully funded our special education costs we'd probably be okay or closer to okay right rather than this convoluted formula of this and that and so many kids and then it doesn't matter what level your community is at there's this there there's these mandates of special education that you have to do to do stuff in in and and it would still incentivize communities to try and keep their costs low like we've done to keep our programs in house but it would also maybe then say to the state okay some of these programs that get to increase their fees by 18% that

109no one is controlling maybe the state would look at that well in the other thing that's a big issue with special education right now and it was you know is that yeah Transportation but the other thing is part of the reason it's they can't we can't even get kids placed at times right yep right that that had never happened until probably four years ago maybe where you would struggle to find a placement for a child who really needed some extra support they did you brought that up Saturday so I mean that's uh another good point so so just a couple other things I think you know some of the analysis that you're asking for um can certainly be done I it can't be done by April 5th though and that brings me to I think

110a bigger point I think we're we're literally two months out from town meeting right I do think we haven't even had like a fincom like our our hearings with fincom and I think you know some of the the challenges that we're having with the finance department kind of you know makes things a little bit complicated I will say most of the discussions that we're having it sounds like given where we are in the FY 26 budget cycle is probably more suited to the FY 27 budget cycle I think this year given what we've got I think we're going to have to make a plan basically to do to use the onetime funds I'm going to come up with a scenario and I'm going to ask the department heads that like if you needed to cut

111by 10% like what would that what would that look like so I've got to kind of like have some baseline okay um so that's one point I wanted to make um honestly at the end of the day if you can think of this thing as a quadrant you know four boxes and one being you know one one axis being you know whether something is easy and hard and then the other being whether it's simple or complex this is a very simple problem that is very hard it's a hard thing to solve okay you just don't have enough Revenue coming in to cover the expenses right that's the bottom line and and the thing is if you know yeah and and I don't usually do you know like to do this but if and we hear

112this from people right okay if it's my personal budget if I don't have enough Revenue to cover what I want to spend I have to cut my spending or you find ways to get more or you find ways to increase your Revenue one of the two right either you say okay this is what I'm making so this is what I'm going to spend or you say okay this is what I want to spend I need to make extra yeah right so we need to and and and I expect for this year it's going to be a balance of the two I think we going to have to look at saying okay maybe there there's a request to add somebody new some place we say okay we're not going to do that but we're going to

113make sure everything else stays the same in your department I think finding that balance I think if we have a good understanding of where our funds are at right our rainy day fund our goal is 10 we obviously do all that stff I think we're above that right aren't we no we stay right at 10 okay so yeah but that tells me that if we use some of that right if we and and and the thing that always gets me not gets me but we need to understand is we put it in the budget right so we budget x amount but the last couple of years we've had a fair amount of free cash actually every year we've been here I I think we've had almost two million in free cash yeah weed not free

114and it's not cash but yeah we try to keep it at the do this does warrant some some explanation Madam chair it does um and actually Yolanda and I did a great video that explains this yes there you go um people can take a look at it um but do think yeah that's so and and I and that's the part that I always want to I I go back to right is we we're we're saying we have this gap between our revenue and our potential expenses and then I mean we won't we don't know yet for 2025 but in 24 we had some additional revenue and because of our potential expenses but then we had that and and basically it's we performed below budget in regards to our expenses right that's what free cash is

115your budget exit or the revenue came in high or the revenue came in higher right either you said okay you didn't spend as much and your Revenue increased and that's where that free cash comes from um so I think those are all things to look at as we move forward and I think we as a board as well as with school committee and finance have to determine how much of that re how much of that cash that's sitting there in our rainy day funds and other funds funds are we willing to use or are we willing to apply to our budget in case we need it in fiscal year 26 yeah so we'll we'll come up with with something um for you know the the board to to consider and contemplate one one thing um

116I do want to point out and I think I did make this point in Saturday is that I know we talk about the things that we've added right but I think it's really important to note if you start from way further behind than other people and you add oh yeah you know I think that needs to be well exactly so let's just say so we have three people at the senior center right let's just say we have those we'll go with them like three people at the senior center and maybe 10 years ago we only had one right but if 10 years ago you know another Community had five right and they're at like seven and that's what and that's the services that they can you know they're able to provide those Services I I

117think I think we need to kind of keep that in mind one way to highlight that is to show recurring requests for certain things right right that it means it's been we are behind because we didn't we haven't funded it when we needed to the problem I think I think where we're we're going to kind of shoot ourselves in the foot on this is that we have found ways to do very similar things with a lot less people well that's we don't want to be victims of our success that's that that's something that that to your point Michael right is we're as a town most people would go my services are being met right my kids are getting educated at the school but they don't understand the impact that it has on the people who

118are actually are actually providing having do to do this which can impact quality of delivery deliver you you know long term it will impact quality so you know you talk about schools you talk about this you talk about that like you know um you know there's no free lunch you know no something for nothing you know there's always a cost I think two things related to data I'll make that point in the one last Point um we met yesterday just some of the staff to go over some of the data requested um on Saturday that we talked about and some of the other things that we can add and I think we can add a lot more uh a a color and and context the data that we presented just by adding some other pieces

119like for example when you look at inflation and you look at constant dollars on our tax levy well how much has eggs gone up the whole you know what does that look like for people too um and then finally um Claud I think you had mentioned something about it'd be oh it' be great if maybe it was you Makita something about a survey the yeah I I like that idea adding it to your newsletter so so we we did do a question a couple newsletter episodes ago like how that people feel about the direction of the town was and again these aren't scientific right but overwhelming overwhelmingly over 80% was positive so that was really good um but to Claudia's point and I think that's a great idea is what services do you use do

120you go to the library do you go to the senior center we need that for the analysis piece the communication would be helpful it's going to be interesting though because like if you have like the fire department like you're not calling the fire department you're not going to use the fire department unless you need them and so you don't NE might NE not necessarily need them and you might not have necessarily used them right two questions maybe there's a question which services do you use and then there's a second question that says that asks for Value you place on questions or it might be two different weeks questions right or or what or maybe it's what services have you used in the last 12 months right because if you've had an emergency in the last

12112 months you might have used the fire department right so if you don't might like I mean we can come up couple options and I'd love to bounce it off of you I would actually say also that there are like very likely that other municipalities have put out similar surveys there's really no reason to reinvent the wheel we could probably steal I meanor surprised replicate instruments from share yes that's what I'm looking for other municipalities that and and tailor it to our our needs say that right and the final point is I I feel like there's two categories of data that we we always um we always talk about we don't talk about them in categories but I think they're both important so we talk about the fact that we need to know what people

122value and also what people what kind of community want to be what kind of services do they want to have okay so we get that the next question is going to be if if just speaking as you know taxpayer is like well then how do I know you can't do that with your existing resources right right and so that's where that value piece comes in that I'm always harping on right so exactly so I think we just got to think of both both data points and um and yeah have answers for it all okay you know a lot of people in town probably don't realize that the Ashland Public Library almost lost its um certification certification absolutely oh yeah because of you know the lack of you know funding yeah the lack of resources it

123was it was a very dark time and you know people were very outspoken as to what they wanted Joe I'm sure there are people in our community who did not realize that there were two three years where we had no Librarians in our School cor I bet you community now wasn't here was correct right well that's my point that's my point we have a lot of new people that's it if you look at the or Claudia made the point that you know oh I think it might have been Brandy you know the demographics in this town have changed dramatically you know we have a lot of new families in town well and we also have a different um income bracket right it Ami has gone up too right but but also I remember a couple

124years ago before everyone was getting free lunch uh free and reduced lunch I remember hearing from Mr Adams that the number of students that were on free and reduced lunch had increased right yep who would think that who would who would right at this stage of the game would think here in in this community and in years past you know a lot of the condo groups uh didn't have a lot of children or families in there now these families are staying in these units and the associations are seeing that and it's impacting you know their their quality of life with respect to that and you know they're worried about the safety and everything that's going on with you know within the individual you know associations so yeah there there's a big change and one of

125the things Michael you brought up a couple of years back um and and the reason why I I think of it right now is that I just opened up my mail and I got my excise tax bill and I'm the person you think of when you open your no but no well my point was that you we got more excise tax than we anticipated last year last year yeah and and you know who's to say that can happen again this year Well we factored the higher number in okay so hopefully it comes in right maybe people are going to go out and buy new cars before they go up in price tariffs before the tariffs you never know so we won't see that this year but next year right which is one of the reasons

126we saw increased excise right because when interest rates were low and people were buying yeah okay so great discussion and again to the Community Reach Out read Michael's newsletter reach out to any of us to say what do you value what are you concerned about what do you want to see because it's important that we have your feedback uh so I think Michael you have a enough information if you think of anything else make sure you you know let Michael know if you want other data or whatever or something like that so great well thank you for that discussion everybody uh moving on regarding discussion communication plan and response from for select board so the actual communication plan was not included in our packet that it was supposed to be so we're going to push

127that part out to our next meeting but which is not bad because actually we got okay um but there's been some different comments so I just want each of you to think about if you have a few minutes now what are what are you seeing so that as they talk about that community that plan on Friday what are you seeing or feeling is missing from either what's going out or what's on our website or how we're interacting with communication to the community no I mean we we don't have the that that plan but just you know let's get that feedback and we can give it to Michael and then we can go from there well I know a couple of things that that you know have I know that I expressed concern about one was

128when we get an email right who's responding what are they saying and you know I just it's it's hard to um get an email and not respond especially you know that was something I always have taken pride in is being responsive okay so I it feels like we we've addressed that y um the other thing is the website is very challenging to use um and that was improved a couple years ago has it been no because it's been since bry's it was like brandy second or third year on the board that it got was it your yeah yeah 21 but it wasn't it wasn't a a like a complete refresh and part of the issue is is making sure that the the content is easily accessible and and kept up to date and you know

129utilizing the homepage and things like that yeah and and I think too like the search function fun doesn't I don't know doesn't seem to work really really well and I'm not sure that would be a sort of a standard Google thing so I'm on some level I'm a little surprised about that but um there it there's something there um and then I think it would be pretty simple to to have like a I mean you know on the back end it's basically a spreadsheet and after there's any meeting there's a link pasted there for um for the meeting so you could go in and easily find if you wanted to review a meeting um you mean the video of it yeah the video of it I mean I think we have any videos on the

130of meetings on the website do we bring them over our right planning does yeah and I think that I think I like that idea you know the other thing maybe to think about too is do do we offer a transcript right who was it is it you Joe somebody said to me today that they hadn't watched something but they' read the transcript people do that now I said that about the the speech last night yeah yeah we I mean I I I see that all the time that if if I don't want to listen to something a podcast I can get the transcript the transcript you know that's a good option is that some some you know that might be a little bit further down the road but is that something that we want to

131offer transcript of a meeting from usability not the minutes necessarily but an actual word for word transcript so that you just you know read through and with AI right now it's it's getting a lotas entirely possible and it's happening it's happening absolutely I mean that's that's how these other organizations are doing yeah yeah it gives you the bullet points things you want to work on I mean it's very cool okay what else so what else were your points Claudia um I think you know those were the highlights I mean I think the the website's the biggest deal yeah okay um and also Makita yeah I think um just a couple of things I'd like to see out of the communication plan like a little um um I could I could talk about one tactical thing

132um definitely some more expansion and some ideas around utilizing social media uh talking to not being more looking at like um everything from like being more responsive or how we can be responsive to inquiries over social media how we can make sure that we are getting correct information to folks over social media uh addressing misinformation and disinformation um and kind of you know of course with social media also reach you know I see that we've got a a Tik Tok I guess now know but um for how long that lasts legally but but um but um but really sort of taking kind of a strategic look about not just how but how how when and why we are uh pushing to pushing and responding to information across all channels um the the the only other

133thing I'd like to add is that I think um there should be some kind of a public component for communic a with select board not necessarily emailing us individually but like even an opportunity in some of our kind of more mass communications like you know ask select board this or you know something like that and so like the board can can field fre I I won't say FAQs but like lots of questions like we we we'll probably get over the next you know because we're going to budget like a lot of the same kinds of questions coming up like it would be great if we could just ask the select board and then one of us those and responds exactly you know on issues that like from a policy standpoint that we are in concurrence

134with you know just so we can you know kind of be responsive that way in a a more public facing uh way as well just to let folks know so just not to one of the things we have to be careful of is someone sends a a question right similar now with email right someone sends something in as the chair I respond how I feel is appropriate and I do it pretty generically because I don't um and that would be a similar thing if we you know do an ask the select board member right how do you how do you make sure that either one if if we just you know maybe we have to discuss it and then someone can post something yeah maybe that's it something we look at yeah yeah maybe that's

135how we do it sure go ahead yeah so just as a suggestion maybe when we're looking at kind of redoing the website we have a section on the select Board site that's like an ask the select board corner right and what they could what people could do is they could send like questions to you know Susan or me your Jen or Diane and we can get it to you guys and get your answers on it and then like kind of distill it into one answer if that makes sense and post it up there does that make sense newsletter that's a great idea Claudia because that's more responsive select board yeah like you know Town newsletter the select board corner select board a question yeah ask the select board a feature I love that select board

136Corner whatever you okay yeah but um but yeah just kind of more kind of a also just sort of a strategic look at at how we're how we're managing Communications what we're communicating when why all these sort of things across all these channels that's what I'd like to see Andor Brandy comments so I would agree with Claudia about the website um I think that hting our links to meetings is it like recordings is a really would be would be good and I think that should be for all boards actually because my issue always is is if I'm going if I like if I'm looking for if I hear about something that happened at the planning board planning board is usually pretty good about things meetings that they they post some a lot of stuff on

137their website um so they're probably not the best the best one but say when I went back to look at the first um zba meeting on 10 to 60 Main Street I couldn't find the recording and it's it's like then I'm going on wacka and I'm trying to find it and it's literally it's the most brutal it actually really is the most brutal process because I actually have a suggestion for that but go ahead keep going but to find the right town the right meeting the right format and the right date like you're really you just you cross your fingers and you hope for the best so it would be great to have like to have recordings of all of our all meetings posted up on the website um and then the other thing too

138is is I would love to have some sort of bulletin board feature on our website where like where groups if they have vacancies if they have if they're looking for people like there's some way to to get that out there on our website um because I think that would be helpful to when we have um volunteer positions we're looking to to fill or even like the farmers market is looking for people like there has to be some sort of process obviously they can't just post willy-nilly because then we get in trouble but um I would love to see some sort of interactivity of the main the main home page on the website and then um social media like I'm I'm curious what our kind of how we what our philosophy is how organizations reach out

139to us as a town to be posted on on like Instagram and Facebook and things like that like what's that process look like um we really do need that social media presence like Instagram and that and I think we just because that's way people and just to make sure and just to make sure people like if if people need to get information out about something that they know what the process looks like to H to how the town can help support that if it's something that is kind of more related yeah so a clear process that people can follow that we can communicate lot sense maybe to help move that along we could even you know Michael could send out in when he communicates with um with staff right just have a little blurb at

140the bottom is there anything that you would like to push out right you do that yeah every Monday we say we do that every Monday okay yeah and then it goes to the communic sometimes they're pushing monthly yeah yeah it stays pretty active that channel yeah so so one of the things I would like you to look at is waca does a great job right but if you go to waca on their YouTube station it's very hard to find stuff right so why doesn't Ashland Town of Ashland have a YouTube page so instead of storing everything on our website which then could block you know bog down the website or make it difficult if we had a Ashland Town you know town of Ashland YouTube page and when you go there you can hit select

141board and it has select board meetings and it has I mean it's it would take some time and someone would have to manage that but once it's set up we can just say to waca okay here's our rather than just leaving it on the waca YouTube channel it comes to the town of Ashland YouTube channel and it's select board planet and any board that has recorded meetings and maybe we could work with waca to bring some of the history so that people could access it and it would be on the on the website instead of having to have all of these things you can say go to the town of Ashland YouTube page to see all these meetings but then you still have to have it organized somehow that's you still have to have you

142don't have to do any of that all we need to do is get a link to a record every recording is get the link from wacka right and then I mean I then you basically you design a you know the web page using a spreadsheet or whatever and all it shows is okay these are the selectboard meetings these are the planning board meetings we're saying just have the link it's just it depends like which approach is going to be the easiest to implement I think that's that's the question I think we're you're we're both singing the same song we just need to figure out what key it's in so you know I think if we do a little analysis on that and figure that out then do a little research where make more sense exactly

143and then go with that do we have a Communications office we have we have a Communications like team person and and then so why couldn't we utilize those individual so they we are and they're going to come before us with with their Communications plan okay so now remember you know Beth was brought on as the economic development director right and then as things changed and then we brought on someone to work with her to do some Communications that has now changed Beth is going to be doing more communication and um Jordan is going to do more events so I think so I think this these comments and suggestions can go to their they're having a meeting on Friday go into that and hopefully we can hear when when they give us a communication just say

144if that's what we already have available then well but they're doing more than just Communications right like you know the city of Framingham has a Communications person Y and they manage all the communication going out from the community okay so that's fine okay have we given you enough stuff to think about resources I was going to say you got a lot going on for Friday you know again doesn't have if it doesn't make sense but I think we can accomplish a lot of what you're talking about yeah I think um we might we might get to it a different different way a slightly different way but I think we can get to it great okay anything else on that are we good okay wonderful moving forward update on the dog park and the bid results

145Jen please so we had a bid opening um probably been about a week um so it was one of our larger sort of responses we received 22 bids um was an awful lot um and it ranged from the low bid being 47,9 to 1.12 million so pretty right range uh many of the folks sort of fell in that 550 sort of range it was probably about 10 uh biders uh We've checked references on the low bid and and got some good response um we are a little concerned in terms of how tight um the budget is so right now we have $215,000 um from CPA funds that were awarded I guess two no all of 23 yep um and then also you know we are hoping to receive the Stanton Grant of 250,000 um as

146soon as we sort of move through this process and so that gives us 465,000 um for the project and so I'm trying to carry a decent contingency because we know when we did Memorial uh drive we did hit some ledge and there is some site work um and also case we have to build there's a boulder wall in the back that sort of separates the sort of more manicured part with The Rock and the more natural piece um and so we did get unit cost for both ledge and rock carrying a decent contingency and then the other thing we did uh on the recommendation of our designer was I we pulled out all the Furnishings you know this shade structure the benches um the water bubbler the trash receptacles because we can get a discount

147with direct bu off a state contract could potentially save around 10% budget tight and so I have estimates for those around somewhere between 40,000 probably 50,000 all said and done um and then we would have to coordinate um with our contractors so they would actually install it we're just s supplying it um and saving fund so a little bit more front end work on the procurement piece but hopefully it will uh yield a decent savings so I met with the dog park committee yes last night um sort of just talking about you know how we want to approach it given how tight thinking the project will actually come in probably around 5 I think 20 yeah 525 is what we're so have a little bit of contingency in case um and so there has been

148some discussion with see um meeting after um and so we're going to do a little bit of work around that maybe maybe requesting funds for May 60 yeah and so I have to work with st Grant like all of it has to sort of line up we have a little bit of work to do on our end but we'll have an update um as we closer to meeting and I just want to I mean being a member of the dog park committee um I just want to thank Jen publicly and the committee is fortunate to have Jen working for the dog park and it's one of those things where I know a year ago Michael was like nope we need to we need to stop it and we would have lost half our funding because

149we are probably going to be one of the last dog parks that the Stanton Foundation funds so thank you for those who supported us last year moving it forward thank you for Jen for staying on this through three designers and where where we're putting it and stuff like that so it it is moving I it's going to move forward we're hoping to break ground in the spring hoping by the Fall we'll have a dog park um so just I just want to publicly thank you Jen for all the work and effort you've put into it because uh we are hearing from people they want the dog park we're in the process right the dog park is working with a subcommittee to get people who are willing to be volunteers to help do the maintenance because

150that is one of the requirements is that the dog park committee brings in volunteers to make sure the poop is picked up to make sure the poop bags are taken from inside of the park to outside of the park um but it's it's a it's a it's a we we've had people step up they were actually having a meeting tonight as we were meeting to talk about it so there are people who are interested so if you're interested in helping maintain the dog park reach out to the dog park committee um because I think it's when it's done I say poop at home poop it home there you go if if only we could require that Claudia tagline poop at home'll put that in yeah we'll put that in the brochure poop at home Ash

151welcome to ashy poop at home put it right on the welcome s i that's good yeah hold it as you're going through oh I like that too you too can pick up poop I like that one that's a good one okay anyway is there a Sunset date we're they're we are expecting them to no longer be funding these organizations so no we have to sign we will start construction yes and and because of how they do it they say okay we're we're funding you we're funding you this amount here's your check so but I mean we definitely are going to do this right it's not like we're going to but yeah so the that's the that's the the issue we're dealing with is we have to get to that and get it approved in the

152check fairly soon and then we'll start construction great okay uh moving forward review and discuss the open meeting law complaint dated March 3rd 2025 piled by filed by step Morgan regarding executive session minutes uh we've all seen the open meeting law complaint um as we went to do our executive session we did a review we had meeting minutes that we had decided not to release they've now been approved in executive session they have a couple of updates so in our March meeting we will be able to release them um and yeah anything else you want to say about it Michael okay okay moving on let's see town meeting warrant articles Jen you're up again or is Michael taking this one no no Jen yeah yeah so um we have received I haven't started sort of

153putting the warrant together yet but um have received a couple notices one obviously from um the historical commission which was discussed previously um we may have three um CPA one obviously the dog park we just talked about um one project for uh Cadillac paint turning into the ash um and then also uh the town clerk's office has requested some funds to do some historical preservation of Records um so working through that so and then obviously our normal um articles and then um we may have three bylaws from planning board so they're working on an uh accessory dwelling unit bylaw there which Lisa spoke about earlier um there's a flood plane change from FEMA and it's a small change to our bylaw in our maps and so they're working on that as well as just clean

154up to their site plan review bylaw it's just really sort of right now the special permit and the site plan review language doesn't match up and there's some language about a community meeting as opposed to a required public hearing straightforward so other than that um it'll be more of the standard sort of obviously budget I haven't I haven't done all the regular ones yet so I I don't know yet but then our next meeting I'll have a I'll have a draft Yeah okay wonderful thank you for that Jen uh so just a couple of notes reminder the baa Grant and select board Grant application process is open submission are due by March 28th 2025 Susan Roby let me know that she had specifically sent out emails and personal invitations to anyone that has applied in

155the last I think she said two years so the last four either four or six Grant Cycles uh so that's that the select board scholarship opportunity is open to any graduating senior from graduating high school senior from Ashland you don't have to attend Ashland high school but you do have to live here in Ashland for that uh we have a number of volunteer just really quick about the the scholarship we're doing two scholarships at $2,000 each correct okay y just to clarify and at our um um I guess we can talk about it now I don't know Joe and Claudia if you'd like to be our subcommittee again as you were last year or I would be okay Claudia would you like to continue with that wonderful good um we don't have to vote that

156but if you guys are willing to do that wonderful thank you thank you uh volunteer opportunities our community preservation committee have two seats one is a Housing Authority member and the other is a select board appointment they did have someone at their meeting last night who was interested so we'll see what happens there Conservation Commission has a seat Council on Aging has three seats so actually I think now that's probably two because we just reduced them to seven open space and wreck has a seat storm water advisory has a seat sustainability has a seat next page and design review but that's a planning board appointment but if you're interested in architecture and design Reach Out fill that out and that will be uh reviewed by the planning board winter parking ban is still in effect

157until March 31st which means no on street parking from 2: a to 6: a.m. and then textile clothing recycling you do have to reach out to simple recycling simpler recycling.com to get those picked up uh consent agenda if I can get a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented so moved second okay thank you very much all those in favor of the consent agenda as presented I and that passes five zero okay uh Joe did you have a I just I just wanted to ask a transfer transfer um right now Nori County Sheriff oh cool I was yeah I was going to I was going to say a little bit more about it okay yeah great thank you uh that leads us to town manager's report oh yeah yeah it was was a late

158edition do you not see it on there I guess I did not print that copy notification yep besides treatment no there was one no there was something else but for some reason it was not on theend the agenda that I printed yeah so essentially as as we're pulling it up I'll just give you um a broad overview so um this is related to the downtown project and so right now we had like an overhead wire like one overhead wire going across uh near NX and so we found a way to do it underneath and so but we just need the easement we need the board to approve the easement to let us do that right so again don't I guess I did not print the correct agenda that had it on there so I would

159say this is something that was not foreseen before we posted the 48 Hours it it wasn't so and it's really pretty straightforward so as was said um they're going to go through the parking lot of town hall to get to the back of the building because otherwise we were going to have one overhead wire and with everything that we're doing so I have this ISR this is property yeah so we're going to be giving an easement to their property to be able to do the undergrounding of their utilities moving forward so if I can get a motion to approve the utility easement agreement okay all those in favor I I okay and I do have documents for us to sign thank you for reminding whoever said that okay now we can go to the town

160manager's update sure so even though there's just uh one thing that you see on the agenda I do have just a few other things and I'll I'll just hit you with them real quick how's that so um the first one you see is the update on the open space and Recreation plan so um our team working with the open space and Recreation committee they've already had a couple forums and got some information they are looking at having two additional Forums on March 29th and April 2nd uh really to more focus on the specific action items so um again those will be public um and so I would encourage everybody to attend even though uh the team did a a bunch of Outreach uh we didn't have too many people I think at The Forum so

161uh obviously the more feedback we get the better plan we can get um next well speaking of plans on the comp plan so um we were at the stage where the department heads um were asked to provide some feedback on each of the strategies and so we met with JM Goldson last week and uh we distributed those strategies talked about the instructions um and those were due on Monday so and I believe everybody got theirs in haven't heard anything otherwise um Joe you you brought up uh Manny Tuscano who is going to be our newest police officer so he is um you know he is scheduled to start on the 20th and that's when his swearing in date is uh so you're all welcome yep I believe it's at 11 o'clock but I I'll confirm

162um Manny is uh very interesting guy very positive so um I I'll save my comments for his swearing yet I've got some unique comments for him but uh again very experienced um officer um I've got about 20 years in law enforcement and U met officer rodkey in um or Sergeant rodkey as should say now and uh doing some training and um Sergeant rodkey was telling him about the department and kind of Direction things are going in and um Manny felt like he would be a good fit did everybody else uh well one shy and that and we're actually um in the process of interviewing that one last officer actually I think I'm meeting with him next week because now that's part of our process the last step is meeting with me and making sure I'm

163okay with the guy or or gal um it's been it's actually been very very good it's been a very very good process I'm so glad we we worked together um we did have uh a meeting of our community inclusion task force uh last week uh after a little bit of a Hiatus I thought it was very very good Makita could probably um you know after the meeting tell you give you her take on it but um we're looking forward to kind of lining up what we want to accomplish in uh calendar year 25 and uh we're on the on the way to do that um and then finally um Susan and I met with the baa yesterday Jack Fleming in um and Lauren um because it looks like we were going to incur some more

164expenses than what we have previously to help um basically carry out the marathon on Marathon date and so um I'm pleased to say that the baa very willingly agreed to pay that extra those extra funds so um very very security yeah we might do that out of our own we're not quite getting that much money yeah no kidding um but it was about 30,000 extra dollars so and they um yeah I I have to say I've really appreciated Jack Fleming and his team's approach to um community relations since he's taken over uh the baa yep well thank you for that update Michael and we have a comprehensive plan committee meeting the third Thursday the 20th of March so that's our next comp plan meeting no y oh that was a very hour like it was

165like owl oh an owl reference owl reference to the owl no no no you're I don't know that you hear owls when you have a stroke Makita but okay wow can't wait to hear your board report I've never heard of that symtom anyway okay we are it's time for our board reports and I'm hope I'm thinking we can get this done before we have to extend past 10 so yes ma'am Madam chair uh so in in all seriousness uh lot of activities so we already talked about the tri board meeting which which we attended had a good conversation about that um um in so far as the community inclusion committee we had uh a first meeting in a long time uh last week uh I think we'll be hearing more out of that committee uh

166over the next few months about the the road ahead so I don't want to steal any Thunder but they are uh planning they're in planning mode right now trying to figure out what uh they'd like to accomplish uh this year and then a couple years out so we'll hear more about that later I like the name thank you we'll talk more about that a little later okay uh anyway uh and then uh finally uh the uh the subcommittee on uh committee appointments is going to have I guess are we calling it sort of like an open house or like sort of like a a just sort of like a open discussion with board committee members yes open discussion with board and committee members coming up on Saturday March 15th at 10:00 a.m. and uh we'll

167be just want to hear their thoughts about their experiences on the Committees um you know what they think it's going great what they think they'd like to see some improvement in and we're going to be taking all that into consideration as we finalize our notes and come back to this committee with some recommendations around process we have about 30 people who have responded already excellent yeah it's good to hear might not fit in that small room yeah we may well you know we'll have to figure figure it out all right um I'm done thank you great thank you Makita um we had a school building committee meeting last week um and I just bring that up mostly to findind everybody that we are waiting for $3.2 million from the federal government that um we earned

168using some uh for as a tax credit based on some of the sustainability features of both the mindes school and the um public safety building so that's $3.2 million that we're supposed to be getting and currently I think that we would have had it by now if we had not had a change in administration and so it's kind of being held up um and then I did attend a a webinar about engaging um trying to increasing engagement oh in um town meeting and um a couple of the takeaways for me were um you know whether or not we should have a conversation about having town meeting on Saturdays um I know some communities do that but it doesn't seem like a ton of them do but some do and then the other thing is we

169C can't broadcast live from the auditorium right yeah we do broadcast live okay so because actually hav always been there but in any case it's true too it's actually true but um so one thing would be to have call-in questions um let people participate from home um yeah wouldn't be able to vote from home but they could certainly ABS not they can't vote but they did and some communities do that where they allow for you know which communities it would be great to reach out to them and see how it worked I might have to review that who was that an MMA webinar I think it was one it was it was moderators that um Town moderators who were um mostly running it I'm sure we can find out yeah the one gentleman from Westboro

170um I should have written down their names okay um he he was very so anyway so I thought that that would those were a couple of things that may for attending think about doing nice okay Joe thank you madam chair uh just real quickly um I have some information to provide to all of you uh since I've come back with respect to the uh U quiet zones for the railroads there was a webinar that I on and uh the information was provided one of the one of the key issues that they were really concerned about was the liability and that and that you know it's just you know again you know who's going to hold on to that liability aspect and that's why a lot of the communities that have these quiet zones they TR

171the the number of trains that go through are not like what we have and so it's based on the activity and the use of the Rails tracks the tracks so and who has the uh so that's that was it and I have the information matter of fact they sent it to me requested it so email it to everybody so you all yeah it would be that might be something we want to talk about at a meeting to because get an update on where we are with our quiet Zone and the funding and the timing of that and the engineering and then a determination if we still want to try and move forward well and that and again based on what's been going on over the last 60 days Federal funding is could be a question

172could be a major question with respect to that so God only knows where that's going to end up um I want to just give a quick uh shout out to uh the folks of uh um Habitat for Humanity they've gone through their uh priting process they got all their roet and their permits and we're looking to do uh shovel in the ground at 478 Main Street uh sometime miday so we'll be having a new affordable housing uh project in town and I I saw something that was a little disturbing with respect to um CPC said they were looking u a me for a member on the photable Housing Trust and I thought I could have sworn that Steve Greenberg was the sentive apparently that's not the case so I think there's an important clarification that

173needs to be made that seat is actually the affordable housing committee committee which we don't have anymore right which we don't have anymore oh it was stated as the affordable housing trust and that's yeah and Steve was on it at as a member of the affordable housing Comm committee that's correct so so do we need to either one update our CPC bylaw to say trust versus committee because we should have someone from affordable housing sitting on sitting with CPC to look at if you can make that if you can make that that change I would suggest doing it yeah so how would we would that be I'll have to look into that you could look into that all right great thank you um and other than that and then um I I will be uh

174not in attendance uh physically uh I'll be uh on Zoom for the next month or so after my I'll be pitching for the bus and red sock after the surgery so it it'll be well actually you're lucky because I believe we're all going to be remote for the next select board meeting because they're going to be painting this oh they're going to be painting so oh that's right you might want to remind us I believe our I believe our next select board meeting is going to be fully remote okay for two reasons one because the potential for remote participation ends at the end of March and we're like okay let's do it in March so where our next select board meeting and this is for the public as well will not be here in person

175it will only be via Zoom um so okay yeah and they is there any anticipation that that will be extended again or no at the state level so there's been a lot so I'll I'll talk about it as part of my board report and and that's all and that's all I have thank great Brandy um so I've got a couple things coming up um I'm going to be attending the Ashlin Education Foundation Casino nights Saturday night I'm gonna win big when I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna pay for college don't tell me it's all fake money no I'm kidding it's all fake money it's all fake money but but um it'll be it'll be a good it'll be a good time and um our schools will benefit from that so on a on on a

176side note for that if you are not able to attend like I am because my daughter's coming home this weekend you can go online and bid for some silent auction items so you can if you can't attend in person you can go online and bid on the silent auction and you can just donate if you're not a also just donate yes there's actually there's actually if you go to the if you go to the like I received an email about it because I've been in the past you can just donate money if you'd like and not worry about bidding oh it was a lot of fun yep and uh just for folks to know if if they don't know already the ashin Education Foundation um puts through grants that teachers and and uh folks in

177our schools request so that money goes back into the to the classrooms so so they've done some pretty dramatic things um through the years the stem Lab at the middle school was an National Education Foundation project yep iPads that they bought um they bought um 3D printing you know for us um back yeah the Shir days I remember it was back in the kitchen mom prom was fun I enjoyed that we uh and that's what my husband called it too just in case just whole town yeah yeah it's had U many iterations Through The Years yep so but uh so yeah so that's this upcoming Saturday um I'm also going to be going to the the YMCA uh Marathon breakfast which I think is the 14 Fray March 14th yep um so that's coming up

178so well it's more about celebrating their and supporting the the YMCA y hopefully getting an update maybe we'll there'll be another update or something I'm looking at Yolanda because Yolanda's involved in it I know nothing so um and then we talked about comprehensive plan on the 20th so we've been we've had a reprieve for the last you know month or so we had a break in in February so as as we Gear Up For What will be a um very a bunch of work moving forward a very intense stretch yeah so um so I encourage people to keep an eye out for for things that are going to be coming up for the comprehensive plan um in in the following in the following months and I do owe I'm sorry I I just it just

179popped into my brain I need to reach out to the farmers market about dates for us for table about that after I I uh have not done that so I will do that because they're going to start planning yep and I will I will get all that squared away and that's um and that's pretty much it for me so okay thanks okay so a couple things so uh Joe you asked about the extension of the remote meeting so it's part of What's called the municipal empowerment act at the state level they are discussing it as an mapc member as an MMA member they have asked me people to reach out to your legislator and if you want I think MMA may even have a letter or an email that says please move this forward and

180get it done and make it permanent before March 31st so if you have the time and the energy I would ask that we all do that because let's just make it permanent let's not just keep pushing it a year down the road and a year year down the road because there are communities that are trying to make plans and right now if they have town meeting in April or if they have meetings in April they can't plan them for remote meetings so that's the Municipal Power rint um MPC I'm the Ashlen representative to the mapc metropoline area planning Council we had our wi winter council meeting virtually this morning uh Mark dren who is the director gave a really nice update talking about some of the sort of countering some of the things that were

181going on in Washington I believe they make it his the whole thing available so when it's available I'll let people know because I can't repeat how he said it he said it very eloquently so just something to think about uh last Thursday I had the Metro Regional collaborative meeting we had some good discussions we had one of the other sub regions with us and with that on Friday March 28th at I think 8 or 8:30 in the morning is the legislative breakfast for Metro West Regional collaborative and we're doing it with I think it's either swap or magic one of the other sub regions and it's going to be in Medfield I think I forwarded that to people at the the house um at the the Medway so at the the house in Medway uh

182again if you can take if you come can come it's a great way one to meet other people who are select board planning board and I sent out the invitation I think to this whole board and planning and some other people uh and then also a lot of legislators are there and I think because it's going to be two regions together there'll be a few more people we haven't heard who yet um we we always hope to get Karen as the Senate President but I know it's tough and if she can't be there someone from her delegation is always there to to chat um let's see this Friday morning so MMA is having their legislative events and you know you have these two organizations that are doing great things sometimes they compete uh so mma's

183legislative breakfast they are doing two this Friday and two next Friday the two this Friday there's one in Marboro at the Marboro library and that's from 8:30 to 10:15 if you've never been to the Marboro Library it's a nice little building they have a great space it's not that far I'm planning on going this Friday if someone wants to go I'm more than willing to carpool um so just that is information there as well yesterday so I'm on one of the regional subcommittees for MMA and we had one of our meetings yesterday uh chatting about Regional information and we're going to be hopefully having a discussion in the future about Adu about housing in general about 2 and a half half and what does that mean and how we can look at different funding um

184so I can keep people posted on that and then the last thing is I want to congratulate the ashin high school theatrical Society they performed anything goes this weekend and the last time I saw it here in Ashland was 14 years ago when my own daughter was a part of it so it was fun to go back they did a great job as always David Harrington our theater teacher does a wonderful job on these Productions costumes um set they were having some technical difficulties with their Lighting in with their sound stuff so um we'll see what we can help out with there uh but again the the musical Direction and it's always just a fun event so congratulations to the Ashton high school theatrical society and that is all I have sure there any clocks

185ahead this weekend on Sunday yes time ahead on Sunday that's right and uh as we said our next meeting will be virtual so we won't be here in this room you'll see us all from our various locations at home and uh I believe that's it if I can get a motion to adjourn and okay we have a motion and a second all those in favor I thank you all for watching thank you for being here thank all of you for your participation and thank you Michael and Jen and again our next meeting is uh Wednesday March 17th so between then and now happy St Patrick's Day and we'll see you in two weeks